As the Sun Doth Daily Rise
As the sun doth daily rise
The second stanza's petition for 'living bread' connects the morning office directly to the Eucharist — the bread that 'day by day' sustains is both the physical daily bread of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:11) and the Bread of Life of John 6. This Eucharistic dimension of morning prayer reflects the early church's practice of Eucharist at morning assembly. The third stanza's 'not by sword or staff of life but by thine own power and word' is a statement of Lutheran theology avant la lettre: protection comes through word and sacrament, not through human might.
History & Background
This morning hymn draws on the Ambrosian tradition and was rendered in its current English form by John Ellerton (1826-1893), the English hymnographer who also wrote 'The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended.' Ellerton was one of the principal contributors to Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) and was a tireless worker for the improvement of English congregational hymnody. This text, set to the ancient Ambrosian melody, brings together the sunrise imagery of the ancient office tradition with the specific petitions of the Lord's Prayer — daily bread, protection from evil, the peace of divine presence. The Aeterne Rerum Conditor melody, which Ambrose himself may have composed or adapted, is one of the oldest surviving Western hymn tunes and has been in continuous use for office hymnody since the 4th century. In the Sarum Rite and Roman Rite it was used for Sunday Lauds.
Hymnal Appearances
- The Hymnal 1982 — 6
Bulletin Note
Ambrosian tradition, c.387; English rendering by John Ellerton (1826-1893). Tune: AETERNE RERUM CONDITOR, ancient Ambrosian melody.
Preaching Connection
'So when thou art our morning guest' — the morning office is not our invitation to God but our reception of the Guest who was already there before we woke.
Catechism & Confessional Connections
- The Fourth Petition Small Catechism — The Lord's Prayer
Themes
morning sunrise daily bread protection Eucharist Lord's Prayer divine presence office