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O Ecclesia, oculi tui similes saphiro sunt, et aures tue monti Bethel, et nasus tuus est sicut mons mirre et thuris, et os tuum quasi sonus aquarum multarum. In visione vere fidei Ursula filium dei amavit et virum cum hoc seculo reliquit et in solem aspexit atque pulcherrimum iuvenem vocavit, dicens: In multo desiderio desideravi ad te venire et in celestibus nuptiis tecum sedere, per alienam viam ad te currens velut nubes que in purissimo aere currit similes saphiro. Et postquam Ursula sic dixerat, rumor iste per omnes populos exiit. Et dixerunt: Innocentia puellaris ignorantie nescit quid dicit. Et ceperunt ludere cum illa in magna symphonia, usque dum ignea sarcina super eam cecidit, unde omnes cognoscebant quia contemptus mundi est sicut mons Bethel. Et cognoverunt etiam suavissimum odorem mirre et thuris, quoniam contemptus mundi super omnia ascendit. Tunc diabolus membra sua invasit, que nobilissimos mores in corporibus istis occiderunt. Et hoc in alta voce omnia elementa audierunt et ante thronum dei dixerunt: Wach! rubicundus sanguis innocentis agni in desponsatione sua effusus est. Hoc audiant omnes celi et in summa symphonia laudent agnum dei, quia guttur serpentis antiqui in istis margaritis matherie verbi dei suffocatum est.
Text Authorship:
- by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179), "O Ecclesia, oculi tui similes saphiro sunt" [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "O Church, your eyes are like sapphire", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Ô Église, tes yeux sont semblables au saphir", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-18
Line count: 43
Word count: 195
O Church, your eyes are like sapphire, and your ears like Mount Bethel, and your nose is like a mountain of myrrh and frankincense, and your mouth like the sound of many waters. In a vision of true faith Ursula loved the son of God and forsook a man with this world and gazed into the sun and called out to the most handsome youth, saying: I have wished with many a wish to come to you and to sit with you at the celestial wedding feast, running to you by an unfamiliar path like a cloud that through the clearest air runs, resembling a sapphire. And after Ursula had thus spoken, the report of it went out among all the people. And they said: "In the innocence of girlish ignorance she does not know what she is saying." And they began to make sport of her in a great chorus, until a fiery burden fell upon her, whence all came to know that contempt of the world is like Mount Bethel. And they recognized also the odor most sweet of myrrh and frankincense, because contempt of the world rises above all. Then the devil took possession of his own agents, who slew in those bodies the noblest inclinations. And all the elements in a loud voice heard this and said before the throne of God: "Ah! the red blood of the innocent lamb has been poured out at his betrothal." Let all the heavens hear this and with most exalted harmony let them praise the lamb of God, for the throat of the old serpent has been choked with those pearls of the substance of the word of God.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Latin by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179)
This text was added to the website: 2026-03-03
Line count: 43
Word count: 280