Please give today to support Hymnary.org during one of only two fund drives we run each year. Each month, Hymnary serves more than 1 million users from around the globe, thanks to the generous support of people like you, and we are so grateful.

Tax-deductible donations can be made securely online using this link.

Alternatively, you may write a check to CCEL and mail it to:
Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 3201 Burton SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost

Add to Starred Hymns

Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost, Taught by Thee we covet most

Author: Christopher Wordsworth (1862)
Published in 206 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost,
taught by Thee, we covet most,
of Thy gifts at Pentecost,
holy, heav'nly love.

2 Love is kind, and suffers long;
love is meek, and thinks no wrong;
love than death itself more strong;
therefore give us love.

3 Prophecy will fade away,
melting in the light of day;
love will ever with us stay;
therefore give us love.

4 Faith will vanish into sight;
hope be emptied in delight;
love in heav'n will shine more bright;
therefore give us love.

5 Faith and hope and love we see
joining hand in hand agree;
but the greatest of the three,
and the best, is love.

6 From the overshadowing
of Thy gold and silver wing
shed on us, who to Thee sing,
holy, heav'nly love.

Source: Our Great Redeemer's Praise #296

Author: Christopher Wordsworth

Christopher Wordsworth--nephew of the great lake-poet, William Wordsworth--was born in 1807. He was educated at Winchester, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A., with high honours, in 1830; M.A. in 1833; D.D. in 1839. He was elected Fellow of his College in 1830, and public orator of the University in 1836; received Priest's Orders in 1835; head master of Harrow School in 1836; Canon of Westminster Abbey in 1844; Hulsean Lecturer at Cambridge in 1847-48; Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale, Berks, in 1850; Archdeacon of Westminster, in 1865; Bishop of Lincoln, in 1868. His writings are numerous, and some of them very valuable. Most of his works are in prose. His "Holy Year; or, Hymns for Sundays, Holidays, and other occ… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost, Taught by Thee we covet most
Title: Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost
Author: Christopher Wordsworth (1862)
Meter: 7.7.7.5
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost . Bishop C. Wordsworth of Lincoln. [Quinquagesima.—Love.] First published in his Holy Year, 1st edition, 1862, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and appointed for Quinquagesima, being a metrical paraphrase of the Epistle for that day. It is found either in full or in an abbreviated form in several collections, including some of the Public Schools, and a few in American common use. In Martineau's Hymns, 1873, it begins, "Mighty Spirit, Gracious Guide."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Notes

Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost . Bishop C. Wordsworth of Lincoln. [Quinquagesima.—Love.] First published in his Holy Year, 1st edition, 1862, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and appointed for Quinquagesima, being a metrical paraphrase of the Epistle for that day. It is found either in full or in an abbreviated form in several collections, including some of the Public Schools, and a few in American common use. In Martineau's Hymns, 1873, it begins, "Mighty Spirit, Gracious Guide."Read More

Tune

CHARITY (Stainer)CAPETOWNOtherHighcharts.com
Frequency of use
CHARITY (Stainer)


CAPETOWN

CAPETOWN was originally composed by Friedrich Filitz (b. Arnstadt, Thuringia, Germany, 1804; d. Munich, Germany, 1876) as a setting for the text "Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit"; that text and tune were included in Vierstimmiges Choralbuch (1847), a hymnal compiled by Baron Christian von Bunsen and publis…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Appearance of this hymn in hymnals1870188018901900191019201930194019501960197019801990200020102020050100Percent of hymnalsHighcharts.com

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #2044
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 36 of 36)
Text

Ancient and Modern #245a

Text

Ancient and Modern #245b

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #268a

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #268b

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #268c

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #312

TextPage Scan

Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #627

Page Scan

Common Praise (1998) #653

TextPage Scan

Common Praise #182a

TextPage Scan

Common Praise #182b

TextPage Scan

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #245a

TextPage Scan

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #245b

Page Scan

Complete Mission Praise #198

TextPage Scan

CPWI Hymnal #268

Hymnal Supplement II #73

Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition #154

Hymns and Psalms #301a

Hymns and Psalms #301b

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #474a

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #474b

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise #627

Hymns of the Christian Life #143

Hymns Old and New #184

TextPage Scan

Our Great Redeemer's Praise #296

Tune InfoText

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #589

Singing the Faith #379

Text

The Book of Praise #701

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #2044

Text

The Hymnal 1982 #612

TextPage Scan

The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook #463a

TextPage Scan

The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook #463b

Text

The New Century Hymnal #61

TextPage Scan

The New English Hymnal #367a

TextPage Scan

The New English Hymnal #367b

TextPage Scan

The Presbyterian Hymnal #318

TextPage Scan

Voices United #193

Include 170 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
It looks like you are using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue helps keep us running. Please consider white-listing Hymnary.org or getting Hymnary Pro to eliminate ads entirely and help support Hymnary.org.