Hymns to the Holy Cross
Lokrantz calls this meter acataleptic iambic dimeter.
The hermitage of Fonte Avellana, which Peter Damian entered in 1035 to follow his ideal of hermit life, was named after the Holy Cross. Every Friday the votive Mass was celebrated in the hermitage in honor of the cross. Peter Damian hinges his entire religious life on the cross, so much so that we could say that it is his most important personal devotion, followed by that for the Blessed Virgin Mary, for Saint Gregory the Great and for Saint Apollinaris, protobishop of Ravenna. The cult of the cross is at the center of all of Damian’s work. He speaks of the exaltation of the cross for the imitation of Christ in sermons and letters. He finds rich symbolism of the cross as he searches the Old Testament.
Hymnus Sanctae Crucis (58)
Hymn to the Holy Cross
1.
Crux, orbis salus perditi,
Perempti vita saeculi,
Quam victa tremunt Tartara,
Caeli verentur agmina.
O Cross, the salvation of the lost world,
The life of the perished generation,
O Cross which the conquered hell fears,
O Cross which the troops of heaven worship.
2.
In te dum vita moritur,
Mortis catena solvitur.
Aegypti iugo liberi
Verae sunt lucis filii.
While life is dying in you,
The chain of death is broken.
The ones freed from the yoke of Egypt
Are the sons of the true light.
3.
Te ponit iudex omnium,
Cum iudicatur, solium.
Iam tunc haedos ab ovibus
Segregat in latronibus.
The judge of all makes you
Into a throne when he is judging.
Now then among the two robbers
He separates the goats from the sheep.
4.
Tu mundi ludis principem,
Dum punis impassibilem;
Reos offerre solita
Quem nunc das, aufert spolia.
You mock the prince of this world, [Satan]
While you punish the impassive;
Having been accustomed to put sinners on display,
Whomever you now allow, carries off your rewards.
5.
In te mactatur victima,
Quae mundi purgat crimina;
Tibi talentum creditur,
Adae quod solvit debitum.
The sacrificial animal who cleanses the sins of the world
Is slaughtered on you;
The fortune which absolves the debt of Adam
Is entrusted to you.
6.
Nos, vitae signum, protege,
Quo rex triumphat gloriae.
Per te ad regnum provehat,
Quos servitute liberat.
O symbol of life, by which the king of glory triumphs,
Protect us.
May he carry to the kingdom through you,
Those whom he frees from slavery.
7.
Sit patri laus ingenito…
Let there be praise to the father unbegotten…
In Laudibus (59)
At Lauds
1.
Crux, mundi benedictio,
Spes et certa redempio,
Olim gehennae baiula,
Nunc clara caeli ianua.
O Cross, blessing of the world,
Hope and sure redemption,
A porter to hell in olden times,
Now a bright door to heaven.
2.
In te levatur hostia,
Ad se qui traxit omnia;
Quam mundi princeps impetit
Suumque nihil invenit.
The one who drew all things to himself
As a sacrificial animal is raised upon you;
You whom the lord of this world assails
And does not find his own.
3.
Tuae legis articulus
Vetus cassat chirographum;
Antiqua perit servitus,
Vera libertas redditur.
The portion of your law
annuls the old document;
The old slavery perishes,
True freedom is given back.
4.
Odoris tui copia
is Cuncta vincit aromata;
Tui dulcendo nectaris
Replet arcana pectoris.
The abundance of your fragrance
Overwhelms all aromas;
The sweetness of your nectar
Fills the secrets of the hidden places of our hearts.
5.
Per crucem, Christe, quaesumus:
Ad vitae transfer praemium,
Quos ligni fixus stipite
Dignatus es redimere.
Through the cross, Christ, we seek you;
Carry the reward to life,
Those whom you, being fixed to the trunk of a tree,
have deemed worthy to redeem.
6.
Sit patri laus ingenito…
Let there be praise to the unbegotten…
