Lyrics: William Walsham How, 1864.
Music: SARUM by Joseph Barnby (original tune).
Or (my favorite) SINE NOMINE by Ralph Vaughan WIlliams, 1906.
Theme: This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Revelation 14:12-13.
1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
2. 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!
3. For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
4. For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
5. For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
6. O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
7. 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!
8. 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!
9. The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
10. 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!
11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
William How was a bishop in the Anglican church in Yorkshire. He served, appropriately enough, at the Cathedral of All Saints in Wakefield, and he was known for his work with the poor. He was known as the “omnibus bishop” because he preferred public transport to a private carriage. He also wrote over fifty hymns; the only other one I knew was Jesus, Name of Wondrous Love.
I love this hymn, mostly because of Vaughan Williams’s music which is absolutely beautiful and tuneful. The lyrics, too, are quite inspiring and memorable, but has anyone ever heard all eleven verses sung at one sitting?
Sources:
Clavis Regni: For all the saints who from their labors rest.
Wikipedia: For All the Saints.
Hymntime: For All the Saints.
I don’t think I even knew there were 11 verses! (And I’m the sort of person who usually knows that sort of thing 🙂 and insists on doing all the verses 😉 !) I knew 9 of them, and I can’t think offhand of a hymnal that has more than 8.
This is certainly a hymn where a new tune has within living memory thoroughly supplanted the original. Barnby’s SARUM is not at all a bad tune, and when I produce my hymnal I’ll certainly include it, but probably not with these words.
On the other end, it’s interesting to see what other texts have been set to these tunes. SINE NOMINE occurs in my index, in addition to “For all the saints” and its spinoffs (the moderate-Baptist “For all the love” and the Quaker “For all the souls”, both much less militaristic than How’s hymn), with the texts “All praise to thee, for thou, O King Divine”, “Give thanks for life, the measure of our days”, “The sending Lord”, “When all is ended, time and troubles past”, and “When in our music God is glorified”. SARUM I see set, in addition to “For all the saints”, only to “Give thanks for life” and “Hail gladdening Light”. The latter is the text I will probably use it for in my projected hymnal.
Leland aka Haruo
My best memory of this hymn is hearing it sung at the close of an All Saints service at an Anglican church of the same name. The men and boys choir would begin in the chancel and process across the front to a side aisle and to the back of the sanctuary. Then they moved all across the back to the opposite side aisle, across the front to the centre aisle and down the centre aisle to the back. It was glorious! Of course, all the while they were singing the hymn.
Verses 3, 4 and 5 are all new to me; the rest I’m quite sure are in our current Book of Praise (Presbyterian Church in Canada). Interestingly, I’m playing this for the recessional at an upcoming wedding.
I always thought I hated militaristic hymns. I cringe when I hear “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” and even the stirring tune of of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” can’t overcome my distaste for its glorification of war. Yet “For All the Saints,” especially with the Ralph Vaughan Williams tune, has always been for me a message of hope and a call to renewed commitment. To me, the lyrics convey the hope of victory not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the powers of evil.
The truth is, it is a war out there. We battle greed, violence, hatred, apathy, and prejudice. We fight our own faults and temptations. We struggle every day to live out our faith with courage and integrity. We may even, like Jesus, be called to give our lives.
So I’m glad for this wonderful hymn that so richly celebrates those who have gone before us and who now inspire us to courage, faithfulness and hope.
Somewhat off the original subject, “Onward Christian Soldiers” is not about war at all. It was written for a Church lad’s picnic. They marched through the street of a town towards the picnic ground, with their banner going on before.
See, if I remember correctly, Sir Fred Hoyle’s autobiography, in which he gives the origin of the hymn – it was writtem by a great uncle of his, I think. Some time since I read the book. Hymn mistakenly attributed to the local curate, whose name has been attached to it ever since.