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by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179)
Translation © by Grant Hicks

O Ecclesia, oculi tui similes saphiro sunt
Language: Latin 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
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
Language: English  after the Latin 
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.

Note for line 31: The Latin text speaks of the devil's membra, a word whose basic meaning is "members" in the sense of "body parts." This may be intended as a sort of negative counterpart of the image of Christians as members of the Body of Christ.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179)
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2026-03-03
Line count: 43
Word count: 280

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