Abyss of Splendour; lo, the Saints in thee,
And Fathers of the Church, were taught to see
Thy greatness as in vision. Thus may we
Thee follow in their track, and also be
Constrained to worship thee, unerringly.
One Spirit breathed in them; the Mystery
Of Godliness was seen by them to be
As in a precious Ark, enshrined in thee;
Themselves, they looked therein, and they could see
The Light of Light, Itself transfiguring thee.
Rapt in the Light of indwelt Deity,
Whose all-transcending Love was poured on thee,
And gazing through that glow, they saw in thee
The human kind transformed - Divinity
Absorbing, penetrating, filling thee.
Thou wert the 'costly Vase:' they looked in thee,
And all the perfumes of the East they see
Could not emit the fragrance found in thee.
The 'exhaustless Ocean' wert thou? Then they see
Unutterable gifts of Grace in thee.
'Receptacle of the Divinity?'
Behold, the Fiery Throne appears in thee,
Throne of the King of Kings; then lo, for thee
Thy place above the Cherubim: in thee
'The inexplicable Utterance,' they see.
'Received into God's Counsels?' Lo; in thee
Hidden, unfathomable, depths they see.
'The Chariot of the Sun art thou?' In thee
Must intellectual Light surpassing be,
Who barest Light, yea, Light Itself, in thee.
After the All-adored Trinity,
In thee the Queen of Heaven and Earth they see:
After the Holy Paraclete, they see
A Paraclete Eve's woe to heal, in thee:
And next to Christ, a Mediatrix they see.
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote