Scripture Verse

Wilt thou be made whole? John 5:6

Introduction

Words: Un­known au­thor, 14th Cen­tu­ry or ear­li­er (Ani­ma Chris­ti sanc­ti­fi­ca me). The ver­sion be­low ap­peared in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906) with­out nam­ing the trans­lat­or.

Music: Ani­ma Chris­ti, adapt­ed from an Eng­lish tra­di­tion­al tune (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know the trans­lat­or,

Lyrics

Soul of Je­sus, make me whole,
Meek and con­trite make my soul;
Thou most stain­less Soul di­vine,
Cleanse this sor­did soul of mine,
Hallow this my con­trite heart,
Purify my ev­ery part;
Soul of Je­sus, hal­low me,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

Save me, bo­dy of my Lord,
Save a sin­ner, vile, ab­horred;
Sacred bo­dy, wan and worn,
Bruised and man­gled, scourged and torn,
Piercèd hands and feet and side,
Rent, in­sult­ed, cru­ci­fied:
Save me: to the cross I flee,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

Blood of Je­sus, stream of life,
Sacred stream with bless­ings rife,
From the brok­en bo­dy shed
On the cross, that al­tar dread;
Giv’n to be our drink di­vine,
Fill my heart and make it Thine;
Blood of Christ, my suc­cor be,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

Holy wa­ter, stream that poured
From Thy riv­en side, O Lord,
Wash thou me with­out, with­in,
Cleanse me from the taint of sin,
Till my soul is clean and white,
Bathed and pu­ri­fied and bright
As a ran­somed soul should be,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

Jesus, by the won­drous pow­er
Of Thine aw­ful pas­sion hour,
By the un­imag­ined woe
Mortal man may ne­ver know;
By the curse upon Thee laid,
By the ran­som Thou hast paid,
By Thy pas­sion com­fort me,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

Jesus, by Thy bit­ter death,
By Thy last ex­pir­ing breath,
Give me the eter­nal life,
Purchased by that mor­tal strife;
Thou didst suf­fer death that I
Might not die ete­rnal­ly;
By Thy dy­ing quick­en me,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

Miserere, let me be
Never part­ed, Lord, from Thee;
Guard me from my ruth­less foe,
Save me from eter­nal woe;
When the hour of death is near,
And my spi­rit faints for fear,
Call me with Thy voice of love,
Place me near to Thee above,
With Thine an­gel host to raise
An un­dy­ing song of praise,
Miserere Do­mi­ne.

illustration
The Flagellation
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)