536. Jesus, Refuge of the weary
Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-98
Tr. Jane F. Wilde, 1826-96
The original hymn is in Italian, entitled,
Laude al Crucifisso
1.
Iesù, sommo conforto,
Tu se’ tutto el mio amore;
El mio beato porto,
E santo redentore.
O gran bontà,
Dolce pietà,
Felice quel che teco unito sta!
2.
O quante volte offeso
T’ha l’alma e’l cor meschino!
E tu sei in croce esteso
Per salvar me tapino.
O gran bontà etc.
3.
Iesù, qual forza ha spinto
L’immensa tua bontade?
Dhe! qual amor t’ha vinto
Patir tal crudeltade?
O gran bontà etc.
4.
A te fui sempre ingrato,
E mai non fui fervente;
E tu per me impiagato
Sei stato crudelmente.
O gran bontà etc.
5.
Iesù, tu hai el mondo
Suavemente pieno
D’amor dolce e iocondo,
Che fa ogne cor sereno.
O gran bontà etc.
6.
Iesù, fammi morire
Del tuo amor vivace;
Iesù, fammi languire
Con te, Signor verace.
O gran bontà etc.
7.
Iesù, fuss’io confitto
Sopra quell’alto ligno
Dove ti veggo afflitto,
Iesù, Signor benigno.
O gran bontà etc.
8.
O Croce, fammi loco,
E le mie membra prendi,
Che del tuo sancto foco
El cor e l’alma accendi.
O gran bontà etc.
9.
Infiamma el mio cor tanto
Del tuo amor divino,
Si ch’arda dentro tanto
Che paio un serafino.
O gran bontà etc.
10.
La Croce e’l Crucifisso
Sia nel mio cor scolpito;
Et io sia sempre affisso
In gloria ove egli è ito.
O gran bontà etc.
The hymn is based on Mark 15:29, 30: “And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross.”
Savonarola of Florence, one of the greatest of medieval preachers and reformers in the Catholic Church, was destined by his parents to enter the medical profession, but after a careful study of the Scriptures and the writings of Thomas Aquinas, he decided to enter a Dominican monastery. Here he spent many years in further study and thinking out his preaching message. Living in a time when the moral tone of Christianity was at a very low ebb, Savonarola preached boldly and eloquently against the sins of a corrupt world and a corrupt church. His relentless denunciation of the pope and priests resulted in his excommunication by Pope Alexander VI, and on May 23, 1498, he was publicly executed on one of the streets of Florence. His death as a martyr proved to Luther, across the Alps, that it is “hopeless to hope in the purification of Rome,” and gave to the reformation movement a powerful impulse.
The translation of the hymn is by Jane Elgee, daughter of Archdeacon Elgee, of Ireland. In 1851 she married Sir William Wilde, an oculist living in Dublin.
MUSIC. O DU LIEBE MEINER LIEBE comes from Johann Thommen’s Erbaulicher Musikalischer Christenschatz, Basel, 1745, where it is set to the hymn, “O du Liebe meiner Leibe,” by Johann Scheffler (See [565]). The tune is also called, “Cassel,” and “Lucerne.” Like numerous other chorale tunes, it was originally a folk tune, and had been in use by the Moravian Brethren at Herrnhut. It is one of the well-known tunes in the Gesangbuch mit Noten, deserving of its popularity.