O Lord with Wondrous Mystery (O Lord in this Great Mystery)

This is an Offertory hymn. In English-as-a-foreign-language situations, it is sometimes presented as "O Lord in this great mystery".

The words were written by American at-the-time Roman Catholic (Sulpician) priest and later historian, academic and war correspondent, Michael Valentine Gannon (1927–2017).

With meter 86. 86. 88. 86, it was originally set to and set to an unnamed tune by Hendrik F. Andriessen (1892-1981). It was first published by World Library Publications in the 1955 People's Daily Mass Book.

Today, an arrangement for 3-part Choir with optional congregation part, C Instrument, and organ can be purchased on-line directly from from WLP or from Sheet Music Plus

It is included in GIA Publications Catholic Community Hymnal and in the St Michael Hymnal.

Downloads

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Examples

Instrumental - with improvisation

Lyrics

The lyrics are copyright © 1955 so cannot be reproduced here in full. But they are available on this website. The hymn has four verses, each with four lines, and rough outline is:

1 O Lord, with wondrous mystery, You take ...

2 Our wheat and drink become our Light, Our altar ....

3 You are the same, our Christ and Lord, who blessed ...

4 This host bears your divinity, this cup ...