Easter Hymn
Hail, thou festive, ever venerable day! whereon hell is conquered and heaven is won by Christ. (Repeat after each verse)
| Salve, festa dies, toto venerabilis aevo. qua deus infernum vicit et astra tenet (Repeat after each verse)
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Lo! our earth is in her spring, bearing thus her witness that, with her Lord, she has all her gifts restored. | Ecce renascentis testatur gratia mundi omnia cum domino dona redisse suo.
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For now the woods with their leaves and the meadows with their flowers, pay homage to Jesus' triumph over the gloomy tomb.
| Namque triumphanti post tristia Tartara Christo undique fronde nemus, gramina flore favent.
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Light, firmament, fields and sea, give justly praise to the God that defeats the laws of death, and rises above the stars.
| Legibus inferni oppressis super astra meantem laudant rite deum lux polus arva fretum.
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The crucified God now reigns over all things; and every creature to its Creator tells a prayer.
| Qui crucifixus erat, deus ecce per omnia regnat, dantque creatori cuncta creata precem. salve, festa dies. |
O Jesus! Saviour of the world! Loving Creator and Redeemer! Onlybegotten Son of God the Father! | Christe salus rerum, bone conditor atque redemptor, unica progenies ex deitate patris.
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Seeing the human race was sunk in misery deep, thou west made Man, that thou mightest rescue man. | Qui genus humanum cernens mersisse profundo, ut hominem eriperes es quoque factus homo
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Nor wouldst thou be content to be born; but being born in the flesh, in the same wouldst thou suffer death. | Nec voluisti etenim tantum te corpore nasci, sed caro quae nasci, pertulit atque mori
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Thou, the author of life and of all creation, west buried in the tomb, treading the path of death, to give us salvation. | Fexequias pateris vitae auctor et orbis, intras mortis iter dando salutis opem.
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The gloomful bonds of hell were broken; the abyss shook with fear, as the light shone upon its brink. | Tristia cesserunt infernae vincula legis expavitque chaos luminis ore premi. |
The brightness of Christ put darkness to flight, and made to fall the thick veils of everlasting night. | Depereunt tenebrae Christi fulgore fugatae et tetrae noctis pallia crassa cadunt.
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But redeem thy promise, I beseech thee, merciful King! This is the third day; arise, my buried Jesus! | Pollicitam sed redde fidem, precor, alma potestas: tertia lux rediit, surge, sepulte meus. |
'Tis not meet that thy Body lie in the lowly tomb, or that a sepulchral stone should keep imprisoned the ransom of the world. | Non decet. ut humili tumulo tua membra tegantur, neu pretium mundi vilia saxa premant. |
Throw off thy shrouds, I pray thee! Leave thy winding sheet in the tomb. Thou art our all; and all else, without thee, is nothing. | Lintea, precor, sudaria linque sepulchro: tu satis es nobis et sine te nihil est. |
Set free the spirits that are shackled in limbo's prison. Raise up all fallen things. | Solvecatenatas inferni carceris umbras et revoca sursum quidquid ad ima ruit. |
Show us once more thy face, that all ages may see the light! Bring back the day which fled when thou didst die. | Redde tuam faciem, videant ut saecula lumen, redde diem qui nos te moriente fugit. |
But thou hast done all this O loving conqueror, by returning to our world: death lies defeated, and its rights are gone. | Sed plane inplesti remeans, pie victor, ad orbem: Tartara pressa iacent nec sua iura tenent.
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The greedy monster, whose huge throat had swallowed all mankind, is now thy prey, O God! | Inferus insaturabiliter cava gruttura pandens, qui rapuit semper, fit tua praeda, deus. |
The savage beast now trembling vomits forth the victims he had made, and the lamb tears the sheep from the jaw of the wolf. | Evomit absorptam trepide fera belua plebem et de fauce lupi subtrahit agrnus oves.
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O King divine! lo! here a bright ray of thy triumph- the souls made pure by the holy font.
| Rex sacer, ecce tui radiat pars magna triumphi, cum puras animas sancta lavacra beant
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The whiterobed troop comes from the limpid waters; and the old iniquity is cleansed in the new stream.
| Candidus egreditur nitidis exercitus undis atque vetus vitium purgat in amne novo.
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The white garments symbolize unspotted souls, and the Shepherd rejoices in his snowlike flock.
| Fulgentes animas vestis quoque candida signat et grege de niveo gaudia pastor habet.
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Hail, thou festive, ever venerable day! whereon hell is conquered and heaven is won by Christ.
| Salve, festa dies, toto venerabilis aevo. qua deus infernum vicit et astra tenet.
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This item 124 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org