Vespers on Wednesday

Wednesday at Vespers –

O God, whose hand hath spread the sky
And all its shining hosts on high,
And painting it with fiery light
Made it so beauteous and so bright:

Thou, when the fourth day was begun,
Didst frame the circle of the sun,
And set the moon for ordered change,
And planets for their wider range;

That each in its appointed way
Might separate the night from day,
And of the seasons through the year
The well-remembered signs declare.

Enlighten thou the hearts of men,
Polluted souls make pure again,
Unloose the bands of guilt within,
Remove the burden of our sin.

~Office Hymn; the fourth day of creation

~Image: Andromeda galaxy, ultraviolet light