Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

O Day of Rest and Gladness

Traditional

“O Day of Rest and Gladness” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 369 1920 · historical text
Public domainHymnSacred song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Army and Navy Hymnal, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

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O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light,

O balm of care and sadness, Most beautiful, most bright:

On thee the high and lowly, Bending before the throne,

Sing 'Holy, holy, holy', To the great Three in One.

On thee at the creation The light first had its birth;

On thee, for our salvation, Christ rose from depths of earth;

On thee, our Lord, victorious, The Spirit sent from heaven;

And thus on thee, most glorious, A triple light was given.

Today on weary nations The heavenly manna falls;

To holy convocations The silver trumpet calls,

Where gospel light is glowing With pure and radiant beams,

And living water flowing With soul refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining From this our day of rest,

We reach the rest remaining To spirits of the blest;

To Holy Ghost be praises, To Father and to Son;

The Church her voice upraises To thee, blest Three in One.

A-men.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. Historical text published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), “O Day of Rest and Gladness”

The 1920 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; traditional and anonymous entries are public domain. Pages whose scan quality is below the proofread threshold are held for review.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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