Devotion
Oh, love, how deep, how broad, how high,
beyond all thought and fantasy,
that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form for mortals' sake!
God sent no angel to our race,
of higher or of lower place,
but wore the robe of human frame,
in Christ our Lord to this world came.
For us baptized, for us he bore
his holy fast and hungered sore;
for us temptation sharp he knew;
for us the tempter overthrew.
For us he prayed; for us he taught;
for us his daily works he wrought,
by words and signs and actions thus
still seeking not himself, but us.
For us by wickedness betrayed,
for us, in crown of thorns arrayed,
he bore the shameful cross and death;
for us he gave his dying breath.
For us he rose from death again;
for us he went on high to reign;
for us he sent his Spirit here
to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.
All glory to our Lord and God
for love so deep, so high, so broad;
the Trinity whom we adore
forever and forevermore.
Thomas a Kempis who penned the words of this hymn was born in Kempen, Germany. Already spiritually sensitive, he studied in the School of the Brethren of Common Life before joining them and humbly doing any task assigned. He was grateful for any chance to study, pray and write. Among his writings, his most famous was The Imitation of Christ, translated into more languages than any other book. His work with common folk spawned a great spiritual revival.
The power that inspired his spiritual energies was his adoration of Christ. This became his solid center. If only we too spent more prayer time in adoring Christ! Such deep thankfulness for all that Christ has done—has won—for us. The words "for us" are so important in his adoration of Christ that he repeats them thirteen times in these short seven verses. So with Thomas, overwhelmed with the greatness of Christ's love that sacrificed everything for us, we pray:
Prayer
O love, how deep, how broad, how high beyond all thought and ecstasy that God, the Son of God, should take our mortal form for mortals sake. Amen.