Ah, Holy Jesus

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1. Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate pretended? By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted!

2. Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee! 'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee.

3. Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered; the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered. For death of anguish and thy bitter passion, for my salvation.

4. For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation, thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation; thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion, for my salvation.

5. Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee, I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee, think on thy pity and thy love unswerving, not my deserving.

Words by: Johann Heermann;
trans. by Robert S. Bridges
Music by: Johann Cruger

Ah, Holy Jesus is a German hymn for Passiontide, written in 1630, and first published in Devoti Musica Cordis. The English translation was written by Robert Bridges in 1897.

Background of the hymn Ah, Holy Jesus

Written in 1630 amid the escalating horrors of the Thirty Years' War, the hymn emerged from Heermann's own experiences of loss and persecution, which mirrored the biblical narrative of undeserved suffering. Heermann explicitly based it on the medieval Latin poem Meditationes (or Quid hoc scelus, quid hoc scelus?) attributed to Jean (John) de Fécamp (c. 990–1078), a Benedictine abbot and theologian whose work meditated on Christ's Passion.

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Some sources trace the root even further to a 11th-century Latin text linked to St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), an Archbishop of Canterbury known for his scholastic theology on atonement (Cur Deus Homo?). Heermann expanded this into a 15-stanza German poem, transforming the monastic contemplation into a poignant, first-person lament that humanizes the crucifixion.

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The text grapples with the injustice of Jesus' trial ("Who is the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?"), shifts to communal confession ("'Tis I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee; I crucified Thee"), and culminates in awe at divine mercy ("From my poor, worthless heart"). Composed during a time when Silesia endured sieges and epidemics—Heermann himself lost children to illness—the hymn served as both personal prayer and communal solace, reminding beleaguered believers of Christ's solidarity in suffering. It was first published in Heermann's Devoti Musica Cordis (1630), a collection of 36 hymns for private devotion.