The great fore­run­ner of the morn,
The her­ald of the Word, is born:
And faith­ful hearts shall ne­ver fail
With thanks and praise his light to hail.

With hea­ven­ly mes­sage Ga­bri­el came,
That John should be that her­ald’s name,
And with pro­phet­ic ut­ter­ance told
His ac­tions great and ma­ni­fold.

John, still un­born, yet gave aright
His wit­ness to the com­ing light;
And Christ, the sun of all the earth,
Fulfilled that wit­ness at His birth.

Of wo­man born shall ne­ver be
A great­er pro­phet than was he,
Whose migh­ty deeds ex­alt his fame
To great­er than a pro­phet’s name.

But why should mor­tal ac­cents raise
The hymn of John the Bap­tist’s praise?
Of whom, or e’er his course was run,
Thus spake the Fa­ther to the Son?

Behold, My her­ald, who shall go
Before Thy face Thy way to show,
And shine, as with the day-star’s gleam,
Before Thine own eter­nal beam.

All praise to God the Fa­ther be,
All praise, eter­nal Son, to Thee,
Whom with the Spi­rit we adore
Forever and for­ev­er­more.