O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High

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O love, how deep, how broad, how high

Author (attributed to): Thomas á Kempis ; Translator: Benjamin Webb
Published in 140 hymnals

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	O Love, How Deep

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	O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High

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	O Love, How Deep

Representative Text

1. O love, how deep, how broad, how high!
It fills the heart with ecstasy,
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortals' sake.

2. He sent no angel to our race
Of higher or of lower place,
But wore the robe of human frame
Himself, and to this lost world came.

3. For us he was baptized, and bore
His holy fast, and hungered sore;
For us temptations sharp he knew;
For us the tempter overthrew.

4. For us he prayed, for us he taught,
For us his daily works he wrought,
By words, by signs, and actions, thus
Still seeking not himself, but us.

5. For us to wickedness betrayed,
Scourged, mocked, in purple robe arrayed,
He bore the shameful cross and death;
For us at length gave up his breath.

6. For us he rose from death again,
For us he went on high to reign,
For us he sent his Spirit here
To guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

7. To him whose boundless love has won
Salvation for us through his Son,
To God the Father, glory be
Both now and through eternity.

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #241

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Author (attributed to): Thomas á Kempis

Thomas of Kempen, commonly known as Thomas à Kempis, was born at Kempen, about fifteen miles northwest of Düsseldorf, in 1379 or 1380. His family name was Hammerken. His father was a peasant, whilst his mother kept a dame's school for the younger children of Kempen. When about twelve years old he became an inmate of the poor-scholars' house which was connected with a "Brother-House" of the Brethren of the Common Life at Deventer, where he was known as Thomas from Kempen, and hence his well-known name. There he remained for six years, and then, in 1398, he was received into the Brotherhood. A year later he entered the new religious house at Mount St. Agnes, near Zwolle. After due preparation he took the vows in 1407, was priested in 1413,… Go to person page >

Translator: Benjamin Webb

Benjamin Webb (b. London, England, 1819; d. Marylebone, London, 1885) originally translated the text in eight stanzas, although six only appear in Lift Up Your Hearts. It was published in The Hymnal Noted (1852), produced by his friend John Mason Neale. Webb received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, and became a priest in the Church of England in 1843. Among the parishes he served was St. Andrews, Wells Street, London, where he worked from 1862 to 1881. Webb's years there coincided with the service of the talented choir director and organist Joseph Barnby, and the church became known for its excellent music program. Webb edited The Ecclesiologist, a periodical of the Cambridge Ecclesiological Society (1842-1868). A co… Go to person page >

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Related Texts

First Line:	O love, how deep, how broad, how high
Title:	O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High
Latin Title:	O amor quam ecstaticus!
Author (attributed to):	Thomas á Kempis
Translator:	Benjamin Webb
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Source:	Latin, 15th cent.
Language:	English
Notes:	Spanish translations: "Cuán alto, vasto y hondo amor" by Constanza Bongarrá, "Oh amor profundo, inmenso amor" by Nicolás Martinez
Copyright:	Public Domain

English

10 shown out of 106

Spanish

Santo, Santo, Santo: cantos para el pueblo de Dios = Holy, Holy, Holy: songs for the people of God #115

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Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Eph. 3:18-19, Phil. 2:7
st. 2 = Matt. 3:13, Matt. 4:1-11
st. 3 = John 17:9
st. 4 = Rom 4:25, 1 Pet. 2:24
st. 5 = Rom. 8:34, John 16:7, 13

The original anonymous text in Latin ("O amor quam ecstaticus") comes from a fifteenth-century manuscript from Karlsruhe. The twenty-three-stanza text has been attributed to Thomas à Kempis because of its similarities to writings of the Moderna Devotio Movement associated with à Kempis. (that movement was an important precursor of the Reformation in the Netherlands). However, there is insufficient proof that he actually wrote this text.

Benjamin Webb (b. London, England, 1819; d. Marylebone, London, 1885) translated the text in eight stanzas. It was published in The Hymnal Noted (1852), produced by his friend John Mason Neale (PHH 342). Webb received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, and became a priest in the Church of England in 1843. Among the parishes he served was St. Andrews, Wells Street, London, where he worked from 1862 to 1881. Webb's years there coincided with the service of the talented choir director and organist Joseph Barnby (PHH 438), and the church became known for its excellent music program. Webb edited The Ecclesiologist, a periodical of the Cambridge Ecclesiological Society (1842-1868). A composer of anthems, Webb also wrote hymns and hymn translations and served as one of the editors of The Hymnary (1872).

