Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Welcome, happy morning!

161 Hermas. 6. 5. 6. 5. D with Refrain.

1 "Welcome, happy morning!"
   age to age shall say:
   "Hell today is vanquished;
   heav'n is won today!"
   Lo, the dead is living,
   God forevermore!
   Him, their true Creator,
   all his works adore.

Refrain:
   "Welcome, happy morning!"
   age to age shall say:
   "Hell today is vanquished;
   heav'n is won today!"

2 Maker and Redeemer,
   life and health of all,
   God from heav'n beholding
   human nature's fall,
   of the Father's Godhead
   you, the only Son,
   mankind to deliver
   manhood did put on. [Refrain]

3 Source of all things living,
   you came down to die,
   plumbed the depths of hell
   to raise us up on high.
   Come, then, true and faithful,
   come fulfill your word;
   this is our third morning—
   rise, O buried Lord. [Refrain]
                         Venantius Fortunatus
                         Tr. by John Ellerton
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I don't recall ever singing this hymn. Interestingly, Frances Havergal wrote the tune they use in the Methodist hymnal. I didn't realize she wrote music; I thought she just wrote lyrics—and powerful ones, too!

Hymnary.org adds a fourth verse:

4 Free the souls long prisoned,
   bound with Satan's chain;
   all that now is fallen
   raise to life again.
   Show your face in brightness;
   shine in ev'ry land
   as in Eden's garden
   when the world began. [Refrain]

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