Scripture Verse

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Isaiah 53:3

Introduction

Words: Mat­thew Bridg­es, The Pas­sion of Je­sus (Lon­don: Ri­chard­son & Son, 1852), pag­es 22–24, alt.

Music: Ko­ši­ce. Ar­ranged by Ni­co­la A. Mon­ta­ni, from a Slo­vak hym­nal, 1920 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Bridg­es or Mon­ta­ni (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Man of sor­rows, wrapped in grief,
Bow Thine ear to our re­lief:
Thou for us the path hast trod
Of the dread­ful wrath of God:
Thou the cup of fire hast drained
Till its light alone re­mained:
Lamb of Love! We look to Thee,
Hear our mourn­ful li­ta­ny!

By the gar­den, fraught with woe,
Whither Thou full oft wouldst go:
By Thine ag­ony of pray­er
In the de­so­la­tion there!
By the chains of sleep, which bound
Watchers in their trance pro­found;
Lord! Behold our bend­ed knee,
Listen to our li­ta­ny!

By the con­flict foul and fell
With the loos­ened fiends of hell:
By the dark­ness of the hour
Shadowed with the tempt­er’s pow­er:
By the dire and deep dis­tress
Of that mys­te­ry fa­thom­less;
Lord! our tears in mer­cy see
Mingling with our li­ta­ny!

By the vi­sion then, which stole
Looming o’er Thy spot­less soul,
Of the pride and guilt of man,
Since his fall from grace began,
Seas of sin, with bil­lowy waves,
Yawning in­to count­less graves;
Lord! our­selves from ship­wreck free,
Hear our so­lemn li­ta­ny!

By the cha­lice, when it came
Pregnant with a hell of flame:
By those lips, which fain would pray
That it might but pass away:
By the Heart, which drank it dry,
Lest a re­bel race should die;
Let Thy pi­ty be our plea,
Hear our so­lemn li­ta­ny!

Man of sor­rows! Let Thy grief
Purchase for us our re­lief:
Lord of mer­cy, bow Thine ear,
Slow to an­ger, swift to hear:
Let the gar­den Thou hast trod
Draw us to the throne of God;
So Geth­se­ma­ne shall be
Sweet in ev­ery li­ta­ny!