Willing the Son took that behest,
Born of a maiden mother,
To his own earth he came a guest,
And made himself my brother.
All secretly he went his way,
Veiled in my mortal flesh he lay,
And thus the foe he vanquished.
He said to me, "Cling close to me,
Thy sorrows now are ending!
Freely I gave myself for thee,
Thy life with mine defending;
For I am thine, and thou art mine,
And where I am there thou shalt shine,
The foe shall never reach us.
True, he will shed my heart's life blood,
And torture me to death:
All this I suffer for thy good,
This hold with earnest faith.
Death dieth through my life divine;
I sinless bear those sins of thine,
And so shalt thou be rescued.
I rise again to heaven from hence,
High to my Father soaring,
Thy Master there to be, and thence,
My spirit on thee pouring;
In every grief to comfort thee,
And teach thee more and more of me,
Into all truth still guiding.
What I have done and taught on earth,
Do thou, and teach, none dreading;
That so God's kingdom may go forth,
And His high praise be spreading;
And guard thee from the words of men,
Lest the great joy be lost again;
Thus my last charge I leave thee."
Afterwards, at our mother's especial desire, Eva and Fritz sang a Latin resurrection hymn from the olden time.[11]
The renewal of the world
Countless new joys bringeth forth:
Christ arising, all things rise—
Rise with him from earth.
All the creatures feel their Lord—
Feel his festal light outpoured.
Fire springs up with motion free,
Breezes wake up soft and warm;
Water flows abundantly,
Earth remaineth firm.
All things light now skyward soar,
Solid things are rooted more;
All things are made new.
Ocean waves, grown tranquil, lie
Smiling 'neath the heavens serene;
All the air breathes light and fresh;
Our valley groweth green.
Verdure clothes the arid plain,
Frozen waters gush again
At the touch of spring.
For the frost of death is melted
The prince of this world lieth low;
And his empire strong among us,
All is broken now.
Grasping Him in whom alone
He could nothing claim or own,
His domain he lost.