Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

O happy spirits, mark'd by God and man
Their messages of love to bear,*

What though long since in heaven your brows began
The genial amaranth wreath to wear,
And in th' eternal leisure of calm love

Ye banquet there above,

Yet in your sympathetic heart

We and our earthly griefs may ask and hopé a part.

Comfort's true sons! amid the thoughts of down
That strew your pillow of repose,

Sure, "tis one joy to muse, how ye unknown
By sweet remembrance soothe our woes,
And how the spark ye lit, of heavenly cheer,
Lives in our embers here,

Where'er the Cross is borne with smiles,
Or lighten'd secretly by Love's endearing wiles:
Where'er one Levite in the temple keeps
The watch-fire of his midnight prayer,
Or issuing thence, the eyes of mourners steeps
In heavenly balm, fresh gather'd there;
Thus saints, that seem to die in earth's rude strife,
Only win double life:

They have but left our weary ways

To live in memory here, in heaven by love and praise.

* Acts xi. 22; xiii. 2.

ST. JOHN BAPTIST'S DAY.*

[JUNE 24.]

Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers unto the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers. Malachi iv. 5, 6. [First Evening Lesson.]

[Almighty God, by whose providence thy servant John Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of thy Son our Saviour, by preaching repentance; make us so to follow his doctrine and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and after his example constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.]

TWICE in her season of decay

The fallen Church hath felt Elijah's eye
Dart from the wild its piercing ray:
Not keener burns, in the chill morning sky,
The herald star

Whose touch afar

Shadows and boding night-birds fly.

Methinks we need him once again,

That favour'd seer-but where shall he be found?

* [John the Baptist was the predicted forerunner of Jesus, and his mission forms the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, and took the name, which distinguishes him from John the Apostle and Evangelist, from his administration of the rite of baptism to the multitudes of Judea, and to our blessed Lord. In the case of all the other saints, except St. Paul, their martyrdom is celebrated: in his, his nativity; thus literally fulfilling the prediction of the angel, that many should "rejoice in his birth."]

By Cherith's side we seek in vain,
In vain on Carmel's green and lonely mound:
Angels no more

From Sinai soar,

On his celestial errands bound.

But wafted to her glorious place
By harmless fire, among the ethereal thrones,
His spirit with a dear embrace
Thee the lov'd harbinger of Jesus owns,
Well pleas'd to view

Her likeness true,

And trace, in thine, her own deep tones.

Deathless himself, he joys with thee
To commune how a faithful martyr dies,
And in the blest could envy be,

He would behold thy wounds with envious eyes,
Star of our morn,

Who yet unborn*

Didst guide our hope, where Christ should rise.

Now resting from your jealous care

1

For sinners, such as Eden cannot know,"
Ye pour for us your mingled prayer,
No anxious fear to damp Affection's glow,
Love draws a cloud

From you to shroud

Rebellion's mystery here below.

And since we see, and not afar,
The twilight of the great and dreadful day,
Why linger, till Elijah's car

Stoop from the clouds? Why sleep ye? rise and pray,

* St. Luke i. 44. The Babe leaped in her womb for joy.

Ye heralds seal'd

In camp or field

Your Saviour's banner to display.

Where is the lore the Baptist taught,
The soul unswerving and the fearless tongue ?*
The much-enduring wisdom, sought
By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among?
Who counts it gaint

His light should wane,

So the whole world to Jesus throng?

Thou Spirit who the Church didst lend
Her eagle wings, to shelter in the wild,
We pray thee, ere the Judge descend,
With flames like these, all bright and undefil'd,
Her watch-fires light,

To guide aright

Our weary souls, by earth beguil'd.

So glorious let thy Pastors shine,

That by their speaking lives the world may learn
First filial duty, then divine,§

That sons to parents, all to Thee may turn;
And ready prove

In fires of love,

At sight of Thee, for aye to burn.

[After his example, says the Church, in the collect for this day, "constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake."]

t St. John iii. 30. He must increase, but I must decrease. Revelation xii. 14.

§ Malachi iv. 6. He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers.

St. Luke i. 17. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

ST. PETER'S DAY.*

[JUNE 29.]

When Herod would have brought him out, the same night Peter was sleeping. Acts xii. 6. [Scripture for the Epistle.]

[O Almighty God, who, by thy Son Jesus Christ, didst give to thy Apostle Saint Peter many excellent gifts, and commandest him earnestly to feed thy flock; make, we beseech thee, all Bishops and Pastors diligently to preach thy holy Word, and the people obediently to follow the same, that they may receive the crown of everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.]

*

THOU thrice denied, yet thrice belov'd,t
Watch by thine own forgiven friend;

In sharpest perils faithful prov'd,

Let his soul love thee to the end.

The prayer is heard-else why so deep
His slumber on the eve of death?‡
And wherefore smiles he in his sleep

As one who drew celestial breath?

[Peter, a native and fisherman of Bethsaida, was the brother of Andrew, and resided in Capernaum. He was among the first followers of Jesus, and one of the twelve Apostles. To his name Simon, Jesus added that of Peter, (or Cephas,) the one Greek, and the other the Hebrew name, for rock. He, with James the greater and John, was the most favoured of the Apostles. He was illustrious for his zeal and activity, as also for his denial of his Lord, and subsequent repentance. He was more especially the Apostle of the Jews, as Paul was of the Gentiles. His labours in planting the Gospel were great and successful. He has left two general Epistles.]

↑ St. John xxi. 15-17.

[His being found sleeping, beautifully illustrates his Christian calmness and composure.]

« AnteriorContinuar »