# Adoro Te Devote (Godhead Here in Hiding)

> Kneel for a moment before the Blessed Sacrament and, with this ancient hymn, adore Jesus, who is present yet hidden under the appearance of bread.

- Source: Light of Saints, “Adoro Te Devote (Godhead Here in Hiding)”, https://lightofsaints.com/en/prayers/adoro-te-devote
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Published: 2026-11-06

## Meaning

This prayer confesses that Jesus is truly present under the appearance of bread, even though sight, touch and taste do not perceive him; faith rests on the word that is heard (cf. Rom 10:17). Like Thomas, who cried out "My Lord and my God" (Jn 20:28), the one praying asks for an increase of faith, hope and love, and to be cleansed by the blood of Christ.

## Prayer

_Traditional prayer of the Church._

### Adoro Te Devote

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God’s Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth Himself speaks truly or there’s nothing true.
On the cross Thy godhead made no sign to men,
Here Thy very manhood steals from human ken:
Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.
I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he;
Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.
O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.
Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican;
Bathe me, Jesu Lord, in what Thy bosom ran
Blood whereof a single drop has power to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.
Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with Thy glory’s sight. Amen.

## Intentions & hopes

The faithful pray it to give thanks after receiving Communion and to deepen their faith in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. One may hope that one's heart draws closer to Christ and that one's faith grows, without demanding any particular result.

## When & how to pray

- Pray it after receiving Holy Communion, during a quiet moment in the pew, as an act of thanksgiving.
- Pray it also during adoration before the Blessed Sacrament or before Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
- Kneel or sit quietly, and turn your gaze toward the tabernacle or the monstrance.
- Recite or sing it slowly, verse by verse, pausing briefly at any words that touch your heart.
- This prayer is also fitting around the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

## Origins

According to tradition, this rhymed hymn was composed by Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274). The prayer is addressed to Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.

The oldest known manuscripts date from about fifty years after Thomas's death, and no source from that period names him as the author. In the twentieth century, Dom André Wilmart judged that the documentary evidence was not enough to establish Thomas's authorship. Grabmann, on the other hand, defended it, because all the manuscripts give Thomas's name and the content of the poem reflects his theology of the Eucharist. Raby noted that a poem by Jacopone da Todi (c. 1280–1294) seems already to presuppose the Adoro te.

More recent scholarship tends to favor Thomas. The final version of Tocco's biography of Thomas (completed in 1323) contains the text and names Thomas as its author. Wielockx (1998) found that 44 of 51 sources name Thomas, and Schoot calls Thomas almost certainly its author.

At first the text was not part of the official liturgy. Pope Saint Pius V included it among the prayers of thanksgiving after Communion in the Roman Missal of 1570. The Latin text circulates in two forms: Wilmart's critical edition and the popular text that has been sung for centuries and is the most widely used, with differences such as "latens deitas" and "latens veritas".

In the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum (1968), this prayer is listed under the title "Hidden God (Adoro te devote)" and is granted a partial indulgence.

_Edition note: Text: Public domain. Checked word for word against the source on 2026-11-05._

## Sources

- [Week 33 | On the Road to Emmaus | Pray w/ Aquinas' "Adoro Te Devote" (Hopkins' translation)](https://www.dioceseoflansing.org/office-bishop/week-33-road-emmaus-pray-w-aquinas-adoro-te-devote-hopkins-translation-january-28) — Text taken from www.dioceseoflansing.org
- [Adoro Te Devote - Indonesian Papist](https://www.indonesianpapist.com/2010/07/adoro-te-devote.html) — Latin text from www.indonesianpapist.com
- [Adoro Te Devote](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/adoro-te-devote) — Published by Encyclopedia.com (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- [The Adoro Te Devote (liturgy Q&A, Zenit, 25 May 2010)](https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/adoro-te-devote-4528) — Published by EWTN Library / Zenit
- [The Adoro Te Devote of St. Thomas Aquinas](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/929362) — Published by Project MUSE (scholarly article)
- [Works and Prayers Listed in 'Enchiridion of Indulgences'](https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=6623) — Published by CatholicCulture.org (digest, not an exact reprint)
- [Saint Thomas Aquinas, Confessor, Doctor of the Church](https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/saint-thomas-aquinas-confessor-doctor-of-the-church-5908) — Published by EWTN Library (Butler's Lives of the Saints)