All thou canst, do thou endeavor

Someone said something this weekend which reminded me of a line from the sequence for last week's Feast of Corpus Christi:  Thomas Aquinas' hymn Lauda Sion.  Benedict XVI first drew this line to my attention in his Feast of Faith.  It has long been a favorite line from one of his favorite hymns.  It goes:

Quantum potes, tantum aude:
Quia major omni laude,
Nec laudáre súfficis.

Translated variously--

• Bring him all the praise you know, He is more than you bestow, Never can you reach his due.
• All thou canst, do thou endeavour: Yet thy praise can equal never such as merits thy great King.

Or as I first saw it in Feast of Faith:  Dare to do as much as you can--for the glory of the great King nothing suffices.

Enjoy this beautiful rendition . . .






(Did you notice the Poet isn't writing about food?  At least, not exactly.  There's only one kind of food he wants . . . )