Theologie de la Liturgie des Heures
LAUDES
The office of Lauds consecrates the first hours
of the day to God the Creator. The principal motive, the most constant theme of this action of grace, is the return
of the light which evokes the Resurrection of Christ and his presence in the
Church (141). We propose to illustrate the theology of Lauds from examples from Sunday, Easter week, as well as the days of
the week, especially the hymns, for the
hymn, the poetic element "almost always manifests better than the other
parts of the office the character of the hours or each feast "(IGLH 173).
The dawning of the day first of all is a
reminder of the goodness and harmony of creation which the ancient Christian poetry does not hesitate
to admire, in particular, the triumphant appearance of the sun after the struggle
against the night (142). If the light of
the sun, the star of the day, is itself a creature: Christ the Lord himself greets
and invokes the Creator of light. He is the true light without shadow
or decline that illuminates every man in this world (Jn. 8, 12) (143).
The
dawn irresistibly evokes Easter morning, the first day of the new world
resulting from redemption. The sun is the symbol of Christ rising from the
tomb. The dazzling sunlight is only one
141. Iron. III, T.O. II, ad laud. Hymn, Aeterne lucis
conditor, str. 3; Sabb, T.O, II ad laud, hymn. Diei luce reddita, str. Id.
Orat. Concluded.
142. Dom. T, O, II ad laud, hymn. Ecce iam noctis
tenuatur umbra str. L Iron. III TO, I ad laud. Hymn, Pergrata mundo Nuntiat,
str. L
.143. Iron. III. TO, II ad laud, hymn. Aeterne lucis
conditor, str. 1; Cf. Dom. T, O, I ad laud, preces, introd.
symbol of the light of spirits and hearts: Jesus
Christ, the giver of the created light and of grace. (144). The Church in her dazzling majesty contemplates the eternal Word
whom God the Father has placed on his
right hand from his glorious resurrection: "Splendor of the glory of the
Father. Light from light, Light of light
and source Of daylight, illuminating the day "(145).
The fact of the resurrection of Christ is not
clearly recalled in the hymns, but it is constantly present under the images,
especially in the theme of the victory of the day over the night which
symbolizes the triumph of Christ over death, sin and Satan.(146). What the hymns and concluding prayers suggest is the explication of the effects of the Paschal mystery in the
Christian life. Here are some examples:
The light of the Risen One penetrates the hearts
and increases the faith, this inner fire lights up by the gracious gift of God what
is threatened by the wind of temptations
(147).
Or again: in the darkness of the present world,
the resurrection of Christ illuminates believers and leads them to the eternal
light of the Lord of glory. It is, indeed, in the dynamism of the resurrection
that everyone will find the strength to avoid sin and to practice justice (149).
…
The mystery of the Resurrection of Christ
suggested by the different elements of the Liturgy of the Hours should certainly be highlighted in the
translations and adaptations of the Office of Lauds in the national languages which do not have the
power of suggestion that ecclesiastical Latin has. In this way, the Pascal
theme, fundamental in the inspiration of the prayer of the morning since Christian antiquity would be made more
manifest: the remembrance of the resurrection of the Lord who sanctifies the
hour of Lauds, as St. Cyprian already teaches (151).
Finally, the new day which begins each morning and the very Easter of the Lord, is a figure
of the coming day, the eschatological
day. From created reality, evidence of the
goodness and fidelity of the Creator, at Lauds thought rises to the God who
wants to fill us with infinitely more precious things: participation in his own life of which we have already the promise in the resurrection of the First-born from the dead. In one of the other hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours
this tension of the Church towards the ultimate realization, towards the Day of
Christ is manifest. One hopes that the eternal morning will burst into time and that the last dawn of
the earth will flood us with the light of the celestial day, the Christ. By hope, and in the celebration of the
mystery of Christ at Lauds, each day, we already anticipate the glorious return
of Christ (152). Since the Ascension,
Christ has recovered the plenitude of the glory which he possessed with the
Father before the creation of the world (Jn 17: 5,), the only Son who became
the son of the Virgin Mary. He promised us to share His glory (153).
151. S. Cyprien, De Oratione Domini, C. 34, P.L.
4, co!. 541. Cf. A. ARENS, «Vom kult-theologischen Gehalt der
Haupthoen des kirchlichen Stundengeberes», 77hZ
70 (1961) p. 206-207.
152. Fer. IV T.O. 'I ad laud. hymn. Nox et
tenebrae et nubila, str. 4; Sabb. T.O. 1 ad laud. hymn. Aurora, iam spargit
polum, str. 3.
153. Fer. VI T.O. I ad laud. hymn. Aeterna caeli
gloria ; str. I. Dom. T.O. II a laud. preces, into 1a
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