Holy Holy Holy Lyrics
by Reginald Heber (1783-1826)
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty;
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see;
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty;
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
In the 19th century, clergy in the Church of England were often expected to write a hymn related to the season of the church year or to the topic of the homily of a particular Sunday. Heber wrote this hymn for Trinity Sunday, which occurs eight weeks after Easter.
The doctrine of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—is central in the Nicene Creed and is accepted by Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and most major Protestant denominations.
Also, the Nicene Creed was crafted in 325 at an ecumenical council of Christian clerics meeting in the ancient city of Nicaea, which was East of Constantinople in the province of Bithynia, in Northwest Asia Minor. John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876) composed the tune—appropriately named Nicaea—that is now most often paired with this hymn in modern hymnals.