Poetry Reflection: “Godhead Here in Hiding”
“Adoro te Devote” is a Eucharistic poem written by St. Thomas Aquinas and frequently used as a hymn in Eucharistic processions and other public acts of Eucharistic devotion. St. Thomas Aguinas is one of the greatest medieval poets (as well as theologians), but his stunning Latin poetry has become most accessible and well-known through Gerard Manley Hopkins’ translation of the poem, titled “Godhead Here in Hiding.” This exercise will introduce or better acquaint students with this classic poem while demonstrating that the Eucharist is the wellspring of the Catholic artistic imagination. Materials Copies of the Handout (see below) Recording of “Adoro te Devote” Instructions Have students follow along on the handout while you play a recording of the original Latin “Adoro te Devote.” Have students go around the room each reading a stanza of “Godhead Here in Hiding.” Discuss the following as a class: What is a line or image from the poem that stands out to you? (There doesn’t need to be an understandable reason why the line stands out, as beauty often catches us unawares!) What does it mean to be “lost in wonder” before the Eucharist? How should wonder affect the way that we participate in personal prayer, Mass, and Eucharistic Adoration? What does the second stanza teach us about transubstantiation? How should we respond to moments when we struggle to have Faith in Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist? What was “the prayer of the dying thief?” How do we become like the dying thief at Mass? What is the story of Thomas and Jesus’ wounds? How can our faith in the Eucharist fulfill Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe?” According to old legends, the pelican would pierce his own chest with his beak in time of famine so that his children could drink his own blood. Why does St. Thomas call Jesus a pelican? Handout [set in 2 columns] “Adoro te devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas Adoro te devote, latens Deitas, Quae sub his figuris vere latitas: Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit, Quia te contemplans totum deficit. Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur, Sed auditu solo tuto creditur: Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius: Nil hoc verbo Veritátis verius. In Cruce latebat sola Deitas, At hic latet simul et humanitas: Ambo tamen credens atque confitens, Peto quod petivit latro paenitens. Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor: Deum tamen meum te confiteor: Fac me tibi semper magis credere, In te spem habere, te diligere. O memoriale mortis Domini, Panis vivus, vitam praestans homini, Praesta meae menti de te vivere, Et te illi semper dulce sapere. Pie pelicane, Jesu Domine, Me immundum munda tuo sanguine, Cujus una stilla salvum facere Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere. Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio, Oro fiat illud quod tam sitio: Ut te revelata cernens facie, Visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. “Godhead Here in Hiding,” Gerard Manley Hopkins Godhead here in hiding whom I do adore Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more. See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art. Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived; How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed; What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do; Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true. On the cross thy godhead made no sign to men; Here thy very manhood steals from human ken: Both are my confession, both are my belief, And I pray the prayer made by the dying thief. I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see, But I plainly call thee Lord and God as he: This faith each day deeper be my holding of, Daily make me harder hope and dearer love. O thou, our reminder of the Crucified, Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died, Lend this life to me, then; feed and feast my mind, There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find. Like what tender tales tell of the Pelican, Bathe me, Jesus Lord, in what thy bosom ran-- Blood that but one drop of has the pow'r to win All the world forgiveness of its world of sin. Jesus whom I look at shrouded here below, I beseech thee, send me what I thirst for so, Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light And be blest forever with thy glory's sight. Larisa Tuttle, a 2024 Summer Editorial Curriculum intern for Ave Maria Press, is currently a senior at the University of Dallas where she is a double major in English and Theology.
