The Mother's Expectation

The story of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), with the surprising news that the angel Gabriel gives to Mary, is read in many churches today.  There are other parts of Mary's story that are also appropriate for Advent, such as her visit to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-46) which includes the mighty Magnificat, Mary's song of revolution.

Today's hymn, written in the middle of the nineteenth century, goes to a place you might not expect from a Victorian writer: the course of Mary's pregnancy from the Annunciation ('the angel's salutation') to her travels to her cousin ('o'er the mountains of Judea') and finally toward Bethlehem as nine months pass. The baby is called a 'burden' which may bring to mind a chorus from Handel's Messiah about easy yokes and light burdens, but it is also a hard truth not always mentioned in Mary's story: the Incarnation came about through difficult reality for the two earthly parents-to-be, and the good news of it must have seemed far away at times, for all that the author here tries to make it more palatable for us. The meek and mild Mary sometimes portrayed in hymns and stories actually had to be a pretty tough and resourceful young woman to make it all the way to Bethlehem.

Frederick William Faber was a priest in the Church of England who converted to Roman Catholicism only nine years after his ordination. His hymnwriting 'crossed the Tiber' as well, as demonstrated in this hymn, titled "Our Lady's Expectation."

Like the dawning of the morning
On the mountains' golden heights,
Like the breaking of the moonbeams 
On the gloom of cloudy nights;
Like the tidings told by angels,
Far and wide across the earth,
Is the Mother's expectation
Of Messiah's speedy birth.

You were happy, blessed Mother,
With the very bliss of heav'n,
Since the angel's salutation
In your list'ning ear was giv'n.
Since the 'Ave' of that midnight,
When you were anointed Queen,
Like a river overflowing
Has the grace within you been.

O'er the mountains of Judea,
Like the chariot of the Lord,
You were lifted in your spirit
By the uncreated Word;
Gifts and graces flowed upon you
In a sweet celestial strife
And the growing of this baby
Was the lightening of your life.

Oh the feeling of this burden,
It was touch and taste and sight;
It was newer still and newer,
All those nine months, day and night.
Every moment did that burden
Press upon you with new grace;
Happy Mother! You are longing
To behold the Savior’s face!

Frederick William Faber, 1854; alt.
Tune: BLAENWERN (8.7.8.7.D.)
William Penfro Rowlands, 1905

Father Faber's full text runs to eight stanzas, ending with that baby's birth, but since we are still in Advent for another week it seems appropriate to stop here, with Mary's (and our) hope and expectation.

More Hymns for the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

Eight (Liturgical) Years Ago: Great Gabriel sped on wings of light

Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Away! with loyal hearts and true

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: Praise we the Lord this day

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: Today the angel comes, the same

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: Shall we not love thee, Mother dear

Also: 

Eight (Calendar) Years Ago: Phoebe Worrall Palmer

Six (Calendar) Years Ago: Charles Wesley

Four (Calendar) Years Ago: Charles Wesley

One (Calendar) Year Ago: Charles Wesley

With Fruit From Life's Glad Tree

In Advent we sing of the coming reign of God -- of justice and mercy and healing -- just as often as we sing about the imminent birth of a baby.

John Johns (1801-1847) was either a Presbyterian (as he was minister to that church in Crediton for sixteen years) or a Unitarian; sources differ.  In 1836 he was appointed Minister to the Poor in Liverpool. While tending to the needs of his people he contracted a fever and died, afterward being long remembered for his life of service. Today's hymn, written during his Liverpool years, clearly rose from his experience there. It first appeared in the Unitarian book A Collection of Hymns for Public and Private Worship (1837) by Dr. John R. Beard, along with thirty-four other texts by Johns.

Come, commonwealth of God!
Sweet reign of light and love!
Shed peace and hope and joy abroad,
And wisdom, from above.

Over our spirits first
Extend thy healing reign;
Then come and quench our urgent thirst
That ne'er shall pain again.

Soon may we all be blest
With fruit from life’s glad tree;
And in its shade like kindred rest,
All of one family.

