1
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!
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
2
To Thee, my God above,
I cry with glowing love,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring
In hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
I cry with glowing love,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring
In hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
3
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!
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!
4
When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
5
When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
6
Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’ eternal song
Through all the ages long,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’ eternal song
Through all the ages long,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
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Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas
GOOD MORNING This Hymn is so Divine As the sun gild. the skies in the morning and this song is sung with sincere meditation bring SUCH comfort to the SOUL LOVE IT
Bristol, Connecticut, United States
It soothes my heart and mind and blesses me.
Dumaguete City, Philippines
Thanks Steve for the additional stanzas/verses. Appreciate it!
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Every morning is a gift from God. May Jesus Christ be praised.
United States
English hymnody derives its richness from earlier Latin, Greek and German sources which were translated during the mid-nineteenth century. These English hymn writers were a part of a movement within the Anglican Church called the Oxford Movement. The rediscovery of the writings of the Middle Ages became important during this time. Another goal this movement had was to recover the Anglican Church to the true Apostolic Church ordained by Jesus Christ Himself. Many felt that looseness within the church had creeped in as a result of the Evangelical influence with its stress upon the individual and his need for a personal conversion experience.
The Oxford Movement began in 1833 with a sermon by John Keble titled “National Apostasy.” For several years this movement tenaciously directed religious England. Some Anglican leaders joined the Catholic Church preferring the liturgical-hierarchical church.
One of these leaders was Edward Caswall, one of the best known scholars and translators of his time. He was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England in 1814. Caswall graduated from Oxford College and was ordained a minister of the Anglican Church at the age of twenty-six. While in Oxford he became involved in the Oxford Movement. After pastoring a church in Stratford for seven years, he resigned and traveled to Rome with his wife where they were accepted into the Roman Church. From then on until his death in 1878 Caswall made it his life’s mission to translate early hymns for the services of the Catholic Church. One well known hymn is “Jesus, the Very Though of Thee.”
Nothing is known of the original writer of this text other than the fact that he was German. The hymn first appeared in a German hymnal in 1828. Other writers also attempted English translations of this text, but Caswall’s version in 1853 became the most popular in England and the United States. Throughout his life he kept adding verses until the hymn included twenty-eight stanzas.
The tune called, “Lauded Domini” (Praises of the Lord) was composed for this text in 1868 by Joseph Barnby. Born in London, England, Barnby achieved many musical accomplishments including editing five important hymnals and being knighted by Queen Victoria in 1892.
Lagos, Nigeria
May His name be forever praised!
Indianapolis, IN
Saw the golden glow off the western maple trees in my backyard this morning and thought of this song. Wanted to find the lyrics. Looks like there are quite a few verses, all reasons and remembrances: May Jesus Christ be praised!
Detroit, MI, United States
This beautiful hymn is great for the morning.
There are many more stanzas which were not translated from the German at first.
Insert after stanza 2:
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!
--------------------------------
Whene’er the sweet church bell
peals over hill and dell,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
O hark to what it sings,
as joyously it rings,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
-----------------------------------------------
My tongue shall never tire
of chanting with the choir,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
This song of sacred joy,
it never seems to cloy,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
------------------------------
Insert between stanzas 4 and 5:
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!
--------------------------------
Be this at meals your grace,
in every time and place;
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, when day is past,
of all your thoughts the last
May Jesus Christ be praised!
-----------------------------
When mirth for music longs,
this is my song of songs:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evening shadows fall,
this rings my curfew call,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
------------------------------------
before last stanza:
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!
----------------------------------
No lovelier antiphon
in all high Heav’n is known
Than, Jesus Christ be praised!
There to the eternal Word
the eternal psalm is heard:
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!
--------------------------------
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!
Winfield, KS, United States
This is the song God used to reach me years before I knew Him. Something about the refrain grabbed me and made me want to praise Him, but at the time I did not even know what that meant. It still has the same effect, only now I understand the joy and majesty behind it, since He has given me new life!
Bridgetown, St Michael, Barbados
Praise Him with trumpet and song. Praise Him with cymbals and dances. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! When morning gilds the sky may Jesus Christ be praised, Amen.