From St. Bernard of Clairvaux we have such great hymns as “Light of the anxious heart,” “Wide open are Thy hands,” “O Jesus, King most wonderful,” “Jesus, the very thought of Thee,” “Jesus, Thou Joy of loving hearts,” and “O Sacred Head, now wounded.” St. Bernard was born in Fountaines, Burgundy, 1091. History speaks of him as highly imaginative, great champion of the faith, great orator, great teacher, founder and abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux, and leader in mediaeval mysticism. He died in 1153. Luther called him “the best monk that ever lived.” Hymns from the two Bernards can be found in any standard modern hymn book and they are worth careful study. Adam of St. Victor (twelfth century) is another important Latin hymnist. He was choirmaster at the great St. Victor monastery at Paris. Trench speaks of him as “the foremost among the sacred Latin poets of the Middle Ages.” Thomas of Celano, whose birthplace is unknown, was one of the first members of the Franciscan order. In 1221 he went to Germany and remained there for nine years; then he returned to Italy, where he died in 1255. Thomas of Celano wrote the greatest hymn of the Latin Church—Dies Irae. There are nineteen verses to this great Sequence, of which we quote the first two. The translation is by Wm. J. Irons. Day of wrath, that Day of mourning, See fulfilled the prophet’s warning, Heaven and earth in ashes burning. O what fear man’s bosom rendeth, When from heaven the Judge descendeth, On whose sentence all dependeth. Thomas Aquinas was born in a Neapolitan castle, Italy, about 1225. He was a Dominican and the strongest of the scholastics, theological professor at several universities, Doctor of Theology from Paris, also called Doctor Angelicus. He was a prolific writer; his Summa Theologiae is a great dogmatic work. He died in a prominent monastery at Naples in 1274. Thomas Aquinas produced a number of excellent hymns. His “Lauda, Sion, salvatorem” is generally regarded as one of the greatest hymns of Latin hymnody. It can be found in almost any standard hymnal, beginning “Sion, to thy Saviour singing.” Jacoponus (died 1306) wrote one of the greatest hymns of the Roman Church, namely, Stabat Mater Dolorosa. This hymn is found in many Protestant hymnals, beginning “At the Cross her station keeping.” Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) of Holland and John Huss (1369-1415) of Bohemia, made valuable contributions to mediaeval hymnody.