John Brownlie

“ Here, the praise of the Greek Church touches its highest note, and pours forth its most enchanting melody. “Christ is risen,” and the glad response, “He is risen indeed”—these words constitute the keynote of all that is best and most beautiful in Greek worship. The Knowledge and the Wisdom of God are everywhere extolled, and the attribute of Light is continually and cordially applied to the Deity. ”

“ Victorious nature hymns Thee,
Thou orb of triple ray;
For Thou hast hallowed it through grace
And borne its sin away.
III
In faith we laud the Father,
The Spirit and the Son,
One Nature, One Divinity,
One God, yet Three in One.
[22] IV
To Thee our God be glory,
O Holy Trinity,
Both now, and while the ages run
To all eternity. ”

“ Of hymns and holy lauds,
And weave a garland rich and fair
To crown the King of gods.
[106] αὐτὸς φῶς εἶ παγαῖον
Cento from Ὑμνῶμεν κοῦρον νύμφας I
In the Father’s glory shining,
Jesus, Light of light art Thou;
Sordid night before Thee fleeth,—
On our souls Thou’rt falling now.
II
Framer of the world, we hail Thee!
Thou didst mould the stars of night;
Earth to life Thou dost awaken,
Saviour Thou, of glorious might!
III
’Tis Thy hand that guides the chariot
When the sun illumes the skies,
And the dark of night relaxes
When Thou bidst the moon arise. ”

“ So we have in the hymns of the Greek service-books a pictorial representation of the history of Redemption, which [19] by engaging the mind appeals ultimately to the heart and its emotions. Our self-regarding praise is perhaps inevitable, as being the product of the meditative spirit which has its birth, and lives in the land of the twilight; but the advantages of the objectiveness of Greek hymnody are so patent, that its cultivation might be fostered by our hymn-writers, with advantage to the devotional feeling of our people and to the worship of the Church. ”

“ To an unpractised eye, if no indication of the source of these hymns had been given, could anything [13] about them have suggested their source? To the unpractised eye, nothing. But no one who knows the Greek Offices will travel far before he overtakes well-known landmarks. This is just as it should be. It is sufficient that a fertile source of suggestion has been found—of theme, thought, form, colour—and that from this ancient source it is possible to procure much that is beautiful for the adornment of the worship of God’s house to-day. ”

“ INDEX OF FIRST LINES All hail, Life-bearing Cross, 29 All human things decay, 17 At early dawn with pious thought, 45 Before Thy Cross we take our place, 26 Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, 36 Come let us sing with joyful mirth, 69 Come with the load of sorrow thou art bearing, 59 Come, mortals, come, behold! ”

“ None of the hymn-writers in the service-books or out of them is a poet of more than ordinary merit; although, when John of Damascus forgets his adversaries, and dispenses with his rhythmical peculiarities and gives forth the utterance of his deep emotional nature, he proves himself to be worthy of the title—the greatest of Greek Christian poets. ”

“ And songs of praise to Thee we’ll give,
O God the Father, Christ the Son,
And Holy Spirit, while we live,
And in the ages yet to run.
[73] οὐκ ἀφήσω ὑμᾶς ὀρφανόυς
I
May Thy bright Spirit, as of old,
The love of Christ the Son unfold,
And as He hangs upon the Cross,
Reveal to men their sin and loss.
II
O Holy Spirit, one with God,
From God sent down to our abode
With us abide in joy and woe,
And share our sojourn here below.
III
And give us comfort in our pain,
Be in our loss our surest gain;
The Christ reveal in all His love,
And fit us for our home above. ”

“ Our laurels are not too firmly knit upon our brows: let us take heed, and let us exercise the grace of charity and a spirit of sympathy.
But our prejudices, which are, as usual, due to imperfect knowledge, culpable or otherwise, charge this Church, which claims to be Orthodox, with being heretical in doctrine and worship. To put the common view, this Church, which is the repository of Apostolic doctrine, and from which we, in common with others, have derived, has, along with the truth, a large admixture of error, [19] which renders her dangerous and to be avoided. ”

“ And gazing on the glory
That shines in triple ray,
Our souls shall feast with gladness
On Thy sweet light alway.
[24] IV
And of Thy glory shining,
And of Thy ruling light,
From age to age Thy servants
Shall hymn both day and night.
V
To Thee be lasting praises,
Immortal Three in One,—
Thou Father, Son, and Spirit,—
Now, and while ages run.
[25] Exapostilarion Automelon ἐπεσκέψατο ἡμᾶς ἐξὔψους ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν
Maenon, Dec. 25
I
The early dawn awakes,
The morn triumphant breaks,
See, see! the brightening sky,
The Saviour from on high
Is with us here. ”

“ The orthodox Christians clung to the creed of Nicea, and their champions did valiant battle with the Arians. As an advocate and exponent of evangelical truth, Gregory was summoned to Constantinople in 379, and as bishop of that See adorned the high position with gifts and graces as brilliant as they were rare. But he was not the man for such a position at such a time. Hilary, the ‘Hammer of the Arians,’ could keep the heretics at bay, and do in the Latin Church what Gregory could not do in the Greek Church—maintain his position and his cause against all comers. ”

“ Perhaps it would be wrong to say that there is any prejudice against translations from the Greek or any other language whatever, as such. The reluctance to welcome translations is really reluctance to welcome poems which do not find their way to the heart. For this reason there is perhaps not more than a score of translations which have won their way from permanent hymnals to a permanent place in the affections of our devout fellow-countrymen. ”

“ He who hath sorrowed, every sorrow shares.
II
Look for the morn when night is dark and weary,
Morning shall come when hours of night are spent;
Clouds hide the sun, and make the noontide dreary,
Gladness shall cheer you when the clouds are rent. ”

“ Almighty Father! Word Divine!
O spirit co-eternal!
In persons three, in nature one,
O God of power supernal!
Baptized in Thee, our praises soar,
And Thee we bless for evermore.
[78] καὶ ψάλλεται ἡ Θ′ Ὠδή φωτίζου φωτίζου, ἡ νέα Ἱερουσαλήμ·
ὁ Εἱρμός
Shine forth, O new Jerusalem!
O Zion, shout with glee!
For now the glory of the Lord
Is risen upon thee ”

“ It might be good for us to try to understand that, when a despotic Sultan stands over you, allowing you to breathe on condition of no proselytising, the conditions are not favourable to well advertised missionary effort. All that can be done in such circumstances, and under such conditions, is to hold fast to the faith, and let the light shine, which the Greek Church actually does. ”

“ He gave His life for me—
’Twas for my sin He died,—
O, that all eyes might see
The Saviour crucified;
And give Him love
Who dwells above,
And gave His life for me.
[69] Δεῦτε ἀγαλλιασωμέθα τῷ κυρίῳ, τὸ παρὸν μυστήριον ἐκδιηγούμενοι
I
Come, let us sing with joyful mirth
The mystery of Immanuel’s birth,
Who, Virgin born, is here;
The middle wall no longer stands,
No flaming sword in Cherub’s hands
Inspires the soul with fear.
II
See, clear the pathway open lies
That upward leads to Paradise,
Where stands the Tree of Life ”

“ To any one having the lyrical gift and the necessary qualifications for the study of Greek, those service-books might prove a mine of treasure inexhaustible. In the seventeen quarto volumes which contain the Greek Church offices, there must be material of one kind or another for many thousands of hymns; yet, when hymnal compilers ask for hymns from the Greek for their collections, they are not to be had, save in the few renderings made by Dr. Neale. In the most recently compiled collection for church use—The Church Hymnary—only five pieces from the Greek find a place. ”

“ We have learning more than enough, and zeal enough for the pursuit of study in other departments, but this unworked field lies fallow, and no one thinks it worth his while to cultivate it. That the study will reward the student, although not in a material sense—for the meaningless prejudice of the great mass of our people for what is local and against the thought of the stranger, no matter how beautiful it may be, is still to be reckoned with—yet in the highest sense as conferring upon him a [14] new delight, there can be no doubt ”

“ They have earned a reputation, and that reputation adheres to them: they are cold and uninspiring. Such is their reputation, not always just, but who can say that it has not, on the whole, been earned? ”

“ The mere rendering of them into English prose is a comparatively easy task, and can be of no value to any one but the specialist, but to take the unmeasured lines and cut them to form stanzas, and in the process sacrifice nothing of their spirit to the exigencies of rhyme and rhythm, is a task by no means easy. ”

“ Light is dawning ’mong the hills, 65 Hail! rising morn, for He hath risen, 67 We worship, Lord, before Thee now, 69 Heavy laden with thy grief, 70 To Thee, O Christ, our God, 72 Glory shone within the gloom, 74 When Adam heard the voice of sin, 76 Within the garden’s sombre shade, 78 PENTECOST— Even as Thou saidst, the Spirit came, 83 O may the Spirit of all grace, 85 COMMUNION— Let Thy blood in mercy poured, 89 O Lord of bounty, let this bread, 91 JUDGMENT— When in the clouds the Lord appears, 95 The Bridegroom comes, my soul awake! ”

“ Not only was he of noble lineage, he was a man also of high character and brilliant attainments. He was versed in the Neoplatonic philosophy, and his Christianity has been called in question by no less an authority than Mosheim; but how any one can read his odes and doubt the reality of his Christian faith, even in the full sense of the term, as believing in the Divinity of Christ and in His Resurrection, is hard to understand. ”

