Part Second--The Sacred Humanity of Jesus
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19.
THE LIFE OF OUR LORD.
PARAPHRASED FROM THE PABAD1SUS ANIM.E.
1.
Father! Creator! Lord Most High I
Sweet Jesus! Fount of Clemency I
Blest Spirit! who dost sanctify!
God ruling over all!
The Dolors Christ did once endure,
Oh grant that I, with spirit pure,
Devoutly may recall.
2.
Jesus! Thou didst a Mother choose,
Whose Seed the serpent's head should bruise,
Seed of a Virgin Womb;
Oh bruise that serpent now in me,
Bruise him, good Lord! that I may be
Thine at the Day of Doom.
3.
Jesus! the saints in spirit soar,
Where angels hymn for evermore
The Judge who shall appear;
Receive a suppliant that would raise
His voice unto that choir of praise,
But is half mute through fear.
79
1. THE INFANCY AND YOUTH OF OUK SAVIOUR TILL HIS BAPTISM.
Jesus! who from Thy throne didst come,
And man's most vile estate assume,
Our fallen race to lift,
Oh grant that such transcending love
To me through thine own grace may prove
No ineffectual gift. ^
Jesus! whom Mary once conceived
Through grace, her backward fears relieved
By angel's salutation,
May I, within a chastened heart,
Conceive Thee, Living Word, who art
My God and my Salvation.
2.
Jesus! whom Thy sweet Mother bore
To Saint Elizabeth of yore,
On Jewry's mountain lee;
Oh mayst Thou oft, in ways concealed,
To heart but not to eye revealed,
Vouchsafe to visit me.
3.
Jesus! kind visitant of earth,
Of sinless and of painless birth,
Thy Mother's only-born,
May love with undiverted flame
Ascend, and for Thy glorious Name
All other nuptials scorn.
4.
Jesus! the spacious world was Thine,
Yet, when Thou wouldst Thy Head recline,
It scarce found room for Thee;
And Oh! shall sinful man be bent
On self-sought greatness, not content
With Christ-like poverty,
5.
Jesus! for whom the Shepherds sought
As Infant, by the angels taught
From out the midnight sky,
Oh may I love Thy praise on earth,
That I may one day share the mirth
Of angel hosts on high,
6.
Jesus! my God and Saviour, Thou,
Sinless, didst as a sinner bow
To ordinance divine;
Oh curb my loose and wandering eyes,
Prune my self-will, and circumcise
This carnal heart of mine.
7.
Jesus! before Thy manger, kings
Lay prostrate with their offerings,
A most unworldly throne;
Thou to my cradle eamest, Lord,
With gifts invisibly outpoured
From waters of Thine own.
8.
Jesus! whom Thy meek Mother vowed
To God, whose law would have allowed
Her first-born to go free,
Oh give me such an humble mind,
That in obedience I may find
The choicest liberty.
9.
Jesus! sweet fugitive, who fled
From Herod's bloody net outspread
For Thy dear Infancy,
Give me, O Lord! like modest care
To fly the world when it speaks fair,
To steal Thy grace away.
10.
Jesus! whom Thy sad Mother sought,
And in the temple found, who taught
The aged in Thy youth:
How blest are they who keep aright,
Or find, when lost, the living light
Of Thine eternal truth!
O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus Meus Et Omnia!
2. THE LIFE OP OUR SAVIOUR TILL HIS PASSION.
Jesus! the Father's words approve
His Son in Jordan, while the Dove,
Bright Witness, hovers down;
So wash me, Lord, that I may be,
At the great day approved of Thee,
Before Thy Father's throne.
1.
Jesus! who in the strength of fast,
Through Adam's three temptations passed,
On Adam's trial ground,
In me let hallowed abstinence
The issues seal of carnal sense,
And Satan's wiles confound.
2.
Jesus! Thou didst the fishers call,
Who straightway at Thy voice left all,
To teach the world of Thee;
May I with ready will obey
Thine inward call, and keep the way
Of Thy simplicity.
3.
Jesus! who deigndst to be a guest,
Where Mary's gently-urged behest
With Thy kind power made free,
May I mine earthly kinsfolk love,
In such pure ways, that I may prove
My greater love for Thee.
4.
Jesus! how toiled Thy blessed Feet
O'er hill and dale and stony street,
Through weary want and pain!
Oh may I rather for Thy sake
The hardships Thou has hallowed take
Than joys Thou didst disdain.
5.
Jesus! in all the zeal of love
How amiably didst Thou reprove
Poor wretches lost in sin!
Ah! may I first in penance live,
Rebuking self, then humbly strive
My brother's soul to win.
6.
Jesus! who didst the multitude
Twice nourish with miraculous food
Of soul and body both,
Give me my daily bread, O Lord,
Thy Flesh, Thyself, Incarnate Word!
Which feeds our heavenly growth.
7.
Jesus! Thy gracious truth revealing, All sorrow soothing, sickness healing,,
And so requiting hate, Oh grant that I may ever be Like-minded, blessed Lord! with Thee,
And envy no man's state.
8.
Jesus! transfigured on the height
Of Tabor in mysterious light
From heaven's eternal fountain,
If such the earthly type, oh lead,
Lead me where Thou Thy flock dost feed
Upon the holy mountain.
9.
Jesus! who wept o'er Salem's towers,
Wept for her long and baleful hours
Of misery and sin!
O Love Divine, could I but borrow
From Thy sweet strength such strength of sorrow
As might her pardon win!
10.
Jesus! and do I now behold
My God, my Saviour, bought and sold,
A traitor's merchandise?
O grant that I may never be
A Judas, dearest Lord, to Thee,
For all that earth can prize.
O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus Meus Et Omnia!
3. THE PASSION OF OUR SAVIOUR TILL HIS CRUCIFIXION.
Jesus! who deemdst it not unmeet
To wash Thine own disciples' feet,
Though Thou wert Lord of all;
Teach me thereby this wisdom meek,
That they who self-abasement seek
Alone shall fear no fall.
1.
Jesus! who Thy true Flesh didst take
Upon the Paschal night, and break
For our most precious Food,
O Living Bread, be Thou my strength
Through which the world and flesh, at length,
In me may be subdued.
