For All the Saints
For All the Saints is the hymn most closely tied to All Saints' Day on 1 November. Its words were written by William Walsham How, an English clergyman, and first printed in 1864; the tune most singers know today, Sine Nomine, was added by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906.
- Written by
- William Walsham How (died 1897)
- In the video
- The Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne
- Context
- Hymns for Saints' Days, and Other Hymns (1864), compiled by Earl Nelson
- Year
- first printed 1864
- Language
- English
- Added
- by Lyriccs Editorial Desk
For All the Saints lyrics
All eleven stanzas of Walsham How's text. Most hymnbooks print a shorter selection (verses 3, 5 and 6 are often omitted), and some sing "far off we hear" in place of "steals on the ear" in stanza 8.
For all the saints, who from their labours rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy Name, O Jesu, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Apostles’ glorious company, Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea, Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee: Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, And win with them the victor’s crown of gold. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Evangelists, by whose blest word, Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord, Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored. Alleluia, Alleluia!
For Martyrs, who with rapture-kindled eye, Saw the bright crown descending from the sky, And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify. Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong. Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest; Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia!
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia, Alleluia!
The story behind For All the Saints
William Walsham How (1823-1897) was born in Shrewsbury and ordained in 1846. From 1851 he was rector of Whittington in Shropshire, where he wrote most of his books and hymns. He later became suffragan Bishop of Bedford, working among the poor of East London, and finally Bishop of Wakefield.
The hymn was first printed in Hymns for Saints' Days, and Other Hymns, a collection edited by Earl Nelson and published in 1864. It was written for the feast of All Saints, the day on which the church remembers the faithful of every age, and its eleven stanzas move from the apostles, evangelists and martyrs to the hope of a final gathering of all believers.
For about forty years the words were sung to Joseph Barnby's tune Sarum. In 1906 the English Hymnal paired them with a new unison-and-harmony setting by Vaughan Williams, which he named Sine Nomine, Latin for "without name", after its use on the feast of All Saints. That tune is now the standard one in Anglican, Lutheran and many other hymnbooks, and few hymnals print all eleven stanzas: verses 3, 5 and 6 are the ones most often left out.
What For All the Saints means
The hymn is a roll call. Each stanza thanks God for a group of people who held to their faith: the first saints in general, then the apostles, the evangelists who wrote the gospels (pictured as four streams watering a garden) and the martyrs, who are shown reaching out for the crown they see coming down from heaven.
Military images run through the whole text. God is rock, fortress and captain, believers are soldiers in a long fight, and the weary hear a far-off "triumph song" that gives them courage again. The sixth and seventh stanzas turn this into a statement about fellowship: the saints in glory and the believers still struggling on earth are described as one body, "all are one in Thee".
The last three stanzas look ahead, from the calm of rest, to a new and brighter day, to a crowd streaming from every coast through the gates of pearl. Every stanza ends with the same "Alleluia", which turns remembrance into praise and is the reason the hymn works so well with a full congregation.
Quick facts
- Words by William Walsham How (1823-1897), later Bishop of Wakefield.
- First printed in Hymns for Saints' Days, and Other Hymns (1864), edited by Earl Nelson.
- Sung to Joseph Barnby's tune Sarum until Vaughan Williams's Sine Nomine appeared in the English Hymnal in 1906.
- Written for All Saints' Day, observed on 1 November (or the first Sunday of November in many churches).
- The original text has eleven stanzas; most hymnbooks print fewer.