Communion.
“The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee,
preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.”
—Prayer Book.
Tis silence, Lord, when some deep pulse of prayer
Throbs in the heart, by all unheard but Thee!
While lips anointed by the Truth declare
“Do this, and thus by faith remember Me.”
Deepens that silence, when with noiseless glide
The vested priesthood round Thine altar goes,
To give the emblems of That Crucified
From Whom the fountain of salvation flows.
But still more awful is that hush intense
Which broods within us, while our hands receive
The “Body and the Blood” Thy words dispense,—
Lest in the act God's holy One we grieve!
“Take, eat, and drink,” while thus our souls obey,
Grant that our feeding hearts in faith may be
Nourish'd by what those elements convey,—
Which are the Tokens that adumbrate Thee.
Well may we bow beneath some voiceless awe!
For if all life be mystery to man,
Who can unweave that sacramental law
By heaven decreed
before all souls began?
Seeds of eternity its depths enclose,—
Germs of a glory, life will not unfold
Till the last trumpet break the tomb's repose
And risen saints shall God in flesh behold.
Celestial Giver of the feast divine,
Come with Thy Spirit's ever-wakeful charm,
And while their Bodies are inspired by Thine
Protect each member from polluting harm.
E'en while we “eat and drink Thy Flesh and Blood”
Seraphic radiance seems to clothe the soul,
And vigour, born of eucharistic food,
Brightens each grace and purifies the whole.
Nearer and nearer to that Centre we
Move onward—drawn by some magnetic spell
Whose deep attractions prove the Trinity
In thy dread myst'ry of Communion dwell.
Pardon and peace, with purity and love,
All are embalm'd in this divinest meal,
While angels, bending from their thrones above,
Echo the wonder mortal bosoms feel.
And evermore, may touch, and taste, and sight
In this heart-sacrifice to Jesu given,
Be so instinct with God's mysterious rite
That earth may train them for a sphere in heaven.
Renew'd in body and revived in heart
And inly-brightened with unuttered bliss,—
Perennial Sacrament, how dear thou art
To saints who worship in a world like this!
As God and Man, by incarnation one,
A unity in Christ's dread Person make,
The Chruch
incorp'rate with th' eternal Son
Becomes a Body which can never break.
A myst'ry this!—but that almighty Word
On Whom the pillars of creation rest,
By faith and not by sceptic reason heard,—
His imaged Passion on this rite imprest
With such deep truth, that saints adore Him there
To gain that wisdom Spirits learn above,
Who study
Godhead in the house of prayer,
And live to worship, and are wise by love.
