- Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,
- Keep them, for they are Thine -
- Thy priests 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.