Above:  Pentecost Dove

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Text (originally four stanzas) by Timothy Rees (1874-1939)

Hymn Source = Worship Supplement (1969), The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

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Holy Spirit, ever dwelling

In the holiest realms of light;

Holy Spirit, ever brooding

O’er a world of gloom and night;

Holy Spirit, ever raising

Sons of earth to thrones on high;

Living, life-imparting Spirit,

Thee we praise and magnify.

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Holy Spirit, ever living

As the Church’s very life;

Holy Spirit, ever striving

Through her in a ceaseless strife;

Holy Spirit, ever forming

In the Church the mind of Christ;

Thee we praise with endless worship

For thy fruit and gifts unpriced.

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Holy Spirit, ever working

Through the Church’s ministry;

Quickening, strengthening, and absolving,

Setting captive sinners free;

Holy Spirit, ever binding

Age to age and soul to soul,

In a fellowship unending

Thee we worship and extol.

Above:  Hills in Summer

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1929) by Ferdinand Quincy Blanchard (1876-1966)

Hymn Source = New Worship and Song with Worship Services and Source Materials (1942), General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States

I found a reference to this hymn and its source at hymnary.org.  I read the text today, after my copy of New Worship and Song arrived.

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Clear o’er the hills ring out the glad hosannas,

Bright shines the sunlight on the pilgrim throng,

Onward he rides to bear his wondrous message.

Seeking its truth the world has waited long.

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Will they accept him, finding God his Father;

Loving with strength and heart and soul and mind;

Will they accept and walk his way of service

Leading to wider joy for all mankind?

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So through all ages still he comes appealing,

Calling the sons of men from self to God,

Quickening the love that binds man to his neighbor,

Showing the path redeeming love has trod.

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Grant us, O God, the heart of full allegiance,

Teach us the secret of his gain through loss,

Fit us to build the Kingdom of thy purpose,

So to fulfill the triumph of his cross.

Above:  Icon of the Holy Trinity, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

Swedish Text (1530) by Olavus Petri (1493-1552)

English Translation (Before 1925) by Augustus Nelson (1863-1949)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal and Order of Service (1925), The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

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Our Father, merciful and good,

Who dost to Thee invite us,

O cleanse us in our Saviour’s blood,

And to Thyself unite us!

Send unto us Thy holy Word,

And let it guide us ever;

Then in this world of darkness, Lord,

Shall naught from Thee us sever:

Grant us, O Lord, this favor!

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We cry to Thee with one accord,

‘Tis all that can avail us;

We cannot hear nor keep Thy Word,

If grace divine doth fail us.

Behold our lot, we humbly pray,

For our dear Saviour’s merit,

How Satan soweth tares alway,

And send, O Lord, Thy Spirit,

That we may life inherit.

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O God and man, Christ Jesus blest!

Our sorrows Thou didst carry,

Our wants and cares Thou knowest best,

For Thou with us didst tarry.

O Jesus Christ, our Brother dear,

To us and every nation

Thy Spirit send, let Him draw near

With truth and consolation,

That we may see salvation.

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Come, Holy Ghost, Thy grace impart,

Tear Satan’s snares asunder.

The Word of God keep in our heart,

That we its truth may ponder.

Then, sanctified, for evermore

In Christ alone confiding,

We’ll sing His praise and Him adore,

His precious Word us guiding

To heavenly joys abiding!

Above:  Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, Cumming, Georgia, Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 2015

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969)

Text (1930) by Henry Elias Fries (1857-1949)

Henry Elias Fries composed the text on the afternoon of Pentecost Sunday, 1930, a few hours after the inspiring sermon of the Reverend Herbert J. Johnson, pastor of Fries Memorial Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  Fries shared the text with Johnson early that evening.  The minister requested that the author sing the hymn for the congregation at the evening service.  Fries did so, performing it to the tune MORECAMBE, with his wife, Rosa Elvira Mickey Fries (1860-1938), a longtime musician in the congregation, accompanying him.  A week later she composed a tune, PENTECOSTAL HYMN, for the text.  The pairing of the text with that hymn with that tune has been reality in Moravian hymnals since at least the Moravian Youth Hymnal (1942).

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Come now, O Lord, and teach us how to pray.

Teach us to ask ourselves from day to day

If we are Thine and Thine alone will be

Through earthly days and through eternity.

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Come now, O Lord, and search our inmost thought,

Ask if we love and serve Thee as we ought.

Do we attempt to do Thy holy will?

Does constant love for Thee our bosoms fill?

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Come now, O Lord, and from Thy bounteous store,

Teach lukewarm hearts to love Thee more and more,

And many sinners now from Thee astray

Do Thou convert and strengthen day by day.

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Come now, O Lord, and as in days of old

Do Thou to us Thy Spirit now unfold;

Pour forth Thy love and all abounding grace

Till we in spirit see Thee face to face.

Above:  Easter Vigil, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Dunwoody, Georgia, April 5, 2015

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original German Text (1700) by Caspar Neumann (1648-1715)

English Translation (1921) by Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe (1889-1941)

Hymn Source = The Selah Song Book for Worship and Devotion in Church, School, Home (1926), compiled by Adolf T. Hauser

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Jesus, Thou from death hast risen,

Stone and seal retain Thee not!

Thou hast burst Thy gloomy prison,

Full redemption Thou hast wrought!

Open and unseal my heart,

Enter in, and ne’er depart!

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Burst the rock of doubt asunder,

That no earthly strength can move!

