For Rose-Moles All in Stipple Upon Trout That Swim: Praise Him!
Pied Beauty is by the Jesuit Priest and poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). Although written in 1877, it remained unpublished until it's inclusion in the posthumous collection: Poems (1918). It is known as a curtal sonnet, a poetic form of his own invention. Pied Beauty is included in the Poetry for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
PIED BEAUTY by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1918 (Public Domain)
Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
THAT NATURE IS A HERACLITEAN FIRE AND OF THE COMFORT OF THE RESURRECTION by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1918 (Public Domain)
Cloud-puffball, torn tufts, tossed pillows | flaunt forth, then chevy on an air-
Built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs | they throng; they
glitter in marches.
Down roughcast, down dazzling whitewash, | wherever an elm arches,
Shivelights and shadowtackle ín long | lashes lace, lance, and pair.
Delightfully the bright wind boisterous | ropes, wrestles, beats earth bare
Of yestertempest's creases; | in pool and rut peel parches
Squandering ooze to squeezed | dough, crust, dust; stanches, starches
Squadroned masks and manmarks | treadmire toil there
Footfretted in it. Million-fuelèd, | nature's bonfire burns on.
But quench her bonniest, dearest | to her, her clearest-selvèd spark
Man, how fast his firedint, | his mark on mind, is gone!
Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark
Drowned. O pity and indig | nation! Manshape, that shone
Sheer off, disseveral, a star, | death blots black out; nor mark
Is any of him at all so stark
But vastness blurs and time | beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,
A heart's-clarion! Away grief's gasping, | joyless days, dejection.
Across my foundering deck shone
A beacon, an eternal beam. | Flesh fade, and mortal trash
Fall to the residuary worm; | world's wildfire, leave but ash:
In a flash, at a trumpet crash,
I am all at once what Christ is, | since he was what I am, and
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, | patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
Is immortal diamond.
IN NO STRANGE LAND by Francis Thompson (Public Domain)
O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!
The World is by the Welch physician, author, and poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). It was first published in his 1650 collection: Silex Scintillans (The Flaming Flint) and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
Reading
THE WORLD by Henry Vaughan, 1650 (Public Domain)
I Saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years
Driv'n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd; in which the world
And all her train were hurl's.
The doting lover in his quaintest strain
Did there complain;
Near him, his lute, his fancy, and his flights,
Wit's sour delights;
With gloves, and knots, the silly snares of pleasure,
Yet his dear treasure,
All scatter'd lay, while he his eyes did pour
Upon a flow'r.
The darksome statesman, hung with weights and woe,
Like a thick midnight-fog, mov'd there so slow,
He did nor stay, nor go;
Condemning thoughts—like sad eclipses—scowl
Upon his soul,
And clouds of crying witnesses without
Pursued him with one shout.
Yet digg'd the mole, and lest his ways be found,
Work'd under ground,
Where he did clutch his prey; but one did see
That policy:
Churches and altars fed him; perjuries
Were gnats and flies;
It rain'd about him blood and tears, but he
Drank them as free.
The fearful miser on a heap of rust
Sate pining all his life there, did scarce trust
His own hands with the dust,
Yet would not place one piece above, but lives
In fear of thieves.
Thousands there were as frantic as himself,
And hugg'd each one his pelf;
The downright epicure plac'd heav'n in sense,
And scorn'd pretence;
While others, slipp'd into a wide excess
Said little less;
The weaker sort slight, trivial wares enslave,
Who think them brave;
And poor, despisèd Truth sate counting by
Their victory.
Yet some, who all this while did weep and sing,
And sing, and weep, soar'd up into the ring;
But most would use no wing.
O fools—said I—thus to prefer dark night
Before true light!
To live in grots and caves, and hate the day
Because it shows the way;
The way, which from this dead and dark abode
Leads up to God;
A way where you might tread the sun, and be
More bright than he!
But as I did their madness so discuss,
One whisper'd thus,
“This ring the Bridegroom did for none provide,
But for His bride.”
Mosaic from the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul - Courtesy of Wikipedia
Peace is by the Welch physician, author, and poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). It was first published in his 1650 collection: Silex Scintillans (The Flaming Flint) and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
Reading
PEACE by Henry Vaughan, 1650 (Public Domain)
My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingèd sentry
All skillful in the wars :
There, above noise and danger,
Sweet Peace sits crown'd with smiles,
And One born in a manger
Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious Friend,
And—O my soul awake !—
Did in pure love descend,
To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
There grows the flower of Peace,
The Rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortress, and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges ;
For none can thee secure,
But One, who never changes,
Thy God, thy life, thy cure.
