Tantum Ergo
Tantum Ergo Sacramentum
These are the last two verses of the Pange Lingua, which St. Thomas Aquinas wrote for Corpus Christi in 1264. They say plainly what adoration is: the eyes see bread, and faith supplies what the senses cannot reach. The Church sings them at every Benediction and in the procession on Holy Thursday night.
St. Thomas Aquinas, 1264; tr. Edward Caswall; Wisdom 16:20
Down in adoration falling,
lo! the sacred Host we hail;
lo! o’er ancient forms departing,
newer rites of grace prevail;
faith for all defects supplying,
where the feeble senses fail.
To the everlasting Father,
and the Son who reigns on high,
with the Holy Ghost proceeding
forth from each eternally,
be salvation, honor, blessing,
might and endless majesty.
Amen.
℣.You have given them bread from heaven.
℟.Having within it all sweetness.