Awake, awake the sacred song,
To our incarnate Lord;
Let every heart and every tongue
Adore th’Eternal Word.

That awful Word, that sovereign Power,
By whom the worlds were made,
O happy morn, illustrious hour,
Was once in flesh arrayed.

Then shone almighty power and love,
In all their glorious forms,
When Jesus left His throne above,
To dwell with sinful worms.

To dwell with misery below,
The Savior left the skies,
And sunk to wretchedness and woe,
That worthless man might rise.

Come, Thou Redeemer of the earth,
And manifest Thy virgin birth:
Let every age adoring fall;
Such birth befits the God of all.

Begotten of no human will,
But of the Spirit, Thou art still
The Word of God in flesh arrayed,
The promised Fruit to man displayed.

The virgin womb that burden gained
With virgin honor all unstained;
The banners there of virtue glow;
God in His temple dwells below.

Forth from His chamber goeth He,
That royal home of purity,
A giant in twofold substance one,
Rejoicing now His course to run.

From God the Father He proceeds,
To God the Father back He speeds;
His course He runs to death and hell,
Returning on God’s throne to dwell.

O equal to the Father, Thou!
Gird on Thy fleshly mantle now;
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.

Thy cradle here shall glitter bright,
And darkness breathe a newer light,
Where endless faith shall shine serene,
And twilight never intervene.

All laud to God the Father be,
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To God the Holy Paraclete.

The life, which God’s Incarnate Word
Lived here below with men,
Three blest evangelists record
With Heav’n inspirèd pen.

John soars on high, beyond the three,
To God the Father’s throne;
And shows in what deep mystery
The Word with God is One.

Upon the Savior’s loving breast
Invited to recline,
’Twas thence he drew, in moments blest,
Rich stores of truth divine.

And thence did that angelic love
His inmost spirit fill,
Which, once enkindled from above,
Breathes in his pages still.

Jesu, the virgin’s holy Son,
We praise Thee and adore,
Who art with God the Father One
And Spirit evermore.

O come, Redeemer of mankind, appear,
Thee with full hearts the virgin born we greet;
Let every age with rapt amazement hear
That wondrous birth which for our God is meet.

Not by the will of man, or mortal seed,
But by the Spirit’s breathed mysterious grace
The Word of God became our flesh indeed,
And grew a tender plant of human race.

Lo! Mary’s virgin womb its burden bears;
Nor less abides her virgin purity;
In the King’s glory see our nature shares;
Here in His temple God vouchsafes to be.

From His bright chamber, virtue’s holy shrine
The royal Bridegroom cometh to the day;
Of twofold substance, human and divine,
As giant swift, rejoicing on His way.

Forth from His Father to the world He goes,
Back to the Father’s face His way regains,
Far down to souls beneath His glory shows,
Again at God’s right hand victorious reigns.

With the eternal Father equal, Thou,
Girt with our flesh dost triumph evermore,
Strengthening our feeble bodies here below
With endless grace from Thine own living store.

How doth Thy lowly manger radiant shine!
On the sweet breath of night new splendor grows;
So may our spirits glow with faith divine,
Where no dark cloud of sin shall interpose.

All praise and glory to the Father be,
All praise and glory to His only Son,
All praise and glory, Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Both now, and while eternal ages run.

O Word of God incarnate, O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging, O Light of our dark sky:
We praise You for the radiance that from the hallowed page,
A Lantern to our footsteps, shines on from age to age.

The Church from You, our Savior, received the Gift divine,
And still that Light is lifted over all the earth to shine.
It is the sacred Vessel where gems of truth are stored;
It is the heaven drawn Picture of Christ, the living Word.

The Scripture is a banner before God’s host unfurled;
It is a shining Beacon above the darkling world.
It is the Chart and Compass that over life’s surging tide,
Mid mists and rocks and quicksands, to You, O Christ, will guide.

O make your Church, dear Savior, a lamp of purest gold,
To bear before the nations Your true light as of old.
O teach your wandering pilgrims by this their path to trace,
Till, clouds and darkness ended, they see You face to face.

Savior of the heathen, known
As the promised virgin’s Son;
Come Thou Wonder of the earth,
God ordained Thee such a birth.

Not of flesh and blood the son,
Offspring of the Holy One,
Born of Mary ever blest,
God in flesh is manifest.

Cherished is the Holy Child
By the mother undefiled;
In the virgin, full of grace,
God has made His dwelling place.

Lo! He comes! the Lord of all
Leaves His bright and royal hall;
God and man, with giant force,
Hastening to run His course.

To the Father whence He came
He returns with brighter fame;
Down to hell He goes alone,
Then ascends to God’s high throne.

Thou, the Father’s equal, win
Victory in the flesh o’er sin;
So shall man, though weak and frail;
By the indwelling God prevail.

On Thy lowly manger night
Sheds a pure unwonted light;
Darkness must not enter here,
Faith abides in sunshine clear.

Praise be to the Father done,
Praise be to the only Son,
Praises to the Spirit be,
Now and to eternity.

The Son forsook the Father’s home
For mercy to lost man,
And did not scorn the virgin’s womb
To bear the sinner’s ban.

Meekly the maiden pure believed
The great archangel’s word,
And by the Holy Ghost conceived
The Savior Christ the Lord.

The Word made flesh creation sees,
Its mighty God in Man:
Great mystery of mysteries
Since ever time began!

That we might gain a second birth
The Holy Son was giv’n:
’Twas God Himself came down to earth
To win us back to Heav’n.

Lord! we believe with love and praise
This wondrous truth of Thee:
Thereby in all our troublous days
How strong henceforth are we!

So near art Thou, so strong are we,
For now, if we are Thine,
Our Brother in humanity,
Thou makest us divine!

We see with peace in times of fear
Serene Thy human form
Thy human voice with joy we hear,
Sweet-toned above the storm.

So dread we not the deathly strife,
Knowing that Thou hast died:
It can but bear us into life,
Since nearer to Thy side!

When came in flesh the incarnate Word,
The heedless world slept on,
And only simple shepherds heard
That God had sent His Son.

When comes the Savior at the last,
From east to west shall shine
The awful pomp, and earth aghast
Shall tremble at the sign.

Then shall the pure of heart be blest;
As mild He comes to them,
As when upon the virgin’s breast
He lay at Bethlehem.

As mild to meek eyed love and faith,
Only more strong to save;
Strengthened by having bowed to death,
By having burst the grave.

Lord, who could dare see Thee descend
In state, unless he knew
Thou art the sorrowing sinner’s Friend,
The gracious and the true?

Dwell in our hearts, O Savior blest;
So shall Thine advent’s dawn
’Twixt us and Thee, our bosom Guest,
Be but the veil withdrawn.