Above:  The Crucifixion

Image in the Public Domain

Text (published in 1867), by Elizabeth Rundle Charles (1828-1876)

Hymn Source #1 = The Methodist Hymnal (1935), the Methodist Episcopal Church; the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and the Methodist Protestant Church

Hymn Source #2 = Robert Guy McCutchan, Our Hymnody:  A Manual of The Methodist Hymnal, 2nd. ed. (1937)

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Never further than Thy cross,

Never higher than Thy feet;

Here earth’s precious things seem dross,

Here earth’s bitter things grow sweet.

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Gazing thus our sin we see,

Learn Thy love while gazing thus;

Sin, which laid the cross on Thee,

Love, which bore the cross for us.

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Here we learn to serve and give,

And, rejoicing, self deny;

Here we gather love to live,

Here we gather faith to die.

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Symbols of our liberty

And our service here unite;

Captives, by Thy cross set free,

Soldiers of Thy cross, we fight.

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Pressing onward as we can,

Still to this our hearts must tend;

Where our earliest hopes began,

There our last aspirings end;

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Till amid the hosts of light,

We in Thee redeemed, complete,

Through Thy cross made pure and white,

Cast our crowns before Thy feet.

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Above:  One of My Crucifixes

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = The Church Hymnary–Revised Edition (1927)

Text (1875) by Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877)

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O perfect life of love!

All, all is finished now,

All that He left His throne above

To do for us below.

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No work is left undone

Of all the Father willed;

His toils and sorrows, one by one,

The Scripture have fulfilled.

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No pain that we can share

But He has felt its smart;

All forms of human grief and care

Have pierced that tender heart.

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And on His thorn-crowned head,

And on His sinless soul,

Our sins in all their guild were laid,

That He might make us whole.

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In perfect love He dies;

For me He dies, for me!

I all-atoning Sacrifice,

I cling by faith to Thee.

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In every time of need,

Before the judgment throne,

Thy work, O Lamb of God, I’ll plead,

Thy merits, not my own.

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Yet work, O Lord, in me,

As thou for me hast wrought;

And let my love the answer be

To grace Thy love has brought.

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Above:  A Crucifix

Photograph by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Text by Timothy Rees (1874-1939)

Hymn Source = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

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O crucified Redeemer, whose lifeblood we have spilt,

to you we raise our guilty hands, and humbly own our guilt.

Today we see your passion spread open to our gaze;

the crowded town, the country road, its calvary displays.

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Wherever love is outraged, wherever hope is killed,

where man still wrongs his brother man, your passion is fulfilled.

We see your tortured body, we see the wounds that bleed,

where brotherhood hands crucified, nailed to the cross of greed.

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We hear your cry of anguish, we see your life outpoured,

where battlefield runs red with blood, our brothers’ blood, O Lord.

And in that bloodless battle, the fight for daily bread,

where might is right and self is king, we see your thorn-crowned head.

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The groaning of creation rung out by pain and care,

the anguish of a million hearts that break in dumb despair:

O crucified Redeemer, these are your cries of pain.

O may they break our selfish hearts, and love come in to reign.

Above:  Icon of the Crucifixion, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1909) by Walter Russell Bowie (1882-1969)

Hymn Source = Hymns for the Living Age (1923)

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Lovely to the outward eye

Seemed Jerusalem to lie–

Yet ’twas there thou cam’st to die,

Jesus, Son of Mary.

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Far-brought stones and marble rare

Made its towers and circuits fair,

Yet thy cross was waiting there,

Wearied Son of Mary.

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And would all the crowded mart,

Wealth and splendid ease and art

Of our own world please thy heart,

O thou Son of Mary?

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Wouldst thou call our boasting good,

If thou sawest our triumphs stood

On the wreck of brotherhood,

Loving Son of Mary?

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Jesus, pardon where we fail;

Jesus, our whole life enthrall;

Let thy Spirit rule it all,

Blessed Son of Mary.

Above:  A Crucifix

Photograph by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Text (1928) by Walter Russell Bowie (1882-1969)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1940 (1943), The Episcopal Church

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Lord Christ, when first thou cam’st to men,

Upon a cross they bound thee,

And mocked thy saving kingship then

By thorns with which they crowned thee;

And still our wrongs may weave thee now

New thorns to pierce that steady brow,

And robe of sorrow round thee.

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O aweful Love, which found no room

In life where sin denied thee,

And, doomed to death, must bring to doom

The power which crucified thee,

Till not a stone was left on stone,

And all a nation’s pride, o’erthrown,

Went down to dust beside thee!

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New advent of the love of Christ,

Shall we again refuse thee,

Till in the night of hate and war

We perish as we lose thee?

From old unfaith our souls release

To seek the kingdom of thy peace,

By which alone we choose thee.

