1 Sing, my tongue, the song of triumph,
tell the story far and wide.
Tell of dread and final battle,
when the Christ was crucified,
how, upon the cross a victim
vanquishing in death he died.
2 Thirty years among us dwelling,
his appointed time fulfilled,
born for this, he met his Passion,
this the Savior freely willed.
On the cross the Lamb is lifted,
where his precious blood he spilled.
3 He endured the nails, the spitting,
vinegar and spear and reed.
From that holy body broken
blood and water both proceed.
Earth and stars and sky and ocean
by that flood from stain are freed.
4 Faithful cross, O sign of triumph,
now for us the noblest tree,
none in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit can equal be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
sweetest weight is hung on thee.
5 Thus the plan of our salvation
was of old in order laid
that the manifold deceiver’s
art by art might be outweighed,
and the lure the foe put forward
into means of healing made.
6 Let our songs of strength and honor
now and evermore be done:
to the God who spoke creation,
God the true begotten Son,
God the Spirit, ever moving,
One in Three and Three in One. Amen.
Source: Voices Together #331
Venantius Honorius Clematianus Fortunatus (b. Cenada, near Treviso, Italy, c. 530; d. Poitiers, France, 609) was educated at Ravenna and Milan and was converted to the Christian faith at an early age. Legend has it that while a student at Ravenna he contracted a disease of the eye and became nearly blind. But he was miraculously healed after anointing his eyes with oil from a lamp burning before the altar of St. Martin of Tours. In gratitude Fortunatus made a pilgrimage to that saint's shrine in Tours and spent the rest of his life in Gaul (France), at first traveling and composing love songs. He developed a platonic affection for Queen Rhadegonda, joined her Abbey of St. Croix in Poitiers, and became its bishop in 599. His Hymns far all th… Go to person page >
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