One more Easter hymn for the month. “Thine Be the Glory” was written by Swiss hymnist Edmond Louis Budry (1854–1932) specifically to the “conquering hero” theme in Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabaeus. Englishman Richard Birch Hoyle translated the work into English.

1 Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son:
endless is the vict’ry thou o’er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where thy body lay.

Refrain:
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry thou o’er death hast won.

2 Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing,
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting. [Refrain]

3 No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;
life is naught without thee: aid us in our strife;
make us more than conqu’rors, thro’ thy deathless love:
bring us safe thro’ Jordan to thy home above. [Refrain]

It’s still Easter this month for our Sunday Singing posts. This hymn was translated from a longer Latin verse, once attributed to St. Ambrose, and now believed to have been written by a sixth or seventh century Gaul. The text copied here was translated by Englishman John Mason Neale in 1861 and altered by the editors of the Trinity Hymnal.

Though the hymn is short enough, I feel it could be sung about 1.5x faster. In the video, the choir above does not sing all of these words and the organist improvises on the tune for a few minutes afterward.

1 That Easter day with joy was bright:
the sun shone out with fairer light
when to their longing eyes restored,
th’apostles saw their risen Lord.

2 His risen flesh with radiance glowed,
his wounded hands and feet he showed;
those scars their solemn witness gave
that Christ was risen from the grave.

3 O Jesus, King of gentleness,
do thou thyself our hearts possess,
that we may give thee all our days
the willing tribute of our praise.

4 O Lord of all, with us abide
in this, our joyful Easter-tide;
from ev’ry weapon death can wield
thine own redeemed forever shield.

Venantius Honorius Clematianus Fortunatus (530-609) wrote the original text to our Easter hymn today. When I looked for a video of it, I found several recordings of a version that includes the first of these verses before moving into less Christocentric thoughts. The words below come from the Trinity Hymnal and are performed in by The Choir of Christ Church above.

This weekend is what life on earth is about. Praise the Living God who made us and redeemed us for his own glory. Happy Easter, everyone!

1 “Welcome, happy morning!”
age to age shall say:
hell today is vanquished;
heav’n is won today.
Lo! the Dead is living,
God forevermore!
Him, their true Creator,
all his works adore.

2 Maker and Redeemer,
life and health of all,
thou, from heav’n beholding
human nature’s fall,
of the Father’s God-head
true and only Son,
manhood to deliver,
manhood didst put on.

3 Thou, of life the author,
death didst undergo,
tread the path of darkness,
saving strength to show;
come then, True and Faithful,
now fulfil thy word,
’tis thine own third morning;
rise, O buried Lord.

4 Loose the souls long prisoned,
bound with Satan’s chain;
thine that now are fallen
raise to life again;
show thy face in brightness,
bid the nations see;
bring again our daylight;
day returns with thee.