O salutaris Hostia,
O saving Sacrifice
Quae caeli pandis ostium:
Who–of heaven–(You) expand–(the) gate:
Bella premunt hostilia,
Battles–press (us)–hostile,
Da robur, fer auxilium.
Give strength, confer assistance.
Uni trinoque Domino
To (the) one triune-and Lord
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Be eternal glory,
Qui vitam sine termino
Who life without end
Nobis donet in patria.
to us can give in (our) fatherland.
Amen.
Prosody
The hymn/poem is composed of two stanzas of four lines each, in iambic tetrameter ((See: https://classicalliberalarts.com/resources/GILDERSLEEVE_LATIN_GRAMMAR.pdf#page=469)). Each line is composed of four iambic feet (dit-DAH dit-DAH dit-DAH dit-DAH). In English hymnody, this is called “Long Meter”. Note that there is a rhyming pattern in the hymn with alternate lines rhyming in their final two syllables.
Exposition
O: interjection, used to address another; followed by vocative case
salutaris: adjective noun, fem., sing., voc., “salutary, saving”
hostia: substantive noun, fem., sing., voc., “sacrifice”
quae: pronoun, fem., sing., voc., “which, who”
caeli: substantive noun, neut. sing, gen., “of heaven”
pandis: verb, pres, ind, act, 2nd, sing, “(you) open, expand”((pandis – “Expands” is used in the translation to help remember the original Latin term.))
ostium: substantive noun, neut, sing, acc, “(the) gate”
bella: substantive noun, neut, pl, nom, “battles”
premunt: verb, pres, ind, act. 3rd, pl, “(they) press”
hostilia: adjective noun, neut, pl, nom, “hostile”
da: verb, pres, imp, act, 2nd, sing, “give”
robur: substantive noun, neut, sing, acc, “strength”
fer: verb, pres, imp, act, 2nd, sing, “bring, confer” ((fer – “Confer” is used in the translation to help remember the original Latin term.))
auxilium: substantive noun, neut, sing, acc, “assistance”
Translation: “O saving Sacrifice, who expands (the) entrance of heaven, hostile battles press [us]. Give [us] strength. Confer assistance.“
uni: adjective noun, masc, sing, dat, “to [the] one”
trino: adjective noun, masc, sing, dat, “triune”
-que: conjunction, “and”
Domino: substantive noun, masc, sing, dat, “Lord”
sit: verb, pres, sub, act, 3rd, sing, “be”
sempiterna: adjective, fem, sing, nom, “eternal”
gloria: substantive noun, fem, sing, nom, “glory”
qui: pronoun, masc, sing, nom, “who”
vitam: substantive noun, fem, sing, acc, “life”
sine: preposition (+abl); “without”
termino: substantive noun, masc, sing, abl, “end”
nobis: pronoun, masc, pl, dat, “to us”
donet: verb, pres, pot, act, 3rd, sing, “can give” ((donet – “Can give” is used to express the potential mood, which seems to be implied in the text. We are not giving permission–“may give”–but confessing God’s ability to–“can give”–eternal life.))
in: preposition (+abl.), “in”
patria: substantive noun, fem, sing, abl, “homeland” ((patria – Literally “father-land”, which makes sense given it is the place where our Father dwells. See: Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “fatherland (n.),” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/9806013960.))
Translation: “To the one and triune Lord be eternal glory; who can give ot us life without end in [our] fatherland.“
Amen: adverb, “so be it”.
