Pange lingua gloriosi [lauream]; Sing, My Tongue, The Glorious Battle
Hymn recited on Good Friday morning during the Adoration of the Cross.
For Breviary use it is divided into two parts:
- "Pange lingua gloriosi," hymn for Matins from Passion Sunday to the Wednesday of Holy Week (inclusive), and for Matins on 3 May and 14 September, Feasts of the Finding, and of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
- "Lustra sex qui jam peregit," hymn for Lauds for the same days as above.
It was written by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609) and has approximately twenty-five translations; the one given is by J. Neale.
The eighth verse reads:
Faithful Cross! above all other,
One and only noble tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peers may be;
Sweetest Wood and Sweetest Iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee.
New Catholic Dictionary
