Contents Aurora iam spargit polum
The Dawn is Sprinkling in the East		 TempusPerAnnum


Attributed to St. Ambrose (350-397). This hymn is traditionally sung at Saturday Lauds and is used in the Liturgia Horarum at Lauds for Saturdays of the first and third weeks of the Psalter during Ordinary Time. Likewise the hymn is also found in the Roman Breviary for Saturday Lauds.

AURORA iam spargit polum:
terris dies illabitur:
lucis resultat spiculum:
discedat omne lubricum. 		THE DAWN is sprinkling in the east
its golden shower, as day flows in;
fast mount the pointed shafts of light:
farewell to darkness and to sin!
Iam vana noctis decidant,
mentis reatus subruat,1
quicquid tenebris horridum
nox attulit culpae, cadat. 		Away, ye midnight phantoms all!
Away, despondence and despair!
Whatever guilt the night has brought
now let it vanish into air.
Ut mane illud ultimum
quod praestolamur cernui,
in lucem nobis effluat,
dum hoc canore concrepat.2 		So, Lord, when that last morning breaks,
looking to which we sigh and pray,
O may it to Thy minstrels prove
the dawning of a better day.
Deo Patri sit gloria,
eiusque soli Filio,
cum Spiritu Paraclito,
in sempiterna saecula.3 Amen. 		To God the Father glory be,
and to His sole-begotten Son;
Glory, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
while everlasting ages run. Amen.
From the Liturgia Horarum. Translation by Fr. Edward Caswall (1814-1878).

Changes made by Pope Urban VIII in 1632 to the Roman Breviary:
1 Phantasma noctis exsulet:/ mentis reatus corruat.
2 Ut mane, quod nos ultimum/ hic deprecamur cernui,/ cum luce nobis effluat,/ hoc dum canore concrepat.
3 nunc et per omne saeculum.


<- Prev
©copyrighted by Michael Martin

Next->