Classic Poem

Celestial Word, to this our earth
Sent down from God's eternal clime,
To save mankind by mortal birth
Into a world of change and time;

Lighten our hearts; vain hopes destroy;
And in Thy love's consuming fire
Fill all the soul with heavenly joy,
And melt the dross of low desire.

So when the Judge of quick and dead
Shall bid this awful summons come,
To whelm the guilty soul with dread,
And call the blessed to their home,

Saved from the whirling, black abyss,
For evermore to us be given
To share the feast of saintly bliss
And see the face of God in heaven.