Father, Son, and Spirit, hear. C. Wesley. [Communion of Saints.] This poem on "The Communion of Saints," in 39 stanzas (in six parts), was published in the Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740, p. 188 (Poetical Works, 1868-72, i. p. 356). From it the following centos have come into common use:-—
1. Father, Son, and Spirit, hear.
2. Other ground can no man lay.
3. Christ our head, gone up on high.
4. Christ from whom all blessings flow.
These were given in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, as one hymn in four parts and numbered 501-504. They are repeated in the same form in later editions, and also in other collections.
5. Father, Son, and Spirit, hear. A cento in 8 stanzas of 4 lines from the original poem, given in Toplady's Psalms & Hymns, 1776, No. 240.
6. Christ from whom all blessings flow. Stanzas i., iii. and v., of Pt. iv. of the original in W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church & Home, 1873.
7. Lord from whom all blessings flow. Stanzas i., iii. and iv., from Pt. iv. of the original in the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858, and others.
8. Happy souls, whose course is run. From Pt. vi. of the original in the Altar Hymnal, 1884, No. 105.
9. Jesus Christ, who stands between. From Pt. v. of the original stanzas iv., v. in the American Methodist Episcopal Hymns, 1849.
10. Join us, in one spirit, join. Stanzas ii., iii., ix. and x. from Pt. iv. of the original in the American Unitarian Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >
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