Hymn of the week: “Be Thou My Vision”

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

For the second week of Lent we bring to you one of our favorite hymns. The lyrics to “Be Thou My Vision” are a prayerful request for God to keep our hearts and our minds on the virtues of our faith, while the victorious melody foreshadows the triumph of all our endeavors with the help of God.

Based on an an old Irish text, “Rop tú mo Baile,” the words are commonly attributed to St. Dallán Forgaill, who in turn was most likely inspired to write it by St. Patrick. The lyrics were translated into English by Eleanor Hull, in 1912. The hymn became popular after the text was set to an old Irish melody called “Slane.”

Read more:
Nathan Pacheco’s operatic rendition of “Be Thou My Vision”