Bread of the World in Mercy Broken

This is a hymn about the Eucharist.  It originally had the subtitle "Before the Sacrament."

The words were written by English clergyman Reginald Heber (1783–1826), and first published in "Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Service of the Church Year" in 1827.

With meter 9.8.9.8, tunes it is set to include:
  • EUCHARISTIC HYMN by John S. B. Hodges (1830-1915) - which was composed for it.
  • RENDEZ Á DIEU by Louis Bourgeois (1543, and revised 1551).


Downloads

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Examples

Contemporary / praise-band setting



Instrumental version - piano. Tune: EUCHARIST HYMN



Instrumental version - organ. Tune: RENDEZ Á DIEU


Solo singer, with light organ backing



Choral setting- unaccompanied



Lyrics

Traditional

Bread of the world, in mercy broken,
Wine of the soul, in mercy shed,
 By Whom the words of life were spoken,
And in Whose death our sins are dead.

Look on the heart by sorrow broken,
Look on the tears by sinners shed;
And be Thy feast to us the token,
That by Thy grace our souls are fed.


Modern language

Bread of the world, in mercy broken,
Wine of the soul, in mercy shed,
 By whom the words of life were spoken,
And in whose death our sins are dead.

Look on the heart by sorrow broken,
Look on the tears by sinners shed;
And be your feast to us the token,
That by your grace our souls are fed.

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2 comments:

  1. A beautiful setting to WAYFARING STRANGER now on YouTube at https://youtu.be/h9km9tqIyHc

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for introducing me to this hymn, Mary. I've created a new setting for it which is shared at https://youtu.be/h9km9tqIyHc

    ReplyDelete