Above:  The Conversion of St. Paul, by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Image in the Public Domain

Text by Greville Phillimore (1821-1884)

Hymn Source = In Memoriam (1884)

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Saul, why such furious hate, such blinded zeal?

Lift up thine eyes, the dazzling light behold;

Lo, Christ doth once again Himself reveal;

To stay the wolf which leaps into His fold!

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O tender love, that had such watchful care

From the fierce foe His chosen ones to keep;

O wondrous grace, which could the foe ensnare,

And send him on, a shepherd to the sheep.

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O Lord, shew forth Thy mercy and Thy might,

From zeal misguided keep Thy servants free;

Send from Thy holy hill Thy truth and light,

And call the disobedient back to Thee.

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So shall Thy saving health on earth be known,

So shall Thy work Thy faithful Church employ;

Cast down not forsaken–not alone,

Her day of mourning shall be turned to joy.

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Be, then, O Saviour, her defence and shield,

In the mad warfare of this world below;

Teach her on earth the Spirit’s sword to wield,

And in the world to come the crown bestow.

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Above:  Christ Cleansing a Leper, by Jean-Marie Melchior Doze

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1863) by Greville Phillimore (1821-1884)

Hymn Source = The Lutheran Hymnary (1913), the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America/The Evangelical Lutheran Church (1917-1960) and its immediate predecessors

Congregations of the Norwegian Synod of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church/The Evangelical Lutheran Synod (1918-present) also used The Lutheran Hymnary for many years.

The Lutheran Hymnary specifies this as a hymn for the Third Sunday after Epiphany.

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O Lord of health and life, what tongue can tell,

How at Thy word were loosed the bands of hell;

How Thy pure touch removed the leprous stain,

And the polluted flesh grew clean again?

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O wash our hearts, restore the contrite soul,

Stretch forth Thy healing hand, and make us whole;

O bend our stubborn knees to kneel to Thee,

Speak but the word and we once more are free.

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Yea, Lord, we claim the promise of Thy love,

Thy love, which can all guilt, all pain remove;

Nigh to our souls Thy great salvation bring,

Then sickness hath no pang, and death no sting.

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We hail this pledge in all Thy deeds of grace,

As once disease and sorrow fled Thy face,

So when that face again unveiled we see,

Sickness, and tears, and death no more shall be.

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Then grant us strength to pray, “Thy kingdom come,”

When we shall know Thee in Thy Father’s home,

And at Thy great Epiphany adore

The co-eternal Godhead evermore.

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Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = American Lutheran Hymnal (1930), American Lutheran Church (1930-1960) and its immediate predecessor bodies

Original German Words (1606) by Martin Behm (1557-1622)

English Translation (1863) by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)

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1.  O Jesus, King of glory!

Both David’s God and Son,

Thy realm endures forever,

In heav’n is fixed Thy throne:

Help that in earth’s dominions,

Throughout, from pole to pole,

Thy realm may spread salvation

To each benighted soul.

2.  The Eastern sages, bringing

Their tribute gifts to Thee,

Bear witness to Thy kingdom

And humbly bow the knee.

The Eastern star proclaims Thee,

As doth the inspired Word;

Hence joyously we hail Thee:

Our blest Redeemer, Lord!

3.  Thou art a mighty Monarch,

As by the Word we’re told,

Yet carest Thou but little

For earthly goods or gold;

On no proud steed Thou ridest,

Thou wear’st no jeweled crown,

Nor dwell’st in lordly castle,

But bearest scoff and frown.

4.  Yet art Thou decked with beauty,

With rays of glorious light;

Thou ever teem’st with goodness,

And all Thy ways are right.

Vouchsafe to shield Thy people

With Thine almighty arm,

That they may dwell in safety

From those who mean bu harm.

5.  Ah, look on me with pity,

Though I am weak and poor;

Admit me to Thy kingdom,

To dwell there, blest and sure.

Vouchsafe to keep and guide me

Secure from all my foes,

From sin, and death and Satan;

Free me from all my woes.

6.  And bid Thy Word within me

Shine as the fairest star;

Keep sin and all false doctrine

From all Thy people far;

Help us confess Thee truly,

And with Thy Christendom

Here own Thee King and Savior

And in the world to come.

Above:  Icon of the Presentation of Jesus

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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

Original German Words (1674) by Johann Franck (1618-1677)

English Translation (1863) by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)

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1.  Light of Gentile nations,

Thy people’s Joy and Love!

Drawn by Thy Spirit hither,

We gladly come to prove

Thy presence in Thy temple,

And wait with earnest mind,

As Simeon once had waited

His Saviour God to find.

2.  O Lord, Thy servants meet Thee,

E’en now, in ev’ry place

Where Thy true Word hath promised,

That they should see Thy face.

Thou yet wilt gently grant us,

Who gather round Thee here,

In faith’s strong arms to bear Thee,

As once that aged seer.

3.  Be Thou our Joy, our Brightness,

That shines ‘mid pain and loss,

Our sun in times of terror,

The glory round our cross;

A glow in sinking spirits,

A sunbeam in distress,

Physician, Friend in sickness,

In death our happiness.

