Praise to the Holiest

Praise to the Holiest in the Height

Praise to the Holiest was written by Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890). It is an adaptation of a portion of his 1865 poem, The Dream of Ge­ron­ti­us. Praise to the Holiest as well as his other well known hymn, Firmly I Believe and Truly (also drawn from Gerontius) were both sung at Benedict XVI's Mass celebrating the beatification of Cardinal Newman in 2010. Praise to the Holiest in the Height is set to the tune, Billing by Richard R. Terry (1865-1938), editor of the 1921 Westminster Hymnal, at that time the only collection of hymns authorized for use by the Catholic Church in England and Wales. . In the Liturgy of the Hours it is used during Lent.



PRAISE TO THE HOLIEST IN THE HEIGHT by John Henry Newman, 1865 (Public Domain)

1. Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.

2. O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.

3. O wisest love! that flesh and blood,
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail.

4. And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God’s Presence and His very Self,
And Essence all divine.

5. O generous love! that He, who smote,
In Man for man the foe,
The double agony in Man
For man should undergo.

6. And in the garden secretly,
And on the Cross on high,
Should teach His brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.

7. Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.