Palm Sunday is upon us, when we will gather to the strains of “All Glory, Laud and Honor.” The hymn has been associated with the opening liturgy of this day for centuries. Its author, Theodulph, Bishop of Orleans, penned the text in 820 while in prison for conspiring against King Louis of France. Legend has it that on Palm Sunday the typical procession to the church passed by the prison and Theodulph sang this hymn from his window as he watched. The king heard it and was so inspired that he released the bishop on the spot. While we do believe that the hymn was written from prison, in fact Theodolph never was released and died in prison.
The original hymn text consisted of 39 stanzas, allowing for a long procession, perhaps even from outside the city wall, through the gate and through the town to the church, reenacting Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The text follows the pattern of recalling what “they” did then and stating what “we” do now: “To you before your Passion, they sang their hymns of praise. To you, now high exalted, our melody we raise.” One rather amusing stanza has been omitted in most hymnals with good reason: “Be thou, O Lord, the rider, and we the little ass, that to God’s holy city together we may pass.”
The tune we use today was written by Melchoir Teschner in the 17th century for a different hymn, a hymn for the dying: “Valet will ich dir geben” (“O Lord, how shall I meet you”). This tune became associated with the Palm Sunday text during the 18th century and has been widely adopted in many countries.
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