Verbum Supernum Prodiens is a Catholic hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 by St Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...

. It was written for the Hour of Lauds

Lauds

Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...

 in the Divine Office

Liturgy of the hours

The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...

 of Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi (feast)

Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...

. It is about the institution of the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

 by Christ at the Last Supper

Last Supper

The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...

, and His Passion and death.
There is also an unrelated Latin Nativity hymn of the same name.
The last two verses form a hymn on their own as well, O Salutaris Hostia

O Salutaris Hostia

O salutaris Hostia, "O Saving Host", is a section of one of the Eucharistic hymns written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi. He wrote it for the Hour of Lauds in the Divine Office. It is actually the last two stanzas of the hymn Verbum supernum prodiens, and is used for the...

, which is sung at the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Blessed Sacrament

The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...

.

Latin text and English translation

Latin text	An English translation	Verse Rendering
1. Verbum supernum prodiens, Nec Patris linquens dexteram, Ad opus suum exiens, Venit ad vitæ vesperam. 2. In mortem a discipulo Suis tradendus æmulis, Prius in vitæ ferculo Se tradidit discipulis. 3. Quibus sub bina specie Carnem dedit et sanguinem; Ut duplicis substantiæ Totum cibaret hominem. 4. Se nascens dedit socium, Convescens in edulium, Se moriens in pretium, Se regnans dat in præmium. 5. O salutaris hostia, Quæ cæli pandis ostium, Bella premunt hostilia; Da robur, fer auxilium. 6. Uni trinoque Domino Sit sempiterna gloria: Qui vitam sine termino Nobis donet in patria.	The Word descending from above, without leaving the right hand of his Father, and going forth to do his work, reached the evening of his life. When about to be given over to his enemies by one of his disciples, to suffer death, he first gave himself to his disciples as the bread of life. Under a twofold appearance he gave them his flesh and his blood; that he might thus wholly feed us made up of a twofold substance. By his birth he gave himself as our companion; at the Last Supper he gave himself as our food; dying on the cross he gave himself as our ransom; reigning in heaven he gives himself as our reward O salutary Host, Who expandest the door of the sky, Hostile wars press. Give strength; bear aid. To the Lord One in Three, May there be sempiternal glory; May He grant us life without end In the native land.	The heavenly Word proceeding forth, Yet leaving not his Father's side, And going to His work on Earth, Has reached at length life's eventide. By false disciple to be given To foemen for His blood athirst, Himself, the living bread from heaven, He gave to his disciples first. In twofold form of sacrament, He gave His flesh, He gave His blood, That man, of soul and body blent, Might wholly feed on mystic food. In birth man's fellow-man was He, His meat while sitting at the board; He died, our ransomer to be, He reigns to be our great reward. O saving Victim, opening wide The gates of heaven to man below; Our foes press hard on every side, Thine aid supply, Thy strength bestow. All praise and thanks to thee ascend For evermore, blessed One in Three; O grant us life that shall not end, In our true native land with Thee.

External links

• Verbum Supernum Prodiens in the Catholic Encyclopedia
  Catholic Encyclopedia
  The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
  
  discusses the two hymns of the same name.