SAINT AGNES.*

[From the (London) Catholic Magazne.]

"OH, MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT SIN, PRAY FOR ME WHO HAVE RECOURSE TO THEE.'

INNOCENT lamb to JESUS dear,

Fair and purest, what dost thou here?
Dost thou not dread the tiger's rage,
As it sullenly stalks its guarded cage?
Dost thou not hear the people's cries?
Dost thou not see their vengeful eyes?
Dost thon not know the hate they bear
To virgins pure, is in that glare;

And those cries that echo of death and shame,
Are for her who avows the Christian's name?
Then, untrembling victim what dost thou here,
Mid those cries of horror and eyes of fear?

"I see the eyes that on me glare,
I hear the shouts that rend the air,
The thirsty steel, the tiger's roar
That asks another victim more,
The hate that binds me to this spot,
I feel them all, but heed them not!

"Stranger, I was a thoughtless child,
Scarce seven years had o'er me smiled,
When one who loved me true and well,
Of Christian lore would often tell;
And of that God by traitor sold,

Unlike the gods in which men glory,
Whose lives such wickedness unfold,
Makes light the crimes of mortal story.
She said that for our sins He'd slept
An infant on his mother's breast,
That in a garden He had wept

A sweat of blood to make us blest.

"My name was dear to Him, she said,
The Lamb without a spot or stain;
The Lamb that was to slaughter led,

Who suffered, and did not complain.
She said, that for our sins and pride,
Upon a shameful cross he died!
She said, His Virgin Mother fair
Beneath it stood, and saw Him there;
And then in matchless agony,

That Mother saw him bleed and die!"

"And canst thou wonder that I gave,
To Him who died my soul to save,
Its treasured love, and that in vain
The world did ask it back again?
And canst thou wonder that I bow
Me gladly to the headsman's blow,
And that I would not change to day
The victim's place for Cæsar's sway?"

There is a tradition, that at the martyrdom of St. Agnes, the blood gushed forth as white as milk, in miraculous attestation of her purity; for the other incidents in these verses, see Butler's Life of the Saint, on the 21st of Jan uary.

"They tried to change me, or to move,
They tried to tempt to worldly love;
Vain love, that flourished for an hour,
To give me to the headsman's power;
Unlike His love, who died to save,-
For baffled hopes it gives the grave!

"And blessed be that Saviour dear,

Who kept me in the hour of shame, Who bade His Seraphims draw near,

To robe me in their wings of flame;
And who, in mercy, cast a blight
Upon that hardened sinner's sight,
Who dared an impious look to cast
Upon His Virgin, pure and chaste."

"Stranger, I was almost a child
Amid a host of hostile men'
More savage far, and far more wild,
Than lions in their tribute glen.
Yet in that dark and dreadful hour,
I felt a strange supernal power
Lift me above the trembling fear
That virgins feel when danger's near,
To that which they hold first and best,-
The chastity by JESUS blest!

"They crowded round me, and they tore
With impious hands the vest I wore;
More dreadful far than wild beast cries,
Their horrid threats around me rise;
When lo! around me sudden thrown

The living light of seraph wings;
And He, my spirit's Spouse comes down,
And blindness on my tyrants flings,
For none could gaze upon that light,
And see, it was so wondrous bright.

"Long, long I leaned upon His breast,
Drinking the chalice of the blest,
And only wakened from that trance

Of exquisite bliss to find me here,
Where tiger's roar, and soldier's lance,
Th' arena fill with awe and fear.

"But the Christian's soul is raised above
All but the hopes of immortal love;
He trembles alone lest he should not die,
For he thirsts to drink of eternity!
And my breast is panting to meet the rage
Of the green-eyed tiger in yonder cage;
And my blood is throbbing, and not in vain,
Το pour itself forth to the ground like rain;
And my soul would make itself wings to flee,
My Saviour, my Spouse, and my GoD, to Thee.
But hark! they call, and I must away;
The headsman waits, and I must not stay'
Oh, blest be the sword, and blest the doom!
Yes, Father in heaven, I come! I come!"

One radiant glance she upward threw,
And then to meet the summons flew.
A sudden shout, an outcry wild,
Arose to greet the Martyr child;
And when the headsman put aside

Once upon a time there were three children, and they were all born of one mother. Like her, they were fair and comely, and there was a joyousness and brightness in their eyes, which showed that health and happiness was theirs, and that the buoyancy of dear childhood was fresh and brightly glowing within them.

Their mother was fair and spotless, and she loved her children with the true love; and they loved her in return, and watched every expression of her countenance, smiling as she smiled on them, and obedient to her last commands. And she was well worthy of their love; for she had borne them in her arms from infancy, and having clothed them in milk-white garments, she was ever with them, leading them by the hand, and pouring into their tender ears a thousand motives of love, which took root in a good soil, and gave promise that one day, good and comely fruit of virtue should flow from so fair and early a promise. For, her great pleasure was to teach them how to walk in the ways of virtue, and how they might keep unstained the robe of innocence, with which she had clothed them.

Now the way she took to teach them this, was a secret way, which she had long ago learned from her Spouse, who, when He went away to heaven, had solemnly consigned to her the conduct of his dear and much loved offspring; for, in his place she was set, and her only care was to honour and fulfil his commands, by meek obedience to his words, and by honouring in these pledges of love, his beloved memory. For when he lived with her he charged her with many things which she was to do. How she was to remember his words, which were always sweet and full of most gracious kindness, and how she was to teach these to their mutual children, that so they might be like her, and come to him when death should call them away, to be happy with him for ever in heaven.

