Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise ‎#414

414. Come, you faithful, raise the strain

1 Come, you faithful, raise the strain
of triumphant gladness;
God has brought his Israel
into joy from sadness;
loosed from Pharaoh's bitter yoke
Jacob's sons and daughters,
led them with unmoistened foot
through the Red Sea waters.

2 'Tis the spring of souls today:
Christ has burst his prison,
and from three days' sleep in death
as a sun has risen;
all the winter of our sins,
long and dark, is flying
from his light, to whom we give
laud and praise undying.

3 Now the queen of seasons, bright
with the day of splendour,
with the royal feast of feasts,
comes its joy to render;
comes to glad Christian hearts,
which, with true affection,
welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesus' resurrection.

4 Neither could the gates of death,
nor the grave's dark portal,
nor the watchers, nor the seal,
hold you as a mortal.
Here today amid your own
now you stand, bestowing
your own peace, which evermore
passes human knowing.

Text Information

• First Line: Come, you faithful, raise the strain
• Greek Title: Αϊσωμεν, πάντεζ λαοί
• Author: St. John of Damascus (c. 675-c. 750)
• Translator: John Mason Neale (1818-1866)
• Meter: 76 76 D
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 2008
• Scripture:
  Exodus 14:15-22
  ;
  John 16:22
  ;
  Matthew 27:66
  ;
  Matthew 28:1-15
  ;
  Revelation 1:16
  ;
  Romans 6:3-5
• Topic: Christ Risen: Resurrection and Exaltation; Christian Year: Easter

Tune Information

• Name: AVE VIRGO VIRGINUM
• Meter: 76 76 D
• Key: F Major
• Source: Melody from Johann Horn's Gesangbuch, 1544; harmonised Church Hymnary, Fourth Edition, 2005
• Copyright: © Church Hymnary Trust