O God of loveliness

Representative Text

1. O God of loveliness, O Lord of Heaven above,
How worthy to possess my heart’s devoted love.
So sweet Thy countenance, so gracious to behold
That one, one only glance to me were bliss untold.

2. Thou art blest Three in One, yet undivided still,
Thou art the One alone, whose love my heart can fill.
The heav’ns and earth below were fashioned by Thy Word,
How amiable art Thou, my ever dearest Lord.

3. To think Thou art my God—O thought forever blest!
My heart has overflowed with joy within my breast.
My soul so full of bliss, is plunged as in a sea,
Deep in the sweet abyss of holy charity.

4. O Loveliness supreme, and Beauty infinite,
O ever flowing Stream and Ocean of delight,
O Life by which I live, my truest Life above,
To Thee alone I give my undivided love.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #4879

Author: Alfonso M. de Liguori

Liguori, Alphonso Maria de, born at Marianella, near Naples, Sept. 27, 1696, became Bishop of St. Agatha of the Goths in 1762, and died Aug. 1, 1787. His hymns were gathered out of his works, translated by K. A. Coffin, and published as Hymns and Verses on Spiritual Subjects, &c, in 1863. (See Italian Hymnody, p. 1316, ii., 4). From this, "My Jesus! say what wretch has dare" ( Good Friday) is taken. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O God of loveliness
Author: Alfonso M. de Liguori
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

CRUSADERS' HYMN (111271)

ST. ELIZABETH appears to be an eighteenth-century tune from the Glaz area of Silesia. It has always been associated with this text. No factual data exists for the legend that this text and tune date back to the twelfth-century crusades, although those apocryphal stories explain one of the names by w…

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The Cyber Hymnal #4879
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The Cyber Hymnal #4879

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