O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß


"O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde groß" is a Lutheran Passion hymn with a text written by Sebald Heyden in 1530. The author reflects the Passion of Jesus, based on the Four Evangelists, originally in 23 stanzas. The lyrics were written for an older melody, "Es sind doch selig alle, die im rechten Glauben wandeln". The first and last stanzas have appeared in 11 hymnals. Catherine Winkworth translated it as "O man, thy grievous sin bemoan". The hymn has been used in Passion music and is known in Bach's setting as a chorale fantasia closing Part I of his St Matthew Passion.

Hymn

Sebald originally wrote a reflection of the Passion of Jesus based on the four gospels in 23 stanzas of 12 lines each. The original title begins "Der Passion auß den vier Evangelisten". It reflects the Passion, narrating the stations of the cross and adding the context of Heilsbedeutung, beginning with man's sinful condition and ending with thanks.
The first stanza opens addressing the listener "O Mensch" and requesting him to remember and deplore his great sin. The following lines state that Jesus Christ left his Father's bosom, came to Earth, born of a virgin for us, wanting to become a mediator. The second half of the stanza mentions that he gave life to the dead and removed all sickness, until it became urgent that he was sacrificed for us, carrying the heavy load of our sins, long on the cross.
The melody goes back to Matthäus Greiter, around 1524, and appears in Strasbourg hymnals of 1525 and 1526 titled "Beati immaculati.Psalm 119".
Current hymnals contain only the first and last stanzas.

Musical settings

The organ chorale prelude BWV 622 by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Orgelbüchlein has remained one of his most celebrated. In the second version of his St John Passion, Bach began the work with a chorale fantasia on the first stanza of the hymn, which he later modified to conclude Part I of his St Matthew Passion as movement 29.
Mauricio Kagel quoted the hymn in his oratorio Sankt-Bach-Passion telling Bach's life, composed for the tricentenary of Bach's birth in 1985.

Translation

Catherine Winkworth translated the hymn to "O man, thy grievous sin bemoan".