Today's promise: Christ is our Redeemer
O Sacred Head, Now
Wounded
He was despised and
rejected — a man of sorrows, acquainted with the bitterest grief. We turned our
backs on him and looked the other way when he went by.
Isaiah 53:3 NLT
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded with thorns Thine only crown; how pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend, for this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? O make me Thine forever; and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)
attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)
A profoundly personal and awesome vision
Although Bernard was one
of the most influential Christians of the Middle Ages, settling disputes
between kings and influencing the selection of popes, he remained a devout
monk, single-minded in his devotion to Christ.
In his own day Bernard
was known as a preacher and churchman; today he is remembered for his hymns of
praise. "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" comes from a poem originally
having seven sections, each focusing on a wounded part of the crucified
Savior's body — His feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and head. The text
of this hymn compels us to gaze at the cross until the depth of God's love
overwhelms us. Bernard's hymn pictures God's love, not as an abstract
theological statement, but as a profoundly personal and awesome vision of the
suffering Christ.
Our Holy Week readings
are adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and
Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995). Today's is taken from the entry
for March 28.
Content is derived
from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale
Publishing House
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