1 What thanks and praise to Thee we owe,
O Priest and Sacrifice divine,
For Thy dear Saint thro' whom we know
So many a gracious word of Thine.

2 Whom Thou didst choose to tell the tale
Of all Thy manhood's toils and tears,
And for a moment lift the veil
That hides Thy boyhood's spotless years.

3 And still the Church through all her days
Uplifts the strains that never cease,
The blessed Virgin's hymn of praise,
The aged Simeon's words of peace.

4 O happy saint! whose sacred page,
So rich in words of truth and love,
Pours on the Church from age to age
This healing unction from above;

5 The witness of the Saviour's life,
The great Apostle's chosen friend
Through weary years of toil and strife,
And still found faithful to the end.

6 So grant us, Lord, like him to live,
Beloved by man, approved by Thee,
Till Thou at last the summons give,
And we, with him, Thy face shall see.