Lutherans love to sing, and tonight our midweek Lenten service included a hymn, a favorite, so great that it had to be shared. Fans of J.S. Bach will recognize the music immediately. It is his arrangement of a tune by Hans L. Hassler (1564-1612). The text is attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) or Arnulf of Louvain (c.1200-50) and translated by Paul Gerhardt (1607-76).
Many variations of the lyrics exist, but all of them express the profound emotion of the season of the Passion.
Here is the last verse from a Lutheran lyric:
Be Thou my Consolation,
My Shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy Passion
When my last hour is nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee,
Upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfold Thee.
Who dieth thus dies well!
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