Christian Reflection and Prayer

Christ is our Redeemer

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

He was despised and rejected — a man of
sorrows, acquainted with the bitterest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the
other way when he went by.
Isaiah 53:3 NLT

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and
shame weighed down, now scornfully
surrounded with thorns Thine only crown; how
pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse
and scorn! How does that visage languish
which once was bright as morn!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee,
dearest Friend, for this Thy dying sorrow, Thy
pity without end? O make me Thine forever;
and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never,
never outlive my love to Thee.
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)

A profoundly personal and awesome vision

Although Bernard was one of the most
influential Christians of the Middle Ages,
settling disputes between kings and influencing
the selection of popes, he remained a devout
monk, single-minded in his devotion to Christ.

In his own day Bernard was known as a
preacher and churchman; today he is
remembered for his hymns of praise. "O Sacred
Head, Now Wounded" comes from a poem
originally having seven sections, each focusing
on a wounded part of the crucified Savior's body —
His feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and
head. The text of this hymn compels us to gaze
at the cross until the depth of God's love overwhelms
us. Bernard's hymn pictures God's love, not as an
abstract theological statement, but as a profoundly
personal and awesome vision of the suffering Christ.

Our Holy Week readings are adapted from The One
Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert
Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995).