Corpus Christi

And in addition to the hauntingly beautiful Ave Verum of the dispossessed Catholic, William Byrd, some much later and Anglo-Catholic hymnody for tomorrow's Solemnity of Corpus Christi - no music available unfortunately:

We pray thee, heavenly Father,
To hear us in thy love,
And pour upon thy children
The unction from above;
That so in love abiding,
From all defilement free,
We may in pureness offer
Our Eucharist to thee.


All that we have we offer,
For it is all thine own;
All gifts by thy appointment
In bread and cup are shown;
One thing alone we bring not,
The wilfulness of sin;
And all we bring is nothing,
Save that which is within.


Within the pure oblation,
Beneath the outward sign,
By that his operation,—
The Holy Ghost divine, —
Lies hid the sacred Body,
Lies hid the precious Blood
Once slain, now ever glorious,
Of Christ our Lord and God.


Wherefore though all unworthy
To offer sacrifice,
We pray that this our duty
Be pleasing in thine eyes;
For praise, and thanks and worship,
For mercy and for aid,
The Catholic oblation
Of Jesus Christ is made.



V.S.S. Coles 1845 - 1929 [a biography here]

Lastly, timeless music from the twentieth century by Ralph Vaughan Williams: the communion anthem, O Taste and See, a setting of verses from Psalm 34 in the Coverdale translation in the 1662 Prayer Book: