«LUSTRA SEX IAM PEREGIT». — Hymn of Lauds in the Office of the Passion, which, together with the Vexilla Regis and the Pange lingua gloriosi, Lauream certaminis, forms the trilogy of the Passion. The author is Venanzio Fortunato.
The scene is set on Calvary, and the tragic event that occurred there is represented with force and vehemence. Having passed his thirtieth year, Jesus has reached, as a man, the end of life and, burdened with the sins of all humanity, dies amid atrocious suffering. After the first two descriptive stanzas, three others follow, constituting a hymn to the Cross, altar and throne of God, the sole sign of salvation for suffering humanity.
BIBL.: G. Belli, Gli inni del Breviario tradotti, Rome 1856, pp. 150, 152; U. Chevalier, Repertorium hymnologicum, II, Louvain 1897, p. 55; C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire, I, Les hymnes, Lyon n.d., p. 47; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Naples 1947, pp. 112–14.