Fire our hearts with thy strong love

High Word of God, who once didst come

Words: Latin, tenth century; trans. Charles Bigg, 1906
Tune: Verbum supernum prodiens

High Word of God, who once didst come,
leaving thy Father and thy home,
to succor by thy birth our kind,
when, towards thy advent, time declined,

Pour light upon us from above,
and fire our hearts with thy strong love,
that, as we hear thy Gospel read,
all fond desires may flee in dread;

That when thou comest from the skies,
great Judge, to open thine assize,
to give each hidden sin its smart,
and crown as kings the pure in heart,

We be not set at thy left hand,
where sentence due would bid us stand,
but with the saints thy face may see,
forever wholly loving thee.

Praise to the Father and the Son,
through all the ages as they run;
and to the holy Paraclete
be praise with them and worship meet.

Selah.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come

Words: Latin, thirteenth century; trans. Edward Caswall, 1849
Tune: Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come,
and from thy celestial home
shed a ray of light divine!
Come, thou Father of the poor!
Come, thou Source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!

Thou, of comforters the best;
thou, the soul's most welcome guest;
sweet refreshment here below;
in our labor, rest most sweet;
grateful coolness in the heat;
solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
shine within these hearts of thine,
and our inmost being fill!
Where thou art not, man hath naught,
nothing good in deed or thought,
nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
on our dryness pour thy dew;
wash the stains of guilt away;
bend the stubborn heart and will;
melt the frozen, warm the chill;
guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
and confess thee, evermore
in thy sevenfold gift descend;
give them virtue's sure reward
give them thy salvation, Lord;
give them joys that never end.

Selah.

A word for the day: grace, endurance, hope

A song of the justified: Hope is not in vain

Romans 5 selections

Through Christ we have gained access
to the grace in which we stand,
and rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.
We even exult in our sufferings,
for suffering produces endurance,
And endurance brings hope,
and our hope is not in vain,
Because God's love has been poured into our hearts,
through the Holy Spirit, given to us.

Selah.

Come, love of Christ, afresh to win us

O breath of love, come breathe within us

Words: Elizabeth A P Head (1850-1936)
Tune: Spiritus Vitae

O breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your Church in every part!

O wind of God, come bend us, break us
till humbly we confess our need;
then, in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore-for this we plead.

O breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your Church with life and power;
O breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us
and fit your Church to meet this hour.

Selah.

Search out our hearts and make us true

Before thy throne, O God, we kneel

Words: William Boyd Carpenter (1841-1918)
Tune: St. Petersburg

Before thy throne, O God, we kneel:
give us a conscience quick to feel,
a ready mind to understand
the meaning of thy chastening hand;
whate'er the pain and shame may be,
bring us, O Father, nearer thee.

Search out our hearts and make us true;
help us to give to all their due.
From love of pleasure, lust of gold,
from sins which make the heart grow cold,
wean us and train us with thy rod;
teach us to know our faults, O God.

For sins of heedless word and deed,
for pride ambitions to succeed,
for crafty trade and subtle snare
to catch the simple unaware,
for lives bereft of purpose high,
forgive, forgive, O Lord, we cry.

Let the fierce fires which burn and try,
our inmost spirits purify:
consume the ill; purge out the shame;
O God, be with us in the flame;
a newborn people may we rise,
more pure, more true, more nobly wise!

Selah.

Life-giving Spirit, o'er us move

O Holy Ghost, thy people bless

Words: Henry Williams Baker, 1874
Tune: Tallis' Ordinal

O Holy Ghost, thy people bless
who long to feel thy might,
and fain would grow in holiness
as children of the light.

To thee we bring, who art the Lord,
ourselves to be thy throne;
let every thought and deed and word
thy pure dominion own.

Life-giving Spirit, o'er us move,
as on the formless deep;
give life and order, light and love,
where now is death or sleep.

Great Gift of our ascended King,
His saving truth reveal;
our tongues inspire His praise to sing,
our hearts His love to feel.

True Wind of heaven, from south or north,
for joy or chastening, blow;
the garden-spices shall spring forth
if thou wilt bid them flow.

O Holy Ghost, of sevenfold might,
all graces come from thee;
grant us to know and serve aright
one God in Persons Three!

Selah.