This year, like most years, March is entirely within the season of Lent, and Lent is a time of reflection. In some churches, one way to reflect is to sing the hymn “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy,” where the theme of Christ's sacrifice is repeated three times in the same words with the pleas sung during the Agnus Dei. It was written by the monk Nicolaus Decius in the 1500s and is now used in some churches during the Reproaches on Good Friday, which illustrate God's displeasure with the sins of His people and our pleas for forgiveness and mercy through the words of the prophets.
Lamb of God, pure and holy,
who on the cross didst suffer,
ever patient and lowly,
thyself to scorn didst offer.
All sins thou borest for us,
Else had despair reigned over us.
Have mercy on us, O Jesus! O Jesus!
Lamb of God, pure and holy,
who on the cross didst suffer,
ever patient and lowly,
thyself to scorn didst offer.
All sins thou borest for us,
Else had despair reigned over us.
Have mercy on us, O Jesus! O Jesus!
Lamb of God, pure and holy,
who on the cross didst suffer,
ever patient and lowly,
thyself to scorn didst offer.
All sins thou borest for us,
Else had despair reigned over us.
Thy peace be with us, O Jesus! O Jesus!
Information from hymnary.org.