Si consurrexistis cum Christo, quæ sursum sunt quærite, ubi Christus est in dexteram Dei sedens; quæ sursum sunt sapite, non quæ super terram. Mortui enim estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo. Cum Christus apparuerit, vita vestra, tunc et vos apparebitis cum ipso in gloria. - "If ye be risen with Christ, seek ye the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right of God: savour the things that are above, not those that are upon earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ appears, who is your life, then you also will appear with Him in glory." (Col. iii, 1-4)
This is a favourite text of mine, being the Easter Vigil Epistle in the Old Rite, and the Easter Day Epistle in the New! I know it (in Latin) by heart; the above English is my translation. (The whole of Colossians iii could well form a complete rule of life.)
But why this? Because it leads into my change of Elevation aspiration; normally, adoring the Host and Chalice as they are successively elevated, I pray the Ave verum; but during Eastertide, the following verses of Ad cenam Agni providi instead:
O vera, digna hostia,
Per quam franguntur tartara,
Captiva plebs redimitur,
Redduntur vitæ præmia.
(O true, worthy Victim, / By Whom Tartarus is smashed, / A captive people redeemed, / The rewards of life restored.)
Quæsumus, Auctor omnium,
In hoc paschali gaudio,
Ab omni mortis impetu
Tuum defende populum. Amen.
(We beg, Author of all, / In this paschal joy, / From all motions of death / Defend Thy people. Amen.)
[St Pius V breathed forth his pure soul to God while praying the last-quoted verse of this hymn.]
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