Salvete, flores martyrum

Salvete, flores martyrum. Aurelius Clemens Prudentius* (ca. 348-ca. 413). This hymn is from the Liber Cathereminon of Prudentius. It is part of the twelfth poem, the ‘Hymnus Epiphaniae’, beginning ‘Quicumque Christum quaeritis’ (from this poem comes also ‘O sola magnarum urbium’*). This selection, beginning at stanza 32 of Prudentius’s poem, is preceded by a graphic and terrible description of the massacre of the innocents. The selection is gentler and more reflective. It is a touching and tender poem for Holy Innocents’ Day, using the idea of flowers to describe the children, torn by the storm on earth but now flowers in heaven. It was adopted for liturgical use on the continent from the...