Samuel Longfellow (1819–1892)

ONE holy church of God appears

Through every age and race,

Unwasted by the lapse of years,

Unchanged by changing place.

From oldest time, on farthest shores,

Beneath the pine or palm,

One Unseen Presence she adores

With silence or with psalm.

Her priests are all God’s faithful sons,

To serve the world raised up;

The pure in heart her baptized ones,

Love her communion-cup.

The truth is her prophetic gift,

The soul her sacred page;

And feet on mercy’s errands swift

Do make her pilgrimage.

O living Church! thine errand speed,

Fulfil thy work sublime;

With bread of life earth’s hunger feed,

Redeem the evil time!