And lest at any time they should be at a loss in his absence, he gave to his beloved Spouse, a vast treasury, in which, all that was good and of value was stored up; much gold, and sweet gums, and silver, and precious stones, all of which were endowed with such virtue that whosoever used them, were saved from many dangers-nevertheless they had this further property of communicating their gifts to the user, so that whosoever made use of his gold became refined,-whosoever used his gums became redolent of sweet incense. His silver gave purity, and his precious stones afforded to each the several property of the gem he wore. His wealth was inexhaustible; and though his spouse was never so lavish, yet she seemed never to have come to an end of riches, or rather, the more she gave the more rich she seemed to become. For what she gave away to her children, grew more valuable in their hands; and her wealth was to see them abound, and then she was rich and happy.

Now it is not to be supposed that these precious metals, rich spices, and goodly gems, were such as are used for pride and show, and bravery, such as where the crown encircles an aching head, where the diamond agraffe fixes a silk cope over a troubled heart, or where the dazzle of the bright emerald attracts the gazer's eye from the wan complexion of the wearer of the gay bauble; but to show in more striking relief, the lustreless and sickly eye of her that boasts thereof. But these precious things which she gave out of her treasury, were of infinitely greater value than the diamond that hides its lustre in the gloomy mine, or the pearl that lies in obscurity among the coral reefs of the depths of the ocean. Her jewels were fairer far than these, and her gold was seven times refined. The choicest amongst them was as the violet among flowers, whose perfume is rich, and its purple most beautiful, but both are hid behind the clustering leaves, so this sweet and lovely jewel grew low and retired; but whosoever wore it became lovely in their mother's eyes, and most dear in that of her Spouse; for it was such He loved, and wore the most, giving an example to all that should love him, that the surest road to his heart and love, was to walk as He had walked, adorned with the sweetest gem of Hu

MILITY.

CHAPTER II.

Now it was the wont of the mother of these children to recall the words of her beloved Spouse, and to repeat them with accents so sweet and persuasive, that her instruction glided, as it were dew from heaven, softly on the hearts of those that hung about her lips, and treasured up every fond lesson that she gave them. She early told them how God made them, and for what purpose; that He made them for love, and that all He desired for the countless blessings which He poured on them continually, was, that they should give Him their hearts. And her rule of love was very easy; GOD was love, and therefore they were to love Him, and to show that love by loving one another; that so they might, here, as it were, prepare their hearts, like golden censers, polished and made meet, for being swung by the hands of holy Angels in heaven. For,

she said that Angels watched over them, and gathered their good desires and sighs of love, and these they offered up to God in heaven, like the rising fumes of sweet-smelling incense.

"Love one another," she would say to them, early in the morning-as she led them forth in cool calm air, and brought them to the shrine of love, which yet was odorous with the devotional incense of the preceding evening-"love one another," she would often repeat to them, as the day grew apace, and the sun shone high in the heavens, and noontide came; "Love one another," she would still repeat, as it declined from the znith, and the slanting shadows fell long over the meadow, and its last rays lighted, then tinged, the red clouds of the West; and when darkness began to grow, and all wonted and familiar things seemed to wane away from the eye, still she would repeat the same lesson, and as plaintive and tender as before, her last words as she gave them her nightly blessing, were "Love one another"-so that even in sleep, the heart might re-echo the sentiment, and rest like her own beloved Spouse, who while he slept, yet in his heart kept watch.

Nor was there ever a cloud over her face, save only when her little ones neglected or broke her golden rule. Then, indeed, she was stern, but it was more in sorrow than in anger. And even in her sternest mood, her love was shown but the more; for she would weep when she saw her little ones going away from her, as she wont to call any such branch of the great law of Love. "Why would you fly from me?" she would say,-"why would the lamb leave the fold, in thoughtless waywardness, to seek the wolf?-why would you forsake one that loves you so dearly, and has done so much for you,-who has toiled and suffered for you, in cold, and want, and lack of all, that you should be rich and want nothing? Give me back your heart, my son, and do not fly from me, for I love you even now in your unhappiness, and I will weep till you return, for I am weary while you are away from my side, and I am lonely as a solitary while even one of you refuses my embraces, for while you are ungentle one to another, you wound my heart, and thoughtlessly it may be, but yet most truly you are unkind, ungrateful, and ungentle to me.

"He my beloved Spouse, from heaven, where his home is, looks down and implores you to return. He has Angels at his right hand, many a bright and blessed spirits, who minister before the throne of Almighty God, in the palace of the Lamb, and these He sends sweeping through the bright blue skies, in golden copes, and dazzling wings, to help you, unseen,-to lure you, by every gentle means, to come back to me. Sometimes it may be by showing you the worthlessness of what calls you away,-sometimes by making bitter the cup of pleasure, sometimes by spreading his bright wings over a rose, that you may be saved from its thorn,-sometimes letting you pluck the rose, that, in so doing, you may prick the hand, and by its pain be reproved for your having taken to be a truant from my side,-sometimes the bright and holy visitants touch the quick of your heart, and as you weep, they gather these salt tears, as precious first fruits of your return,-laying them up as pearls of price, to be placed in my treasury, to give me joy out of sorrow.