A Patre Unigenitus. Anon. [Epiphany.] Daniel, in vol. i., 1841, and later edition No. 210, gives only the first four lines of this hymn as belonging to a hymn for the Feast of the Epiphany, of uncertain authorship, date between the 10th and 13th centuries. In the ancient manuscripts in the British Museum, however, this hymn is found in three of the 11th century (Harl. 2961, f. 230; Jul. A. vi. f. 366; Vesp. D. xii. f. 436). In the Latin Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon (Surtees Society), 1851, p. 53, it is reprinted in full from a Durham manuscript of the 11th century.
In 1853, Mone gave the full text in vol. i., No. 59, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, heading it, "In Epiphania ad nocturnum," and added an extended note on the text, with references to a 15th century manuscript at Stuttgart; and to Thomasius, &c. This text, with the notes and an addition or two including a reference to a manuscript of the monastery of Rheinau, of the 11th century, was repeated by Daniel, vol. iv. (1855), p. 151. It is also in the Hymnarium Sarisburiense). London, 1851, p. 26, as a hymn at Lauds in the Epiphany, and through the octave; where are also given the variations of York (used at Matins during the same period); of Evesham; Worcester, &c. It is also in Wackernagel, i., No. 173; in Card. Newman's Hymni Eccl., 1838-65, and others. It may be noticed that the original is an acrostic from A to T inclusively. The Gloria, of course, does not follow this arrangement.
[Rev.W. A. Shoults, B. D.]
Translations in common use:—
1. From God, to visit Earth forlorn. By J. D. Chambers in his Lauda Syon, Pt. 1, 1857, p. 109, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. This is given in an altered form as: "From God the Father comes to earth" in the Appendix to the Hymnal Noted No. 131.
2. God's Sole-Begotten came. By R. F. Littledale, made for, and first published in the People's Hymnal, 1867, No. 44, and signed "A. L. P."
3. Sent down by God to this world's frame. By J. M. Neale: probably originally made for the Hymnal Noted, 1852, as the first line in Latin appears in the original prospectus. Another Epiphany hymn was, however, given, and this tr. seems not to have been printed till the St. Margaret's Hymnal, 1875, whence it passed through the Antiphoner and Grail, 1880, into the Hymner, 1882, No. 20.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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A Patre Unigenitus. Another translation is, “The Father's sole-begotten Son," by T. B. Pollock, in the 1889 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern. Recast by Compilers, 1904.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
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Dearmer, Percy, M.A., son of Thomas Dearmer, was born in London, Feb. 27, 1867, and educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A. 1890, M.A. 1896). He was ordained D. 1891, P. 1892, and has been since 1901 Vicar of S. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, London. He has been Secretary of the London Branch of the Christian Social Union since 1891, and is the author of The Parson's Handbook, 1st edition, 1899, and other works. He was one of the compilers of the English Hymnal, 1906, acting as Secretary and Editor, and contributed to it ten translations (38, 95, 150, 160, 165, 180, 215, 237, 352, 628) and portions of two others (242, 329), with the following originals:—
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