Sacramental Hymns: Holy Eucharist 427-436

Holy Eucharist

427

And now, O Father, mindful of the love – W Bright

And now, O Father, mindful of the love
that bought us, once for all, on Calvary's Tree,
and having with us him that pleads above,
we here present, we spread forth to thee
that only Offering perfect in thine eyes,
the one, true, pure, immortal Sacrifice.

Look, Father, look on his anointed face,
and only look on us as found in him;
look not on our misusings of thy grace,
our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim:
for lo, between our sins and their reward
we set the Passion of thy Son our Lord.

And then for those, our dearest and our best,
by this prevailing Presence we appeal:
O fold them closer to thy mercy's breast,
O do thine utmost for their souls' true weal;
from tainting mischief keep them white and clear,
and crown thy gifts with strength to persevere.

And so we come: O draw us to thy feet,
most patient Savior, who canst love us still;
and by this food, so aweful and so sweet,
deliver us from every touch of ill:
in thine own service make us glad and free,
and grant us never more to part with thee.

428

Let thy Blood in mercy poured – J Brownlie trans

Let thy Blood in mercy poured,
let thy gracious Body broken,
be to me, O gracious Lord,
of thy boundless love the token.
Refrain:
Thou didst give thyself for me,
now I give myself to thee.

Thou didst die that I might live;
blessed Lord, thou cam'st to save me;
all that love of God could give
Jesus by his sorrows gave me. Refrain

By the thorns that crowned thy brow,
by the spear-wound and the nailing,
by the pain and death, I now
claim, O Christ, thy love unfailing. Refrain

Wilt thou own the gift I bring?
All my penitence I give thee;
thou art my exalted King,
of thy matchless love forgive me. Refrain

429

O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray – W Turton

O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray
that all thy Church might be for ever one,
grant us at every Eucharist to say
with longing heart and soul, "thy will be done."
O may we all one Bread, one Body be,
through this blest Sacrament of unity.

For all thy Church, O Lord, we intercede;
make thou our sad divisions soon to cease;
draw us the nearer each to each, we plead,
by drawing all to thee, O Prince of Peace;
thus may we all one Bread, one Body be,
through this blest Sacrament of unity.

We pray thee too for wanderers from thy fold;
O bring them back, good Shepherd of the sheep,
back to the faith which saints believed of old,
back to the Church which still that faith doth keep;
soon may we all one Bread, one Body be,
through this blest Sacrament of unity.

So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
may we be one with all thy Church above,
one with thy saints in one unbroken peace,
one with thy saints in one unbounded love;
more blessèd still, in peace and love to be
one with the Trinity in Unity.

430

O food of men wayfaring – Latin 17^th cent. / A Riley

O Food of men wayfaring,
the bread of angels sharing,
O Manna from on high!
We hunger; Lord, supply us,
nor thy delights deny us,
whose hearts to thee draw nigh.

O stream of love past telling,
O purest fountain, welling
from out the Savior's side!
We faint with thirst; revive us,
of thine abundance give us,
and all we need provide.

O Jesus, by thee bidden,
we here adore thee, hidden
'neath forms of bread and wine.
Grant when the veil is riven,
we may behold, in heaven,
thy countenance divine.

431

Zion, praise thy Savior, singing – T Aquinas / Hymnal 1940 trans

432

Very Bread, good Shepherd, tend us – T Aquinas / Hymnal 1940 trans

433

Father, we thank thee, who hast planted – The Didache / F Tucker trans

434

Bread of the world in mercy broken – R Heber

 Bread of the world, in mercy broken,
Wine of the soul, in mercy shed,
by whom the words of life were spoken,
and in whose death our sins are dead:
look on the heart by sorrow broken,
look on the tears by sinners shed;
and be thy feast to us the token
that by thy grace our souls are fed.

435

Let all mortal flesh keep silence – Liturgy of Saint James / G Moultrie

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded,
for with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture,
in the Body and the Blood
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of Light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.

At his feet the six-winged seraph;
cherubim with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the Presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry,
"Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, Lord Most High!"

436

O God, unseen, yet ever near – E Oseley

O God, unseen yet ever near,
thy presence may we feel;
and thus inspired with holy fear,
before thine altar kneel.

Here may thy faithful people know
the blessings of thy love,
the streams that through the desert flow,
the manna from above.

We come, obedient to thy word,
to feast on heavenly food;
our meat the body of the Lord,
our drink his precious blood.

Thus may we all thy Word obey,
for we, O God, are thine;
and go rejoicing on our way,
renewed with strength divine.