«BEATA NOBIS GAUDIA». - Hymn of Lauds for the feast of Pentecost, commonly used in the liturgy since the 10th century. The descent of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the Apostles recounted in Act. 2 are here narrated in a swift and light manner. The tongues of fire, which transform the disciples and make them heralds of the Gospel through the power of the word and the flame of charity, have raised the poet to a grand vision. This rapid recollection concludes with a humble prayer asking the Lord that the gifts of the Spirit may descend upon us also, that our sins may be forgiven, and that times of tranquillity and peace may come for all.
BIBL.: G. G. Belli, Gli inni del Breviario tradotti, Rome 1856, pp. 182-83; L. Venturi, Gli inni della Chiesa, tradotti e commentati, 3rd ed., Florence 1880, p. 278 ff.; S. G. Pimont, Les hymnes du Bréviaire romain, III, Paris 1884, p. 152 ff.; C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, Lyons, n.d., p. 205 ff.; G. Bossi, Gli inni del Breviario romano, versione ritmica, Rome 1919, p. 96; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Naples 1947, p. 127. Silverio Mattei