«LUX ECCE SURGIT AUREA». — Hymn of Lauds for Thursday, composed by Prudentius, consisting of strophes 24–27 of the second hymn of the Cathemerinon.
From the spectacle of nature the poet draws, with limpid inspiration, lofty moral lessons and profound motives of spirituality. When light rises to dispel the darkness, the blindness that has long held man in the gloom of sin vanishes. This light will purify and drive away evil. May it therefore enter every soul, that it may shine in its whiteness, and that all good deeds may be accomplished in the fullness of light.
Bibl.: Belli, p. 50; S. G. Pimont, Les hymnes du Bréviaire romain, I, Paris 1884, pp. 224–31; Chevalier, p. 58; Albin, pp. 55–57; F. Vandersuyt, Les hymnes de l’Ordinaire du Bréviaire romain, Paris 1912, p. 94; Mirra, p. 71.