Scripture Verse

My Lord and my God. John 20:28

Introduction

portrait
Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Words: An­ti­phon by an un­known au­thor, not ear­lier than the 11th Cen­tu­ry (Ve­ni Sanc­te Spi­rit­us; rep­le tu­or­um cor­da fi­de­li­um). Mar­tin Lu­ther trans­lat­ed it from La­tin to Ger­man and ad­ded orig­in­al stan­zas in Eyn En­chi­ri­di­on (Er­furt, Ger­ma­ny: 1524) (Komm heil­ig­er Geist, Her­re Gott). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ca­the­rine Wink­worth, Ly­ra Ger­ma­ni­ca (Lon­don & New York: George Newnes & Charles Scrib­ner’s Sons, 1855), pag­es 90–91.

Music: Das neu­ge­borne Kind­lein Mel­chi­or Vul­pi­us, Ein schön geist­lich Ge­sang­buch (Je­na, Ger­ma­ny: 1609). Har­mo­ny by Jo­hann S. Bach, 1724 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Johann S. Bach (1685–1750)

Lyrics

Come, Ho­ly Spi­rit, God and Lord,
Be all Thy grac­es now ou­tpoured
On each be­liev­er’s mind and soul;
And touch our hearts with liv­ing coal.

Thy light this day shone forth so clear,
All tongues and nations ga­thered near,
To learn that faith, for which we bring
Glad praise to Thee, and loud­ly sing.

Thou strong de­fense, Thou ho­ly light,
Teach us to know our God aright,
And call Him Fa­ther from the heart:
The Word of life and truth im­part.

That we may love not doc­trines strange,
Nor e’er to other teach­ers range,
But Je­sus for our mas­ter own
And put our trust in Him alone.

Thou sac­red ar­dor, com­fort sweet,
Help us to wait with rea­dy feet
And will­ing heart at Thy com­mand,
Nor tri­al fright us from Thy band.

Lord, make us rea­dy with Thy pow­ers,
Strengthen the flesh in weak­er hours,
That as good war­ri­ors we may force
Through life and death to Thee our course.