Best Loved Hymns and Readings

Fight the good fight with all thy might!

Christ is thy strength and Christ thy right;

Lay hold on life, and it shall be

Thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race through God’s good grace,

Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face;

Life with its way before us lies;

Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.

Cast care aside, lean on thy guide;

His boundless mercy will provide;

Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove

Christ is its life, and Christ its love.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near;

He changeth not, and thou art dear;

Only believe, and thou shalt see

That Christ is all in all to thee.

John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811-75)

For all the saints (#ulink_89002369-44a1-5eb7-9bfd-0f804d43f266)

A popular choice for All Hallows, but also heard at other times throughout the year, this hymn was the work of William Walsham How, Bishop of East London and later of Wakefield. How was particularly renowned for not resting from his labours, working hard for his parishioners in London’s East End and being nicknamed the ‘Omnibus Bishop’ because he travelled everywhere by bus. The hymn is sung to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Sine Nomine’.

For all the saints who from their labours rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy name, O Jesu, be for ever blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might,

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou in the darkness drear their one true light.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,

And win, with them, the victor’s crown of gold.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

O blest communion! Fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph-song,

And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest:

Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;

The saints triumphant rise in bright array:

The King of glory passes on His way.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.