Praise to the Holiest in the height

This is my 18th upload in the Lenten Hymn-of-the-Day Project. It is also the Third Sunday in Lent.

These matchless words were written by
Blessed John Henry Newman CO (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890), also referred to as Cardinal Newman, was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s.

Originally an evangelical Oxford academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman was a leader in the Oxford Movement. This influential grouping of Anglicans wished to return the Church of England to many Catholic beliefs and forms of worship traditional in the medieval times to restore ritual expression. In 1845 Newman left the Church of England and was received into the Catholic Church.

He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved into University College, Dublin, today the largest university in Ireland.

These words come from the poem, "The Dream of Gerontius", (hence the name of the tune), which was set to music in 1900 by Edward Elgar. He wrote the popular hymns "Lead, Kindly Light" and "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" (taken from Gerontius).

The tune, composed by John Bacchus Dykes (10 March 1823 Kingston upon Hull – 22 January 1876 Ticehurst, Sussex) an English clergyman and hymnist. He studied at Wakefield and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, earning a BA in Classics in 1847. He cofounded the Cambridge University Musical Society. For a short time, he was canon of Durham Cathedral, then precentor (1849 – 1862). In 1862 he became vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham, until his death in 1876. He published numerous sermons and articles on religion; however, he is best known for over 300 hymn tunes he composed, many of which are still beloved and in wide use.