Hymn Story: The Day of Resurrection
The Day of Resurrection was originally written in Greek.
St. John Damascene, known also as John of Damascus, was born somewhere around AD 655 and died around AD 745. Some historians believe he may have lived to over 100 but we do not know for sure.
According to tradition, he was a monk at the St. Sabbas Monastery. He is considered one of the most important hymnagraphers of the Eastern Church.
J. M. Neale translated the hymn into English. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health prevented him from serving a parish. He worked at a retirement home for poor men for two decades and extended his ministry to widow’s and orphan’s. He wrote a number of books and hymns by the time he died in 1866.
Diana, thank you for sharing all of these stories behind the music. It is fascinating. Interestingly, when I was writing an article for GodTubes recently, the assignment was regarding a little singer who was singing a Dottie Rambo worship song. And, when I went to do a little research for the piece, your post about the song came up. I thought that was so cool!