Contents Lux ecce surgit aurea
See the Golden Sun Arise
Hymni


Written by Prudentius (348-413). This hymn is taken from his Morning Hymn from his Cathemerinon. This hymn is a traditional morning hymn for Thursday Lauds and can be found there in the Roman Breviary. The Liturgia Horarum uses the same basic hymn, but cast in different form for Thursday Lauds for the first and third weeks of the Psalter. In the Liturgia Horarum, the title is Sol ecce surgit igneus.

LUX ecce surgit aurea,
pallens facessat caecitas,
quae nosmet in praeceps diu
errore traxit devio.
SEE the golden sun arise!
Let no more our darkened eyes
snare us, tangled by surprise
In the maze of sin!
Haec lux serenum conferat,
purosque nos praestet sibi:
nihil loquamur subdolum:
Volvamus obscurum nihil.
From false words and thoughts impure
let this Light, serene and sure,
keep our lips without secure,
keep our souls within.
Sic tota decurrat dies,
ne lingua mendax, ne manus
oculive peccent lubrici,
Ne noxa corpus inquinet.
So may we the daytime spend,
that, till life's temptations end,
tongue, nor hand, nor eye offend!
One, above us all,
Speculator astat desuper,
Qui nos diebus omnibus,
actusque nostros prospicit
a luce prima in vesperum.
Views in His revealing ray
all we do, and think, and say,
watching us from break of day
till the twilight fall.
Deo Patri sit gloria,
eiusque soli Filio,
cum Spiritu Paraclito,
nunc et per omne saeculum.
Unto God the Father, Son,
Holy Spirit, Three in One,
One in Three, be glory done,
now and evermore.

Latin from the Roman Breviary. English translation by William John Courthope (1842-1917).

In the Liturgia Horarum, the following two verses replace the first verse above.
1. Sol ecce surgit igneus:/piget, pudescit, paenitet,/nec teste quisnam lumine/peccare constanter potest.
2. Tandem facessat caecitas,/quae nosmet in praeceps diu/ lapsos sinistris gressibus/ errore traxit devio.


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