Circumcision of Christ

Thy Blood, O Christ, hath made our peace
Not only that whereby
The ground of Calvary was stained
When Thou wert hung on high:

Not only that which, in Thine hour
Of fear and agony,
Distilled upon Thy trembling frame
In dark Gethsemane:

But that shed from Thee when at first
In childhood Thou didst deign
Thus to endure for sinful man
The legal rite of pain.

And as with suffering and with Thee
Our yearly course begins;
So teach us to renounce the flesh,
And put away our sins;

That in the Israel of Thy Church
We may not lose our part;
In spirit and in body pure,
And circumcised in heart.