Scripture Verse

Blessed be the Lord this day. 1 Kings 5:7

Introduction

portrait
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)

Words: Ve­nan­ti­us For­tu­na­tus (530–609) (Sal­ve fes­ta di­es to­to ven­er­a­bi­lis ae­vo). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Mau­rice F. Bell in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 624.

Music: Salve Fes­ta Di­es Ralph Vaugh­an Will­iams, in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906) (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Venantius Fortunatus
530–609

Lyrics

Originally cred­it­ed to Ano­ny­mous, Vaugh­an Will­iams was named as the com­pos­er in Songs of Praise, 1931.

The com­plex­i­ty of the mu­sic makes it a chal­lenge for con­gre­ga­tion­al use (there are three ver­sions for dif­fer­ent oc­ca­sions, which can be sung sep­ar­ate­ly or com­bined). How­ev­er, it can be quite im­pres­sive when sung by a trained choir.

East­er

EASTER

Refrain

Hail thee, fes­tiv­al day!
Blessed day to be hal­lowed for­ev­er;
Day when our Lord was raised,
Breaking the king­dom of death.

Lo, the fair beau­ty of the earth,
From the death of the win­ter aris­ing!
Every good gift of the year
Now with its mas­ter re­turns.

Refrain

Rise from the grave now, O Lord,
The au­thor of life and cre­ation.
Treading the path­way of death,
New life You give to us all.

Ascension

ASCENSION

Refrain

Hail thee, fes­tiv­al day!
Blessed day to be hal­lowed for­ev­er;
Day when our ris­en Lord
Rose in the hea­vens to reign.

He who was nailed to the cross
Is rul­er and Lord of all peo­ple.
All things cre­at­ed on earth
Sing to the glo­ry of God.

Refrain

Daily the love­li­ness grows,
Adorned with glo­ry of blos­som;
Heaven her gates un­bars,
Flinging her in­crease of light.

Refrain

Pentecost

PENTECOST

Refrain

Hail thee, fes­tiv­al day!
Blessed day to be hal­lowed for­ever;
Day when the Ho­ly Ghost
Shone in the world full of grace.

Bright and in the like­ness of fire,
On those who await your ap­pear­ing,
You whom the Lord had fore­told
Suddenly, swift­ly des­cend.

Refrain

Forth from the Fa­ther You come
With se­ven­fold mys­ti­cal of­fer­ing,
Pouring on all hu­man souls
Infinite rich­es of God.

Refrain

All Occasions

ALL OCCASIONS

God the al­migh­ty Lord,
The Rul­er of earth and the hea­vens,
Guard us from harm with­out;
Cleanse us from ev­il with­in.

Jesus the health of the world,
Enlighten our minds, great Re­deem­er,
Son of the Fa­ther su­preme,
Only begot­ten of God.

Spirit of life and of pow­er,
Now flow in us, fount of our be­ing,
Light that en­light­ens us all,
Life that in all may abide.

Praise to the Giv­er of good!
O Lover and Au­thor of con­cord,
Pour out your balm on our days;
Order our ways in your peace.