«O LUX BEATA CAELITUM». – Hymn of Vespers for the feast of the Holy Family, composed by Leo XIII.
The poet invokes Jesus, at whom the affection of His parents smiles: Mary, who clasps Him to her breast, and Joseph, to whom He is obedient in labor and submission. These three strophes are followed by an invocation to the Family of Nazareth, that every Christian family may find refuge in the same virtues that made it a model to all others.
BIBL.: V. Terreno, Gli inni dell’Ufficio divino, Mondovì 1932, pp. 122–23; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Napoli 1947, pp. 98–99.