FROM THE LIBRARY OF
REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D.
BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO
THE LIBRARY OF
PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
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J ( ^ OCT 1 1 1933
SPIRITUAL SON%WiMLgf^
THE SUNDAYS AND HOLYDAYS
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
JOHN S. B. MONSELL, LL.D.
VICAE OF EGHA1T, AND EUEAL DEAN.
ATJTHOE OP 'PABISH MUSINGS/ ETC.
' Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.'
Ephesians v. 19.
THE SECOND EDITION, REVISED.
LONDON :
JOHN W. PARKER AND SON, WEST STRAND.
1859.
LONDON :
SAYILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS,
CHANDOS STREET.
ADVERTISEMENT
THE SECOND EDITION.
The following Poems were written amid the
orange and olive groves of Italy, during a winter \
spent (for the sake of health) upon the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea.
Their aim is the highest to which any human
compositions may aspire — to honour God, and help
man along the way to Heaven.
Their attainment of this object must of course
largely depend upon the extent to which they have
caught the pure spirit of those sacred seasons which
called them forth, and which they are designed to
illustrate.
It has pleased God so far to prosper them, that a
Second Edition has been called for.
After a careful revision they are now sent forth
again into the world with the same hope and prayer
which accompanied them on their first departure : —
That they may, under God, lead some souls into a
more fervent use of our English Ritual ; teaching
them how truly — in its deep earnestness, and tender
spirituality — ' we have the mind of Christ.'
Egham Vicarage, Surrey.
Ascension Day, 1859.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2013
http://archive.org/details/spirituOOmons
CONTENTS,
PAGE
advent sunday i
second sunday in advent 3
third sunday in advent 5
fourth sunday in advent 7
christmas day 9
st. Stephen's day 1 1
st. john's day 13
the holy innocents 15
sunday after christmas day 1 7
the circumcision of christ 1 9
the epiphany 21
first sunday after epiphany 24
second sunday after epiphany 26
third sunday after epiphany 29
fourth sunday after epiphany 3 1
fifth sunday after epiphany 32
sixth sunday after epiphany 34
septuagesima sunday 36
sexagesima sunday 38
quinquagesima sunday 4o
ash wednesday 42
first sunday in lent 44
second sunday in lent 46
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 49
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 5 1
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 53
PALM SUNDAY 55
MONDAY BEFORE EASTER 57
TUESDAY BEFORE EASTER 60
WEDNESDAY BEFORE EASTER 63
THURSDAY BEFORE EASTER 66
GOOD FRIDAY 68
EASTER EVE 71
EASTER DAY 74
MONDAY IN EASTER WEEK 77
TUESDAY IN EASTER WEEK 79
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 82
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 85
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 87
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 90
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 92
ASCENSION DAY 95
SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION DAY 98
WHIT-SUNDAY IOO
MONDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK IO3
TUESDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK to6
TRINITY SUNDAY IO9
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY II3
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 115
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY Il8
CONTENTS. Vll
PAGE
fourth sunday after trinity 121
fifth sunday after trinity 1 23
sixth sunday after trinity 1 25
seventh sunday after trinity 1 27
eighth sunday after trinity 1 29
ninth sunday after trinity 130
tenth sunday after trinity 133
eleventh sunday after trinity 1 36
twelfth sunday after trinity 1 38
thirteenth sunday after trinity 1 4 1
fourteenth sunday after trinity i43
fifteenth sunday after trinity 1 45
sixteenth sunday after trinity i47
seventeenth sunday after trinity i49
eighteenth sunday after trinity 1 54
nineteenth sunday after trinity i56
twentieth sunday after trinity 1 59
twenty-first sunday after trinity l6l
twenty-second sunday after trinity 163
twenty-third sunday after trinity 1 65
twenty-fourth sunday after trinity 167
twenty-fifth sunday after trinity 1 69
st. Andrew's day 171
st. thomas the apostle 1 74
the conversion of st. paul 1 77
the presentation of christ in the temple . . . .179
st. matthias's day . . 183
Vlll CONTENTS.
PAGE
the annunciation of the blessed virgin mary . . . l86
st. mark's dat 190
st. philip and st. james's day 1 92
st. barnabas the apostle 1 94
st. john baptist's nativity 1 98
st. peter's day 202
st. james the apostle 204
st. bartholomew the apostle 208
st. matthew the apostle 210
st. michael and all angels 213
st. luke the evangelist 219
st. simon, and st. jude, apostles 222
all saints' day 224
INDEX TO FIRST LINES 229
J^tottt Stttt&ag.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand. — Horn. xiii. 12
THE sky is dark with storm and cloud,
The winds are piping high and loud,
The outer air is dull and chill,
The snow lies heavy on the hill;
Yet there is gladness in the soul,
No clouds or darkness may control;
And on the heart a golden glow
"Warmer than summer sunsets know.
God bless the calm and holy cheer
That ushers in the Christian year;
And, whatsoe'er of gloom or shade
Season or sorrow may have made,
Lifts us, with its mysterious power,
Out of the dark and dying hour,
Into the lights which ever play
Round children of th' Eternal Day.
Blest Advent of our ling' ring Lord !
How high the hope, how sure the word,
That thus, with every year's return,
Make our dull hearts within us burn
ADVENT SUNDAY.
For that long sought and promised day,
When ' Heaven and Earth shall pass away/
And Christ from highest Heav'ns shall come,
To take His waiting people home.
Since childhood's early hours, our eyes
Have watch'd the east for reddening skies:
Year after year has Advent brought
Nearer to us the Prize we sought;
But still it lingers O that we
Were more prepared to welcome Thee,
Thine Advent with its angel throng
Would not be tarrying, Lord, so long.
itatir jftmtas in J^lmti
Whatsoever things were -written aforetime, were written for
our learning ; that we, thro' patience and comfort of
the Scriptures, might have hope. — Rom. xv. 4.
BLESSED Lord, who, till the morning
Of thine Advent shall appear,
Words of hope hast left, and warning,
Souls to strengthen, guide and cheer;
Left them 'Written for our learning,'
Pointing out the narrow way,
Lest our hearts, with all their yearning
After home, should go astray.
Grant us, in these sacred pages,
Grace to find those gifts untold,
Which, for ages upon ages,
Did Thy people's hearts uphold.
Grant us, in the sacred story,
Of the deeds which Thou hast done,
Grace to catch those gleams of glory,
That on saint and martyr shone :
From Thy life so high and holy,
From Thy love so deep and pure,
From Thy head, which bow'd so lowly,
Pains for others to endure :
B 2
SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
From Thy heart so meekly bearing
All the scorn of sinful men,
Lord of legions ! yet so sparing !
Never answering again !
0 how blessed thus to linger
O'er the steps which Thou hast trod,
While Thy Cross, with silent finger.
Points the upward way to God.
In the path of self-denial,
Meekly borne for love of Thee,
Wearing out life's weary trial,
Till the blushing dawn we see :
'With our lamps well trimm'd and burning,'
Patient through Thy Holy Word,
Watching for the bright returning
Of our too Ions: absent Lord.
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Ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1 Cor. it. 1.
AS odours, press' d in summer hours
From summer's bloom, remain ;
To soothe and comfort, till the flowers
Of spring revive again ;
So, till e the Rose of Sharon' bloom
Once more, the desert's pride,
We feed upon the rich perfume
It yielded when it died.
1 In earthen vessels,' weak and frail,
The heav'nly treasure lies;
Enriching every passing gale,
With fragrance of the skies, —
Faint breathings of the blessed morn,
That Advent shall restore,
When Christ shall to His own return,
Nor ever leave them more.
Thy sacred ministers, O Lord,
Who at Thine altars stand,
Who break the bread, who ' preach the word,'
And wait on Thy command, —
THIKD SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
Like censers in this world of sin,
Full of Thy fragrant love,
Till fresher fragrance usher in
Thine Advent from above; —
O fill them with Thy grace, that they
To God and sinners true
May lead as well as point the way,
And what they teach may do.
And all our hearts make ' holy ground,'
So, at Thine Advent, we
A people ready shall be found,
Prepared Lord for Thee.
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Rejoice in the Lord alwray, and again I say, Rejoice.
Phil. iv. 4.
ALWAY in the Lord rejoice,
Lift my soul thy heart and voice,
Lift them holy, high and pure,
For His mercies aye endure !
Up to heav'n where He doth live.
Thro' the world which He doth give,
Raise thy heart and lift thy voice,
'And again I say, Rejoice !'
Gently all thy trials take,
They are thine for Jesu's sake ;
Meekly 'mid thy mercies move,
They are thine thro' Jesu's love.
All thou hast and all thou art
Own as His with thankful heart,
Use as His with heedful care,
For His coming to prepare.
' Let your moderation be
Known to all men.' They shall see
What God's grace can make of those
Who upon His truth repose.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
Live above, tho' living in,
This polluting world of sin,
Whether change or chance befal
Using, 'not abusing,' all.
Live in faith and live in prayer,
In His presence everywhere;
Live as angels tho' on earth,
Children of the second birth.
Live as those who, on His eye,
Hang with love, and walk thereby ;
1 In thy lot' prepared stand,
For the Lord is nigh at hand!
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And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and
we heheld his glory, the glory as of the only "begotten
of the Father), full of grace and truth. — John i. 14.
BLESSED morning ! all the year
Draws its light and warmth from thee ;
When thy dawning doth appear,
Night departs and shadows flee.
Suns may rise and suns may set,
Summers come and summers go,
Earth its wintry grave forget,
When the vernal breezes blow;
But the day would be as night,
And the summer winter prove,
If the rising of thy light
Did not wake our souls to love.
0 the blessedness of those
Who thine inner sunshine feel
With its calm and soft repose,
Gently o'er their spirits steal;
Who, as earth doth own the power
Of her sun her life to wake,
Burst as doth an opening flower,
Into life for Jesus sake !
CHEISTMAS DAY.
In His house in holy mood
We have knelt and prayed to-day,
By His body and His blood,
Strengthened for our heavenly way ;
In the manger we have laid
All our worldly pomp and pride,
Where with beasts the Saviour made
His first cradle, side by side ;
On the mountain we have heard
Sweeter chimes than ever rang,
Or Creation's silence stirred,
Since the stars of morning sang :
One bright angel told the story,
Myriads answer' d him again :
' Unto God in highest, glory !
Peace on earth, good will to men.'
In our homes His blessed name
Brightens joy round every hearth,
And its meetest place doth claim
In the Christian's evening mirth.
Homes with crowded love were fair,
On the night when Thou wast born,
Fill them Lord with love and prayer,
For the day of Thy return.
And as Thou, to make us Thine,
Stoop'd a mortal man to be,
Fill us with Thy life divine,
Lift our lives of love to Thee.
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And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down,
cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin
to their charge. And -when he had said this,
he fell asleep. — Acts vii. 59, 60.
FIBST of the martyred throng-
To join his Lord above,
First to commence the endless song
Of his redeeming love ;
First to essay the sword and shield,
The holy Stephen takes the field.
First to obtain a crown, —
First — by the mercy-seat —
To lay the blood-bought trophy down
At its own Owners feet ;
Through the grave-gates the Saviour burst, —
He homeward heavenward enter d first.
Men thought the sufferer dead,
And high exultings kept,
But on his blood-stained stony bed
The saint serenely slept,
Wrapped in the banner of the cross,
His all the gain — theirs all the loss.
12 ST. STEPHEN S DAY.
Lord grant Thy grace that we,
Whate'er our lot may prove,
May learn his high fidelity,
His deep forgiving love ;
That boldness which could part with life,
And yet be gentle in the strife.
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New there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples
whom Jesus loved. — John xiii. 23.
