Sunday, 13 April 2014

By St. Bernard of Clairvaux: A Palm Sunday Hymn



O Sacred Heart now wounded...

1.            O sacred Head, now wounded,
                with grief and shame weighed down,
                now scornfully surrounded
                with thorns, thine only crown:
                how pale thou art with anguish,
                with sore abuse and scorn!
                How does that visage languish
                which once was bright as morn!

2.            What thou, my Lord, has suffered
                was all for sinners' gain;
                mine, mine was the transgression,
                but thine the deadly pain.
                Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
                'Tis I deserve thy place;
                look on me with thy favor,
                vouchsafe to me thy grace.

3.            What language shall I borrow
                to thank thee, dearest friend,
                for this thy dying sorrow,
                thy pity without end?
                O make me thine forever;
                and should I fainting be,
                Lord, let me never, never
                outlive my love for thee.