Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Isaiah 40:15
To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King was written in 1941, seventy-five years ago, by Father Martin B. Hellriegel, a German-American pastor in Saint Louis, as a direct response to the pretensions of the Third Reich and to remind people who actually reigns eternally. We Americans have traditionally understood that God is in charge: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Abraham Lincoln ringingly set forth what this section of the Declaration means: “These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. [Applause.] Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows.”
Nothing could be further from the nightmarish ideas that fueled the Third Reich, and Father Martin B. Hellriegel in his magnificent hymn conveys this majestic conception of God and of humanity under God:
To Jesus Christ, our Sov’reign King,
Who is the world’s salvation,
All praise and homage do we bring,
And thanks and adoration.
Refrain: Christ Jesus Victor, Christ Jesus Ruler!
Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer!
2. Thy reign extend, O King benign,
To ev’ry land and nation,
For in Thy kingdom, Lord divine,
Alone we find salvation.
(Refrain)
3. To Thee and to Thy Church, great King,
We pledge our hearts’ oblation,
Until before Thy throne we sing,
In endless jubilation.
Thanks Donald. Good meditation before tomorrow’s feast day ending this tumultuous year where, thanks be to God, we dodged the bullet due, I am sure , to the many prayers to Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King and his mother.
Vivat Christus Rex!
I love being a Catholic.
Thank you for the music.
God bless.
We attend the early “quiet” Mass at the mission on Sundays. When we occasionally do sing I always check the notes at the bottom of the hymn. Unfortunately there is little except the name or names of the lyricist and the composer. If a folk tune is reused that’s not often mentioned. Thank you explaining the background of Christ The King.
Mobile, AL used to be quite a Catholic city (don’t know about now) when I was in high school many years ago. On the Feasts of Christ the King and Corpus Christi the student bodies of the Catholic schools, grade and high, black and white, marched with their bands en masse past the bishop’s residence to the Cathedral. Perhaps the bishop addressed the parade; I don’t remember. My family moved the summer before my junior year so I have no idea if the parades continue. My guess is only the bands participate and it’s only in Mardi Gras parades.
I didn’t know the history of the song. Thanks for posting this.