O Sacred Head Surrounded

O Sacred Head Surrounded

O Sacred Head surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding Head, so wounded, 
Reviled and put to scorn! 
Death's pallid hue comes o'er Thee, 
The glow of life decays, 
Yet angel hosts adore Thee 
And tremble as they gaze. 

I see Thy strength and vigor 
All fading in the strife, 
And death, with cruel vigor, 
Bereaving Thee of life; 
O agony and dying! 
O love to sinners free! 
Jesus, all grace supplying, 
O turn Thy face on me! 

In this Thy bitter Passion, 
Good Shepherd, think. of me, 
With Thy most sweet compassion, 
Unworthy though I be; 
Beneath Thy Cross abiding,
'Forever would I rest, 
In Thy dear love confiding, 
And wilth Thy presence blest. 

 - by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux