Hebrews 13:7: "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith."
2 Timothy 4:8: "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."
Revelation 4:8-11: "8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!' 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 'Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.'"
Revelation 7:9-17: "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!' 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'
"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?' 14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"
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The framing text is public domain:
By all Your saints in warfare,
For all Your saints at rest,
Your holy name, O Jesus,
Forevermore be blest!
For You have won the battle
That they might wear the crown;
And now they shine in glory
Reflected from Your throne.
Insert the stanza appropriate to the day.
Then let us praise the Father+++
And worship God the Son
And sing to God the Spirit,
Eternal Three in One,
Till all the ransomed number
Fall down before the throne,
Ascribing pow'r and glory
And praise to God alone.
The verse from Hebrews seems more to inform the hymn generally than to appear in any specific part of it.
The "crown of righteousness" from 2 Timothy 4:8 appears in the first verse, and the third verse comes from the texts from Revelation.
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Below are the stanzas to be inserted (most of which are public domain). I went through them individually, but since some are a bit general, I don't have any remarks.
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Saints and Martyrs (general)
Apostles, prophets, martyrs,
And all the noble throng
Who wear the spotless raiment
And raise the ceaseless song -
For these, passed on before us,
We offer praises due
And, walking in their footsteps,
Would live our lives for You.
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The lines "Who wear the spotless raiment / And raise the ceaseless song" come from the Revelation 7 text.
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St. Andrew, Apostle
All praise, O Lord, for Andrew,
The first to welcome You,
Whose witness to his brother
Named You Messiah true.
May we, with hearts kept open
To You throughout the year,
Confess to friend and neighbor
Your advent ever near.
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"The first to welcome You, / Whose witness to his brother / Named You Messiah true" is drawn from John 1:40-42: "40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 'So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas' (which means Peter)."
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St. Thomas, Apostle
All praise, O Lord, for Thomas,
Whose short-lived doubtings prove
Your perfect twofold nature,
The fullness of Your love.
To all who live with questions
A steadfast faith afford;
And grant us grace to know You,
True man, yet God and Lord.
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Thomas' doubting is detailed in John 20:24-29.
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St. Stephen, Martyr
Praise for the first of martyrs
Who saw You ready stand
To help in time of torment,
To plead at God's right hand.
Like You, our suff'ring Savior,
His enemies he blessed,
With "Lord, receive my spirit,"
His faith, by death, confessed.
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The stoning of Stephen appears in Acts 7:54-60.
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St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
For Your belov'd disciple
Exiled to Patmos' shore,
And for his faithful record,
We praise You evermore.
Praise for the mystic vision
Through him to us revealed;
May we, in patience waiting,
With Your elect be sealed.
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"The mystic vision" refers to all of Revelation. "Exiled to Patmos' shore" seems to come from Revelation 1:9: "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus."
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Holy Innocents, Martyrs
All praise for infant martyrs,
Whom Your mysterious love
Called early from their warfare
To share Your home above.
O Rachel, cease your weeping;
They rest from earthly cares!
Lord, grant us crowns as brilliant
And faith as sure as theirs.
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This comes from Matthew 2:16-18: "16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what as spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 'A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.'" The citation is of Jeremiah 31:15.
The "crowns" at the end seems to be a reference back to 2 Timothy 4:8.
The "crowns" at the end seems to be a reference back to 2 Timothy 4:8.
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The Confession of St. Peter
Praise for Your great apostle
So eager and so bold,
Thrice falling, yet repentant,
Thrice charged to feed Your fold.
Lord, make Your pastors faithful
To guard Your flock from harm,
And hold them when they waver
With Your almighty arm.
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Peter's "thrice falling" appears in Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, and John 18:15-18, 25-27. His being "Thrice charged to feed Your fold" appears in John 21:15-17.
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St. Timothy and St. Titus
(not public domain text)
This verse is more general than some others, but the reference is clearly to the books of the Bible named after Timothy and Titus.
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The Conversion of St. Paul
Praise for the light from heaven+++
And for the voice of awe;
Praise for the glorious vision
The persecutor saw.
O Lord, for Paul's conversion,
We bless Your name today;
Come shine within our darkness,
And guide us on our way.
Paul's conversation appears in Acts 9:1-19.
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St. Matthias, Apostle
For one in place of Judas,+++
Th'apostles sought God's choice;
The lot fell to Matthias
For whom we now rejoice.
May we like true apostles
Your holy Church defend,
And not betray our calling
But serve You to the end.
This occurs in Acts 1:12-26.
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St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus
(not public domain text)
This verse is also a bit unspecific, but I think the best citation, specifically for "guardian," would be Matthew 2:13-15: "13 Now when they [the wise men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.' 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'"
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St. Mark, Evangelist
For Mark, O Lord, we praise You,
The weak by grace made strong,
Whose labors and whose Gospel
Enrich our triumph song.