2.
Jesus! who in the garden felt
The bloody sweat, yet patient knelt
To do Thy Father's will,
To me give such a zealous mind
To suffer, such a heart resigned
Thy statutes to fulfil.
3.
Jesus! Thy friends are fain to sleep,
While to the unresisting Sheep
The cruel wolves repair.;
May I be found as meek and still
By those who wish or work me ill,
And, like my Lord, at prayer.
4.
Jesus! who sawst on that sad night Thine own, Thy chosen, take to flight,
And leave their Lord by stealth; Oh may we learn in grief and care Those harder trials still to bear,
Prosperity and wealth.
5.
Jesus! who meekly silent stood
Before the accusing multitude,
Do Thou my tongue control,
Set on my busy lips Thy seal;
Ascetic silence oft can heal
The sickness of the soul.
G.
Jesus! whom Peter then denied, Thou with one gentle look didst chide
The weak disciple's fears; If ever I deny Thy Name, Thy Cross, oh send me speedy shame,
Oh give me Peter's tears.
7.
Jesus! the Judge of quick and dead,
Thyself, when falsely judged, wert led
In mock regalia clad;
May I my solemn office fill,
Judge of myself, and think no ill,
Not even of the bad.
1
88 THE Life Of Our Lord.
8.
Jesus! when scourged and buffeted
And spit upon, Thy sacred Head
Was bow'd to earth for me;
Oh may I pardon find, and bliss,
And expiating love in this
My Lord's indignity.
9.
Jesus! with crown of ruddy thorn
The Jews Thy tortured brow adorn,
And, jeering, hail Thee king;
May I, O Lord, with heart sincere
My humble zeal, my love and fear,
And real homage bring.
10.
Jesus! for whom the wicked Jews
A vile and blood-stained robber choose,
Have mercy, Lord, on me,
And keep me from a choice so base
As taking wealth, or ease or place,
Barabbas, Lord! for Thee.
O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray,
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus Meus Et Omnia!
4. THE CRUCIFIXION, AND WHAT WAS DONE UPOS THE CKOSS.
Jesus! along Thy proper road
Of sorrows, with Thy weary Load
How didst Thou toil and strain!
Oh may I bear the Cross like Thee.
Or rather, Lord, do Thou in me
The blessed weight sustain.
1.
Jesus! on that most doleful day
How were Thy garments stripped away,
Thy holy Limbs laid bare!
Oh may no works or ways unclean
Despoil me of that modest mien
Thy servants, Lord, should wear.
2.
Jesus! what direst agony
Was Thine, upon the bitter tree, •
With healing virtues rife!
Oh may I count all things but loss,
All for the glory of the Cross,
The sinner's Tree of Life.
3.
Jesus! around Thy sacred Head
There is an ominous silence shed,
The Name which Pilate wrote;
Save us, Thou royal Nazarene!
For in that Threefold Name are seen
The gifts Thy Passion brought. 4.
Jesus! who to the Father prayed
For those who all Thy love repaid
With this dread cup of woes,
Teach me to conquer, Lord, like Thee,
By patience and benignity,
The thwarting of my foes.
5.
Jesus! who, come to seek and save,
Absolved the thief, and promise gave
Of peace among the blest,
Ah! do Thou give me penitence
Like this, that I, when summoned hence,
In paradise may rest.
6.
Jesus! who bade the virgin John
Thy mother take, when Thou wert gone,
And in Thy stead to be,
Oh when I yield my parting breath,
Be Thou beside me, and in death,
Good Lord, remember me.
7.
Jesus! true Man, who cried aloud,
Toward the ninth hour, My God, my God,
O why am I forsaken?
Lord! may I never fall from Thee,
Nor e'en in life's extremity
My humble trust be shaken.
8.
Jesus! athirst, the soldiers think
To mock Thee, giving Thee to drink
What might inflame Thy pain;
Ah I mindful of the loathsome draught
Which for my sins my Saviour quaffed,
May I my flesh restrain.
9.
Jesus! Redeemer, all the price
Of Adam's sin Thy sacrifice
Did more than fully pay;
May I my stewardship fulfil
With equal strictness, and Thy will
With scrupulous love obey.
10.
Jesus! Thy Passion at an end,
Thou didst Thy blameless Soul commend
Unto the Father's care;
When my last hour is come, may I
Hasten with meek alacrity
To do Thy will elsewhere.
O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus Meus Et Omnia!
5. WHAT WAS DONE AFTER HIS DEATH; BURIAL, RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, SESSION, AND SECOND ADVENT.
Jesus! all hail, who for my sin
Didst die, and by that death didst win
Eternal life for me;
Send me Thy grace, good Lord, that I
Unto the world and flesh may die,
And hide my life with Thee.
, 1.
Jesus! from out Thine open Side
Thou hast the thirsty world supplied
With endless streams of love;
Come ye who would your sickness quell,
Draw freely from that sacred well,
Its heavenly virtues prove.
2.
Jesus! Thy Passion's bitter smart
Pierced like a sword Thy Mother's heart,
As Simeon prophesied;
So fix my heart unto Thy Cross,
That I may count all gain but loss
For Jesus Crucified!
3.
Jesus! in spices wrapped and laid
Within the garden's rocky shade,
By jealous seals made sure,
Embalm me with Thy grace, and hide
Thy servant in Thy wounded Side,
A heavenly sepulture!
4.
Jesus! who to the spirits went,
And preached the new enfranchisement
Thy recent death had won, Absolve me, Lord! and set me free From self and sin, that I may be
Bondsman to Thee alone.
5.
Jesus! who from the dead arose,
And straightway sought to comfort those
Whose weak faith mourned for Thee, Oh may I rise from sin and earth, And so make good that second birth
Which Thou hast wrought in me.
6.
Jesus! who wert at Emmaus known
In breaking bread, and thus art shown
Unto Thy people now,
Oh may my heart within me burn,
When at the Altar I discern
Thy Body, Lord! and bow.
7.
Jesus! amid yon olives hoar,
Thy forty days of sojourn o'er,
Thou didst ascend on high;
Oh thither may my heart and mind
Ascend, their home and harbor find
With Jesus in the sky.
