How beautiful is the dawning
Of the light of Christ on the earth!
It clears the darkness of mourning,
And cheers with songs of mirth.
From the glory of the Father,
From the throne of the One Divine,
Christ descended to recover,
And save this sad earth of mine.
Oh, the depths of His great mercy!
He the King, Eternal and True,
Leaves the realms of endless glory
For a life of sorrow and woe.
He veiled His glory in weakness,
And veiled in flesh the Son of God,
That through His dying the helpless
Might gain the way from the rod.
From the highest heavens He came,
Left the splendor and joys above,
To suffer contempt and mocking
And the loss of His Father's love.
He descended into darkness,
And into sorrow and pain,
That through His life and His passion
He might the lost earth regain.
For us He suffered and toiled,
He wept and prayed and sighed;
For our redemption He labored,
And bore the pains of the cross, died.
Through His tears and through His anguish
He trod the way to the tomb;
He drained for us to the dregs
The cup of God's holy doom.
But His love never faltered,
Through all the shadows of night;
He pressed in faith and in patience
To the dawning of glorious light.
And now as the morning radiance
Dispels the darkness of night,
So His presence and His glory
Disperse our shadows of blight.
With songs of joy let us greet Him
As He comes in His glory great,
To scatter the gloom and the sorrow,
And bring eternal daylight.