



Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and Charles Coulston









                       HYMNS FROM THE MORNINGLAND




                                  HYMNS
                          FROM THE MORNINGLAND


                                  BEING
                          TRANSLATIONS, CENTOS
                             AND SUGGESTIONS
                        FROM THE SERVICE BOOKS OF
                         THE HOLY EASTERN CHURCH

                            WITH INTRODUCTION
                                   BY
                           JOHN BROWNLIE, D.D.

                               _Author of_
            "_Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church Hymnary_"
  "_Hymns of the Greek Church_," "_Hymns from the Greek Office Books_"
                  "_Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church_"
                               _&c., &c._

                            _(SIXTH SERIES)_

                       PAISLEY: ALEXANDER GARDNER
          _Publisher by Appointment to the late Queen Victoria_
                                  1911

                                 LONDON:
              SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LMD.

                 PRINTED BY ALEXANDER GARDNER, PAISLEY.




                                 PREFACE


This sixth series of hymns from the Greek Offices is sent forth in the
hope that some of the flowers that bloom in the gardens of the East, in
which our Lord prayed and His Apostles tilled, may serve to beautify the
homes of the faithful in Western lands. Cut flowers lose their beauty and
freshness soon, but not infrequently their perfume remains; and roots
transplanted do not always continue to put forth leaves and blossoms in
that richness which adorns them in their native soil; but if in the case
of the culled flowers, which are here presented, some of their perfume
may chance to linger, it will probably serve to suggest their original
attractiveness. That they may, in some capacity, be used to adorn the
worship of Christ in our sterner clime, is the earnest prayer of the
translator.

                                                               J. B.

Trinity Manse,
Portpatrick, _July, 1911_.




                          INDEX OF FIRST LINES




                                                                     PAGE
  Introduction                                                         xi
                                  HYMNS
  My God, shall sin its power maintain                                  3
  Christmas--
      Hark! upon the morning breezes                                    9
      Hail to the morn that dawns on eastern hills                     11
      Hail to the King, who comes in weakness now                      13
      Ye saints, exult with cheerful song                              15
      He came because the Father willed                                17
      Now the King Immortal                                            19
      When o'er the world Augustus reigned                             21
      O Light resplendent of the morn                                  23
  Passiontide--
      O wounded hands and feet                                         27
      When Jesus to the judgment hall                                  29
      They brought Him to the hill of death                            31
      "Watch with Me," the Master said                                 33
      They cried, "Let Him be crucified!"                              35
      O darkest night that ever fell                                   37
      Nailed to the cross the Saviour dies                             39
      O Son of God, afflicted                                          41
      This be our prayer, O Saviour of our souls,                      43
  Easter--
      Lo, in its brightness the morning arising                        49
      In the dark of early morn                                        51
      Glory to God! The morn appointed breaks                          53
      Glory to God! The Christ hath left the tomb                      55
      Rise, O glorious orb of day                                      58
  Ascension--
      Borne on the clouds, the Christ arose                            63
      Lift up the gates                                                65
      Borne on the wings of light                                      67
  Pentecost--
      Like the beams that from the sun                                 71
      Come, Holy Ghost, in might                                       73
      Spirit of God, in love descend                                   75
      Lord, may Thy Holy Spirit calm                                   77
      O God, the Holy Ghost                                            78
  Various--
      When Jesus to the Jordan came                                    83
      When on the mount the Lord appeared                              85
      Behold, the King of Zion rides                                   87
      Waving in the autumn breeze                                      89
      When in the clouds of heaven                                     91
      Rest in the Lord, O servant by His grace                         93
      Thou dost not pass a lonesome way                                95
      The man who erring counsel shuns                                 97
      Lord, a band of foes increasing                                  99
      Light of my life, O Lord, Thou art                              101
      From the hills the light is streaming                           103
      The day declines to night                                       105
      Lord, let us feel that Thou art near                            107
      Come, praise with gladness, the Lord of all creation            109
  Penitence and Love--
      Now, with my weeping would I cleanse my soul                    115
      O God of love, on bended knee                                   117
      O God, in mercy hear                                            119
      Come to the Christ in tears                                     122
      Forgive my heart its vain regrets                               124
      Far let me flee from worldly sin                                126
      Lord of mercy, at Thy gate                                      128
      Burdened with a heavy load                                      130
      Lord of a countless throng                                      132
      Let all the world abroad                                        134
      Thou Saviour of our sinful race                                 136
      Where the Lord reveals His presence                             138
      O love of God, surpassing far                                   140
      O God of our salvation                                          142
      O Jesus, when my guilty fears                                   144
      Lord, I am Thine, for Thou hast died for me                     146
  Aspirations--
      Lord, let our eyes the things unseen behold                     151
      Wake to the songs that lips unsullied sing                      153
      Bring to the Christ your fears                                  155
      Lord, soothe my anxious, troubled soul                          158
      Surpassing great the gift of God                                160
      My hope is firmly set                                           162
      The time is drawing near                                        164
      I will not yield my sword                                       166
      If in the cause of right I must                                 168
      The Christ on Olive's mount in prayer                           170
      Like music at the stilly hour                                   172
      O Lord, Thou in the hour of need                                174
      My harp upon the willows, grave                                 176
      To Thee my soul enraptured sings                                178
  Modern Greek Hymns--
      Christ The Word! Thine Incarnation                              183
      Come, keep this Feast, who holy things revere                   186