OK iny Saviour's bosom leaning,
Drawing thence His mystic meaning,
Hearing there the springs that move
His unutterable love.
Thence by daily draughts receiving,
From that well-spring of believing,
Faith — which teacheth how to lean
Amid sight on things unseen.
Waiting, watching, ling' ring near Him,
All life long to love and fear Him,
Finding this my best employ,
Chief est business, purest joy !
Thus while years away are wearing,
For the coming night preparing,
For the night, and then the day,
When the shadows flee away.
On His loving bosom lying,
Working, resting, living, dying,
In His bosom to awake,
When the morn of morns shall break.
14 ST. JOHNS DAY.
Thus, my soul, with each returning
Of this Day, let all my yearning
Be, with gentle John to rest
Ever on my Saviour s breast.
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iese are they which follow/ the Lamb whithersoever Ee
goeth : these were redeemed from amon§ men, being
the first-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no
guile : for they are without fault
before the throne of
God.— Rev. xiv. 4, 5.
DREAM not my soul of cloudless days,
If thou wouldst follow in the ways
Which thy dear Saviour trod ;
Strait is the gate, the pathway steep,
Hard to be found, and hard to keep,
Which leads us up to God.
With no delusive tale of joy,
Tears cannot dim, or doubts destroy,
Christ's followers are beguiled,
No votive flowers deck His bed,
But martyr heaps of infant-dead
Surround the Royal Child.
Would we His faithful followers be,
We must in this true warning see,
Of future grief and care ;
And feel that love were little worth,
Which shrinks from any cross on earth
We may for Jesus bear.
l6 THE HOLY INNOCENTS.
0 well it is that when our sight
Of duty, in the dazzling light
Of glory, might be lost ;
The Church, her martyr's triple shade,
A. blest retreat for souls has made,
Where they may count the cost; —
And ask if, for the Lord who gave
His life their precious souls to save,
They would their lives lay down ;
For he who will not suffer loss,
Or meekly bear for Christ his cross,
Shall never wear a crown.
O Saviour ! for whom infants died,
Whom even infants glorified,
In life and death the same;
Grant us, by pure and holy lives,
And faith, which life and death survives,
To glorify Thy name.
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And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us. — Matt. i. 23.
LAST Sunday of the work-day year,
How sweetly falls on heart and ear
That blessed Name, by which we know
That ' God,' thro' all our weal and woe,
Is ' with us,' and will ever make
Our cause His own, for Jesus' sake.
When toiling thro' this world of care,
Depressed in faith, and faint in prayer,
Distracted by life's sinful ways,
With baffled hopes, and cloudy days,
What pledge in that one word is given
To weary earth, of watchful Heaven !
When, on the losses which have cast
Their shadow o'er the year that's past;
Or on the cares whose trembling gloom
Is hanging o'er the year to come,
The troubled heart despondent dwells,
How ' God with us ' all gloom dispels !
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SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY.
If God be with us, — who hath power
To harm us in the weakest hour ?
If God be with us, loss and pain
Touched by His Presence turn to gain !
All clouds and darkness then will take
The hues of heaven, for Jesus' sake !
Alas ! that we should ever prove
Unthankful for such tender love;
Alas ! that we, when God would thus
For ever be a ' God with us,'
Should force Him from the gentle path,
To be ' against us' in His wrath.
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Pu t on the new man, -which, is renewed in kr: owledge after
the ima^e of Him that created him : where there is
neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor un-
circumcision, Barharian, Scythian, bond
nor free: hut Christ is all, and in all.
Col. iii. 10, 11,
AH APPY, happy Christmas ! and
A merry bright New Year !
How sweet the kind old greetings sound
To every heart and ear :
No matter how care-burdened, and
No matter howdeprest,
A something in their welcome makes
Them dear to every breast.
We heard them in our childhood, when
With spirits light and gay
We dreamt not that life's joy fulness,
Could ever pass away;
And tho' long years of carefulness,
Have sobered many a heart,
A joy still lingers round them, which
Can never quite depart : —
Nor ever shall — if Christian-like
We count the rolling years,
Not as removing joys from us,
But sins, and cares, and tears :
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20 THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST.
And upward onward bearing us,
To that bright land, and blest,
Where 'the wicked cease from troubling, and
The weary are at rest.'
No year can open gloomily
For him whose heart doth, yearn,
Above all hopes and cares on earth,
To see his Lord's return :
As stars their light, and mists their shade,
Lay down before the day,
So joys and griefs of earth, in Heav'n's
Calm sunshine, fade away.
My soul! wouldst thou with happiness
The opening year begin?
Come kneel by Jesu's cradle-bed,
And count the cost of sin !
His tears were wept to dry thine eyes,
His grief was for thy gain,
The octave of thy song of joy
Was His first cry of pain.
Thence let the year its colouring
Of sober duty take,
Rise up, go forth, do everything,
For thy dear Saviour's sake;
And 'mid the world's temptation
Remember for thy good,
On New Year's Day the infant Christ
First shed His ' precious blood.'
21
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That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same
body, and partakers of His promise in Christ 'by
the Gospel. — Eph. iii. 6.
HOW calm how blest this tranquil hour
Of household evening joy !
The world shut out, with all its power
To trouble or annoy.
The world shut out, and love shut in,
With youth and gentle mirth,
Which ever make their pleasant din,
Best by the household hearth.
The duties of the day are done,
Its toil and burden o'er;
To claim, until the rising sun,
Our anxious hearts no more.
Then let us rest amid the gifts
God's tenderness hath given,
And bless each blessing as it lifts
Our grateful hearts to Heaven.
Whence have we this secure repose,
This light in evening's gloom,
This warm and cheerful gleam that glows,
Round all the pleasant room?
