Penitential Hymn, Hymn 3

Jesu, I call Thee by the name
On which my hopes would fain rely:
Undone without Thy help I am,
Without Thy help for ever die.

Throughout my fallen soul I feel
Thy only name hath power to save:
Quench with Thy blood this inbred hell,
Redeem me from the' infernal grave.

Chief of apostate spirits, I groan
My sense of deepest guilt to Thee,
Of all the' incarnate fiends not one
So devilish, or so damn'd as me.

I know, to' alleviate my pain,
To lessen and remove my load,
Impossible it is with man;
But Thou art the Almighty God.

Is there a thing too hard for Thee?
A case beyond Thy mercy's power?
An ill Thou canst not remedy?
A sinner Thou canst not restore?

Can there a malady be found,
By Love Divine incurable?
Or is my spirit's mortal wound
Too deep for Thee to search, and heal?

Is there on earth a loss too great
For all Thy fulness to repair?
Is there a soul so near the pit,
That Thou no more canst save it there?

My soul in sin so rooted stands,
No common miracle can move,
I know, my spirit's cure demands
Thy whole omnipotence of love.

But whether Thou hast ever heal'd
A spirit so desperate as mine
It lies, alas! from me conceal'd
In lowest depths of love Divine.

My feeble heart cannot conceive
Such greatness of redeeming power,
Yet fain I would, I would believe
That Thou canst me, even me, restore.

ill hope Thou able art to cleanse
The worst and foulest sinner me,
And suddenly transport me hence,
And snatch this moment up to Thee.

Yet O! I doubt Thy gracious will,
And scarce to sue for mercy dare,
Held on the rack, and tortured still
With pangs severer than despair.

My God, my God, what shall I say,
But still my one request repeat!
O might I now escape away,
And die lamenting at Thy feet!

O let it not my Lord displease,
That still I urge my one request,
Languish in pain for lasting ease,
And weary long to be at rest.

Still art Thou silent at my tears?
O were Thy waves and storms o'erpast!
Pardon my sins, remove my fears,
And bid me weep, and groan my last.

Jesu, in honour of Thy name
Hope in my end O let me prove,
And quickly Thee in death proclaim
The' almighty God of pardoning love.