Lord, hear the praises of thy faithful people

This is my 29th upload in the Lenten Hymn-of-the Day project.

Thursday, March 19th is the feast of St. Joseph of Nazareth. Considering the importance of Joseph in the overall scheme of things, he often gets shortchanged in having his day observed.

For one thing, it's ALWAYS in Lent, and for another, it comes right after St. Patrick's day.

At any rate, this very nice melody, "Coelites Plaudant" is from the "Rouen Antiphoner", 1728, and harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) This melody is more commonly sung on the feast of St. Michael and All Angels on September 29th, but it goes perfectly with these words, which were co-authored by the Editors of the "New English Hymnal".

There is ONE FULL VERSE for the INTRODUCTION.

Lord, hear the praises of thy faithful people
Gathered to honour, on this holy feast-day,
Joseph, thy servant, guardian of the Christ-child,
Husband of Mary.

Second in honour to the Virgin Mother,
Gladly he yielded to his high vocation,
When in a vision he was told the story
Of her conception.

And when the Saviour, whom prophetic voices
Long had predicted, lay within the manger,
Mother and Infant, by his strong protection,
Rested securely.

May his example give to us thy servants
Love of Christ Jesus, bringer of salvation,
That with Saint Joseph we at length may praise thee
In life eternal.

Almighty Father, unto thee be glory,
With Christ our Saviour and the Holy Spirit,
From all thy people, here and in thy heaven,
Now and for ever. Amen.