22 THE EPIPHANY.
These songs of joy, these smiles of love,
These voices soft and low,
That talk with us of home above,
And brighten home below ]
Long time ago, a wondrous star
Led o'er a trackless way
Three Gentile sages from afar,
To where an Infant lay —
In swaddling clothes, — all helpless bound,
In poor and mean abode,
And there in Him ail Gentiles found
Their Saviour and their God.
Thence come all joy, all love, all light,
That gladden Christian homes,
Our very safety day and night
From that one Dwelling comes :
The Sun that morning star foretold
High in meridian stands,
And scatters gifts an hundredfold
O'er all the Gentile lands.
<_'olcl then and heartless they must be
Who all these blessings share,
Yet grudge, on Christ's Epiphany,
Their meed of praise and prayer.
THE EPIPHAXY. 23
The Gifts of God so large and free
They proudly deem their own,
Which, but for Christ's Epiphany,
They never could have known.
Lord keep us from such sinfulness,
And give us grace to prove,
How they, who daily debts confess,
Should render love for love.
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Wist ye not that I must "be ahout my Father s
"business ? — Luke ii. 49.
OFT doth the Christian's heart inquire,
What does my God of ine desire 1
What service holy, pure, and high,
Can He receive from such as 1 1
With heart and hands alike defiled,
Poor erring tho' repentant child !
Christian ! thy God deems nothing due,
But what He gives thee grace to do ;
And nought as worthy doth He take,
Save what is done for Jesu's sake :
With such pure trust, and simple aim,
Thy lowliest deed His smile may claim.
The highest duties oft are found
Lying upon the lowest ground ;
In hidden and unnoticed ways,
In household works, on common days,
Whate'er is done for God alone,
Thy God acceptable will own.
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
To do our ' Father's business' here
In humble reverence and fear,
Meekly upon His will to wait
In little things as well as great,
Contented in our lot to rest,
'Tis thus the Christian serves Him best.
Whether our path of duty be
In public or in privacy,
To teach or to be taught in truth,
Submit to age, or bear with youth,
We must be wisest in the school,
And gentlest under parent's rule.
Like Christ in all things we must prove,
His life our model, — and His love
The only pure unfailing spring
Of holiness in every thing, —
The only law by which we e'er
Can do our ' Father's business' here.
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And* both Jesus was called, and His disciples to the
marriage. — John ii. 2.
SOME use religion as a cloak
Which need be only worn
When solemn days, by custom's claim,
At stated times return.
'Tis decent then, with Sunday clothes,
To put the semblance on,
To be as easily put off,
When the dull day is done.
Alas ! how little can they know
The life divine within,
The gain, the loss, the joy, the woe,
Of holiness and sin.
He who hath tasted and hath seen
How gracious is the Lord ;
Whose hungry soul hath fed upon
The manna of His word :
Whose desolate and lonely heart,
Hath brightened with the glow
Of that approving smile of Love
The pardon' d only know ; —
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 27
He would not change one hour of peace,
For all the world could give ;
Nor deem that it were Life at all
Without his God to live.
Not in the holy place alone,
Nor only when in prayer,
Doth he His gracious presence feel,
But always everywhere.
The world with all its goodliest gains,
Home with its calmest rest,
Life's heaviest and life's lightest hours,
Without Him are unblest.
So, when of old the marriage feast
Was spread, they sought the Lord,
Joy from His gentle Presence flowed,
And plenty from His word.
He checked no gladness, such as might
The Christian's heart become,
From Him no cloud can ever fall
Over a Christian home.
And so let all our festal joy
Be in His presence found,
And so let every spot on earth,
Be counted ' holy ground ;'
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
And every day a solemn day
In which His gentle voice,
Speaking to us in every sound,
Bids every heart rejoice.
He shares our griefs, let us our joys
With Him devoutly share,
And every festive day we keep,
Be our Redeemer there !
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G-o thy way, and as thou hast believed, so he it done unto
thee.— Mat th. viii. 13.
HATH the Church of God received
This great promise from his Son,
1 Go and, as thou hast believed,
So it ever shall be done ¥
Why then has she failed to gladden
Hearts and homes with gospel Light,
That in cheerless darkness sadden,
Thro' the long unwakened night 1
Hath her God forgot His promise ?
Is His hand too short to save 1
Can the evil One wrest from us
What the great and good One gave 1
Or have we forgot the treasure
That in trust and trial lies,
When strong Prayer in boundless measure,
Wins its answer from the skies 1
Where the Gentile faith which rested
On the hope that gave it birth,
Till the Lord himself confest it
As a marvel upon earth ?
30 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
Throwing into shade the sunshine
Of His people's highest noon,
Omen of their sad declining
.Clouds to settle o'er them soon!
Lord ! our sleeping souls awaken,
Lead us forth to work for Thee,
And restore Thy long-forsaken
To the land where they would be :
So, through us, each Gentile nation
Thine Epiphany shall learn,
And her long-lost ' consolation '
Unto Israel return.
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And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little
faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the
sea ; and there was a great cairn. — Matth. viii. 26.
WHY my soul so sad and fearful,
Crossing life's dark ocean tide 1
Why that upward eye so tearful 1
Christ is sleeping by thy side !
Tho' the storm and tossing billow
Seem the only presence near,
Christ is nearer, on a pillow
Sleeping by thee — wherefore fear ?
Wakes the storm ? — it is to try thee !
Sleeps the Christ J — 'tis for thy sake !
Let thy heart but feel Him nigh thee,
Lift thy voice — and He'll awake :
He'll awake, and wind and ocean
Soon shall bow before His will,
All thy weary heart's emotion
Hushed before His ' Peace be still.'
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Let both grcTr together until the harvest.— Matth. xiii. 30.
r^ ENTLY think and gently speak,
VJ Art thou strong? respect the weak;
Art thou weak ? from what thou art,
Gently judge another's heart.
Gentle thoughts and gentle words
Ever were thy Saviour Lord's,
Shall the fellow-worm reprove
When the holy God is — Love ?
