3 Let me be slow to do my will,

Prompt to obey;
Help me to sacrifice myself

Gladly, to-day.

4 Let me no wrong or idle word

Unthinking say;
Set thou a seal upon my lips

Through all to-day.

6 Let me in season, Lord, be grave,

In season gay:
Let me be faithful to thy grace,

Dear Lord, to-day.

6 And if to-day this life of mine

Should ebb away,
Give me thy Sacrament divine,

Father, to-day.

7 So for to-morrow and its needs

I do not pray:
Still keep me, guide me, love me, Lord,
Through each to-day. Amen.

Mary Xavier, 1877

37

W

Six 6's THEN morning gilds the skies,

May Jesus Christ be praised;
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair;

May Jesus Christ be praised.

2 Whene'er the sweet church bell
Peals over hill and dell,

May Jesus Christ be praised:

O hark to what it sings,
As joyously it rings,

May Jesus Christ be praised.

3 My tongue shall never tire
Of chanting with the choir,

May Jesus Christ be praised;
This song of sacred joy,
It never seems to cloy,

May Jesus Christ be praised

4 When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,

May Jesus Christ be praised;
When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,

May Jesus Christ be praised.

5 Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,

May Jesus Christ be praised;
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,

May Jesus Christ be praised.

6 The night becomes as day, When from the heart we say,

May Jesus Christ be praised; The powers of darkness fear, When this sweet chant they hear,

May Jesus Christ be praised.

7 In heaven's eternal bliss
The loveliest strain is this,

May Jesus Christ be praised;
Let earth, and sea, and sky
From depth to height reply,

May Jesus Christ be praised.

8 Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,

May Jesus Christ be praised;
Be this the eternal song
Through ages all along,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Anon., German, 1828; Tr. Edward Caswall, 1865

38

7.7.7.5 THREE in One, and One in Three,

Ruler of the earth and sea, Hear us while we lift to thee

Holy chant and psalm.

,

2 Light of lights! with morning shine,

Lift on us thy light divine;
And let charity benign

Breathe on us her balm.

3 Light of lights! when falls the even,

Let it sink on sin forgiven;
Fold us in the peace of heaven;

Shed a holy calm.

4 Three in One, and One in Three,

Darkling here we worship thee;
With the saints hereafter we
Hope to bear the palm. Amen.

Gilbert Rorison, 1849

39

L.M. AVIOUR, when night involves the skies,

My soul, adoring, turns to thee; Thee, self-abased in mortal guise,

And wrapt in shades of death for me.

SAMI

2 On thee my waking raptures dwell,

When crimson gleams the east adorn, Thee, Victor of the grave and hell,

Thee, source of life's eternal morn. 3 When noon her throne in light arrays,

To thee my soul triumphant springs; Thee, throned in glory's endless blaze,

Thee, Lord of lords and King of kings. 4 O'er earth, when shades of evening steal,

To death and thee my thoughts I give; To death, whose power I soon must feel, To thee, with whom I trust to live.

Thomas Gisborne, 1805

40

Six 8's O

From twilight dawn to perfect day, Shine thou before the shadows fall,

That lead our wandering feet astray; At morn and eve thy radiance pour,

That youth may love and age adore. 2 0 Way, through whom our souls draw near

To yon eternal home of peace, Where perfect love shall cast out fear, And earth's vain toil and wandering

cease; In strength or weakness may we see Our heavenward path, O Lord, through

thee. 3 0 Truth, before whose shrine we bow,

Thou priceless pearl for all who seek, To thee our earliest strength we vow;

Thy love will bless the pure and meek; When dreams or mists beguile our sight, Turn thou our darkness into light.

4 0 Life, the well that ever flows

To slake the thirst of those that faint, Thy power to bless, what seraph knows?

Thy joy supreme, what words can paint? In earth's last hour of fleeting breath

Be thou our conqueror over death. 5 O Light, О Way, 0 Truth, O Life,

O Jesus, born mankind to save,
Give thou thy peace in deadliest strife;

Shed thou thy calm on stormiest wave; Be thou our hope, our joy, our dread, Lord of the living and the dead. Amen.

Edward H. Plumptre, 1864

41

7.7.7.5

Of mankind the life and light,
Maker, Teacher infinite:

Jesus, hear and save.

2 Strong Creator, Saviour mild,

Humbled to a mortal child,
Captive, beaten, bound, reviled:

Jesus, hear and save.

3 Throned above celestial things,

Borne aloft on angels' wings,
Lord of lords, and King of kings:

Jesus, hear and save.

4 Soon to come to earth again,

Judge of angels and of men,
Hear us now, and hear us then:
Jesus, hear and save. Amen.