8.
Jesus! ten silent days expired,
The Eternal Spirit came, and fired
With His celestial heat
Thine infant Church; Oh may that light
Within one pasture now unite
Men's widely wandering feet.
9.
Jesus! who at this very hour
At God's Right Hand in pomp and power
Our nature still dost wear,
Oh let Thy Wounds still intercede,
And by their simple silence plead
Thy countless merits there.
10.
Jesus! who shalt in glory come
With angels to the final doom,
Men's works and wills to weigh,
Since from that pomp I cannot flee,
Be pitiful, great Lord! to me
In that tremendous day.
O Creator! hear Thy creatures,
Saviour! hear us when we pray;
Thou who dost renew our natures,
Good Spirit! give us hearts to say,
Deus Meus Et Omnia!
20.
CHRISTMAS NIGHT.
1.
At last Thou art come, little Saviour!
And Thine angels fill midnight with song;
Thou art come to us, gentle Creator!
Whom Thy creatures have sighed for so long.
All hail, Eternal Child!
Dear Mary's little Flower,*
God hardly born an hour,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
Hail Mary's Little One,
Hail God's Eternal Son,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
2.
Thou art come to Thy beautiful Mother;
She hath looked on Thy marvellous Face:
Thou art come to us, Maker of Mary!
And she was Thy channel of grace.
All hail, Eternal Child!
Dear Mary's little Flower,
God hardly born an hour,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
* When used at other times than Christmas, these two lines run thus:
Dear Mary's little Flower,
Blooming in earthly bower.
Hail Mary's Little One,
Hail God's Eternal Son,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
3.
Thou hast brought with Thee plentiful pardon,
And our souls overflow with delight;
Our hearts are half broken, dear Jesus!
With the joy of this wonderful night.
All hail, Eternal Child!
Dear Mary's little Flower,
God hardly born an hour,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem I
Hail Mary's Little One,
Hail God's Eternal Son,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
4.
We have waited so long for Thee, Saviour!
Art Thou come to us, dearest! at last?
Oh. bless Thee, dear Joy of Thy Mother!
This is worth all the wearisome past!
All hail, Eternal Child!
Dear Mary's little Flower,
God hardly born an hour,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
Hail Mary's Little One,
Hail God's Eternal Son,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem,
Sweet Bnhf of Bethlehem!
5.
Thou art come, Thou art come, Child of Mary!
Yet we hardly believe Thou art come;—
It seems such a wonder to have Thee,
New Brother! with us in our home.
All hail, Eternal Child!
Dear Mary's little Flower,
God hardly born an hour,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
Hail Mary's Little One,
Hail God's Eternal Son,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
6.
Thou wilt stay with us, Master and Maker 1
Thou wilt stay with us now evermore:
We will play with Thee, beautiful Brother!
On Eternity's jubilant shore.
All hail, Eternal Child!
Dear Mary's little Flower,
God hardly born an hour,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
Hail Mary's Little One,
Hail God's Eternal Son,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem,
Sweet Babe of Bethlehem!
21.
THE INFANT JESUS.
Dear Little One! how sweet Thou art,
Thine eyes how bright they shine,
So bright they almost seem to speak
When Mary's look meets Thine!
How faint and feeble is Thy cry,
Like plaint of harmless dove,
When Thou dost murmur iu Thy sleep
Of sorrow and of love.
When Mary bids Thee sleep Thou sleepst,
Thou wakest when she calls; Thou art content upon her lap,
Or in the rugged stalls.
Simplest of Babes! with what a grace
Thou dost Thy Mother's will!
Thine infant fashions well betray
The Godhead's hidden skill.
When Joseph takes Thee in his arms,
And smooths Thy little cheek,
Thou lookest up into his face
So helpless and so meek.
6.
Yes! Thou art what Thou seemst to be, A thing of smiles and tears;
Yet Thou art God, and heaven and earth Adore Thee with their fears.
7.
Yes! dearest Babe! those tiny hands
That play with Mary's hair,
The weight of all the mighty world
This very moment bear.
8.
While Thou art clasping Mary's neck
In timid tight embrace,
The boldest Seraphs veil themselves
Before Thine infant Face.
9.
When Mary hath appeased Thy thirst,
And hushed Thy feeble cry,
The hearts of men lie open still
Before Thy slumbering eye.
10.
Art Thou, weak Babe! my very God?
Oh I must love Thee then, Love Thee, and yearn to spread Thy love
Among forgetful men.
11.
O sweet, O wakeful-hearted Child!
Sleep on, dear Jesus! sleep;
For Thou must one day wake for me
To suffer and to weep.
12.
A Scourge, a Cross, a cruel Crown
Have I in store for Thee;
Yet why? one little tear, O Lord!
Ransom enough would be.
13.
But no! death is Thine own sweet will,
The price decreed above; Thou wilt do more than save our souls,
For Thou wilt die for love.
22.
THE THREE KINGS.
1.
Who are these that ride so fast o'er the desert's sandy road,
That have tracked the Red Sea shore, and have swum
the torrents broad; Whose camel's bells are tinkling through the long
and starry night— For they ride lik*e men pursued, like the vanquished
of a fight?
2.
Who are these that ride so fast? They are eastern monarchs three,
Who have laid aside their crowns, and renounced their high degree;
The eyes they love, the hearts they prize, the wellknown voices kind,
Their people's tents, their native plains, they've left them all behind.
3.
The very least of faith's dim rays beamed on them from afar,
And that same hour they rose from off their thrones to track the Star:
They cared not for the cruel scorn of those who
called them mad; Messias' Star was shining, and their royal hearts
were glad.
4.
No Bibles and no books of God were in that eastern land,
No Pope, no blessed Pope had they, to guide them with his hand;
No Holy Roman Church was there, with its clear and strong sunshine,
With its voice of truth, its arm of power, its sacraments divine.
5.
But a speck was in the midnight sky, uncertain, dim, and far,
And their hearts were pure, and heard a voice proclaim Messias' Star:
And in its golden twinkling they saw more than common light,
The Mother and the Child they saw in Bethlehem by night!
6.
