Hymn for Compline in Lent: Prudentius

From Milfull, The Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church

In one manuscript this hymn appears in the section for Lent, while in another it is among the ferial hymns. It is taken from Prudentius’s  Cathemerinon VI, verses 125-153.

Although not written as a Lenten hymn, nor as Compline hymn either, this hymn does cover many of the themes of the Lenten season: baptism, te fontis et lavacri, the passion, Crux pellit omne crimen, the temptation, O tortuose serpens.

Cultor Dei memento

te fontis et lavacri

rorem subisse sanctum,

te chrismate innotatum.

Fac, cum vocante somno

castum petis cubile,

frontem locumque cordis

crucis figura signet.

Crux pellit omne crimen,

fugiunt crucem tenebrae:

tali dicata signo

mens fluctuare nescit.

Procul, o procul vagantum

portenta somniorum,

procul esto pervicaci

praestigiator astu!

O tortuose serpens,

qui mille per maeandros

fraudesque flexuosas

agitas quieta corda,

Discede, Christus hic est,

hic Christus est, liquesce:

signum quod ipse nosti

damnat tuam catervam.

Corpus licet fatiscens

iaceat recline paullum,

Christum tamen sub ipso

meditabimur sopore.

Gloria eterno patri

et Christo vero regi,

paraclitoque sancto,

et nunc et in perpetuum.

Amen.

O you who worship God, remember that you were washed in the fount, submitted to the holy dew, were marked by the chrism. When sleep calls you, be sure to seek your chaste bed, your forehead and the place of your heart be signed with the figure of the cross. The cross repels all sin, darkness flees the cross, when such a sign is made, the mind will know no wavering. Far away, far way be the omens of wandering dreams, be far away, you deceiver, with your stubborn tricks. O writhing serpent, who through your thousand-fold wanderings and slippery deceits, agitate quiet hearts.  Depart! Christ is here! Christ is here! Melt away! The sign you yourself recognize damns your band. The body, grown weary, may lie back and relax a bit, yet even in sleep it meditates on Christ.  Glory to the eternal Father and to Christ the true King, and to the Holy Comforter, now and forever. Amen.