Scripture Verse

There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee…and both Jesus was called, and His disciples. John 2:1–2

Introduction

portrait
Samuel F. Jones (1826–1895)

Words: Sam­uel F. Jones, ci­rca 1867. Jones wrote these words at the re­quest of Ar­thur P. Stan­ley, Dean of West­min­ster, for use in wed­dings at West­min­ster Ab­bey.

Music: Cey­lon Sam­uel Reay, in Church Hymns with Tunes, ed­it­ed by Ar­thur S. Sul­li­van (Lon­don: So­ci­ety for Pro­mot­ing Chris­tian Know­ledge, 1874) (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Father of life, con­fess­ing
Thy ma­jes­ty and pow­er,
We seek Thy gra­cious bless­ing
To greet the brid­al hour.
The troth in Ed­en plight­ed
The wed­ded here re­new;
May they, in Thee unit­ed,
Till death be pure and true.

Jesu, Re­deem­er, hear us!
Still be the wed­ding guest;
Thy gen­tle pre­sence near us
Makes com­mon things more blest;
E’en care shall be a learn­ing
Of bless­ed­ness di­vine,
If Thou wilt still be turn­ing
The wa­ter in­to wine.

Spirit of Love, des­cend­ing,
Impart Thy joy and peace,
These hopes to­ge­ther blend­ing,
Bless with Thine own in­crease.
Athwart the rough­est ocean,
Or on the peace­ful tide,
Thy breath through each emo­tion
Their hea­ven­ward course shall guide.

The Church, Thy bride, hath giv­en
Her bless­ing on the vow;
Oh, ra­ti­fy from Hea­ven
Her be­ni­son be­low.
Bless, Fa­ther, Son and Spir­it,
The un­ion here be­gun,
That in the life eter­nal
It may be ev­er one.