The Sign of the Cross

¹Whene'er across this sinful flesh of mine

²I draw the Holy Sign,

³All good thoughts stir within me, and renew

⁴Their slumbering strength divine;

⁵Till there springs up a courage high and true

⁶To suffer and to do.

⁷And who shall say, but hateful spirits around

⁸For their deceit are crossed,

⁹And, when the blade of sin would touch the ground,

¹⁰Find they are foiled and lost?

¹¹And so the Sign is holy, and the more

¹²I bear the Cross, I bless the Cross I bore.