Chapter 9

Something About an Evening Hymn

O Joyful Light, of the holy Glory of the Immortal Father; Heavenly, Holy, Blessed Jesus Christ,— We having come to the setting of the sun Beholding the evening light, Hymn our God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost— Worthy art Thou at all times To be hymned with reverent voices, O Son of God, Giver of life: Wherefore the world glorifieth Thee. [Vesper Hymn— Orthodox Church.]

BEAUTIFUL words! What a fullness of expression this soft Light, that came even unto the setting of the sun, conveys to us, inhabitants of the extreme West, Christians who live just where the sun goes down after shining over the last continent of earth. I wish all of you could enjoy the sweetness of harmonious phraseology that glides all through this sublime hymn, as we have it in the Greek, or in its Slavonic translation. The poetry suffers in order to preserve the sense of the original words when translated into the English. But the thought itself is so elaborate that you catch a faint echo of the sacred music. The reason why this hymn is appropriated to evening devotion is plainly expressed in the hymn itself. The thought of Christ, the soft Light, is naturally called forth at sight of the sunset and the mellow light of lamps. Christ, by the Godhead, is an ever-existing Light, as He is the eternal brightness of God the Father, and the express image of His Being (Hebrews 1:3).

But for the salvation of humankind, He concealed His Divine glory beneath the form of a man, and in this way He became as the soft light of the evening. A comparison very striking! The haze that generally fills the evening air lessens the brightness of the sunlight. In the daytime the light of the sun is unbearable, so that one cannot look at it with an unarmed eye. But look at the same sun in the evening, and see how softly he shines. Every one may look at him plainly, admire his beauty, and the beauty of those gorgeous pictures that he forms in the clouds by the reflection of his light. And thus it is that the Son of God, unapproachable according to His divinity, has made Himself accessible to us by His humanity, through which the light of His Godhead had lessened so that we could see the Word of life with plain eyes, hear and feel Him (John 1:1); and having made Himself accessible for all. He also made the way approachable for all, through Himself, to the Heavenly Father, the Holy, the Blessed, so that they who have seen the Son have seen the Father Himself (John 15:9).

The Eastern light has come to the West to the uttermost Western end! And blessed be they who, with a clear vision, perceive this light just as it shines in the East. This light, although it came from the East, did not change, but while it shines in the West, it continues to be the light of the East. It is the Eternal Light. Christ, who is the East Himself, laid down Himself as the chief cornerstone of His Church, which he established in the East, and they in the West who receive this light of the East, must so shine as the light of the East would have them be enlightened but not allow themselves to be dazzled; with the glare of a false fire.

I say fire, but not light, as no light cometh from the West. Praise and glorify the Good God! See, He comes to the West from the East, that all may see by that One Light, and be saved in the bond of union, which is Love For many centuries this evening hymn has been heard in Christian temples; nor has it through all these ages, nor in the temples, lost its freshness and tenderness. It seems, rather, that with every going-down of the sun it becomes new again; at every eventide to which it pleases God to prolong our life it may stimulate our souls with new vigor, with holy thoughts, with heavenly aspiring emotion.

Do we sing this praise ourselves, or do we hear others hymn, we always feel a hallowed sweetness of heart, an elevated feeling inspires the soul. But where does the evening sun go? He does not fade away but, hidden from us, he lights up with the same brightness the other side of our earth. And so, without a doubt, does our spiritual sun, which is hidden from our eyes, always, and in like manner, shine and in all His glory in another world, is seen whereas here the eye of faith may see only the reflection of His never-setting Light.

The historic tradition which tells how this hymn was composed is most interesting: On one of the hills of Jerusalem — very likely on the same mount from which the Saviour of the world looked down upon Jerusalem in the mellow twilight, and sorrowfully conversed with His disciples of the approaching fall of the city of God — there sat, all alone, an old man, wise old Sophronius; he was the Bishop of Jerusalem — patriarch of the earliest Eastern Church he sat, and his meditative gaze was fixed on the setting sun of Palestine. The profound stillness, the fading light of the evening, the cool and invigorating air, and other impressive pictures of nature at eventide, with which the wise Sophronius loved to enjoy himself, so fixed the attention of the servant of God that he fell into a deep meditation. Before him lay Jerusalem, with which great memories of so much is connected; the rays of the sun now, as oft before, fell on that glorious city, but they never more shone down in it to light up the temple of Solomon, nor the palace of Herod, nor the strong walls and high towers of Sion. It looked dreary and desolate, — as desolate as it is in a house when the host, dead a long time, leaves no one to keep house after him. The wise Sophronius did not grieve for the ruins of the walls and temple of Jerusalem. He knew that from the fragments of the old the new Jerusalem arose, which shone out in all the world, and over which shineth the glory of the Lord; for he had once, before becoming patriarch, with a pilgrim’s staff, wended his way through Greece, Palestine, Syria, Egypt; seeing everywhere Christian cities, and everywhere finding temples consecrated to the name of the Saviour.

And so the evening light, softly falling over the remains of the ancient Jerusalem, directs the thought of the wise, grand old man and prelate to objects of more importance than the ruins of the city. As Elias of old in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12) recognized the presence of Jehovah, so does old Sophronius, philosopher and historian, orator and poet, patriarch and saint all at the same time, in the soft light of the evening twilight, mentally feel the touch of another, higher Light. The material sun, declining in the West, inclines the mind of the bishop to conceive the immaterial sun, — and the image of the holy, life-conceiving Trinity, was borne before his spiritual eyes. The Western destination of the sun brought to his memory the gloomy West of the fallen nature of mankind; the soft light of the setting sun, softly bathing in its rays tired nature at eventide, lively represents to him the descent of the Son of God unto dark humanity, that He may enlighten and resurrect it, and with it all nature. In the cool breath of the evening air he perceives the type of that grace by which the Holy Ghost, in consequence of the redemption accomplished on the Cross by Jesus Christ, quickens and spiritualizes man and the universe. The soul of the wise old man abounds in pious emotion, and with a trembling voice, a saintly voice, he sings an evening hymn to the Creator of the universe: Thou soft Light of the holy glory! Christ, my Saviour! Thou that revealed unto us the glory of the Heavenly Father! Soft Light of the holy glory, upon which the spiritual eye so loves to gaze, as the eyes of the body upon the mellow twilight! Thou wouldst save the world, and Thou hast come once upon a time unto the dark West — yea, even down unto our nature; therefore, each time when we reach the going-down of the sun, day by day, when we behold the light of the evening, we praise Thy Father, Thee the Son we praise, praise we the Holy Ghost, glorifying the Triune God. Son of God, that givest life unto us and all creatures! We should sing to Thee with reverential voices, we should fall down before Thee not only at the setting of the sun, nor only when we see the twilight, but at all times of the day and the year. Thou art the life of the world, and Thee therefore the whole world glorifies. Amen.