Blest Hour, When Mortal Man Retires

Blest hour, when mortal man retires

To hold communion with his God;

To send to Heaven his warm desires,

And listen to the sacred word.

Blest hour, when God Himself draws nigh,

Well pleased His people's voice to hear;

To hush the penitential sigh,

And wipe away the mourner's tear.

Blest hour, for, when the Lord resorts,

Foretastes of future bliss are given;

And mortals find His earthly courts

The house of God, the gate of Heaven.

Hail, peaceful hour! supremely blest

Amid the hours of worldly care;

The hour that yields the spirit rest,

That sacred hour, the hour of prayer.

And when my hours of prayer are past,

And this frail tenement decays,

Then may I spend in Heaven at last

A never-ending hour of praise.