Audi, benigne Conditor

Attributed to St. Gregory the Great, this classic Lenten hymn is preserved in Gregory's works in Migne's Patrologia Latina (vol. 78, col. 849:850) and in eleventh-century manuscripts at the British Museum and Durham Cathedral. In the Roman Breviary (1632), it is prescribed for Vespers from the Saturday before the First Sunday in Lent through the Saturday before Passion Sunday. In medieval English usage, including the Sarum, York, Canterbury, Evesham, and Worcester uses, it was appointed for Lauds or Vespers during the early weeks of Lent.

The Latin text is printed in Daniel's Thesaurus Hymnologicus (vol. i, No. 149), Philipp Wackernagel's collection, and John Henry Newman's Hymni Ecclesiae.

Numerous English translations have entered common usage. Bishop George Washington Doane rendered it as "Father of mercies, hear, Thy pardon" in Songs by the Way (1824). Edward Caswall translated the Roman Breviary text as "Thou loving Maker of mankind" in Lyra Catholica (1849), which was later altered to "O loving Maker of mankind" in The Hymnary (1872). Other notable versions include William John Blew's "Benign Creator, hear" (1852), John Mason Neale's "O Maker of the world, give ear" (1852), John David Chambers's "O Merciful Creator, hear, Regard our" (1857), and a popular composite version beginning "O Merciful Creator, hear, To us in pity," arranged by Francis Pott and the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861).