The text for Of the Father's Love Begotten is taken from the Hymnus omnis horae (Hymn for every hour), a 37-stanza poem found in the Cathemerinon, a collection of hymns by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-ca. 410). Parts of this text were used in the rites of York and Hereford during Christmastide, and in the Mozarabic (Spanish) rite for festivals of the Blessed Virgin. The plainsong began as a Sanctus trope (a series of interpolations in a Gregorian chant) to the words "Divinum mysterium," in praise of the Blessed Sacrament. The English translation is by John M. Neale (1818-1866).

- Andrew Morgan