by C. H. H. Parry

He comes to us as one unknown, a breath unseen, unheard;
as though within a heart of stone, or shriveled seed in darkness sown,
a pulse of being stirred.

He comes when souls in silence lie and thoughts of day depart,
half-seen upon the inward eye, a falling star across the sky
of night within the heart.

He comes to us in sound of seas, the ocean’s fume and foam;
yet small and still upon the breeze, a wind that stirs the tops of trees,
a voice to call us home.

He comes in love as once he came by flesh and blood and birth;
to bear within our mortal frame a life, a death, a saving name
for every child of earth.

He comes in truth when faith is grown; believed, obeyed, adored:
the Christ in all the scriptures shown, as yet unseen, but not unknown,
our Savior, and our Lord.

St Olaf Choir