March - Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
Lyrics
1 Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
2 Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
3 Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!
4 Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
5 Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!
6 King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!
The Story Behind Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
Charles Wesley, the co-founder of the Methodist Church, wrote "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" in 1739. It was initially titled "Hymn for Easter Day". He based it on an older anonymous Bohemian hymn titled "Jesus Christ is Risen Today".
The new hymn was first performed at the first service at the Foundry Meeting House after Wesley had adapted it into the first Methodist chapel. Following this, Wesley published it in the Hymns and Sacred Poems hymnal. It was initially written with eleven verses of four lines each. It was also published in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists hymnal.
It remains a traditional processional hymn on Easter Sunday. The hymn is characterized as leading to a more popular awareness of Alleluia being used for Easter to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.
Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems (London: Strahan, 1739), pages 209–10. The alleluias were a later addition to fit the music.
Wesley’s words were written for the first worship service at the Wesleyan Chapel in London. The chapel, on the site of a former iron foundry, became known as the Foundry Meeting House, and this hymn was included in the Foundry Collection. This exuberant song is one of the most popular Easter hymns in the English language.
Music: Easter Hymn, composer unknown, in Lyra Davidica (London: 1708)