« ECCE IAM NOCTIS TENUATUR UMBRA ». – Hymn of the Lauds for the Sundays after Pentecost, by an unknown author, found in manuscripts dating from the 10th century.
The author exhorted the faithful to pray, as the darkness of night dissipated, for the remission of sins and for the gift of eternal peace. The brief prayer rises in a Sapphic stanza with a regular movement and a fresh initial inspiration.
BIBL.: G. Belli, Gli inni del Brev. tradotti, Rome 1836, pp. 12–13; V. Terreno, Gli inni dell'Ufficio divino, Mondovì 1932, p. 26; A. Mitta, Gli inni del Brev. romano, Naples 1947, p. 57.
Silverio Mattei
EXCESS
COLPOSO: V. DIFESA LEGITTIMA.