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Welcome to Christ Church, Blacklands & St. Andrew, Laton Road, Hastings
And Also
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD.
Canadian Army (1872-1918)
The history of a hymn
The Day Thou Gavest
Queen Victoria chose this hymn to be sung in Westminster Abbey for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It is an evening hymn, written by a vicar in Crewe for missionary meetings. Nineteenth century Christians were confident that even if Victoria’s empire crumbled, Christ’s kingdom would remain.
The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at thy behest;
To thee our morning hymns ascended;
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day or night.
As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.
The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.
So be it Lord, thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away;
Thy Kingdom stands, and grows forever,
Till all thy creatures own thy sway.
Words: John Ellerton (1826-93), in "A Liturgy for Missionary Meetings", 1870. It was sung also at the ceremony when Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Music: St. Clement, by Clement C. Scholefield (1839-1904), written for this text and first published in Church Hymns with Tunes, 1874