Verses on Various Occasions · Chapter
CXXXV: Lauds—Wednesday explained
A hymn for Lauds on Wednesday, celebrating the triumph of Christ over darkness and sin.
What happens
A hymn for Lauds on Wednesday, celebrating the triumph of Christ over darkness and sin. It calls for Christ's light to cleanse and illuminate the faithful, ending with a doxology to the Trinity.
Themes in this chapter
Faith and Doubt
The hymn expresses confident faith in Christ's power to dispel darkness and sin, contrasting with the haunting gloom that is cast away.
Nature and the Divine
Imagery of night, shades, and earth waking with light connects the natural world's cycles to divine action.
Characters to notice
- Christ
Addressed as the rising victor who dispels gloom and pervades Heaven with day.
- Father, Son, and Paraclete
Invoked in the concluding doxology, receiving glory as the angelic host gives.
- Angels
Mentioned as the angelic host that gives glory to the Trinity.
Key passages
“Haunting gloom and flitting shades, Ghastly shapes, away! Christ is rising, and pervades Highest Heaven with day.”
Darkness and frightening shadows flee because Christ's resurrection fills the highest heaven with light.
Opens with a vivid contrast between the fearful night and the victorious dawn of Christ.
“He with His bright spear the night Dazzles and pursues; Earth wakes up, and glows with light Of a thousand hues.”
Christ pierces and chases away the night with His radiant weapon, and the earth awakens, shining with many colors.
Martial imagery of Christ as a warrior with a spear of light, emphasizing the active defeat of darkness.
“Much it needs Thy light divine, Spot and stain to clean; Light of Angels, on us shine With Thy face serene.”
We greatly need Your divine light to cleanse our blemishes and sins; O Light of Angels, shine upon us with Your peaceful countenance.
A plea for purification and illumination, acknowledging human imperfection and reliance on divine grace.