Joyous Light of Glory!

Thought the days are growing longer as we approach the Summer Solstice, it seems right and salutary to ponder the Phos Hilaron the first hymn of Evening Prayer, whose origins are so old that we don't really know who wrote the words or whence they exactly came.

Here is the text from Lutheran Book of Worship:

Joyous light of glory of the immortal Father,
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of Light,
The universe proclaims your glory. (Page 143)

And here is the translation from the Anglican Church of Canada's Alternative Worship:

O gracious Light,

pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,

O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,

and our eyes behold the vesper light,

we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be sung by happy voices,

O Son of God, O Giver of life,

and to be glorified through all the worlds. (Page 61)

In both translations we see two main things cropping up. The first is that Christ is our light even when the sun is not shining.This is true both literally and metaphorically. Christ is the light of all the living in the dark hours of the night as well as in the dark hours of trial, temptation, sorrow and loss.

We also see the hymn's vibrant trinitarian spirituality. God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, joins our singing even as we offer praise for another day fulfilled.

This hymn is a perfect devotion for after dinner or before bedtime as we enter into the long days of summer.