Holy Spirit, come with light,
Break the dark and gloomy night
With Thy day unending.
Help us with a joyful lay
Greet the Lord’s triumphant day
Now with might ascending.
Comforter so wondrous kind,
Noble guest of heart and mind
Fix in us Thy dwelling.
Give us peace in storm and strife,
Fill each troubled heart and life
With Thy joy excelling.
Make salvation clear to us,
Who despite our sin and dross
Would exalt the Spirit.
For without Thine aid and love
All our life and work must prove
Vain and without merit.
Raise or bow us with Thine arm,
Break temptation’s evil charm,
Clear our clouded vision.
Fill our hearts with longing new,
Cleanse us with Thy morning dew,
Tears of deep contrition.
Blessed Fount of life and breath,
Let our hope in view of death
Blossom bright and vernal;
And above the silent tomb
Let the Easter lilies bloom,
Signs of life eternal.
Source: Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark #78
Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig was the son of a pastor, and was born at Udby, in Seeland, in 1783. He studied in the University of Copenhagen from 1800-1805; and, like some other eminent men, did not greatly distinguish himself; his mind was too active and his imagination too versatile to bear the restraint of the academic course. After leaving the university he took to teaching; first in Langeland, then (1808) in Copenhagen. Here he devoted his attention to poetry, literature, and Northern antiquities. In 1810 he became assistant to his father in a parish in Jutland. The sermon he preached at his ordination, on the subject "Why has the Lord's word disappeared from His house," attracted much attention, which is rarely the case with "pro… Go to person page >
Jens Christian Aaberg (b. Moberg, Denmark, 1877; d. Minneapolis, MN, 1970) immigrated to the United States in 1901. Educated at Grand View College and Seminary in Des Moines, Iowa, he entered the ministry of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and served congregations in Marinette, Wisconsin; Dwight, Illinois; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aaberg wrote Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark (1945), translated at least eighty hymns from Danish into English, and served on four hymnal committees. In 1947 King Frederick of Denmark awarded him the Knight Cross of Denmark.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1987
Go to person page >
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files