The Ancient Hymn of Christ the King: Laudes Regiae

Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ Commands! 

The ancient hymn: Laudes Regiae is sung at the Installation Mass of Popes, Coronations of the Holy Roman Emperor, etc. AND on today’s Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

It’s a beautiful text, check it out! After the text, there are a few links to different versions and a the history of the Liturgy and naming of today’s Feast!

Latin text Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Exaudi, Christe Exaudi, Christe Ecclesiae santae Dei salus perpetua Redemptor mundi, tu illam adiuva Sancta Maria, tu illam adiuva Sancta Mater Ecclesiae, tu illam adiuva Regina Apostolorum, tu illam adiuva Sancte Michael, Gabriel et Raphael tu illam adiuva Sancte Ioannes Baptista, tu illam adiuva Sancte Ioseph, tu illam adiuva Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Exaudi, Christe. N., Summo Pontifici et universali Pape, vita! Salvator mundi, tu illum adiuva Sancte Petre, tu illum adiuva Sancte Paule, tu illum adiuva Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Exaudi, Christe. Exaudi, Christe Episcopis catholicae et apostolicae fidei cultoribus, eorumque curis fidelibus, vita! Salvator mundi, tu illos adiuva Sancte Andrea, tu illos adiuva Sancte Iacobe, tu illos adiuva Sancte Ioannes, tu illos adiuva Sancte Thoma, tu illos adiuva Sancte Iacobe, tu illos adiuva Sancte Philippe, tu illos adiuva Sancte Bartholomaee, tu illos adiuva Sancte Matthaee, tu illos adiuva Sancte Simon, tu illos adiuva Sancte Thaddaee, tu illos adiuva Sancte Matthia, tu illos adiuva Sancte Barnaba, tu illos adiuva Sancte Luca, tu illos adiuva Sancte Marce, tu illos adiuva Sancti Timothee et Tite, vos illos adiuvate Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Exaudi, Christe. Exaudi, Christe Sancti Protomartyres Romani, vos illos adiuvate Sancte Ignati, tu illos adiuva Sancte Polycarpe, tu illos adiuva Sancte Cypriane, tu illos adiuva Sancte Bonifati, tu illos adiuva’ Sancte Stanislae, tu illos adiuva Sancte Thoma, tu illos adiuva Sancti Ioannes et Thoma vos illos adiuvate Sancte Iosaphat, tu illos adiuva Sancte Paule, tu illos adiuva Sancte Ioannes et Isaac, vos illos adiuvate Sancte Petre, tu illos adiuva Sancte Carole, tu illos adiuva Sancta Agnes, tu illos adiuva Sancta Caecilia, tu illos adiuva Omnes sancti martyres, vos illos adiuvate Sancte Clemens tu illos adiuva Sancte Athanasi, tu illos adiuva Sancte Leo Magne, tu illos adiuva Sancte Gregorio Magne, tu illos adiuva Sancte Ambrosi, tu illos adiuva Sancte Augustine, tu illos adiuva Sancti Basili et Gregori, vos illos adiuvate Sancte Ioannes, tu illos adiuva Sancte Martine, tu illos adiuva Sancte Patrici, tu illos adiuva Sancti Cyrille et Methodi, vos illos adiuvate Sancte Carole, tu illos adiuva Sancte Roberte, tu illos adiuva Sancte Francisce, tu illos adiuva Sancte Ioannes Nepomucene, tu illos adiuva Sancte Pie, tu illos adiuva Omnes sancti potifices et doctores, vos illos adiuvate Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Exaudi, Christe. Exaudi, Christe Populis cunctis et omnibus hominibus bonae voluntatis: pax a Deo, rerum ubertas morumque civilium rectitudo. Sancte Antoni, tu illos adiuva Sancte Benedicte, tu illos adiuva Sancte Bernarde, tu illos adiuva Sancte Francisce, tu illos adiuva Sancte Dominice, tu illos adiuva Sancte Philippe, tu illos adiuva Sancte Vincenti, tu illos adiuva Sancte Ioannes Maria, tu illos adiuva Sancta Catharina, tu illos adiuva Sancta Teresia a Iesu, tu illos adiuva Sancta Rosa, tu illos adiuva Omnes sancti presbyteri et religiosi, vos illos adiuvate Omnes sancti laici, vos illos adiuvate Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Ipsi soli imperium, laus et iubilatio per saecula saeculorum. Amen Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Tempora bona habeant! Tempora bona habeant! Redempti sanguine Christi. Feliciter! Feliciter! Feliciter! Pax Christi veniat! Regnum Christi veniat! Deo Gratias! Amen

