FROM ALCUIN OF YORK
Here, dying for the world, the world’s
life hung,
Having a world’s sin in that deathly tide;
That downbeat head reised earth above
stars:
O timeless wonder! Life, because One died.
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He lay with quiet heart in the stern
asleep:
Waking, commanded both the winds and sea.
Christ, though this weary body slumber
deep,
Grant that my heart may keep its watch with thee.
O Lamb of God that carried all our sins,
Guard thou my sleep against the enemy.
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O King of glory and Lord of
Valours, our warrior and our peace, who hast said ‘Be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world’, be thou victorious in us thy servants, for without thee we
can do nothing. Give us to will
and to perform. Grant thy
compassion to go before us, thy compassion to come behind us: before us in our understanding, behind
us in our ending. And what shall I
now say, unless that thy will be done, who dost will that all men should be
saved. Thy will is our salvation,
our glory, and our joy.
In Christ's love, Fr. Robert Pax