Image in the Public Domain

Words (1874) by Dorothy Greenwell (1821-1882)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1912), U.S. Congregationalist

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1.  And art thou come with us to dwell,

Our Prince, our Guide, our Love, our Lord,

And is thy name Emmanuel,

God present with his world restored?

2.  The world is glad for thee,–the rude

Wild moor, the city’s crowded pen,

Each waste, each peopled solitude,

Becomes a home for happy men.

3.  The heart is glad for thee,–it knows

None shall bid it err or mourn,

And o’er its desert breaks the rose

In triumph o’er the grieving thorn.

4.  Thy reign eternal will not cease;

Thy years are sure, and glad, and slow;

Within thy mighty world of peace

The humblest flower hath leave to blow.

5.  And with thy guiding help we pierce

Life’s labyrinth now no longer vain;

The love that frees the universe

Hath made its broken story plain.

6.  The world is glad for thee, the heart

Is glad for thee, and all is well,

And fixed and sure, because thou art,

Whose name is called Emmanuel.

Above:  Sinai Desert, Between 1898 and 1946

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-11863

Hymn Source = The Church Hymnary (1927), Presbyterian

Words (published in 1873) by Jennette Threlfall (1821-1880)

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1.  When from Egypt’s house of bondage

Israel marched, a mighty band,

Little children numbered with them

Journeyed to the promised land;

Little children

Trod the desert’s trackless sand.

2.  Little children crossed the Jordan,

Landed on fair Canaan’s shore;

‘Neath the sheltering vine they rested,

Homeless wanderers no more;

Little children

Sang sweet praise for perils o’er.

3.  Saviour, like those Hebrew children,

Youthful pilgrims we would be;

From the chains of sin and Satan

Thou hast died to set us free;

We would traverse

All the wilderness to Thee.

4.  Guide our feeble, erring footsteps;

Shade us from the heat by day;

Be our light from shadowy nightfall

Till the darkness pass away;

Jesus, guard us

From the dangers of the way.

5.  When we reach the cold, dark river,

Bid us tremble not nor fear;

Be Thou with us in the waters–

We are safe if Thou art near;

Through the billows

Let the emerald bow appear.

6.  Then, our pilgrim journey ended,

All Thy glory we shall see,

Dwell with saints and holy angels,

Rest beneath life’s healing tree,–

Happy children,

Praising, blessing, loving Thee.

Above:  The Ascension

Image in the Public Domain

Original Latin Text by the Venerable Bede of Jarrow (673-735)

English Translation (1854) by Benjamin Webb (1819-1885)

Hymn Source = The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal (1942), Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America

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1.  A hymn of glory let us sing;

New songs throughout the world shall ring:

Christ, by a road before untrod,

Ascendeth to the throne of God.

2.  The holy apostolic band

Upon the Mount of Olives stand;

And with His followers they see

Jesus’ resplendent majesty.

3.  To whom the angels, drawing nigh,

“Why stand and gaze upon the sky?

This is the Saviour!” thus they say;

“This is His noble triumph-day.”

4.  “Again shall ye behold Him so

As ye today have seen Him go,

In glorious pomp ascending high,

Up to the portals of the sky.”

5.  Oh, grant us thitherward to tend

And with unwearied hearts ascend

Unto Thy kingdom’s throne, where Thou,

As is our faith, art seated now.

6.  Be Thou our Joy and strong Defense

Who art our future Recompense:

So shall the light that springs from Thee

Be ours through all eternity.

7.  O risen Christ, ascended Lord,

All praise to Thee let earth accord.

Who art, while endless ages run,

With Father and with Spirit One.

Above:  Trinity College, Cambridge, England, Between 1890 and 1900

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsc-08091

William Cooke (1821-1894) was a priest of the Church of England, a graduate of Trinity College, and the Select Preacher to the University of Cambridge.

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Alleluia! Song of Gladness:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/alleluia-song-of-gladness-2/

In His Temple Now Behold Him:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/in-his-temple-now-behold-him/

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Above:  Icon of the Presentation of Jesus

Scan Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

I found the icon in a thrift store in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.

Hymn Source = The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America

Stanzas #1-3 (1851) by Henry John Pye (Circa 1825-1903), an Anglican priest who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1868

Stanza #4 (1853) by William Cooke 1821-1894), a priest of the Church of England

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1.  In His Temple now behold Him,

See the long-expected Lord;

Ancient prophets had foretold Him–

God has now fulfilled His word.

Now to praise Him, His redeemed

Shall break forth with one accord.

2.  In the arms of her who bore Him,

Virgin, pure, behold Him lie,

While His aged saints adore Him

Ere in faith and hope they die.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Lo, th’incarnate God most high.

