Feast of St. Stephen Martyr
+
Bright torches in the darkest night,
The saints of God as lights yet shine.
Lord, let our witness rise with theirs,
And through their prayers give grace divine.
A dimly burning wick were we,
But now our faith fills with thy fire
For thou art all consuming love —
Thy perfect will our heart's desire.
Unite thy saints through every age
And cleansed from sin lift us above,
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
One God in glory, one in love. Amen.
____________________________
Copyright © 2006 by Vincent Uher
This may be sung to the tune Winchester New
The hymn above I wrote originally on the Feast of Stephen the Martyr, but it is useful for all saints' and martyrs' holy days including the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
I wrote the text with the tune 'WINCHESTER NEW' in mind ... using such a familiar tune makes it easy to introduce a newer hymn text to a congregation.
Composer Noel Jones has written a magnificent new tune for my hymn text entitled 'TYBURN' which I commend to all. It is an excellent tune which can be seen below or downloaded from the following LINK.
 |
| Click on music above for a larger printable image. |