                              INTRODUCTION


Critics are of three classes:--the laudatory, who, if they see anything
to complain of, make no complaint; the severe, who, if they see anything
deserving commendation, say nothing about it; and the discriminating, who
see both and say it, and at the same time throw out hints which as a rule
are both acceptable and helpful. Particularly is this the case when the
advice tendered confirms a growing conviction on the part of a writer.

One cannot work continuously at a subject, and all the while get the
thoughtful criticism of his observers, without improving his methods.
From a review of a recent volume by the writer, the following is
taken:--"It seems to us that it is in the adaptation, rather than strict
translation, that the wealth of thought and emotion buried in the service
books of the Eastern Church will be minted into coin of golden praise
meet for sanctuary use, and comparable in worth and beauty to the
splendid currency of these latter days." This is strictly true, and it is
the conviction which has for some time possessed the author, with the
result that he has been giving less attention to translation, or
transliteration, and more attention to suggestion, adaptation, and
reminiscence. One cannot spend a day with the Greek service books (say
with the Triodion, which contains the incomparable Lenten and Easter
offices) without having his mind filled with thoughts the most beautiful,
thoughts which can sometimes be expressed in almost identical phrase with
the original, but which oftener, in order to do them justice by revealing
them in all their richness, require to be dwelt upon, expanded, and
clothed in appropriate western phrase. This is without doubt the best way
in which to deal with the praise material of the Greek service books, and
the present writer has set himself in this volume to act according to
that conviction. Here, there are fewer translations than in any former
volume, and the greater number of the hymns are reminiscences of the
Greek.

The contents of this book may be ranged under three categories:--A few
translations or renderings, as literal as it is possible or desirable to
make them; centos, or patchwork, _i.e._, pieces which are not versions of
any particular hymn in the original, but which are made up of portions of
various hymns; and suggestions, or reminiscences of the Greek. In the
case of the last, the best that can be said of them is that they owe
their existence in the present instance, to the Greek. While to the
ordinary reader there may be nothing in these suggestions to indicate
their source, no one who is acquainted with the praise of the Eastern
Church will fail to detect here and there certain marks which inevitably
announce their origin. In most cases initial Greek headlines have been
dispensed with, for the reason that they can serve no useful purpose, nor
indicate with any certainty the source of any particular hymn.

When one rises from a contemplation of Christian worship as it is
presented to him in the ancient forms of the Apostolic Church, it is with
pain that his ears are assailed with charges which he knows to be as
lacking in truth as they would be if they were levelled against
ourselves. God knows how far we have all drifted from our ideal, and
those who have the best excuse, not the farthest. But this offensive and
ungrateful spirit is surely unbecoming on the part of those who owe so
much to the Church which they censure. If Christian love would abound on
all sides, how soon would the wounds of Christ's Body heal! If those deep
wounds are to be bound up, it will only be by pouring in oil and wine.
Controversy and argument have been tried for centuries. They have failed.
We must all begin where the beloved St. John so feelingly bids
us,--"Little children, love one another." Love implies humility, and if
we are humble, and stoop to love, we will find hearts all over the world
only longing and praying for the balm of that Divine oil. Then dogmatic
differences will be solved in a new manner, and much more.

It is not a pleasant task to revert to the censures which are hurled
against the Eastern Church, by critics who are obviously ignorant of her
past history, and who seem to have taken no trouble to acquaint
themselves with her present position; but when one is continually met
with the same offensive statements, offensive because untrue, there is
only one thing to be done, and that is to meet them with the truth, and
refute them on every possible occasion, in the hope that in the end the
truth will be vindicated.

