The Holy Children Boldly Stand

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The Holy Children Boldly Stand

Translator: John Mason Neale (1862); Author: Cosmas, the Melodist (760)
Published in 2 hymnals

Representative Text

The Holy Children boldly stand
Against the tyrant’s fierce command:
The kindled furnace they defy,—
No doom can shake their constancy:
They in the midmost flame confessed,
“GOD of our Fathers! Thou art blest!”

The Shepherds keep their flocks by night;
The Heav’n glows out with wondrous light;
The glory of the LORD is there,
The Angel-bands their King declare:
The watchers of the night confessed,
“GOD of our Fathers! Thou art blest!”

144

The Angel ceased; and suddenly
Seraphic legions filled the sky:
“Glory to GOD,” they cry again:
“Peace upon earth, good will to men:
“CHRIST comes!”—And they that heard confessed,
“GOD of our Fathers! Thou art blest!”

What said the Shepherds?—“Let us turn
This new-born miracle to learn.”
To Bethlehem’s gate their footsteps drew:
The Mother with the Child they view:
They knelt and worshipped, and confessed,
“GOD of our Fathers! Thou art blest!”

Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1866

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Translator: John Mason Neale

John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly temperament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >

Author: Cosmas, the Melodist

Cosmas, St., The Melodist. (Died circ. A.D. 760.) The second among the Greek ecclesiastical poets. He was adopted by the father of St. John of Damascus, and educated with him by a Sicilian monk also named Cosmas, who had been redeemed from slavery by his adopted father. The two foster-brothers retired together to St. Sabas, and there stimulated, assisted and vied witii one another in the composition of hymns. It is not certain whether some of the Canons, Triodia, and Idiomela under the name of Cosmas may not be the work of the elder Cosmas. He was elected Bishop of Maiuma in A.D. 743, and is commemorated in the Greek Calendar on Oct. 14. The story of Cosmas the elder is beautifully told in Milman's Lat. Christ., vol. ii. 364. Daniel, vol. i… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	The Holy Children Boldly Stand
Author:	Cosmas, the Melodist (760)
Translator:	John Mason Neale (1862)
Meter:	8.8.8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain