In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying,
Matthew 3:1–2Repent ye: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Words: Christopher Wordsworth, The Holy Year (London: Rivingtons, 1863), number 6. Christ ever coming in the ministry of His Church.
Music: Wrexham, in the appendix to The Holy Year, 1862 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know the composer, or where to get a good picture of him (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Repent, repent,
the Baptist cries
For near at hand is He
Who with the Spirit will baptize:
Th’incarnate Deity!
I am the voice, He th’eternal Word;
I but a servant, He th’almighty Lord.
As Thou Thy messenger didst send
O Lord, before Thy face,
So send’st Thou ever, till the end,
Thy ministers of grace;
Thou comest in them; all they have is Thine;
They are but channels, Thou the source divine.
O blessèd Savior, may we learn
Thee in Thy church to see,
Thee in Thy ministers discern,
And in them honor Thee;
Thou at the font and altar, Lord, dost stand,
Tending, unseen, Thy people with Thy hand.
O may Thy pastors faithful be,
And feed with wholesome food
Thy own dear flock, redeemed by Thee
With Thy most precious blood.
So at Thy second coming we and they
May in Thy heav’nly fold be safe alway.