The Morning-Watch is by the Welch physician, author, and poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). It was first published in his 1650 collection: Silex Scintillans (The Flaming Flint) and is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
THE MORNING-WATCH by Henry Vaughan, 1650 (Public Domain)
O joys! infinite sweetness! with what flower’s
And shoots of glory my soul breaks and buds!
All the long hours
Of night, and rest,
Through the still shrouds
Of sleep, and clouds,
This dew fell on my breast;
Oh, how it bloods
And spirits all my earth! Hark! In what rings
And hymning circulations the quick world
Awakes and sings;
The rising winds
And falling springs,
Birds, beasts, all things
Adore him in their kinds.
Thus all is hurl’d
In sacred hymns and order, the great chime
And symphony of nature. Prayer is
The world in tune,
A spirit voice,
And vocal joys
Whose echo is heav’n’s bliss.
O let me climb
When I lie down! The pious soul by night
Is like a clouded star whose beams, though said
To shed their light
Under some cloud,
Yet are above,
And shine and move
Beyond that misty shroud.
So in my bed,
That curtain’d grave, though sleep, like ashes, hide
My lamp and life, both shall in thee abide.
Let All the World in Ev'ry Corner Sing, My God and King!
Antiphon is a poem by George Herbert (1593–1633). It was published posthumously in 1633 as part of the collection, The Temple. In 1911, the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) published Five Mystical Songs, a setting of five of Herbert's poems from The Temple. Williams' Antiphon (featured in the following video), along with three other poems from Five Mystical Songs: The Call, Easter, and Love are included in the Religious Poems Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
Sun Dial, 1871 / St. Vigeans Church, Scotland - Courtesy of Wikipedia
The Dial is by the Anglican Bishop, Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626). He headed the committee of scholars that translated Genesis to 2nd Kings in the King James Version of the Bible. The Dial was part of a manuscript of his own personal devotions for daily prayer that was published posthumously in 1675 as Preces Privatae (Private Devotions). It is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
THE DIAL by Lancelot Andrewes, 1675 (Public Domain)
Thou who hast put the times and seasons in thine own power: grant that we make our prayer unto Thee in a time convenient and when Thou mayest be found, and save us.
Thou who for us men and for our salvation wast born at dead of night: give us daily to be born again by renewing of the Holy Ghost, Till Christ be formed in us unto a perfect man, and save us.
Thou who very early in the morning while the sun was yet arising didst rise from the dead: raise us up daily unto newness of life, suggesting to us ways of repentance which Thyself knowest, and save us.
Thou who at the third hour didst send down thy Holy Ghost on the apostles: take not away the same Spirit from us, but renew Him daily within us, and save us.
Thou who at the sixth hour and on the sixth day didst nail the sins of the world with Thyself on the cross: blot out the handwriting of our sins which is
against us and taking it out of the way, save us.
Thou who at the sixth hour didst let down a great sheet from heaven to earth, a figure of thy Church: receive us up into it, sinners of the gentiles, and with it receive us up together into heaven, and save us.
Thou who at the seventh hour didst will that the fever should
leave the noblemans son: if aught abide of fever or of sickness in our soul,
take it away from us also, and save us.
Thou who at the ninth hour for us sinners and for our sins
didst taste of death: mortify in us our earthly members and whatsoever
is contrary to thy will, and save us.
Thou who hast willed the ninth hour to be an hour of
prayer: hear us while we pray in the hour of prayer and
make us to obtain our prayer and our desires, and save us.
Thou who at the tenth hour didst will thine apostle, whenas
he found thy Son, to declare with great joy WE HAVE
FOUND THE MESSIAH: make us also in like sort to find the Messiah and
when He is found in like sort to rejoice, and save us.
Thou who at eventide didst will to be taken down from the
cross and buried in the tomb: take away our sins from us and bury them in thy
sepulchre, covering with good works whatsoever we have
committed ill, and save us.
Thou who didst vouchsafe even at the eleventh hour of the
day to send men into thy vineyard and to fix a wage,
notwithstanding they had stood all the day idle: do unto us like favour and, though it be late, as it
were about the eleventh hour, accept us graciously
when we return to Thee, and save us.