John Johns, 1837; alt.
Tune: POTSDAM (S.M.)
Johann Sebastian Bach, 1742;
adapt. John Goss (?), 1854

The tune POTSDAM, which in the twentieth century seems to have appeared primarily in Lutheran hymnals, is attributed to J. S. Bach because the melody is derived from the second E Major fugue (BWV 878) from his The Well-Tempered Clavier (though it may be difficult to excavate).  It first appeared as a four-part hymn tune in The Church Psalter and Hymn Book (1854) along with other tunes taken from Bach. The book's preface claims that it was musical editor John Goss who "rigidly revised and, whenever necessary, corrected and rearranged" the older melodies, though I have not seen Goss credited anywhere else for this tune.

More Hymns for the Second Sunday of Advent:

Eight (Liturgical) Years Ago: Hark! the glad sound

Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Hail to you, God's Anointed

Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: Watcher, tell us of the night

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: O come, O come, Emmanuel

Watching for Thy Glad Returning

Another church year starts today on the First Sunday in Advent, four Sundays before Christmas Day. 

Liturgical churches have a wealth of hymnody new and old to get them through this season without resorting to the carols that are already creeping into our secular lives. Each year other churches decide to observe Advent, a quiet time of expectation, perhaps for the first time. Some worship planners find that it's hard to resist Christmas music in early December, but others stand firm.

That said, today isn't necessarily so quiet.  The prescribed scripture lessons for the day in some places talk about the second coming of Jesus rather than the first - triumphalism over the mystery of the Incarnation. Advent can encompass many themes.

O’er the distant mountains breaking
Comes the redd'ning dawn of day;
Rise, my soul, from sleep awaking,
Rise, and sing, and watch, and pray;
’Tis the Savior, Jesus Christ,
On thy bright returning way.

Nearer is my soul’s salvation,
Spent the night, the day at hand;
Here upon my earthly station,
Watching for thee, till I stand,
O my Savior, O my Hope,
In thy bright, thy promised land.

With my lamp well trimmed and burning,
Swift to hear and slow to roam,
Watching for thy glad returning
To restore me to my home.
Come, my Savior, come, my Joy,
Thou hast promised, quickly come!

John Samuel Bewley Monsell, 1863; alt.
Tune: STöRL (8.7.8.7.7.7.)
Johann G. C. Störl, 1774



More Hymns for the First Sunday in Advent:

Eight (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lo! he comes with clouds descending

Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Jesus came, adored by angels

Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates

Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: The King shall come when morning dawns

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: Once he came in blessing

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: Hosanna! now through Advent

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: O for a faith in boundless love

Proclaiming God's Surprising Word

The Fourth Sunday in Advent often commemorates Mary, the mother of Jesus, for her part in the Incarnation story. Readings may come from Luke 1:26-38 (the Annunciation), or Luke 1:39-56 (the Visitation), which includes the Magnificat, Mary's song of praise which for centuries was taught as an example of her meek compliance and dedication to service. In our time it is more frequently considered to be a revolutionary statement about the coming reign of God, the reversal of the way things have always been and the end of injustice and inequality. With God all things are possible. An unwed, teenage mother denied a place to stay for the night becomes the means by which Jesus comes into our world, and we still remember her "yes" to the angel Gabriel today.

Shall we not love thee, Mother dear,
Whom Jesus loves so well?
And to his glory, year by year,
Thy joy and honor tell?

For thee he chose from whom to take
True flesh his flesh to be;
In it to suffer for our sake,
By it to make us free.

Thy babe, he lay upon thy breast,
To thee he cried for food;
Thy gentle nursing soothed to rest
Th'incarnate Child of God.

Joy to be Mother of the Lord,
And thine the longed-for bliss,
Proclaiming God's surprising Word
Which shall all wrong dismiss.

As Jesus loves thee, Mother dear,
We too will love thee well;
And to his glory, year by year,
Thy joy and honor tell.

Henry Williams Baker, 1868; alt.
Tune: ANGMERING (C.M.)
C. H. H. Parry, 1902

P.S. - This is Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Annunciation (1475)

Seven Years Ago: Great Gabriel sped on wings of light

Six Years Ago: Away! with loyal hearts and true

Three Years Ago: Praise we the Lord this day

One Year Ago: Today the angel comes, the same

William Walsham How

William Walsham How, born on this date in 1823, was a priest in the Church of England and eventually Bishop of Wakefield (though he resisted being named a bishop for some years).  He had originally planned to enter the legal profession, but changed his mind while in college at Oxford and went on to divinity school at Durham University.

