But the great author and leader of Latin hymnody is, undoubtedly, St. Ambrose, the admirable and amiable bishop of Milan. He was born in 340 and died on Good Friday, 397. St. Ambrose has been called the father of Latin church song, because of his great work in hymnody and church music. The first stanza of one of his beautiful hymns is here quoted. O Jesus, Lord of heavenly grace, Thou Brightness of Thy Father’s face, Thou Fountain of eternal light, Whose beams disperse the shades of night. Prudentius (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens) is a prominent Latin hymn writer of this period. He was born in Spain, 348 A. D. Prudentius has been called “the first great Christian poet.” With him the Latin, the language of a stern and hard people, is, as it were, tempered by faith. He, like most of the early Latin hymnists, sings the praises of the faith, hope and love of the Christian Church. The subjective, with its “I,” “me” and “mine,” so characteristic of modern hymnody, had no place in the hymns of Prudentius. He received high honors from the Roman emperor, but in old age he preferred to devote himself quietly to religious literary work. He died about 410 A. D. We quote the first stanza of a beautiful Christmas hymn, Corde natus ex Parentis, from Prudentius, the translation by Neale. Of the Father’s love begotten, Ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see, Evermore and evermore. St. Patrick (fifth century), called the Apostle of Ireland, wrote several hymns for his people. Coelius Sedulius, of the fifth century, wrote several great Latin hymns, among which we refer to one that has been sung quite extensively, namely, A solis ortus cardine—From lands that see the sun arise.