One of my favorite hymns is “Be Thou My Vision”. In fact, a former choir member asked me on Sunday, are you going to play “Be Thou My Vision” again today? I love it because it reminds me of the times I attended church camp in Wisconsin Dells when I was a kid. We sang it a lot.
The following history of this hymn was taken from “Then Sings My Soul” by Robert J. Morgan.
Only one missionary is honored with a global holiday— St. Patrick, missionary to Ireland. Patrick was born in 373 in Scotland. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest. When he was 16, raiders descended on his little town and torched his home. When one of the pirates spotted him in the bushes, he was seized, hauled aboard ship, and taken to Ireland as a slave. There he gave his life to Jesus.
Patrick eventually escaped and returned home. His overjoyed family begged him to stay. One night, in a dream Patrick saw an Irishman pleading with him to come evangelize Ireland. Patrick, about 30, returned to his captors with the Latin Bible in his hand. As he evangelized the hillsides, multitudes came to listen to him. Patrick became one of the most fruitful evangelists of all time, planting 200 churches and baptizing 100,000 converts.
The Irish church in turn produced hymns, prayers, sermons, and songs of worship. An unknown poet wrote the words for “Be Thou My Vision”. It was then set to an Irish tune “Slane”, an area in Ireland where Patrick challenged local Druids with the gospel.
It is one of our oldest and most moving hymns:
“Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of my heart,
Naught be all else to me save that Thou Art.
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light
On St Patrick’s Day, I will think of this hymn and the gift it has been in my life.
