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![]() | O happy band of pilgrimsTranslator: John Mason Neale (1862); Author: St. Joseph the Hymnographer (850)Published in 147 hymnals |
O happy band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread
With JESUS as your Fellow
To JESUS as your Head!
O happy, if ye labour
As JESUS did for men:
O happy, if ye hunger
As JESUS hungered then!
The Cross that JESUS carried
He carried as your due:
The Crown that JESUS weareth
He weareth it for you.
The Faith by which ye see Him,
The Hope, in which ye yearn,
The Love that through all troubles
To Him alone will turn,—
What are they, but vaunt-couriers
To lead you to His Sight?
What are they, save the effluence
Of Uncreated Light?
The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations
That Death alone can cure,—
What are they, but His jewels
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder,
Set up to Heav’n on earth?
O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies:—
Where such a light affliction
Shall win you such a prize!
Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1866
Neale, John Mason, D.D., was born in Conduit Street, London, on Jan. 24, 1818. He inherited intellectual power on both sides: his father, the Rev. Cornelius Neale, having been Senior Wrangler, Second Chancellor's Medallist, and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and his mother being the daughter of John Mason Good, a man of considerable learning. Both father and mother are said to have been "very pronounced Evangelicals." The father died in 1823, and the boy's early training was entirely under the direction of his mother, his deep attachment for whom is shown by the fact that, not long before his death, he wrote of her as "a mother to whom I owe more than I can express." He was educated at Sherborne Grammar School, and was afterwards… Go to person page >
Joseph, St., the Hymnographer. A native of Sicily, and of the Sicilian school of poets is called by Dr. Neale (in his Hymns of the Eastern Church), Joseph of the Studium, in error. He left Sicily in 830 for a monastic life at Thessalonica. Thence he went to Constantinople; but left it, during the Iconoclastic persecution, for Rome. He was for many years a slave in Crete, having been captured by pirates. After regaining his liberty, he returned to Constantinople. He established there a monastery, in connection with the Church of St. John Chrysostom, which was filled with inmates by his eloquence. He was banished to the Chersonese for defence of the Icons, but was recalled by the empress Theodora, and made Sceuophylax (keeper of the sacred… Go to person page >| First Line: | O happy band of pilgrims |
| Author: | St. Joseph the Hymnographer (850) |
| Translator: | John Mason Neale (1862) |
| Meter: | 7.6.7.6 |
| Source: | Greek; |
| Place of Origin: | Greek |
| Language: | English |
O happy band of pilgrims. [Pilgrims of Jesus.] Appeared in Dr. Neale's Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1862, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, with the note by Dr. Neale, "This is merely a cento from the Canon on SS. Chrysanthus and Daria (March 19)." In his Preface to the 3rd edition, 1866, he is more explicit, and says concerning this hymn, “Safe home, safe home in port," and "Art thou weary?" they "contain so little that is from the Greek, that they ought not to have been included in this collection; in any future edition they shall appear as an Appendix."
Dr. Neale did not live to publish another edition: but in 1882 the 4th edition with notes, was issued under the editorship of S. G. Hatherly, and in it the three hymns named were "removed from the body of the work at Dr. Neale's suggestion" and included in an Appendix. Its proper designation, therefore, is By Dr. Neale, based on the Greek Canon on SS. Chrysanthius and Daria by St. Joseph the Hymnographer. It must be added that no Greek lines corresponding to those in the English hymn can be found in that Canon. Dr. Neale nevertheless found what he wanted there, that is the inspiration to write the hymn as it now stands. The use of this hymn is very extensive in all English-speaking countries.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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| Instances (4) | First Line | Text Title | Refrain First Line | Authors | Composers | Meter | Scripture | Tune Title | Tune Key | Incipit | Languages | Publication Date | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Anglican Hymns Old & New #508 | O happy band of pilgrims | O happy band of pilgrims | 2000 | ||||||||||||||
| Hymns Ancient & Modern, New Standard Edition #208 | O happy band of pilgrims | 7.6.7.6 | 1983 | ||||||||||||||
| Hymns Old and New: New Anglican #368 | O happy band of pilgrims | 7.6.7.6 | 1996 | ||||||||||||||
| Rejoice in the Lord #246 | O happy band of pilgrims | O Happy Band of Pilgrims | J. M. Neale | J. G. Ebeling | 7.6.7.6 D | 2 Corinthians 4:17 | DU MEINE SEELE SINGEN | B Flat Major | English | 1985 |
