AETERNE RERUM CONDITOR. - Hymn of the Roman Breviary for the SundayLauds from the octave of the Epiphany to the 1st Sunday of Lent and from the 1st Sunday of October to Advent. It is certainly by St. Ambrose and echoes the thoughts set out in his Hexaemeron (V, 24). St. Augustine quotes some of its verses in his Retractationes (I, 21); in the Milanese manuscripts it bears the title: ad galli cantum. After the praise of God, whose wisdom has alternated day and night to lighten the burden of tedium (st. 1), the author, drawing inspiration from the morning crowing of the cock, makes it the theme of this splendid and unsurpassable hymn. At the crowing of the cock, the fearful helmsman is reassured, the storms are calmed, hope returns to all, sorrows are eased, and wanderers and thieves slink back into their lairs. Peter himself, at the crowing of the cock, came to himself and wept for his sins (st. 2-6). Men too, therefore, must arise at the crowing of the cock, which is like the call of Christ, that is, to hasten and not delay the work of their own salvation. The hymn ends with a moving prayer: may Christ call sinners back to the fold and radiate the fullness of his light of grace into all souls (7-8).
Bibliography6 worksG. M. Dreves and B. Blume, Analecta hymnica, 50 (1907), p. 11; 51 (1908), p. 32; S. G. Pimont, Les Hymnes du Bréviaire romain, I, Paris 1874
BIBL.: G. M. Dreves and B. Blume, Analecta hymnica, 50 (1907), p. 11; 51 (1908), p. 32; S. G. Pimont, Les Hymnes du Bréviaire romain, I, Paris 1874, pp. 48-65; L. Venturi, Gli Inni della Chiesa tradotti e commentati, 3rd ed., Florence 1880, pp. 54-61; K. Kastner, Praktischer Brevier-Kommentar, I, Breslau 1924, p. 16; A. Mirra, Gli Inni del Breviario romano per i Licei filosofici e per il clero, Naples 1947, pp. 55-57.
Testore, Celestino. “Aeterne Rerum Conditor.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, col. 360. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948. https://azioneromana.com/article/aeterne-rerum-conditor.
MLA
Testore, Celestino. “Aeterne Rerum Conditor.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948, col. 360. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/aeterne-rerum-conditor.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec1_aeterne_rerum_conditor,
author = {Testore, Celestino},
title = {Aeterne Rerum Conditor},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {I},
pages = {360},
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/aeterne-rerum-conditor}
}
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