Hymn of the Week: March 29, 2021
Hymn of the Week: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Glory to God #221
Text: Latin 12th century. Paul Gerhardt (german)
Translated by: James Waddell Alexander 1830
Music: Hans Leo Hassler 1601. Harmonized by J.S. Bach 1729
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, thine only crown!
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.
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,
And grant to me thy grace.
What language shall I borrow
To thank thee, dearest Friend,
For this, thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
Oh, make me thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never,
Never outlive my love to thee.
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" is based on a long medieval poem attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, 'Salve mundi salutare'. This poem talks about Christ's body, as he suffered and hung on the cross. It has seven sections, each addressing a part of Jesus' body-his feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and head. Our hymn is a translation of the seventh section 'Salve caput crucentatum', focused on Jesus' head.
An intensely personal hymn, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" acknowledges the pain and shame that Christ endured when he paid the price for our sin. The poet cries out "I joy to call Thee mine." And we join the poet as we each confess "Mine, mine was the transgression." We go on to sing, "Lo here I fall my Savior" as we fall prostrate, knowing the price of our salvation, and the pain with which it was paid.
Language fails us as we accept this gift of salvation: The words we know aren't adequate to describe Jesus' sacrifice. But in the final stanza, we declare our heart's desire, asking God to uphold us that we may, to the very end of our days, always live full of gratefulness and love for our blessed Savior.
James Alexander (the translator of Gerhardt's German text) received his education from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, and theological education from the seminary at Princeton. Alexander was then ordained in the Presbyterian Church and served at churches in New Jersey and New York. It is Alexander’s translation that is widely used today in most North American hymnals. PASSION CHORALE, as this hymn tune is often called, was first found in Hans Leo Hassler’s (1564-1612) Lustgarten neuer teutscher Gesäng, Balletti, Galliarden und Intraden (1601). Originally this melody was set to a secular love song entitled “Mein gemüth ist mir verwirret” (My heart is distracted by a gentle maid). Hymnologist Linda Jo McKim notes that it first appeared with the Gerhardt text in Praxis Pietatis Melica (1656) and has been associated with the text ever since. During the early 18th century, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) harmonized this hymn and used the tune in many of his works. Bach’s harmonization is the one that is most used in the North American hymnals. The setting in Glory to God comes from Bach’s harmonization of the tune which is used all over the globe.
“O Sacred Head” is a hymn for Holy Week, a time of reflection on what Christ has done for us. Specifically, this hymn takes place at the time of the crucifixion on Good Friday.
