For The Epiphany

Words: Gaudete vos fideles, Spanish, 1568, Translated by E. H. Mitchell, 1884

Tune: “Tinterne,” Arthur H. Brown
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF
Meter: 77 77 77

Source: Arthur Henry Brown, ed., The Altar Hymnal (London: Griffith, Farrar, Okeden & Welsh, 1885), #19, pages 60-61.

1. Laud, ye faithful! Kings bow down,
Ethiopia brings her crown,
Far Arabia offers gold,
Tharsis myrrh, proclaimed of old,
Saba gifts of incense sweet –
Come, ye faithful! Him to greet.

2. Who is He? Our tributes show –
Gold for rule, and myrrh for woe,
Incense for the Altar meet,
Offerings bitter, rich and sweet,
Mark Him Christ on Whom we call,
King, Priest, Victim, all in all.

3. Offer we in deed and thought
What the Kings in figure brought –
Gold, our hearts in furnace tried;
Myrrh, our passions mortified;
Incense, sacramental grace,
Cleansing, brightening, hearts and face.

4. Thus may we before Him shine –
Giving, taking, things Divine;
Growing up before His Face
In the likeness of His Grace.
Till He calls us to His choir
There to sing with souls of fire.

“Tinterne,” Arthur H. Brown