The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

The days of separation past,
Commanded by the Word,
The Virgin Mary brings her Child,
To offer to the Lord.

Thanksgivings for His wondrous love,
Her grateful thoughts employ,
For blessings spared, and bliss bestow'd,
Life, and a mother's joy!

Thro' childbirth she hath safely past,
Thro' fear of worldly shame,
Her body kept from grief and harm,
Her purity from blame.

And now she comes, her vows to pay,
His law her sacred guide,
Her glorious Infant in her arms,
Her husband by her side.

More than a mother's common joy
Her thoughtful heart beguil'd,
For to her breast she knew she prest
More than a common Child.

The Hope of all the ends of earth
Then on her bosom lay,
Whom saints had sought, while Prophets taught
The coming of His day.

She knew the prize, for which all eyes
So long had strain'd, was won,
And how ' that Holy Thing' was both
Her Saviour, and her Son.

O wondrous mingling of the love
A mother only knows
"With the deep reverence, which a soul
Upon its God bestows!

Her arms His cradle— while His grace
Sustains her, lest she fall:
He draws from her life's daily food,
She draws from Him her all!

No glory of the days of old,
When Great Jehovah bow'd
Beneath the Temple gates of gold,
And entered in a cloud,

Was equal to that gentle light
Of reconciling Love,
Which now, thro' all the Holy Place,
Comes beaming from above.

God's rising Sun on Israel's cloud
Its rainbow hues hath thrown,
'A Light, to lighten Gentile homes,
'The Glory' of His own.

But who were they that knew that Light,
And — in that crowding throng —
Saw Jesus — in that little babe —
So meekly borne along?

Who realized the blessed hope,
Which had their hearts beguiled,
And ' Israel's consolation' saw
In that long-look'd-for Child?

They who, in holy commune, long
With their dear God had kept,
And wakeful watched the break of dawn,
While all around them slept.

They who, with aged eyes, had searched
Deep thro' the Sacred Word,
And caught each sign, whose Light divine
Proclaim'd their coming Lord.

They — who, ‘with fastings' and with ‘prayers'
Both ' night and day,' did crave
The Lord's salvation to behold,
Before they saw the grave: —

They coming in — as was their wont
In former anxious days —
There find the Saviour sought so long,
And Prayer is changed to Praise.

So keep us ever waiting, Lord,
In c daily prayer ' for Thee:
For who can say what hour we may
Thy second Advent see.

This Word at least is fix'd, and sure,
That they — who seek to gain
Thy glad salvation for their souls —
Shall never seek in vain.

The long delays of weary days
In Thy good time shall cease,
Some blessed morn Thou wilt return,
And we ' depart in peace.'