Firmly I Believe

Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
 
And I trust and hope most fully
In that manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as He has died.
 
Simply to His grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love supremely, solely,
Him the holy, Him the strong.
 
And I hold in veneration,
For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church as His creation,
And her teachings are His own.
 
And I take with joy whatever
Now besets me, pain or fear,
And with a strong will I sever
All the ties which bind me here.
 
Adoration aye be given,
With and through the angelic host,
To the God of earth and Heaven,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Blessed John Henry Newman, 1801-1890