Hymn of the Day: When Morning Gilds the Skies

One of the interesting things about this text is that it appears in so many variations. Of the original 15 stanzas, hymnals have picked and chosen various combinations, intermingling couplets as the committee has seen fit. One of the first things I do when reviewing a new hymnal is to crack it open to see what they’ve done with “When Morning Gilds the Skies.” Sing six stanzas with the Coral Ridge Pres of old, then take a look at the entirety of the original poem.

When Morning Gilds the Skies

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!

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!

The night becomes as day
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The pow’rs of darkness fear
When this sweet song they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Ye nations of mankind,
In this your concord find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let all the earth around
Ring joyous with the sound,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Sing, suns and stars of space,
Sing, ye that see His face,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
God’s whole creation o’er,
For aye and evermore
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’eternal song
Thro’ all the ages long,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
– Edward Caswall, 1854
LAUDES DOMINI by Joseph Barnby, 1868

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!

Whene’er the sweet church bell
peals over hill and dell,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
O hark to what it sings,
as joyously it rings,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

My tongue shall never tire
of chanting with the choir,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
This song of sacred joy,
it never seems to cloy,
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!

To God, the Word, on high,
the host of angels cry,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals, too, upraise
their voice in hymns of praise,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this at meals your grace,
in every time and place;
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, when day is past,
of all your thoughts the last
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!

When sleep her balm denies,
my silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evil thoughts molest,
with this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

The night becomes as day
when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear
when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

No lovelier antiphon
in all high Heav’n is known
Than, Jesus Christ be praised!
There to the eternal Word
the eternal psalm is heard:
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!

Sing, suns and stars of space,
sing, ye that see His face,
Sing, Jesus Christ be praised!
God’s whole creation o’er,
for aye and evermore
Shall Jesus Christ be praised!

In Heav’n’s eternal bliss
the loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let earth, and sea and sky
from depth to height reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine,
my canticle divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing this eternal song
through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Photo: Adoration of the Magi by Claude Vignon, c. 1619, creative commons 2.0