Jesu, Redemptor Omnium
JESU, REDEMPTOR OMNIUM
Office hymn that was historically sung at Lauds in the Common of a confessor bishop. Although not attributed directly to St. ambrose, it is one of the many hymns written in imitation of him designated as "Ambrosian" using the iambic dimeter. Its date of composition is usually assigned to the eighth century. Addressing Jesus as "the crown of bishops," it recalls the anniversary of the saint's entrance into glory, contrasting the fleeting joys of time with those of eternity. It concludes with a prayer for a like reward and, through the saint's intercession, for forgiveness of sin.
Bibliography: Analecta hymnica 51:133, text. j. connelly, ed. and tr., Hymns of the Roman Liturgy (Westminster, Md. 1957), translation and commentary. j. julian, ed., A Dictionary of Hymnology (rev. ed. London 1925). f. j. e. raby, A History of Christian-Latin Poetry from the Beginnings to the Close of the Middle Ages (Oxford 1953).
[m. a. malone]