And what were crowns, and what were thrones, to
such a sight as that? So straight away they left their tents, and bade not
grace to wait;
They hardly stop to slake their thirst at the desert's
limpid springs, Nor note how fair the landscape is, how sweet the
skylark sings!
7.
Whole cities have turned out to meet their royal cavalcade,
Wise colleges and doctors all their wisdom have displayed;
And when the Star was dim, they knocked at Herod's palace gate,
And troubled with the news of faith his politic estate.
8.
And they have knelt in Bethlehem! The Everlasting Child
They saw upon His mother's lap, earth's monarch
meek and mild; His little feet, with Mary's leave, they pressed with
loving kiss,— Oh what were thrones, oh what were crowns, to such
a joy as this?
9.
One little sight of Jesus was enough for many years,
One look at Him their stay and staff in the dismal vale of tears:
Their people for that sight of Him they gallantly withstood,
They taught His faith, they preached His word, and for Him shed their blood.
10.
Ah me! what broad daylight of faith our thankless
souls receive, Flow much we know of Jesus, and how easy to
believe:
'Tis the noonday of His sunshine, of His sun that
setteth never: Faith gives us crowns, and makes us kings, and our
kingdom is forever.
11.
Oh glory be to God on high for these Arabian kings,
These miracles of royal faith, with eastern offerings:
For Gaspar and for Melchior and Balthazzar, who from far
Found Mary out and Jesus by the shining of a Star!
12.
Let us ask these martyrs, then, these monarchs of the East,
Who are sitting now in heaven at their Saviour'a endless feast,
To get us faith from Jesus, and hereafter faith'a
bright home, , And day and night to thank Him for the glorious
Faith of Rome!
23.
THE PURIFICATION.
1.
Joy! Joy! the Mother comes,
And in her arms she brings
The Light of all the world,
The Christ, the King of Kings:
And in her heart the while
All silently she sings.
2.
Saint Joseph follows near,
In rapture lost and love,
While angels round about
In glowing circles move,
And o'er the Mother broods
The Everlasting Dove.
3.
There in the temple court
Old Simeon's heart beats high,
And Anna feeds her soul
With food of prophecy;
But, see! the shadows pass,
The world's true Light draws nigh.
O Infant God! O Christ!
O Light most beautiful! Thou comest, Joy of Joys!
All darkness to annul; And brightest lights of earth
Beside Thy Light are dull.
5.
O Mary! bear Him quick
Into His temple gate, For poor, impatient souls
His healing sunrise wait; And pay His price that He
May be emancipate.
G.
Yes! thou wilt set Him free;
He will be wholly ours, To lighten every soul
In earth's benighted bowers, Undoing Adam's curse,
And turning thorns to flowers.
7.
Ah with what thrills of awe
The Mother's heart is teeming,
To think the newborn light
That o'er the world is streaming
At His own Mother's hand
Should stoop to need redeeming.
Then to that Mother now
All rightful worship be!
For thou hast ransomed Him
Who first did ransom thee;
Oh, with thy Mother's tongue
Pray Him to ransom me!
24.
LENT.
1.
Now are the days of humblest prayer,
When consciences to God lie bare,
And mercy most delights to spare.
O hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear!
2.
Now is the season, wisely long,
Of sadder thought and graver song,
When ailing souls grow well and strong.
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear!
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear!
3.
The feast of penance! Oh so bright,
With true conversion's heavenly light,
Like sunrise after stormy night!
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear!
4.
O happy time.of blessed tears,
Of surer hopes, of chastening fears,
Undoing all our evil years.
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear!
5.
We, who have loved the world, must learn,
Upon that world our backs to turn,
And with the love of God to burn.
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear!
6.
Vile creatures of such little worth !—
Than we, there can be none on earth
More fallen from their Christian birth.
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear!
7.
Full long in sin's dark ways we went,
Yet now our steps are heavenward bent,
And grace is plentiful in Lent.
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassions, hear I
8.
All glory to redeeming grace,
Disdaining not our evil case,
But showing us our Saviour's face!
Oh hearken when we cry,
Chastise us with Thy fear;
Yet, Father! in the multitude
Of Thy compassionSj hear!
25.
THE AGONY.
1.
O Soul of Jesus, sick to death!
Thy Blood and prayer together plead; My sins have bowed Thee to the ground,
A the storm bows the feeble reed.
Midnight—and still the oppressive load
Upon Thy tortured Heart doth lie;
Still the abhorred procession winds
Before Thy spirit's quailing eye.
Deep waters have come in, O Lord!
All darkly on Thy Human Soul; And clouds of supernatural gloom
Around Thee are allowed to roll.
4.
The weight of the eternal wrath
Drives over Thee with pressure dread;
And, forced upon the olive roots,
In deathlike sadness droops Thy Head.
5.
Thy spirit weighs the sins of men;
Thy science fathoms all their guilt; Thou sickenest heavily at Thy Heart,
And the pores open,—Blood is spilt.
And Thou hast struggled with it, Lord, Even to the limit of Thy strength,
While hours whose minutes were as years, Slowly fulfilled their weary length.
7.
And Thou hast shuddered at each act,
And shrunk with an astonished fear,
As if Thou couldst not bear to see
The loathsomeness of sin so near.
8.
Sin and the Father's Anger! they
Have made Thy lower nature faint;
All save the love within Thy Heart,
Seemed for the moment to be spent.
9.
My God! My God! and can it be
That I should sin so lightly now,
And think no more of evil thoughts,
Than of the wind that waves the bough?
10.
I sin,—and heaven and earth go round,
As if no dreadful deed were done,
As if God's Blood had never flowed
To hinder sin, or to atone.
11.
I walk the earth with lightsome step,
Smile at the sunshine, breathe the air,
Do my own will, nor ever heed
Gethsemane and Thy long prayer.
12.
Shall it be always thus, O Lord?
Wilt Thou not work this hour in me The grace, Thy passion merited.
Hatred of self and love of Thee?
13.
Oh by the pains of Thy pure love,
Grant me the gift of holy fear;
And give me of Thy Bloody Sweat
To wash my guilty conscience clear!
14.
