God hath sent his angels to the earth again,

Bringing joyful tidings to the sons of men;

They who first, at Christmas, thronged the heavenly way,

Now beside the tomb-door, sit on Easter Day.

Angels sing his triumph, as you sang his birth,

"Christ, the Lord, is risen. Peace, goodwill on earth."

In the dreadful desert, where the Lord was tried,

There the faithful angels gathered at his side;

And when in the garden, grief and pain and care

Bowed him down with anguish, they were with him there.

Yet the Christ they honor is the same Christ still,

Who, in light and darkness, did his Father's will;

And the tomb deserted shineth like the sky,

Since he passed out from it into victory.

God has still His angels, helping, at his word,

All his faithful children, like their faithful Lord;

Soothing them in sorrow, arming them in strife,

Opening wide the tomb-doors, leading into life.