from the hymn Father, We Thank Thee Who Hast Planted

from the hymn FATHER, WE THANK THEE WHO HAST PLANTED.


Father, we thank thee who hast planted
Thy holy Name within our hearts.
Knowledge and faith and life immortal
Jesus thy Son to us imparts.
Thou, Lord, didst make all for thy pleasure,
Didst give man food for all his days,
Giving in Christ the Bread eternal;
Thine is the power, be thine the praise.

Watch o'er thy Church, O Lord, in mercy,
Save it from evil, guard it still,
Perfect it in thy love, unite it,
Cleansed and conformed unto thy will.
As grain, once scatter'd on the hillsides,
Was in this broken bread made one,
So from all lands thy Church be gather'd
Into thy kingdom by thy Son.


Text Greek.  from the Didach, c.110, translated by F. Bland Tucker, 1895-1984