May we, in all our weakness,
Reflect Your servant life
And follow in Your footsteps,
Enduring cross and strife.
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St. Philip and St. James, Apostles
We praise You, Lord, for Philip,
Blest guide to Greek and Jew,
And for young James the faithful,
Who heard and followed You.
O grant us grace to know You,
The way, the truth, the life,
To wrestle with temptation,
To triumph in the strife.
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"The way, the truth, the life" comes from John 14:6.
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St. Barnabas, Apostle
For Barnabas we praise You,
Who kept Your law of love
And, leaving earthly treasures,
Sought riches from above.
O Christ, our Lord and Savior,
Let gifts of grace descend,
That Your true consolation
May through the world extend.
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This seems to be from Acts 4:36-37: "36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet."
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The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
We praise You for the Baptist,
Forerunner of the Word,
Our true Elijah, making
A highway for the Lord.
The last and greatest prophet,
He saw the dawning ray
Of light that grows in splendor
Until the perfect day.
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The birth of John the Baptist is in Luke 1. "Our true Elijah" seems to come from verse 17: "'and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.'" "Making / A highway for the Lord" appears in Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23, all of which are citing Isaiah 40:3.
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St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles
We praise You for Saint Peter;
We praise You for Saint Paul;
They taught both Jew and Gentile
That Christ is all in all.
To cross and sword they yielded
And saw Your kingdom come;
O God, these two apostles
Reached life through martyrdom.
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St. Mary Magdalene
All praise for Mary Magdalene,
Whose wholeness was restored
By You, her faithful master,
Her Savior and her Lord.
On Easter morning early
A word from You sufficed;
For she was first to see You,
Her Lord, the risen Christ.
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"Whose wholeness was restored" seems to refer to Luke 8:2: "And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out." "A word for You sufficed" alludes to John 20:11-18, where Jesus appears to Mary after His resurrection.
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St. James the Elder, Apostle
O Lord, for James we praise You,
Who fell to Herod's sword;
He drank the cup of suff'ring
And thus fulfilled Your word.
Lord, curb our vain impatience
For glory and for fame,
Equip us for such suff'rings
As glorify Your name.
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"The cup of suff'ring" refers to Matthew 20:20-28 and Mark 10:35-45, where James and John ask to sit at Jesus' right and left in heaven and - in reply - He asks them if they are able to drink the cup that He drinks.
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St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord
We sing with joy of Mary,
Whose heart with awe was stirred
When, youthful and astonished,
She heard the angel's word.
Yet she her voice upraises
To magnify God's name,
As once for our salvation
Your mother she became.
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The two events described here are Gabriel's announcement to Mary (Luke 1:26-38) and the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).
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St. Bartholomew, Apostle
All praise for him whose candor
Through all his doubt You saw
When Philip at the fig tree
Disclosed You in the law.
Discern, beneath our surface,
O Lord, what we can be,
That by Your truth made guileless,
Your glory we may see.
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This seems to refer to John 1:43-51, where Philip goes to Nathanael who is under the fig tree and tells him about Jesus. The study notes in my Bible explain that Nathanael is "probably Bartholomew, paired with Philip in the other Gospels (Mt 10:3; Mk 3:18; Lk 6:14; cf. Ac 1:13)."
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The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist
(not public domain text)
John's death is detailed in Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29, although the hymn verse doesn't draw very much from these accounts. As with the verse for his nativity, there's a reference to Isaiah 40:3.
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St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Praise, Lord, for him whose Gospel
Your human life declared,
Who, worldly gain forsaking,
Your path of suff'ring shared.
From all unrighteous mammon,
O raise our eyes anew
That we in our vocation
May rise and follow You.
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This isn't particularly related to the hymn verse, but the word mammon (μαμωνᾷ in Greek) does appear in Matthew, in the sentence "'You cannot serve God and money'" (from Matthew 6:24). According to the STEP Bible, there are actually more occurrences of this word in Luke.
"That we in our vocation / May rise and follow You" contains an echo of Matthew 16:24: "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"
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St. Luke, Evangelist
For that belov'd physician
All praise, whose Gospel shows
The Healer of the nations,
The one who shares our woes.
Your wine and oil, O Savior,
Upon our spirits pour,
And with true balm of Gilead
Anoint us evermore.
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"True balm of Gilead" is actually a reference to Jeremiah 8:22: "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?"
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St. James of Jerusalem
(not public domain text)
The first half of this verse seems to refer to Acts 15:13-21.
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St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles
Praise, Lord, for Your apostles,
Saint Simon and Saint Jude.
One love, one hope impelled them
To tread the way, renewed.
May we with zeal as earnest
The faith of Christ maintain,
Be bound in love together,
And life eternal gain.
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