Lux ecce surgit auria

See the golden sun arise

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

Lux ecce surgit auria,
Pallens facessat cæcitas,
Quæ nosmet in præceps diu
Errore traxit devio.
Hæc lux serenum conferat,
Purosque nos præstet sibi:
Nihil loquamur subdolum:
Volvamus obscurum nihil.
Sic tota decurrat dies,
Ne lingua mendax, ne manus
Oculive peccent lubrici,
Ne noxa corpus inquinet.
Speculator adstat desuper,
Qui nos diehus omnibus,
Actusque nostros prospicit
A luce prima in vesperum.
Deo Patri sit gloria,
Ej usque soli Filio,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito,
Nunc et per omne sæculum.

See the golden sun arise!
Let no more our darkened eyes
Snare us, tangled by surprise
In the maze of sin!
From false words and thoughts impure
Let this Light, serene and sure,
Keep our lips without secure,
Keep our souls within.
So may we the day-time spend,
That, till life’s temptations end,
Tongue, nor hand, nor eye offend!
One, above us all,
Views in His revealing ray
All we do, and think, and say,
Watching us from break of day
Till the twilight fall.
Unto God the Father, Son,
Holy Spirit, Three in One,
One in Three, be glory done,
Now and evermore.

Author: Prudentius (348-413). Meter: Iambic dimeter. Translation By J. W. Chadwick. There are seventeen translations. This hymn is a cento from the Morning Hymn of the Cathemerinon of Prudentius. See the note on this hymn and its translation, under Ales diet nuntius, hymn 14

“Behold, the golden light arises; may the waning darkness, which long drew us headlong in wide-wandering error, depart.” In præceps, headlong; into great danger. It should be borne in mind that this is a hymn for Lauds, and that Lauds was said at daybreak. As the rising sun dispels the blinding darkness, so Christ, the Sun of Justice (Mal. 4, 2), dispels the darkness of sin and of unbelief.
“May this light bring us contentment, and may it preserve us pure for itself; may we speak nothing deceitful; may we meditate nothing dark.” Sibi refers to lux (i.e., Christus).
“So may the whole day run its course; that neither the tongue prone to lie, nor the hands, nor the restless eyes sin; may no sin defile the body.”
“An Observer stands on high, who each day beholds us and our actions, from early morning until evening.”