« AURORA SOLI PRAEVIA ». – Hymn of Lauds for the feast of the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes, composed in 1890, the year in which the Office was approved (S. R. Cong., Decreta 1890, fol. 23°).
The opening unfolds in a gentle movement of joy, that joy which the rising of the dawn brings, when the morning prayer rises from the lips of Christians to heaven. In elegant language, images from the Old Testament representing the Virgin are briefly recalled, such as the ark of the covenant and Gideon’s fleece, or images referring to her, such as the dragon whose head she crushes.
BIBL.: C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, I, Lyon n.d., pp. 510–12; G. Bossi, Gli inni del Breviario romano, versione ritmica, Rome 1919, p. 121; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Naples 1947, p. 166. Silverio Mattei