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O wounded hands of Jesus, burn

In us thy new creation;

Our pride is dust, our vaunt is stilled,

We wait thy revelation;

O love that triumphs over loss,

We bring our hearts before thy cross,

To finish thy salvation.

Above:  The Crucifixion of Jesus

Image in the Public Domain

Anonymous Latin Text, 13th-15th Centuries

English Translation by John Athelstan Laurie Riley (1858-1945)

Hymn Source = The English Hymnal (1906), The Church of England

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Dost thou truly seek renown

Christ his glory sharing?

Wouldst thou win the heavenly crown

Victor’s meed declaring?

Tread the path the Saviour trod,

Look upon the crown of God,

See what he is wearing.

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This the King of heaven bore

In that sore contending;

This his sacred temples wore,

Honour to it lending;

In this helm he faced the foe,

On the Rood he laid him low,

Satan’s kingdom ending.

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Christ upon the Tree of Scorn,

In salvation’s hour,

Turned to gold these pricks of thorn

By his Passion’s power;

So on sinners, who had earned

Endless death, from sin returned,

Endless blessings shower.

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When in death’s embrace we lie,

Then, good Lord, be near us;

With thy presence fortify,

And with victory cheer us;

Turn our erring hearts to thee,

That we crowned for ay may be:

O good Jesu, hear us!

Above:  Adoration of the Lamb, by Jan Van Eyck

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1805) by Lewis Renatus West (1753-1826)

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) (1923), Moravian Church in America

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Praise for every scene distressing,

Praise for all Thou didst endure,

Praise for every gift and blessing

Which Thy griefs for us procure;

In Thy ransomed congregation

Shall Thy death our theme remain,

Till Thou com’st with full salvation,

Lord of glory, Lamb once slain.

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Thou, to purchase our salvation,

Didst assume humanity;

Jesus, for Thy bitter passion

May we ever thankful be;

Filled with awe and humbly bowing,

At Thy feet we prostrate fall,

Gratefully this truth avowing,

That Thou art our All in awe.

Above:  Icon of the Crucifixion, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1895), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Text (1838) by John Hampden Gurney (1802-1862)

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Lord, as to Thy dear cross we flee,

And plead to be forgiven,

So let Thy life our pattern be,

And from our souls for heaven.

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Help us, through good report and ill,

Our daily cross to bear;

Like Thee, to do our Father’s will,

Our brethren’s griefs to share.

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Let grace our selfishness expel,

Our earthliness refine;

And kindness in our bosoms dwell,

As free and true as Thine.

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If joy shall at Thy bidding fly,

And grief’s dark day come on,

We, in our turn, would meekly cry,

“Father, Thy will be done.”

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Should friends misjudge, or foes defame,

Or brethren faithless prove,

Then, like Thine own, be all our aim

To conquer them by love.

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Kept peaceful in the midst of strife,

Forgiving and forgiven,

O may we lead the pilgrim’s life,

And follow Thee to heaven.

Above:  Icon of Christ Pantocrator

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Text (1854) by Henry Augustine Collins (1827-1919)

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

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1.  Jesus, meek and lowly,

Saviour, pure and holy,

On Thy love relying,

Hear me humbly crying.

2.  Prince of life and power,

My salvation’s tower,

On the Cross I view Thee

Calling sinners to Thee.

3.  There behold me gazing

At the sight amazing:

Bending low before Thee,

Helpless, I adore Thee.

4.  By Thy red wounds streaming,

With Thy life-blood gleaming,

Blood for sinners flowing,

Pardon free bestowing;

5.  By that fount of blessing,

Thy dear love expressing,

All my aching sadness

Turn Thou into gladness.

6.  Lord, in mercy guide me;

Be Thou e’er beside me;

In Thy ways direct me,

‘Neath Thy wings protect me.

Below:  One of My Crucifixes

Photograph by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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Above:  One of My Crucifixes, July 2015

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = Moravian Book of Worship (1995), Moravian Church in America

Original Czech Text (1541) by John Augusta (1500-1572)

English Translation (1989; copyright 1991) by Jaroslav Jan Vajda (1919-2008)

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1.  How shall we thank you,

Christ, our Lord, for holy life and blood outpoured?

Who else assumed our debt and death,

who else deserves our trust and faith?

2.  Your dying cleansed the world of sin,

and all who die with you are clean,

washed in your blood, we lose our stains,

and with your cross you break our chains.

3.  Your willing death upon the cross

has earned God’s priceless gift for us;

the Spirit by whose pow’r we

kill our pride and do our Father’s will.

4.  The life you lived you lived that

we might live that life eternally;

your eager Spirit shows us

how we can enjoy it even now.

5.  How shall we praise you, Christ our Lord,

for holy life and blood outpoured?

Who else assumed our debt and death,

who else deserves our trust and faith?