During these weeks when we have not been able to meet together in our beautiful church building, we have been singing hymns from
The Hymnal 1982
. Many of our worshipers have this book at home, and many of these hymns are the ones that are more familiar to most of us. As we observe the festival of Pentecost this Sunday, we will unite our voices in singing hymns from
The Hymnal 1982
that celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit: “Like the murmur of the dove’s song” (513), “Breathe on me, Breath of God” (508), and “Hail thee, festival day” (225).
Even though we won’t be singing it at St. Paul’s, I want to tell you about a Pentecost favorite of many who share my Lutheran background. The hymn is “O day full of grace.” Although it is based on a Swedish text from almost 600 years ago, the words seem so pertinent to our 21st century world as we deal with all the ways that the coronavirus has affected our lives.
“O day full of grace” takes us on a journey. We sing about Jesus coming to earth as a human, his suffering and death on the cross, and then his miraculous resurrection. The hymn speaks of Pentecost as a time when the flame of the Holy Spirit shines into our dark lives and breathes into us new life and healing. Throughout the hymn’s five stanzas there is a persistent message of hope and joy. Especially because of the last stanza, it is often sung at funerals.
The earliest version of “O day full of grace” was a Swedish folk hymn, consisting of a series of ten morning prayers. In 1826 the Danish hymn writer Nikolai F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) reworked the text. Well-known for writing about 1,500 hymns, Grundtvig was also a member of the Danish Parliament who strongly promoted religious liberty and democratic reform. The music for “O day full of grace” comes from Danish church musician and composer Christoph E. F. Weyse (1774-1842), organist at the Cathedral in Copenhagen. He wrote this tune specifically for Grundtvig’s version of the hymn text.
While our present situation often feels like a time of extreme darkness, the theme of light saturates the text of “O day full of grace.” In the Nordic lands where this hymn was first sung, this is especially meaningful since Pentecost arrives at a time when lengthening hours of daylight fill the skies, in contrast to the darkness of Scandinavian winters. Yes, I think that “O day full of grace” is a wonderful Pentecost hymn that Lutherans shouldn’t just keep to themselves. But it also challenges us to see
every
day as twenty-four hours overflowing with God’s grace, more than enough to penetrate every corner of our world.
Below this hymn text, we have attached a video rendition of “O day full of grace” featuring a huge choir of singers and instrumentalists who put this all together last week.
O day full of grace that now we see appearing on earth’s horizon,
Bring light from our God that we may be abundant in joy this season.
God, shine for us now in this dark place; your name on our hearts emblazon.
O day full of grace, O blessed time, our Lord on the earth arriving;
Then came to the world that light sublime, great joy for us all retrieving;
For Jesus all mortals did embrace, all shame and despair removing.
For Christ bore our sins, and not his own, when he on the cross was hanging;
And then he arose and moved the stone, that we, unto him belonging,
Might join with angelic hosts to raise our voices in endless singing.
God came to us then at Pentecost, the Spirit new life revealing,
That we might no more in death be lost, its power over us dispelling.
This flame will the mark of sin efface and bring to us all true healing.
When we on that final journey go that Christ is for us preparing,
We’ll gather in song, our hearts aglow, all joy of the heavens sharing,
And there we will join God’s endless praise, with angels and saints adoring.
