Thou art good! Each perfumed flower,Waving fields, the dark green wood,The insect fluttering for an hour,–All things proclaim that God is good. I hear it in each breath of wind;The hills that have for ages stood,And clouds with gold and silver lined,All still repeat that God is good. Each little rill, that many a yearHas […]

How sweet upon this sacred day,The best of all the seven,To cast our earthly thoughts away,And think of God and heaven! How sweet to be allowed to prayOur sins may be forgiven;With filial confidence to say,“Father, who art in heaven”! With humble hope to bend the knee,And, free from folly’s leaven,Confess that we have strayed […]

How sweet to lay my weary headUpon my quiet little bed,And feel assured, that all day longI have not knowingly done wrong! How sweet to hear my mother say,“You have been very good to-day!”How sweet to see my father’s joyWhen he can say, “My dear, good boy!” How sweet it is my thoughts to sendTo […]

How sweet to be allowed to prayTo God, the Holy One,With filial love and trust to say,–“Father, thy will be done!” We in these sacred words can findA cure for every ill;They calm and soothe the troubled mind,And bid all care be still. O, let that will, which gave me breathAnd an immortal soul,In joy […]

“What, mother, makes it seem to me,When I am all alone,As if some one could hear and see,And all my thoughts were known? “Sometimes it makes me very glad,And dance and sing with joy;Sometimes it makes me very sad,And frights your little boy. “O, tell me, mother, tell me why;For I have never knownWhy ’tis […]

Almighty Father! I am weak,But thou wilt strengthen me,If from my heart I humbly seekFor help and light from thee. When I am tempted to do wrong,Then, Father, pity me,And make my failing virtue strong;Help me to think of thee! Let Christian courage guard my youth;That courage give to meWhich ever speaks and acts the […]

Help me, O God, to trust in thee,Thou high and holy One!And may my troubled spirit fleeFor rest to thee alone. In thee alone the soul can findSecure and sweet repose;And thou canst bid the desert mindTo blossom as the rose. Let not this spirit, formed to riseWhere angels claim their birth,Forsake its home beyond […]

“Let little children come to me,”–This is what the Saviour said;Little children, come and seeWhere these gracious words are read. Often on these pages look,–Of the love of God they tell;‘Tis indeed a holy book,–Learn to read and love it well. Thus you hear the Saviour speak,–“Come ye all and learn of me”;He was gentle, […]

God, who dwellest everywhereGod, who makest all thy care,God, who hearest every prayer,Thou who see’st the heart; Thou to whom we lift our eyes.Father, help our souls to rise,And, beyond these narrow skies,See thee as thou art! Let our anxious thoughts be still,Holy trust adore thy will,Holy love our bosoms fill,Let our songs ascend!Dearest friends […]

What was in the viewless wind,Wild rushing through the oak,Seemed to my listening, dreaming mindAs though a spirit spoke? What is it to the murmuring streamDoth give so sweet a song,That on its tide my thoughts do seemTo pour themselves along? What is it on the dizzy height,What in each glowing star,That speaks of things […]

As through the pathless fields of airWandered forth the timid dove,So the heart, in humble prayer,Essays to reach the throne of love. Like her it may return unblest,Like her again may soar,And still return and find no rest,No peaceful, happy shore. But now once more she spreads her wings,And takes a bolder flight,And see! the […]

My Heavenly Father! all I see,Around me and above,Sends forth a hymn of praise to thee,And speaks thy boundless love. The clear blue sky is full of thee,The woods so dark and lone;The soft south-wind, the sounding sea,Worship the Holy One. The humming of the insect throng,The prattling, sparkling rill,The birds, with their melodious song,Repeat […]

It was my Heavenly Father’s loveBrought every being forth;He made the shining worlds above,And every thing on earth. Each lovely flower, the smallest fly,The sea, the waterfall,The bright green fields, the clear blue sky,–‘Tis God that made them all. He gave me all my friends, and taughtMy heart to love them well,And he bestowed the […]

Great Source of being,Father all-seeing!We bow before thee;Our souls adore thee;Help us obey thee;Guide us aright;Keep us, we pray thee,Through the long night. Thou kind, forgivingGod of all living,Thy power defend us,Thy peace attend us,While we are closingThis day in prayer,Ever reposingUnder thy care.

Cease, my complaining spirit, cease;Know ’tis a Father’s hand you feel;It leads you to the realms of peace;It kindly only wounds to heal. My Father! what a holy joyBursts on the sad, desponding mind,To say, when fiercest ills annoy,–“I know my Father still is kind!” This bids each trembling fear be still,Checks every murmur, every […]

Christian! when, overwhelmed with grief and care,Thou prayest for the help that thou dost need,As shipwrecked mariner for life will plead,O, then for faith pour forth the fervent prayer!‘Tis faith alone life’s heavy ills can bear.O, mark her calm, far-seeing, quickening eye,Full of the light of immortality!It tells of worlds unseen, and calls us there;That […]

Thou, from whom we never part,Thou, whose love is everywhere,Thou who seest every heart,Listen to our evening prayer. Father! fill our souls with love,Love unfailing, full, and free,Love no injury can move,Love that ever rests on thee. Heavenly Father! through the nightKeep us safe from every ill;Cheerful as the morning light,May we wake to do […]

This is the day when Jesus wokeFrom the deep slumbers of the tomb;This is the day the Saviour brokeThe bonds of fear and hopeless gloom. This is indeed a holy day;No longer may we dread to die.Let every fear be cast away,And tears be wiped from every eye. Sorrow and pain the Saviour knew;A dark […]

Dear mother, guess what I have heard!O, it will soon be spring!I’m sure it was a little bird,–Mother, I heard him sing. Look at this little piece of greenThat peeps out from the snow,As if it wanted to be seen,–‘Twill soon be spring, I know. And O, come here, come here and look!How fast it […]

Beneath a green and mossy bankThere flows a clear and fairy stream;There the pert squirrel oft has drank,And thought, perhaps, ’twas made for him. Their pitchers there the laborers fill,As drop by drop the crystals flow,Singing their silvery welcome stillTo all who to the fountain go. Then to the river on it glides,Its tributary drop […]