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

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...

. It is actually the last two stanzas of the hymn Verbum supernum prodiens

Verbum Supernum Prodiens

Verbum Supernum Prodiens is a Catholic hymn by St Thomas Aquinas. It was written for the Hour of Lauds in the Divine Office of Corpus Christi. It is about the institution of the Eucharist by Christ at the Last Supper, and His Passion and death...

, and is used for 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...

. The other two hymns written by Aquinas for the Feast contain the famous sections Panis angelicus

Panis Angelicus

Panis angelicus is the penultimate strophe of the hymn Sacris solemniis written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the Feast including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours....

and Tantum ergo

Tantum Ergo

Tantum ergo are the opening words of the last two verses of Pange Lingua, a Mediaeval Latin hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas. These last two verses are sung during veneration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and other churches that practice this devotion...

.

Latin text	Literal Translation	Verse Rendering
O salutaris Hostia, Quae caeli pandis ostium: Bella premunt hostilia, Da robur, fer auxilium. Uni trinoque Domino Sit sempiterna gloria, Qui vitam sine termino Nobis donet in patria. Amen.	O salutary Victim, 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; for life without end he gives to us in our homeland. Amen.	O saving Victim, opening wide The gate of Heaven to us below; Our foes press hard on every side; Your aid supply; Your strength bestow. To your great name be endless praise, Immortal Godhead, One in Three. O grant us endless length of days, In our true native land with thee. Amen.

As a liturgical text, the hymn is usually sung in Latin. There are however some cases in which it is found sung in the vernacular

Vernacular

A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...

.

At Notre Dame

Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...

, in Paris, a middle stanza is inserted, localizing the text:

Latin Text	Literal Translation
O vere digna Hostia, Spes unica fidelium: In te confidit Francia; Da pacem, serva lilium.	O truly worthy Victim, Only hope of the faithful : France trusts in You; Give peace, conserve the lily.

External links

• O salutaris hostia on the Choral Public Domain Library
  Choral Public Domain Library
  The Choral Public Domain Library is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing .-Description:...