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| Title: | Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise |
| Author: | Charles Wesley (1739) |
| Meter: | 7.7.7.7 with alleluias |
| Language: | English |

| Title: | Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise |
| Author: | Charles Wesley (1739) |
| Meter: | 7.7.7.7 with alleluias |
| Language: | English |
| Full hymn text | Information about this text |
|---|---|
1 Hail the day that sees Him rise Alleluia! 2 There the glorious triumph waits: Alleluia! 3 Him though highest heaven receives, Alleluia! 4 See, He lifts His hands above; Alleluia! 5 Still for us His death He pleads; Alleluia! 5 Lord, though parted from our sight Alleluia! Amen. The Hymnal: Published by the authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895 | Scripture References: Considered to be the most popular of all Ascension texts in English-language worship, "Hail the Day" was written by Charles Wesley (PHH 267) in ten stanzas and published in his Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739). Thomas Cotterill (b. Cannock, Staffordshire, England, 1779; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1823) altered the text and published his version in Selection of Psalms and Hymns (1820); the "alleluias" were added in George White's Hymns and Introits (1852). Included here with further alterations are original stanzas 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10. "Hail the Day" sings out its "alleluias" for Christ's triumphal entry into glory after he accomplished his saving work on earth (st. 1-2) and for Christ's work of interceding and preparing a place for his people (st. 3-4). The text concludes by hailing the great day when we shall rule with Christ (st. 5). Thomas Cotterill studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, England, and became an Anglican clergyman. A central figure in the dispute about the propriety of singing hymns, Cotterill published a popular collection of hymns (including many of his own as well as alterations of other hymns), Selection of Psalms and Hymns in 1810. But when he tried to introduce a later edition of this book in Sheffield in 1819, his congregation protested. Many believed strongly that the Church of England should maintain its tradition of exclusive psalm singing. In a church court the Archbishop of York and Cotterill reached a compromise: the later edition of Selection was withdrawn, and Cotterill was invited to submit a new edition for the archbishop's approval. The new edition was published in 1820 and approved as the first hymnal for the Anglican church of that region. Cotterill's suppressed book, however, set the pattern for Anglican hymnals for the next generation, and many of its hymns are still found in modern hymnals. Liturgical Use: --Psalter Hymnal Handbook |