St Francis Xavier (John Stainer)

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CPDL #15597:        NWC Sibelius4

Editor: John Henry Fowler (added 2007-12-03).   Score information: A4, 1 page, 20 kbytes       Copyright: Public Domain

Edition notes: Based on the edition from CyberHymnal - File Sizes: PDF: 20 KB, 2nd PDF: 21 KB, MIDI: 2 KB, NWC: 1 KB, Sib4: 30 KB.

General Information

Title: My God, I love Thee
Hymn tune: St Francis Xavier
Composer: John Stainer
Meter:   86. 86 (C.M.)

Number of voices: 4vv  Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Hymn tune, Hymn    
Language: English
Instruments: piano/organ
Published: Tune: St. Fran­cis Xav­ier, John Stain­er, 1875; Lyrics: Au­thor un­known (O De­us, ego amo te); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ed­ward Cas­wall, Lyra Ca­thol­i­ca, 1849.

Description: The orig­in­al lyric is re­port­ed­ly a Span­ish son­net which be­gins, "No me mueve, mi Dios, para quererte"; it ap­peared in Diep­en­brock’s Geist­lich­er Blu­men­strauss (1829), at­trib­uted to Fran­cis Xavier. It al­so ap­peared in the Po­es­i­as of The­re­sa de Je­sus (1515-1582), show­ing her as the au­thor, but was not in in her Lib­ros (Lis­bon: 1616), Ob­ras (Lis­bon: 1654), or Op­era (Köln, Ger­m­any: 1686). Jul­i­an be­lieved the La­tin form was prob­ab­ly by Xavier or by a Ger­man Je­su­it. A trans­la­tion of the La­tin lyr­ics was pub­lished in 1668 in Heil­i­ge Seel­en­lust, by Jo­hann Scheff­ler, cred­it­ing Xa­vier as the au­thor.

External websites:

• Cyber Hymnal entry for Hymn tune "St Francis Xavier"

Original text and translations

English text

1.

My God, I love Thee; not because

I hope for Heav’n thereby,

Nor yet because who love Thee not

May eternally die.

2.

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me

Upon the cross embrace;

For me didst bear the nails and spear,

And manifold disgrace.

3.

And griefs and torments numberless,

And sweat of agony;

E’en death itself; and all for man

Who was Thine enemy.

4.

Then why, O blessèd Jesus Christ

Should I not love Thee well?

Not for the hope of winning Heaven,

Nor of escaping hell.

5.

Not with the hope of gaining aught,

Nor seeking a reward,

But as Thyself hast lovèd me,

O everlasting Lord!

6.

E’en so I love Thee, and will love,

And in Thy praise will sing,

Solely because Thou art my God,

And my eternal King.

Lyrics: Au­thor un­known (O De­us, ego amo te); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ed­ward Cas­wall, Lyra Ca­thol­i­ca, 1849.