Come, Bridegroom Christ

This hymn belongs at the Hour of Sext during Advent. The text, though inspired by something written by a friend many years ago, is my own. The image is a detail from a fresco in the choir of the monastery of Santa Maria di Monteluce in Perugia; it depicts Christ and Mary, that is, Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church.

Come, Bridegroom Christ, outdazzle day:
Come, clear our clouded sight to see
Your living Word in every seed,
In labour’s fruit, eternity.
Come, nurture what your hand has made;
Come, bring to birth what you have sown:
In each day’s labour, Christ, be seen,
Seed, Blossom, Fruit, of all we own.
Come, now descend from mountain heights,
Come, leaping, seeking, calling still.
Your birth to heaven wedded earth;
Let heaven’s praise the earth now fill.
Come, Bridegroom Christ, the Father’s joy,
Come, mark your own with Kiss of Fire.
Your bride still dark, yet lovely, waits;
Unshadowed shines her one desire. Amen.