"Adoro te devote" is a prayer written by Thomas Aquinas.[1] Unlike hymns which were composed and set to music for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, instituted in 1264 by Pope Urban IV for the entire Latin Church[2] of the Catholic Church, it was not written for a liturgical function and appears in no liturgical texts of the period; some scholars believe that it was written by the friar for private use at Mass.[3] The text has since been incorporated into public worship as a hymn.
The authorship of the hymn by Thomas Aquinas was previously doubted by some scholars.[4] More recent scholarship has put such doubts to rest.[5] Thomas seems to have used it also as a private prayer, for a daily adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.[5]
Adoro te devote is one of the medieval poetic compositions, being used as spoken prayers and also as chanted hymns, which were preserved in the Roman Missal published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563).
The hymn is still sung today, though its use is optional in the post-Vatican II ordinary form.