Scripture Verse

God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

Introduction

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John M. Neale (1818–1866)
Wikipedia

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Words: Me­tro­pha­nes of Smyr­na, cir­ca 900 (Τριφεγγησ μονασ Θεαρχικη). Trans­lat­ed from Greek to Eng­lish by John M. Neale, Hymns of the East­ern Church, 1862.

Music: Old 22nd An­glo-Ge­ne­van Psal­ter, 1556 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

O Uni­ty of three­fold light,
Send out Thy love­li­est ray,
Add scat­ter our trans­gress­ions’ night,
And turn it in­to day;
Make us those tem­ples pure and fair
Thy glo­ry lov­eth well,
The spot­less ta­ber­na­cles, where
Thou may’st vouch­safe to dwell.

The glo­ri­ous hosts of peer­less might,
That ev­er see Thy face,
Thou mak’st the mir­rors of Thy light,
The ves­sels of Thy grace.
Thou, when their won­drous strains they weave,
Hast plea­sure in the lay:
Deign thus our prais­es to re­ceive,
Albeit from lips of clay.

And yet Thy­self they can­not know,
Nor pierce the veil of light
That hides Thee from the thrones be­low,
As in pro­found­est night.
How then can mor­tal ac­cents frame
Due tri­bute to their king?
Thou, on­ly, while we praise Thy name,
Forgive us as we sing.