O darkest night that ever fell!

Before the sun had set,

The light was blotted from the heavens,

And death and darkness met.

For God had turned His face away

From all the sin He bore

Whom in His love to earth He sent,

To bear that burden sore.

Ah! darkest night that ever falls

On soul of human race,

When God in anger turns away

The brightness of His face;

Then sun, and moon, and stars are lost,

Amid our hopeless night;

And all the radiant bliss of life

Is curtained from our sight.

O Christ, Thou art our Light and Sun,

Our Hope 'mid guilty fears;

No night surrounds Thy presence now,

Nor threatening cloud appears;

And sin and death no longer reign,

Nor day to dark declines,

For, from the Father's face, a light

Of reconcilement shines.