Ever when tempted, make me see,
Beneath the olive's moon-pierced shade,
My God, alone, outstretched, and bruised, And bleeding, on the earth He made.
15.
And make me feel it was my sin,
As though no other sins there were,
That was to Him who bears the world
A load that He could scarcely bear!
26.
JESUS CEUCIFIEI).
Oh come and mourn with me awhile.
See, Mary calls us to her side;
Oh come and let us mourn with her;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified?
2.
Have we no tears to shed for Him;
While soldiers scoff and Jews deride? Ah! look how patiently He hangs;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
3.
How fast His Hands and Feet are nailed His blessed Tongue with thirst is tied;
His failing Eyes are blind with blood; Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
His Mother cannot reach His Face;
She stands in helplessness beside; Her heart is martyred with her Son's;
Jrsus, our Love, is crucified!
5.
Seven times He spoke, seven words of love,
And all three hours His silence cried
For mercy on the souls of men;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
6.
What was Thy crime, my dearest Lord?
By earth, by heaven, Thou hast been tried, And guilty found of too much love;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
7.
Found guilty of excess of love,
It was Thine own sweet will that tied
Thee tighter far than helpless nails;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
8.
Death came, and Jesus meekly bowed;
His failing eyes He strove to guide With mindful love to Mary's face,
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
9.
Oh break, oh break, hard heart of mine!
Thy weak self-love and guilty pride His Pilate and His Judas were;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
10.
(Home, take thy stand beneath the Cross,
And let the Blood from out that Side
Fall gently on thee drop by drop;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
11.
A broken heart, a fount of tears,
Ask, and they will not be denied;
A broken heart, love's cradle is;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
12.
O Love of God! O Sin of man!
In this dread act your strength is tried; And victory remains with love;
For He, our Love, is crucified!
FROM PAIN TO PAIN.
[Verse sung at the Way of the Cross at the Oratory.]
From pain to pain, from woe to woe,
With loving hearts and footsteps slow,
To Calvary with Christ we go.
See how His Precious Blood
At every Station pours!
Was ever grief like His?
Was ever sin like ours?
27.
THE PRECIOUS BLOOD.
[FROM THE ITA1JAN.]
1.
Hail Jesus! Hail! who for my sake
Sweet Blood from Mary's veins didst take,
And shed it all for me;
Oh blessed be my Saviour's Blood,
My life, my light, my only good,
To all eternity.
2.
To endless ages let us praise
The Precious Blood, whose price could raise
The world from wrath and sin; Whose streams our inward thirst appease, And heal the sinner's worst disease,
If he but bathe therein.
3.
O sweetest Blood, that can implore
Pardon of God, and heaven restore,
The heaven which sin had lost:
"While Abel's blood for vengeance pleads,
What Jesus shed still intercedes
For those who wrong Him most.
BLOOD IS THE PRICE OF HEAVEN. 117
4.
Oh to be sprinkled from the wells
Of Christ's own sacred Blood, excels
Earth's best and highest bliss:
The ministers of wrath divine
Hurt not the happy hearts that shine
With those red drops of His 1
5.
Ah! there is joy amid the saints,
And hell's despairing courage faints
When this sweet song we raise:
Oh louder then, and louder still,
Earth with one mighty chorus fill,
The Precious Blood to praise!
To all the faithful who say or sing the above Hymn, Pius VII grants an indulgence of 100 days: applicable also to the souls in Purgatory.
28.
BLOOD IS THE PRICE OF HEAVEN. 1.
Blood is the price of heaven;
All sin that price exceeds;
Oh come to be forgiven,—
He bleeds,
My Saviour bleeds!
Bleeds!
Under the olive boughs,
Falling like niby beads, The Blood drops from His brows, He bleeds, My Saviour bleeds! Bleeds!
While the fierce scourges fall,
The Precious Blood still pleads: In front of Pilate's hall He bleeds, My Saviour bleeds! Bleeds!
4.
Beneath the thorny crown
The crimson fountain speeds; See how it trickles down,— He bleeds, My Saviour bleeds! Bleeds!
Bearing the fatal wood
His band of saints He leads, Marking the way with Blood; He bleeds, My Saviour bleeds! Bleeds!
6.
On Calvary His shame
With Blood still intercedes; His open Wound- proclaim— He bleeds, My Saviour bleeds! Bleeds!
7.
He hangs upon the tree,
Hangs there for my misdeeds; He sheds His Blood for me; He bleeds, My Saviour bleeds! Bleeds!
8.
Ah me! His soul is fled;
Yet still for my great needs
He bleeds when He is dead;
He bleeds,
My Saviour bleeds J
Bleeds!
9.
His Blood is flowing still;
My thirsty soul it feeds;
He lets me drink my fill;
He bleeds,
My Saviour bleeds!
Bleeds!
10.
O Sweet! O Precious Blood!
What love; what love it breeds,
Ransom, Reward, and Food,
He bleeds,
My Saviour bleeds!
Bleeds!
29.
WE COME TO THEE, SWEET SAVIOUR. 1.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
Just because we need Thee so:
None need Thee more than we do;
Nor are half so vile or low.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
2.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
None will have us, Lord! but Thee;
And we want none but Jesus,
And His grace that makes us free.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentif ul redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
3.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
For our sins are worse than ever;
Dear Shepherd of the outcast;
But Thy patience wearies never.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
4.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
With our broken faith again!
We know Thou wilt forgive us,
Nor upbraid us, nor complain.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son I
5.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
It is love that makes us come:
We are certain of our welcome,
Of our Father's welcome home.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
6:
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
Fear brings us in our need;
For Thy hand never breaketh,
Not the frailest bruised reed.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
7.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
For to whom, Lord! can we go? The words of life eternal
From Thy lips for ever flow.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
8.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
We have tried Thee oft before;
But now we come more wholly,
With the heart to love Thee more.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
THE DESCENT OF JESUS TO LIMBUS. l^<i 9.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
'Tis in answer to Thy call,
Dear Hope of the unworthy!
Dearest Merit of us all!
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
10.
We come to Thee, sweet Saviour!
And Thou wilt not ask us why:
We cannot live without Thee,
And still less without Thee die.
O bountiful salvation!
O life eternal won!
O plentiful redemption!