The text has a wide scope, taking in all of Jesus’ incarnate life: his birth (st. 1); identification with human affairs (st. 2); daily ministry (st. 3); crucifixion (st. 4); resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Spirit (st. 5); the final stanza is a doxology (st. 6). Thus the text summarizes Christ's life in the same manner as the Apostles' Creed. A striking feature is the text's emphasis on the fact that Jesus accomplished all of this "for us"; "for us" occurs at least a dozen times! The redemptive work of Christ is very personally, very corporately applied.

Liturgical Use:
Epiphany, especially later in the season; Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, and at many other times; the final stanza makes a good doxology for Epiphany, Lent, or the Easter season.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

DEO GRACIAS (English)

Also known as: AGINCOURT

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EISENACH (Gesius)

MACHS MIT MIR was first published in the collection of music Das ander Theil des andern newen Operis Geistlicher Deutscher Lieder (1605) by Bartholomäus Gesius (b. Münchenberg, near Frankfurt, Germany, c. 1555; d. Frankfurt, 1613). A prolific composer, Gesius wrote almost exclusively for the churc…

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PUER NOBIS NASCITUR

PUER NOBIS is a melody from a fifteenth-century manuscript from Trier. However, the tune probably dates from an earlier time and may even have folk roots. PUER NOBIS was altered in Spangenberg's Christliches GesangbUchlein (1568), in Petri's famous Piae Cantiones (1582), and again in Praetorius's (P…

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For Leaders

Bulletin Blurb
Worship Notes
Scores

The first stanza of this hymn echoes the prayer of the apostle Paul: “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV). Jesus Christ came to this earth to show God’s love for us, as John writes (1 John 4:9). That phrase – “for us” – appears repeatedly in this hymn, reminding us why Christ bore temptation, torture, and death for us, and why He rose triumphantly and ascended to the right hand of God.

Text:

Though this text has been attributed to Thomas à Kempis due to similarities with his famous devotional book, The Imitation of Christ, it is likely an anonymous text. Written in the fifteenth century, the Latin original had twenty-three stanzas. Benjamin Webb translated eight of them into English. These were published in The Hymnal Noted in the early 1850s.

The text is fairly stable, with a few variations in the wording of some lines and some differences on exactly which stanzas are included. Some hymnals include a stanza beginning “He sent no angel to our race” as the second, but most omit this one. Though there is some variation in the last doxological stanza, most hymnals have the one beginning “All glory to our Lord and God,” which refers back to the first stanza in its second line, “For love so deep, so high, so broad.”

The first stanza extols the extent of God’s love that prompted Christ to come and redeem us, and the final stanza is a doxology. The intervening stanzas tell the story of Christ’s life, from birth to ascension.

Tune:

The tune most commonly associated with this text also comes from the fifteenth century. DEO GRACIAS, also known as AGINCOURT, comes from music written to celebrate Henry V’s victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Instead of accepting personal glory for the victory, Henry V insisted that thanks be given to God for the victory, hence the title meaning “thanks be to God” in Latin. The first use of this tune as a hymn tune is in the English Hymnal of 1906, with the text “O Saviour, Jesu, not alone.”

Another tune that is used with this text is PUER NOBIS, also from the fifteenth century. It is the tune associated with a Latin Christmas hymn titled “Puer nobis nascitur,” which is a trope (that is, an additional section of text and music elaborating an existing chant) on a Mass benediction, “Benedicamus Domino.”

When/Why/How:

Since the theme of many of the stanzas is the love of Jesus as shown through His life, this hymn is appropriate for seasons that focus on such themes, such as the later part of Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, or Ascension. A simple choral setting, such as “O Love, How Deep,” with original music by Jane Linder, could be used as a choral anthem. For congregational accompaniment, “The Art of Hymn Playing” contains a setting of DEO GRACIAS with a Renaissance sound. “Variations on PUER NOBIS” is a collection of twelve short settings of this tune which can be used for hymn introductions; some can also be used to accompany congregational singing.

Tiffany Shomsky,
Hymnary.org

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Page Scans

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Psalms and Hymns to the Living God (2023), p.320

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Instances

Instances (1 - 55 of 55)

Piano/Organ O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High O Love, How Deep (Expressive Piano Solos for Holy Week) CREATIVE ORGANIST, THE More Piano/Organ...
Choral O Love, How Deep More Choral...
Instrumental Music for Organ and Solo Instrument, Set 2 More Instrumental...
Handbells O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High More Handbells...
PowerPoint O LOVE, HOW DEEP, HOW BROAD (The Worshiping Church 193) O LOVE, HOW DEEP, HOW BROAD (Worship & Rejoice 2003 - 244) O LOVE, HOW DEEP, HOW BROAD (Worship & Rejoice 2003 - 244) More PowerPoint...

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O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High

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