Caelestis orbs Jerusalem
Caelestis orbs Jerusalem
(Thou Heavenly, New Jerusalem) Hymn for Vespers and Matins on the feast of the dedication of a church. It is not known who the author was, but it was written in the 6th or 7th century . There are about 30 translations. The one given in Britt is by W. Irons; the fourth verse reads:
By many a salutary stroke,
By many a weary blow that broke,
Or polished with a workman’s skill,
The stones that form that glorious pile,
They all are fitly framed to lie
In their appointed place on high.