TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO
TWO thousand years, two thousand years,
Our bark o'er billowy seas
Has onward kept her steady course.
Through hurricane and breeze.
Her Captain was the Risen One
She braved the stormy foe :
And still He guides who guided her
Two thousand years ago !
When first our gallant ship was launched,
Although our hands were few,
Yet dauntless was each bosom found, And every heart was true ; And still though in her mighty hull
Unnumbered bosoms glow,
Her crew is faithful as it was
Two thousand years ago !
True, some had left this noble craft,
To sail the seas alone,
And made them, in their hour of pride,
A vessel of their own ;
But, when portentous clouds did rise,
Tempestuous storms did blow,
They re-entered that old vessel built
Two thousand years ago !
For onward rides our gallant bark
With all Her canvas set,
In some few nations still unknown
To plant her standards yet:
Her flag shall float where'er a breath
From human life shall glow,
And millions bless the bark that sailed
Two thousand years ago.
True to that guiding star which led
To Israel's cradled hope,
Her steady needle pointeth yet
To Calvary's bloody top !
Yes ! there she floats, that good old ship,
From mast to keel below
Sea-worthy still, as erst she was
Two thousand years ago.
Not unto us—not unto us
Be praise or glory given,
But unto Him who watch and ward
Hath kept for her in heaven,
Who quelled the whirlwind in its wrath,
Bade tempests cease to blow !
The Lord, who launched our vessel forth
Two thousand years ago.
Then onward speed thee, brave old bark.
Speed onward in thy pride,
O'er sunny seas and billows dark.
The Holy One thy guide ;
And sacred be each plank and spar,
Unchanged by friend or foe,
Just as she left Jerusalem
Two thousand years ago !
Source: Hymns and Songs for Catholic Children, 1870
TWO thousand years, two thousand years,
Our bark o'er billowy seas
Has onward kept her steady course.
Through hurricane and breeze.
Her Captain was the Risen One
She braved the stormy foe :
And still He guides who guided her
Two thousand years ago !
When first our gallant ship was launched,
Although our hands were few,
Yet dauntless was each bosom found, And every heart was true ; And still though in her mighty hull
Unnumbered bosoms glow,
Her crew is faithful as it was
Two thousand years ago !
True, some had left this noble craft,
To sail the seas alone,
And made them, in their hour of pride,
A vessel of their own ;
But, when portentous clouds did rise,
Tempestuous storms did blow,
They re-entered that old vessel built
Two thousand years ago !
For onward rides our gallant bark
With all Her canvas set,
In some few nations still unknown
To plant her standards yet:
Her flag shall float where'er a breath
From human life shall glow,
And millions bless the bark that sailed
Two thousand years ago.
True to that guiding star which led
To Israel's cradled hope,
Her steady needle pointeth yet
To Calvary's bloody top !
Yes ! there she floats, that good old ship,
From mast to keel below
Sea-worthy still, as erst she was
Two thousand years ago.
Not unto us—not unto us
Be praise or glory given,
But unto Him who watch and ward
Hath kept for her in heaven,
Who quelled the whirlwind in its wrath,
Bade tempests cease to blow !
The Lord, who launched our vessel forth
Two thousand years ago.
Then onward speed thee, brave old bark.
Speed onward in thy pride,
O'er sunny seas and billows dark.
The Holy One thy guide ;
And sacred be each plank and spar,
Unchanged by friend or foe,
Just as she left Jerusalem
Two thousand years ago !
Source: Hymns and Songs for Catholic Children, 1870
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