Our closing hymn is a composite of two rival texts. The original was penned in 1851 by Matthew Bridges, just three years after he converted from the Church of England to Roman Catholicism. His original stanzas included medieval Catholic imagery referring to the Virgin Mary as the “mystic rose.” By the 1870s, an Anglican clergyman named Godfrey Thring wrote a competing version to replace the stanzas Protestants “did not approve” of. Rather than forcing the Church to choose, modern hymnals (including ours) combined the best of both: stanzas 1 through 3 are by Bridges, while stanzas 4 and 5 are by Thring. Drawing its majestic vision from Revelation 19:12 (“on His head are many diadems”), the combined hymn invites us to crown the risen, ascended Lamb as the undisputed King of kings. The triumphant tune DIADEMATA (“crowns”) was composed by George J. Elvey for the 1868 Hymns Ancient and Modern.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026