The Latin hymn "Rerum Creator optime"

The Latin hymn **"Rerum Creator optime"**. This hymn is traditionally attributed to **Pope St. Gregory the Great** (540-604 AD) and is used in the **Breviary and Missal** of the Catholic Church.

Here is the Latin version of the hymn:

```text

Rerum Creator optime,
Rectorque noster, adspice:
Nos a quiete noxia
Mersos sopore libera.

Te, sancte Christe, poscimus,
Ignosce culpis omnibus:
Ad confitendum surgimus,
Morasque noctis rumpimus.

Mentes manusque tollimus,
Propheta sicut noctibus
Nobis gerendum prsecipit,
Paulusque gestis censuit.

Vides malum quod fecimus:
Occulta nostra pandimus:
Preces gementes fundimus,
Dimitte quod peccavimus.

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

``` Translation:

Who madest all and dost control,
Lord, with thy touch divine,
Cast out the slumbers of the soul,
The rest that is not thine.
Look down, Eternal Holiness,
And wash the sins away,
Of those, who, rising to confess,
Outstrip the lingering day.
Our hearts and hands by night, O Lord,
We lift them in Our need;
As holy Psalmists give the word,
And holy Paul the deed.
Each sin to thee of years gone by,
Each hidden stain lies bare;
We shrink not from thine awful eye,
But pray that thou wouldst spare.
Grant this, O Father, Only Son
And Spirit, God of grace,
To whom all worship shall be done
In every time and place,
Amen.

The hymn is a prayer asking for God's divine touch to cast out the slumbers of the soul and wash away sins. It references the **holy Psalmists** and **Saint Paul** as examples of lifting hearts and hands in prayer. The hymn concludes with a doxology, praising the **Father, Son, and Holy Spirit**.

¹: [Rerum Creator optime - Catholic Cornucopia](^1^)
²: [The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal - Catholic Cornucopia](^2^)

(1) Rerum Creator optime : The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal : Catholic .... http://cathcorn.org/hotbam/15.html.
(2) The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal : Catholic Cornucopia. http://cathcorn.org/hotbam/.
(3) Rerum Creator optime : The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal : Catholic .... http://cathcorn.org/hotbam/15.html.
(4) The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal : Catholic Cornucopia. http://cathcorn.org/hotbam/.
(5) Morning Hymns. I. God who Madest Earth and Heaven, - Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/library/winkworth/lyra_germanica_the_christian_year/morning_hymns_i_god_who.htm.