Hail Thee, Festival Day

Representative Text

Easter -
Refrain:
Hail thee, festival day!
Blest day to be hallowed forever,
Day when our Lord was raised,
Breaking the kingdom of death.

1 Rise from the grave now, O Lord,
The author of life and creation.
Treading the pathway of death,
New life you gave to us all. [Refrain]

2 All the fair beauty of earth
From death of the winter arising!
Ev'ry good gift of the year
Now with its master returns. [Refrain]

3 God the Almighty, the Lord,
The ruler of earth and the heavens,
Guard us from all harm without;
Cleanse us from evil within. [Refrain]

4 Jesus, the health of the world,
Enlighten our minds, great Redeemer,
Son of the Father supreme,
Only-begotten of God. [Refrain]

5 Spirit of life and of pow'r,
Now flow in us, fount of our being,
Light that enlightens us all,
Life that in all may abide. [Refrain]

6 Praise to the giver of good!
O lover and author of concord,
Pour out your balm on our days;
Order our ways in your peace. [Refrain]

Ascension --
Refrain:
Hail thee, festival day!
Blest day to be hallowed forever,
Day when our risen Lord
Rose in the heavens to reign.

1 Christ in his triumph ascends,
Who vanquished the devil's dominion.
Fair is the woodland with leaves;
Bright are the meadows with flow'rs. [Refrain]

2 He who was nailed to the cross
Is ruler and Lord of all people.
All things created on earth
Sing to the glory of God. [Refrain]

3 God the Almighty, the Lord,
The ruler of earth and the heavens,
Guard us from all harm without;
Cleanse us from evil within. [Refrain]

4 Jesus, the health of the world,
Enlighten our minds, great Redeemer,
Son of the Father supreme,
Only begotten of God. [Refrain]

5 Spirit of life and of pow'r,
Now flow in us, fount of our being,
Light that enlightens us all,
Life that in all may abide. [Refrain]

6 Praise to the giver of good!
O lover and author of concord,
Pour out your balm on our days;
Order our ways in your peace. [Refrain]

Pentecost -
Refrain:
Hail thee, festival day!
Blest day to be hallowed forever,
Day when the Spirit's breath
Blew o'er the face of the earth.

1 Bright, and in likeness of fire,
On those who await your appearing,
You whom the Lord had foretold,
Suddenly, swiftly descend. [Refrain]

2 Forth from the Father you come
With sevenfold mystical dowry,
Pouring on all human souls
Infinite riches of God. [Refrain]

3 God the Almighty, the Lord,
The ruler of earth and the heavens,
Guard us from all harm without;
Cleanse us from evil within. [Refrain]

4 Jesus, the health of the world,
Enlighten our minds, great Redeemer,
Son of the Father supreme,
Only begotten of God. [Refrain]

5 Spirit of life and of pow'r,
Now flow in us, fount of our being,
Light that enlightens us all,
Life that in all may abide. [Refrain]

6 Praise to the giver of good!
O lover and author of concord,
Pour out your balm on our days;
Order our ways in your peace. [Refrain]

Source: One in Faith #470

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Author: Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus

Venantius Honorius Clematianus Fortunatus (b. Cenada, near Treviso, Italy, c. 530; d. Poitiers, France, 609) was educated at Ravenna and Milan and was converted to the Christian faith at an early age. Legend has it that while a student at Ravenna he contracted a disease of the eye and became nearly blind. But he was miraculously healed after anointing his eyes with oil from a lamp burning before the altar of St. Martin of Tours. In gratitude Fortunatus made a pilgrimage to that saint's shrine in Tours and spent the rest of his life in Gaul (France), at first traveling and composing love songs. He developed a platonic affection for Queen Rhadegonda, joined her Abbey of St. Croix in Poitiers, and became its bishop in 599. His Hymns far all th… Go to person page >

Translator (Easter refrain): Maurice F. Bell

Bell, Maurice Frederick, M.A., son of G. W. Bell, barrister at law, was born in London, Sept. 3, 1862. He graduated from Hertford Coll., Oxford (B.A. 1884, M.A. 1887), was ordained D. 1885, P. 1886, and has been since 1904 Vicar of St. Mark, Regent's Park, London. He contributed to The English Hymnal, 1906, four translations (60, 68, 624, 634), and "O dearest Lord, by all adored" (Close of Festival), 1906. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) Go to person page >

Translator (Easter vss. 1-2): Maurice F. Bell

Bell, Maurice Frederick, M.A., son of G. W. Bell, barrister at law, was born in London, Sept. 3, 1862. He graduated from Hertford Coll., Oxford (B.A. 1884, M.A. 1887), was ordained D. 1885, P. 1886, and has been since 1904 Vicar of St. Mark, Regent's Park, London. He contributed to The English Hymnal, 1906, four translations (60, 68, 624, 634), and "O dearest Lord, by all adored" (Close of Festival), 1906. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Rise from the grave now, O Lord
Title:	Hail Thee, Festival Day
Author:	Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus
Translator (Easter vss. 1-2):	Maurice F. Bell
Meter:	7.9.7.7 with refrain
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	Hail thee, festival day!

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Tune

SALVE FESTA DIES (Vaughan Williams)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (PHH 316) composed SALVE FESTA DIES as a setting for Venantius H. Fortunatus's (PHH 400) famous text "Hail Thee, Festival Day." The tune, whose title comes from the opening words of that text, was published in The English Hymnal of 1906. Like SINE NOMINE (505), this tune is vi…

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