All Our Joy

Refrain:

All our joy, Lord, all our pain,

All the times we've met you,

Lord, we recall again.

Now we wish to show our love;

Through gifts, we make it known.

Take what we bring; make us your own.

Like the dew that carpets dawn,

Your love for us pervades the morn;

And meets us at each corner, in each smile.

And though it lingers through the day,

Our minds will turn and drift away, 

So here we come to thank and to recall.

Refrain.

To touch our hearts and make them feel,

That all the love you claim is real.

You sent your Son in laughter and in tears.

But he not only talked; he died

His bruises showed the love inside,

And through our gifts the love we feel

appears.

Refrain.

Darryl Ducote

Again We Keep This Solemn Fast

1. Again we keep this solemn fast,
A gift of faith from ages past.
This Lent which binds us lovingly
To faith and hope and charity.

2. The law and prophets from of old,
In figured ways this Lent foretold,
Which Christ, all ages Lord and Guide,
In these last days He sanctified.

3. More sparing, therefore, let us make
The words speak, the food we take,
Our sleep, our laughter, ev’ry sense.
Learn peace through holy penitence.

4. Let us avoid each harmful way
That lures the careless mind astray,
By watchful prayer our spirits free
From scheming of the enemy.

5. We pray, O blessed Three in One,
Our God while endless ages run,
That this, our Lent of forty days,
May bring us growth and give you praise.