Salve Festa Dies
1. Hail, festal day, venerable of all ages
By which God conquers hell and holds the stars
2. Behold, it declares grace for a reborn world
All gifts have returned with their Lord.
3. For indeed, after hellish sorrows, to the triumphing Christ:
grove with green and buds with flower, everywhere give laud.
4. The Crucified One was God, behold He reigns over all things,
and all creation offers prayer to its Creator.
5. O Christ, the salvation of all things,
good Creator and Redeemer, only begotten Son of God the Father.
6. You Who, seeing mankind to have plunged to the deep,
that you might save man, were also made man.
7. That Thou, the author of life and the world, might open
the way of death and the grave by giving hope of salvation.
Click here for the Latin lyrics.
This is one of the oldest hymns used by the Church, written by Venantius Fortunatus before 609 AD! Sublime, poetic, and beautiful, this hymn is considered extremely precious by the Church. She only makes use of it once a year, during the greatest feast of her liturgical year! Easter is indeed the greatest feast, even greater than Christmas. There is at least 40 days preparation for Easter, but only 4 weeks for Christmas. Furthermore, Our Lord was born in order to redeeem us -- so the feast celebrating his life's mission (the Redemption) must be the most important.
This sequence is often sung before the Day Mass of Easter Sunday.
This is found (sung in Latin) on the following CD(s):
Chant Compendium 1.
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