Morris Williams was an Anglican clergyman and a poet commonly known as
Nicander. He was born in August 1809 and
died on 3rd January 1874. He
began to write poetry and so was encouraged to an education. He was then ordained deacon by the Bishop of
Chester in 1835 and priest by the Bishop of St. Asaph in 1836. In 1840 he married Ann Jones of Denbigh and
they had five daughters and three sons.
He assisted with the Welsh revision of the Book of Common Prayer and
took an active part in Welsh literary life.
He
both adjudicated and competed at the National Eisteddfod and his writing
included frequent contributions to Welsh magazines, translating Aesop's Fables
into Welsh, and composing a number of hymns.
He was one of the pioneers of the Oxford Movement in the Diocese of
Bangor and is commemorated by a marble pulpit dedicated to him in Bangor
Cathedral.
His hymns
had a profound effect on the spiritual lives of many in Wales. He wrote, for example, of God’s grace and the
need for the Spirit to nourish us.
As one of
his hymns says (in an English translation by Naomi Starkey):
With the life-giving rain of your Holy Spirit
You refresh the Church, your vineyard,
Until its blooms are many and fair,
And its fruits like the garden of paradise.
Where do
we see the Holy Spirit refreshing our churches?
What effect is that having? Who
are the people who inspire us today?
Sources:
wbo.llgc.org.uk – Dictionary of Welsh Biography
Rachel Boulding: “Companions on the Bethlehem Road”
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