The charges have certainly not the charm of variety; they are painfully
monotonous:--The Greek Church is "dead," and "non-missionary." Certainly
non-missionary, if dead! To say of any organization, church or other,
that it is dead and non-progressive, is to say the worst that could be
said.

Dead! And what are the signs of death in the Eastern Church? Truly they
are marvellously unusual. Is it because she preserves the beauty,
dignity, and quiet solemnity, which must ever be associated with true
worship, and refuses to admit methods which are alien to it? Many of our
Churches have become societies, or guilds (a familiar term in these
days), in which are included every attraction which can appeal to the
eyes of the world. A Pleasant Sunday Afternoon, is the guise in which the
worship of God is presented to men who are not attracted by the calm and
rest of God's house; and the methods employed are bringing with them
their inevitable results. We fear the Church is in danger of forgetting
that its prime function is to preserve the Holy Worship of God, and by
its means to establish the saints in The Faith; and that its mission is
to go down to the world, inspiring those who are there with the spirit of
Christ; returning at the appointed time to observe the worship of God in
His house, and bringing with it those who are weary with the toil of
life, that they may be refreshed; and is allowing the world to invade its
sanctuary, and scare away the spirit of true worship. It is not enough to
say that present-day methods must be observed, that people will not come
to church unless it conforms to the spirit of the times. The human soul
will still desire to dwell in the house of the Lord, to behold His beauty
and to enquire, when it feels impelled by the Blessed Spirit of
God,--when it longs for peace and spiritual refreshment which can only be
found in communion with the Divine. Doubtless, to the pushful spirit of
the age, the Church which preserves in calm dignity the form of worship
which has been handed down to it through the ages, and tenaciously
adhered to in the midst of persecution and martyrdom, and refuses to
admit the methods of the concert hall, the debating society, and the
lecture room, must appear to be a dead Church indeed. So be it!

But, it is asked, what evidences are there that the Greek Church is a
living Church? What is she doing in the field of literature, theological
in particular? And in aggressive Christian work at home and abroad?

From this enquiry we cannot exclude the Greek Church in Russia, for,
while in the ancient sphere of that Church's operation (in Greece, and
Turkey, and Asia Minor) much is being done in the domain of education in
her schools and theological colleges, and in theological literature, it
is in Russia, where none of the grievous hindrances to activity exists
which for 600 years have frustrated many of her efforts at home, but
where free scope and encouragement for its exercise are guaranteed, that
most evidence of progress is seen.

Here is the testimony of one who cannot, _prima facie_, be deemed
unprejudiced.[1] A few years ago, Father Aurelio Palmieri was sent to
Russia by the Vatican to procure books and manuscripts for the Russian
section of the Papal library at Rome. He writes in the _Tserkoviya
Viedomosto_ (December 6, 1904):--"It is time to render justice to the
truth, and to put an end to those many calumnies, which are propagated
against Russia by envious and interested persons--persons who desire to
deprive her of her influence, and to rob her of her prestige. In the
Russian universities, the instruction given is far more serious than that
given in our own Italy; and the magnificent Ecclesiastical Academies, all
under religious influence, at St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kieff, and Kazan,
make us feel a sense of sadness at the miserable and insufficient
instruction that is given to our own Italian clergy. Let us say frankly,
that in our Italy, and even at Rome, we possess no such establishments
which for beauty of organization, capable professors, and wealth of
libraries, can rival these Russian Ecclesiastical Academies. To convince
people of the truth of my assertion, I need only refer them to the superb
official organs of these Academies... and set out what a vast quantity
of scientific works [this Father Palmieri does] is brought together in
these collections of Russian theological writers, and how far we in Italy
are from giving to the study of theology the development which it
receives in Russia.... I invite the scholars, not only of Italy, but of
every nation, to make acquaintance with the innumerable collection of
books now in the Vatican. They will there find convincing testimony to
the intensity of the intellectual work in Russia, and to the scientific
vitality of her Church...."

Again, in his book, _La Chiesa Russa_ (Florence, 1908), he deplores, not
the ignorance of the East, but the ignorance of the West. "It is
deplorable," he says, "that the intense scientific production of Russia
is almost totally ignored by the West.... A great nation like Russia is
not a negligible quantity affected by an intellectual quagmire (p. 671).
The Russian Ecclesiastical literature is rich in monographs on particular
subjects, and above all in Patristic theology. In this sphere of
research, Russian Orthodoxy can even outrival the German science." Such
is the testimony of one of the most cultured men in Italy.

