1 Once in Bethlehem of Judah,
Far away across the sea,
There was laid a little Baby
On a Virgin Mother's knee.
Refrain:
O Saviour, gentle Saviour!
Hear Thy little children sing,
The God of our salvation,
The Child that is our King.
2 It was not a stately palace
Where that little Baby lay,
With His servants to attend Him,
And with guards to keep the way. [Refrain]
3 But the oxen stood around Him
In a stable, low and dim:
In the world He had created
There was not a room for Him!
O Saviour, gentle Saviour, &c.
4 For He left His Father's glory,
And the golden halls above,
And He took our human nature
In the greatness of His love. [Refrain]
5 Of His infinite compassion
He can feel our want and woe;
For He suffered, He was tempted,
When He lives our life below. [Refrain]
6 Still His childhood's bright example
Gives a light to our poor homes;
From the blood of His atoning
Still our hope of pardon comes. [Refrain]
7 Still He stands and pleads in heaven
For us, weak and sin defiled, -
God, who is a man for ever.
Jesus, who was once a Child! [Refrain]
Amen.
Source: Voices of Praise: for school and church and home #52
As a small girl, Cecil Frances Humphries (b. Redcross, County Wicklow, Ireland, 1818; Londonderry, Ireland, 1895) wrote poetry in her school's journal. In 1850 she married Rev. William Alexander, who later became the Anglican primate (chief bishop) of Ireland. She showed her concern for disadvantaged people by traveling many miles each day to visit the sick and the poor, providing food, warm clothes, and medical supplies. She and her sister also founded a school for the deaf. Alexander was strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement and by John Keble's Christian Year. Her first book of poetry, Verses for Seasons, was a "Christian Year" for children. She wrote hymns based on the Apostles' Creed, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Ten Commandment… Go to person page >
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