Isn’t it amazing when you go looking for a song, thinking you’ll find the normal four verses, and you discover a goodly 15 verses? It’s astounding. This hymn was originally German, and was found in the Formby’s Catholic hymns. We don’t know a whole lot about it than that.
I have to admit, if I needed to sing ALL the verses of this older hymn I would get a bit tired of the tune, which is why I am guessing most hymnals pick out a few verses to sing that seem more important to them. I have sung it out of other hymnals occasionally running into new verses. I honestly thought it was people changing the hymns like they so often do now-a-days. Seeing all these verses together helped me realized it was not so. 🙂 I did highlight, in red, the verses that I am most familiar with and deleted the more obscure verses, (at least to me), if you want to see them GO HERE.
When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When you begin the day, O never fail to say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
And at your work rejoice, to sing with heart and voice,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
To God, the Word, on high, the host of angels cry,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals, too, upraise their voice in hymns of praise,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When sleep her balm denies, my silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evil thoughts molest, with this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In Heaven’s eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing, suns and stars of space, sing, ye that see His face,
Sing, Jesus Christ be praised!
God’s whole creation o’er, for aye and evermore
Shall Jesus Christ be praised!
Ye nations of mankind, in this your concord find
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let all the earth around, ring joyous with the sound,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In Heav’n’s eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let earth, and sea and sky from depth to height reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing this eternal song through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Not one I know. I enjoyed listening to it. Wow, there are lots of verses!
TONS of verses, I certainly didn’t list them all either. 🙂 Nice hymn though
What does “in this your concord find” mean?
Ye nations of mankind, in this your concord find
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let all the earth around, ring joyous with the sound,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Concord means harmony, or agreement. So my all the nations of the earth by in peace, through Jesus Christ. 🙂