Thursday, July 25, 2013

"Es kommt ein Schiff geladen" in English Translation by Brigitte

Please note, that the translation below has been made by myself, and, therefore, you may use it as you please.  Some attribution may be good so people can ask me questions if they need to.  My last name is Mueller.

A ship is coming
fully loaded to the very brim
bearing the Son of God, full of grace,
the Father's eternal Word.

The ship is moving steadily,
it bears a treasured freight,
Love is its very sail,
the Holy Ghost its mast.

And now the anchor touches ground;
the ship arrives on land.
For us, the Word becomes now flesh.
The Son is sent, for us.

In Bethlehem He is born;
in a stable He becomes a child.
He gives himself as lost on our behalf.
Let us praise Him! 

Whoever will receive this child,
embrace and kiss Him dearly, 
must also surely suffer with Him,
and endure much pain and torture.

After this, he must also die with Him,
and rise with Him spiritually,
in this manner to inherit eternal life,
just as happened with Him. 


Here is a modern performance of the hymn:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tQb8pcj-aw#at=12


My hymnbook says that the hymn is by Daniel Sudermann, 1626, based on Johannes Tauler's work.  Johannes Tauler according to Wikipedia was:

Johannes Tauler (c. 1300 in Strasbourg – 15 June 1361) was a German mystic, a Catholic preacher and a theologian. A disciple of master Eckhart, he belonged to the Dominican order. Tauler was known as one of the most important Rhineland Mystics. He promoted a certain neo-platonist dimension in the Dominican spirituality of his time.

4 comments:

Rita Vas said...

Dear Brigitte,

thank you so much for your help and permission! This is just wonderful!
Of course we will insert your name in the booklet.
What a nice coincidence that you were born here at the Bergstraße ;-) Do you still visit Germany sometimes?
If you are interested in this Christmas-CD, which we are planning to release within a few months, I would like to send you a link.

I'm very happy to get to know you this way!

Thank you again!

Kind regards from Darmstadt,
Rita

Brigitte said...

Hello Rita:

You are very welcome. We don't come to Germany often enough I should say. Most of my relatives live there and there are many of them!

I will be happy to receive your link. All the best with your project! I look forward to having a look at it.

What I am missing in my life still is a nice CD of the most well-known Kirchenlieder. Something one can sing along to, not too sweet, not too grandiose, just simple and beautiful...

Yours, Brigitte

Rita Vas said...

Hello Brigitte:

I'm very happy to send you the link as soon as the CD is released by the end of this year.

In the meantime I wish you a wonderful summertime!

I guess I need to come to Canada some day. Some of my friends live there and they always say how beautiful it is.

Yours,
Rita

Brigitte said...

Indeed,indeed. Don't hesitate to look me up.

All the best, Gitte.