Litany

Saviour, when in dust to Thee Low we bend the adoring knee; When, repentant, to the skies Scarce we lift our weeping eyes,— O, by all Thy pains and woe Suffered once for man below, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our solemn litany! By Thy helpless infant years; By Thy life of want and tears; By Thy days of sore distress In the savage wilderness; By the dread mysterious hour Of the insulting tempter’s power,— Turn, O, turn a favoring eye, Hear our solemn litany! By the sacred griefs that wept O’er the grave where Lazarus slept; By the boding tears that flowed Over Salem’s loved abode; By the anguished sigh that told Treachery lurked within Thy fold,— From Thy seat above the sky Hear our solemn litany! By Thine hour of dire despair; By Thine agony of prayer; By the cross, the nail, the thorn, Piercing spear, and torturing scorn; By the gloom that veiled the skies O’er the dreadful sacrifice,— Listen to our humble cry, Hear our solemn litany! By Thy deep expiring groan; By the sad sepulchral stone; By the vault whose dark abode Held in vain the rising God; O, from earth to heaven restored, Mighty, reascended Lord,— Listen, listen to the cry Of our solemn litany!