He, who knew the thoughts of men,
He was gentle, let us then
Gentle be in thought and tone,
We, who scarce can read our own.
Spirits harsh and words unkind
Like to rough ungentle wind,
Often scatter ' precious seed,'
Often break the ( bruised reed.'
Patiently that Day abide,
When 'the angels' shall divide;
When i the Harvest' shall declare,
Which the wheat, and which the tare.
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 03
Xow let both together grow,
God Himself alone can know
Who hath faith, and who hath none,
Which His foe, and which His son.
O how sad it then will be
One afflicted soul to see —
Hurt thro' thy mistaken zeal,
Hurt beyond thy power to heal.
Bain, and dews, and sunshine fall
With unbounded Love on all,
Shall thy narrow heart refuse
Its poor sun, and rain, and dews ?
Then be gentle O my soul,
Thoughts and words alike control,
If thou must in aught decide,
Err upon the gentle side.
Gentleness can do no wrong
To the weak or to the strong,
Be thou strong or be thou weak,
Gently think and gently speak.
r
34
&te\ Sttnfoag after €p$\m%.
Lnd every man that hath this hope in him purifieth him-
self e~en as he is pure. — 1 John iii. 3.
BLESSED hope ! that we the sinful
May be like to Thee the Lord,
Oar degraded souls exalted
By Thy wonder-working word.
'Twas for this, 0 blessed Jesus,
Thou didst leave Thy bright abode,
To destroy the works of Satan,
' And make us the sons of God,'
And to souls all lost and hopeless,
This reviving hope impart —
That the lost may be restored,
And the vile be ( pure in heart.'
Here the world but little knows us,
Or our title to the skies,
We are but the wild euthusiasts
'Tis the fashion to despise.
But within our grateful bosoms
We ( a hidden treasure' hold,
Which we would not give the worldling
For his glory or his gold.
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 35
Blessed is the fond assurance
Of our God, that we are His,
Blessed are the hope and promise —
' We shall see Him as He is.'
Shall vje waste our hours in folly
Who may this reward secure,
To be purified and holy,
Even as our God is pure ?
Blessed Saviour ! tho' ( it doth not
Yet appear what we shall be,'
Still we know that, when Thou com est,
We shall then be like to Thee.
And we live upon the promise
On the mount by Thee bestowed,
6 Blessed are the pure in spirit,
They alone shall see their God.'
*
D 2
36
8
tgtapims j^mhg.
Sc run, that ye may o"btain. — 1 Cor. ix. 24.
AS with gentle modulation,
Chords of music melt and flow
Down from strains of exultation
Into plaintive notes of woe :
As with soft and tender shading,
Farewell beams of parting day
O'er the evening landscape fading
Into twilight die away : —
So the Church's songs of gladness
Change their key to heart and ear —
So steals on, with sober sadness,
The dim twilight of her year.
Late her Saviour Lord's appearing
Filled each heart and swelled each strain,
Now the solemn time is nearing
When He passes into pain.
Late, tho' round a lowly manger,
Angels sang and glory shone,
Now He passes into danger,
In the wilderness alone :
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 37
And His Church, with fond affection,
Bids her children all prepare
To partake of His dejection
Low in penitence and prayer.
Lord our souls and bodies render
Meet to watch and kneel and pray-
By Thy love, so true and tender,
All thro' that long battle-day.
Grant us that instinctive yearning
Which the Christian's soul doth move,
To be ever near Thee, learning
The deep secrets of Thy love.
And tho' ' justly our offences'
Shut us out from joy and Thee,
Keep us near Thee, for from thence is
All the light our souls can see :
Keep us near Thee, in Thy fasting,
In Thy peril and Thy pain ;
That, our garland everlasting
Running * so,' we ' may obtain.'
r
38
hn$t&mx JBrattotg.
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which
concern mine infirmities. — 2 Cor. xi. 30.
AWAKE my soul ! and, for the strife
Of onward upward Christian life,
In earnest faith prepare ;
Where the fight rages fierce and high,
Goes forth the Church's chivalry,
And thou too must be there.
Thy Lord awaits thee in the field,
Bring forth the spear, essay the shield,
And bind thine armour on ;
Low tho' thou art, for thee there's fame,
By thee a high and honour'd name
And glory may be won.
Never, in tourney or in fight,
Did Warrior old win name so bright
As thou mayst win and wear,
If, like the valiant ones of old,
Thy faith be high, thy heart be bold
To do, as well as dare.
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 39
Not with a sword by bloodshed stain'd,
Nor for a wreath that, soon as gain'd,
Shall fade upon thy brow ;
But with the sword of God's good Word,
And for the ' Well done' of thy Lord,
Go forth and conquer now.
Wait not till foes, in serried line
And burnish'd armour, flash and shine,
To tempt thee to the fray ;
Thine enemies are all around,
And every spot is battle-ground
Where thou canst c watch and pray.'
In little things of common life,
There lies the Christian's noblest strife —
When he does conscience make,
Of every thought and throb within,
And words and looks of self and sin
Crushes for Jesus' sake ;
And all the while no glory sees
Save in his own infirmities,
Which magnify the Grace —
That out of weakness strength can bring,
And give so low and vile a thing
In God's high work a place.
Then up my soul, and onward press
To Jesus, — in the wilderness
He waits and fights for thee ;
Thy love to Him devoutly prove
By deeds not words, and let His love
Thy < Shield and Buckler' be.
40
f mnpajjmma: Simtog.
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
Luke xviii. 38.
JESUS CHRIST ! thou Son of David !
Mercy mercy have on me ;
For my soul, too long enslaved,
Sighs for liberty and Thee.
On life's wayside, dull and dreary,
I can hear Thee passing by,
But my heart is sad and weary
Till I see Thee with mine eye.
Long alas ! by passion blinded,
Wand'ring off c the narrow way,'
O how hard it is to find it !
Turn my Saviour turn and stay.
