That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright

Translator: J. M. Neale

Neale, John Mason, D.D., was born in Conduit Street, London, on Jan. 24, 1818. He inherited intellectual power on both sides: his father, the Rev. Cornelius Neale, having been Senior Wrangler, Second Chancellor's Medallist, and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and his mother being the daughter of John Mason Good, a man of considerable learning. Both father and mother are said to have been "very pronounced Evangelicals." The father died in 1823, and the boy's early training was entirely under the direction of his mother, his deep attachment for whom is shown by the fact that, not long before his death, he wrote of her as "a mother to whom I owe more than I can express." He was educated at Sherborne Grammar School, and was afterwards… Go to person page >

Aurora lucis rutilat. [Easter.] This hymn is ascribed to St. Ambrose, but was not received among his undoubted works by the Benedictine editors. In rendering the hymn into English some translators have given the text in full, whilst others have taken a part only. This translation by Dr. Neale, in two parts, was published in the Hymnal Noted, in 1852, and continued in later editions. Pt. i. consists of lines 1-20, and 4 lines, and a doxology not in the original, but in the Sarum Breviary, pt. ii. of lines 21-44, and the closing lines of pt. i. repeated. In 1861, the Compilers of Hymns Ancient & Modern gave this rendering in that collection with rather extensive alterations, and rearranged in three parts, thus:— i. Aurora lucis rutilat. "Light's glittering morn bedecks the sky. ii. Tristes erant Apostoli. "The Apostles' hearts were full of pain." iii. Claro Paschali gaudio. "That Eastertide with joy was bright." -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)