@Achilleion asked a question about Lucifer.
I've covered the ground from the RHP viewpoint on the LHP board, and @Alif Balaam Yashin has offered a lot of detail from the LHP viewpoint.
I thought I'd follow up with some more detail, from the Christian viewpoint.
1: Lucifer was not always the bad guy
St Lucifer of Cagliari was Bishop of Sardinia in the 4th century. There is also a martyr priest called St. Lucifer, and a female martyr called St. Lucifera, both 4th century, both from Sardinia. Still in the 4th century, there was Bishop Lucifer of Siena. Lucifer was a common Christian name, at least in Sardinia and Tuscany, and Christians thought nothing of it.
In the Catholic Liturgy, the term lúcifer is used primarily as an epithet for Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36), the morning star that rises in our hearts (cf 2 Peter 1:19). Most will be unaware of it, unless they pray the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin, where Lucifer pops up all over the place!
Lauds, Ordinary time, Sundays on weeks I and III, we have the third stanza of Ætérne rerum cónditor, composed by St. Ambrose (397CE)
Hoc excitátus lúcifer
solvit polum calígine,
hoc omnis errónum chorus
vias nocéndi déserit.
"Through him, the awakened Light-Bearer
Frees the sky of darkness;
Through him, the whole throng of night-prowlers
Abandons the paths of evil."
Mondays, weeks II and IV, we have the fifth stanza of Lucis largítor spléndide, attributed to St. Hilary of Poitiers (4th century):
Tu verus mundi lúcifer,
non is qui parvi síderis
ventúræ lucis núntius
angústo fulget lúmine
"Thou art the world’s true Morning Star,
Not that which dimly in the night
Is herald of the dawn to come
And shines with only meager light"
On Thursdays, weeks II and IV, we have the same order of mention in the second stanza of Ætérne lucis cónditor, composed c. 5–6th century.
On Fridays, weeks I and III, in the third stanza of Ætérna cæli glória. Anonymous, c. 7–8th century.
On Fridays, weeks II and IV, in the third stanza of Deus, qui cæli lumen es. Anonymous, c. 5–6th century.
Other than Lauds hymns, every Sunday on II Vespers we pray Psalm 109 (110 in the Masoretic numbering), translated c. 384CE by St. Jerome, revised in 1986, the official Latin translation used today in the Liturgy:
Tecum principátus in die virtútis tuæ,
in splendóribus sanctis,
ex útero ante lucíferum génui te.
"Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power,
in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours."
At the Easter Vigil, the proclamation (the Exsúltet) in reference to the paschal candle:
Flammas eius lúcifer matutínus invéniat:
Ille, inquam, lúcifer, qui nescit occásum:
Christus Fílius tuus,
qui, regréssus ab ínferis,
humáno géneri serénus illúxit,
et vivit et regnat in sǽcula sæculórum.
"May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star:
the one Morning Star who never sets,
Christ your Son,
who, coming back from death’s domain,
has shed his peaceful light on humanity,
and lives and reigns for ever and ever."
I've covered the ground from the RHP viewpoint on the LHP board, and @Alif Balaam Yashin has offered a lot of detail from the LHP viewpoint.
I thought I'd follow up with some more detail, from the Christian viewpoint.
1: Lucifer was not always the bad guy
St Lucifer of Cagliari was Bishop of Sardinia in the 4th century. There is also a martyr priest called St. Lucifer, and a female martyr called St. Lucifera, both 4th century, both from Sardinia. Still in the 4th century, there was Bishop Lucifer of Siena. Lucifer was a common Christian name, at least in Sardinia and Tuscany, and Christians thought nothing of it.
In the Catholic Liturgy, the term lúcifer is used primarily as an epithet for Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36), the morning star that rises in our hearts (cf 2 Peter 1:19). Most will be unaware of it, unless they pray the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin, where Lucifer pops up all over the place!
Lauds, Ordinary time, Sundays on weeks I and III, we have the third stanza of Ætérne rerum cónditor, composed by St. Ambrose (397CE)
Hoc excitátus lúcifer
solvit polum calígine,
hoc omnis errónum chorus
vias nocéndi déserit.
"Through him, the awakened Light-Bearer
Frees the sky of darkness;
Through him, the whole throng of night-prowlers
Abandons the paths of evil."
Mondays, weeks II and IV, we have the fifth stanza of Lucis largítor spléndide, attributed to St. Hilary of Poitiers (4th century):
Tu verus mundi lúcifer,
non is qui parvi síderis
ventúræ lucis núntius
angústo fulget lúmine
"Thou art the world’s true Morning Star,
Not that which dimly in the night
Is herald of the dawn to come
And shines with only meager light"
On Thursdays, weeks II and IV, we have the same order of mention in the second stanza of Ætérne lucis cónditor, composed c. 5–6th century.
On Fridays, weeks I and III, in the third stanza of Ætérna cæli glória. Anonymous, c. 7–8th century.
On Fridays, weeks II and IV, in the third stanza of Deus, qui cæli lumen es. Anonymous, c. 5–6th century.
Other than Lauds hymns, every Sunday on II Vespers we pray Psalm 109 (110 in the Masoretic numbering), translated c. 384CE by St. Jerome, revised in 1986, the official Latin translation used today in the Liturgy:
Tecum principátus in die virtútis tuæ,
in splendóribus sanctis,
ex útero ante lucíferum génui te.
"Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power,
in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours."
At the Easter Vigil, the proclamation (the Exsúltet) in reference to the paschal candle:
Flammas eius lúcifer matutínus invéniat:
Ille, inquam, lúcifer, qui nescit occásum:
Christus Fílius tuus,
qui, regréssus ab ínferis,
humáno géneri serénus illúxit,
et vivit et regnat in sǽcula sæculórum.
"May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star:
the one Morning Star who never sets,
Christ your Son,
who, coming back from death’s domain,
has shed his peaceful light on humanity,
and lives and reigns for ever and ever."