3.  Jesus, by Thy presentation,

Thou who didst for us endure,

Make us see our great salvation,

Seal us with Thy promise sure,

And present us in Thy glory

To Thy Father, cleansed and pure.

4.  Prince and Author of salvation,

Be Thy boundless love our theme!

Jesus, praise to Thee be given

By the world Thou didst redeem,

With the Father and the Spirit,

Lord of majesty supreme!

Above:  Christ Episcopal Church, Macon, Georgia, January 5, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original Latin Text (Eleventh Century) by Anonymous

English Translation from The Church Hymnal (Church of England, 1855), William Cooke and William Denton, Editors

Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), United Lutheran Church in America and its immediate predecessors

The John Mason Neale translation is here.

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1.  Alleluia! Song of gladness,

Voice of everlasting joy;

Alleluia! Sound the sweetest

Heard among the choirs on high,

Hymning in God’s blissful mansion

Day and night incessantly.

2.  Alleluia! Church victorious,

Thou may lift the joyful strain;

Alleluia! Songs of triumph

Well befit the ransomed train.

Faint and feeble are our praises

While in exile we remain.

3.  Alleluia! Songs of gladness

Suit not always souls forlorn;

Alleluia! Sounds of sadness

‘Midst our joyful strains are borne;

For in this dark world of sorrow

We with tears our sins must mourn.

4.  Praises with our prayers uniting,

Hear us, blessed Trinity;

Bring us to Thy blissful presence,

There the Paschal Lamb to see,

There to Thee our Alleluia

Singing everlastingly.

Above:  Catskill Forest, Circa 1861

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-stereo-1s01544

Words (1833) by Andrews Norton (1786-1853)

Hymn Source = Hymns of the Spirit (1937), American Unitarian Association and Universalist Church of America

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1.  Where ancient forests widely spread,

Where bends the cat’ract’s ocean-fall,

On the lone mountain’s silent head,

There are thy temples, God of all!

2.  All space is holy, for all space

Is filled by thee; but human thought

Burns clearer in some chosen place,

Where thine own words of love are taught.

3.  Here be they taught; and may we know

That faith thy servants knew of old,

Which onward bears, through weal or woe,

Till death the gates of heaven unfold.

4.  Nor we alone:  may those whose brow

Shows yet no trace of human cares

Hereafter stand where we do now,

And raise to thee still holier prayers.

Above:  Episcopal Church of the Ascension, New York, New York, the Site of Gilder’s Funeral

Image in the Public Domain

Richard Watson Gilder (1844-1909) was a poet, journalist, and social reformer–a supporter of causes ranging from kindergarten to good housing.

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Through Love to Light!  O Wonderful the Way:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/through-love-to-light-o-wonderful-the-way/

God of the Strong, God of the Weak:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/god-of-the-strong-god-of-the-weak/

To Thee, Eternal Soul, Be Praise:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/to-thee-eternal-soul-be-praise/

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Above:  Thanksgiving Meal, Malachi House, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Dunwoody, Georgia, November 19, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = American Hymns Old and New (1980)

Words (1903; publication debut = 1910) by Richard Watson Gilder (1844-1909), U.S. poet, journalist, and social reformer

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1.  God of the strong, God of the weak,

Lord of all hands and our own land,

Light of all souls, from thee we seek

Light from thy light, strength from thy hand.

2.  In suffering thou has made us one,

In mighty burdens one we are.

Teach us that lowliest duty done

Is highest service unto thee.

3.  Teach us, great Teacher of mankind,

The sacrifice that brings thy balm.

The love, the work that bless and bind;

Teach us thy majesty, thy calm.

4.  Teach thou, and we shall know indeed

The truth divine that maketh free;

And knowing, we may sow the seed

That blossoms through eternity.

Above:  Saint John on Patmos

Image in the Public Domain

Words (1903; publication debut = 1905) by Richard Watson Gilder (1844-1909), U.S. poet, journalist, and social reformer

Hymn Source = American Hymns Old and New (1980)

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1.  To thee, Eternal Soul, be praise!

Who, from of old to our own days

Through souls of saints and prophets, Lord,

Hast seen thy light, thy love, thy word.

2.  We thank thee for each mighty one

Through whom thy living light hath shone;

And for each humble soul and sweet

That lights to heaven our wandering feet.

3.  We thank thee for the love divine

Made real in every saint of thine;

That boundless love itself that gives

In service to each soul that lives.

4.  We thank thee for the word of might

Thy spirit spake in darkest night,

Spoke through the trumpet voices loud

Of prophets at thy throne who bowed.

5.  Eternal Soul, our souls keep pure,

That like thy saints we may endure;

Forever through thy servants, Lord,

Send thou thy light, thy love, thy word.