Trinity Sunday

Creator holy, merciful, and loving,
Jesus, Redeemer, ever to be worshipped,
Life-giving Spirit, Comforter most gracious,
God everlasting.

Three in a wondrous unity unbroken,
One perfect God-head, love that never faileth,
Light of the angels, succor of the needy,
Hope of all living.

All of creation serveth its creator;
Thee every creature praiseth without ceasing;
We, too, would sing the psalms of true devotion;
Hear, we beseech thee.

Great God almighty, unto thee be glory,
One in three Persons, over all exalted;
Thine, as is meet, be honor, praise, and blessing,
Now and forever.

Latin, 11th cent.; tr. Alfred E. Alston, 1903; alt.
Tune: ISTE CONFESSOR (11.11.11.5)
Poitiers Antiphoner, 1746



Eight Years Ago: Lead us, great Creator, lead us

Seven Years Ago: Holy! Holy! Holy!

Six Years Ago: I bind unto myself this day

Five Years Ago: O Trinity of blessed light

Three Years Ago: Mighty Creator, merciful and tender

One Year Ago: Sound aloud our highest praises

Trinity Sunday

Sound aloud our highest praises,
Tell abroad God's wondrous Name;
Heaven the ceaseless anthem raises,
Let the earth its God proclaim:
God, the hope of every nation,
God, the source of consolation,
Holy, blessèd Trinity!

This the Name from ancient ages
Hidden in its dazzling light;
This the Name that saints and sages,
Prayed and strove to know aright,
Through God's wondrous Incarnation,
Now revealed the world's salvation,
Ever blessèd Trinity!

Still the Name o’er earth and ocean
Shall be carried, God is Love,
Whispered by the heart’s devotion,
Echoed by the choirs above,
Hallowed through all worlds forever,
Lord of life the only giver,
Blessèd, glorious Trinity!

Henry A. Martin, 1870; alt.

Tune: FIDES (8.7.8.7.8.8.7.)

Clement Cottevill Scholefield, 1874

Seven Years Ago: Lead us, great Creator, lead us

Six Years Ago: Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty!

Five Years Ago: I bind unto myself today

Four Years Ago: O Trinity of blessèd light

Two Years Ago: Mighty Creator, merciful and tender

Trinity Sunday

Mighty Creator, merciful and tender;

Jesus our Savior, co-eternal reigning;

Spirit all-kindly, Advocate, Defender,

Light never waning;

Trinity sacred, Unity unshaken;
Deity perfect, giving and forgiving,
Light of the angels, Life of the forsaken,
Hope of the living;

Maker of all things, all your creatures praise you;
Lo, all things serve you through the whole creation:
Hear us, Almighty, hear us as we raise you
Heart’s adoration.

To the all-ruling Triune God be glory:
Highest and greatest, help our souls' endeavor;
We, too, would praise you, giving honor worthy
Now and forever.

Latin, 10th cent.;

tr. Percy Dearmer, 1906; alt.

Tune: CHRISTE SANCTORUM (11.11.11.5.)

French church melody; Paris Antiphoner, 1619

Five Years Ago: Lead us, great Creator, lead us

Four Years Ago: Holy! Holy! Holy!

Three Years Ago: I bind unto myself today

Two Years Ago: O Trinity of blessed light

Trinity Sunday

O Trinity of blessed light,
O Unity of sovereign might,
Whene'er the fiery sun departs,
Shed thou thy beams within our hearts.

To thee our morning song of praise,
To thee our evening prayer we raise;
Thy threefold glory we adore
Forever and forevermore.

Now to the great and sacred Three,
Creator, Christ, and Spirit be
Eternal praise and glory giv'n
By all the saints in earth and heav'n.

Ambrose of Milan, 4th cent.; tr. composite
Tune: BROMLEY (L.M.)
Jeremiah Clarke, 1700

Three Years Ago: Trinity Sunday

Two Years Ago: Trinity Sunday

One Year Ago: Trinity Sunday

More Voices Found: Julia Anne Elliott

English hymnwriter Julia Anne Elliott was born today in Leeds in 1809. Her father, John Marshall, was a successful mill owner, but we know nothing of Julia's early life.

She married the Reverend Henry Venn Elliott in 1833. He was the curate of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Brighton, and his sister Charlotte Elliott had already begun her hymnwriting career. In 1835, his hymnbook Psalms and Hymns for Public, Private, and Social Worship was first published, and it included eleven hymns by Julia. Probably due to the custom of the time, her hymns were anonymous, but by the time of the third edition (1839) her editor-husband apparently allowed her initials to appear in the index next to the titles of her hymns.

