The Loveliest Blooming Rose (Day Six)

This carol comes from the Kancional (1602) a songbook of the Bohemian Brethren collected by Tobias Zavorka Lipensky (1554-1612). It still appears in Lutheran and Mennonite hymnals today. Zavorka was a pastor in the Bohemian city of Doubrava (now in the Czech Republic), and his influential hymnal contained more than a thousand hymns, songs, and antiphons. The most information available about Lipensky online (which still isn't much) is found only in the Czech version of Wikipedia (though you can translate it with the button at the top of that page).

Let our gladness have no end,
Hallelujah!
For to earth did Christ descend.
Hallelujah!

Refrain
On this day God gave us
Jesus Christ, to save us;
Jesus Christ, to save us.

Prophesied in days of old,
Hallelujah!
Humbly born, as was foretold,
Hallelujah!

See, the loveliest blooming Rose,
Hallelujah!
From the branch of Jesse grows.
Hallelujah!
Refrain

Into flesh is made the Word.
Hallelujah!
Christ, our refuge and our Lord.
Hallelujah!
Refrain

Kancional, 1602; 

tr. unknown; alt.

Tune: NARODILSE KRISTUS PÁN (7.4.7.4. with refrain)

Bohemian carol, 15th cent.

P.S. - If you followed a Facebook link to get here you can click on the blog logo above to see the rest of the current Twelve Days of Christmas celebration.

Eight Years Ago: William Croft

Seven Years Ago: Music I love -- but ne'er a strain

Four Years Ago: Like the sound of many waters

One Year Ago: There's a star in the east

The Glorious Beauty of Thy Name

For the Second Sunday in Lent I'm returning to Hymnal: A Worshipbook (1992), a collection that I wrote about last summer and intended to get back to at some point. Today's hymn appears in the section titled "Faith Journey: Confession/Repentance", which certainly seems appropriate for Lent.  The hymn first appeared in Hymns for Missions (1854), a small collection compiled by Henry Augustine Collins, who also wrote the text.

Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All,
Hear me, blest Savior, when I call;
Hear me, and from thy dwelling place
Pour down the riches of thy grace;
Jesus, my Lord, I thee adore;
O make me love thee more and more.

Jesus, too late I thee have sought;
How can I love thee as I ought?
And how extol thy matchless fame,
The glorious beauty of thy name?
Jesus, my Lord, I thee adore;
O make me love thee more and more.

Jesus, what didst thou find in me
That thou hast dealt so lovingly?
How great the joy that thou hast brought,
So far exceeding hope or thought!
Jesus, my Lord, I thee adore;
O make me love thee more and more.

Jesus, of thee shall be my song;
To thee my heart and soul belong;
All that I have or am is thine;
And thou, sweet Savior, thou art mine;
Jesus, my Lord, I thee adore;
O make me love thee more and more.

Henry Augustine Collins, 1854
Tune: ADORO TE (8.8.8.8.8.8.)
Joseph Barnby, 1871

Collins was ordained in the Church of England, but converted to Roman Catholicism in 1857, perhaps influenced by the Oxford Movement.  In 1860 he joined the monastic order of the Cistercians and went to live at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey until 1882, when he became chaplain to the nuns at the Holy Cross Abbey in Dorsetshire.


Eight (Liturgical) Years Ago: Unto the hills around do I lift up

Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Turn back, turn back

Of Love, and Truth, and Heaven

While today is generally recognized as a celebration of love and romance, it also marks the day when Saint Valentine (one of them, at least) was beheaded.  I suppose that there may have been some ancient hymns for the day, but none of them are in use any longer, so we will settle for a wedding hymn instead.

I have not presented many hymns for weddings (only one that I recall) as most of them are "wife and husband" hymns and the definition of marriage is broader in our day.  Contemporary hymnwriters have responded to this change and are now writing texts that reflect our current needs.  There are a few older hymns, however, that might work in a modern setting. 

We join to ask, with wishes kind,
A blessing, God, from thee,
On those who now the bands have twined
Which ne’er may broken be.

We know that scenes not always bright
Must unto them be given;
But over all give thou the light
Of love, and truth, and heaven.

Still hand in hand, their journey through,
Joint pilgrims may they go;
Mingling their joys as helpers true,
And sharing every woe.

May each in each still feed the flame
Of pure and holy love;
In faith and trust and heart the same,
The same their home above.

Elizabeth Gaskell (?), 1868; alt.
Tune: LOVE'S CONSECRATION (C.M.)
Abram B. Kolb, 1902

The authorship of this hymn seems to be in some doubt.  Hymnary.org credits it to the English novelist Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), but in some other sources it is credited to her husband, the Reverend William Gaskell (1805-1884) who was a Unitarian minister, and who wrote rather more hymn texts than his wife.  Apparently when it was first published in a hymnbook only the surname "Gaskell" appeared.

Composer Abram Bowman Kolb (1862-1925) was a Mennonite who worked for many years in various editorial capacities at the denomination's publishing house. He wrote both texts and tunes.  I have no reason to believe that this tune and text have ever appeared together before but they did seem like a good thematic match, at least.

Of course, today is also the First Sunday in Lent, and if you like that sort of thing there are links below to previous hymns for the day.


P.S. - the non-religious art above is from the fresco The Triumph of Love (1738) by Italian painter Antonio Balestra.



Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Thirsting for a living spring

Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: O Food to souls wayfaring

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: Your forty days of trial

Three (Liturgical) Years Ago: I heard the voice of Jesus say

Our Sure Defense Forever Be

I recently acquired a new (to me) hymnal, pictured here. Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992) was a joint project of the Church of the Brethren, the General Conference Mennonite Church, and the Mennonite Church in North America (it appears that those last two denominations merged in 2002 but I could be wrong).  Anyway, it's an interesting book to me because, in addition to many new hymns of the 1980s and 90s it also has many hymns from earlier days that had not survived in the hymnals of other denominations but which were apparently still being sung.

The hymnal opens with a section of hymns called "Gathering," which caught my eye for some reason, though I'm sure it's not the only hymnal with such a section.  These are suggested for use as the opening hymn in worship, which I've always just thought of as "opening hymns," but "Gathering" sounds much nicer.  Also, it seems like a good theme for summer Sundays here, so even though I have already written about many such hymns before, we'll see some more this year.

Working together, Fanny Crosby and composer William Howard Doane probably collaborated on dozens of songs, including Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Jesus, keep me near the cross, and To God be the glory, but I had never encountered this one, which I like very much.

God of our strength, enthroned above,
The source of life, the fount of love;
O let devotion’s sacred flame
Our souls awake to praise thy name.

Refrain
God of our strength, we sing to thee,
Our sure defense forever be.

To thee we lift our joyful eyes,
To thee on wings of faith we rise;
Come thou, and let thy courts on earth
Ring out thy praise in holy mirth.
Refrain

God of our strength, from day to day
Direct our thoughts and guide our way;
O may our hearts united be
In sweet communion here with thee.
Refrain

God of our strength, on thee we call;
God of our hope, our light, our all,
Thy name we praise, thy love adore,
Our rock, our shield, forevermore.
Refrain

Fanny Crosby, 1882; alt.
VISION (L.M. with refrain)
William H. Doane, 1883

This hymn was first published in the Baptist Hymnal (1883), for which Doane was the musical editor.  Although the Cyber Hymnal suggests that Doane's tune was written earlier, this appears to have been a new text for Crosby.  At this point she was probably the most famous writer of gospel songs and hymns in her day, having been successful for about fifteen years. Though she lived until 1915, her most popular songs (mostly the ones we still know today) were written in those early years.  By 1883, the songs she was writing did not gain the same traction as the earlier ones and are generally less known, though I have written about several of these as well.   

     

Hymns in the News

It's a few weeks late, but I did want to mention a special event that took place recently at Goshen College, a private liberal arts institution in Indiana that is affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA.

From Friday evening, November 14 through Sunday, November 16, students and people from the larger community gathered to sing through all 658 hymns in Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992), the Mennonites' current hymnal.  The event was sponsored by the college's Hymn Club (don't you wish your college had a Hymn Club?) to raise funds for Christian Peacemaker Teams.  Five of the students made it all the way through the book, while others came and went as the weekend progressed.

Hymnwriter, pastor, and musician Adam M. L. Tice, a graduate of Goshen College, later wrote down some of his impressions from the event, which is an interesting read.

I congratulate all who planned and participated in the hymn marathon (though I am just a bit envious as well).

Five Years Ago: World AIDS Day

How Measureless and Strong

Getting away from our summer Sunday themes (or maybe starting a new one), I'm posting this hymn first encountered at last week's Hymn Society Annual Conference. Though my friends and I had never heard it before, it was one we came away talking about. Turns out it's not all that obscure; it's (partly) from a Mennonite pastor, the tune arranged by his daughter, and is in some modern hymnals, such as Hymns for the Family of God (not to mention widely written about on the internet).

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the farthest star,
And reaches to the deepest well.
It seeks to find each heart, to bind
In one earth's numberless throng;
Each wand'ring child is reconciled,
And pardoned from all wrong.

Refrain
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
The saints' and angels' song!

When years of time shall pass away
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When some who here still fear to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God's love so sure will still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to every race —
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Refrain

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And everyone a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Refrain

Frederick H. Lehman, 1917; adapt. C.W.S.
Tune: LOVE OF GOD (Irregular with refrain)
Frederick H. Lehman; arr. Claudia Lehman Mays, 1917

The story of this hymn is a bit peculiar; the third verse was given to Lehman, who was told it had been found written on a wall in an asylum after the death of a patient. He writes:

The profound depths of the lines moved us to preserve the words for future generations. Not until we had come to California did this urge find fulfillment, and that at a time when circumstances forced us to hard manual labor. One day, during short intervals of inattention to our work, we picked up a scrap of paper and added the first two stanzas and chorus to the existing third verse lines.

However, it was also discovered that that "found" verse was actually adapted from a much longer poem written in 1096 by Rabbi Mayer, a German Jewish cantor in the city of Wurms. Mayer's poem, the Hadamut, was written in Aramaic, and the translated original lines apparently later adapted by the asylum patient ran thus:

Were the sky of parchment made,
A quill each reed, each twig and blade,
Could we with ink the oceans fill,
Were every man a scribe of skill,
The marvelous story of God's great glory
Would still remain untold;
For He, most high the earth and sky
Created alone of old.

How appropriate that a hymn about the vast expansiveness of the love of God could be started by a rabbi in Germany and finished more than 850 years later by a Mennonite pastor in California (brought together by an unknown person who probably felt in desperate need of that love).