Dear friends and subscribers, I ask your prayers today for Tony, who has been ill. I’m stepping in to do this week’s hymn. Please excuse us f we are slow on replying to comments this week. God bless you all. — Debra
Our longtime pastor, the late Richard Bucci of Sacred Heart Church, Natick, Rhode Island, had a particular devotion to traditional hymnody and a particular fondness for today’s Hymn of the Week, “O Jesus, I have Promised.” I often thought, while in the pews of that church, how fortunate the congregants were to have a pastor who regarded congregational singing not as fluff or entertainment, but as a vital part of the spiritual nourishment of his flock. How could anyone sing the verses of today’s hymn, for example, and not be reminded of what, indeed, a Christian does promise as a follower of his Master?
The writer of today’s hymn was himself a pastor (Anglican), and composed this hymn specifically to be sung at the confirmation of his three children, in 1869, at the rural parish of Castle Camps, where he was rector. He did indeed have the spiritual welfare of those particular souls in mind, and it seems abundantly clear that he had conveyed to his own children the very message (and reminder) that our dear Fr. Bucci passed on to my children and to all of his congregation when he chose “O Jesus I Have Promised” and many other fine hymns for us to sing in worship over 200 years later. I have often commented on what I think is the saddest part of the general abandonment of traditional hymnody in our own benighted times. The loss is not just of great music and of great Sacred art. The loss is of the ministry of so many devout hymn writers, a ministry which continued far past their own lifetimes, and of their work, which had been passed lovingly along through the generations, and now is largely forgotten. One wonders, what else have we forgotten? And also, why we would not want to sing hymns that remind us not only of the Lord’s promises to us, but ours to him?
“O Jesus I Have Promised” has been set to a number of tunes, including Aurelia and Thornbury. But Fr. Bucci liked Wolvercote best for it. So do I. Wolvercote is not a somber tune, but a hopeful one, and a fitting reminder of what it means to have a such a Friend.
O Jesus, Thou hast promised To all who follow Thee That where Thou art in glory There shall Thy servant be; And, Jesus, I have promised To serve Thee to the end; O give me grace to follow, My Master and my Friend!
Today’s hymn features the Choir of Salisbury Cathedral. Wolvercote was composed by Rev. William Harold Ferguson, who was their Canon and Precentor from 1937 to 1947.
O Jesus, I have promised To serve Thee to the end; Be Thou forever near me, My Master and my Friend; I shall not fear the battle If Thou art by my side, Nor wander from the pathway If Thou wilt be my Guide. O let me feel Thee near me, The world is ever near; I see the sights that dazzle, The tempting sounds I hear; My foes are ever near me, Around me and within; But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer, And shield my soul from sin. O let me hear Thee speaking In accents clear and still, Above the storms of passion, The murmurs of self-will; O speak to reassure me, To chasten or control! O speak, and make me listen, Thou Guardian of my soul! O Jesus, Thou hast promised To all who follow Thee That where Thou art in glory There shall Thy servant be; And, Jesus, I have promised To serve Thee to the end; O give me grace to follow, My Master and my Friend!
Word & Song is an online magazine devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true. We publish six essays each week, on words, classic hymns, poems, films, and popular songs, as well a weekly podcast for paid subscribers, alternately Poetry Aloud or Anthony Esolen Speaks. Paid subscribers also receive audio-enhanced posts and on-demand access to our full archive, and may add their comments to our posts and discussions.
We certainly are praying for your husband .🙏🙏❤️❤️
I love that hymn and wish OUR church sang some of these old hymns instead of “new ones” that have no tune with which you can harmonize! We are having an old-fashioned Hymn-Sing at the East Congregationsl Church in Concord on 51 Mountain Road on May 10,2024 at 6:30 pm (open to the public) and our prayer and Bible Study group from Christ the King is attending as the wife of one of our members is helping to sponsor it in memory of her husband who went to be with Jesus about 2years ago. We have had one of the Hymn Sings before and it is wonderful!! The relatives are a very musical Christ-centered family. All are invited….