Simply glorious

"I Vow to Thee, My Country" is one of the most beautiful of England's patriotic songs. Well, a version of the Te Deum has been set to its tune and included in the Lutheran Service Book, the most recent hymnal of the Missouri Synod and other conservative Lutheran bodies.

Here is Hymn #941 from the LSB, "We Praise You and Acknowledge You", sung as the recessional hymn at last year's Higher Things youth conference.



Incidentally, "I Vow to Thee My Country" is a song traditionally associated with Remembrance Day (the British equivalent of our Memorial Day) throughout the Commonwealth. These are its words:

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waves and waters, she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And around her feet are lying the dying and the dead;
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns;
I haste to thee, my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.