Flowers for the Altar

Tell us, tell us, holy shepherds,
What at Bethlehem you saw. —
'Very God of Very God
Asleep amid the straw.'
Tell us, tell us, all ye faithful,
What this morning came to pass
At the awful elevation
In the Canon of the Mass. —
'Very God of Very God,
By whom the worlds were made,
In silence and in helplessness
Upon the altar laid.'
Tell us, tell us, wondrous Jesu,
What has drawn Thee from above
To the manger and the altar. —
All the silence answers — Love.

Through the roaring streets of London
Thou art passing, hidden Lord,
Uncreated, Consubstantial,
In the seventh heaven adored.
As of old the ever-Virgin
Through unconscious Bethlehem
Bore Thee, not in glad procession,
Jewelled robe and diadem;
Not in pomp and not in power,
Onward to Nativity,
Shrined but in the tabernacle
Of her sweet Virginity.
Still Thou goest by in silence,
Still the world cannot receive,
Still the poor and weak and weary
Only, worship and believe.