The Hymnus Eucharisticus is a traditional hymn sung by the Magdalen College choir (boy choristers from Magdalen College School nearby) at Oxford, England. The hymn is sung from the gallery of the college's Great Hall (the dining room) during important college occasions.
In addition, and more publicly, it is also sung from Magdalen Tower at 6am every 1 May, a tradition of more than 500 years. This initiates the annual May Morning celebrations in Oxford. Large crowds gather in the High Street and on Magdalen Bridge to listen. The sound is very faint although more recently amplification has been used. The crowds then disperse for other celebratory activities such as Morris Dancing.
The music is composed by Benjamin Rogers, "Doctor of Musique of the University of Oxon, 1685" and is entered on a folio bearing the date 1673 indicating that it may have been written prior to that date. The lyrics were alleged to have been written by Dr. Nathaniel Ingelo, to be sung "at the civic feast at Guildhall on the 5th July, 1660, while the king and the other royal personages were at dinner"; however, the words of Ingelo's hymn differ significantly.[1]
The Hymnus Eucharisticus appears in several movies and television programs, including most notably, Richard Attenborough's film Shadowlands (1993), on the later years of C.S. Lewis, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins (as Lewis) and Debra Winger.
Te Deum Patrem colimus,
Te laudibus prosequimur,
qui corpus cibo reficis,
coelesti mentem gratia.
Te adoramus, O Jesu,
Te, Fili unigenite,
Te, qui non dedignatus es
subire claustra Virginis.
Actus in crucem, factus est
irato Deo victima
per te, Salvator unice
vitae spes nobis rediit.
Tibi, aeterne Spiritus
cuius afflatu peperit
infantem Deum Maria,
aeternum benedicimus.
Triune Deus, hominum
salutis auctor optime,
immensum hoc mysterium
orante lingua canimus.