Be Thou My Vision - as sung by Jack Marti

This is probably my favorite hymn from the Celtic tradition. The tune comes from a very old Irish folk song entitled "Slane" which is about a place called Slane Hill where supposedly in A.D. 433 St. Patrick defied the pagan High King Lóe­gaire of Ta­ra by lighting candles on Easter Eve. Centuries later though the tune was used for an Old Irish hymn entitled, "Rop tú mo Baile." It was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary E. Byrne, M.A., in Ériu (the journal of the School of Irish Learning), in 1905. The English text was first versified by Eleanor H. Hull, in 1912, and is now the most common text used.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor mans empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heavens joys, O bright Heavens Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Old
• Irish
• hymn
• celtic
• folk
• song
• music

[jordanthecat]

Very nice indeed, Jack. I found myself thinking of Cat Stevens while listening, though he follows a different faith. And then that last picture of Jesus got me thinking of Barry Gibb.

I should be dancing.

*****

[guitmartiman]

Cat Stevens was one of my most profound influences in my formative years. The first song that introduced me to him was a hymn, Morning Has Broken. His reason for joining Islam eludes me, but I think I can understand why he rejected "Christianity" as a religion. My hope is that he has not entirely rejected Jesus.

The last picture does bear a striking resemblance to Barry Gibb, doesn't it? LOL. That's okay. Jesus is his Savior too!

[hisblood27]

one of the best versions I've heard. Alot of the others are over done and lose their purity.

[JesusOurSalvation]

Beautiful. Thank you.

[trinbago44]

Beautifully well done.

God bless.

John.

[SmurFinPhantom]

Loved the sound of this one.

[maliredmon]

This is very beautiful! Love it!!!

[SaxeyEyes]

147...Testing, Testing...:)

[SaxeyEyes]

A vast departure from what you normally do, I miss seeing your face, and your wife's, but I LIKE it!!! One of your best, thus far, indeed.  With much love to you and your family....Love, Sister Claire

[scottklaw]

Love it. (**********)

[KatyKane]

a great hymn done in the true Celtic tradition. i enjoyed listening to your rendition very much. very nice video indeed. thank you for sharing this with us.

dia duit