«AETERNA CHRISTI MUNERA». - A hymn of the Roman Breviary for Matins of the Common of the Apostles. Composed by St. Ambrose in eight stanzas, it here contains only four of them: 1, 2, 6, 7, the others being reserved for Matins of the Common of Several Martyrs. The hymn invites us to celebrate the apostles (st. 1), princes of the Church, victorious heroes in battle, soldiers of heaven and light of the world (st. 2). Their weapons against the devil—which must also be ours—are none other than the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity (st. 3). The Most Holy Trinity celebrates its own triumph in the apostles, while heaven is filled with joy at their noble deeds.
BIBL.: G. M. Dreves and C. Blume, Analecta hymnica, 50 (1907), p. 19; L. Venturi, Gli Inni della Chiesa tradotti e commentati, 3rd ed., Firenze 1880, pp. 382-87; K. Kastner, Praktischer Brevier-Kommentar, II, Breslavia 1924, p. 356; C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, Lione n.d., pp. 384-87; A. Mirra, Gli Inni del Breviario romano per i Licei filosofici e per il clero, Napoli 1947, pp. 246-47. Celestino Testore