15 Prudentius here, as again in v. 160, emphasises his belief in
the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. The
"filioque" clause was not actually added to the Nicene Creed till
the Council of Toledo (589 A.D.), but the doctrine was expressly
maintained by Augustine, and occurs in a Confession of Faith of an
earlier Synod of Toledo (447 A.D.?), and in the words of Leo I.
(_Ep. ad Turib._, c. 1), "_de utroque processit._" The addition
was not embodied into the Creed as used at Rome as late as the
beginning of the ninth century. (_Vid._ Harnack, _Hist. of Dogma_,
iv. 132.) Prudentius probably followed, as regards the Trinity,
the doctrine generally held by the Spanish Church of his day; in
many points it is difficult (cf. note on iii. 2), but appears to be
derived partly from Tertullian and partly from Marcellus.
59 The identification of the Habakkuk of this legend (_vid._ the
Apocryphal "Bel and the Dragon") with the O. T. prophet is erroneous.
This version of the story of Daniel is sometimes represented in the
frescoes of the Catacombs, where the subject is a very favourite
one, as is natural in an age when the cry "_Christiani ad leones_"
so often rang through the streets of Rome.
V
1 There has been much doubt as to the title and scope of this hymn.
Some early editors (_e.g._, Fabricius and Arevalus) adopt the title
"_ad incensum cerei Paschalis_," or "_de novo lumine Paschalis
Sabbati_," and confine its object to the ceremonial of Easter Eve,
which is specially alluded to in ll. 125 _et seq._ Others, following
the best MSS., give the simpler title used in this text, and regard
it as a hymn for daily use. This view is supported by the weight
of evidence: the position of the hymn among the first six (none of
which are for special days), and the fact that the Benediction of
the Paschal Candle was not in use, at any rate in Rome, in the
pontificate of Zacharias (_ob._ 752 A.D.) point in this direction.
In the Spanish Church particularly the very ancient custom of
praying at the hour when the evening lamps were lighted had developed
into the regular office of the _lucernarium_, as distinct from
Vespers. The Mozarabic Breviary (seventh century) contains the
prayers and responses for this service, and the Rule of St. Isidore
runs: "In the evening offices, first the lucernarium, then two
psalms, one responsory and lauds, a hymn and prayer are to be
said." St. Basil also writes: "It seemed good to our fathers not
to receive in silence the gift of the evening light, but to give
thanks as soon as it appeared." It is probable, therefore, that
Prudentius intended the hymn for daily use, and that after speaking
of God as the source of light, and His manifestations in the form
of fire to Moses and the Israelites, his thoughts pass naturally,
though somewhat abruptly, to the special festival--Easter Eve--on
which the sanctuaries were most brilliantly illuminated. The
question is fully discussed by Brockhaus (_A. Prudentius Clemens
in seiner Bedeutung für die Kirche seiner Zeit_), and Roesler (_Der
catholische Dichter A. Prudentius_). Part of this hymn is used in
the Mozarabic Breviary for the First Sunday after Epiphany, at
Vespers, being stanzas 1, 7, 35, 38-41.
7 The words _incussu silicis_ are perhaps reminiscent of the Spanish
ceremonial of Easter Eve, when the bishop struck the flint, lighting
from it first a candle, then a lamp, from which the deacons lighted
their candles; these were blessed by the bishop, and the procession
from the _processus_ into the church followed.