Scripture Verse

The Father…the Son and…the Ho­ly Spi­rit. Matthew 28:20

Introduction

portrait
Percy Dearmer (1867–1936)

Words: From an 11th Cen­tu­ry ma­nu­script in the Brit­ish Mu­se­um (O Pa­ter sanc­te, mi­tis at­que pie). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Per­cy Dear­mer in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 160. For an­oth­er trans­la­tion, see Fa­ther Most Ho­ly, Mer­ci­ful, and Lov­ing.

Music: Christe du bei­stand Mat­thäus A. von Lö­wen­stern (1594–1648) (🔊 pdf nwc) (re­peats last line).

Alternate Tunes:

  • Herzliebster Je­su Jo­hann Crü­ger, New­es voll­köm­lich­es Ge­sang­buch Augs­burg­isch­er Con­fess­ion (Ber­lin: 1640) (🔊 pdf nwc)
  • Iste Con­fess­or Poi­ti­ers An­ti­phon­er, 1746 (🔊 pdf nwc)

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

Lyrics

Father most holy, merciful and tender;
Jesus our Sav­ior, with the Fa­ther reigning;
Spirit all kindly, Advocate, Defender,
Light ne­ver waning;

Trinity sacred, Unity unshaken;
Deity perfect, giving and forgiving,
Light of the angels, Life of the forsaken,
Hope of the living;

Maker of all things, all Thy creatures praise Thee;
Lo, all things serve Thee through Thy whole creation:
Hear us, Almighty, hear us as we raise Thee
Heart’s adoration.

To the all ruling triune God be glo­ry:
Highest and greatest, help Thou our endeavor;
We, too, would praise Thee, giving honor worthy
Now and for­ev­er.