Hush poor soul ! thy Lord is going
On to weariness and pain,
Wilt thou then, this secret knowing,
Care to lift thy voice again ?
Yes ! I will, His very sorrow
Makes me know He feels for mine,
Thence alone my heart doth borrow
All its hope of light divine.
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 4T
Had He stayed in bliss above me
I might doubt His care to bless,
But what proof, that He doth love me,
Better than the wilderness ?
There let His sweet voice allure me,
I will follow and have rest,
Certain that He will ensure me
Comfort, in the way that's best.
But canst thou, with calm conviction,
Trust Him even tho' He slay,
And His footsteps of affliction
Follow, as the safest way 1
Yes ! I can, let me but hear Him,
I shall follow that sweet Yoice,
Thankful only to be near Him,
Till His Light my soul rejoice.
Waiting till His glory lighten
These dark eyes to look on Him,
And behold His sunshine brighten
All that else on earth were dim.
Only let my Lord precede me,
Only let Him deign to bless,
I shall follow, lead me, lead me,
' Up into the wilderness.'
Bise glad soul ! thy prayer is granted,
Soon thy longing eyes shall see
That for which thy heart hath panted,
Bise, thy Saviour calleth thee.
42
&$\ fflfttatstaty.
HencL your heart; and not your garments, and turn unto
the Lord your God. — Joel ii. 13.
MY sin ! my sin ! 0 God ! my sin
Lies heavy on this heart within,
All thro' the dreary live-long day
Wearing my aimless life away,
All thro' the weary watch of night,
Tossing my bed till morning's light,
It lays its heavy load on me,
Miserere Domine !
My sin ! my sin ! O God ! my sin !
Where does its sad account begin ?
Far off in early wasted years
I see it thro' these dimming tears ;
Hence my whole life its clouds attend
With darkening shadow : where the end
Of all this shade and gloom for me ?
Miserere Domine !
My sin ! my sin ! 0 God ! my sin !
What power shall peace and pardon win ?
What shall blot out the scarlet stain
That doth upon my soul remain ?
ASH WEDNESDAY. 43
What will for me with Mercy plead —
For me with Justice intercede —
Break these sad chains, and set me free ?
Miserere Domine !
My grief ! my grief ! 0 God ! my grief
Finds in Thy sorrows its relief;
My soul kneels down by Thy distress,
And, with Thee in the wilderness,
Watching Thy long and patient fast,
Conflict, and triumph at the last,
Finds heart to lift its voice to Thee,
Miserere Domine !
Thy pain ! Thy pain ! O God ! Thy pain
Is my heart's ease, Thy loss my gain :
Thy love in all its depths and heights,
These forty days and forty nights,
My soul will measure, scale, and prove,
Until it learn itself — to love,
And fix its only hope on Thee,
Miserere Domine !
Thy fast ! Thy fast ! 0 God ! Thy fast
Shall thus become my feast at last,
When — thro' long days and nights of care,
And deep heart-sear chin gs — faith and prayer
Shall take the sins they have descried,
And lay them by Thy suffering side,
And lift their voice, and cry to Thee,
Miserere Domine !
44
i'mt ^mtbajr in f mi
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
He was afterwards an-hungred. — Matt. iv. 2.
THE Lord, who sits entliron'd in light,
With regal glory crowned,
Eternal in His matchless might,
Whom angels worship round,« —
Watches for man in his distress,
Alone, and in the wilderness.
The Lord, who on a thousand hills
The cattle daily feeds,
Who with ten thousand thousand rills
Waters the parched meads,
Who gives His people ' daily bread,' —
He is a-thirst, ' an-hungered !'
The Lord — who from his angel throne,
The Prince of darkness threw,
Then came on earth to give His own
Power to bruise him too,
Whose heel could crush the Serpent's head,-
Across the Serpent's trail is led.
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. 45
The Lord — who by one living word
Could clash him to the ground, —
Uses the forged and well-tried sword
With every Christian found ;
The c It is written/ in which we
Our best defence shall ever see.
0 Saviour ! shall we see Thee thus
In weakness, want, and woe,
Conscious that it was all for us
Thy Godhead stoop'd so low ;
And shall we shrink with Thee to share
Thy fastings in the desert air 1
Shall we, in light and giddy mirth,
Pass with the worldling by,
Nor deem Thy costly sufferings worth
One sympathizing sigh ;
But, 'mid such undeserved woes,
Go feast and revel with Thy foes ?
When Thou didst leave Thy home divine
To save our souls, shall we
No lawful things of earth resign,
To show our love to Thee 1
Shall we take all the gift and gain,
And leave Thee all the price and pain i
Didst Thou, for forty days and nights,
All food and rest refuse ']
How boastful then the soul that slights
What Thou didst deign to use !
When Thou didst so Thyself prepare,
Need we no fastings and no prayer ?
46
Smmfo Srakg in f mi
Great is thy faith. ; "be it unto thee even as thou
wilt.— Matt. xv. 28.
LONG. and earnestly she pleaded,
Grief and faith her spirit stirred,
Mercy for her child she needed,
But He answer'd not a word.
Still she pray'd, and drew the nearer,
Sorrow made her spirit bold,
For she felt her Lord would hear her,
Tho' all other hearts were cold.
Yes ! He hears her, but the token
That her voice had reach'd His ear,
When that silence sad is broken,
Fails her drooping heart to cheer :
' She is but a Gentile stranger,
Israel's fold His chiefest care :'
Surely this repulse will change her
Earnest pleading to despair.
Still she prayed, and still she pleaded,
Tho' all hope seem'd well nigh past ;
' But the bread the children needed
Cannot to the dogs be cast.'
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 47
Oh how cold the outward seeming
Of such answer to her cry,
Was she waking? was she dreaming?
Could this be her Lord's reply ?
Yet how gently is she able
Still to plead, in spite of all 1
( Truth ! but crumbs from off the table
Even to the dogs mav fall.'