O Blood of Mary's Son!
30.
THE DESCENT OF JESUS TO LIMBUS. 1.
Thousands of years had come and gone,
And slow the ages seemed to move
To those expectant souls that filled
That prison-house of patient love.
2.
It was a weary watch of theirs,
But onward still their hopes would press y Captives they were, yet happy too,
In their contented weariness.
3.
As noiseless tides the ample depths
Of some capacious harbor fill,
So grew the calm of that dread place
Each day with increase swift and still.
4.
Sweet tidings there St. Joseph took;
The Saviour's work had then begun, And of His Three-and-Thirty Years
But three alone were left to run.
5.
And Eve like Joseph's shadow hung
About him wheresoe'er he went;
She lived on thoughts of Mary's child,
Trembled with hope, and was content.
6.
But see how hushed the crowd of souls!
Whence comes the light of upper day? What glorious Form is this that finds,
Through central earth its ready way?
'Tis God! 'tis Man! the living Soul
Of Jesus, beautiful and bright,
The first-born of created things,
Flushed with a pure resplendent light.
8.
'Twas Mary's child! Eve saw Him come;
She flew from Joseph's haunted side, And worshipped, first of all that crowd,
The Soul of Jesus Crucified.
So after four long thousand years,
Faith reached her end, and Hope her aim,
And from them, as they passed away,
Love lit her everlasting flame!
31.
JESUS RISEN.
1.
All hail! dear Conqueror! all hail!
Oh what a victory is Thine!
How beautiful Thy strength appears,
Thy crimson Wounds, how bright they shine! 2.
Thou eamest at the dawn of day;
Armies of souls around Thee were, Blest spirits, thronging to adore
Thy Flesh, so marvellous, so fair.
3.
The everlasting Godhead lay
Shrouded within those Limbs Divine, Nor left untenanted one hour
That sacred Human Heart of Thine.
4.
They worshipped Thee, those ransomed souls,
With the fresh strength of love set free;
They worshipped joyously, and thought
Of Mary while they looked on Thee.
5.
And Thou, too, Soul of Jesus! Thou
Towards that sacred Flesh didst yearn,
And for the beatings of that Heart
How ardently Thy love did bum.
6.
They worshipped, while the beauteous Soul Paused by the Body's wounded Side:—
Bright flashed the cave,—before them stood The Living Jesus Glorified.
7.
Down, down, all lofty things on earth,
And worship Him with joyous dread! O Sin! thou art outdone by love!
0 Death! thou art discomfited!
8.
Ye Heavens, how sang they in your courts, How sang the angelic choirs that day,
When from His tomb the imprisoned God, Like the strong sunrise, broke away?
9.
Oh I am burning so with love,
1 fear lest I should make too free; Let me be silent and adore
Thy glorified Humanity.
10.
Ah ! new Thou sendest me sweet tears;
Fluttered with love, my spirits fail,— What shall I say? Thou knowst my heart;
All hail! dear Conqueror! all hail I
32.
THE APPARITION OF JESUS TO OUR BLESSED LADY.
1.
O Queen of Sorrows! raise thine eyes;
See! the first light of dawn is there; The houl s come and thou must end
Thy Forty Hours of lonely prayer.
2.
Day dawns; it brightens on the hill:
New grace, new powers within her wake,
Lest the full tide of joy should crush
The heart that sorrow could not break.
3.
Oh never yet had Acts of Hope
Been offered to the throne on high,
Like those that died on Mary's lip,
And beamed from out her glistening eye.
4.
Hush! there is silence in her heart,
Deeper than when Saint Gabriel spoke,
And upon midnight's tinkling ear
The blessed Ave sweetly broke.
5.
Ah me! what wondrous change is this!
What trembling floods of noiseless light! Jesus before His Mother stands,
Jesus, all beautiful and bright!
6.
He comes! He comes! and will she run
With freest love her Child to greet?
He came! and she, His creature, fell .
Prostrate at her Creator's Feet.
7,
He raised her up; He pressed her head
Gently against His wounded Side;
He gave her spirit strength to bear
The sight of Jesus Glorified.
8.
From out His Eyes, from out His Wounds
A power of awful beauty shone;
Oh how the speechless Mother gazed
Upon the glory of her Son!
9.
She could not doubt; 'twas truly He
Who had been with her from the first,—
The very Eyes, the Mouth, the Hair,
The very Babe whom she had nursed,—
10.
Her burden o'er the desert sand,
The helpmate of her toils,—'twas He,
He by whose deathbed she had stood Long hours beneath the bleeding Tree.
11.
His crimson Wounds, they shone like suns,
His beaming Hand was raised to bless;
The. sweetness of His voice had hushed
The angels into silentness.
12.
His sacred Flesh like spirit glowed,
Glowed with immortal beauty's might:
His smiles were like the virgin rays
That sprang from new-created light.
13.
When wilt thou drink that beauty in?
Mother! when wilt thou satisfy With those adoring looks of love
The thirst of thine ecstatic eye?
Jfot yet, not yet, thy wondrous joy
Is filled to its mysterious brim;
Tjiou hast another sight to see
To which this vision is but dim!
15.
Jesus into His Mother's heart
A special gift of strength did pour,
That she might bear what none had borne Amid the sons of earth before.
16.
Oh let not words be bold to tell
What in the Mother's heart was done,
When for a moment Mary saw
The unshrouded Godhead of her Son.
17.
What bliss for us that Jesus gave
To her such wondrous gifts and powers;
It is a joy the joys were hers,
For Mary's joys are doubly ours!
33.
THE ASCENSION.
1.
Why is thy face so lit with smiles,
Mother of Jesus! why?
And wherefore is thy beaming look
So fixed upon the sky?
2.
From out thine overflowing eyes
Bright lights of gladness part,
As though some gushing fount of joy
Had broken in thy heart.
3..
Mother! how canst thou smile to-day?
How can thine eyes be bright, When He, thy Life, thy Love, thine All,
Hath vanished from thy sight?
4.
His rising form on Olivet
A summer's shadow cast; The branches of the hoary trees
Drooped as the shadow passed.
5.
