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O Sacred Head Now Wounded

145,457 views • May 18, 2020

Description

Provided to YouTube by CDBaby O Sacred Head Now Wounded · Altar of Praise Chorale Thine Is the Kingdom ℗ 2020 Altar of Praise Chorale Released on: 2020-05-04 Auto-generated by YouTube.
The Historic Faith · Hymn Companion

O Sacred Head Now Wounded

Words by Medieval Latin attributed to Arnulf of Leuven or Bernard of Clairvaux; German paraphrase by Paul Gerhardt; English translation by James W. AlexanderMusic by Hans Leo Hassler; later adapted and harmonized by Johann Sebastian BachWritten Tune PASSION CHORALE

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
Which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever;
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee.

Be near me when I am dying,
O show Thy cross to me;
And for my succor flying,
Come, Lord, to set me free!
These eyes, new faith receiving,
From Jesus shall not move;
For he who dies believing
Dies safely in Thy love.

Story Behind the Song

The hymn descends from the medieval Latin passion poem often called Salve mundi salutare, traditionally attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux but now frequently ascribed to Arnulf of Leuven. Paul Gerhardt reshaped the section addressing Christ's wounded head into the German hymn O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden in 1656. James W. Alexander made the widely used English translation in 1830. The melody, now known as PASSION CHORALE, originated with Hans Leo Hassler and became especially associated with the Passion through its use and harmonization by J. S. Bach.

Scripture

Found In

The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Service Book, Trinity Hymnal, The Presbyterian Hymnal, The Hymnal 1982, United Methodist Hymnal, Baptist Hymnal