Good Friday Hymn

I

When the Lord Christ paid life with death,

Beside the cross his Mother stood;

She saw her Child yield up his breath,

She knew the passing of her God.

And He said: Lady, though I go,

I leave thee not without a son;

All men for whom my blood doth flow

Shall call thee mother, -- all for one.

This bitter life is past for me,

I can thy love no farther prove;

But many eyes shall turn to thee:

Behold thy son in them I love!

And Mary said: So be it done;

Be they my children in thy stead;

I will love all, who loved but one,

And in the living see the dead.

II

My soul's Lord, too, paid life with death,

And empty was her wide abode;

She saw her child yield up his breath,

She knew the passing of her God.

And she said: Lord, since thou art gone,

Thou canst my love no farther prove;

But while I live each flower and stone

Shall bear thy name and prove my love.