AD REGIAS AGNI DAPES. – A hymn for the Vespers of Eastertide, by an unknown author, but already found in manuscripts of the 6th century. It may be called “the song of the triumph of Christ risen and of His people freed from death” (Pimont, p. 80). It begins with an invitation to the banquet of the Lamb who is immolated upon the altar. This recalls the ancient Passover, the destroying angel who spared the houses of the Hebrews marked by the blood of the lamb, the miraculous passage through the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army. But now the Christian Passover is Christ; and the solemnity is heightened by three wonders: hell subdued, death vanquished, and the prize won.
The ancient text, which began with the verse Ad caenam Agni Providi, underwent many alterations, not always felicitous, by the commission appointed by Urban VIII (v. HYMNOGRAPHY).