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Adoro Te Devote – Eight handbells

The Latin plainchant Adoro Te Devote dates back to the 13th century. Our arrangement for eight handbells works well as an introit, or to enhance a thoughtful time during your church service.

It is one of the five Eucharistic hymns composed and set to music for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, instituted in 1264 by Pope Urban IV. This solemn feast occurs on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost).

Adoro te devote, latens deitas,
Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subicit,
Quia te contemplans totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur.
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius;
Nil hoc verbo Veritátis[6] verius.

In Cruce[6] latebat sola Deitas,
At hic latet simul et Humanitas,
Ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor:
Deum tamen meum te confiteor.
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini,
Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini,
Præsta meæ menti de te vívere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo Sanguine:[6]
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro, fiat illud quod tam sitio:
Ut te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beátus tuæ gloriæ. Amen.

I devoutly adore you, hidden deity,
Who are truly hidden beneath these appearances.
My whole heart submits to You,
because in contemplating You, it is fully deficient.

Sight, touch, taste all fail in their judgment of you,
But hearing suffices firmly to believe.
I believe all that the Son of God has spoken;
There is nothing truer than this word of Truth.

On the cross only the divinity was hidden,
But here the humanity is also hidden.
Yet believing and confessing both,
I ask for what the penitent thief asked.

I do not see wounds as Thomas did,
But I confess that You are my God.
Make me believe much more in You,
Hope in you, and love You.

O memorial of our Lord’s death,
Living Bread that gives life to man,
Grant my soul to live on You,
And always to savor your sweetness.

Lord Jesus, Good Pelican,
clean me, the unclean, with Your Blood,
One drop of which can heal
the entire world of all its sins.

Jesus, whom now I see hidden,
I ask You to fulfill what I so desire:
That the sight of Your Face being unveiled
I may have the happiness of seeing Your glory. Amen.

Hymn Tune: ADORO TE DEVOTE

Standard Version:
”Dual-Range”™ Score Package: $3.00 US
G5-based practice track: $1.00 US
F5-based practice track: $1.00 US

Downloading this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain copies for your handbell group, and also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

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