A dove looked in...

Here is my translation of that wonderful Sequence Columba aspexit. I had two hours of free time yesterday, so instead of going to read old books of ceremonies or Tolkien, I did some Latin instead (which was probably the best option). It was fun to translate, since it was relatively easy, and it is a wonderfully beautiful piece of Latin. Enjoy!

A dove looked in

through the lattice windows,

where before its face

by sweating, there sweated balm

from bright Maximinus.

The warmth of the sun kindled

and in the shadows shone brightly,

whence a jewel arose

in the building of the temple,

a heart of the purest rich devotion.

He, the lofty tower,

of Lebanon's wood and cypress wrought,

with jacinth and carnelian was adorned,

the city surpassing the arts

of other artists.

The swift hart himself hastened

to the fountain of the purest water,

flowing from the strongest stone

which has diffused the sweet spices.

O painters,

you who are in the sweetest green

of the gardens of the king,

ascending to the height,

when you have finished the holy sacrifice

with the rams.

This artist shines among you

the wall of the temple

he who desired the wings of an eagle

by kissing the nurse Wisdom,

in the glorious fecundity of the Church.

O Maximinus

you are a mountain and a valley,

and in both you appear a high edifice,

where the he-goat with the elephant went out

and Wisdom has been in sweetness.

You are strong

and sweet in the ceremonies

and in the gleaming of the altar

ascending as an aromatic smoke

to the column of praise.

Where you intercede for the people

who reach out to the mirror of light

to whom there is praise on high.

If I have committed any careless solecism, then I ask the pardon of any irate Latinist out there! The Church is indeed gloriously fecund, as Bl. Hildegard says in this wonderful Sequence, because works such as these represent not only a certain mastery of Latin but also the devotion of her sons. I am not aware that anything beautiful has been composed in recent years by any devout and decorous son of the Church - maybe this is because of the general declension in ''Catholicness'' and the near universal loss of Latin in the last however many years. Give me Medieval Sequences anyday over Shine Jesus Shine and guitars! Confessedly, I had never heard of St Maximinus before I came across this Sequence, but whenever his Feast day is in the Old Rite, we'll have to make use of this Sequence in his Mass! (I wonder if that constitutes flying in the face of the regrettable Tridentine reforms?)