Audi Benigne

Oliver Hayes sets a time-honoured Latin text, a hymn for Lent. The anonymous author implores the 'gentle creator' to hear prayers offered with tears during the sacred forty days of fasting. The text acknowledges human weakness and sin, seeking pardon and healing from God, the 'searcher of hearts'. It asks for the body to be disciplined through abstinence so that fasting hearts may be cleansed of sin. The final stanza is a plea to the Trinity for the Lenten offerings of the faithful to be fruitful. This SATB setting is suitable for liturgical use, bringing a traditional sacred text to life with rich harmonies.