Of The Father's Love Begotten

Corde natus ex Parentis

Text by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

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About this hymn

Date: 5th century
Tune: Divinum mysterium
Composer: Medieval Latin plainsong
Key: F
Meter: 8 7 8 7 8 7 7

Historical background

Prudentius’s late-antique Latin poem entered English hymnody through translations by John Mason Neale and Henry Williams Baker and is sung here to the medieval plainsong Divinum mysterium.

Theology & Scripture

The text confesses the eternal Son, his incarnation, and the worship owed him by all creation and ages.

Jn 3:16 · Acts 13:32-39 · Rev 1:8 · Jn 1:1-5 · Phil 2:5-11 · Mt 1:20-23 · 13:16-17 · Lk 24:27

Musical background

Divinum mysterium is presented in the documented public-domain setting named by the source score. This edition contains four-part SATB harmony in F.

Sources & rights

Verified for United States on 2026-10-12. Public domain — source score marking

Words: Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, 5th Century. Verses 1, 4-8 translated by John Mason Neale, 1854. Verses 2-3, 9 translated by Henry Williams Baker, 1859. Music: 'Divinum Mysterium' or 'Corde Natus' Latin Plainsong, 13th Century. Setting: "The Church Hymnal, Revised and Enlarged" (Episcopal), 1892, alt. copyright: public domain. This score is a part of the Open Hymnal Project, 2014 Revision.
Music source: "The Church Hymnal, Revised and Enlarged" (Episcopal), 1892 Ed. Charles Hutchins Hymn 52 (first tune)
Lyrics source: "Hymns Ancient and Modern", 1904 Hymn 58 except verse 6 kept Neale's original instead of Baker's altered: from "Collected Hymns, Sequences and Carols of John Mason Neale" By John Mason Neale