Trinity Sunday hymns
12 June 2019
Ahead of Trinity Sunday, we look at how hymn writers throughout the centuries have celebrated the idea of God as Trinity.
For more on this subject see J.R. Watson's essay, Trinity hymns.
O lux beata Trinitas Latin, author unknown
Anti-heretical hymns include the Ambrosian ‘O lux beata Trinitas’, translated by John Mason Neale as ‘O Trinity of blessed light’, which was written as a defence against Arianism...
Wir glauben all an einen Gott Martin Luther (1483-1546)
This is Luther’s free rendering of the Creed, divided into three verses, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost...
We give immortal praise Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
It is not simply a hymn of praise, but also a fine and clear statement of the redemptive work of the Trinity: the gifts of the Father’s love; the sacrifice and ultimate triumph of the Son; the Spirit’s new-creating power...
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty Reginald Heber (1783-1826)
The hymn was a particular favourite of Tennyson’s, who told Bishop Welldon that he thought it the finest hymn ever written, considering the difficulty of the subject...
Mothering God, you gave me birth Jean Janzen (1933- )
A hymn to the Trinity, addressing one Person in each of the three verses. The familiar images of God’s power and might are replaced by a gentler vision of a patient ‘nurturing one’...
O Trinity, O Trinity, the uncreated One Michael Saward (1932-2015)
Written at a camp-site at Cavalaire in southern France, 15 June 1980, this text was prompted by the author’s holiday reading of The Orthodox Way by Kallistos Ware...