“ And shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and of whose kingdom there shall be no end.
And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, the Life-Giver, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is together worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.
In One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.
We look for the Resurrection of the dead.
And the life in the ages to come. ”

“ If one would have his work to be permanently useful; if he would aim at any particular employment of his hymns, he must observe the conditions which such an aim implies. A translator who aims at the use of his work in public worship, must aim at pellucid simplicity both of phraseology and of structure; and if they are to be widely, permanently, or deservedly popular, they must be gifted with becoming grace. This cannot be done in translations pure and simple. The present collection gives the result of an experiment. The Greek has been used as a basis, a theme, a motive ”

“ The past ten years have seen much activity in the department of Church hymnody,—all sections of the Church have had their hymnals under revision with varied results; but in this particular we are bound to feel satisfaction that the praise literature of the Early and Mediaeval Church has been more fully drawn upon than at any former period, and the Greek Church no [6] longer stands in the background. From this volume alone no fewer than ten renderings have been utilised by hymnal compilers, and they make together twenty appearances. ”

“ This fourth series of Hymns from the Office Books of The Holy Eastern Church, differs from the preceding three in this, that the hymns are less translations or renderings, and more centos and suggestions.
One cannot continue long to interest himself in any work, and receive from time to time the observations and criticisms of his fellows, without, if he have his eyes and mind open to receive impressions, feeling himself impelled to alter his methods in some particular or other. ”

“ So she was left in possession of her splendid attainment, without the aptitude to fit herself to aggressive enterprise, while Rome, with all the qualifications which have fitted her for an aggressive task, has made for herself a place and a name which have eclipsed the glory of the old home. ”

“ V. One prime characteristic of Greek hymnody should be referred to. Unlike the English hymn, which is intensely subjective—in some cases unhealthily so—the Greek hymn is in most cases objective. God in the glory of His majesty, and clothed with His attributes, is held up to the worship and adoration of His people. Christ, in His Person and Work, is set before the mind in a most realistic manner. ”

“ We, who plume ourselves on the orthodoxy of our doctrines and purity of worship, have a remarkable facility for detecting and magnifying the errors of others: of creating them where they do not exist, and of exaggerating them where they do. ”

“ The Mariolatry is excessive, and the hagiolatry offensive. Sifting and pruning are needed before a cento can be formed which would commend itself to modern taste.
But when all that is said, there remains much that is both beautiful and attractive. Some of the hymns and fragments are most chaste,—beautiful and tender in their simple expression of Gospel truths, which are so attractive to all true hearts, no matter by what creed dominated.
(4) The remarkable simplicity characterising those hymns constitutes, strangely it may seem, no small difficulty for the translator. ”

“ Such jets of living poetry must be awaited: they cannot be forced. But a translator must deliberately sit down at his desk and work—manufacture, if you will—and endeavour to turn on the lathe of graceful culture, elegancies which readers may admire, but will never feel.
Perhaps translators from the Greek have a singular temptation to eschew. Hymns from the Offices have to be created in Greek, as has been pointed out in a former Introduction, before they can be the source of living poetic inspiration. ”

“ It may be enough to remark in regard to the major charges, that nowhere does the Eastern Church address worship, either to the Mother of our Lord, or to the saints and angels. They are venerated and invoked, but worshipped, never. Worship, as we understand it, is addressed to the Triune God, and to Him alone. ”

“ Such a language cannot be expected to have attraction for men to whom the ancient poets are a delight.
(3) The hymns of the Greek Church are all in rhythmical prose—strangely Oriental in appearance—with the exception of those by John of Damascus, which are in iambics; and difficulties confront one on every page. What lines will reward the work of rendering? Prayer, Gospel, psalm, hymn, and exhortation follow each other, and are sometimes strangely interlaced. Where does one begin and another end? ”

“ This facility has this advantage, that it keeps our eyes away from ourselves and from the errors which are nearer home. Like the beams of the winter sun which have little warmth in them, the line of our vision is somewhat oblique. ”

“ After ten years this, the first of five series of hymns of the Greek Church, is issued in cheap form in the hope that those who regard the unity of Christian praise, and wish to realise it, and who seek its enrichment from the Church of the Apostles, may be induced to give the subject that consideration which it deserves, and which has been too long neglected. ”

“ In this connection it is to be noted that we speak of translations, and not of suggestions such as, “Art thou weary,” or “O, happy band of pilgrims,” and many others, which have [11] advanced into great favour, and are termed translations, but are not.
True hymns are sacred lyrics, and a lyric to be lyrical and heart appealing, must be inevitable. It must be the spontaneous expression of the heart of the author—an expression which had to come. It is the latent secret of the power of true hymns, for what must be uttered will assuredly, sooner or later, find its way to some heart. ”