English translation[8][9] Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands Hear, O Christ Hear, O Christ Perpetual safety and welfare to the Church of God Redeemer, Savior, Come to her aid O Mary blessed Mother. Come to her aid The Holy Mother of the Church, Come to her aid Queen of Apostles, Come to her aid Saint Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Come to her aid Saint John the Baptist, Come to her aid Saint Joseph, Come to her aid Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands Hear, O Christ Life and health and blessings to Pope [Name of Pope], our Holy Father, Come to his aid Saviour of the world, Come to his aid Saint Peter, Come to his aid Saint Paul, Come to his aid Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands Hear, O Christ The bishops of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith, faithful to their worries, life! Saviour of the world, Assist and strengthen him Saint Andrew, Come to their aid Saint James, Come to their aid Saint John, Come to their aid Saint Thomas, Come to their aid Saint James, Come to their aid Saint Philip, Come to their aid Saint Bartholomew, Come to their aid Saint Matthew, Come to their aid Saint Simon, Come to their aid Saint Jude, Come to their aid Saint Matthias, Come to their aid Saint Barnabas, Come to their aid Saint Luke, Come to their aid Saint Mark, Come to their aid Saint Timothy and Titus, Come to their aid Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands Hear, O Christ Saint Ignatius, Come to their aid First Martyrs of the Church of Rome, Come to their aid Saint Polycarp, Come to their aid Saint Cyprian, Come to their aid Saint Boniface, Come to their aid St. Stanislas, Come to their aid Saint Thomas, Come to their aid Saints John and Thomas, Come to their aid Saint Josaphat, Come to their aid Saint Paul, Come to their aid Saint John and Isaac, Come to their aid Saint Peter, Come to their aid Saint Charles, Come to their aid Saint Agnes, ‘Come to their aid Saint Agnes, Come to their aid All ye holy martyrs, Come to their aid Saint Clement, Come to their aid Saint Athanasius, Come to their aid Saint Leo the Great, Come to their aid Saint Gregory the Great, Come to their aid Saint Ambrose, Come to their aid Saint Augustine, Come to their aid Saints Basil and Gregory, Come to their aid Saint John, Come to their aid Saint Martin, Come to their aid Saint Patrick, Come to their aid Saints Cyril and Methodius, Come to their aid Saint Charles, Come to their aid Saint Robert, Come to their aid Saint Francis, Come to their aid Saint John of Nepomuk, Come to their aid Saint Pius X, Come to their aid Church fathers and doctors, Come to their aid Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands Hear, O Christ And to all men of good will to all peoples: Saint Anthony, Come to their aid Saint Benedict, Come to their aid Saint Bernard, Come to their aid Saint Francis, Come to their aid Saint Dominic, Come to their aid Saint Philip, Come to their aid Saint Vincent, Come to their aid Saint John Mary,, Come to their aid Saint Catherine, Come to their aid Saint Teresa of Jesus, Come to their aid Saint Rose, Come to their aid “All ye holy priests and religious, Come to their aid All ye holy lay people, Come to their aid Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands To him alone be authority, praise and rejoicing, endless ages of ages. Amen Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands May they have favourable times! May those redeemed by the Blood of Christ have favourable times Happily! Happily! Happily! May the peace of Christ come! May the reign of Christ come! Thanks be to God’ Amen

A very unique version:

From Rome:

From St. John Cantius in Chicago:

From the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC:

On Organ:

From our Passionist Nuns in Whitesville:

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man’s thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations.

Today’s Mass establishes the titles for Christ’s royalty over men: 1) Christ is God, the Creator of the universe and hence wields a supreme power over all things; “All things were created by Him”; 2) Christ is our Redeemer, He purchased us by His precious Blood, and made us His property and possession; 3) Christ is Head of the Church, “holding in all things the primacy”; 4) God bestowed upon Christ the nations of the world as His special possession and dominion.

