What thanks and praise to thee we owe,

O Priest and Sacrifice divine,

For thy dear saint through whom we know

So many a gracious word of thine;

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.

And still the Church through all her days

Uplifts the strains that never cease,

The blessèd Virgin's hymn of praise,

The aged Simeon's words of peace.

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;

The witness of the Savior's life,

The great apostle's chosen friend

Through weary years of toil and strife,

And still found faithful to the end.

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.