I am going to send link to my choir director. He will enjoy it immensely.
I thought the last measure was a wonderful close to the song. A quiet, peaceful landing.
Just because you liked it here is my other favorite example, this time from "our Phoenix, M. William Byrd" - probably the greatest English composer of all time (better even than Thomas Tallis or Henry Purcell):
Ave verum corpus - "Hail true body! born of the Virgin Mary, [who] truly suffered and was sacrificed on the cross for mankind, from whose pierced side flowed water and blood: may it be for us a foretaste [of the heavenly banquet] in the trial of death. O sweet Jesus, O pious Jesus, O Jesus, son of Mary, have mercy on me. Amen."
You'll recognize the close imitation in the second section as something very like the typical refrain in Sacred Harp hymns like "Alabama/ 196" or "Soar Away/ 455". It's the same principle, just a country cousin to Mr. Byrd's method.