"AETERNA CHRISTI MUNERA". - Hymn of the Roman Breviary for Matins of the common of apostles. Composed by St. Ambrose in eight stanzas, it here gives only four of them: 1, 2, 6, 7, leaving the others for Matins of the common of several martyrs. The hymn invites us to celebrate the apostles (st. 1), princes of the Church, heroes victorious in battle, soldiers of heaven and light of the world (st. 2). Their weapons, which must also be ours, against the devil, are none other than the three theological virtues, faith, hope and charity (st. 3). The Most Holy Trinity celebrates in the apostles its own triumph, while heaven is filled with joy at their noble deeds.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: G. M. Dreves and C. Blume, Analecta hymnica, 50 (1907), p. 19; L. Venturi, Gli Inni della Chiesa tradotti e commentati, 3rd ed., Florence 1880, pp. 382-87; K. Kastner, Praktischer Brevier-Kommentar, II, Breslau 1924, p. 356; C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, Lyon n.d., pp. 384-87; A. Mirra, Gli Inni del Breviario romano per i Licei filosofici e per il clero, Naples 1947, pp. 246-47.

Celestino Testore

@incollection{ec1_aeterna_christi_munera, author = {Testore, Celestino}, title = {Aeterna Christi Munera}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {359}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/aeterna-christi-munera} }

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