Have mercy on us, God most high

Representative Text

1 Have mercy on us, God Most High,
who lift our hearts to thee;
have mercy now, most merciful,
most holy Trinity.
When heaven and earth were yet unmade,
when time was yet unknown,
thou in thy bliss and majesty
didst live and love alone.

2 How wonderful creation is,
the work which thou didst bless;
and, O what then must thou be like,
eternal loveliness!
Most ancient of all mysteries!
Low at thy throne we lie:
have mercy now, most merciful,
most holy Trinity.

Source: Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #13

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Author: Frederick W. Faber

Raised in the Church of England, Frederick W. Faber (b. Calverly, Yorkshire, England, 1814; d. Kensington, London, England, 1863) came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839. Influenced by the teaching of John Henry Newman, Faber followed Newman into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845 and served under Newman's supervision in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowpe, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. One of his best known, "Faith of Our Fathers," originally had these words in its third stanza: "Faith of Our Fathers! Mary'… Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: Have mercy on us, God most high
Author: Frederick W. Faber
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain
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Notes

Have mercy on us, God Most High. F. W. Faber. [Holy Trinity.] First published in his Jesus and Mary, &c, 1849, in 11 stanzas of 4 lines and entitled, “The Most Holy Trinity." In addition to its being given in an abbreviated form in Roman Catholic collections, it is also in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1861 and 1875, and other hymn-books. The arrangement in most extensive use is that of Hymns Ancient & Modern , which is composed of stanzas i.-iii., v., and xi. In Allon's Supplemental Hymns, 1868, No. 3, is a cento by G. Rawson, part of which is from this hymn (specially stanzas i.-iii.), and the test is by him, some of the lines being from his hymn, "Transcendent mystery unknown," subsequently published in his Hymns, &c, 1876, p. 39. The cento in Horder's Congregational Hymns , 1884, and others, begins with stanza ii. of the original, "Most ancient of all mysteries."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

ST. FLAVIAN


LINCOLN (Ravenscoft)


KINGSFOLD

Thought by some scholars to date back to the Middle Ages, KINGSFOLD is a folk tune set to a variety of texts in England and Ireland. The tune was published in English Country Songs [sic: English County Songs] (1893), an anthology compiled by Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland. After having…

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The Cyber Hymnal #2487
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Common Praise (1998) #257

Common Praise (1998) #257
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Lift Up Your Hearts #13

Lift Up Your Hearts #13
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The Cyber Hymnal #2487

The Cyber Hymnal #2487
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