Thou who at the hour of supper didst will to institute the most sacred mysteries of thy body and blood: make us mindful of the same and partakers thereof,
and that, never unto judgement but unto remission of sin and unto acquiring of the bequests of the new testament, and save us.
Thou who late in the night didst by thy breathing confer on thine apostles the authority as well to forgive as to retain sins: make us partakers of that authority, yet that it be
unto remission, not unto retention, o Lord, and save us.
Thou who at midnight didst awaken David thy prophet and Paul the apostle to praise Thee: give us also songs by night and to remember Thee upon our beds, and save us.
Thou who with thine own mouth hast avouched that at midnight the Bridegroom shall come: grant that the cry THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH may sound evermore in our ears, that so we be never
unprepared to meet Him, and save us.
Thou who by the crowing of a cock didst admonish thine apostle and make him to return to penitence: grant us also at the same admonition to do the same,
to wit to go forth and weep bitterly the things
wherein we have sinned against Thee, and save us.
Thou who hast foretold that Thou wilt come to judgement in a day when we look not for Thee and at an hour
when we are not aware: make us prepared every day and every hour to be
ready for thine advent, and save us.
Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness is by the English poet, lawyer, and cleric in the Church of England, John Donne (1572-1631). Scholars believe it was certainly written at a time when he felt that death was imminent, but are divided as to whether it was composed in 1630/31 or during some earlier period of illness. It is included in the Poems for All Seasons Appendix of the Divine Office (1974).
Reading (with scriptural references)
HYMN TO GOD MY GOD, IN MY SICKNESS by John Donne (Public Domain)
Since I am coming to that holy room,
Where, with thy choir of saints for evermore,
I shall be made thy music; as I come
I tune the instrument here at the door,
And what I must do then, think here before.
Whilst my physicians by their love are grown
Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown
That this is my south-west discovery,
Per fretum febris, by these straits to die,
I joy, that in these straits I see my west;
For, though their currents yield return to none,
What shall my west hurt me? As west and east
In all flat maps (and I am one) are one,
So death doth touch the resurrection.
Is the Pacific Sea my home? Or are
The eastern riches? Is Jerusalem?
Anyan, and Magellan, and Gibraltar,
All straits, and none but straits, are ways to them,
Whether where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Shem.
We think that Paradise and Calvary,
Christ's cross, and Adam's tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,
May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace.
So, in his purple wrapp'd, receive me, Lord;
By these his thorns, give me his other crown;
And as to others' souls I preach'd thy word,
Be this my text, my sermon to mine own:
"Therefore that he may raise, the Lord throws down."
NEVER WEATHER-BEATEN SAIL by Thomas Campion, 1613 (Public Domain)
Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore.
Never tired pilgrim's limbs affected slumber more,
Than my wearied sprite now longs to fly out of my troubled breast:
O come quickly, sweetest Lord, and take my soul to rest.
Ever blooming are the joys of Heaven's high Paradise.
Cold age deafs not there our ears nor vapour dims our eyes:
Glory there the sun outshines whose beams the blessed only see:
O come quickly, glorious Lord, and raise my sprite to thee!
MY TRUE-LOVE HATH MY HEART by Philip Sidney, 1593 (Public Domain)
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for the other given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss;
There never was a bargain better driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides;
He loves my heart for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides.
His heart his wound receivèd from my sight;
My heart was wounded with his wounded heart;
For as from me on him his hurt did light,
So still methought in me his hurt did smart:
Both equal hurt, in this change sought our bliss,
My true love hath my heart and I have his.
Hail, Our Queen and Mother Blest is a translation of the Latin hymn, Salve Regina. This translation, used as an Antiphon sung after Night Prayer in modern Divine Office is set to the tune, Gaudeamus Pariter (Ave Virgo Virginum) composed by Johann Roh (c.1495-1547) and adapted in 1584 by Johann Leisentrit (1527-1586). The lyrics can be found here, under the heading: "English hymns based on the Latin original". Salve Regina (see 2nd video) isan anonymous Latin hymn that dates back to the Middle Ages. It is one of four Marian antiphons traditionally sung after Compline in the Roman Breviary. Authorship is uncertain, but modern research suggests the Benedictine Abbot, St. Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054) as the most likely composer. Crippled from birth and suffering from a paralytic condition, at the age of 7 he was placed in the care of the Benedictine monks on the Monastic Island of Reichenau. The Abbey was a center of arts and learning at the time. There he thrived, becoming an expert scholar, composer, music theorist, mathematician, and astronomer. He is also credited with the composition of another of the Marian antiphon's, Alma Redemptoris Mater. The text of Salve Regina in it's current form was set down at Cluny Abbey in the 12th century. In the Liturgy of the Hours and the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary it is sung or recited at the conclusion of Night Prayer. It is also included as an optional hymn for Monday Evening Prayer in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Tune: Gaudeamus Pariter
SALVE REGINA
Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae,
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae.
