Text:Gabriel, from the Heaven Descending
Author (attributed to):Adam of St. Victor
Translator (from Latin):John M. Neale
Tune:QUEM PASTORES
Composer:Anonymous
Media:MIDI file

1679. Gabriel, from the Heaven Descending

1. Gabriel, from the Heaven descending,
On the faithful Word attending,
Is in holy converse blending
With the virgin full of grace:

2. That good word and sweet he plighteth
In the bosom where it lighteth,
And for Eva Ave writeth,
Changing Eva’s name and race.

3. At the promise that he sendeth
God the Incarnate Word descendeth;
Yet no carnal touch offendeth
Her, the undefilèd one.

4. She, without a father, beareth,
She no bridal union shareth,
And a painless birth declareth
That she bare the Royal Son.

5. Tale that wondering search entices!
But believe—and that suffices;
It is not for man’s devices
Here to pry with gaze unmeet:

6. High the sign, its place assuming
In the bush, the unconsuming:
Mortal, veil thine eyes presuming,
Loose thy shoes from off thy feet.

7. As the rod, by wondrous power,
Moistened not by dew or shower,
Bare the almond and the flower,
Thus He came, the virgin’s fruit:

8. Hail the Fruit, O world, with gladness!
Fruit of joy and not of sadness:
Adam had not lapsed to madness
Had he tasted of its shoot.

9. Jesus, kind above all other,
Gentle Child of gentle mother,
In the stable born our Brother,
Whom the angelic hosts adore:

10. He, once cradled in a manger,
Heal our sin and calm our danger;
For our life, to this world stranger,
Is in peril evermore.

Text Information
First Line: Gabriel, from the Heaven descending
Title: Gabriel, from the Heaven Descending
Latin Title: Missus Gabriel de coelis
Author (attributed to): Adam of St. Victor
Translator (from Latin): John M. Neale
Meter: 88.87
Language: English
Source: Manuscript, circa 1199, in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris; translation in Medieval Hymns, second edition, 1863, page 137
Copyright: Public Domain
Tune Information
Name: QUEM PASTORES
Composer: Anonymous
Meter: 88.87
Incipit: 13345 65234 54321
Key: F Major
Source: Medieval German
Copyright: Public Domain



Media
Adobe Acrobat image: Adobe Acrobat image
(Cyber Hymnal)
MIDI file: MIDI File
(Cyber Hymnal)
Noteworthy Composer score: Noteworthy Composer score
(Cyber Hymnal)
XML score: XML score
More media are available on the tune authority page.

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us