Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast!
Yet sweeter far Thy Face to see
And in Thy presence rest.
No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
A sweeter sound than Jesus' Name,
The Savior of mankind.
O hope of every contrite heart!
O joy of all the meek!
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show -
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but His loved ones know.
Jesus! our only hope be Thou,
As Thou our prize shalt be;
In Thee be all our glory now,
And through eternity.
Amen.
Iesu, dulcis memoria from the Roman Breviary, tr. E. Caswall