Day of wrath, O dreadful day!

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Day of wrath, O dreadful day!

Author: Thomas of Celano; Translator: Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
Published in 21 hymnals

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Representative Text

1. Day of wrath, O dreadful day!
When this world shall pass away,
And the heavens together roll,
Shriveling like a parchèd scroll,
Long foretold by saint and sage,
David’s harp and sibyl’s page.

2. Day of terror, day of doom,
When at last the Judge shall come!
Through the deep and silent gloom,
Shrouding every human tomb,
Shall the archangel’s trumpet tone
Summon all before the throne.

3. O just Judge, to whom belongs,
Vengeance for all earthly wrongs,
Grant forgiveness, Lord, at last,
Ere the dread account be past;
Lo, my sighs, my guilt, my shame!
Spare me for Thine own great name.

4. Thou, who bad’st the sinner cease
From her tears and go in peace,
Thou, who to the dying thief
Spakest pardon and relief,
Thou, O Lord, to me hast given,
E’en to me, the hope of Heaven.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #1177

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Author: Thomas of Celano

Thomas of Celano was born at Celano in the Abruzzi, and joined St. Francis of Assisi c. 1214. He was commissioned by Gregory IX to write the life of St. Francis: the First Legend, 1229; the Second Legend, 1247; and the Tract on the Miracle of St. Francis a few years later. His Legend of St. Clare was composed in 1255. He was probably among the first band of friars to visit Germany, 1221. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion… Go to person page >

Translator: Arthur Penrhyn Stanley

Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, Dean of Westminster, one of the most distinguished English Churchmen of the nineteenth century, was the son of Rev. Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, and was born at Alderly, in Cheshire, December 13, 1815. At the age of fourteen he became a pupil of Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, in whose famous school he displayed a strength of moral character which was a prophecy of the frank and courageous man that was to be. He took well-nigh all the honors at Oxford, where he graduated in 1837. Entering the ministry of the Church of England, he filled successively various positions of honor and responsibility until in 1855 he was appointed Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford. In 1864 he became Dean of Westminster. His… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Day of wrath, O dreadful day!
Latin Title:	Dies Irae
Translator:	Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
Author:	Thomas of Celano
Language:	English
Publication Date:	1881
Copyright:	Public Domain

Revelation 6:17
(hymns)

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Notes

14. Day of terror, day of doom. [A translation of the Dies irae.] By A. P. Stanley, from the Roman Missal, appeared in G. Redmond Portal's Hymns for Use of the Parish of Albury, 1864, in 9 stanzas of 6 lines. In 1868 it was given in Macmillan’s Magazine, and in 1869 in the Appendix to Hymns for Use in the Chapel of Marlborough Collection as, "Day of wrath, O dreadful day," with an additional stanza. The same was repeated in the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book, 1883. In the Hymnary1872, it is given, with the addition of 3 stanzas by the Editors ("Nought of Thee my prayers can claim"; "Make me with Thy sheep to stand"; and "Full of tears and full of dread"), and divided into three parts, pt. ii. being, "When, in that tremendous day," and pt. iii., "0 just Judge, to whom belongs." The ten-stanza form is repeated in a few American hymn-books, including Laudes Domini, 1884, and others.

- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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