En martyris Laurentii

Here is my translation of “En Martyris Laurentii” as given by Ludecus with the penultimate stanza omitted (an invocation of the saint’s merits). Note that the hymn was composed from Prudentius’s larger Peristephanon. It was eventually criticized because it makes pope Sixtus II die from crucifixion rather than the sword. Arguments supporting the crucifixion language tend to see it as a metaphor for any sort of martyrdom, though the text here seems somewhat too descriptive for that sense. The melody is also that given by Ludecus and may be compared with Frere (#76) and Stäblein (#411).

BEHOLD, of Lawrence, martyr famed,
What faith, well-armed, hath led the host!
By death o’er death the crown he claimed
And gave himself to th’ uttermost.

2. ’Twas as his bishop Sixtus said
As fastened to the cross he hung,
When seeing Lawrence weep with dread
Beneath his cross whereat he clung:

3. “Forbear at my departure now
To shed thy tears so grievously;
Though, brother, I go first, yet thou
Shalt three days hence my foll’wer be.”

4. What lastly did the bishop say—
Prophetic voice of glorious heav’n—
In naught deceived, for on the day
That he foretold, the palm was giv’n.

5. To th’ unbegotten Father praise,
And to the sole begotten Son
And Holy Ghost for endless days,
One God, for evermore be done.

Translation © 2015 Matthew Carver.

LATIN

1. En Martyris Laurentii
Armata pugnavit fides,
Nam morte mortem diruit,
Ac semet impendit sibi.

2. Fore hoc sacerdos dixerat
Jam Sixtus* affixus cruci, [*Xystus]
Laurentium flentem videns
Crucis sub ipso stipite.

3. Desiste discessu meo
Fletum dolenter fundere,
Praecedo frater, tu quoque
Post hoc sequeris triduum.

4. Extrema vox Episcopi
Praenuntiatrix gloriae,
Nihil fefellit: nam dies
Praedicta palmam praestitit.

5. Gloria Patri ingenito,
Gloria unigenito
Una cum sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna saecula. Amen.