Vir Dolorum

O Man of Sorrows
Rejected and despised
You have felt as we feel
An anguished bitter heart
And at your darkest hour
When shadows gathered round
You asked to be delivered
From this world and its pain

despectum et novissimum virorum
virum dolorum et scientem infirmitatem
et quasi absconditus vultus eius
et despectus unde nec reputavimus eum

(He was despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.)

O Son of Mary
Sharer in our grief
You will not despise us
If we stumble on the road
When the spirit fails us
When the flesh is weak
Yielding to temptation
Laying down our load

vere languores nostros ipse tulit
et dolores nostros ipse portavit
et nos putavimus eum quasi leprosum
et percussum a Deo et humiliatum

(Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.)

O Lord of Heaven
Guardian of our lives
Not a sparrow falls
That has not your regard
And with your sure forgiveness
We will come before the throne
No matter what our ending
Or how thy will is done.

oblatus est quia ipse voluit
et non aperuit os suum
sicut ovis ad occisionem ducetur
et quasi agnus coram tondente obmutescet
et non aperiet os suum

(He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
so he openeth not his mouth.)

English text © F L Dunkin Wedd 2004 ~ Bible text from Isaiah chapter 53