4.  Let us, O Lord, be faithful,

With Simeon, to the end,

That so his dying song may

From all our hearts ascend:

“O Lord, let now Thy servant

Depart in peace for aye,

Since I have seen my Saviour,

Have here beheld His day.”

5.  My Saviour, I behold Thee

Now with the eye of faith;

No foe of Thee can rob me,

Though bitter words he saith.

Within Thy heart abiding,

As Thou dost dwell in me,

No pain, no death hath terrors

To part my soul from Thee.

Above:  Mt. Hermon, Scene of the Transfiguration

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-22609

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

Words (1888) by J. (Joseph) Armitage Robinson (1858-1933)

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1.  ‘Tis good, Lord, to be here,

Thy glory fills the night;

Thy face and garments, like the sun,

Shine with unborrowed light.

2.  ‘Tis good, Lord, to be here,

Thy beauty to behold

Where Moses and Elijah stand,

Thy messengers of old.

3.  Fulfiller of the past,

Promise of things to be,

We hail Thy body glorified

And our redemption see.

4.  Before we taste of death,

We see Thy kingdom come;

We fain would hold the vision bright

And make this hill our home.

5.  ‘Tis good, Lord, to be here.

Yet we may not remain;

But since Thou bidst us leave the mount,

Come with us to the plain.

Above:  The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Andrea Mantegna

Image in the Public Domain

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

Words (1895) by Tudor Jenks (1857-1922)

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1.  When  mother love makes all things bright,

When joy comes with the morning light;

When children gather round their tree,

Thou, Christmas Babe, we sing of thee.

2.  When manhood’s brows are bent in thought

To learn what men of old have taught,

When eager hands seek wisdom’s key,

Wise Temple Child, we learn of thee!

3.  When doubts assail, and perils fright,

When, groping blindly in the night,

We strive to read life’s mystery,

Man of the Mount, we turn to thee!

4.  When shadows of the valley fall,

When sin and death the soul appall,

One light we through the darkness see–

Christ on the Cross, we cry to thee!

5.  And when the world shall pass away,

And dawns at length the perfect day,

In glory shall our souls made free,

Thou God enthroned, then worship thee.

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:  Part of the Hymn

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = Common Service Book (1917), Lutheran

Words by Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885), a priest of The Church of England, an author of hymns, and a translator of hymns

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/feast-of-gerard-moultrie-september-23/

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1.  There came three kings, ere break of day,

All on Epiphanie;

Their gifts they bare, both rich and rare,

All, all, Lord Christ, for Thee;

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are there.

Where is the King?  O where?  O where?

O where is the King?  O where?

2.  The Star shone brightly overhead,

The air was calm and still,

O’er Bethlehem’s fields its rays were shed,

The dew lay on the hill.

We see no throne, no palace fair,

Where is the King?  O where?  O where?

O where is the King?  O where?

3.  An old man knelt at a manger low,

A Babe lay in the stall;

The starlight played on the Infant brow,

Deep silence lay o’r all;

A maiden bent o’er the Babe in prayer:

There is the King!  O there!  O there!

O there is the King!  O there!

Above:  The Hymn

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Words by Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840-1929)

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal (1905)

A Hymn for the Feast of the Transfiguration

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1.  Not always on the mount may we

Rapt in the heavenly vision be;

The shores of thought and feeling know

The Spirit’s tidal ebb and flow.

2.  Lord, it is good abiding here

We cry, the heavenly presence near;

The vision vanishes, our eyes

Are lifted into vacant skies!

3.  Yet hath one such exalted hour,

Upon the soul redeeming power,

And in its strength through after days

We travel our appointed ways;

4.  Till all the lowly vale grows bright,

Transfigured in remembered light,

And in untiring souls we bear

The freshness of the upper air.

5.  The mount for vision,–but below

The paths of daily duty go,

And nobler life therein shall own

The pattern on the mountain shown.

Above:  The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Atlanta, Georgia, January 6, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://plus.google.com/photos/114749828757741527421/albums/5830440351265763601/5830446690559312690?banner=pwa&pid=5830446690559312690&oid=114749828757741527421)

Original Words by Magnus Brostrup Landstad (1802-1880)

English Translation Peter Olsen Stromme (1856-1921)

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home, Third Edition (1938), of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, denominations with Danish heritage

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/assembled-in-this-thy-house-danish-american-lutherans-1870-1962/

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1.  There many shall come from the east and the west

And sit at the feast of salvation

With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the blest,

Obeying the Lord’s invitation.

Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!

2.  But they who have always resisted His grace

And on their own virtue depended,

Shall then be condemn’d and cast out from His face,

Eternally lost and unfriended.

Have mercy upon us, Lord Jesus.

3.  O may we all hear when our Shepherd doth call,

In accents persuasive and tender,

That while here is time we make haste one and all

And find Him, our mighty defender.

Have mercy upon us, Lord Jesus.

4.  God grant that I may of His infinite love,

Remain in His merciful keeping;

And sit with the King at His table above,

When here in the grave I am sleeping.

Have mercy upon us, Lord Jesus.

5.  All trials are then like a dream that is past,

Forgotten all trouble and sorrow;

All questions and doubts have been answer’d at last;

Then dawneth eternity’s morrow.

Have mercy upon us, O Jesus!