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes,
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eja ergo advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.
Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.
The Master Came, first published in 1965 was written by Gabriel Huck. It is set to the tune: Ich Glaub' an Gott, first published in 1870 as part of the Mainz Gesangbuch, it is also the melody used for To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King (as shown in the following video). In the Liturgy of the Hours, The Master Came to Bring Good News is used during Ordinary Time for Night Prayer and during the Season of Lent.
All Praise to You, O God, This Night, first published in 1709 was written by Anglical Bishop Thomas Ken (1637-1711). He is one of the early writers of congregational hymns for the Church of England. A number of them were intended for Morning and Evening prayer service. It is set to the tune, Illsley by John Bishop (1665-1737). A more commonly used melody is Tallis' Canon , as shown in the following video. In the Liturgy of the Hours, All Praise to You, O God, This Night is used during Ordinary Time for Night Prayer.
Tune: Tallis' Canon
ALL PRAISE TO THEE, MY GOD, THIS NIGHT by Thomas Ken, 1709 (Public Domain)
1. All praise to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.
2. Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
3. Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the judgment day.
4. O may my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.
5. When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.
6. O when shall I, in endless day,
For ever chase dark sleep away,
And hymns divine with angels sing,
All praise to thee, eternal King?
7. Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Now At The Daylight's Ending, first published in 1969 was written Fr. James Quinn (1919-2010). In his Obituary, it said that in his final years he accepted the changes brought on by age and illness, and though he was no longer able to continue writing hymns, he started writing jokes and sharing them with everyone who came to visit. Now at Daylight's Ending is set to the Lutheran funeral hymn, Christus Der Ist Mein Leben (1609) by German singer and composer Melchior Vulpius. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is used during Ordinary Time for Night Prayer.
Tune: Christus Der Ist Mein Leben (with introduction)
This World, My God, first published in 1968 was written by theologian and historian, Fr. Hamish Swanston (b.1933) and British composer Herbert Howells (1892-1983). Howells was noted for his organ and choral works written for the Anglican Liturgy. He titled this tune: In Manus Tuas (Into Your Hands), which is the Latin name for the Canticle of Simeon (Lk.2:29-32) prayed at Compline. An alternative tune is the Old 124th, as shown in the following video. In the Litany of the Hours, This World, My God, is Held Within Your Hand is used during Ordinary Time for Night Prayer.
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, first published 1774 was written by Ignaz Franz
(1719-1790). It is based upon the text of the early Latin hymn, Te Deum which is today prayed at the conclusion of the Office of the Readings on Solemnities and on Sundays outside of Lent. The 1858 English translation from the original German was by Fr. Clarence Walworth (1820-1900), an American Catholic who practiced law before entering into the Priesthood. It is set to the tune Grosser Gott (Te Deum), first published in 1774 it has been attributed to Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). In the Liturgy of the Hours, Holy God, We Praise Thy Name is used during Ordinary Time for Night Prayer.
HOLY GOD, WE PRAISE THY NAME by Clarence Walworth, 1858 (Public Domain)
1. Holy God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain, Everlasting is Thy reign. (2X)
2. Hark! the loud celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising,
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord. (2X)
3. Lo! the apostolic train
Join the sacred Name to hallow;
Prophets swell the loud refrain,
And the white robed martyrs follow;
And from morn to set of sun,
Through the Church the song goes on. (2X)
4. Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee;
While in essence only One,
Undivided God we claim Thee;
And adoring bend the knee,
While we own the mystery. (2X)
5. Thou art King of glory,
Christ:
Son of God, yet born of Mary;
For us sinners sacrificed,
And to death a tributary:
First to break the bars of death,
Thou has opened Heaven to faith. (2X)
6. From Thy high celestial home,
Judge of all, again returning,
We believe that Thou shalt come
In the dreaded doomsday morning;
When Thy voice shall shake the earth,
And the startled dead come forth. (2X)
7. Spare Thy people, Lord, we pray,
By a thousand snares surrounded:
Keep us without sin today,
Never let us be confounded.
