Now Praise We Great and Famous Men

Above:  Dedication of All Saints’ Chapel, St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, October 31, 2010

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), of the United Church of Christ

Words (1912) by William George Tarrant (1853-1928), an English Unitarian minister; text based on Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 44:1-7

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1.  Now praise we great and famous men,

The fathers named in story;

And praise the Lord, who now as then

Reveals in man his glory.

2.  Praise we the brave and strong,

Who graced their generation,

Who helped the right, and fought the wrong,

And made our folk a nation.

3.  Praise we the great of heart and mind,

The singers sweetly gifted,

Whose music like a mighty wind

The souls of men uplifted.

4.  Praise we the peaceful men of skill,

Who builded homes of beauty,

And, rich in art, made richer still

The brotherhood of duty.