Saint Thomas Aquinas

O Salutaris Hostia — O Saving Victim

The last two stanzas of Verbum supernum, sung at exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

LatinEnglish

O salutáris Hóstia,
Quæ cæli pandis óstium:
Bella premunt hostília,
Da robur, fer auxílium.

O saving Victim,
who open the gate of heaven:
hostile wars press upon us;
give strength, bring help.

Uni trinóque Dómino
Sit sempitérna glória:
Qui vitam sine término
Nobis donet in pátria. Amen.

To the Lord, one and triune,
be everlasting glory:
may he grant us life without end
in our homeland. Amen.

SourceSaint Thomas Aquinas · The last two stanzas of Verbum supernum, sung at exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

The history of this prayer

The O Salutaris Hostia is made of the last two stanzas of Verbum supernum prodiens, the Lauds hymn of the feast of Corpus Christi. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote the texts of the Office for that feast at the request of Pope Urban IV, who extended it to the whole Church in 1264.

Taken apart from the hymn, these two stanzas came to be sung at the beginning of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, while the priest places the Host in the monstrance and incenses it. At the end of adoration, before the blessing, the Tantum ergo — also by Saint Thomas — is sung.

The first stanza is a plea — “hostile wars press upon us: give strength, bring help”; the second is a doxology to the Trinity.

In some places a local stanza was added: at Notre-Dame de Paris, for instance, a middle stanza is inserted asking peace and protection for France. The universal form, however, has two stanzas, which many of the faithful know by heart from childhood and sing during holy hours. In Church Latin, “caeli” is said “CHAY-lee”.

Frequently asked questions

Who wrote the O Salutaris Hostia?

Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the thirteenth century. It is the last two stanzas of the hymn Verbum supernum prodiens, from Lauds of Corpus Christi.

When is the O Salutaris sung?

Traditionally at the beginning of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; the Tantum ergo is sung at the end, before the blessing.

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