It has the word "sword" in it twice. That's why. :)

Also, although Chesterton and all his pre-humous published works are public domain in the US and Canada, I'm fairly sure that the situation is more complex in the UK.

Also, it's a bit of a reply or riposte to Kipling's hymn, and people don't get that any more.

Also, some people think Chesterton is a bad guy or irrelevant, or they've never heard of him. They have been putting together the hymnals.

I do think it's pretty funny that Chesterton, big fan of sleep, asks God to deliver us from sleep in even a symbolic fashion. :)

Sure beats,

Sing a bad song unto the Lord.
Let your notes be flat and text inane...

It would go well with MUNICH, I think.

Maureen,

Bristish copyright for authors is author's death + 70 years. That would put the hymn out of UK copyright three years ago :-)

I'd better add the formal disclaimer common under these circumstances that I'm not a lawyer.

Given it's authorship, why isn't it in more Catholic hymnals?

Probably because it was written in 1906. The author converted to Catholicism in 1922. Similarly, most of Newman's earlier works were banned at one time.

For the record, I would not want anything I did before my conversion to be considered an example of Catholic anything.

Timing - BS! Sorry. But if that's the logic to follow the Catholic Bible would be without a significant number of Books!

A number of Anglicans were "on their way" towards Catholicism as they produced good "Catholic" hymn-texts. Give me a break!

Nope, sorry. We already got "Firmly I believe and Truly". You can't have it.

Steve, what books are those?

I guess ST. Paul's words would not be acceptable either. I seem to remember something about Armor? and swords ? :)
And if the criterion is that the words must be written by a Catholic, then what about the music? RVW was a professed agnostic most of his life, yet a composer of some of our favortie Tunes, ie 'Kings Lynn' , Kingsfold' and of course 'Sine nomine'

Donna

St. Paul died by the sword, and it is included in his church heraldry and symbolism. It is always pictures as a straight bladed, two-edged sword - not a sabre. The "two-edged sword" is from the Old Testament.

Around the 4th century, the Jews decided to delete from their scripture any thing not written in Judea, and/or not written in Hebrew. Many protestant denominations then followed suit by deleting them from their version of the Bible. This whole set of books is commonly known as "The Apocrypha". It IS a part of the Catholic Bible. And it was left our of other "Bibles" because the lame reasoning above - call it medieval "political correctness, or whatever.

One of the things so obviously missing from our contemporary understanding of God's Creation is the concept of the "Church Triumphant" (souls in heaven, seeing God), the "Church Expectant" (souls in purgatory, on their way to heaven), and the "Church Militant" (those still living on earth in body and soul). IMO we need more of that concept here on earth, especially right now.

I agree with Yurodivi that its challenging, and that is good for us. But I also find it incomplete, specifically too temporal. I feel this text is too tied down to earth and its political woes to serve well in the heavenly liturgy. Had GKC included a verse about the transcendent, saving power of God, had he pointed to eternity or glanced upwards, I'd be more excited about the hymn. The third verse hints at this, but falls short.

While I wouldn't use it for this reason, I also wouldn't object to its inclusion.

"O God of earth and altar" and "For all the saints" are some of the many hymns in The Hymnal 1940 vetted and authorised by the Holy See for the Anglican Use parishes in the States ad experimentum as all such things are. I don't believe any of the contemporary missalettes and current Catholic hymnals in the States -with respect to the hymn texts - have undergone such scrutiny by the Holy See.

I think chonak raises a good point.

This text seems so appropriate for our times. I would think that a person in the pews, who may not be a literary scholar, will take the images as they come and use their own experience to make meaning of the verses.

The last two lines of the hymn may be interpreted to mean ...

lift up a living nation, (Lift up a living people)
a single sword to thee. (think cross instead of sword.)

To me the images are very powerful. It could be a theme song for conflict resolution in a parish, between political movements, nations, etc.

Now the real problem. When would you sing this at a Mass? It has a big agenda and to me, agendas, even if they are well-intentioned, don't work in the Mass.

I may suggest this to our JustFAITH classes to use as a meditation/prayer.

@jhoffman - You are very right about the sword as "cross". The raising of the sword as a gesture of the ancient knights was to turn the sword upside down so that it was a cross. This gesture in chivalry also has its counterpart in the raising of the sword upright for the Sovereign or otherwise honoured individuals.

@Jam - "Walls of Gold" ... greed, filthy luchre, or perhaps as is said today "banksters". Also, it is the opposite image of the City of God as in a city of man that imprisons and destroys as opposed to the heavenly City where all are free in Christ.

I believe that is the connexion he wants us to make: "streets" vs. "walls" & 'the joyful life of the City of God' as opposed to the 'City of Man' where the golden walls "entomb us".

While its sentiments, or the things for which it prays, are noble and good, and its imagery rich and somewhat biblical, I cannot think of a given mass at which its use would be 'proper'. It is entirely too 'state' oriented and reeking between the lines of nationalism when not (in-aptly for liturgical use) more focused on us and our woes than upon God. It is a good example of the social-gospel writing of the early XX. century, which I put in the same category as J R Lowell's earlier 'Once to Every Man and Nation'. I say this as a Chesterton admirer who thinks this poem would be best used in some extra-liturgical context. It isn't, really, a Hymn.

A hymn is, by definition, a song (a paean, if you will) in praise of or to God or some supposed deity. St Augustine, while not the first nor the last to recognise this, put it most succinctly: a hymn is 'song + praise + God'. We do, of course, sing many 'hymns' which do not fit this definition. Bianco da Sienna's incomparable 'Come Down, O Love Divine' comes immediately to mind. There are countless others of varying quality and aptness which fall more properly into the category of spiritual songs rather than that of hymns. This one is a rather wrenching cry of deliverance from our vividly described corruptions and, at best, is actually a prayer. I would disagree with my esteemed friend that it is a hymn, which extols only the All Holy, or that it is lectionarily appropriate or 'proper' at mass.

This is a very simple hymn tune I composed for use with this hymn. It is written a little low since I write for a male-only choir. I had been working on an accompaniment for this but I never finished it (or at least put it on paper).