John Brownlie

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Unlike Troparia, which follow the model set by the Hirmos, Idiomela follow no model.
Stichera Idiomela are a collection of irregular verses.
Antiphon (ἀντίφωνον) is, as is well known, a [21] hymn sung alternately by the choir, which is divided for that purpose into two parts.
Other terms are found over hymns in the Greek service-books, but there is no need to refer to them here, as no specimens of the particular hymns find a place in this collection. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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? ”

“ His influence on Greek hymnody was immense, and he is held in high esteem by the Greek Church for his work in that department, and as a theologian. The Octoechos, which contains the Ferial Office, was, it is said, arranged by John of Damascus. There his Canons are found, which are perhaps his greatest work in hymnody. John retired eventually to the monastery of Mar Saba, where he spent a life of devotion, and sang those Christian hymns which have cheered and inspired so many generations of Christians in the East. ”

“ IV. One does not proceed far before making some discoveries which may account, to a certain extent, for the neglect of Greek hymnody by men who are best qualified to pursue the study of it. The writers are not poets, in the true sense, and their language is not Greek as we have known it. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Troparia are the stanzas which follow the Hirmos, and the term is doubtless derived from the verb τρέπω, to turn. The Troparia turn to the strophes of the Hirmos, as to a model.
Contakion (κοντάκιον) is a term of uncertain origin. Contakia occur after the sixth ode of a canon. They are short hymns, and the term may be derived from the Latin Canticum. ”

“ Come and let us bow before Him.
[52] εἰ καὶ ἐν τάφῳ κατῆλθες ἀθάνατε
(κοντάκιον, Ἦχος πλ. δ1) By St. John of Damascus, 780 A.D.
I
When, O King Immortal,
Thou didst seek the gloom,
Tasting death in meekness,
Resting in the tomb—
On that dark and woful day,
Hades owned Thy kingly sway. ”

“ While we of every sin repent,
Let our remaining years be spent
In holiness and sweet content.
Grant this, O Lord.
VII
And when the end of life is near,
May we, unshamed and void of fear,
Wait for the Judgment to appear.
Grant this, O Lord.
[87] HYMNS
FROM
THE EARLY GREEK POETS
NOT FOUND IN THE SERVICE-BOOKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH
[88]
ST. METHODIUS
Methodius, a prominent name in Ecclesiastical history, and a Father of the Church, was born about the middle of the third century. He was first of all Bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and, according to Jerome, became ultimately Bishop of Tyre. ”

“ From age to age eternally.
[95] ταῦτά σοι ἡμετέροιο θαλύσια, Χριστὲ
Cento from χριστὲ ἄναξ, σὲ πρῶτον I
Christ, for Thee a wreath adorning
Weaves my raptured soul with glee,
For from death this glorious morning
Thou hast risen triumphantly.
II
From the tomb behold Him rising,
Christ our Lord whose praise is sung.
Death is slain; O power surprising!
Hades’ gates are open flung.
III
Thou for man to earth in meekness
Cam’st that he new born might be ”

“ VI. The hymns as they appear in the original are distinguished by a variety of terms, the meaning in certain cases being extremely vague, and in others to be derived from the subject of the hymn, or from its form, or the time, place, or manner in which it is sung. As we have no corresponding terms in our language, it is necessary to retain the original. ”

“ This is the most elaborate form into which the praise of the Greek Church is cast. A canon consists, nominally, of nine odes or hymns, but the second ode is always omitted on account of [20] the denunciations of God against Israel which it contains. The canons of the Great Fast are made up of those rejected odes.
Hirmos (εἱρμός) is the first stanza of each ode. ”

“ He certainly was a good man, and knew Christ and loved Him. His writings prove that; and in 410 A.D., though reluctantly, he became Bishop of Ptolemais. Very little of his poetry has come down to us, but that little is of the highest order. He died 430 A.D.
[103] σοὶ νύξ με φέρει τὸν ἀοιδὸν, ἄναξ
A Cento from ἄγε μοι ψυχά I
When darkness falls and night is here,
My hymns of praise in silence rise—
This knows the moon, whose silver sphere
Shines in the star-bespangled skies. ”

“ In his principal work, The Banquet of the Ten Virgins, the hymn is found from which the following is a cento. It contains twenty-four strophes, each beginning with a letter of the Greek alphabet in alphabetical order, and ending with the same refrain.
Methodius is said to have suffered martyrdom under Diocletian about 311 A.D.
[89] ἄνωθεν, παρθένοι, βοῆς ἐγερσίνεκρος ἦχος
I
Behold the Bridegroom! Hark the cry,
The dead, awaking, rends the sky! ”

“ The result was that he abandoned his position and retired to Nazianzus in 381. Deprived by death of his life-long friend, and of his brother Caesarius, to whom he was bound by more than brotherly love, he retired from the world and penned those poems, some of which are among the treasures of the Church Catholic. He died in 390.
The hymns of Gregory are found in the second volume of the Benedictine Edition of his works which was published in Paris in 1842. A selection can be seen in Daniel’s Thesaurus, and in the Anthologica Graeca, Carminum Christianorum. ”

“ The book should prove welcome to men generally interested in hymnody, and particularly to those who are ignorant of the richness of the Greek liturgy.”—Scotsman.
“Mr Brownlie has the knack of hymn-writing, and the translations from the Greek which he has published in this book will be a welcome addition to English hymnology.”—Athenaeum.
“Mr Brownlie has done eminent service as a hymnologist and translator of hymns. ”

“ 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. ”