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A Hymn for Ascension(tide)

Rothenburg, Stadtkirche St. Jakob (c. 1390) Photo: Rafael Toussaint, CVMA Deutschland/Freiburg, CC BY-NC 4.0

The Daily Office tradition has a multitude of excellent hymn texts, and one such is provided below. Its proper place is at Lauds during Ascensiontide, so if you happen to have Matins or Morning Prayer at any point from Ascension Day until Pentecost, be sure to make use of it. It also makes a great addition to mass on Ascension Day or on Exaudi, the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension. The proper plainsong melody with the English and Latin texts can be found in Liber Hymnorum no. 47, though you can also use the melody “Winchester New,” as found in Lutheran Service Book no. 441.

Æterne Rex altissime

Trans. John Mason Neale

1.  Eternal Monarch, King most High,
Whose blood hath brought redemption nigh,
By whom the death of Death was wrought,
And conqu’ring grace’s battle fought:

2.  Ascending to the throne of might,
And seated at the Father’s right,
All pow’r in heav’n is Jesus’ own,
That here His manhood had not known. 

3. That so, in nature’s triple frame,
Each heav’nly and each earthly name,
And things in hell’s abyss abhorred,
May bend the knee and own Him Lord. 

4. Yea, angels tremble when they see
How changed is our humanity;
That flesh hath purged what flesh had stained,
And God, the Flesh of God, hath reigned.

5. Be Thou our joy and strong defense,
Who art our future recompense;
So shall the light that springs from Thee
Be ours through all eternity. 

6. To Thee we therefore humbly pray
That Thou wouldst purge our sins away,
And draw our hearts by cords of grace
To Thy celestial dwelling-place. 

7. So when the Judgment Day shall come,
And all must rise to meet their doom,
Thou wilt remit the debts we owe,
And our lost crowns again bestow. 

8. O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
All praise to Thee let earth accord,
Who art, while endless ages run,
With Father and with Spirit One.