Eucharistic Devotion "O Salutaris Hostia"

O Salutaris Hostia one of the Eucharistic hymns used in Benediction. Filmed at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Hanceville, AL, and Mother Angelica's Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.



O Salutaris Hostia - Hymn used for the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Sung by The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration Nuns of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, Hanceville, Alabama. Founded by Mother Angelica.





O salutaris hostia
Quae caeli pandis ostium
Bella premunt hostilia
Da robur,fer auxilium

Uni trinoque domino
Sir sempiterna gloria
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in patria
AMEN

English Translation

O saving Victim, opening wide
The gate of heaven to all us below:
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply, Thy strength bestow.
To Thy great Name be endless praise,
Immortal Godhead, One in Three!
O grant us endless length of days
With Thee in our true country.
Amen.

This is most commonly a Benediction hymn. While not mandatory, the Church nevertheless makes frequent use of it at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, adoration, and Eucharistic processions. It is one of the most famous chants in existence.

It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor. He is known as the Common Doctor of the Church. His angelic purity and holiness brought him very close to God. He wrote the hymn Verbum Supernum Prodiens (of which O Salutaris Hostia is the last two stanzas) for the feast of Corpus Christi. He wrote several Eucharistic hymns, all of which are well-known and loved to this day for their beauty, piety, and solid expression of Catholic doctrine.