Scripture References:
st. 1 = Isa. 53:4-5
st. 2 = Isa. 53:2-3
st. 3 = Isa. 53:6-7
st. 4 = Isa. 53:8-9
st. 5 = Isa. 53:5-6
Brian Foley (b. Waterloo, near Liverpool, England, 1919) wrote this paraphrase of Isaiah 53:2-9, which is part of the "suffering servant" passage (Isaiah 52: 13-53: 12), the longest of the four "servant songs" in Isaiah (the others are in chapters 42, 49, and 50). The "suffering servant song" is the central text in Isaiah 40¬-66, and this part is quoted more frequently in the New Testament than any other non-psalm text from the Old Testament. Foley clearly followed New Testament use of this passage, referring directly to Christ as the "suffering servant." The song text is one of fourteen Foley versifications published in the 1971 British New Catholic Hymnal, a volume he helped to compile.
Foley received his theological education at the Upholland Roman Catholic College and Seminary and was ordained in 1945. After serving churches in the Liverpool diocese, he became the parish priest of Clayton Green, Chorley, Lancashire, in 1971, where he remained for many years. Although he regretted the loss of plainsong and the traditional Roman Catholic style of worship (a result of the changes approved by the Second Vatican Council), Foley began writing hymns in the 1950s.
Liturgical Use:
Lent, especially during Holy Week; also with sermons on Christ's redemption.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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