Almighty Father, Unoriginate,
Whom no man hath seen ever, nor can see;
Who reignest blest and only Potentate,
Light unapproachable encircling Thee:
Almighty Father, hallowed be Thy Name;
Who ever art, unchangeably the same. Thou lovest us, else had we never been:
Before we were, in ages long ago,
Thy love had us and all our wants foreseen,
Creating us that we Thy love might know,
Yea, Father, Thou, in Whom we live and move,
Hast loved us with an everlasting love. Thou madest man immortal at the first,
An image of Thine own eternity;
And when he fell from life, through sin accursed,
And lost his right to the life giving tree,
Thy love, unconquered would to him restore
His life ennobled and forevermore. Such was Thy love, Thou didst not even spare
Thy Best-beloved, but gav’st Him for us all;
To live that human life beyond compare,
And dying, by His death retrieve our fall.
In Him Thy love unbounded we behold,
For, giving Him, Thou canst not aught withhold. Thou knowest what we are, how frail and blind,
Thou still rememb’rest that we are but dust:
Like as a father pitieth, Thou art kind,
Thy justice kindness, and Thy kindness just.
Then hear Thy children’s prayer from Heav’n Thy throne;
Father, Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done. |
