Decora lux aeternitatis, Gregorian Chant

Decora lux aeternitatis (Canto gregoriano)

Ensemble Festina Lente · Michele Gasbarro

This hymn for the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul was written by Elpis (d. 493), the wife of the philosopher Boethius.

1. “The beauteous Light of Eternity hath flooded with blissful fires this golden day which crowns the Princes of the Apostles, and opens unto the guilty a free way to heaven.”

2. “The teacher of the world, and the door-keeper of heaven, fathers of Rome, and judges of the nations, the one triumphant over death by the sword, the other by the Cross; now laurel-crowned they sit in the assembly of eternal life.”

3. “O happy Rome, who art consecrated by the glorious blood of two Princes; empurpled by the blood of these, thou alone dost surpass all other beauties of the world.”