He was ordained in 1846, and served as rector of Whittington for twenty-eight years (1851-1879).  His first book of poetry was published anonymously, and was updated and enlarged in 1886. His collected hymns, 54 in number, were also published separately.  

He was chair of the committee that produced Church Hymns (1871) for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and that volume became the second-most widely-used hymnal in the UK (after our old friend Hymns Ancient & Modern). He was also one of the editors for The Children's Hymn Book (1881).

Since Bishop How's birthday falls on the third Sunday in Advent this year I tried to find a text with some connection to the season, so here we have the second stanza about the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), which is usually read during Advent though it also has a separate feast day on March 25 - nine months before Christmas.

Jesus! Name of wondrous love!
Name all other names above!
Unto which must every knee
Bow in deep humility.

Jesus! Name decreed of old,
To the maiden mother told,
Kneeling in her lowly cell,
By the angel Gabriel.

Jesus! Name of mercy mild,
Given to the holy Child
When the cup of human woe
First he tasted here below.

Jesus! Name of priceless worth
To your people here on earth!
Jesus! Name of wondrous love!
Human Name of God above!

William Walsham How, 1854; alt.
Tune: ST. BEES (7.7.7.7.)
John Bacchus Dykes, 1862

In 1898 How's son Frederick Douglas How published a memoir of the bishop.  Perhaps not surprisingly, he writes thusly of his father's hymns: "Among the good hymn-writers Bishop Walsham How takes his place without challenge."  Though How wrote fewer hymns than several of his Victorian contemporaries, a good proportion of them are still being sung, so this assessment is not without merit.



Seven Years Ago: William Walsham How

Five Years Ago: Edwin O. Excell

One Year Ago: William Walsham How

Thrice Happy Shall His Welcome Be

Happy New Year to the church!

We celebrate the First Sunday in Advent today, the beginning of the Christian church's liturgical year.  Though Christmas preparations have been going on in the secular world for weeks now, we are called to a different kind of preparation.

The readings for this day usually point us to the second coming of Christ, rather than the birth of the baby Jesus in the manger.  This second coming, or second Advent, will bring the reign of God to earth, where justice and equity will prevail.

Today's hymn is from a new discovery of mine, a collection of hymns called Advent Songs (1916) by Dr. Simon Nelson Patten.  Subtitled A Revision of Old Hymns to Meet Modern Needs, you can probably understand why it interests me.   Dr. Patten believed that the standard hymns of the church were too focused on the past, with language from European sources, talking about kings and lords and subjects and war, and did not represent the ideals of modern (early 20th century) Christianity.  He goes on in the introduction:

My main endeavor has been to avoid the expressions of war, depravity, and woe upon which the emotional value of earlier hymns depends. (...) At a recent baccalaureate service, the large audience, after listening to a convincing peace sermon, sang energetically, without a qualm of conscience, The Son of God goes forth to war. Our national and religious life must be reinterpreted...

Advent Songs includes several familiar hymns, such as A mighty fortress is our God and Love divine, all loves excelling, with Patten's reinterpretations, altering words and lines much as the hymns I have presented here for the last several years. He has also written  a number of original texts on subjects he considers important, such as womens' suffrage. His third category is somewhere in between: hymns with original texts but that are suggestive of other, familiar hymns.

Today's hymn is from that category.  Appropriate to the Advent season, it expresses our hopes for God's coming reign. I believe that it was also intended to remind its singers of an earlier hymn: O for a faith that will not shrink by William Hiley Bathurst (though in a different meter altogether).

O for a faith in boundless love
To open wide the realm above,
Where life is God and God is life,
Reviving souls cast down by strife.

O for a faith that growing youth
Shall keep the path of living truth,
Ours is the night, to them the day,
If now we show the onward way.

O for a faith that men are good
And, given strength, do what they should,
A growing faith that womankind
May equal man in skill and mind.

O for a faith that greed shall cease
And commerce follow ways of peace,
When neighbors fair with neighbors deal
And each regards the other's weal.

O for a faith in brotherhood
To batter down the walls that stood
Between the races of the past
Behind the feuds of clan and caste.

O for a faith that Christ may come
To end the work he has begun,
Thrice happy shall his welcome be
And great the joy of victory.

O God, give us a faith like this,
And help us feel the perfect bliss
That noble effort always brings
To those who hope for better things.

Simon N. Patten, 1916; alt.
Tune: CANONBURY (L.M.)
Robert Schumann, 1839; adapt.

Patten was clearly influenced by the theology of the Social Gospel movement that was active in his times. His hymnwriting efforts may not have been as accomplished as those of Frank Mason North or Walter Russell Bowie, whose equivalent texts are still widely sung today, but this work was clearly important to him. 

In some ways he was probably ahead of his time. Today, his ideas about the language of hymns seem less radical, and revisions are more numerous.  In the 1970s, the Ecumenical Womens' Center took on the same concerns (with the addition of inclusive/expansive language), revising familiar hymns, writing new ones, and also writing texts that suggested or could be substituted for earlier ones, such as Ruth Duck's Lead on, O Cloud of Presence (for Lead on, O King eternal and Arise, your light is come (for Rise up, O men of God).  Television evangelist Robert Schuller and his wife Arvella Schuller rewrote many hymns that were sung at Schuller's Crystal Cathedral, incorporating some of the same concerns as Dr. Patten. And, of course, as explained here before, there were the efforts of the committee that produced worship resources for the Metropolitan Community Church, from which many of the hymns on this blog are taken.

So, another Advent.  As before, we will avoid the carols of the Christmas season until we actually get there (maybe it's time for another CWS Twelve Days of Christmas - go back and check out the entries here from December 25, 2009 - January 6, 2010).  There's an Advent introductory video on YouTube that says if you're too stressed about Christmas to appreciate it when it gets here, you probably didn't do Advent correctly.  We'll try to do it the right way here.



Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lo! Christ comes with clouds descending

Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: Jesus came, adored by angels

Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: The King shall come when morning dawns

Three (Liturgical) Years Ago: Once he came in blessing 

Two (Liturgical) Year Ago: In the Advent light, O Savior

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: Hosanna! now through Advent

Be It According to Thy Word

On this fourth Sunday in Advent many churches hear the lesson of the Annunciation, Mary's encounter with the angel Gabriel who brings news from God.  Mary famously says "yes" to God, perhaps more remarkably than we first realize for a young girl of no stature in her society, who would not have been able to make important decisions for herself.  And yet, she was chosen for this honor and agreed.

Today's hymn is by an old friend, Christopher Wordsworth, and comes from his collection The Holy Year (1865), containing appropriate hymns for each Sunday and major feast day of the church's liturgical year.  Originally published with twelve stanzas, I have brought it down to a more manageable four.

Today the angel comes, the same,
Who once of old to Daniel came;
Tidings of joy has Gabriel,
Tidings of thee, Emmanuel.

"Hail, highly favored! for of thee
Conceived and born a Child shall be,
Jesus our Savior, ever blest,
In human flesh made manifest."

"I am the servant of the Lord.
Be it according to thy word;"
With faith and forthright courage said
Mary, the highly favorèd.

May we thy living Word receive,
Bring forth to life what we believe;
O come to us, and with us dwell,
And be our souls' Emmanuel.

Christopher Wordsworth, 1864; alt.
Tune: ANGELUS (L.M.) 
Georg Joseph, 1657

While Gabriel's appearance to Mary is probably his most famous, he had previously visited Daniel in the eighth and ninth chapters of the Book of Daniel.


P.S. - The fifteenth-century painting below is The Annunciation by Filippo Lippi.


Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: Great Gabriel sped on wings of light

Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: Away! with loyal hearts and true

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: Praise we the Lord this day

Come In Our Hearts To Dwell

As you probably know, it's a new (church) year today as we observe the First Sunday in Advent.  Christmas is coming but it's not here yet, in spite of the unavoidable holiday trappings that have sprung up over the past few weeks.  Here, at least, we can slow down a bit and observe this period of waiting.

