Poems, Volume 1

11. A HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS DAY

78 AURELIUS PRUDENTIUS CLEMENS 11. A HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS DAY What means it that the circling sun1 Its narrow orbit now forsakes? Is Christ not born today on earth, Who widens for us the way of light? Alas, how fleeting was the smile The hastening day did then bestow! How dimly glowed her waning torch, So soon extinguished by the night! Now let the sky more brightly shine, And joyful earth keep holiday!2 The radiant sun mounts high again, Rejoicing in his former course. Unveil Thy sweetness, Child divine, The fruit of virgin Motherhood And chastity inviolate, Our Mediator, God and Man.a Though Thou didst come from the Mouth of God,4 Born as His Word on earth below, Yet as His Wisdom Thou didst live Forever in the Father's Heart. 1. Cf. VergiI, Aeneid 7.100. 2. Cf. Ps. 95.11. 8. Cf. 1 Tim. 2.5. 4. Cf. EccH. 24.5. 5 10 15 20 HYMNS This Wisdom uttered made the sky, The sky and light and all besides;5 All by the Word's almighty power Were fashioned, for the Word was God.6 But when the universe was formed And ordered by unchanging laws, The Cause and Architect divine In the Father's bosom still remained,7 Until the slow revolving years In centuries at length had passed,s And He Himself vouchsafed to come Down to the world grown old in sin. For men whom passion had made blind Were led into idolatry And put their faith in gods of bronze, Or wood, or cold unfeeling stone,9 And thus misled by Satan's guile, They fell beneath his fearful yoke And plunged their souls, enslaved to sin, Into the fiery pit of Hell. But such destruction of mankind The Heart of Christ could not endure; And lest His Father's handiwork, Unvindicated, should be lost, 5. Cf. Provo 8.28-30; Col. 1.16. 6. Cf. John U,3. 7. Cf. John U8. 8. Cf. Vergil, Aeneid 6.748. 79 25 30 35 40 9. Cf. Minucius Felix, Octavius 22.3-4 (Trans. in Vol. 10, this series, pp. 364-365). 80 AURELIUS PRUDENTIUS CLEMENS He clothed Himself in mortal flesh,lO That by arising from the tomb He might unlock the chains of death And bring man to His Father's House. This is Thy natal day, on which The high Creator sent Thee forth,11 And gave to Thee a form of clay, Uniting flesh with His own Word. Are you aware, 0 Virgin blest, As weary months of waiting end,12 That your untarnished purity Shines brighter in your Motherhood? Oh what great joys for the world, Thy bosom chaste within it holds, Whence issues forth the golden age Whose light renews the face of earth. Thy Infant's feeble cry proclaimed The springtime of the universe; The world reborn then cast aside The gloom of winter's lethargy. The earth, I think, with lavish hand Enameled every field with flowers, And even Syrtis' desert sands Were sweet with nectar and with nard. 10. Cf. Phil. 2.7. 11. te spiravit, literally 'breathed Thee forth.' 45 50 55 60 65 12. For a discussion of the influence of the Fourth Eclogue of Vergil in 11.53-76, see Brother Albertus Mahoney, Vergil in the Works of Prudentius (Washington 1934) 144-147. HYMNS At Thy Nativity, 0 Child, All hard, unfeeling things were stirred; The unrelenting crags grew kind And clothed the flinty stones with grass. Now from the rocks sweet honey flOWS;13 Now fragrant liquor is distilled From shrivelled trunks of aged oaks, And tamarisks yield ambrosial balms. How holy, 0 eternal King, Is this Thy crib, revered by men In every age,14 and even by beasts, Who hover near in silent awe.IIS Rude cattle at this crib adore, An ignorant herd, uncouth indeed; The dull unfeeling tribe adores16 Whose strength is found in earthly food. 13. Cf. Joel !US. 81 70 75 80 14. For evidences of the veneration of the cave at Bethlehem and the fact that the place was known from the earliest times, see Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphone 7S; Origen, Contra Celsum 1.51; Jerome, Epistles 46.10, 5S.!!, and 10S.10. In the year !!27 a magnificent basilica was erected over the spot by Constantine and his mother, St. Helena. 15. The belief that the birth of Christ...