« A SOLIS ORTUS CARDINE ». - Hymn of the Roman Breviary for Lauds on the feast of Christmas. Its author is Sedulius, a Latin poet of the 5th century. It is a celebration of the birth of the Redeemer, expressed in a highly elegant form. In an elevated tone, the poet exalts the divine motherhood of the Virgin, the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel, the visit to St. Elizabeth, the birth in the manger, and the joyful announcement of the angels to the shepherds. Its vivid inspiration is wholly permeated by the mystery of the Incarnation, and its limpid vein develops the theme almost in the form of a tranquil pastoral lullaby. Other stanzas of the hymn are used at Vespers of the Epiphany.
BIBL.: C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, I, Lyons n.d., p. 125; G. G. Belli, Inni del Breviario romano tradotti, Rome 1856, pp. 118-19; L. Venturi, Gli inni della Chiesa tradotti e commentati, 3rd ed. Florence, 1880, p. 160; S. Colombo, La poesia cristiana antica, Rome 1910, pp. 156-61; G. Bossi, Gli inni del Breviario romano. Versione ritmica, Rome 1919, p. 77; U. Moricea, Storia della letteratura latina cristiana, III, Turin 1932, p. 58. Silverio Mattei