Hymns of the Last Sunday

The last Sunday in the Church Year contains some of my favorite hymns. We sing not only Nicolai's great "Wake, Awake!" but "Christ Is Surely Coming" (newer, and very good), "The Day Is Surely Drawing Near" (a Reformation adaptation of the medieval Dies Irae), and the lovely scandinavian "Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers." In all of them rings out the somber warning of preparation for the Day of the Lord that is sounded in all the readings appointed for the day, and yet their tone is overwhelmingly one of joy. The believer in Christ welcomes and longs for the advent of that great Day precisely becaue the believer in Christ longs for the Savior and for the complete freedom from sin which He will bring with Him as His final gift to His bride before He ushers her into the joyous and unending feast.