Rerum Deus Tenax Vigor
Encyclopedia
Rerum Deus
Tenax Vigor is the daily hymn for None
in the Roman Catholic Breviary
.
It comprises (like the hymns for Terce
and Sext
) only two stanzas of iambic dimeters together with a doxology
, varying according to the feast or season.
As in the hymns for Prime
, Sext
and Compline
,the theme is found in the steady march of the sun, that defines the periods of the day (and provided the basis of Roman and monastic chronology):
which translates (not literally, nor strictly by verse):
Who mark'st the day-hours as they run by steady marches of the sun'.
The moral application is, as usual, made in the following stanza:
The authorship of the hymns for Terce, Sext and None is now ascribed only very doubtfully to St. Ambrose. They are not given to the saint by the Benedictine editors (see Ambrosian Hymnography
), but are placed by Luigi Biraghi amongst his inni sinceri, since they are found in all the MSS. of the churches of Milan. Daniel (I, 23: IV, 13, 17) thinks that much longer hymns for the hours were replaced by the present ones. Pimont disagrees arguing that the saint may well have composed two sets of hymns for the hours. However, the researches of Blume (1908) show that the primitive Benedictine cycle of hymns, as attested by the Rules of Cæsarius and Aurelian of Arles, did not include these hymns, but assigned for Terce, Sext and None (for Eastertide
) the hymns: "Jam surgit hora tertia", "Jam sexta sensim volvitur", "Ter hora trina volvitur"; the earliest MSS. of the cycle give for these hours, for the remainder of the year, the hymns: "Certum tenentes ordinem", "Dicamus laudes Domino", "Perfectum trinum numerum"; while other MSS. give as variants for Lent: "Dei fide qua vivimus", "Meridie orandum est", "Sic ter quaternis trahitur". This Benedictine cycle was replaced throughout Western Christendom by a later one, as shown by Irish and English MSS. which give the present hymns for the little hours.
Deus
Deus is Latin for "god" or "deity".Latin deus and dīvus "divine", are descended from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos, from the same root as *Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon...
Tenax Vigor is the daily hymn for None
None (liturgy)
None , or the Ninth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said around 3 p.m...
in the Roman Catholic Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
.
It comprises (like the hymns for Terce
Terce
Terce, or Third Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn....
and Sext
Sext
Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at noon...
) only two stanzas of iambic dimeters together with a doxology
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
, varying according to the feast or season.
As in the hymns for Prime
Prime (liturgy)
Prime, or the First Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight , between the morning Hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. Hour of Terce. It is part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity, but in the Latin Rite it was suppressed by the...
, Sext
Sext
Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at noon...
and Compline
Compline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
,the theme is found in the steady march of the sun, that defines the periods of the day (and provided the basis of Roman and monastic chronology):
- Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor
- Immotus in te permanens,
- Lucis diurnæ tempora
- Successibus determinans '.
which translates (not literally, nor strictly by verse):
- 'O God, whose power unmoved the whole of Nature's vastness doth control,
Who mark'st the day-hours as they run by steady marches of the sun'.
The moral application is, as usual, made in the following stanza:
- Largire lumen vespere 'O grant that in life's eventide'
- Quo vita nusquam decidat, etc. 'Thy light may e'er with us abide', etc.
The authorship of the hymns for Terce, Sext and None is now ascribed only very doubtfully to St. Ambrose. They are not given to the saint by the Benedictine editors (see Ambrosian Hymnography
Ambrosian Hymnography
Ambrose in the fourth century wrote hymns in a severe style, clothing Christian ideas in classical phraseology, and yet appealing to popular tastes. He had found a new form and created a new school of hymnody. St. Hilary of Poitiers , who is mentioned by St...
), but are placed by Luigi Biraghi amongst his inni sinceri, since they are found in all the MSS. of the churches of Milan. Daniel (I, 23: IV, 13, 17) thinks that much longer hymns for the hours were replaced by the present ones. Pimont disagrees arguing that the saint may well have composed two sets of hymns for the hours. However, the researches of Blume (1908) show that the primitive Benedictine cycle of hymns, as attested by the Rules of Cæsarius and Aurelian of Arles, did not include these hymns, but assigned for Terce, Sext and None (for Eastertide
Eastertide
Eastertide, or the Easter Season, or Paschal Time, is the period of fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, indeed as the "great Lord's Day". Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter, and, after the Sunday of the Resurrection,...
) the hymns: "Jam surgit hora tertia", "Jam sexta sensim volvitur", "Ter hora trina volvitur"; the earliest MSS. of the cycle give for these hours, for the remainder of the year, the hymns: "Certum tenentes ordinem", "Dicamus laudes Domino", "Perfectum trinum numerum"; while other MSS. give as variants for Lent: "Dei fide qua vivimus", "Meridie orandum est", "Sic ter quaternis trahitur". This Benedictine cycle was replaced throughout Western Christendom by a later one, as shown by Irish and English MSS. which give the present hymns for the little hours.