Auf diesen Tag bedenken wir (Alt, Repost, Fix)

Here I present an alteration and expansion of Miss Winkworth’s translation of the Ascension hymn “Auf diesen Tag bedenken wir” (J. Zwick, 1538), appointed for said feast in Ludecus (1589) and many other hymnals besides. I have translated the formerly lacking 3rd stanza, and heavily reworked the last to match the sense of the original more closely. This work was done in 2008. For this latest repost, I considered altering the first lines more literally thus:

This day let us in heart recall
That Christ to heav’n ascended,
And thank our God in heaven’s hall,
And pray Him to defend us

But I have left Winkworth’s words where possible, and included her original words below the German. I have also translated a missing 6th stanza, and restored the proper melody with Alleluias. (Layriz seems to have cut off the Alleluia and appointed “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr.”)



TODAY Our Lord went up on high,
And so our thanks we render:
To Him with strong desire we cry
To be our great Defender;
For we poor sinners here beneath
Are dwelling still mid woe and death.
All trust to Him we tender.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

2. Praise God that now the way is made!
In that great gate of Heaven
Hath Christ, on whom our help was laid,
A splendid passage riven,
Who knoweth this is glad at heart,
And swift prepares him to depart
Where Christ is gone before us.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

3. Who follows not, nor does His will,
Loves not the Lord, nor knows Him;
To flesh and blood the Lord may still
Bar heaven, and refuse them:
First comes true faith; if it be right,
Then will our life and walk and sight
Toward heaven be directed.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

4. Our heav’nward course begins when we,
to God the Father faring,
Are joined unto His sons, and flee
From paths of sin and erring;
For He looks down, and they look up:
They feel His love, they live in hope,
Till both shall be united.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

5. Then we this days true joy shall know
When we by God are taken,
And made like Christ, whom we below
Confess with faith unshaken,—
When bathed in joy’s eternal flood
We dwell with Him, the highest good:
May God by grace bestow it!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

6. All glory be to Christ our Lord
Who bore our condemnation
And died, and rose and life restored
And won for us salvation,
That we might not in Adam’s fall
Be lost and perish, one and all,
But very life inherit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

st. 1–2, 4–5, tr. C. Winkworth, 1858, alt.
tr. st. 3, 6 © M. Carver, 2008–2010.

GERMAN

1. Auf diesen Tag bedenken wir,
daß Christ gen Himml gefahren,
und danken Gott aus höchstr Begier,
und bittn, er woll bewahren
uns arme Sünder hie auf Erd,
die wir von wegen manchr Gefährd
ohn Hoffnung han kein Troste.
Hallelujah!

2. Drum sei Gott Lob! der weg ist gmacht,
uns steht der Himmel offen:
Christus schließt auf mit großem Pracht,
vorhin war alls verschlossen.
Wers gläubt, deß Herz ist freudenvoll,
dabei er auch sich rüsten soll,
dem Herren nachzufolgen.
Hallelujah!

3. Wer nicht folgt, noch sein’n Willen thut,
dem ists nicht ernst zum Herren:
denn er wird auch vor Fleisch und Blut
sein Himmelreich versperren:
am Glauben liegts, so der ist recht,
so wird auch gwiß das Leben schlecht
zu Gott im Himml gerichtet.
Hallelujah!

4. Solch Himmelfahrt fäht in uns an,
wenn wir den Vater funden,
und fliehen stets der Welt ih’r bahn,
thun uns zu Gottes Kindern;
die sehn hinauf und Gott herab,
an Treu und Lieb geht ihn’n nichts ab,
bis sie zusammen kommen.
Hallelujah!

5. Denn wird der Tag erst freudenreich,
wenn uns Gott zu sich nehmen,
und seinem Sohn wird machen gleich,
wie wir denn jetzt bekennen,
da wird sich finden Freud’ und Muth
in Ewigkeit beim höchsten Gut:
Gott helf, daß wir’s erlangen!
Hallelujah!

6. Preis sei der Herren Jesu Christ
der für uns ist gestorben,
der für uns auferstanden ist,
und hat das Heil erworben,
daß wird nun nicht in Adams Fall
umkommen und verderben all,
sondern das Leben erben!
Hallelujah!

WINKWORTH:

1. To-day our Lord went up on high,
And so our songs we raise;
To Him with strong desire we cry
To keep us in His grace,
For we poor sinners here beneath
Are dwelling still 'mid woe and death,
All hope in Him we place.
Hallelujah.

2. Thank God that now the way is made!
The cherub-guarded door,
Through Him on whom our help was laid,
Stands open evermore;
Who knoweth this is glad at heart,
And swift prepares him to depart
Where Christ is gone before.
Hallelujah.

4. Our heavenward course begins when we
Have found our Father, God,
And join us to His sons, and flee
The paths that once we trod;
For He looks down, and they look up,
They feel His love, they live in hope,
Until they meet their Lord.
Hallelujah.

5. Then all the depths of joy that lie
In this day we shall know,
When we are made like Him on high,
Whom we confess below,
When bathed in life's eternal flood
We dwell with Him, the highest Good:
God grant us this to know!
Hallelujah.