Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber

Born: Ap­ril 21, 1783, Ma­lpas, Che­shire, Eng­land.

Died: Ap­ril 3, 1826, Tri­chin­o­po­ly (Tir­u­chir­ap­pal­li), Ta­mil Na­du, In­dia, of a ce­reb­ral hem­or­rhage while bath­ing.

Buried: St. John’s Church, Tri­chin­o­po­ly, Tam­il Nadu, In­dia (north side of the al­tar).

Heber at­tend­ed Brase­nose Coll­ege, Ox­ford, where he won a num­ber of awards in Eng­lish and La­tin. He re­ceived a fel­low­ship to All Souls Coll­ege, and lat­er be­came Rec­tor at Hod­net, Shrop­shire, Eng­land. In 1823, he be­came, some­what re­luct­ant­ly, Bi­shop of Cal­cut­ta, In­dia. Most of his hymns were not pub­lished un­til af­ter his death; 57 of them ap­peared in Hymns Writ­ten and Adapt­ed to the Week­ly Church Ser­vice of the Year (Lon­don: J. Mur­ray, 1827).

Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!