Jesu, who this our Lenten-tide

Jesu, who this our Lenten-tide. Walter Howard Frere* (1863-1938). This is a translation of ‘Jesu quadragenariae’, a hymn for Lent in the monastic Uses from the 10th century onwards. It had five stanzas and a doxology (‘Presta, Pater, per Filium/ Presta per almum Spiritum’). Frere translated three stanzas for A Plainsong Hymn Book (1932):  Jesu, who this our Lenten-tide Of abstinence hast sanctified, Be with Thy Church in saving power In this her penitential hour. And, as Thou dost forgive the past, Thy shelt’ring arms around us cast, That we may in Thy grace remain And fall not back to sins again. Make, Lord, this Lenten discipline An expiation for our sin; And through these days...