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Let me to thy mercy fly,

While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is high:

Hide me, O my Savior, hide,

Till the storm of life be past;

Safe into the haven guide,

O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none,

Hangs my helpless soul on thee;

Leave, ah! leave me not alone,

Still support and comfort me:

All my help from thee I bring;

Cover my defenseless head

With the shadow of thy wing.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,

Grace to cleanse from every sin;

Let the healing streams abound,

Make and keep me pure within:

Thou of life the fountain art,

Freely let me take of thee:

Spring thou up within my heart,

Rise to all eternity.

Hymn by Charles Wesley, 1740.

Spirit seeking light and beauty,
Heart that longest for thy rest,
Soul that asketh understanding,
Only thus can ye be blest.
Through the vastness of creation
Tho' your restless thought may roam,
God is all that you can long for,
God is all his creatures' home.

Taste and see him, feel and hear him,
Hope and grasp his unseen hand;
Tho’ the darkness seem to hide him,
Faith and love can understand.
God, who lovest all thy creatures,
All our hearts are known to thee;
Lead us thro’ the land of shadows
To thy blest eternity.

This beautiful, haunting hymn was written by an English nun of the Society of the Sacred Heart, Janet Erskine Stuart (1857-1914), who converted from Anglicanism. She set the words to the lovely Gaelic tune Domhnach Trionoide which translates “Trinity Sunday.”

Sketch for a painting by Sierra Dante, Spirit Seeking Light and Beauty