The question is sometimes asked, What is the Greek Church doing at the
present time in the department of hymnody, in which her ancient offices
are so rich? Much; but as present day compositions are not used in the
canonical services, the supply of such material is not encouraged as it
would be in other circumstances, and as it is in the West, where the
demand for material for congregational hymnaries is so persistent. But
the Greek Church can boast of many hymn writers in her communion, whose
compositions would do no discredit to our Western hymnaries. Any
bookseller in Athens would supply a catalogue of Greek hymnological work
to any interested enquirer.

The writer has before him at this moment a volume of hymns, {TRIADIKON}
(Athens, 1909), the work of Bishop Nektarios, who for many years was head
of the great Rhizareion Theological College in Athens. The volume
contains about two hundred pieces suitable for use during the Church
seasons, and for general use. They were, however, composed, so the author
writes, to be read reverently, or sung privately, in the household. The
language of the hymns composed by present day hymn-writers has the modern
flavour, and so presents difficulties which, however, the student who has
a knowledge of the language of the service books can readily overcome,
with the help of a grammar and dictionary of modern Greek; for, while
modern Greek is nine-tenths similar to ancient Greek (_i.e._, modern
Greek of the first class, for there are several classes, according to the
grade of society) it has yet one-tenth which differs, and it is that
tenth which causes trouble. Such hymns are used at services _extra
ecclesiam_,--at meetings, church schools, colleges, and monasteries, or
at any other non-canonical service. They are, as a rule, set to
attractive music, often by eminent musicians. The translation of two
hymns from the fore-mentioned collection by Bishop Nektarios, are
included in this volume at pp. 183-6.

So, even in the department of hymnody, the Greek Church is showing no
signs of falling away, and, although she refuses to admit modern
productions into her Church services, and adheres to the hymns of her
early hymn-writers (an attitude, by the way, very similar to what we in
Scotland maintained until very recent times, when psalms alone were
permitted in our canonical services, to the exclusion of all hymns), she
has yet a band of hymn-writers who uphold a noble succession, and keep
adding to her treasury of praise, encouraged in their gracious work by
the countenance which the Church gives to its use on all possible
occasions.

But the commonest charge levelled against the Greek Church is that of
being non-missionary; and the charge which is so utterly untrue, is
deemed sufficient to relegate her to the limbo of the effete and
worthless. The truth is, that the missionary zeal, and activity of that
Church, are among the most outstanding features of her history; and when
we consider the terrible odds against which she has had to contend, both
in Europe and Asia, we wonder at the success that has been achieved.

Let us bear in mind that the population of Russia alone is about
170,000,000, that the natural increase goes on at the rate of four
millions annually, and that in twenty years the population will amount to
about 250,000,000. Think of the mighty task laid upon the Church to keep
abreast of such a growth, and at the same time to keep the Faith alive in
the mass,--for the great majority of this vast population are attached to
the Orthodox Church. And this is the task to which the Greek Church
addresses herself, to carry the blessings of Christianity to the farthest
Russian outpost, and to keep the flame alive where it has already been
kindled. Yet this is the Church which English-speaking Christians call
non-missionary. "If we take the English Church, for example, which prides
itself on its missions, and if we exclude all its missions from the
category of mission work which lie within the vast Empire of England's
dominions beyond the seas (that is to say, from India, Africa, Canada,
Australia, to English sailors, etc.), we would find how very few and weak
English missions really are. What a poor role, then, do English missions
play outside English lands! Why, then, do English folk gird at the great
Russian Church for a lack of missionary zeal when she is labouring hard
in her immense county in Europe and Asia for Christ? In Siberia and Asia
generally she is ever spreading the Faith, and that among many tribes and
tongues and peoples; and she has missions in Japan, China, Persia,
Palestine, Alaska, the Aleoutine Islands, and elsewhere."[2]

What the Greek Church is doing in Russian dominions, she is doing also in
her ancient lands, although under quite different auspices. In Turkey and
Asia Minor she keeps the flame aglow amid adverse conditions, and
provides spiritual food for her vast household. Besides, she is the most
active missionary agency in the Levant.

But enough has been said. If we could only overtop the mountains of
prejudice, and we fear we must add, for it is the parent of prejudice,
ignorance, which divide the West from the East, we should be able to look
down not upon a barren wilderness, but a fruitful vineyard, in which the
servants of Christ are working under the eye of their Master, even as we
are working in our separate sphere. Let us think about these things.


----------

[1]_Vide_ an article in the _Re-union Magazine_, by F. W. Groves
   Campbell, LL.D., March, 1910 (London: Cope & Fenwick).

