Be Thou My Vision

“𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙩. 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡.”

St. Dallan’s original name was Eochaid Mac Colla. The word “dallan” means “little blind one,” and Dallan earned this nickname after supposedly losing his sight from intense study. Dallan, who was a descendant of the legendary High King Colla Uais, was a famous Irish Christian monk, poet, and scholar who is believed to have penned “Rop tú mo Baile” (Be Thou My Vision). Though Dallan was killed by pirates who broke into his island monastery, his poetry lived on for centuries in the Irish monastic tradition.

In 1905, Mary Elizabeth Byrne translated the poem into English, and in 1912, Eleanor Hull versified the text of “Be Thou My Vision.” In 1927, David Evans set the hymn to the tune “Slane” (an old Irish folk tune) and published it in the Church Hymnary. “Slane” is named for a hill in County Meath, Ireland, where St. Patrick is said to have lit his famous Easter fire in 433 AD.

Legend holds that High King Logaire of Tara had decreed that no one in his kingdom could light a fire until he kicked off the pagan spring festival with a ritual fire on Tara Hill. Supposedly, Patrick defied this decree and Logaire was so fascinated by Patrick’s faith in God (as well as his willingness to risk his life in defying a powerful king) that Logaire allowed Patrick to continue his missionary work in Ireland.

𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹. In God’s timing, He took what the world ignored and made it into something beautiful. As far as man was concerned, music like Rop tú mo Baile and Slane were dead–nothing more but irrelevant fragments from antiquity. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗛𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘄. 

 

So is Be Thou my Vision an old song? Yes and no. Just like He took dusty pages of lyrics and infused it with new life, 𝗛𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁. 

 

𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. It’s the song of the new life of St. Patrick, who shined his light for Christ. It’s the song of new life in the singer’s heart, where God shines His forgiveness in a sinful soul. And it is the song of new life for the hymn itself, which millions now enjoy again after centuries of obscurity.

 

No one’s story is done whose pages rest in the hands of the Father. No song is too old that it cannot be sung again in the choir of God’s grace. 𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀. The mist descends in the hills and rises to the sky. The mossy mountains crumble and groan. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙩. 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠.

 

 

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.

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;

I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord.

Thou my great Father; thine own may I be,

thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.

Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;

thou mine inheritance, now and always;

thou and thou only first in my heart,

high King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,

may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

still be my vision, O Ruler of all.