Nick Taylor

I have many favourite hymns and songs, so this time I will choose ‘Praise to the Holiest in the height’ to the tune ‘Gerontius’. It was written by John Henry Newman, an Anglican priest who later became a Roman Catholic [and there’s talk of making him a saint!]. It celebrates what Jesus Christ did to rescue us, by being strong against the weak human nature described in the Adam and Eve story.

But in verse 4 we’re reminded that it wasn’t just God’s grace that rescued us, but his ‘presence…and his very self, and essence all-divine’ which came as a ‘Man’ [v.5]. Some people think verse 4 also refers to Holy Communion, where the ‘flesh and blood’ are also the bread and wine of God’s ‘presence and essence all-divine’.

‘The double agony in Man…….. in the garden [of Gethsemane] secretly……..and on the cross on high’ are usually sung quietly, as we think of all Jesus suffered with and for us.
Then we’re full of joyful praise again as the last verse repeats the words of the first ‘Praise to the Holiest’.

Followers of the Archers will remember that when the character Phil Archer died recently, he was listening to Elgar’s famous oratorio ‘The Dream of Gerontius’. The words for this were written by Newman, and contain his wonderful hymn, sung with great triumph as Gerontius dreams of entering heaven – what a way to go!

Words:
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/p/p101.html


Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KQNx61n8o

Just found this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paAVIBcErko&feature=related