In Songs from the Hearts of Women (1903), author Nicholas Smith describes Julia Elliott's hymn texts as "bearing the stamp of fine poetic taste, and all of them possess a deep religious feeling; and it is strange that they have not won a larger place in our hymnology." One hundred years later, still not having won any larger place, her time may have passed, but I did like this one, a Trinitarian hymn of praise for Sunday worship.

Great Creator, who this day
From thy perfect work didst rest,
By the souls that own thy sway
Hallowed be its hours and blest;
Cares of earth aside be thrown,
This day give to heav’n alone.

Savior, who this day didst break
The cold prison of the tomb,
Bid my slumbering soul awake;
Shine through all its fear and gloom;
Let me, from my bonds set free,
Rise from sin, and live to thee.

Blessèd Spirit, Comforter,
Sent this day from Christ on high;
Now on me thy gifts confer,
Heal, illumine, sanctify:
All thine influence shed abroad;
Lead me to the truth of God.

Julia Anne Elliott, 1833; alt.
Tune: HEATHLANDS (7.7.7.7.7.7.)

Henry T. Smart, 1866

Julia Elliott died in childbirth in 1841, before she may have written more texts. Though her hymns are not as familiar as some by her sister-in-law Charlotte, or even her niece, the hymnwriter and composer Emily Elliott, she is still remembered in Brighton. At the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (the original building, pictured below, is the one she knew) one of the windows is dedicated to her memory (the Resurrection portion is shown above).

Trinity Sunday

We are now entering the longest “season” in the church year, the Sundays after Pentecost (33 or 34 of them), which are in some churches numbered until we get back again to the First Sunday in Advent next fall. But today, the First Sunday after Pentecost, is also known as Trinity Sunday, a particular celebration of the Holy Trinity, the “foundational doctrine of God in the Christian faith” (though many churches will say that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday).

Today's hymn below will be sung in many places today, though I believe it's now mostly confined to Episcopal and Anglican churches, as well as the Church of Ireland, where this English translation was first used.

The hymn has been attributed to Saint Patrick (and is sometimes sung on his feast day, March 17, as well), though modern scholarship believes it originated after his lifetime, perhaps in the eighth century. The original text is known as St. Patrick's Breastplate, or Lorica; or, to the Irish, Faeth Fiada (The Deer's Cry). The lorica, literally, refers to body armor, but in the Christian monastic tradition the word is also used to describe a kind of prayer, or even incantation, to be recited for protection from enemies and evil forces. From the preface of one of the earliest manuscripts to print this text:

Patrick made this hymn (...) and the cause of its composition was for the protection of himself and his monks against the deadly enemies that lay in ambush for the clerics. And it is a lorica of faith for the protection of body and soul against demons and men and vices...

Hundreds of years later Cecil Frances Alexander was asked to produce a metrical translation for the hymnal of the Church of Ireland, but her hymn was first published in a pamphlet so that it could be sung throughout the denomination on St. Patrick's Day in 1889, This is almost certainly related to the fact that Alexander's husband was William Alexander, the Archbishop of Armagh and head of the Irish Church (and thus a direct successor of Patrick himself).

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet "Well done" in judgment hour;
The service of the seraphim;
Confessors' faith, apostles' word,
The patriarchs' prayers, the prophets' scrolls;
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of faithful souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
God's eye to watch, God's might to stay,
God's ear to hearken, to my need;
The wisdom of my God to teach,
God's hand to guide, God's shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
God's heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me,

Christ within me,
Christ behind me,

Christ before me,
Christ beside me,

Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort

And restore me.
Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,

Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of

All that love me,
Christ in mouth of

Friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the God of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

attrib. Saint Patrick, 5th cent.
tr. Cecil Frances Alexander, 1889; alt.
Tune: ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE (Irregular)
Tune (st. 6): DIERDRE
arr. Charles V. Stanford, 1902

The hymn is unusual for a few different reasons (not its length). The first stanza is only four lines long, followed by several eight-line stanzas. Then, when you get into singing those, suddenly there's a stanza that's sung to a completely different tune (because it wouldn't fit to the other one). Then back to the main tune for one more stanza. I believe I've seen it printed somewhere without that different stanza, where the hymnal editors probably believed it was just too confusing. However, I've sung it in various places where it went just fine, most recently at the consecration of our new bishop last month.

