Victimae Paschali Laudes: Easter Sequence, Latin and English

The Victimae Paschali Laudes (“To the Paschal Victim let Christians offer praise”) is the Sequence of Easter, a joyful hymn sung before the Gospel at Mass on Easter Sunday. It tells the story of the Resurrection as a great drama: death and life locked in a wondrous duel, and Mary Magdalene announcing what she saw at the empty tomb. Below are the Latin text, a literal translation, a classic English hymn version, and the history and meaning of the sequence.

The Latin text

Victimae paschali laudes
immolent Christiani.
Agnus redemit oves:
Christus innocens Patri
reconciliavit peccatores.
Mors et vita duello
conflixere mirando:
dux vitae mortuus,
regnat vivus.
Dic nobis Maria,
quid vidisti in via?
Sepulcrum Christi viventis,
et gloriam vidi resurgentis:
Angelicos testes,
sudarium, et vestes.
Surrexit Christus spes mea:
praecedet suos in Galilaeam.
Scimus Christum surrexisse
a mortuis vere:
Tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere.
Amen. Alleluia.

A literal translation

Our translation:

To the Paschal Victim let Christians offer sacrifice and praise.
The Lamb has redeemed the sheep: Christ, the sinless one, has reconciled sinners to the Father.
Death and life have fought in a wondrous duel: the Prince of life, who died, reigns alive.
Tell us, Mary, what did you see on the way?
“I saw the tomb of the living Christ and the glory of the risen one:
the angel witnesses, the face cloth and the burial clothes.
Christ my hope is risen: he goes before his own into Galilee.”
We know that Christ has truly risen from the dead:
have mercy on us, victorious King. Amen. Alleluia.

A classic English hymn version

Jane Eliza Leeson’s rhymed paraphrase (1851), from Henry Formby’s Catholic Hymns (1860):

Christ the Lord is ris’n to-day:
Christians, haste your vows to pay;
Offer ye your praises meet
At the Paschal Victim’s feet.
For the sheep the Lamb hath bled,
Sinless in the sinner’s stead;
Christ the Lord is ris’n on high,
Now He lives no more to die.

Christ, the victim undefil’d,
Man to God hath reconcil’d;
Whilst in strange and awful strife
Met together Death and Life.
Christians, on this happy day
Haste with joy your vows to pay;
Christ the Lord is ris’n on high,
Now He lives no more to die.

Say, O wond’ring Mary, say,
What thou sawest on thy way?
“I beheld, where Christ had lain,
Empty tomb and angels twain;
I beheld the glory bright
Of the rising Lord of light:
Christ my hope is ris’n again,
Now He lives, and lives to reign.”

Christ, who once for sinners bled,
Now the firstborn from the dead,
Thron’d in endless might and power,
Lives and reigns for evermore.
Hail, eternal Hope on high!
Hail, Thou King of victory!
Hail, Thou Prince of life ador’d!
Help and save us, gracious Lord!

History

The sequence is usually attributed to Wipo of Burgundy, chaplain to the Holy Roman Emperor, around 1040. In the Middle Ages there were hundreds of sequences; the reform of the Missal after the Council of Trent kept only a few, among them the Victimae Paschali (Easter), Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost), Lauda Sion (Corpus Christi) and Dies Irae (for the dead), and later the Stabat Mater. A medieval stanza attacking the unbelief of “the Jews” was removed from the Missal in 1570 and is not part of the liturgy.

Today the Victimae Paschali is obligatory at Mass on Easter Sunday and may be sung on the days of the Easter Octave. It inspired the early German hymn Christ ist erstanden. See the Easter Octave.

The meaning

The Paschal Victim: Christ is the Passover Lamb, sacrificed for our sins (1 Corinthians 5:7).
The duel: on the Cross death seemed to win, but the Prince of life rose victorious. See the Easter Vigil.
Mary Magdalene, the “apostle to the apostles,” is the first witness of the Resurrection. See the St. Mary Magdalene prayer.
“Have mercy on us, victorious King”: the joy of Easter ends in trusting prayer.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Victimae Paschali Laudes sung?

Before the Gospel (after the second reading) at Mass on Easter Sunday, and optionally during the Easter Octave.

What is a sequence?

A hymn sung before the Gospel on certain great feasts. Today there are four in the Roman Missal: Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and Our Lady of Sorrows.

Who wrote the Victimae Paschali?

It is attributed to Wipo of Burgundy, an eleventh-century priest and poet.

More for Easter

Texts and sources

Latin: Latin Wikisource, “Victimae paschali laudes,” public domain; the medieval bracketed stanza is omitted, as in the Roman Missal since 1570.
English: Jane Eliza Leeson (1851), in Henry Formby, Catholic Hymns (1860), public domain (Wikisource).
The literal translation is our own.