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601. O happy band of pilgrims

1 O happy band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread
With Jesus as your fellow,
To Jesus as your head!

2 O happy if ye labour
As Jesus did for men!
O happy if ye hunger
As Jesus hungered then!

3 The cross that Jesus carried,
He carried as your due:
The crown that Jesus weareth,
He weareth it for you.

4 The faith by which ye see Him,
The hope in which ye yearn,
The love that through all troubles
To Him alone will turn.

5 The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure.
The manifold temptations
That death alone can cure;

6 What are they but His jewels,
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder
Set up to heaven on earth?

7 O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction
Shall win so great a prize!

8 To Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God Whom we adore,
Be loftiest praises given,
Now and for evermore.

Text Information
First Line: O happy band of pilgrims
Translator: J. M. Neale
Author: St. Joseph of the Studium
Language: English
Publication Date: 1920
Topic: General: Processionals
Notes: Public Domain.
Tune Information
Name: KNECHT
Composer: J. H. Knecht
Meter: 7.6.7.6
Key: F Major or modal
Notes: Public Domain.



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