Above:  The Massacre of the Innocents, by Tintoretto

Image in the Public Domain

Original Text by Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-circa 413)

English Translation by John Athelstan Laurie Riley (1858-1945)

Hymn Source = The English Hymnal (1906), The Church of England

A hymn for the Feast of the Holy Innocents

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All hail, ye little Martyr flowers,

Sweet rosebuds cut in dawning hours!

When Herod sought the Christ to find

Ye fell as bloom before the wind.

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First victims of the Martyr bands,

With crowns and palms in tender hands,

Around the very altar, gay

And innocent, ye seem to play.

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What profited this great offence?

What use was Herod’s violence?

A Babe survives that dreadful day,

And Christ is safely borne away.

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All honour, laud, and glory be,

O Jesu, virgin-born, to thee;

All glory, as it is ever meet

To Father and to Paraclete.