And, as He rose with all His train
Of righteous souls around,
His blessing fell into thine heart,
Like dew upon the ground.
6.
Down stooped a silver cloud from heaven,
The Eternal Spirit's car,
And on the lessening vision went,
Like some receding star.
7.
The silver cloud hath sailed away,
The skies are blue and free;
The road that vision took is now
Sunshine and vacancy.
8.
The Feet which thou hast kissed so oft, Those living Feet, are gone;
Mother! thou canst but stoop and kiss Their print upon the stone.
He loved the flesh thou gavest Him,
Because it was from thee;
He loved it, for it gave Him power
To bleed and die for me.
10.
That Flesh with its five witness Wounds
Unto His throne He bore,
For God to love, and spirits blest
To worship evermore.
11.
Yes! He hath left thee, Mother dear!
His throne is far above;
How canst thou be so full of joy,
When thou hast lost thy love?
12.
For surely earth's poor sunshine now
To thee mere gloom appears, When He is gone who was its light
For Three-and-Thirty Years!
13.
Why do not thy sweet hands detain
His Feet upon their way?
Oh why doth not the Mother speak,
And bid her Son to stay?
14.
Ah no! thy love is rightful love,
From all self-seeking free;
The change that is such gain to Him
Can be no loss to thee!
15.
'Tis sweet to feel our Saviour's love,
To feel His Presence near; Yet loyal love His glory holds
A thousand times more dear.
16.
Who would have known the way to love
Our Jesus as we ought,
If thou in varied joy or woe
. Hadst not that lesson taught?
17.
Ah! never is our love so pure
As when refined by pain,
Or when God's glory upon earth
Finds in our loss its gain!
18.
True love is worship: Mother dear!
Oh gain for us the light To love, because the creature's love
Is the Creator's right;
34.
PENTECOST.
No track is on the sunny sky,
No footprints on the air;
Jesus hath gone: the face of earth
Is desolate and bare.
The. blessed feet of Mary's Son,
They tread the streets no more;
His soul-converting voice gives not
Its music as before.
3.
His Mother sits all worshipful
With her majestic mien;
The princes of the infant Church
Are gathered round their Queen.
4.
They gaze on her with raptured eyes,
Her features are like His; Her presence is their ample strength,
Her face reflects their bliss.
5.
That Upper Room is heaven on earth
Within its precincts lie
All that earth has of faith, or hope,
Or heaven-born charity.
6.
The Eye of God looks down on them,
His love is centered there,
His Spirit yearns to be o'ercome
By their sweet strife of prayer.
7.
The Mother prays her mighty prayer In accents meek and faint,
And highest heaven is quick to own The beautiful constraint.
8.
The Eternal Son takes up the prayer
Upon His royal throne;
The Son His human Mother hears,
The Sire His equal Son.
9.
The Spirit hears, and He consents
His mission to fulfil;
For what is asked hath ever been
His own eternal will.
10.
Ten days and nights in Acts Divine
Of awful love were spent,
While Mary and her children prayed
The Spirit might be sent.
11.
The joy of angels grew and grew
On Mary's wondrous prayer,
And the Divine Complacence stooped
To feed His glory there.
12.
Her eyes to heaven were humbly raised, While for her Spouse she prayed;
Methought the sweetness of her prayer His blissful coming stayed.
13.
For ever coming did He seem,
For ever on the wing;
His chosen angels round His Throne
Now gazed, now ceased to sing.
14.
How beautiful, how passing speech,
The Dove did then appear, As the hour of His humility
At Mary's word drew near I
15.
The hour was come; the wings of Love By His own will were freed:
The hour was come; the Eternal Three His Mission had decreed.
16.
Then for His love of worthless men,
His love of Mary's worth, His beauteous wings the Dove outspread,
And winged His flight to earth.
17.
O wondrous Flight! He left not heaven,
Though earth's low fields He won,
But in the Bosom still reposed
Of Father and of Son.
THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST. 139
18.
O Flight! O blessed Flight of Love!
Let me Thy mercies share;
Grant it, sweet Dove! for my poor soul
Was part of Mary's prayer!
35.
THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST.
O mighty Mother! why that light
In thine uplifted eye?
Why that resplendent look of more
Than queenlike majesty?
2..
Oh waitest Thou in this thy joy
For Gabriel once again?
Js heaven about to part and make
The Blessed Vision plain?
She sat: beneath her shadow were
The Chosen of her Son;
Within each heart and on each face
Her power and spirit shone.
Hers was the courage they had won
From her prevailing prayers;
They gazed on her, until her heart
Began to beat in theirs.
Her Son had left that heart to them:
For ten long nights and days,
The Saviour gone, no Spirit come,
She ruled their infant ways.
6.
Queen of the Church! around thee shines
The purest light of heaven, And all created things to thee
For thy domain are given!
7.
"Why waitest thou then so abashed,
Wrapt in ecstatic fear, Speechless with adoration, hushed,
Hushed as though God were near?
8.
She is a creature! See! she bows,
She trembles though so great;
Created majesty o'erwhelmed
Before the Increate!
9.
He come! He comes! that mighty Breath
From heaven's eternal shores;
His uncreated freshness fills
His bride as she adores.
10.
Earth quakes before that rushing blast,
Heaven echoes back the sound,
And mightily the tempest wheels
That Upper Room around.
11.
One moment—and the silentness
Was breathless as the grave;
The fluttered earth forgot to quake,
The troubled trees to wave.
12.
One moment—and the Spirit hung
O'er her with dread desire;
Then broke upon the heads of all
In cloven tongues of fire.
13.
Who knows in what a sea of love
Our Lady's heart He drowned?
Or what new gifts He gave her then,
What ancient gifts He crowned?
14.
Grace was so multiplied on her,
So grew within her heart,
She stands alone, earth's miracle,
A being all apart.
15.
What gifts He gave those chosen men,
Past ages can display;
Nay more, their vigor still inspires
The weakness of to-day.
16.
Those tongues still speak within the Church,
That Fire is undecayed;
Its well-spring was that Upper Room,
Where Mary sat and prayed.
17.
The Spirit came into the Church
With His unfailing power;
He is the Living Heart that beats
Within her at this hour.
18.
