O strength and stay upholding all creation

O Strength and Stay upholding all creation,
who ever dost thyself unmoved abide;
yet day by day the light in due gradation
from hour to hour through all its changes guide.

Grant to life's day a calm unclouded ending,
An eve untouched by shadows of decay,
the brightness of a holy deathbed blending
With dawning glories of the eternal day.

Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving,
through Jesus Christ thy co-eternal Word,
who, with the Holy Ghost, by all things living
Now and to endless ages art adored.

Words: attributed to Ambrose of Milan, fourth century;
trans. John Ellerton and Fenton John Anthony Hort, 1870

Music: Welwyn, Strength and Stay, Genevan Psalm 12, Charterhouse, School House

Meter: 11 10 11 10

Website compiled by Steve Benner, 1999-2003.