Easter Prayer

St Pius V died with these words of the Eastertide Breviary hymn upon his lips:

Quæsumus, Auctor omnium,

In hoc paschali gaudio,

Ab omni mortis impetu

Tuum defende populum.

(He of course used the pre-Urban VIII traditional Latin version; but quæritur - did he, as Pope, continue to say the Dominican Breviary, or did he perforce use the Roman Breviary as Bishop of Rome?)

This is, I trow, an excellent prayer, excellently englished as follows:

Paschal triumph, paschal joy,

Only sin can this destroy:

From the death of sin set free

Souls reborn, dear Lord, in thee.

To this stanza, of course, the paschal doxology is customarily attached:

Gloria tibi, Domine,

Qui surrexisti a mortuis,

Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu

In sempiterna sæcula. Amen.

Or, in the vernacular:

Hymns of glory, sons of praise,

Father, unto thee we raise;

Risen Lord, all praise to thee

Ever with the Spirit be.

These two stanzas are frequently on my lips in Paschaltide.