« GENTIS POLONAE GLORIA ». — Hymn of the vespers of s. Giovanni di Kenty, composed by an unknown author for the introduction into the Breviary of the feast of the Saint, canonized in 1767.
It consists of three episodes from the Saint’s life narrated in deprecatory form: his teaching at the University, his visit to the tomb of the Apostles in Rome, and his visit to the Holy Places. The lessons that the poet draws from these three episodes are undoubtedly beautiful and significant; yet poetry is entirely absent from this hymn, which is a cold paraphrase of the lessons of the Breviary.
BIBL.: G. Belli, Gli inni del Breviario tradotti, Rome 1856, p. 322 ff.; V. Terreno, Gli inni dell'Ufficio divino, Mondovì 1932, p. 274 ff.; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Naples 1947, p. 237 ff. Silverio Mattei