Today’s Mass also describes the qualities of Christ’s kingdom. This kingdom is: 1) supreme, extending not only to all people but also to their princes and kings; 2) universal, extending to all nations and to all places; 3) eternal, for “The Lord shall sit a King forever”; 4) spiritual, Christ’s “kingdom is not of this world”. — Rt. Rev. Msgr. Rudolph G. Gandas

CHRIST THE KING AS REPRESENTED IN THE LITURGY

The liturgy is an album in which every epoch of Church history immortalizes itself. Therein, accordingly, can be found the various pictures of Christ beloved during succeeding centuries. In its pages we see pictures of Jesus suffering and in agony; we see pictures of His Sacred Heart; yet these pictures are not proper to the nature of the liturgy as such; they resemble baroque altars in a gothic church. Classic liturgy knows but one Christ: the King, radiant, majestic, and divine.

With an ever-growing desire, all Advent awaits the “coming King”; in the chants of the breviary we find repeated again and again the two expressions “King” and “is coming.” On Christmas the Church would greet, not the Child of Bethlehem, but the Rex Pacificus — “the King of peace gloriously reigning.” Within a fortnight, there follows a feast which belongs to the greatest of the feasts of the Church year — the Epiphany. As in ancient times oriental monarchs visited their principalities (theophany), so the divine King appears in His city, the Church; from its sacred precincts He casts His glance over all the world….On the final feast of the Christmas cycle, the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, holy Church meets her royal Bridegroom with virginal love: “Adorn your bridal chamber, O Sion, and receive Christ your King!” The burden of the Christmas cycle may be summed up in these words: Christ the King establishes His Kingdom of light upon earth!

If we now consider the Easter cycle, the luster of Christ’s royal dignity is indeed somewhat veiled by His sufferings; nevertheless, it is not the suffering Jesus who is present to the eyes of the Church as much as Christ the royal Hero and Warrior who upon the battlefield of Golgotha struggles with the mighty and dies in triumph. Even during Lent and Passiontide the Church acclaims her King. The act of homage on Palm Sunday is intensely stirring; singing psalms in festal procession we accompany our Savior singing: Gloria, laus et honor tibi sit, Rex Christe, “Glory, praise and honor be to Thee, Christ, O King!” It is true that on Good Friday the Church meditates upon the Man of Sorrows in agony upon the Cross, but at the same time, and perhaps more so, she beholds Him as King upon a royal throne. The hymn Vexilla Regis, “The royal banners forward go,” is the more perfect expression of the spirit from which the Good Friday liturgy has arisen. Also characteristic is the verse from Psalm 95, Dicite in gentibus quia Dominus regnavit, to which the early Christians always added, a ligno, “Proclaim among the Gentiles: the Lord reigns from upon the tree of the Cross!” During Paschal time the Church is so occupied with her glorified Savior and Conqueror that kingship references become rarer; nevertheless, toward the end of the season we celebrate our King’s triumph after completing the work of redemption, His royal enthronement on Ascension Thursday.

Neither in the time after Pentecost is the picture of Christ as King wholly absent from the liturgy. Corpus Christi is a royal festival: “Christ the King who rules the nations, come, let us adore” (Invit.). In the Greek Church the feast of the Transfiguration is the principal solemnity in honor of Christ’s kingship, Summum Regem gloriae Christum adoremus (Invit.). Finally at the sunset of the ecclesiastical year, the Church awaits with burning desire the return of the King of Majesty.

We will overlook further considerations in favor of a glance at the daily Offices. How often do we not begin Matins with an act of royal homage: “The King of apostles, of martyrs, of confessors, of virgins — come, let us adore” (Invit.). Lauds is often introduced with Dominus regnavit, “The Lord is King”. Christ as King is also a first consideration at the threshold of each day; for morning after morning we renew our oath of fidelity at Prime: “To the King of ages be honor and glory.” Every oration is concluded through our Mediator Christ Jesus “who lives and reigns forever.” Yes, age-old liturgy beholds Christ reigning as King in His basilica (etym.: “the king’s house”), upon the altar as His throne.

Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.