When this all-transcendent wonder

Reason faileth to approve,

Grant me grace, O risen Lord,

To believe Thy holy Word!

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Let not unbelief beset me,

That, like Thomas, I should doubt!

Let no earthly trials fret me,

Cast all fear and sorrow out!

In all need, while here I plod,

O remain my Lord and God!

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Death and hell by Thee are conquered!

Let me share Thy victory!

And as Thou hast battled onward,

Savior, draw me unto Thee,

That, released from Satan’s might,

I may view my God in light.

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This is post #1650 of GATHERED PRAYERS.

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Above:  The Resurrection and the Women at the Tomb, by Fra Angelico

Image in the Public Domain

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

Anonymous Latin Text (circa 1100)

Translation (1939) by William Gustave Polack (1890-1950)

This is the oldest German Easter hymn and one of the earliest German hymns of any kind.  According to Wackernagel it is found in four versions in the twelfth century.  The same authority gives seventeen fifteenth-century versions that vary from five lines to eleven stanzas.

–William Gustave Polack, The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal, Second and Revised Edition (1942), page 142

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Christ is arisen

From the grave’s prison.

We now rejoice with gladness;

Christ will end all sadness.

Lord, have mercy.

All our hopes were ended

Had Jesus not ascended

From the grave triumphantly.

For this, Lord Christ, we worship Thee.

Lord, have mercy.

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

We now rejoice with gladness;

Christ will end all sadness.

Lord, have mercy.

Above:  Pentecost, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917), United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962) and its immediate predecessors

Original German Text (1651) by Johann Niedling (1602-1668)

English Translation (1913) by John Caspar Mattes (1876-1948)

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1.  O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

In ev’ry need Thou bringest aid,

Thou comest forth from God’s great throne,

From God, the Father and the Son;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

2.  O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Make us to love Thy sacred Word;

The holy flame of love impart,

That charity may warm each heart;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

3.  O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Increase our faith in our dear Lord;

Unless Thy grace the power should give,

None can believe in Christ and life;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

4.  O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Enlighten us by Thy blest Word;

Teach us to know the Father’s love,

And His dear Son, Who reigns above:

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

5.  O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

By Whom our souls to heaven are led,

Make us to fight so valiantly

That we may reign eternally;

O Spirit, O Spirit of God.

6.  O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God,

Forsake us not in death or need.

We’ll sing Thy praise and honor Thee

With grateful hearts eternally;

O Spirit of Life, O Spirit of God.

Above:  Icon of the Holy Trinity, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Lutheran Hymnary (1935), the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America/The Evangelical Lutheran Church

Original Danish Words (1778) by Birgitte Katerine Boye (1742-1824)

English Translation (1908) by George Alfred Taylor Rygh (1860-1942)

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O Light of God’s most wondrous love,

Who dost our darkness brighten,

Shed on Thy Church from heaven above,

Our eyes of faith enlighten!

As in Thy light we gather here,

Show us that Christ’s own promise clear

is Yea and Amen forever.

O risen and ascended Lord,

We wait fulfillment of Thy word:

O bless us with Thy favor!

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The altered translation from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America:

Holy Spirit, God of love,

Who our night dost brighten,

Shed on us from heaven above,

Now our faith enlighten.

In Thy light we gather here;

Show us that Christ’s promise clear

Is Amen forever.

Jesus, our ascended Lord,

O fulfill Thy gracious Word:

Bless us with Thy favor!

Above:  The Good Shepherd; a Mosaic from Ravenna, Italy

Image in the Public Domain

Words (1919) by Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe (1889-1941)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal and Order of Service (1925), The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

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1.  O dear Redeemer crucified,

Thou faithful Shepherd who hast died

To save from death Thy helpless sheep,

We pray Thee, risen Saviour, keep

In Thy secure protection still

The sheep who hearken to Thy will.

2.  All we like sheep have gone astray

From Thy blest fold and lost our way,

Left pleasant pastures, verdant lands,

For barren wastes and desert sands;

But O, Thy shepherd-love so deep

Sought till it found Thy erring sheep.

3.  O Shepherd Saviour, we rejoice

To be Thine own, to hear Thy voice.

Bought with a price, we now are Thine,

And known of Thee, O Love divine!

By grace unto Thy fold restored,

Let us not stray again, dear Lord.

4.  Dear Lord, our eyes of faith behold

In truth one Shepherd and one fold,

Kept through the Spirit’s bond of peace

In unity which ne’er shall cease.

As Thou hast promised, we shall be

Thine own in all eternity.

Above:  Easter Vigil, St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, March 31, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://plus.google.com/photos/114749828757741527421/albums/5861636071859841105/5861631937773272002?banner=pwa&pid=5861631937773272002&oid=114749828757741527421)

Words (1931) by Percy Dearmer (1867-1936)

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal (1935)

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1.  Life is good, for God contrives it,

Deep on deep its wonder lies;

Death is good, for man survives it,

Lives again in better guise:

This they knew the night they hailed Him,

When He came thro’ that which veiled Him,

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Smiling, wonderful, and wise.

2.  Failure cuts the way to triumph,

Winter shapes the leaves of spring;

Easter came because the Master

Loved the light of truth to bring.

Vainly priests in hatred slew Him;

He came back, His loved ones knew Him,

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Where, O death, is now thy sting?

3.  Lord, in Thee shines man’s perfection–

King and selfless, strong, and brave;

And Thy life and resurrection

Tells of joy beyond the grave.

All mankind is nobled thro’ Thee;

All are brothers coming to Thee,

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thine the power to guide and save.