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O light, from age to age the same

Representative Text

1 O Light, from age to age the same,
O ever-living Word,
Here have we felt thy kindling flame,
Thy voice within have heard.

2 Here holy thought and hymn and prayer
Have winged the spirit’s powers,
And made these walls divinely fair,
Thy temple, Lord, and ours.

3 What visions rise above the years,
What tender memories throng,
Till each eye fills with happy tears,
Each heart with happy song!

4 Vanish the mists of time and sense;
They come, the loved of yore,
And one encircling providence
Holds all for evermore.

5 O not in vain their toil, who wrought
To build faith’s freer shrine;
Nor theirs, whose steadfast love and thought
Have watched the fire divine.

6 Burn, holy Fire, and shine more wide!
While systems rise and fall,
Faith, hope, and charity abide,
The heart and soul of all.

Source: Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America #247

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Author: Frederick Lucian Hosmer

Hosmer, Frederick Lucian, B.A., was born at Framingham, Mass., in 1840, and educated at Harvard, where he graduated B.A. in 1869. Entering the Unitarian Ministry in 1872 he has held charges in Quincy, Ill., 1872-77; Cleveland, Ohio, 1878-92; St. Louis, 1894-99; and since 1899, at Berkeley, Cal. His Way of Life, 1877, was a compilation of Prayers and Responsive Services for Sunday Schools. Of Unity Hymns and Carols, 1880, he was joint editor with W. C. Gannett and J. V. Blake. His hymns were published jointly by him and W. C. Gannett (q.v.), as The Thought of God in Hymns and Poems (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.), 1st Series, 1885; 2nd Series, 1894. Of his 56 hymns in this work the following have come into common use, for the most part during… Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: O light, from age to age the same
Author: Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1890)
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain
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Timeline

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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #5075
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  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
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Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
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The Cyber Hymnal #5075

The Cyber Hymnal #5075
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