The Rosy Sequence: Anglican Patrimony

Sarum Gradual, 1527
Cento from Dulcis Iesu Memoria
Translated by J.M. Neale

JESU! the very thought is sweet !

In that dear name all heart-joys meet ;

But sweeter than the honey far

The glimpses of his presence are.

No word is sung more sweet than this :

No name is heard more full of bliss ;

No thought brings sweeter comfort nigh,

Than JESUS, Son of God most high.

JESUS, the hope of souls forlorn,

How good to them for sin that mourn ;

To them that seek thee, O How kind ;

But what art thou to them that find ?

JESUS, thou sweetness, pure and blest,

Truth's fountain, light of souls distrest,

Surpassing all that heart requires,

Exceeding all that soul desires !

No tongue of mortal can express,

No letters write its blessedness :

Alone who hath thee in his heart

Knows, love of JESUS, what thou art.

I seek for JESUS in repose,

Where round my heart the shadows close;

Abroad, and when I shut the door,

I long for JESUS evermore.

As Mary in the morning gloom

Sought out her Master at the tomb,

So now, with love's most earnest cry,

I seek with heart and not with eye.

JESUS, to God the Father gone,

Is seated on the heavenly throne;

My heart hath also passed from me,

That where he is there it may be.

We follow JESUS now, and raise

The voice of prayer, the hymn of praise,

That he at last may make us meet

With him to gain the heavenly seat.

+Iesu dulcis memoria

Anglican Hymnody

Hymns Ancient & Modern
New Standard, No. 61, p. 349

Text: Latin, before 9th cent.
tr. J. Chandler (1806-76)

Christ is our corner-stone,

on him alone we build ;

with his true saints alone

the courts of heaven are filled :

on his great love

our hopes we place

of present grace

and joys above.

O then with hymns of praise

these hallowed courts shall ring ;

our voices we will raise

the Three in One to sing ;

and thus proclaim

in joyful song,

both loud and long,

that glorious name.

Here, gracious God, do thou_

for evermore draw nigh ;

accept each faithful vow,

and mark each suppliant sign ;

in copious shower

on all who pray

each holy day

thy blessings pour.

Here may we gain from heaven

the grace which we implore ;

and may that grace, once given,

be with us evermore,

until that day

when all the blest

to endless rest

are called away.

+

Anglican Patrimony: Hymn Translation

Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning

Thomas of Celano Dies Irae, Dies Illa

William Irons, translator

+

Day of wrath, O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophet’s warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning.
Oh, what fear man’s bosom rendeth
When from Heav’n the Judge descendeth
On Whose sentence all dependeth!

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth,
Through earth’s sepulchres it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth.
Death is struck and nature quaking;
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making.

Lo, the book, exactly worded,
Wherein all hath been recorded;
Thence shall judgment be awarded.
When the Judge His seat attaineth
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding
When the just are mercy needing?
King of majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us.

Think, good Jesus, my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation!
Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the cross of suffering bought me;
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?

Righteous Judge, for sin’s pollution
Grant Thy gift of absolution
Ere that day of retribution!
Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning:
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning!

From that sinful woman shriven,
From the dying thief forgiven,
Thou to me a hope hast given.
Worthless are my prayers and sighing;
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying.

With Thy favored sheep, oh, place me!
Nor among the goats abase me,
But to Thy right hand upraise me.
While the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me, with Thy saints surrounded.

Low I kneel with heart submission,
See, like ashes, my contrition;
Help me in my last condition!
Day of sorrow, day of weeping,
When, in dust no longer sleeping,
Man awakes in Thy dread keeping!

This additional verse may be used with tunes of a different meter:

To the rest Thou didst prepare me
On Thy cross; O Christ, upbear me!
Spare, O God, in mercy spare me! 

+

At A Wedding Feast In Cana : Anglican Patrimony

+

At a wedding feast in Cana

Jesus, Mary, and their friends

joined to celebrate a marriage-

covenant which on Love depends.

And the party it went on

till the bowls of wine were gone.

Mary nudged her Son Christ Jesus,

urged him to step up and please us.

"Dearest woman, let's have no show.

You know well it's not my time."

Mary smiled and told the servants,

"Follow all his words sublime.

Do whatever he may say.

It's the way he'll save the day."

And the servants did her bidding

and to Jesus all were listening.

Jesus guided all their actions

and turned water into wine.

How amazing this great wonder

his first miracle and sign!

It was not to raise the dead

or to heal as it is said,

but to keep a party going --

this his first and wondrous showing.

Let us hearken then to Mary

and do all that Christ shall say.

Heal the sick and feed the hungry,

love the living of each day.

Walk on water when we must,

make disciples of the lost.

Raise the dead and banish demons.

