Introduction
The prayers of the Latin Rite Paschal Vigil are ancient, but they were not the only options. The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary from Paris is another source of--often quite different--ancient liturgical prayers. Among them is the prayer Deus Mundi Conditor, the prayer for the blessing of the Paschal Candle during the Paschal Vigil, somewhat equivalent to the Exultet. Indeed, the Deus Mundi Conditor may have influenced the Exultet with its "praise of the bee" section, reflected in the Exultet's description of the candle as "the work of bees" and the wax as "drawn out by the mother bees." Below is a translation of the Deus Mundi Conditor, as well as the original Latin text.
Deus Mundi Conditor
Prayer for the Blessing of the Paschal Candle from the Gelasian Sacramentary
God, the world’s creator, author of light, the stars’ maker, God Who perspicuously rewove with light the world fallen into darkness, God through Whom, by ineffable power, the clarity of all takes its beginning, invoking You in Your works, in this most sacred vigil of the night, we, in supplication, offer Your majesty, from Your gifts, a candle, not polluted by beesflesh, not vitiated by profane unction, not touched by sacrilegious fire, but constructed of wax, oil, and papyrus, kindled in honor of Your Name: as an offering of religious devotion we offer it. Therefore, the great mystery and miraculous sacrament of this night must needs be heaped with worthy praises. In which, by the miracle of the Lord’s Resurrection, the inveterate shades felt the day introduced to them, and death, which was once in eternal damned night, the light of true blazing being introduced, was stunned to be dragged captive among the Lord’s triumphs, and what, by the dark, prevaricating presumption of the first-formed, was damned in servitude, by the miracle of this night, shone with the splendor of liberty. Therefore, descending with fervor of spirit, as much as human devotion requires, unto the reverence of this festivity, we display to You, God, lights pleasing with the blazing of flames, so that, while they dissolve, with this faith still whole, they may yet be extolled by the praises of Your creatures. The flame’s light is indeed to be spoken of, by which the power of Deity deigned to appear to Moses, which revealed, with salvation-bearing light, the path to the people departing the land of servitude, which, by softer caresses, preserved the life of the three boys cast into the furnace by the sentence of the tyrant. For as, with the grace of this light preceding, the horror of darkness is excluded, so, Lord, by the light-shedding rule of Your majesty, the burdens of sins are dissolved. Therefore, as we see the beginning of this substance, it is needful that we praise the origin of bees. For bees are frugal in eating, most chaste in procreation. They build cells of wax soaked with liquor which the magistral art of human excellence does not equal. They pick flowers with their feet, and no harm is found on the flowers. They do not eat their offspring, but, picking up the conceptions by mouth, a swarm of offspring comes out, as, in a miraculous example, Christ proceeds from the paternal mouth. Virginity is fruitful in them without childbirth, which the Lord, indeed, deigned to follow, who arranged to have a fleshy mother by a love of virginity. Such gifts, therefore, Lord, are worthily offered on Your sacred altars, by which the Christian religion does not waver in praising You.
Deus, mundi conditor, auctor luminis, siderum fabricator, Deus qui iacentem mundum in tenebris luce perspicua retexisti, Deus per quem ineffabili potentia omnium claritas sumpsit exordium, te in tuis operibus invocantes, in hac sacratissima noctis vigilia de donis tuis cereum tuae suppliciter offerimus maiestati, non adipe carnis pollutum, non profana unctione vitiatum, non sacrilego igne contactum, sed cera, oleo, atque papyro constructum, in tui nominis honore succensum, obsequio religiosae devotionis offerimus. Magnum igitur mysterium, et noctis huius mirabile sacramentum, dignis necesse est laudibus cumulari. In quo Dominicae resurrectionis miraculo diem sibi introductum tenebrae inveteratae senserunt, et mors quae olim fuerat aeterna nocte damnata, inserto veri fulgoris lumine, captivam se trahi Dominicis triumphis obstupuit, et quod praevaricante primoplasto tenebrosa praesumptione fuerat in servitute damnatum, huius noctis miraculo splendore libertatis irradiat. Ad huius ergo festivitatis reverentiam fervore spiritus descendentes, quantum devotio humana exigit, tibi Deo fulgore flammarum placita luminaria exhibemus, ut dum haec fide integra persolvuntur, creaturae tuae etiam praeconia extollantur. Flammae lux quippe dicenda est per quam potestas Deitatis Moysi apparere dignata est, quae de terra servitutis populo exeunti salutifero lumine ducatum exhibuit, quae tribus pueris in camino sententia tyranni depositis vitam blandimentis mollioribus reservavit. Nam ut, praecedente huius luminis gratia, tenebrarum horror excluditur, ita, Domine, lucescente maiestatis tuae imperio, peccatorum sarcinae diluuntur. Quum igitur huius substantiae miramur exordium, apum necesse est laudemus originem. Apes vero sunt frugales in sumptibus, in procreatione castissimae. Aedificant cellulas cereo liquore fundatas quarum humanae peritiae ars magistra non coaequat. Legunt pedibus flores, et nullum damnum in floribus invenitur. Partus non edunt, sed ore legentes concepti fetus reddunt examina, sicut exemplo mirabili Christus ore paterno processit. Fecunda est in his sine partu virginitas, quam utique Dominus sequi dignatus carnalem se matrem habere virginitatis amore constituit. Talia igitur, Domine, digne sacris altaribus tuis munera offeruntur, quibus te laetari religio Christiana non ambigit.
Source: The Gelasian Sacramentary: Liber Sacramentorum Romanae Ecclesiae, ed. H.A. Wilson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1894), 80-81
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