''Rerum
Deus 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 let ...
Breviary.
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 "Litt ...
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. ...
) 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 derive ...
, 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 ways ...
,
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. ...
and
Compline, 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
Luigi Biraghi (2 November 1801 – 11 August 1879) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who served in his home of Milan. Biraghi later went on to establish his own religious congregation known as the Sisters of Saint Marcellina.
Biraghi served as ...
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 Aurelianus (523 – 551) was Archbishop of Arles from 546 to 551. His predecessors were Auxanius (bishop form 542–546) and Caesarius of Arles (d. 542). His father Sacerdos (d. 552) was an Archbishop of Lyon. His cousin Nicetius (d. 573) succeed ...
, 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