"O Holy Spirit, Enter In" by Michael Schirmer, 1606-1673 Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878 Text From: THE HANDBOOK TO THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1942)p.175 1. O Holy Spirit, enter in And in our hearts Thy work begin, Thy temple deign to make us; Sun of the soul, Thou Light Divine, Around and in us brightly shine, To joy and gladness wake us. That we, In Thee Truly living, To The giving Prayer unceasing, May in love be still increasing. 2. Give to thy Word impressive power That in our hearts, from this good hour, As fire it may be glowing; That we confess the Father, Son, And Thee, the Spirit, Three in One, Thy glory ever showing. Stay Thou, Sway now Our souls ever That they never May forsake Thee, But by faith their Refuge make Thee. 3. Thou fountain whence all wisdom flows Which God on pious hearts bestows, Grant us Thy consolation That in our pure faith's unity We faithful witnesses may be Of grace that brings salvation. Hear us, Cheer us By Thy teaching; Let our preaching And our labor Praise Thee, Lord, and serve our neighbor. 4. Left to ourselves, we shall but stray; Oh, lead us on the narrow way, With wisest counsel guide us And give us steadfastness that we May ever faithful prove to Thee Whatever woes betide us. Come, Friend, And mend Hearts now broken, Give a token Thou art near us, Whom we trust to light and cheer us. 5. Thy heavenly strength sustain our heart That we may act the valiant part With Thee as our Reliance, Be Thou our Refuge and our Shield That we may never quit the field, But bid all foes defiance. Descend, Defend From all errors and earth's terrors; Thy salvation Be our constant consolation. 6. O mighty Rock, O Source of Life, Let Thy dear Word, mid doubt and strife, Be strong within us burning That we be faithful unto death, In Thy pure love and holy faith, From Thee true wisdom learning. Thy grace And peace On us shower; By Thy power Christ confessing, Let us win our Savior's blessing. 7. O gentle Dew, from heaven now fall With power upon the hearts of all, Thy tender love instilling, That heart to heart more closely bound, In kindly deeds be fruitful found, The law of love fulfilling; Dwell thus In us. Envy banish; Strife will vanish Where Thou livest. Peace and love and joy Thou givest. 8. Grant that our days, while life shall last, In purest holiness be passed, Be Thou our Strength and Tower. From sinful lust and vanity And from dead works set Thou us free In every evil hour. Keep Thou Pure now From offenses Heart and senses; Blessed Spirit! Let us heavenly life inherit. _______________________________________________________ Notes: Hymn #235 from _The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal_ Text: Is. 11:2 Author: Michael Schirmer, 1640, alt. Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt. Titled: "O Heil'ger Geist, kehr bei uns ein" Tune: "Wie schoen leuchtet" Composer: Philipp Nicolai, 1599 ______________________________________________________________ This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: bob_smith@ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (219) 452-2148 Fax: (219) 452-2126 ______________________________________________________________