''Rerum

Deus ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or " deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief ...

Tenax Vigor'' is the daily hymn for

None None may refer to: *Zero, the mathematical concept of the quantity "none" *Empty set, the mathematical concept of the collection of things represented by "none" *''none'', an indefinite pronoun in the English language Music * ''None'' (Meshuggah ...

in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Breviary A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such a ...

Translations of the hymn

The original version of the hymn had the word "lumen" in the first line of the second verse, but some versions substituted the word "clarum" instead of lumen.

Meaning and purpose of the hymn

It comprises (like the hymns for

Terce Terce is a canonical hour of the Divine Office. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn. With Sext, None and Compline it belongs to the so-called "Little ...

and

Sext Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a canonical hour of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around noon. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the sixth hour of the day after dawn. W ...

) only two stanzas of iambic dimeters together with a

doxology A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...

, varying according to the feast or season. As in the hymns for

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only way ...

and

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or Liturgy of the Hours, office) of the day in the Christianity, Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are Christian p ...

, the theme is found in the steady march of the sun, that defines the periods of the day (and provided the basis of Roman and monastic chronology): :''Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor'' :''Immotus in te permanens'', :''Lucis diurnæ tempora'' :''Successibus determinans'' '. which translates (not literally, nor strictly by verse): :'O God, whose power unmoved the whole of Nature's vastness doth control, Who mark'st the day-hours as they run by steady marches of the sun'. The moral application is, as usual, made in the following stanza: :''Largire lumen vespere'' 'O grant that in life's eventide' :''Quo vita nusquam decidat'', etc. 'Thy light may e'er with us abide', etc. The authorship of the hymns for Terce, Sext and None is now ascribed only very doubtfully to

St. Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...

. They are not given to the saint by the Benedictine editors (see Ambrosian Hymnography), but are placed by Luigi Biraghi amongst his ''inni sinceri'', since they are found in all the MSS. of the churches of Milan. Daniel (I, 23: IV, 13, 17) thinks that much longer hymns for the hours were replaced by the present ones. Pimont disagrees arguing that the saint may well have composed two sets of hymns for the hours. However, the researches of Blume (1908) show that the primitive Benedictine cycle of hymns, as attested by the Rules of Cæsarius and Aurelian of Arles, did not include these hymns, but assigned for Terce, Sext and None (for

Eastertide Eastertide (also known as Eastertime or the Easter season) or Paschaltide (also known as Paschaltime or the Paschal season) is a festal season in the liturgical year of Christianity that focuses on celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ ...

) the hymns: "Jam surgit hora tertia", "Jam sexta sensim volvitur", "Ter hora trina volvitur"; the earliest MSS. of the cycle give for these hours, for the remainder of the year, the hymns: "Certum tenentes ordinem", "Dicamus laudes Domino", "Perfectum trinum numerum"; while other MSS. give as variants for Lent: "Dei fide qua vivimus", "Meridie orandum est", "Sic ter quaternis trahitur". This Benedictine cycle was replaced throughout Western Christendom by a later one, as shown by Irish and English MSS. which give the present hymns for the little hours.

Sources

References

{{reflist Liturgy of the Hours