Hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Ash Wednesday Comes and, Lord, We Hear
TALLIS' CANON (8.8.8.8) ("All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night")

Ash Wednesday comes, and Lord, we hear
The word for which our spirits yearn;
Amid this world's distress and fear,
We hear your loving call: "Return!"

"Return to me with all your heart"
With fasting, weeping, mourning, too.
O God, we seek a brand new start,
A new beginning here with you.

You call to us — the old, the young;
You summon nations strong and weak.
When we have drifted toward the wrong,
You call us back, your way to seek.

O God most merciful and kind,
Your love is not a prize we earn;
Yet in our life with you we find
The joy that comes when we return.

Biblical Reference: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Tune: Thomas Tallis, 1561 ("All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night")
Text: Copyright © 2011 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: bcgillette@comcast.net     New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com/

The Presbyterian Outlook magazine commissioned this hymn and sells it ($9.95) with the hymn text and music together as a downloadable bulletin insert. You can buy a complete collection of hymns for Lent 2011 at a discount. Your purchase helps support this excellent religious magazine.

 

Ash Wednesday Hymns