Anglican hymnwriter Claudia Frances Hernaman provides today's text.  Like most of her other hymns, this one was originally written for children.  

We are more accustomed to hearing the word "Hosanna" on Palm Sunday, but it is also appropriate at this time of year.  The First Sunday in Advent often includes lessons about the second coming of Christ (also seen in this hymn), and the promised reign of peace and justice. We often think of Hosanna as an exclamation of praise, but it is more exactly an appeal for divine help, certainly among the things we do during this time of expectation.

Hosanna! now through Advent,
With loving hearts we sing,
For Jesus Christ is coming
To be his people's King. 
Hosanna! blessed Jesus,
Come in our hearts to dwell,
And let our lives and voices
Thy praise and glory tell.

Hosanna! let this welcome
Ring out through every heart;
Draw near to us, dear Jesus,
And nevermore depart.
So when we see you coming
With angels in the sky,
Hosanna! loud Hosanna
Shall be your people's cry.

Claudia Frances Hernaman, 19th cent.; alt.
Tune: WEDLOCK (7.6.7.6.)
Traditional American melody, in The Sacred Harp, 1844

This tune from the American Sacred Harp, or shape note tradition, may never have been matched to this text before. However, like the word Hosanna, the tune is probably not what we would associate with an exclamation of praise, but rather with a plea for assistance.



Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lo! Christ comes with clouds descending

Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: Jesus came, adored by angels

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates

Three (Liturgical) Years Ago: The King shall come when morning dawns

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: Once he came in blessing

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: In the Advent light, O Savior

Prophet to the Multitudes

John the Baptist always gets a week or two to himself during Advent worship, and several Advent hymns are about John and his proclamations about the coming Savior.

Today's gospel lesson in many churches was Matthew 11:2-11.  John was in jail again for his unpopular preaching, but was questioning whether Jesus (his cousin!) was truly the Promised One that John had been talking about.  Jesus responds with reminders of his works thus far, and praises John for his prophetic voice.

Today's hymn traces the whole of John's life, all the way to his death at the hands of King Herod. 

Herald, in the wilderness,
Breaking up the road,
Sinking mountains, raising plains,
For the path of God;

Prophet, to the multitudes
Calling to repent,
In the way of righteousness
Unto Israel sent;

Messenger, God’s chosen one
Foremost to proclaim,
Proffered titles passing by,
Pointing to the Lamb.

Captive, for the word of truth
Boldly witnessing;
Then in Herod’s dungeon cave,
Faint and languishing;

Martyr, sacrificed to sin
At that feast of shame;
As his life foreshowed the Word,
In his death the same—

Holy Jesus, when he heard,
Went apart to pray:
Thus may we our lesson take
From this saint today.

Henry Alford, 1866; alt.
Tune: BRUCE (7.5.7.5.)
The Hymnal, 1907



Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: The great forerunner of the morn

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: O Wisdom, spreading mightily

Knowing You Are On Your Way

Another year in the church's calendar begins today, with the first Sunday in Advent.  These four Sundays before Christmas serve as a time of waiting and expectation as the commemoration of the birth of Christ approaches.  We have seen many Advent hymns over the last five years here at the blog, and they aren't used up yet.

Emily May Grimes (May 10, 1864 - July 9, 1927) was born in England but went to South Africa as a missionary in 1893.  In 1903, she married Dr. T. W. W. Crawford, another missionary in the Anglican church who was stationed in Africa.  Many of her hymns (such as today's) were written before her marriage and were attributed to 'E. May Grimes.'

Her texts seems to have appeared in more and more hymnals as the twentieth century progressed, unlike many of her contemporaries, though this is probably largely due to her most well-known hymn, Speak, Lord, in the stillness.

In the Advent light, O Savior,
We are living day by day;
Waiting, working, watching ever,
Knowing you are on your way.

In the Advent light rejoicing!
Songs of praise along the road
Seem to make the journey shorter,
Mounting upward to our God!

So from glory unto glory,
Gladdened by the Advent ray;
All the path is growing brighter,
Shining unto perfect day.

Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Pass the heavenly watchword on!
Go we forth to meet the Savior
Hail! the heavn'ly promised one!

E. May Grimes, 1902; alt.
Tune: RESTORATION (8.7.8.7.)
The Southern Harmony, 1835



Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lo! Christ comes with clouds descending

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: Jesus came, adored by angels

Three (Liturgical) Years Ago: Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates

Two (Liturgical) Years Ago: The King shall come when morning dawns

One (Liturgical) Years Ago: Once he came in blessing

Another Anniversary Today: World AIDS Day

The Favored of the Lord

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is sometimes at the center of worship on the last Sunday in Advent.  The story of the Annunciation, told in Luke 1:26-38 (subject of a separate feast day on March 25), describes the coming of the angel Gabriel to Mary to announce the birth of Christ.  Mary's agreement to bear this child sets events in motion to bring about the promised reign of God.

Today's anonymous hymn text was first published in a small collection called Hymns for the Festivals and Saints' Days of the Church of England in 1846.  Unlike many hymns of its day, the number of hymnals that include it has actually increased up to the present day.

Praise we the Lord this day,

This day so long foretold,

Whose promise shone with cheering ray

On waiting saints of old.

The prophet gave the sign
For faithful souls to read;
A virgin born of David’s line
Shall bear the promised seed.

Ask not how this should be,
But worship and adore,
Like her whom heaven’s majesty

Came down to shadow o’er.

Then Mary bowed her head
To hear the gracious word,

The maiden destined to become
The favored of the Lord.

Blessèd shall be her name
In all the Church on earth,
Through whom that wondrous mercy came,
Th'incarnate Savior’s birth.

O Jesus, Mary's son,
We praise thee and adore,
Who art with our Creator One
And Spirit evermore.

author unknown, 1846; alt.
Tune: WALMISLEY (S.M.)
Thomas Attwood Walmisley, 1853

In Mercy Save Thine Israel

For the third Sunday in Advent we take a look back to last week's familiar hymn and find a much lesser known text based on the same material.  The O Antiphons of the eighth century have been set to music in varying ways over the years, but the one we know best, of course,  is O come, O come Emmanuel.

Today's text is also based on the O Antiphons, adapted from the prose version that had appeared in John Mason Neale's Hymnal Noted (1854).  Primary translator Horatio Bolton (Earl Nelson), grand-nephew of the renowned British admiral Lord Nelson, included this hymn in the Sarum Hymnal (1868) which was largely compiled by him.

O Wisdom, spreading mightily,

From out the mouth of God most high,

All nature sweetly ordering,

Within thy paths thy people bring:

Refrain

Draw near, O Christ, with us to dwell,

In mercy save thine Israel.

Ruler of Israel, God of might!

Who gav'st the law from Sinai's height;

Once in the burning bush revealed.

With outstretched arm thy people shield:

Refrain

O Root of Jesse! Ensign thou!

To whom the nations' kings shall bow,

From ev'ry foe thy people save,

And give them victory o'er the grave:

Refrain

O Israel's Sceptre! David's Key!

Come thou and set all people free;

Unlock the gate that bars the road

And lead them to the house of God:

Refrain

O Dayspring and Eternal Light!

Pierce through the gloom of sorrow's might;

The promised Sun of Righteousness,

Haste with thy rising beams to bless:

Refrain

O dear Desire of nations! come,

Lead us from earth to heav'n's high home;

Thou chief and precious Cornerstone,

Binding the scattered into one:

Refrain

O Comforter! Emmanuel! King!

Thy praises we would ever sing;

The nations' hope, the Savior blest,

Take us to thine eternal rest:

Refrain

Latin; tr. Horatio Bolton and others, 1868; alt.

Tune: MELITA (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

John Bacchus Dykes, 1861

This hymn was included in the 1871 hymnal of the Episcopal Church (which is where I found it), on the page opposite O come, O come Emmanuel, with similar instructions for singing one stanza each day between December 17 and 23.  It has not appeared in any later Episcopal hymnals, presumably because it was considered redundant.  No, it will never supplant the hymn we all know, but I thought it worth a look.

Four Years Ago: John Ellerton

Three Years Ago: John Ellerton