Christ in highest heaven enthroned

Representative Text

1. Christ, in highest Heav’n enthronèd,
Equal of the Father’s might,
By pure spirits, trembling, ownèd,
God of God, and Light of Light,
Thee ’mid angel hosts we sing,
Thee their Maker and their King.

2. All who circling round adore Thee,
All who bow before Thy throne,
Burn with flaming zeal before Thee,
Thy behests to carry down;
To and fro, ’twixt earth and Heav’n,
Speed they each on errands given.

3. First of all those legions glorious,
Michael waves his sword of flame,
Who of old in war victorious
Did the Dragon’s fierceness tame;
Who with might invincible
Thrust the rebel down to hell.

4. Strong to aid the sick and dying,
Called from Heav’n they swiftly fly,
Grace divine and strength supplying
In their mortal agony:
Souls released from bondage here
Safe to Paradise they bear.

5. To the Father praise be given
By the unfallen angel host,
Who in His great war have striven
With the legions of the lost;
Equal praise in highest Heav’n
To the Son and Holy Ghost.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #804

All representative texts • Compare texts ^ top

Author: Jean-Baptiste de Santeul

Santeüil, Jean-Baptiste de, was born in Paris of a good family on May 12, 1630. He was one of the regular Canons of St. Victor, at Paris, and, under the name of Santolius Victorinus, was distinguished as a writer of Latin poetry. Many of his hymns appeared in the Cluniac Breviary 1686, and the Paris Breviaries 1680 and 1736, and several have been translated into English, and are in common use in Great Britain and America. He was very jocose in disposition and singular in his habits. When on a journey he died at Dijon, Aug. 5, 1697. His Hymni Sacri et Novi were published at Paris in 1689, and again, enlarged, in 1698. [George Arthur Crawford, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) Go to person page >

Translator: W. Palmer

Palmer, William, M.A., eldest s. of W. J. Palmer, Rector of Mixbury, Oxford, was born July 12, 1811, and matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, July 27, 1826, aged 15. He graduated B.A. 1831, and M.A. 1833. He subsequently was a Fellow, Bursar, Tutor, and Vice-President of his College; and also held other important appointments both at Oxford and at the University of Durham. He joined the Church of Rome in 1855, and died April 5, 1879. Mr. Palmer published some translations of Latin hymns as Short Poems and Hymns, the latter mostly Translations, Oxford. Printed by I. Shrimpton, mdcccxlv. A few of these have come into common use. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) Go to person page >

^ top

Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Christ in highest heaven enthroned
Author:	Jean-Baptiste de Santeul
Translator:	W. Palmer
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

^ top

Notes

Christe, qui sedes Olympo. Jean Baptiste de Santeuil. [St. Michael and All Angels.] Given in the Cluniac Breviary, 1686, p. 1086, and in his Hymni Sacri et Novi, 1689, p. 40; and in the ed. of 1698, p. 182, as "Christe, summi Hex Olympi," and in 7 stanzas of 6 lines. In the revised Paris Breviary, 1736, stanza ii. was omitted, and various alterations were introduced. Other French Uses vary both from Paris Breviary and the original. "Christe, qui sedes Olympo," is the Paris text from which all the translations into English have been made. It is given in Chandler's Hymns of the Primitive Church, 1837, p. 224: and in Cardinal Newman's Hymni Ecclesiae, 1838 and 1865. The stanza omitted from the Paris Breviary is:—

”Quotquot adstant, sempiternum
Qui tribunal ambiunt,
Hi tot ardent imperantis
Ferre jussa praepotes:
Ire terris, et rediro,
Sacra per commercia."—Ed. 1698, p. 182. [Rev. W. A. Shoults, B.D.]

Translation in common use:—
Christ in highest Heaven enthroned, by W. Palmer, in his Short Poems and Hymns, 1845, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines. From thence it passed, unaltered, into the St. Saviour's (Leeds) Sacred Hymns & Anthems, 1846, and with slight alterations and a doxology into Hymns & Introits, 1852. It is also given in Murray's Hymnal , 1852, as, "Christ, to Whom, enthroned in Heaven"; in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1861, and the Hymnary, 1872, as "Christ, in highest heaven enthroned;" and (stanza iv.-vi., from Murray's Hymnal), as "Blest are they o'er all creation," in Kennedy, 1863.
Translations not in common use:—
1. O Christ, Who in heaven. J. Chandler. 1837.
2. 0 Christ, Who sitt'st with God on high. I. Williams. 1839. [William T. Brooke]