HYMNS FOR 1. Morning and Evening. Morning Hymn. Now doth the sun ascend the sky, Create in us a heart sincere, And may the morn, so pure, so clear, Keep us, eternal Lord, this day, In all our thoughts to honour thee. For all day long on heaven's high tower There stands thy sentinel, who spies Our every action hour by hour, From early dawn till daylight dies. So when the evening stars appear, 2. Evening Hymn. O LORD of perfect purity, Who dost the world with light adorn, Upon our fainting souls distil The grace of thy celestial dew; Keep thou our souls from schemes of crime, Teach us to knock at heav'n's high door, And purify ourselves within. Be thou our guide, be thou our goal, CREATOR of the starry frame, An ear to thy poor suppliants give. When man, o'erwhelm'd in sin and death, Thy love for guilty men it was That caus'd thy sacred blood to flow; When issuing from thy virgin shrine, Thou didst to death a victim go. Great Judge of all, in that last day When friends shall fail and foes combine, Look down in pity then, we pray, And guard us with thine arm divine. To God the Father and the Son 4. Christmas Hymn. (1.) SING, my tongue, the Saviour's glory, Of his spotless virgin birth: Now the long-expected fulness All within a lowly manger, Blessing, honour everlasting To th' immortal Deity; To the Father, Son, and Spirit, Equal adoration be. Prais'd be thou through earth and heaven, Sempiternal Unity. 5. Christmas Hymn. (II.) SEE amid the winter's snow, Hail, thou ever-blessed morn! Lo, within a manger lies He who built the starry skies; Hail, &c. "Say, ye holy shepherds, say What your joyful news to-day? Wherefore have ye left your sheep On the lonely mountain steep ?" Hail, &c. "As we watch'd at dead of night, Lo! we saw a wondrous light; Angels singing, 'Peace on earth,' Told us of the Saviour's birth." Hail, &c. Sacred Infant! all divine! What a tender love was thine, Hail, &c. |