St. Matthias's Day

The highest and the holiest place
Guards not the heart from sin;
The church that safest seems without,
May harbor foes within.

Thus in the small and chosen band
Beloved above the rest,
One fell from his apostleship,
A traitor-soul unblest.

But not the great designs of God
Man's sin shall overthrow;
Another witness to the truth
Forth to the lands shall go.

Righteous, O Lord, are all Thy ways;
Long as the worlds endure,
From foes without and foes within
Thy Church shall stand secure.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die;
But Thine shall never fail;
The word of grace no less shall sound,
The truth no less prevail.