While on his first apostolic visit to his homeland of France, Elder Gérald Caussé of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles sat at the foot of a piano in a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Versailles, France, to play and speak of one of the 12 new hymns added Thursday to “Hymns — For Home and Church.”
The hymn “Long Ago, Within a Garden” addresses Easter, the apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a YouTube video published Friday.
It speaks of three gardens: the Garden of Eden, the garden of Gethsemane and the garden of the empty tomb, where Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, he explained. “You see those three gardens that represent three major events in the plan of salvation.”
Elder Caussé is seen in the video playing fragments of the song and then reflecting on the new hymn’s lyrics.
“‘Alleluia’ means praise to the Lord,” the apostle says in the video. “It is an expression of happiness because of the knowledge that we have of a Messiah of the world.”
As a part of the committee reviewing and submitting new hymns to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Caussé said he can “easily testify” of the inspiration that goes into each of the new hymns selected for the church’s growing collection.
The words are “carefully chosen, that they may express the beauty of the gospel,” he said. “A lot of attention has been put in the choice of every word and the music, that it could fit together and beautifully express what we know to be true.”
Elder Caussé acknowledged in the video that there is excitement among Latter-day Saints for the new hymns. He expressed a desire for Latter-day Saints to learn and use this and the church’s other new hymns at church and at home.
“I hope we can all sing it with joy,” he said, “that it will be an expression of the love and the appreciation and gratitude that we all have for the Redeemer of the world, even Jesus Christ.”
Inspiration for “Long Ago, Within a Garden” — with text and music by R. Devan Jensen and Daniel Lyman Carter — came from a 1985 message shared by Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, according to a news release published Thursday on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“As we read, ponder and pray, there will come into our minds a view of the three gardens of God — the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden of the Empty Tomb,” the apostle said in 1985.
Learn more about the new songs added Thursday to “Hymns — For Home and Church” here, and see another video from Elder Caussé’s ministry trip to France here.