O qui tuo dux Martyrum

O Captain of the Martyr Host!
O peerless in renown!
Not from the fading flowers of earth
Weave we for thee a crown.

The stones that smote thee, in thy blood
Made glorious and divine.
All in a halo heavenly bright
About thy temples shine.

The scars upon thy sacred brow
Throw beams of glory round;
The splendours of thy bruised face
The very sun confound.

Oh, earliest Victim sacrific’d
To thy dear Victim Lord!
Oh, earliest witness to the Faith
Of thy Incarnate God!

Thou to the heavenly Canaan first
Through the Red Sea didst go,
And to the Martyrs’ countless Host,
Their path of glory shew.

Erewhile a servant of the poor,—
Now at the Lamb’s high Feast,
In blood-empurpled robe array’d,
A welcome nuptial guest!