We love the ve­ne­ra­ble house
Our fa­thers built to God;
In Hea­ven are kept their grate­ful vows,
Their dust en­dears the sod.

Here ho­ly thoughts a light have shed
From ma­ny a ra­di­ant face,
And pray­ers of hum­ble vir­tue spread
The per­fume of the place.

And anx­ious hearts have pon­dered here
The mys­te­ry of life,
And prayed th’eter­nal Light to clear
Their doubts and aid their strife.

From hum­ble te­ne­ments around
Came up the pen­sive train,
And in the church a bless­ing found,
That filled their homes again.

For faith, and peace, and migh­ty love,
That from the God­head flow,
Showed them the life of Hea­ven above
Springs from the life be­low.

They live with God, their homes are dust;
Yet here their child­ren pray,
And in this fleet­ing life­time trust
To find the nar­row way.