ALTO EX OLYMPI VERTICE

«FROM ON HIGH ON OLYMPUS’ SUMMIT». — Hymn from the Roman Breviary for Lauds of the feast of the dedication of a church. Of unknown authorship, from the 7th or 8th century; its metrical form was altered by the Urban commission of 1626 (v. INNOGRAFIA). The poet develops the concept expressed in the first stanza of the hymn for Matins of the same office: Christ is the foundation, the cornerstone of the two Churches, the triumphant and the militant; for, as the Word, He descended from heaven like a stone hewn from a mountain and assumed human nature, yet remained God (stanza 1). The triumphant Church sings the praises of the Most Holy Trinity; the militant Church, gathered in earthly temples, seeks to emulate that song, to form with the celestial hosts a single harmony (stanza 2). For this it needs divine aid, which it therefore invokes, that the King of heaven may hear the prayers raised by the faithful in the temple, and pour His grace upon all until the day when all shall be gathered into one triumphant Church (stanzas 3–4). These last two stanzas appear to be a later addition, quite distant from the preceding ones; they imitate, summarizing, the lofty themes expounded by Solomon at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:29–52).