Volume 19 — On Hearing The “O Salutaris Hostia.”21

On Hearing The “O Salutaris Hostia.”21

Song of the soul, whose clearly ringing rhythm

Throbs through the sacred pile,

And lengthened echoes swell thy solemn anthem

Past chancel, vault, and aisle,

An occult influence through thy numbers stealing,

A strange, mysterious spell,

Wakes in the longing heart a wondrous feeling,

A joy no tongue can tell;

A dreamy peace, a sense of unseen glory,

Wells through thy thrilling praise,

And calls a fairy vision up before me,

A dream of brighter days.

I hear the seraphs' sweet-tongued voices pleading,

The cherubim's accord,

And see the sun-robed shadows softly thridding

The gardens of the Lord.

I linger on the sight, and growing weary

Of earthly dross and sin,

Sadly, yet hoping, like the wistful peri,

I long to enter in!

The rolling echoes peal

Whilst glorious above

The face of God smiles on the storied altar,

Well pleased, and rich with love.

And through the living air and slumbrous music,

And through the chancel broad,

The Heart of Jesus glows in mystic splendor,

And lights us unto God!

[pg 015]