Anni peractis mensibus

This ancient Latin hymn for Whitsuntide dates to the early medieval period and is preserved in major eleventh-century manuscript collections, including the Durham Cathedral Hymnarium and British Museum Vespasian D. xii. Published in 1851 by the Surtees Society within the Latin Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church, the text consists of five stanzas of four lines and was historically appointed for use at Matins during the solemn observance of Pentecost. The hymn reflects upon the annual cycle of the church calendar, celebrating the arrival of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles after the completion of the months following Easter. It entered modern English congregational worship through the translation of John David Chambers, who rendered it as "A year's swift months have passed away" in his 1857 collection Lauda Syon. Chambers's verse rendering was subsequently picked up by James Skinner and included as Number 146 in his Daily Service Hymnal in 1864, offering High Church congregations a faithful English version of Anglo-Saxon liturgical tradition.