Vexilla Regis
One of the greatest hymns ever written is sung today, Passion Sunday, in the Western Church: Vexilla Regis.
The poet Venantius Fortunatus wrote it in honor of the arrival of a large relic of the True Cross which had been sent to Queen Radegunda by the Byzantine Emperor Justin II and his Empress Sophia.
Queen Radegunda had retired to a convent she had built near Poitiers and was seeking out relics for the church there.
To help celebrate the arrival of the relic, the Queen asked Fortunatus to write a hymn for the procession of the relic to the church.
The hymn was first sung in the procession (November 19, 569) when the relic of the True Cross was carried in great pomp from Tours to the Queen's monastery of Saint-Croix at Poitiers.
Vexilla Regis prodeunt;
fulget Crucis mysterium,
quo carne carnis conditor
suspensus est patibulo.
Abroad the regal banners fly,
now shines the Cross's mystery:
upon it Life did death endure,
and yet by death did life procure.
The poet Venantius Fortunatus wrote it in honor of the arrival of a large relic of the True Cross which had been sent to Queen Radegunda by the Byzantine Emperor Justin II and his Empress Sophia.
Queen Radegunda had retired to a convent she had built near Poitiers and was seeking out relics for the church there.
To help celebrate the arrival of the relic, the Queen asked Fortunatus to write a hymn for the procession of the relic to the church.
The hymn was first sung in the procession (November 19, 569) when the relic of the True Cross was carried in great pomp from Tours to the Queen's monastery of Saint-Croix at Poitiers.
Vexilla Regis prodeunt;fulget Crucis mysterium,
quo carne carnis conditor
suspensus est patibulo.
Abroad the regal banners fly,
now shines the Cross's mystery:
upon it Life did death endure,
and yet by death did life procure.
Labels: Hymns, The Christian West
posted by Constantine at 3:58:00 am
1 Comments:
Ecce Crucem Domine,
Fugite, partes adversae,
Vicit Leo de Tribu Juda,
Radix David, alleluia.
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