Scripture Verse

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

Introduction

portrait
Raymond D. Mallary
1851–1911

Words: Au­thor un­known, in the Sens Bre­vi­ary, 1726 (Ver­bum Quod An­te Sæ­cu­la). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ro­bert Camp­bell (1814–1868). Pub­lished in An­nus Sanc­tus, Vol­ume 1, ed­it­ed by Or­by Ship­ley (Lon­don & New York: Burns & Oates, 1884), page 53.

Music: Mal­la­ry Ray­mond D. Mal­la­ry, 1901 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Word of God, eter­nal Son,
From Thy throne by pity won,
Let us at Thy cradle kneel,
And Thine infant sorrows feel.
Holy Babe, the sinner’s woe
Guiltless Thou art doomed to know;
Sobs that from Thy cradle rise
Tell before of dying cries.

Poor art Thou, that we may be
Blest by Thy hard poverty;
Thou art weeping, and Thy grief
Flows that we may find relief.
Thou art clothed in raiment mean,
Dwelling in a cave unclean;
Man is proud—the only great
Scorneth not the lowliest state.

Jesu, Thee the Fa­ther gave,
Such His love, the earth to save;
Ransomed at so vast a cost,
Let us not, good Lord, be lost.
Offspring of the holy maid,
Endless praise to Thee be paid;
Equal praise, O Fa­ther, be
With the Spi­rit paid to Thee.