Ego sum Custos Angela

Commissioned and Premiered (21 October 1995) by Laurie Monahan, St. Martins Episcopal, Providence, RI
Text by Patricia Van Ness (English), trans. into Latin by Edward J. Vodoklys, S.J.
Vielle Improvisation by Shira Kammen

Text:

Ego sum custos Angela / I am your Guardian Angel
Pastor tuus natu / your shepherd at birth.
Millibus angelorum te circumfusis / Thousand of angels circle around
Inspiratibusque tuum primum spiritum. / inspiriting your first breath.

Omnis volvens lapis / Every turning stone
Omne volitans folium / each fluttering leaf
Omnia huius terrae / all things belonging to this earth
Silentibus angelis coronata. / are crowned with silent angels.

Omnis vivens moriendus; / Everything that lives must die;
Sive vivis sive morieris, / as you live and as you pass away,
Circumvenimus te / we surround
Atque complectimus / and enfold you.