Confirmation

Around the youthful soldiers
Of Christ, our Saviour King,
Throng we with glad rejoicings
And as we joy we sing;

Praise to the God Who loves them.
The Christ, Whom they adore.
The Spirit, that now moves them,
And seals them evermore!

The flower of the army
Of Christ is kneeling now
Before His sacred altar.
His Cross on every brow;

That Cross, whose dews baptismal
First marked them with His love,
Now waiting the renewal
Of the descending Dove.

Praise to the God Whose mercy
First placed that symbol there,
And then through years of childhood
Preserved it fresh and fair;

To Him, Whose love confirmeth
The sign of grace to-day,
Nor lets the dews of morning
In noontide fade away.

Clothed in God's royal armour
The youthful warriors stand.
Bound every breast a buckler,
A sword in every hand;

On every brow a helmet.
Salvation's hope divine;
Back from their jewell'd morions
The beams of morning shine.

God shield them in their beauty,
And keep them in their place.
And gird their loins with duty.
And fill their hearts with grace:

God give them a deliv'rance
From all their ghostly foes,
And, when life's toil is over.
Rest where His Saints repose.

Then round the youthful soldiers
Of Christ, our Saviour-King,
Let us with glad rejoicings
This happy morning sing:

Praise to the God Who loves them.
The Christ, Whom they adore,
The Spirit, that now moves them.
And seals them evermore!