It is done ! the cloud hath melted,
Yon dark cloud so cold before ;
Sunshine bathes her, she hath felt it
Pass into her spirit's core :
He, Yvrho seemed so dull to hear her,
Answered not thro' very love,
Stood aloof, to draw her nearer,
Moved not, that her soul might move.
All that shade, and seeming coldness,
Hanging o'er His gentle face,
He assumed to stir her ' boldness'
Coming to the ' throne of grace.'
Now with tenderness inclining
He doth turn to soothe her pain,
She like ' tender grass' is ' shining'
In His sunshine, ' after rain.'
Thus my soul in all thy pleadings
Let thy faith unwearied be,
AY hat at first seem lets are leadings
Sent to help, not hinder Thee.
48 SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT.
Trust the promisevS which never
Fail to answer earnest prayer,
Clouds may rise, but Love is ever
Shining bright behind them there.
And thro' all this Lenten season
"Watch and wait, and trust and pray,
Sure there is some blessed reason,
If Love linger on the way.
They, who can with ' crumbs' content them,
Thankful on the least to live,
Soon shall have all blessings sent them,
Which the Lord of Life can give.
r
49
ftftiri j&untotp in f wit.
TJie last state of that man is worse tb.an the first.
Luke xi. 26.
IVTOT always in the goodliest rite,
-*- ^ The swept and garnished ground
Of forms, most fair to human sight,
Is Jesus to be found.
For the mere words, with which we claim
His love, He doth not care ;
We must be gathered in His name,
Or else He is not there.
And tho' He ever hears the cry
Of those whose hearts complain,
And none, who seek Him earnestly,
Can seek His face in vain, —
Yet men may fast from week to week,
Iu form may mourn and pray,
While the good gifts they seem to seek,
May still be far away.
In prayer and fasting let us strive
To keep our bodies down,
To save our precious souls alive
And win a glorious crown.
E
50 THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
For it is Lard to conquer sin,
And climb the narrow road,
And wishes only will not win
An entrance unto God.
Yet on those blessed means of grace
Our souls must not depend ;
Theirs simply is the handmaid place
Of means unto an end.
But used in faith, with grace they teem
For every troubled mind,
As to the leper Jordan's stream,
As Siloam to the blind.
Nor must we only for awhile
Put off the sins we mourn,
To flatter conscience, and beguile
The hours till they return :
But low in penitence must lie
In deed as well as word,
Cut off the hand, pluck out the eye
Offensive to the Lord.
Use thus my soul ! with equal care
This sad but gracious time,
For prayerless fast, or fastless prayer,
To God shall never climb.
Watch lest the blessings offer'd thee
Thro' thine own fault be curst,
And thy last state may haply be
Far worse than was thy first.
5i
|0itrt| guntag in litatt.
Whence shall we "buy "bread, that these may eat ? (And
this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew
what He would do.) — John vi. 6.
WHEN the faint and famish' d thousands
Bound their Saviour Lord did press,
And He asked, how He might feed them
In the hungry wilderness :
Coldly reasoning, Philip answers
As the rules of sense accord,
Thoughtless that the meek Inquirer
Was the all-providing Lord.
Soon all human schemes confounded
Lay their selfish reasooings by,
And a few poor loaves and fishes
Blest, abundance doth supply.
To remind the Lord's disciples,
That if they to Him be true,
Nought, their utmost need requireth,
Is too hard for Him to do.
E 2
FOURTH BUNDAY IX LEKT.
Let us take the blight example,
Let ns seek Him for Himself,
Ready, for His sake, to trample
On all worldly power or pelf.
Let us freely trust our bodies
Where our souls their safety own,
Mindful that the man-immortal
1 Doth not live by bread alone.'
Count not with such selfish caution
What may rex, or what may please,
Art thou earnest I Seek thy Saviour,
Yea ; at any cost of ease.
He would rather work a wonder,
Drop from Heav'n itself their food,
Rather than that souls, which trust Him,
Aught should want of needful good.
r
|ifi!] Smtiiag in gtat
But Jesus hid liimself. — John viii. 5?.
JES US ! my loving Lord ! I know
How much my welfare stands
In loss or cross for Thee below,
Therefore I'm in Thy hands ;
Do aught that seemeth good to Thee,
But hide not Thou Thyself from me.
'Tis not the wilderness I dread,
Its peril or its pain ;
No pathway Thou didst ever tread
But, with its grief, hath gain ;
I can bear all, so it may be
Thou wilt not hide Thyself from me.
And well I know Thou dost not love
That gentle face to hide,
Only in need, dull Faith to prove,
The wav'ring heart to chide :
Were pain in Heav'n 'twere pain to Thee,
I know, to hide Thyself from me.
54 FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT.
By Thine own sorrow on the cross,
That agonizing cry,
Thy sense of that one moment's loss,
When darkness veil'd the sky,
And hid Thy Father's face from Thee :-
Hide not Thy face, O Christ, from me.
r
I itlm Initio.
Od the next day much people, that were come to the feast,
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
took branches of palm-trees, and went forth to
meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is
the King of Israel, that cometh in the
Name of the Lord. — John xii. 12, 13.
W'HEN the sacred Name is spoken,
Bowed knee and bended head
Are the outward sign and token
That we feel what we have said :
Feel that Jesus, God most holy,
Tho' unseen, is somewhere nigh,
And, with reverence deep and lowly,
Worship as He passes by.
So when He, the Lord, did enter
His Jerusalem of old,
Souls and eyes in Him did centre,
Waves of welcome round Him roll'd :
And before that lowly Wonder
Raging hearts grew still and calm,
While they cast their garments under,
And his pathway strew' d with palm.
56 PALM SUNDAY.
Yet the throng, that now rejoices,
Whose Hosannas rend the sky,
Soon shall shout, with treacherous voices,
Crucify Him, crucify !
They, who lowly now adore Him,
Soon shall fling their insults round,
Mocking, bow the knee before Him
Scarlet-robed, and thorn- encrown'd.
