A Patre Unigenitus (English Translations)

The ancient Latin Epiphany acrostic "A Patre Unigenitus" has been rendered into English by several prominent scholars of the nineteenth-century liturgical revival. The three primary translations that successfully entered common use are detailed below.

1. "From God, to visit Earth forlorn"

This translation was crafted by the English hymnologist John David Chambers. It was first published in his Lauda Syon: Ancient Latin Hymns of the English Church (Part I, 1857, p. 109) and was structured in six stanzas of four lines. An altered version of Chambers' text, beginning with the modified opening line "From God the Father comes to earth," was subsequently adopted into the Appendix to the Hymnal Noted as entry number 131.

2. "God's Sole-Begotten came"

This version was translated by the prominent Anglo-Catholic priest and writer Dr. Richard Frederick Littledale. He prepared the translation specifically for The People's Hymnal (1867), where it was first introduced as entry number 44. To denote his authorship, the lyric was published under his frequent pseudonym, "A. L. P."

3. "Sent down by God to this world's frame"

This translation was produced by the acclaimed scholar and translator Dr. John Mason Neale. Neale likely drafted the piece as early as 1852 for inclusion in the pioneering Hymnal Noted, given that the Latin first line appeared in the collection's original promotional prospectus.

Dr. John Mason Neale, translator of 'Sent down by God to this world's frame'. Source: Wikipedia

However, a different Epiphany hymn was selected for the final 1852 volume, leaving Neale's translation unpublished for over two decades. The text finally appeared in print in the St. Margaret's Hymnal in 1875. From there, it transitioned through the Antiphoner and Grail (1880) and eventually secured a permanent place in The Hymner (1882) as hymn number 20.