Sweet Savior, Bless Us Ere We Go

Representative Text

1 O Saviour, bless us ere we go;
thy word into our minds instil,
and make our lukewarm hearts to glow
with lowly love and fervent will.
Through life's long day and death's dark night,
O gentle Jesus, be our Light.

2 The day is done, its hours have run,
and thou hast taken count of all,
the scanty triumphs grace hath won,
the broken vow, the frequent fall.
Through life's long day and death's dark night,
O gentle Jesus, be our Light.

3 Grant us, dear Lord, from evil ways
true absolution and release;
and bless us, more than in past days,
with purity and inward peace.
Through life's long day and death's dark night,
O gentle Jesus, be our Light.

4 Do more than pardon; give us joy,
sweet fear and sober liberty,
and simple hearts without alloy
that only long to be like thee.
Through life's long day and death's dark night,
O gentle Jesus, be our Light.

5 For all we love, the poor, the sad,
the sinful, unto thee we call;
O let thy mercy make us glad:
thou art our Jesus, and our All.
Through life's long day and death's dark night,
O gentle Jesus, be our Light.

Source: CPWI Hymnal #24

Author: Frederick W. Faber

Raised in the Church of England, Frederick W. Faber (b. Calverly, Yorkshire, England, 1814; d. Kensington, London, England, 1863) came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839. Influenced by the teaching of John Henry Newman, Faber followed Newman into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845 and served under Newman's supervision in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowpe, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. One of his best known, "Faith of Our Fathers," originally had these words in its third stanza: "Faith of Our Fathers! Mary'… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Sweet Savior, bless us ere we go: Thy word into our minds instill
Title: Sweet Savior, Bless Us Ere We Go
Author: Frederick W. Faber (1849)
Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Through life's long day and death's dark night
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

ST. MATTHIAS (Monk)


STELLA (English)

First published in Henri Frederick Hemy's Easy Hymn Tunes for Catholic Schools (1851), STELLA was a folk tune from northern England that Hemy heard sung by children in Stella, a village near Newcastle-upon-Tyme. In modified bar form (AA'B), the tune has an interesting rhythmic structure. Antiphonal…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)
TextPage Scan

CPWI Hymnal #24

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #13

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #494

The Baptist Hymnal #54

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #6423

Include 329 pre-1979 instances
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