Easter Light—Gladsome Light. Worship: April 19, 2026

Whether we will admit it or not, many of us are logophiles, which means that we love words. All of us have far more words in our vocabularies than we use in our daily conversation. We know what the words mean but for some reason we do not say them much. Words come into and go out of fashion and usage. One of those words that are not used much anymore is gladsome. It appears in several hymns of the Christmas season and is in the first line of the ancient evening hymn “O Gladsome Light, O Grace” (LSB 888), which dates back to the fourth century AD and was originally in the Greek language. It describes Jesus as being the ultimate gladsome light with these words: “O gladsome Light, O Grace of God the Father’s face, eternal splendor wearing: celestial, holy, blest, our Savior Jesus Christ, joyful in Thine appearing!” (LSB 888:1). Jesus, the risen Lord, is the light that brings gladness to each hour of the day. We are blessed in that we can always rejoice in His brightness!