The Contrite Heart

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There is a holy sacrifice

Author: Charlotte Elliott
Published in 21 hymnals

Piano/Organ
	Early American Hymn Tunes

Representative Text

1 There is a holy sacrifice,
Which God in heaven will not despise,
Yea, which is precious in his eyes,--
The contrite heart.

2 That lofty One, before whose throne
The countless hosts of heaven bow down,
Another dwelling-place will own,--
The contrite heart.

3 The holy One, the Son of God,
His pardoning love will shed abroad,
And consecrate as his abode
The contrite heart.

4 The Holy Spirit from on high
Will listen to its faintest sigh,
And cheer, and bless, and purify
The contrite heart.

5 Saviour, I cast my hopes on thee;
Such as thou art I fain would be;
In mercy, Lord, bestow on me
The contrite heart.

Source: Laudes Domini: a selection of spiritual songs ancient and modern #622

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Author: Charlotte Elliott

Elliott, Charlotte, daughter of Charles Elliott, of Clapham and Brighton, and granddaughter of the Rev. H. Venn, of Huddersfield, was born March 18, 1789. The first 32 years of her life were spent mostly at Clapham. In 1823 she removed to Brighton, and died there Sept. 22, 1871. To her acquaintance with Dr. C. Malan, of Geneva, is attributed much of the deep spiritual-mindedness which is so prominent in her hymns. Though weak and feeble in body, she possessed a strong imagination, and a well-cultured and intellectual mind. Her love of poetry and music was great, and is reflected in her verse. Her hymns number about 150, a large percentage of which are in common use. The finest and most widely known of these are, "Just as I am” and "My God… Go to person page >

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First Line:	There is a holy sacrifice
Title:	The Contrite Heart
Author:	Charlotte Elliott
Meter:	8.8.8.4
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

There is a holy sacrifice. Charlotte Elliott. [The Contrite Heart.] This hymn is usually attributed to J. Montgomery on the grounds that its first appearance as far as yet traced was in the 1819 edition of Cotterill's Selection, to which Montgomery largely contributed; and that in the 2nd series of W. Oliphant & Son's Sacred Poetry, N. D. [circa 1839], pp. 291-2, it is attributed to Montgomery. In 1836 Miss Elliott published her Hours of Sorrow, with an Introduction "To the Reader" which begins:—

"Not for the gay and thoughtless do I weave
These plaintive strains;"

These words to our mind clearly intimate that the entire contents of the book were by Miss Elliott. At p. 10 this hymn is given in 5 stanzas of 3 lines, with the refrain "The contrite heart!" as in Cotterill's Selection, 1819, No. 341. Seeing that in 1819 Miss Elliott was 30 years of age, that it is in her Hours of Sorrow as above, and that in style and metre it is the same as a large number of her hymns, and that it is not in any known work by Montgomery, we have no hesitation in ascribing it to her. It is a sweet hymn for private use, and is found in several collections.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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