Preach and teach through all the seasons.

Praise and worship to the Father

Laud and glory to the Son,

For the Holy Spirit muster

songs of joy on every tongue.

With Our Lady walk the way

leading to Christ's glorious day

when the faithful rise to meet him

and rejoicing we will greet him!

Words: Copyright © 1998 by Vincent Uher. All rights reserved.

Music: Genevan Psalm 42 ("Comfort, Comfort, ye my people")

Meter: 87877788

O Christ The King, The Royal Banners : Anglican Patrimony

+ 

This hymn text was written in honour of The Revd Fr James T Moore, PhD, 

Founding Pastor, The Catholic Church of Our Lady of Walsingham (Anglican Use), 

Houston, Texas, in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

+ 

Click on the image below to enlarge it.

+Laus Deo!

"Christ Is Our Hope Whom We Have Seen" : Anglican Patrimony

+

Click on each image below in order to enlarge it.

 

2

 +

"Fill thou my life, O Lord my God"

+

Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,

in every part with praise,

that my whole being may proclaim

thy being and thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,

nor e’en the praising heart

I ask, but for a life made up

of praise in every part:

Praise in the common things of life,

its goings out and in;

praise in each duty and each deed,

however small and mean.

Fill every part of me with praise:

let all my being speak

of thee, and of thy love, O Lord,

poor though I be and weak.

So shalt thou, Lord, receive from me

the praise and glory due;

and so shall I begin on earth

the song for ever new.

So shall each fear, each fret, each care,

be turnèd into song;

and every winding of the way

the echo shall prolong.

So shall no part of day or night

unblest or common be,

but all my life, in every step,

be fellowship with thee.

Words: Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Tune: Richmond

+

There's a Voice in the Wilderness Crying

A great hymn text from Canada

by James Lewis Milligan (1876-1961)

based upon Isaiah 40:3-11 

No. 153 in The Hymn Book, 1971

There's a voice in the wilderness crying,

a call from the ways untrod:

Prepare in the desert a highway,

a highway for our God!

The valleys shall be exalted,

the lofty hills brought low:

make straight all the crooked places

where the Lord our God may go!

O Zion, that bringest good tidings,

get thee up to the heights and sing!

Proclaim to a desolate people

the coming of their King.

Like the flowers of the field they perish,

the works of men decay,

the power and pomp of nations

shall pass like a dream away;

But the word of our God endureth,

the arm of the Lord is strong;

he stands in the midst of nations,

and he will right the wrong.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,

and fold the lambs to his breast;

in pastures of peace he'll lead them,

and give to the weary rest.

There's a voice in the wilderness crying,

a call from the ways untrod:

Prepare in the desert a highway,

a highway for our God!

The valleys shall be exalted,

the lofty hills brought low:

make straight all the crooked places

where the Lord our God may go!

+Get thee up to the heights and sing!

Anglican Patrimony: Hymn Translation

Text: S. Thos. Aquinas
Trans: Jas. Russell Woodford, Bishop of Ely, Church of England

Saint Thomas Aquinas

The following translation by James Russell Woodford appears in the old Anglican Church of Canada red covered hymnal entitled The Hymn Book.   Were one to edit a new hymnal one could pair this text with the tune 'OLD 124th' which would necessitate augmenting the text.  Adding the first line of the first verse as a refrain  would accomplish what was needed by way of augmentation:

O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see,

may what we thirst for soon our portion be,

to gaze on thee unveiled, and see thy Face,

the vision of thy glory and thy grace.

Thee, we adore, O Hidden Saviour, Thee.

Unfortunately, many hymnals insist on using only one translation of a major text like this one by Saint Thomas Aquinas.  A truly great and comprehensive hymnal would have several as each translation provides a different window through which to perceive the original (as well as the opportunity to use a different tune with each text).  For example with  Adoro te devote  one could  include the composite translation "Humbly I adore thee", Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Godhead here in hiding" and the following translation by Dr. Woodford:   

Thee We Adore, O Hidden Saviour, Thee

Thee we adore, O hidden Saviour, thee,

who in thy Sacrament doest deign to be; 

both flesh and spirit at thy Presence fail,

yet here thy Presence we devoutly hail.

O blest memorial of our dying Lord,

who Living Bread to men doth here afford,

O may our souls for ever feed on thee,

and thou, O Christ, for ever precious be.

Fountain of goodness, Jesus Lord and God,

Cleanse us, unclean, with thy most cleansing blood;

increase our faith and love, that we may know

the hope and peace which from thy presence flow.

O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see,

may what we thirst for soon our portion be,

to gaze on thee unveiled, and see thy Face,

the vision of thy glory and thy grace.

James Russell Woodford, Bishop of Ely, Church of England

+Adoro te devote