The Son for­sook the Fa­ther’s home
For mer­cy to lost man,
And did not scorn the vir­gin’s womb
To bear the sin­ner’s ban.

Meekly the maid­en pure be­lieved
The great arch­an­gel’s word,
And by the Ho­ly Ghost con­ceived
The Sav­ior Christ the Lord.

The Word made flesh cre­ation sees,
Its migh­ty God in man:
Great mys­te­ry of mys­te­ries
Since ev­er time be­gan!

That we might gain a se­cond birth
The Ho­ly Son was giv’n:
’Twas God Him­self came down to earth
To win us back to Heav’n.

Lord! we be­lieve with love and praise
This won­drous truth of Thee:
Thereby in all our troub­lous days
How strong hence­forth are we!

So near art Thou, so strong are we,
For now, if we are Thine,
Our bro­ther in hu­ma­ni­ty,
Thou mak­est us di­vine!

We see with peace in times of fear
Serene Thy hu­man form
Thy hu­man voice with joy we hear,
Sweet-toned above the storm.

So dread we not the death­ly strife,
Knowing that Thou hast died:
It can but bear us in­to life,
Since near­er to Thy side!