The Feast of the Ascension

On Olivet a little band

Around their risen Savior stand:

And after charge and blessing giv’n,

He passes from them into heav’n.

Wistful their eyes, but angels twain

Cheer them with glorious words: “Again

One day shall Jesus even so

Return, as ye have seen Him go.”

Whom have we, Christ, in heav’n but thee?

Like ships safe moored on stormy sea

Our souls in peril, with thee there

Find anchorage of hope and prayer.

Set loose from earth, and evermore

Fast bound to that eternal shore,

So all our life and love shall be,

Ascended Savior, ris'n with thee!

Samuel J. Stone, 1866; alt.

Tune: MENDON (L.M.)

German melody; arr. Samuel Dyer, 1828

Four Years Ago: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus

Two Years Ago: A hymn of glory let us sing

One Year Ago: Hail the day that sees him rise

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Today is the 199th birthday of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809 - 1894), a doctor and Harvard Medical School professor who is better known today for his literary pursuits -- he was a poet, a novelist, and a writer of humorous essays (though he also published medical books as well). He was also a co-founder of the Atlantic Monthly magazine which is still published today. Born into an old New England family, his father was a Congregational minister, and his mother a descendant of poet Anne Bradstreet. His son, Oliver Wendell Jr., became a justice of the United States Supreme Court. The illustration at the left is a memorial postcard issued after his death (click to enlarge) with a quotation from his poem The Voyage of the Good Ship Union.

Holmes also wrote a number of hymns, including this one, which appeared at the end of his book The Professor at the Breakfast Table.

God of all being, throned afar,

Thy glory flames from sun and star;

Center and soul of every sphere,

Yet to each loving heart how near!

Sun of our life, thy quickening ray,

Sheds on our path the glow of day;

Star of our hope, thy softened light

Cheers the long watches of the night.

Lord of all life, below, above,

Thy light is truth, thy warmth is love,

Thy rainbow arch, our covenant sign;

All that illumines earth is thine.

Grant us thy truth to make us free,

And kindling hearts that burn for thee,

Till all thy living altars claim

One holy light, one heavenly flame.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1848; alt.

Tune: MENDON (L.M.)

German melody; arr. Samuel Dyer, 1828

Holmes appears as a character, along with his literary circle of friends from Cambridge, MA (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and J.T. Fields) in the recent popular historical mystery The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl (recommended).