A Hymn for the Unborn
(based on Matthew 25:40)
Begotten of His Love Divine
Before Creation’s dawn,
Let God’s own Son our hearts incline
To cherish the unborn.
For clothed like us, in human clay,
Of heav’nly glory shorn,
Th’eternal Word, incarnate, lay
In Mary’s womb, unborn.
‘Take heed’, said He, ‘that you forbear
These little ones to scorn-
Created by God’s will, to share
His image, though unborn.
For every artist, saint and sage,
Whose works His world adorn
With virtues each successive age,
Like him, were once unborn.
Eternal Son, Incarnate Word,
Thou Child of Christmas morn,
In mercy let our prayer be heard
For those as yet unborn!
This hymn can be sung to any Common Metre tune.
The author’s choice would be Walsall
(Ancient & Modern Revised 56; English Hymnal 13).