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O filii et filiae

4 min

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Ye sons and daughters of the King

Whom heavenly hosts in glory sing,

To-day the grave hath lost its sting!

Alleluia.

On that first morning of the week,

Before the day began to break,

They went their buried Lord to seek.

Alleluia.

Both Mary, as it came to pass,

And Mary Magdalene it was,

And Mary, wife of Cleophas.

Alleluia.

An Angel clad in white was he

That sate and spake unto the three,

"Your Lord is gone to Galilee!"

Alleluia.

When John the Apostle heard the fame,

He to the tomb with Peter came:

But in the way outran the same.

Alleluia.

That night the Apostles met in fear:

Amidst them came their Lord most dear,

And said, "Peace be unto all here!"

Alleluia.

When Didymus had after heard

That Jesus had fulfilled His Word,

He doubted if it were the Lord.

Alleluia.

"Thomas, behold My Side," saith He;

"My Hands, My Feet, My Body see:

And doubt not, but believe in Me."

Alleluia!

No longer Didymus denied:

He saw the Hands, the Feet, the Side;

"Thou art my Lord and God," he cried.

Alleluia.

Blessed are they that have not seen,

And yet whose faith hath constant been:

In Life Eternal they shall reign.

Alleluia.

On this most holy Day of days,

Be laud and jubilee and praise:

To God both hearts and voices raise:

Alleluia.

And we with Holy Church unite,

As is both meet and just and right,

In glory to the King of Light.

Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

O filii et filiae,

Rex caelestis, Rex gloriae,

Morte surrexit hodie.

Alleluia.

Et mane prima sabbati,

Ad ostium monumenti

Accesserunt discipuli.

Alleluia.

Et Maria Magdalene,

Et Jacobi, et Salome,

Venerunt corpus ungere.

Alleluia.

In albis sedens Angelus

Praedixit mulieribus:

In Galilaea est Dominus.

Alleluia.

Et Joannes Apostolus

Cucurrit Petro citius,

Monumento venit prius.

Alleluia.

Discipulis adstantibus,

In medio stetit Christus,

Dicens: Pax vobis omnibus.

Alleluia.

Ut intellexit Didymus,

Quia surrexerat Jesus,

Remansit fere dubius.

Alleluia.

Vide, Thoma, vide latus,

Vide pedes, vide manus,

Noli esse incredulus.

Alleluia.

Quando Thomas Christi latus,

Pedes vidit atque manus,

Dixit: Tu es Deus meus.

Alleluia.

Beati qui non viderunt,

Et firmiter crediderunt,

Vitam aeternam habebunt.

Alleluia.

In hoc festo sanctissimo

Sit laus et jubilatio,

Benedicamus Domino.

Alleluia.

Ex quibus nos humillimas

Devotas atque debitas

Deo dicamus Gratias.

Alleluia.

About this prayer

*Ye sons and daughters of the King* — the Easter carol that tells the morning of the Resurrection and the faith of Thomas, each verse crowned with Alleluia.

History

Written by the Franciscan preacher Jean Tisserand (d. 1494) in Paris; it spread from France across Europe and is sung through Eastertide, above all on Low Sunday, whose Gospel of Thomas it retells.

Latin: *The Liber Usualis* (Desclée, 1961), p. 1875 — [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/TheLiberUsualis1961) · English: J. M. Neale, *Mediæval Hymns and Sequences* (3rd ed., 1867), pp. 164–165 — [Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mediaeval_Hymns_and_Sequences/O_Filii_et_Filiae)

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