414. Come, you faithful, raise the strain

1 Come, you faithful, raise the strain
of triumphant gladness;
God has brought his Israel
into joy from sadness;
loosed from Pharaoh's bitter yoke
Jacob's sons and daughters;
led them with unmoistened foot
through the Red Sea waters.

2 'Tis the spring of souls today;
Christ has burst his prison,
and from three days' sleep in death
as a sun has risen:
all the winter of our sins,
long and dark, is flying
from his light, to whom we give
laud and praise undying.

3 Now the queen of seasons, bright
with the day of splendour,
with the royal feast of feasts
comes its joy to render;
comes to glad Christian hearts,
which, with true affection,
welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesus' resurrection.

4 Neither could the gates of death,
nor the grave's dark portal,
nor the watchers, nor the seal,
hold you as a mortal.
Here today amid your own
now you stand, bestowing
your own peace, which evermore
passes human knowing.

Text Information
First Line: Come, you faithful, raise the strain
Greek Title: Αϊσωμεν, πάντεζ λαοί
Author: St. John of Damascus (c. 675-c. 750)
Translator: John Mason Neale (1818-1866)
Meter: 76 76 D
Language: English
Publication Date: 2005
Scripture: ; ; ; ; ;
Topic: Christ Risen: Resurrection and Exaltation; Christian Year: Easter
Tune Information
Name: AVE VIRGO VIRGINUM
Meter: 76 76 D
Key: F Major
Source: Melody from Johann Horn's Gesangbuch, 1544; harmonised Church Hymnary, Fourth Edition, 2005
Copyright: © Church Hymnary Trust



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