Classic Poem

O CHILD of God, remember,
When thou to Christ wast born,
How then, across thine infant breast,
His sacred Sign was drawn.

And when confirming chrism
Upon thy brow was laid,
How in that Sign, the Holy Ghost
His grace upon thee shed.

Therefore, when sleep invites thee
To take thy needful rest,
Be sure that with the sacred Cross
Thou sign thy brow and breast.

The Cross hath wond'rous virtue
All evil to control;
To scatter darkness, and to calm
The tempest of the soul.

Avaunt, ye gloomy terrors,
That haunt the mind by night!
Yield thee, O juggling fiend of Hell.
Before this Sign of might!

In vain, malicious Serpent,
Thou usest force or fraud,
To agitate the heart that rests
Securely in her Lord.

Jesus is here; — I draw me
Across my flesh His Sign;
And well thou knowest, it hath power
To cope with thee and thine.

What though in sleep this body
May helpless seem to lie;
I fear thee not; assur'd that One
Stronger than thee is nigh.

On Him my heart shall ponder,
E'en while my rest I take;
My shield and shelter while I sleep;
My joy when I awake.