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Latin Text No. 17

(Exultet... cont'd)

Haec nox est,
quae hodie per universum mundum in Christo credentes
a vitiis saeculi et caligine peccatorum segregatos
reddit gratiae,
sociat sanctitati.
Haec nox est,
in qua, destructis vinculis mortis,
Christus ab inferis victor ascendit.
Nihil enim nobis nasci profuit,
nisi redimi profuisset.

quae: nom. sing. fem. of qui, quae, quod, rel. pron.: who, which
hodie: adv. : today
per: prep. + acc. : through
universum: acc. sing masc. of universus, -a, -um, adj: entire
mundum: acc. sing. of mundus, -i, n.m.: world
Christo: abl. sing. of Christus, -i, n.m.: Christ
credentes: acc. plur. of pres. part. of credo, -is, crédidi, créditus, crédere: to believe. (Object of "reddit" and "sociat")
a: prep.+ abl.: from
vítiis: abl. plur. of vítium, vítii,n.n.: vice
saéculi: gen. sing. of saéculum, -i, n.n.: century (=the world seen as the domain of Satan)
caligine: abl. sing. of calígo, calíginis, n.f. : fog, darkness
peccatorum: gen. plur. of peccatum, -i, n.n.: sin
segregatos: acc. plur. masc. of segregatus, -a, -um, past part. of segrego, -as, -avi, -atus, are: to separate (from a group), isolate, remove
reddit:3rd pers. sing. pres. ind. of reddo, -is, réddidi, rédditus, réddere: to give back, bring back
gratiae: dat. sing. of gratia, -ae, n.f. : grace
sóciat: 3rd pers sing. pres. ind. of sócio, -as, -avi, -atus, -are: to unite with, associate with. Here governs the dative.
sanctitati: dative sing. of sánctitas, sanctitátis, n.f.: holiness
qua: abl. sing. of qui, quae, quod, rel. pron. : who, which
destructis: abl. plur. of destructus, -a, -um, past.part. of déstruo, -is, destruxi, destructus, destrúere: to destroy. (We are here in the presence of an ablative absolute. See Latin Text No. 10.)
vínculis: abl. plur. of vínculum, -i, n.n.: chain. (Goes with "destructis" to form an ablative absolute.)
mortis: gen. sing. of mors, mortis, n.f. : death
ab: prep. +abl. (same as "a", but used before a vowel): from
ínferis: abl. plur. of ínferi, inferorum, n.m.: nether regions (used only in plural).
victor: nom. sing. of victor, -oris, n.m.: winner, victor
ascendit: 3rd pers. sing. ind. perf. of ascendo, -is, ascendi, ascensus, ascéndere: to rise
nihil: adv. : nothing
nobis: dat. plur. of nos, nostri, nobis, nos, nobis: we, us
nasci: inf. pass. of nascor, násceris, natus sum: to be born
profuit: 3rd pers. sing. of prosum, prodes, prófui, ___, prodesse: to be useful, to be advantageous, to profit, to avail . Here used impersonally: with "nihil" : it profited nothing. "Nasci" serves as a subject
nisi: conj. unless
rédimi: infinive passive of rédimo, -is, redemi, redemptus, redímere: to buy back, redeem
[b]profuisset: 3rd pers. sing. of imperfect subjunctive of prosum (see above). Its "subject" is still "nasci".

GRAMMATICAL NOTE:
Where you have a conditional clause in the imperfect subjonctive, the main clause is normally also in the imperfect subjonctive. The fact that it is in the indicative (profuit), is unusual and indicates that we came close to being actually born for nothing. The following English sentence illustrates this construction: "If you had not arrived in time, we were dead" instead of the more normal "If you had not arrived in time, we would have been dead."

[b]End of Latin Text No. 17

Correction of Latin Text No. 16

For these are the Paschal celebrations
in which truly that Lamb was killed
by whose blood the door-posts of the faithful are consecrated.

This is the night
in which, in the beginning, you caused (fecisti) our fathers,
the sons of Israel,
led out of Egypt, to cross (transire)with dry feet
the Red Sea.

This therefore is the night
which cleared away (purgavit)the darkness of sins
with the illumination of the column.