Unfortunately, we are singing only the first two and last two stanzas today at my church, which makes the hymn a little too Christ-centered (sts. 2 & 6) for Trinity Sunday IMHO. If you think the hymn as printed here is too long, there are actually two additional stanzas (originally the sixth and seventh) from Mrs. Alexander's translation that aren't generally included in hymnals these days. These stanzas are particularly relevant to the text as lorica.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Charles Villiers Stanford first arranged the main tune (now known as ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE) for inclusion in the Complete Collection of Irish Music (1902) which he edited. His tune and the sixth-stanza tune were matched with Alexander's text in the English Hymnal (1906), where DIERDRE claims to be “Adapted from an Ancient Irish Melody.”

Yes, it's a long hymn, even without those extra two stanzas. But it's certainly memorable, if you ever get the chance to sing it all the way through.

P.S. - this is Post #400 for the blog, not so bad, I think, for (nearly) two and a half years.

Two Years Ago: Trinity Sunday

One Year Ago: Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday

Sometimes the most obvious choice for the hymn of the day is the best one. Reginald Heber wrote this hymn to be sung on Trinity Sunday, where he placed it in his own hymnal, Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (published posthumously in 1827, you may recall). Much of the imagery comes from the beginning of the fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity.

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the heavens hide thee,
Though the eyes of humankind thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity.

Reginald Heber, 1826; alt.
Tune: NICAEA (Irregular)
John Bacchus Dykes, 1861

NICAEA was composed for this text by John Bacchus Dykes when it appeared in the first edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern in 1861, and has accompanied it in nearly every hymnal where it has appeared since (hundreds, at least). It's named for the First Council of Nicaea (now a city in Turkey), perhaps the first ecumenical church council, where Christian bishops gathered in the year 325 and formulated the doctrine of the Trinity, as well as the Nicene Creed still widely used today.

The hymn is no longer limited to Trinity Sunday but is used as a general hymn of praise, considered so significant that many hymnals place it first, at #1. One dissenting voice was the hymnologist W. Garrett Horder, who postulated in The Hymn Lover (1905) that hymns should not attempt to teach doctrine, and that Heber's hymn was the chief offender. No one else seems to have listened.


One Year Ago: Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday

Lead us, great Creator, lead us
O'er the world's tempestuous sea;
Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
For we have no help but thee;
Yet possessing ev'ry blessing
If our God our comfort be.


Savior, breathe forgiveness o'er us;
All our weakness thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us,
Thou didst feel its keenest woe;
Lone and dreary, faint and weary,
Through the desert thou didst go.

Spirit of our God, descending,
Fill our hearts with heav'nly joy,
Love with ev'ry passion blending,
Pleasure that can never cloy;
Thus provided, pardoned, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.

John Edmeston, 1821: alt.
Tune: DULCE CARMEN (8.7.8.7.8.7.)
An Essay on the Church Plain Chant, 1782

This is not the grandest of Trinitarian hymns, but I still want to post it here today. I bind unto myself today may be about the longest (in English, at least), and Holy, Holy, Holy may be the most familiar (it's even the first hymn - #1 - in some hymnals). But this is the one that I always think of first. There's a story behind it that I've known for many years.

Back in the Presbyterian church my family attended when I was in high school and college, there was a family from New Zealand, here for a few years on assignment from one of those big multinational companies. They were active members in the church, he in the choir and she in a weekly Bible study group; probably in other areas I don't remember any more.

One Sunday before we sang this hymn, our pastor told a story about it. This couple had attended seminary together (they may have met there; I don't recall) and at some point, this hymn became "theirs." They often sang it together, and over many years, if they were apart, there was a particular time of day when they would go off alone and sing it, feeling connected by the hymn regardless of the physical distance between them. Back then I was sitting in the back of the choir loft, familiarizing myself with the indexes in the back of the hymnal during the sermon (not always...), developing this interest of mine, but this was the first time I had encountered the idea that you could have "your own" hymn. After that, the story would be mentioned whenever we sang this (maybe 3 times a year or so); everyone knew the story. I thought it was soooo cool.

A year or two later, the husband was killed in a car accident. Of course we sang this hymn at his funeral and the story was told again. The family moved back to New Zealand after that and most of us lost touch with them over the years, but the story lived on and was retold for years to come. There's a new pastor there now (I guess he's been there several years now, but he's still new to me) and I hope he knows the story -- it became a part of that congregation. And I always think of Mr. and Mrs. C. when this hymn comes to mind.

You may have a hymn story of your own, or one from your church - please consider sharing it. I'm sure psychologists can tell us why and how music can bring memories back to us, but whatever it is, if you're reading this you probably know that the convergence of music and Spirit, combined in a hymn or song can revive a story you haven't thought about in ages. I have other stories, of course, or I probably wouldn't be writing this blog. There's one in particular (actually, it's a hymnal story) about Christmas Eve but I probably can't tell it here - I wouldn't be able to see the screen as I was typing. But it comes to me every year.