Speak gently then of Church and Saints,
Lest you His ways reprove;
The Heat, the Pulses of the Church
Are God's Eternal Love.
19.
Oh let us fall and worship Him,
The Love of Sire and Son,
The Consubstantial Breath of God,
The Coeternal One!
20.
Ah ! see, how like the Incarnate Word,
His Blessed Self He lowers,
To dwell with us invisibly,
And make His riches ours.
21.
Most tender Spirit! Mighty God!
Sweet must Thy Presence be, If loss of Jesus can be gain,
So long as we have Thee!
36.
CORPUS CHRISTI.
Jesus! my Lord, my God, my All!
How can I love Thee as I ought? And how revere this wondrous gift, So far surpassing hope or thought? Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! Oh make us love Thee more and more! Had I but Mary's sinless heart
To love Thee with, my dearest King! Oh with what bursts of fervent praise Thy goodness, Jesus! would I sing! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! Oh make us love Thee more and more!
3.
Ah! see within a creature's hand
The vast Creator deigns to be,
Reposing infant-like, as though
On Joseph's arm, or Mary's knee.
Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore!
Oh make us love Thee more and more!
4.
Thy Body, Soul, and Godhead, all!
O mystery of love divine!
I cannot compass all I have,
For all Thou hast and art are mine!
Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore!
Oh make us love Thee more and more!
5.
Sound, sound His praises higher still,
And come, ye angels, to our aid,
'Tis God! 'tis God! the very God
Whose power both men and angels made!
Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore!
Oh make us love Thee more and more!
6.
Ring joyously, ye solemn bells!
And wave, oh wave, ye censers bright!
'Tis Jesus cometh, Mary's Son,
And God of God, and Light of Light!
Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore!
Oh make us love Thee more and more!
7.
O earth! grow flowers beneath His feet,
And thou, O sun, shine bright this day! He comes! He comes! O Heaven on earth! Our Jesus comes upon His way! Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! Oh make us love Thee more and more!
8.
He comes! He comes! the Lord of Hosts,
Borne on His throne triumphantly! We see Thee, and we know Thee, Lord; And yearn to shed our blood for Thee. Sweet Sacrament! we Thee adore! Oh make us love Thee more and more!
9.
Our hearts leap up; our trembling song
Grows fainter still; we can no more;
Silence! and let us weep—and die
Of very love, while we adore.
Great Sacrament of love divine!
All, all we have or are be Thine!
37.
THE SACRED HEART.
1.
Unchanging and Unchangeable, before angelic eyes. The Vision of the Godhead in its tranquil beauty lies;
And, like a city lighted up all gloriously within, Its countless lustres glance and gleam, and sweetest worship win.
On the Unbegotten Father, awful well-spring of the Three,
On the Sole Begotten Son's coequal Majesty. On Him eternally breathed forth from Father and from Son,
The spirits gaze with fixed amaze, and unreckoned ages run.
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three!
2.
Still the Fountain of the Godhead giveth forth
eternal being: Still begetting, unbegotten, still His own perfection
seeing,
Still limiting His own loved Self with His dear
coequal Spirit, No change comes o'er that blissful Life, no shadow
passeth near it. And beautiful dread Attributes, all manifold and
bright,
Now thousands seem, now lose themselves in onj self-living light;
And far in that deep Life of God, in harmony complete,
Like crowned kings, all opposite perfections takt their seat.
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three!
3.
And in that ungrowing vision nothing deepens.
nothing brightens, But the living Life of God perpetually lightens; And created life is nothing but a radiant shadow
fleeing
From the unapproached lustres of that Unbegin' ning Being;
Spirits wise and deep have watched that everlasfc ing Ocean,
And never o'er its lucid field hath rippled faintes motion;
In glory undistinguished never have the Three seemed One,
Nor ever in divided streams the Single Essence run.
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three!
4.
There reigns the Eternal Father, in His lone prerogatives,
And, in the Father's Mind, the Son, all self-existing, lives,
With Him, their mutual Jubilee, that deepest depth of love,
Lifegiving Life of two-fold source, the many-gifted Dove!
O Bountiful! O Beautiful! can Power or Wisdom add
Fresh features to a life, so munificent and glad?
Can even uncreated Love, ye angels! give a hue
Which can ever make the Unchanging and Un-
changeable look new?
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three!
5.
The Mercy of the Merciful is equal to Their Might, As wondrous as Their Love, and as Their Wisdom bright!
As They, who out of nothing called creation at the first,
In everlasting purposes Their own design had nursed,—
As They, who in Their solitude, Three Persons, once abode,
Vouchsafed of Their abundance to become creation's God,— What They owed not to Themselves They stooped
to owe to man, And pledged Their glory to Him, in an unimaginable plan.
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three!
6.
See! deep within the glowing depth of that Eternal Light,
What change hath come, what vision new transports angelic sight?
A creature can it be, in uncreated bliss?
A novelty in God? Oh what nameless thing is this?
The beauty of the Father's power is o'er it brightly shed,
The sweetness of the Spirit's Love is unction on its head;
In the wisdom of the Son it plays its wondrous part,
While it lives the loving life of a real Human
Heart!
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three!
7.
A Heart that hath a Mother, and a treasure of red blood,
A Heart that man can pray to, and feed upon for food!
In the brightness of the Godhead is its marvellous abode,
A change in the Unchanging, creation touching God!
Ye spirits blest, in endless rest, who on that Vision gaze,
Salute the Sacred Heart with all your worshipful amaze,
And adore, while with ecstatic skill the Three in
One ye scan, The Mercy that hath planted there that blessed
Heart of Man!
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three I
All tranquilly, all tranquilly, doth that Blissful Vision last,
And Its brightness o'er immortalized creation will it cast;
Ungrowing and Unfading, Its pure Essence doth it keep,
In the deepest of those depths where all are infinitely deep;
Unchanging and unchangeable as It hath ever been,
As It was before that Human Heart was there by
angels seen, So is it at this very hour, so will it ever be, With that Human Heart within It, beating hot with love of me!
Myriad, myriad angels raise
Happy hymns of wondering praise,
Ever through eternal days,
Before the Holy Trinity,
One Undivided Three