«O NIMIS FELIX MERITIQUE CELSI». — This is the third part of the hymn for the Office on the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, composed by Paul the Deacon, and it is sung at Lauds.
The first two strophes continue to enumerate the sublime merits of the Baptist; then the poet turns to him in devout prayer, that the Saint may guide our steps and smooth our path toward the heavenly homeland.
BIBL.: G. G. Belli, Gli inni del Breviario tradotti, Roma 1857, p. 272; C. Albin, La poésie du Bréviaire romain, Lyon n.d., pp. 286–89; V. Terreno, Gli inni dell'Ufficio divino, Mondovì 1932, pp. 216–18; A. Mirra, Gli inni del Breviario romano, Napoli 1947, p. 218. Silverio Mattei