HARK, my soul! it is the Lord;
'Tis thy Saviour, hear His word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,-
'Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me?
I delivered thee, when bound,
And, when bleeding, healed thy wound;
Sought thee wandering, set thee right,
Turned thy darkness into light.
'Can a woman's tender care
Cease towards the child she bare?
Yes! she may forgetful be,
Yet will I remember thee.
Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.
'Thou shalt see My glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of My throne shalt be;-
Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me?'
Lord it is my chief complaint,
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love Thee, and adore;
Oh for grace to love Thee more!
TE, sancte Jesu, mens mea,
Amoris icta vulnere,
Suspirat. O salus mea,
Me solve tandem vinculis
Istis, ut evolem tuam
Beatus ad præsentiam :
Fac interim magis magis
Amore totus ardeam:
Ut pura mens a corporis
Contagione amplexibus
Evadat aptior tuis.
Tu spes, voluptas, unicum
Cordis mei sis gaudium.
Benigne Jesu, da, precor,
Humana cuncta spernere
Te propter, omnia fac mihi
Te propter unum sordeant:
Seu pulcher oras ætheris
Sol lustrat almo lumine;
Seu nox benigno languida
Rigat sopore corpora,
Domi forisque mens mea
Te quærat, invocet, canat,
Solumque felix in tuo
Dulci acquiescat numine.
M. ANTONIUS FLAMINIUS, A.D. 1550.
ALL-HOLY Jesus! mine Thou art,
Smit with Thy love, my bleeding heart
Would breathe its secret in Thine ear;
Stoop Jesus from Thy throne, and hear.
These shackles burst, of sense and sin,
Which bind and burden all within,
That to Thy blessed presence I
May spread my happy wings and fly.
O teach my whole soul more and more,
To burn with love and to adore;
Till from the snares of sense set free,
She find supreme delight in Thee.
Be Thou my bliss, without alloy;
My highest hope, my deepest joy,
What most I love beneath the skies,
Compared with Thee, let me despise.
Yea, let me count all things as vile,
That would my heart from Thee beguile.
Whether the sun gild all below,
Making the realms of ether glow;
Or night her starry vigils keep,
While I am wrapt in balmy sleep;
Whether in peace I dwell at home,
Or far abroad my footsteps roam ;
Still let my wingèd soul be free
To soar, and sing, and call on Thee;
To hail Thy will, to wait Thy call,
Happy in Thee her All in all.
M. A. FLAMINIUS, A.D. 1550.
[ESU! ter desiderate
Jesu, pro me vulnerate!
Quiddam quisque optat bonum,
Hocce autem Tuum donum.
Te novisse, Te laudare,
Hac in terra est laetari;
Te videre et amare,
Erit in aevum beari.
Vita mors est, Te absente,
Mors est vita, Te praesente;
Morior Te spem negante,
Felix vivo opem dante.
Requies cælesti fonte
Defluit Teipso sponte;
Tua pax beata, Deus,
Mea est, si Tu sis meus.
Te praesentem sentienti
Cuneta mi placent gaudenti;
Vivus tecum ambulabo,
Moriens ad Te volabo.
Si Teipsum des mi dono,
Sisque meo Summo Bono,
Comes ero beatorum
Híc, et in cælo cælorum.
BJECT of my first desire,
Jesus, crucified for me;
All to happiness aspire,
Only to be found in Thee:
Thee to please, and Thee to know
Constitute our bliss below:
Thee to see, and Thee to love,
Constitute our bliss above.
Lord! it is not life to live,
If Thy presence Thou deny :
Lord! if Thou Thy presence give,
'Tis no longer death to die.
Source and Giver of repose,
Singly from Thy smile it flows:
Peace and happiness are Thine;
Mine they are, if Thou are mine.
Whilst I feel Thy love to me,
Every object teems with joy;
Here, O may I walk with Thee,
Then, into Thy presence die!
Let me but Thyself possess,
Total sum of happiness!
Real bliss I then shall prove,
Heaven below, and heaven above.
|