« LUX O DECORA PATRIAE ». – Hymn of praise in the Office of SS. Cyril and Methodius, composed on the occasion of the extension of their feast to the Universal Church (1880) by the pianist Leonetti, with a stanza added by Salviati, secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites; the whole was emended by Tripepi and Caporara.
It is an enthusiastic greeting to the two holy brothers, glory and ornament of their homeland, and Rome, which embraces all peoples and sees her children scattered throughout the entire world, applauds the two Slavic evangelizers. It concludes with an inspired prayer that they may preserve their land in the faith they preached. The nobility of the concepts is matched by classical elegance of form.
BIBL.: Chevalier, p. 61; Albin, pp. 302–306; V. Terreno, Gli inni dell'Ufficio divino, Mondovì 1932, p. 234; Mirra, p. 223.
Silverio Mattei