Hymn to Saint Ursicinus
Lokrantz calls this meter iambic dimeter.
This Saint Ursicinus is not the Bishop of Ravenna (d. 536). He is a Ligurian physician who was condemned during the persecutions of the Emperor Nero. He is said to have wavered when confronted with a violent death, and was supported on his way to execution by St. Vitalis. After he was beheaded, Vitalis buried him in Ravenna. Very little is known about him directly.1
1 The Book of saints, compiled by The Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Ramsgate, 1921
1.
Dulce martyr eximius
Festum praebet Ursicinus,
Quo victus victor exstitit
Et clarus astra petiit.
The exalted martyr
Ursicinus offers a sweet feast,
In whom the conquered becomes the victor,
And the bright one sought the stars.
2.
Nam poenas post horrificas
Carnis pavet infirmitas
Sed mox ad cor revertitur
Et laetus ense caeditur.
For after dreadful punishments
The weakness of the flesh is terrified
But soon it takes heart
And joyful is cut down by the sword.
3.
Digne raptor erubuit,
Rapinae cum succubuit,
Et hoste lapso perdidit,
Qui stanti vulnus intulit.
The executioner was rightly ashamed,
When he leaned toward his victim,
Who, standing firm, bore the wound
After having slipped, he perished.
4.
Et nos inter certamina,
Martyr insignis, adiuva,
Da diffidentes fidere
Victosque rursum vincere.
And in the midst of our struggles,
Outstanding martyr help us,
Allow the faithless to have faith
And the vanquished to conquer again.
5.
Sic, animarum medicus,
Affer opem languentibus:
Haustu caelestis gratiae
Aegrae curentur animae.
In this way may the physician of souls,
Bring succor to the weary:
By a draught of the grace of heaven
May the sick souls be cured.
6.
Sit patri laus ingenito…
Let there be praise to the unborn…
