Tune: Laudate Dominum [O praise ye the Lord] or
Hanover [O worship the King]
First sung at St Gregory’s Bedale, September 2003
Monk Gregory’s fame come let us report,
Whose love for his Lord inspired every thought;
Who sent his apostle to this island race
To strengthen the English, to win them to grace.
O come, let us tell how he of high birth
State office renounced for things of more worth:
Though prefect patrician, his ancestral home
Converted to serve the poor people of Rome;
Though Bishop and Pope, chose monk to remain,
Defended the weak, deplored wrongful gain;
Sought justice with mercy, just judgments set forth,
And Benedict’s teachings spread wide west and north.
God’s consul to be, God’s servants to serve,
Was all his desire, deep peace to preserve.
His care and his writings, his notes firm and strong,
Enrich still our serving, our worship, our song.
May we who today his legacy share
Be patient and bold to live out God’s care:
Inspired by example, from slavery free,
Not Angles but angels, God’s messengers be.
As echo these walls with centuries’ praise,
His deeds we recall from far distant days:
The best of the Romans a pattern we find
For honouring Jesus with heart, soul and mind.
© Robin Brown 2006
