Maundy Thursday

Today's hymn recalls the Last Supper, on the night we now observe as Maundy Thursday. It appeared in several nineteenth-century hymnals, but is less known today.

"Remember me," the Savior said

On that forsaken night,

When from his side the nearest fled,

And death was close in sight.

Through all the following ages' track

The world remembers yet;

With love and worship gazes back,

And never can forget.

But who of us has seen his face,

Or heard the words he said?

And none can now his look retrace

In breaking of the bread.

We hear the Word along our way;

We see the Light above;

Remember when we strive and pray,

Remember when we love.

Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, 1855; alt.

Tune: DUNDEE (C.M.)

Scottish Psalter, 1615

Nathaniel Frothingham (1793 - 1870) was a Unitarian minister, ordained in 1815 when he assumed the pulpit at the First Congregational Church of Boston, where he remained for the next thirty-five years.

DUNDEE is another familiar tune, one of twelve common meter tunes in the Scottish Psalter published by Andro Hart in 1615 (where it was called FRENCH TUNE). It was first used with several psalm paraphrases and over the years many other texts have been sung to it (including some we would think of as mismatches today, such as O God, our help in ages past).

One Year Ago: Maundy Thursday