Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord

Keep them, for they are Thine -

Thy priest whose lives burn out before

Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them for they are in the world

Though from the world apart,

When earthly pleasures tempt, allure -

Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them, and comfort them in hours

Of loneliness and pain

When all their life of sacrifice

For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them, and O remember Lord

They have no one but Thee

Yet they have only human hearts

With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host

That daily they caress -

Their every thought and word and deed,

Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.