Lo, I put my trust in Thee;
Never, Lord, abandon me. (2X)
Gregorian Chant
TE DEUM, Anonymous (Public Domain)
Te Deum laudamus:
te Dominum confitemur.
Te aeternum Patrem
omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli;
tibi caeli et universae Potestates;
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim
incessabili voce proclamant:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra
maiestatis gloriae tuae.
Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum
sancta confitetur Ecclesia,
Patrem immensae maiestatis:
Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.
Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,
non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu, devicto mortis aculeo,
aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Iudex crederis esse venturus.
Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni:
quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
V. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.
R. Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.
V. Per singulos dies benedicimus te;
R. Et laudamus Nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.
V. Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.
R. Miserere nostri Domine, miserere nostri.
V. Fiat misericordia tua,
R. Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te.
V. In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum. Amen
We Praise You, Father, for Your Gifts was written by the Anglican Benedictine Nuns of West Malling Abbey. The original Abbey was founded in 1090 as a Benedictine Convent by Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester but fell into secular ownership after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. It was restored as a home for an Anglican Benedictine Order of Nuns in the late 19th century. We Praise You, Father, for Your Gifts is shown in the Liturgy of the Hours as being set to Gregorian Chant Mode VIII for Te Lucis ante Terminum, a Compline hymn attributed to St. Ambrose Although there are many beautiful settings of this ancient latin hymn, I have not been able to find any that match the musical notation provided in the Divine Office. Fortunately, #620 in the Adoremus Hymnal does match the melody as shown in the Breviary. In the Liturgy of the Hours, We Praise You, Father, for Your Gifts is used during Ordinary Time for Night Prayer.
WE PLOW THE FIELDS AND SCATTER by Jane Campbell, 1861 (Public Domain)
We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land;
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.
Chorus:
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.
He only is the maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.
We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest, our life, our health, and food;
And all that we can offer your boundless love imparts,
The gifts to you most pleasing are humble, thankful hearts.
Father We Thank Thee, first published in 1940 was written by the Reverend Francis Bland Tucker (1895–1984), an Episcopal priest and hymn writer from the United States. The text draws upon prayers found in Chapters 9 and 10 of the Didache(see below), a pastoral manual of the early Church dated to the late 1st or early 2nd century. It is set to the tune, Rendez à Dieu attributed to French composer Louis Bourgeois (c.1510–1560). In the Liturgy of the Hours, Father, We Thank Thee, Who Hast Planted is used during Ordinary Time for Evening Prayer and on the Feast of Corpus Christi.
from the THE DIDACHE, translated 1885 (Public Domain)
Chapter 9
1. Now as regards the Eucharist (the Thank-offering), give thanks after this manner:
2. First for the cup: "We give thanks to Thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which thou hast made known to us through Jesus, Thy servant: to Thee be the glory for ever."
3. And for the broken bread: "We give thanks to Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou hast made known to us through Jesus, Thy servant: to Thee be the glory for ever.
4. "As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and gathered together became one, so let Thy church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom, for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever."
5. But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, except those baptized into the name of the Lord; for as regards this also the Lord has said: "Give not that which is holy to the dogs."
Chapter 10
1. Now after being filled, give thanks after this manner:
2. "We thank Thee, Holy Father, for Thy Holy Name, which Thou hast caused to dwell (tabernacle) in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which Thou hast made known to us through Jesus Thy Servant, to Thee be the glory for ever.
3. "Thou, O, Almighty Sovereign, didst make all things for Thy Name's sake; Thou gavest food and drink to men for enjoyment that they might give thanks to Thee; but to us Thou didst freely give spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Thy Servant.
4. "Before all things we give thanks to Thee that Thou art mighty; to Thee be the glory for ever.
5. "Remember, O Lord, Thy Church to deliver her from all evil and to perfect her in Thy love; and gather her together from the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which Thou didst prepare for her; for Thine is the power and the glory for ever.
6. "Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If any one is holy let him come, if any one is not holy let him repent. Maranatha. Amen."
7. But permit the Prophets to give thanks as much as [in what words] they wish.
