Summæ Deus Clementiæ

This hymn is used for Matins on Saturdays throughout the year in the Extraordinary Form in Roman Breviary. It is used for Office of Readings on Saturdays of Weeks I & III during Ordinary Time in the Ordinary Form. It is also used for Matins on Trinity Sunday. It was also used for Matins on Saturdays throughout the year in the Sarum Breviary. In the Mozarabic Breviary, it is listed as a hymn for Nocturns (Matins?) on Friday in the old Hymnarium.

Summæ Deus clementiæ
Mundique factor machinæ,
Qui trinus almo numine
Unusque firmas omnia,

Nostros piis cum canticis
Fletus benigne suscipe,
Quo corde puro sordibus
Te perfruamur largius.

Lumbos adure congruis
Tu caritatis ignibus,
Accincti ut adsint perpetim
Tuisque prompti adventibus,

Ut, quique horas noctium
Nunc concinendo rumpimus,
Donis beatæ patriæ
Ditemur omnes affatim.

Præsta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
Regnans per omne sæculum. Amen.

On Trinity Sunday this hymn takes the following form:

Summæ Deus clementiæ
Mundique factor machinæ,
Unus potentialiter
Trinusque personaliter,

Da dexteram surgentibus,
Exsurgat ut mens sobria,
Flagrans et laudem Dei
Grates rependat debitas.

Gloria Patri domino,
Gloria Unigenito,
Una Cum sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna sæcula. Amen.

Words: Anon. 7th C.
Tune: “Summæ Deus Clementiæ” Gregorian Chant, Mode IV, traditional.

The hymn takes the following form in Pope Urban VIII’s 1632 reform of the Breviary:

Summae Parens clementiæ,
Mundi regis qui machinam,
Unius et substantiæ,
Trinus personis Deus:

Nostros pius cum canticis
Fletus benigne suscipe:
Ut corde puro sordium
Te perfruamur largius.

Lumbos iecurque morbidum
Flammis adure congruis,
Accincti ut artus excubent,
Luxu remoto pessimo.

Quicumque ut horas noctium
Nunc concinendo rumpimus,
Ditemur omnes affatim
Donis beatæ patriæ.

Præsta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
Regnans per omne sæculum. Amen.

On Trinity Sunday this hymn takes the following form:

Summae Parens clementiæ,
Mundi regis qui machinam,
Unius et substantiæ,
Trinusque personis Deus:

Da dexteram surgentibus,
Exsurgat ut mens sobria,
Flagrans et laudem Dei
Grates rependat debitas.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
Natoque Patris unico,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
In sempiterna sæcula. Amen.

This is the hymn as it appears in the Sarum Breviary:

Summæ Deus clementiæ,
Mundique factor machinæ,
Unus potentialiter,
Trinusque personaliter,

Nostros Pius cum canticis*
Fletus benigne suscipe,
Quo corde puro sordibus
Te perfruamur largius.

Lambos** iecurque morbidum
Adure igne congruo,
Accincti ut sint perpetim,
Luxu remoto pessimo.

Ut quique horas noctium
Nunc concinendo rumpimus,
Donis Beatæ Patriæ
Ditemur omnes affatim.

Præsta, Pater, piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
Regnans per omne sæculum. Amen.

These are the variations in the text in the Hymnale Secundum Usum Insignis Ac Praeclarae Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis (1850):
*cantibus
**Lumbos

This is the text of the hymn as it appears in the Mozarabic Breviary:

Summe Deus clementie
Mundique factor macine,
Unus potentialiter
Trinusque personaliter

Nostros pius quum canticis
Fletus benigne suscipe,
Quo corda pura sordibus
Te perfruamur largius.

Lumbos iecurque morvidum
Adure igni congruo,
Accincti ut sint perpetim,
Luxu remoto pessimo.

Ut quique oras noctium
Nunc concinendo rumpimus,
Donis beate patrie
Ditemur omnes affatim.

This hymn has been translated into English as the following:
O Thou Eternal Source of Love.