1 SAVIOUR, when in dust to thee
Low we bow 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!
2 By thy helpless infant years;
By thy life of want and tears;
By thy fasting and distress
In the savage wilderness;
By the dread mysterious hour
Of the subtle tempter's power;
Turn, O turn a favouring eye,
Hear our solemn litany!
3 By the sacred grief that wept
O'er the grave where Lazarus slept;
By the gracious tears that flowed
Over Salem's loved abode;
By the mournful word that told
Treachery lurked within thy fold,
From thy seat above the sky,
Hear our solemn litany!
4 By thine hour of whelming fear;
By thine agony of prayer;
By the purple robe of scorn;
By thy wounds, thy crown of thorn;
By the gloom that veiled the skies
O'er the dreadful sacrifice;
Listen to our humble cry,
Hear our solemn litany!
5 By thy deep expiring groan;
By the sealed sepulchral stone;
By the vault whose dark abode
Held in vain the rising God,
O from earth to heaven restored,
Mighty God, ascended Lord,
Listen, listen to the cry
Of our solemn litany!