Lord of All Being, Throned Afar

Your Glory Flames from Sun and Star.

Lord of All Being, Throned Afar was written in 1848 by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894). Son of a Congregational clergyman, Holmes was a well known and respected writer, lecturer, poet, physician, and academic of 19th century America. His son, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. sat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Lord of All Being, Throned Afar is set to the tune, Uffingham by British Hymnodist, Jeremiah Clarke (c.1659-1707). It can also be sung to the tune, Winchester New, as featured in the following video. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is used during Ordinary Time for Daytime Midday Prayer.


Tune: Winchester New

LORD OF ALL BEING, THRONED AFAR by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., 1848 (Public Domain) 

Lord of all being, thronèd afar,
Thy glory flames from sun and star;
Center and soul of every sphere,
Yet to each loving heart how near!

Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray,
Sheds on our path the glow of day;
Star of our hope, Thy softened light
Cheers the long watches of the night.

Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn;
Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn;
Our rainbow arch, Thy mercy’s sign;
All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.

Lord of all life, below, above,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
Before Thy ever blazing throne
We ask no luster of our own.

Grant us Thy truth to make us free,
And kindling hearts that burn for Thee,
Till all Thy living altars claim
One holy light, one heavenly flame.