S. Thomas's Sunday, Ode IV

ODE IV.

by S. John Damascene.

μέγα τὸ μυστήριον.

"'Christ, we turn our eyes to Thee,
"'And this mighty mystery!'
"Habakkuk exclaimed of old,
"In the Holy Spirit bold:
"'Thou shalt come in time appointed,
"For the help of Thine anointed!"

Taste of myrrh He deign’d to know,
Who redeemed the source of woe:
Now He bids all sickness cease
Through the honey-comb of peace:
And to this world deigns to give
That sweet food by which we live.

p. 124

Patient Lord! with loving eye
Thou invitest Thomas nigh,
Showing Him that Wounded Side:
While the world is certified,
Flow the third day, from the grave,
Jesus Christ arose to save.

Blest, O Didymus, the tongue
Where that first confession hung:
First the Saviour to proclaim
First the Lord of Life to name:
Such the graces it supplied,
—That dear touch of Jesu's side!

Catavasia. "Stand on thy watch-tower, Habakkuk the Seer." (p. 98.)