When Morning Gilds the Sky

The hymn "May Jesus Christ be Praised" came to me outright few minutes before I got out of bed.  No, I didn't look out of the window to see what the outside world offered, but in my heart I felt God's wondrous gilded sky.  This hymn was one of my favourite childhood hymns of praise.

When Morning Gilds the Sky

Words:

From the Ka­thol­isch­es Ge­sang­buch (Würz­burg, Ger­ma­ny: cir­ca 1744) (Beim frühen Mor­gen­licht); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ed­ward Caswall in Form­by’s Ca­tho­lic Hymns (Lon­don: 1854), & Ro­bert S. Bridg­es in the Yat­ten­don Hymn­al (Ox­ford, Eng­land: 1899).

Music:

“Laud­es Do­mi­ni,” Jo­seph Barn­by, in Hymns An­cient and Mod­ern (Lon­don: 1868)

May Jesus Christ Be Praised

When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When you begin the day, O never fail to say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
And at your work rejoice, to sing with heart and voice,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When mirth for music longs, this is my song of songs:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evening shadows fall, this rings my curfew call,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In Heaven’s eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Video Credit:
When Morning Gilds the Sky, YouTube, uploaded by Hathisahib, accessed 29 Oct 2012.