Dear God, our Fa­ther, at Thy knees con­fess­ing
Our sins and fol­lies, close in Thine em­brace,
Children for­giv­en, hap­py in Thy bless­ing,
Deepen our spi­rits to re­ceive Thy grace.

Not for more beau­ty would our eyes en­treat Thee,
Flooded with beau­ty, beau­ty ev­ery­where;
Only for keen­er vi­sion that may greet Thee,
In all Thy ves­tures of the earth and air.

The stars and rain­bows are Thy won­drous wear­ing,
Sunlight and sha­dow moving on the hills;
Holy the mea­dow where Thy feet are far­ing,
Holy the brookl­et that Thy laugh­ter fills.

Not for more love our crav­ing hearts im­plore Thee,
But for more pow­er to love un­til they glow
Like hearths of com­fort, ea­ger to re­store Thee,
Hidden in hu­man wretch­ed­ness and woe.

In souls most sull­en Thou art soft­ly dream­ing
Of saints and he­roes wrought from Thy di­vine
Pity and pa­tience, still the lost re­deem­ing,
Deepen our spi­rits for love like Thine.