O Ecclesia

Hildegard of Bingen

O Ecclesia,
Oculi tui similes saphyro sunt
Et aures tue monti Bethel
Et nasus tuus est
Sicut mons mirre et thuris
Et os tuum quasi sonus
Aquarum multarum

In visione vere fidei
Ursula filium Dei amavit
Et virum cum hoc seculo reliquit
Et in solem aspexit
Atque pulcherrimum iuvenem vocavit
Dicens:

In multo desiderio
Desideravi ad te venire
Et in celestibus nuptiis tecum sedere
Per alienam viam ad te currens
Velut nubes que in purissimo aere currit
Similis saphiro'

Et postquam Ursula sic dixerat
Rumor iste per omnes populos exiit

Et dixerunt:
Innocentia puellaris ignorantie
Nescit quid dicit'

Et ceperunt ludere cum illa
In magna symphonia
Usque dum ignea sarcina
Super eam cecidit

Unde omnes cognoscebant
Quia contemptus mundi
Est sicut mons Bethel

Et cognoverunt etiam
Suavissimum odorem mirre et thuris
Quoniam contemptus mundi
Super omnia ascendit

Tunc diabolus
Membra sua invasit
Que nobilissimos mores
In corporibus istis occiderunt

Et hoc in alta voce
Omnia elementa audierunt
Et ante thronum Dei
Dixerunt:

Wach! rubicundus sanguis
Innocentis agni
In desponsatione sua
Effusus est'

Hoc audiant omnes celi!
Et in summa symphonia
Laudent agnum Dei!
Quia guttur serpentis antiqui
In istis margaritis
Materie verbi Dei
Suffocatum est

O Ecclesia
Your eyes are like sapphire:
Your ears the mount of Bethel
Your nose
Like a mountain of myrrh and incense
And your mouth is like the sound
Of many waters

In a vision of true faith
Ursula loved the son of God
And rejected betrothed and world alike
She gazed at the sun
And implored the most beautiful youth
Saying:

With a great desire
I have desired to come to you
And rest with you in the marriage of Heaven
Running to you by a new path
As the clouds course in the purest air
Like sapphire'

And after Ursula had said this
Rumour spread amongst the people

And they said:
In the innocence of girlish ignorance
She does not know what she is saying'

And they began to play with her
In a great music
Until the burden of fire
Fell upon her

Whence they all knew,
For scorn of the world
Is like the mount of Bethel

And they sensed also
The sweetest odour of myrrh and incense
For scorn of the world
Rises over all things

Then the devil
Invaded those that were his own
They that in the bodies of these women
Had struck down the noblest qualities

And all the Elements
Heard the great cry
And before the throne of God
They said:

O! the red blood
Of the innocent lamb
Has streamed out
In the moment of union'

Let all the Heavens hear this,
And let them praise the lamb of God
With the celestial harmony!
For the throat of the Ancient Serpent
Has been choked with these pearls
Made of the word of God

Trivia about the song O Ecclesia by Grace Davidson

When was the song “O Ecclesia” released by Grace Davidson?
The song O Ecclesia was released in 2022, on the album “Bingen: Sacred Chants”.
Who composed the song “O Ecclesia” by Grace Davidson?
The song “O Ecclesia” by Grace Davidson was composed by Hildegard of Bingen.

Most popular songs of Grace Davidson

Other artists of Opera