Virgin-born, We Bow before Thee

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Virgin born, we bow before thee

Author: Reginald Heber
Published in 31 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Piano/Organ
	I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Representative Text

1 Virgin-born, we bow before thee;
blessèd was the womb that bore thee;
Mary, mother meek and mild,
blessèd was she in her child.

2 Blessèd was the breast that fed thee;
blessèd was the hand that led thee;
blessèd was the parent's eye
that watched thy slumbering infancy.

3 Blessèd she by all creation,
who brought forth the world's Salvation,
blessèd they for ever blest,
who love thee most and serve thee best.

4 Virgin-born we bow before thee;
blessèd was the womb that bore thee;
Mary, mother meek and mild,
blessèd was she in her child.

Source: Ancient and Modern: hymns and songs for refreshing worship #317a

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Author: Reginald Heber

Reginald Heber was born in 1783 into a wealthy, educated family. He was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury in the west of England where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and worked tirelessly for three years until the weather and travel took its toll on his health and he died of a stroke. Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today. -- Greg Scheer, 1995… Go to person page >

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Related Texts

First Line:	Virgin born, we bow before thee
Title:	Virgin-born, We Bow before Thee
Author:	Reginald Heber
Meter:	8.8.7.7 D
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Virgin born, we bow before Thee. Bishop R. Heber. [Lent]. Appeared in his posthumous Hymns, &c, 1827, p. 54, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and appointed for the 3rd Sunday in Lent. As given in the People's Hymnal, 1867, No. 373, the lines "Mary, Mother meek and mild"; are altered to "Mary, Maid and Mother mild." It is otherwise unchanged.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

GENEVAN 77

GENEVAN 77 was first published in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter as a setting for Psalm 86. It was set to Psalm 77 in the 1562 edition. Claude Goudimel (PHH 6) composed the harmonization in 1564. GENEVAN 77's many repeated phrases make it memorable; it is in Hypo-Dorian mode. The plaintive…

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QUEM PASTORES

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