"Adeste Fidelis" by several authors (in Latin and English)

Latin Language

    Verses 1-4 by John Francis Wade, 1740-43

    Verses 5-7 by Abbé Étienne Jean François Borderies, 1822

    Verse 8 author unknown, 1850

1. Adeste Fideles laeti triumphantes,

Venite, venite in Bethlehem.

Natum videte, Regem Angelorum;

Refrain:

    Venite adoremus,

    venite adoremus,

    venite adoremus

    Dominum!

2. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,

gestant puellae viscera.

Deum verum, genitum non factum; (refrain)

3. Cantet nunc io chorus Angelorum

cantet nunc aula caelestium:

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

4. Ergo qui natus, die hodierna,

Jesu, tibi sit gloria.

Patris aeterni Verbum caro factum;

5. En grege relicto, Humiles ad cunas,

vocati pastores approperant.

Et nos ovanti gradu festinemus;

6. Aeterni Parentis splendorem aeternum,

velatum sub carne videbimus.

Deum infantem, pannis involutum;

7. Pro nobis egenum et foeno cubantem,

piis foveamus amplexibus.

Sic nos anamtem quis non redamaret?

8. Stella duce, Magi, Christum adorantes,

aurum, thus, et myrrham dant munera.

Jesu infanti corda praebeamus;

English Lyrics (This English version follows the Latin order of verses, with the translations of Wade’s four original stanzas appearing first. However, when William Thomas Brooke translated the remaining Latin verses, he changed the order of the song and placed his transcriptions in the middle; so some publications may have verses 3 and 4 written at the end.)

Verses 1-4 translated by Frederick Oakeley, D.D., 1841

            Verses 5-8 translated by William Thomas Brooke, 1885

1. O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, o come ye, to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;1

Refrain:

    O come, let us adore Him,

    O come, let us adore Him,

    O come, let us adore Him,

    Christ the Lord!

2. God of God, Light of Light,

Lo! He abhors not the Virgin’s womb.

Very God, begotten not created;

3. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation!

Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above:

Glory to God, glory in the highest!2

4. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning,

Jesu, to Thee be glory given.3

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;

5. See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,

leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze.

We too will thither bend our hearts’ oblations;4

6. There shall we see Him, His eternal Father’s

everlasting brightness now veiled under flesh.

God shall we find there, a Babe in infant clothing;

7. Child, for us sinners, poor and in the manger,

we would embrace Thee, with love and awe.

Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?

8. Lo! Star-led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,

offer Him frankincense, gold and myrrh.5

We to the Christ-child, bring our hearts oblations;

    1  An early version of the first stanza is:

          “O come, all ye faithful, joyfully triumphant,

          Come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.

          Come and behold Him, Monarch of the Angels.”

    2  may also be sung “Glory to God, in the highest”

    3  some write “Jesus”

    4  or “bend our joyful footsteps”

    5  or “offer Him incense, gold and myrrh”

"Adeste Fideles" with Latin lyrics.