the words of St. Augustine (Encheiridion, c. 112):  Paenas
     damnatorum certis temporum intervallis existiment, si hoc eis placet,
     aliquatenus mitigari, dummodo intelligatur in eis manere ira Dei, hoc
     est ipsa damnatio. “Let men believe, if it so please them, that at
     certain intervals the pains of the damned are somewhat alleviated,
     provided that it be understood that the wrath of God, that is
     damnation itself, abides upon them.”

140 It is somewhat startling to find Prudentius speaking of the Holy
     Eucharist in terms which would recall to his contemporary readers
     Virgilian phraseology and the honeyed cake (liba) used in pagan
     sacrifice.  It must be remembered, however, that in the early days of
     the Church paganism and Christianity flourished side by side for a
     considerable period; and we find various pagan practices allowed
     to continue, where they were innocent.  Thus the bride-cake and the
     bridal-veil are of heathen origin; the mirth of the Saturnalia
     survives, in a modified form, in some of the rejoicings of Christmas;
     and the flowers, which had filled the pagan temples during the
     Floralia, were employed to adorn God’s House at the Easter festival.

141 The brilliant illumination of churches on Easter Eve is very
     ancient.  According to Eusebius, Constantine “turned the mystical
     vigil into the light of day by means of lamps suspended in every
     part, setting up also great waxen tapers, as large as columns,
     throughout the city.”  Gregory of Nyssa also speaks of “the cloud
     of fire mingling with the rays of the rising sun, and making the eve
     and the festival one continuous day without interval of darkness.”

153 Cf. Paradise Lost, iii. 51:—­

“So much the rather thou, Celestial Light,
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate.”

VI

The last seven stanzas of this hymn are used in the Moz.  Brev. at
Compline on Passion Sunday, and daily until Maundy Thursday.

56 Cf.  Job. vii. 14:  “Then Thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest
     me through visions.”

95 In the translation of this stanza the explanation of Nebrissensis
     is adopted, an early editor of Prudentius (1512) and one of the
     leaders of the Renaissance in Spain.  He considers that “the few of
     the impious who are condemned to eternal death” are the incurable
     sinners, immedicabiles.  Others attempt to reconcile these words
     with the general belief of the early Church by maintaining that
     non pii is not equivalent to impii, but rather refers to the
     class that is neither decidedly good nor definitely bad, and that
     the mercy of God is extended to the majority of these.  A third view
     is that the poet is speaking relatively, and means that few are
     condemned in proportion to the number that deserve condemnation. 
     In whatever way the words are explained, it is interesting to find
     an advocate of “the larger hope” in the fourth century.