"He sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in that region who were two years old or under." Matthew 2:16
Words: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-413) (Salvete flores martyrum); translated from Latin to English by John Athelstan Laurie Riley in The English Hymnal (London: Oxford University Press, 1906).
Music: "Saratt," G. C. E. Ryley
 Play MIDI | Link to obtain musical score info |
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.
First victims of the martyr bands,
With crowns and palms in tender hands,
Around the very altar, gay
And innocent, ye seem to play.
What profited this great offense?
What use was Herod's violence?
A Babe survives that dreadful day,
And Christ is safely borne away.
All honor, laud, and glory be,
O Jesus, virgin born, to Thee;
All glory, as is ever meet
To Father and to Paraclete.
