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Mit Lust so will
ich singen
Mein Herz freut sich in Gott
Der mir viel Kunst thut bringen,
Dasz ich entrinn dem Tod
Der ewiglich nimmet kein End.
Ich preiz dich Christ vom Himmel,
Der mir mein Kummer wend. |
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With gladness
will I sing now;
My heart delights in God,
Who showed me such forbearance
That I from death was saved
Which never has an end.
I praise you, Christ in heaven
Who all my sorrow changed.
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Felix
Manz, who wrote the words, "Mit Lust so will ich singen" ("With
gladness will I now sing'), was one of the founders of the
Anabaptist movement on January 21, 1525. On the next day, Manz
began his brief but intense activity as an Anabaptist evangelist, a
two-year career, repeatedly interrupted by arrests, trials, and
imprisonments. It was during his final imprisonment that he
apparently remembered the first line and tune of a Roaman Catholic
hymn in honor of Mary, and using that framework, wrote his praise to
Christ, who would deliver him from an eternal death, even though a
mortal death awaited him here on earth.
From
"Handbook to the Anabaptist Hymnal" |
