Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Feast of Christ the King



The liturgical year of the church ends today with this relatively new celebration (which you can read more about at the linked posts below) which only began in the Roman Catholic Church in 1925 before slowly spreading to some other denomnations.

Soon may the last glad song arise
Through all the millions of the skies,
That song of triumph which records
That all the earth is now the Lord’s.

Let thrones and powers and nations be
Obedient, Jesus Christ, to thee;
And over land and stream and main
Show forth the scepter of thy reign.

O let that glorious anthem swell,
Let host to host the triumph tell,
Till not one rebel heart remains,
But over all the Savior reigns!

Mrs. Vokes, 1816; alt.
Tune: REX GLORIOSE MARTYRUM (L.M.)
Ca­thol­ische Geist­liche Ge­säsange, 1608

Regarding the nameless Mrs. Vokes, the comprehensive Dictionary of Hymnology (1892) by John Julian declares: A long correspondence has failed to elicit any information concerning this hymn-writer beyond the facts that the earliest work in which her hymns are found is A Selection of Missionary and Devotional Hymns, edited by the Rev. J. Griffin, a Congregational minister at Portsea, and published in 1797.

More recent scholarship suggests that 'Mrs. Vokes' was perhaps a pseudonym for the Anglican priest Bourne Hall Draper (1775 - 1843).



Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: The Feast of Christ the King

Four (Calendar) Years Ago: Mabel Johnston Camp

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: The Feast of Christ the King

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