Adoro Te Devote
The private prayer of Eucharistic adoration traditionally ascribed to St. Thomas Aquinas — 'O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore thee' — a personal act of faith before the hidden Christ of the Sacrament.
O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore thee, who truly art within the forms before me; to thee my heart I bow with bended knee, as failing quite in contemplating thee. […] Jesu, whom for the present veiled I see, what I so thirst for, O vouchsafe to me: that I may see thy countenance unfolding, and may be blest thy glory in beholding. Amen.
Where it comes from
The dated sources the library holds, oldest first — in their own words.
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1,264
Traditionally ascribed to St. Thomas Aquinas
A Eucharistic hymn of adoration long ascribed to St. Thomas Aquinas and associated with the devotion of Corpus Christi, though — unlike the hymns of the Office — its authorship is held with less certainty by scholars.
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1,300
A prayer before the Blessed Sacrament
Unlike the hymns written for the public Office, the Adoro Te Devote is a personal prayer of adoration before the hidden Christ of the Eucharist, and has kept that use in private devotion ever since.