THE HOUSE OF GOD.
29
Here stands the Font, placed just within the door,
To say to all who pass the threshold o'er:
e who the Church of God would enter, know
One only way our Saviour Christ did show—
By holy baptism; this the lowly gate
For helpless infancy and man's estate;
For since God's grace alone can lead them in,
Wisdom and age like babes must entrance win.
Here stands the Font, and here the Heavenly Dove
Its depths to sanctify, on wings of love
Hovers unseen. Beneath this cleansing wave
Doth God regenerate whom He world save;
Through this fair tide He calleth all to pass
Into His Kingdom; this the sea of glass
Before His altar-throne that far away
Beyond the nave, the choir, in fair array,
Within the rood-screen lifts its gleaming height,
And floods the space around with sacred light,
As the White Throne and He who sits thereon
Fill Heaven with majesty above the sun.
And like the rainbow round the Throne appear
The changing colors of the Christian year
As all the holy seasons come and go,
And o'er the Altar hues symbolic throw:
Violet when mourns the Church a penitent
Through solemn fasts of Advent and of Lent,
And all the lesser vigils that she keeps
When o'er her sins for Jesus' sake she weeps;
Through Christmas-, Easter-, and Ascension-tide
To say to all who pass the threshold o'er:
e who the Church of God would enter, know
One only way our Saviour Christ did show—
By holy baptism; this the lowly gate
For helpless infancy and man's estate;
For since God's grace alone can lead them in,
Wisdom and age like babes must entrance win.
Here stands the Font, and here the Heavenly Dove
Its depths to sanctify, on wings of love
Hovers unseen. Beneath this cleansing wave
Doth God regenerate whom He world save;
Through this fair tide He calleth all to pass
Into His Kingdom; this the sea of glass
Before His altar-throne that far away
Beyond the nave, the choir, in fair array,
Within the rood-screen lifts its gleaming height,
And floods the space around with sacred light,
As the White Throne and He who sits thereon
Fill Heaven with majesty above the sun.
And like the rainbow round the Throne appear
The changing colors of the Christian year
As all the holy seasons come and go,
And o'er the Altar hues symbolic throw:
Violet when mourns the Church a penitent
Through solemn fasts of Advent and of Lent,
And all the lesser vigils that she keeps
When o'er her sins for Jesus' sake she weeps;
Through Christmas-, Easter-, and Ascension-tide
