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Ausonius · Paschal Verses §1-31

Praise to Christ and Prayer for the Emperors

Passage 1 of 1 · Latin

Summary

Beginning with the celebration of Christ's sacred feast and a hymn of praise to God, the text reflects on Trinitarian theology and prays to Christ for the prosperity of the co-ruling earthly emperors.

§1Sancta salutiferi redeunt sollemnia Christi §2et devota pii celebrant ieiunia mystae.
The sacred solemnities of Christ the savior return, and devout worshippers celebrate the solemn fasts.
§3at nos aeternum cohibentes pectore cultum §4intemeratorum vim continuamus honorum.
But we, keeping eternal worship in our breast, continue the power of undefiled honors.
§5annua cura sacris, iugis reverentia nobis.
Yearly is the care for sacred rites, but constant is our reverence.
§6Magne pater rerum, cui terra et pontus et aer §7Tartaraque et picti servit plaga lactea caeli, §8noxia quem scelerum plebis tremit almaque russum §9concelebrat votis animarum turba piarum: §10tu brevis hunc aevi cursum celeremque caducae §11finem animae donas aeternae munere vitae. 1
Great Father of all things, whom the earth, the sea, the air, Tartarus, and the starry zone of the painted heaven serve, whom the guilty crowd of sinful people dreads, and whom again the holy company of pious souls celebrates together with vows: you grant to this course of brief life and to the swift end of the decaying soul the gift of eternal life.
§12tu mites legum monitus sacrosque prophetas §13humano impertis generi servasque nepotes, §14deceptum miseratus Adam, quem capta venenis §15implicuit socium blandis erroribus Aevva. 2
You impart the gentle warnings of the laws and the holy prophets to the human race, and you save their descendants, having pitied the deceived Adam, whom Eve, captured by poisons, entangled as a companion in sweet errors.
§16tu verbum, pater alme, tuum, natumque deumque, §17concedis terris totum similemque paremque, §18ex vero verum vivaque ab origine vivum, §19ille tuis doctus monitis hoc addidit unum, §20ut, super aequoreas nabat qui spiritus undas,3 §21pigra inmortali vegetaret membra lavacro,
You, kind Father, grant your Word, both Son and God, to the earth, entirely similar and equal, true from true, and living from a living source; He, taught by your instructions, added this one thing, that the Spirit, which was floating above the watery waves, should quicken the sluggish limbs in the immortal bath.
§22trina fides auctore uno, spes certa salutis §22bda veniam et praesta speratae munera vitae §23hunc numerum iunctis virtutibus amplectenti.
Triple faith with one author, certain hope of salvation: grant pardon and bestow the gifts of hoped-for life upon him who embraces this number with joined virtues.
§24Tale et terrenis specimen spectatur in oris §25Augustus genitor, geminum sator Augustorum, §26qui fratrem natumque pio conplexus utrumque §27numine partitur regnum neque dividit unum, §28omnia solus habens atque omnia dilargitus.
Such an example is also beheld on earthly shores in the Augustus father, the begetter of twin Augusti, who, embracing both his brother and his son with pious devotion, shares the kingdom, yet does not divide the undivided one, possessing all things alone, and yet distributing all things bountifully.
§29hos igitur nobis trina pietate vigentes, §30rectores terrae placidos caelique ministros, §31Christe, aput aeternum placabilis adsere patrem.
Therefore, O Christ, these who flourish for us in triple piety, the peaceful rulers of the earth and ministers of heaven, advocate for them, being appeasable, before the eternal Father.

Notes

  1. §8noxia... plebis — plebis functions as the nominative singular of plebes (a third-declension variant of plebs) and serves as the subject of the singular verb tremit, modified by the feminine nominative adjective noxia. This is a late Latin poetic usage of the genitive form plebis as a nominative.
  2. §21inmortali vegetaret membra lavacro — The subordinate clause ut... vegetaret forms a noun clause in apposition to hoc unum in the preceding line. The subject is spiritus, and lavacro functions as an ablative of instrument (referring to the sacrament of baptism).
  3. §27partitur regnum neque dividit unum — The contrast between the verbs partitur (shares/allocates) and dividit (divides/splits) illustrates the political theology of joint imperial rule, where authority is shared but the empire's unity remains unbroken. unum functions as an accusative referring to regnum (or the abstract unity).
  4. §31placabilis — A nominative adjective agreeing with the vocative Christe, meaning appeasable or merciful. Although it could theoretically be a metrical variant for the accusative placabilem modifying patrem, it is standard to interpret it as a nominative in apposition to the vocative, characterizing Christ.

Cite this passage

Ausonius, Paschal Verses §1-31. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0045.stoa027.humanitext-lat2:1-31

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