As the season of Epiphany continues, my intention had been to offer a short reflection on the hymn ‘Songs of thankfulness and praise’ the text of which was written by Christopher Wordsworth, nephew of the poet William Wordsworth, as part of a collection of hymns called The Holy Year in 1862 (there is a revised edition dated 1863) when he was vicar of Stanford in the Vale, Berkshire – he would go on to become bishop of Lincoln.

The collection follows the pattern of the liturgical year according to the Book of Common Prayer, and contains a number of hymns that have entered frequent usage – and plenty more which maybe deserve more attention than they have had. ‘Songs of thankfulness and praise’ is set for the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, and headed ‘Recapitulation of the successive Manifestations of Christ which have been already presented in the Services of the former weeks throughout the season of Epiphany; and Anticipation of that future great and glorious Epiphany, at which Christ will be manifested to all, when He will appear again to judge the World.’

With its refrain ‘Anthems be to thee addressed, God in Man made manifest’ the hymn does indeed reference the main pillars of the Epiphany: the adoration of the magi, the baptism of Christ, the wedding at Cana, and Christ’s ministry of healing, before building up to reflect both on the future signs of Christ’s manifestation and the imitation of Christ which might be thought the best approach to Christian living in this age.

This text, it seems to me, speaks for itself, and I commend it to readers to read and pray with the text. However, in preparing for this post I read Wordsworth’s preface to The Holy Year and would like to quote a few passages which set out an understanding of the role and possibilities of hymnody in general:

‘A Hymn-Book of the Church may be expected to represent the mind of the Church; to show an intelligent appreciation of her intensions, and a dutiful submission to her appointments.’

‘They who have studied the early Christian Liturgies, and are conversant with the writings of Christian Antiquity, especially with the Homilies of the Fathers on the Seasons of the Church, will be thankful to Almighty God for the wisdom with which he endued her, so to order and arrange her Festivals, as to bring out, in strong relief, the great doctrine of the Incarnation of the Son of God’

‘A Hymn-Book of the Church ought to be fitted to the teaching of the Church on the Festival itself, and in each successive Week of the Season of Epiphany ; and it is by no means sufficient to provide Hymns of a general character for the Season of Epiphany; and much less, to limit the Epiphany to the visit of the Wise Men at Bethlehem; but each Sunday in the Season should have its distinctive expression of praise and thanksgiving for that particular mode of Manifestation which the Church has associated with that Sunday.’

‘He [the author, referring to himself] would now ask leave to say a few words to those who may regard the Hymns in this volume as of too doctrinal or of too historical a character.

‘Christian Poetry ought to be a medium for the conveyance of Christian Doctrine. A Hymn ought to edify the mind, as well as to gratify the ear. It ought to be profitable to be read, as well as agreeable to be sung. St. Paul exhorts the Colossians “to teach and admonish one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs.” Ancient Heathen Lawgivers provided that their Codes should be set to music, in order that they might sink more deeply into the memories of the people. The early Christians, says the younger Pliny, met together before daybreak, in order to sing Hymns to Christ as God. The Hymns of ancient Christendom are replete with sound doctrine. The Church has wisely ordered that her Creeds should be sometimes sung. In fact, her Creeds are Hymns; they are her songs of victory, after her triumphs over Heresy, — like the songs of Moses and Miriam after the passage of the Red Sea…

‘The ascription of praise to God, which is the office of Hymnology, ought assuredly to flow from an intelligent belief in the doctrines of Christianity, and from a thankful recollection of the divine benefits.

‘The contemplation of the divine nature and attributes in their relation to us, and of the great mysteries of the Gospel, — which are the subject matter of doctrinal teaching, — is the mainspring of true devotion and fervent adoration; and the rehearsal of God’s acts, especially as seen in the life of His Ever-Blessed Son, and of His Saints, who derived all their sufficiency from God’s grace, supplies the strongest motives to love and thankfulness, and the best examples of Christian practice. And when Hymnology is grounded on this foundation of doctrine and history, may it not hope to be more and more ministerial to the divine glory and worship, and to the growth of piety and virtue, by its salutary influence on Christian faith and duty?’

Amen