Thou New Jerusalem, Arise and Shine

Representative Text

Thou New Jerusalem, arise and shine!
The glory of the Lord on thee hath risen!
Sion, exult! rejoice with joy divine,
Mother of GOD! Thy Son hath burst His prison!

O heavenly Voice! O word of purest love!
‘Lo! I am with you alway to the end!’
This is the anchor, steadfast from above,
The golden anchor, whence our hopes depend.

O CHRIST, our Pascha! greatest, holiest, best!
GOD’s Word and Wisdom and effectual Might!
Thy fuller, lovelier presence manifest,
In that eternal realm, that knows no night!

Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1866

Author: St. John of Damascus

Eighth-century Greek poet John of Damascus (b. Damascus, c. 675; d. St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, c. 754) is especially known for his writing of six canons for the major festivals of the church year. John's father, a Christian, was an important official at the court of the Muslim caliph in Damascus. After his father's death, John assumed that position and lived in wealth and honor. At about the age of forty, however, he became dissatisfied with his life, gave away his possessions, freed his slaves, and entered the monastery of St. Sabas in the desert near Jerusalem. One of the last of the Greek fathers, John became a great theologian in the Eastern church. He defended the church's use of icons, codified the practices of Byzantine chant, and wr… Go to person page >

Translator: John Mason Neale

John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly tem­perament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Thou New Jerusalem, Arise and Shine
Translator: John Mason Neale (1862)
Author: St. John of Damascus
Meter: 10.11.10.11
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Thou New Jerusalem on high. By J. M. Neale, from the Sarum Breviary, given in his Mediaeval Hymns, 1851. In revising it for the Hymnal, iv., 1854, Dr. Neale rendered it, "Ye choirs of New Jerusalem, To sweet new strains," &c. This was repeated in his Mediaeval Hymns, 2nd ed. 1863, with stanza ii. rewritten, and is the form of the hymn in common use.

--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

O PERFECT LOVE (Barnby)

Joseph Barnby (PHH 438) composed O PERFECT LOVE and said it was a "hymn tune in the natural style and idiom … of our own time." Originally an anthem, O PERFECT LOVE was shortened into a hymn tune for publication in The Hymnal Companion (1890) and in the Church Hymnary (1898). The tune is also know…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 3 of 3)

Hymnal of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross #17

TextPage Scan

Hymns of the Eastern Church (5th ed.) #107

Resurgit #d149

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