Called from Sleep

St. Theodore of Studium
(759-826 AD)

O Thou who givest sleep, and ease from toil
To those whom daylight calls to labour still,
Grant Thou to me, O Christ, Thou Word of God,
Sleep light and gentle, swift to come and go,
And pure from fancy visions profitless,
But filled with dreams of all things fair and good.
Then rouse me up, what time the clapper sounds,
Alert and sober, fit for sacred song.
Set well my feet to praise Thee while I go,
From evil spirits keep my spirit free,
And purify my tongue to harmony,
To sing and magnify Thy glorious might;
That rising early after perfect rest
I may behold
the light
of Thy commands.

Arise
DAG

Arise, my soul, from sleep,
And turn that gentle path
the Spirit sets thy feet upon;
Draw near His warm, sweet hearth,
within this moonlit wilderness
of winter's solitude,
With fire of Peace and Presence glowing
soft to sight and sound to hark
His heart,
the centre of eternity.