The Latin Hymn-writers and Their Hymns

by Samuel Willoughby Duffield

III.

Apostolorum passio, Conditor alme siderum, Consors paterni luminis, Hic est dies verus Dei, Jam lucis orto sidere, Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus, O lux beata Trinitas, Obduxere polum nubila coeli, O rex aeterne domine, Rector potens, verax Deus, Rerum Deus tenax vigor, Somno refectis artubus, Squalent arva soli pulvere multo, Summae Deus clementiae, Tristes erant apostoli.

These have, for one reason or another, been assigned to Ambrose. It is to be remembered that the Tristes erant is a part of the Aurora lucis rutilat, and that in many cases the hymns are very much intermingled. A rigid designation is therefore impossible. The fourth class comprehends what may be called Ambrosiani—the Sedulian and Gregorian and other hymns being simply excluded from the list.