Thy Table I Approach

Above:  Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Cartersville, Georgia, May 13, 2015

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal (1880), Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States (1818-1930)

(The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, contains an altered translation.)

Original German Words (1673) by Gerhard Walther Molanus (1633-1722)

English Translation (1880) by Matthias Loy (1828-1915)

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1.  Thy table I approach,

Dear Savior, hear my pray’r,

O let no unrepented sin

Prove hurtful to me there.

2.  Lo, I confess my sins,

And mourn their wretched bands:

A contrite heart is ever wont

To find grace at Thy hands.

3.  Thy body and Thy blood,

Once slain and shed for me,

Are taken at Thy table here–

O wondrous mystery!

4.  Here I with mouth and soul,

Incomprehensibly,

Shall eat the precious flesh of Christ

In blest reality.

5.  Search not how this takes place,

Nor whether it can be;

God can accomplish vastly more

Than seemeth plain to thee.

6.  Vouchsafe, O blessed Lord,

That earth and hell combined,

May ne’er about this Sacrament

A doubt raise in my mind.

7.  And may I never fail,

To thank Thee day and night,

For Thy true body and true blood,

O God, my peace and light.