Composed in Greek, the Phos Hilaron (late 3rd - early 4th c) - is the earliest known Christian hymn outside of the bible. The hymn is used at the start of First Vespers - Saturday Evening Prayer - beginning the weekly celebration of Sunday - the day of the Lord's Resurrection. As the hymn accompanies the entrance of light into the darkened church, it is sometimes called the Candle Light Hymn. An English translation is found here.
O Gladsome Light
of the holy glory
of the immortal Father,
heavenly,
holy,
blessed Jesus Christ.
Now we have come
to the setting of the sun,
and behold the light of evening.
We praise God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For it is right at all times
to worship Thee with joyful voices,
O Son of God
and Giver of Life,
therefore all the universe glorifies Thee.
But I would suggest the theme of the Living Light of Jesus invading the darkness, is much bigger than an ancient candle-lighting hymn. These are dark days for the nation, the Church, indeed, the planet. Here's my prayer which acknowledges the deep darkness. But rather than succumbing to despair and cynicism, I want to call upon Christ - the Gladsome Light.
The profound darkness of
the ones who have no conscience—their goal is simply, to get away with it.
the ones who never examine themselves,
the ones who have no love - except for the love of money.
who grab all they can,
who make subtle threats that un-nerve people—threats of war,
who are chaos-makers,
who know nothing of apologies,
who conceal the statistics of disaster.
O Radiant Light of the holy glory
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the degraded,
the disappeared,
the enslaved,
the detained,
the wrongfully imprisoned,
the wrongfully executed,
the traumatized,
the ones who have been stripped of everything.
O Joyful Light of the holy glory
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
lies to protect money, power, prestige,
of sex that exploits,
of domestic violence that terrorizes children,
of a hundred people dying of gun violence every day and nothing is done,
of those who sign off on death,
who toe the party line,
who "just follow orders,"
who shred documents,
who hate people of color,
who fear neither God nor man.
O Gracious Light of the holy glory
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the conspire-rs,
hustlers,
grifters,
who rehearse their defenses,
who make life impossible for others, causing them to flee,
wheeler - dealers,
drugsters,
purveyors of weapons that blow up children and the elderly left behind,
the new criminals of the cyber world,
bullies and taunters.
O Gentle Light of the holy glory,
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the apologist who hopes to end all conversation,
the poacher who steals trees, animals and even children,
the system we worship that trains young people to become killing machines,
the empires which steal,
the haters of Jews,
the power signature,
the deciders who leave the planet more vulnerable,
that thinking which holds, "I have nothing to learn from them."
O Gladening Light of the holy glory,
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the ones who have no conscience—their goal is simply, to get away with it.
the ones who never examine themselves,
the ones who have no love - except for the love of money.
who grab all they can,
who make subtle threats that un-nerve people—threats of war,
who are chaos-makers,
who know nothing of apologies,
who conceal the statistics of disaster.
O Radiant Light of the holy glory
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the degraded,
the disappeared,
the enslaved,
the detained,
the wrongfully imprisoned,
the wrongfully executed,
the traumatized,
the ones who have been stripped of everything.
O Joyful Light of the holy glory
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
lies to protect money, power, prestige,
of sex that exploits,
of domestic violence that terrorizes children,
of a hundred people dying of gun violence every day and nothing is done,
of those who sign off on death,
who toe the party line,
who "just follow orders,"
who shred documents,
who hate people of color,
who fear neither God nor man.
O Gracious Light of the holy glory
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the conspire-rs,
hustlers,
grifters,
who rehearse their defenses,
who make life impossible for others, causing them to flee,
wheeler - dealers,
drugsters,
purveyors of weapons that blow up children and the elderly left behind,
the new criminals of the cyber world,
bullies and taunters.
O Gentle Light of the holy glory,
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
The profound darkness of
the apologist who hopes to end all conversation,
the poacher who steals trees, animals and even children,
the system we worship that trains young people to become killing machines,
the empires which steal,
the haters of Jews,
the power signature,
the deciders who leave the planet more vulnerable,
that thinking which holds, "I have nothing to learn from them."
O Gladening Light of the holy glory,
heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ!
