Written by Johann Scheffler (1624–77), who is also known by the arresting pseudonym Angelus Silesius—“the Silesian Angel,” a name he adopted upon joining the Catholic Church in 1653. Six stanzas appeared in his 1668 collection Heilige Seelen-Lust under the heading “The soul exhorts one to follow Christ.” The text we sing is a composite: stanzas 1, 2, 3, and 5 are Scheffler’s, while stanza 4 was added by an unidentified author in a 1695 hymnal and popularized in a 1704 Pietist collection. Most remarkably, stanzas 2 through 4 are written in the first person as Christ’s own voice. As the congregation sings, they are literally singing the words of Jesus, who calls them His “light of the world” and promises rest for those who take up His cross.
Sung at Our Saviour
2026