Friend of the home: as when in Ga­li­lee
The mo­thers brought their lit­tle ones to Thee,
So we, dear Lord, would now the child­ren bring,
And seek for them the shel­ter of Thy wing.

Thine are they, by Thy love’s eter­nal claim,
Thine we bap­tize them in the three­fold name;
Yet not the sign we trust, Lord, but the grace
That in Thy fold pre­pared the lambs a place.

Lord, may Thy Church, as with a mo­ther’s care,
For Thee the lambs with­in her bo­som bear;
And grant, as morn­ing grows to noon, that they
Still in her love and ho­ly ser­vice stay.

Draw through the child the par­ents near­er Thee,
Endue their home with grow­ing sanc­ti­ty;
And ga­ther all, by earth­ly homes made one,
In Hea­ven, O Christ, when earth­ly days are done.