Therefore, when that Name is spoken,
And, with bended head or knee,
Thou dost give the outward token
Of thine inward fealty, —
Watch my soul ! that every feeling
Be in concord with that sign,
Heart as well as body kneeling,
Thoughts as well as looks divine.
rf
01
Sttmto Mm faster.
She hath, done Tvhat she could. — Mark xiv. 9,
' ^IHE hatli done what she could'
^ Her poor all hath expended,
With ointment most precious
Her Lord to prepare ;
1 She hath done what she could '
And her Lord hath commended
For His body her love,
For His burial her care.
The spikenard the worldly
Would lavish on pleasure,
The hair that the trifling
Would deck to deceive,
The one she pours out
On her Lord, without measure,
A robe for His feet
With the other doth weave.
The thoughtless may wonder,
The Godless may slight her,
And murmuring ask,
To what purpose such waste ?
58 MONDAY BEFORE EASTER.
What matter ! the Lord
With His love doth requite her,
Her deed on the roll
Of His records hath placed.
The days and the hours
When calm in devotion,
She hung on His lips,
Or sat low at His feet,
Come soft o'er her heart
With their tender emotion,
Than beauty more precious,
Than spikenard more sweet.
She knows that those days
Are for ever departed,
She lives in their light,
Tho' her soul be in gloom,
She believes, she can trust,
But still, half broken-hearted,
She hopes in His life,
But prepares for His tomb.
Thus Lord give us ever
The grace to watch by Thee,
In sorrow and shade,
As in sunshine and joy ;
Our bliss, wheresoever
Thou art, to be nigh Thee,
Our wealth, all we have
For Thy use to employ.
MONDAY BEFORE EASTER. 59
O blest above measure,
If we too may hear Thee
Accept our poor service
Imperfect and rude,
And — marking with favour
The faithful who fear Thee —
This blessing bestow, —
' They have done what they could.5
*
6o
flfaesbaa Mm §nttt.
Then Pilate said unto them, Why, -what evil hath he done ?
And they cried out the more exceedingly. Crucify Him.
And so Pilate, willing to content the people . . .
delivered Jesus, when he had scourged
Him. to he crucified. — Mark xv. 15.
PROUDLY in his Hall of Judgment,
There to play his fearful part ;
Sat the Roman Pontius Pilate,
Clear in head, but cold in heart.
Bound and silent stood before him,
Meek and sad, the Lord of all ,
Listening to His false accusers,
In that awful judgment hall :
Listening to His words perverted,
All too gentle to complain ;
Tho' one word had struck them speechless,
Yet not answering again.
Thousands round, like storm-toss'd ocean,
Fling their furious rage on high •
Shouting, in their wild commotion,
Crucify Him, crucify !
TUESDAY BEFORE EASTER. 6l
Wretched man ! tho' passing power
Seem thy little soul to please,
Yet thine inner self doth cower
Under conscience, ill at ease.
Thine own fears, and other's dreaming,
Terrible attendants are ;
Judge — alone in outward seeming —
Thine own Judge is at thy bar.
Vain to sooth that troubled conscience
All thy pleading with the throng ;
While within the battle rages,
Sense of right, and love of wrong.
Vain to wash thine hands, disclaiming
Part in that accursed day,
Blood is on them, which thy victim's
Blood alone can wash away.
0 my soul ! take hence the measure
Of their misery, who can
Sacrifice their sense of duty
To the wretched fear of man.
Play not with those dread convictions
That would wrest its slave from sin,
Sad to see the refuge-city,
Without power to enter in.
62 TUESDAY BEFORE EASTER.
Of all men on earth the saddest
They who know what they should do,
But, thro' vain men-pleasing, cannot
To their own belief be true.
Just enough of night, to darken
That pure day in which they live,
Just enough of light, to shadow
All the joys that sin can give.
¥
63
Uttetog Mm faster.
I have sinned, in that I have "betrayed the innocent "blood,
And they said, What is that to us? See thou
to that. — Matt, xxvii. 4.
TT1IS o'er ! the last kind deed is done,
-L The last kind word is spoken,
The last few sands are almost run,
And the last links are broken ;
Love's bonds are burst, and he is free
With an enslaving liberty.
He who, admitted near his Lord,
Tended with care parental,
Had seen His deeds, and heard His word,
So loving and so gentle,
Rises, and goes his fearful way
Out into darkness to betray.
All acts of love all means of grace
His stubborn soul refuseth,
Self occupies the Saviour's place,
And His best gifts abuseth ;
The wretch, thro' wretched love of pelf,
Betrays his Lord, betrays himself.
64 WEDNESDAY BEFORE EASTER.
Long had lie harbour' d secret sin,
And long with truth had trifled ;
Now Satan safely enters in,
And God's own shrine is rifled :
The hands, that long in secret stole,
Now sell his Saviour, and his soul.
By slow degrees the deed was done,
The fetters, that now bound him,
Had, day by day and one by one,
Been surely drawn around him :
He would not burst them when he could,
He could not burst them when he would.
Think not he deem'd Christ's death would be
The end of his pursuing,
Far rather hoped he thus to see
His enemies' undoing ;
He have his silver, they their fall,
His Lord triumphant over all !
Alas ! how little they can know
The end of the beginning,
Who calculate how far to go
Into the ways of sinning ;
Turn to Aceldama, and there
Witness the suicide's despair.
O Saviour ! teach us how to take
Warning from that offender ;
And keep our souls, for Thy dear sake,
To Thee still true and tender ;
WEDNESDAY BEFORE EASTER. 65
Lest, turning wilfully away,
We leave Thy table, to betray.
One downward step of early sin
Indulged in or neglected,
One look of love — our hearts to win
Back to Thy side — rejected ;
May our soul's separation be
Eternally, 0 God, from Thee.
r
66
fjprratotg More famkx.
Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And He was
withdrawn from them ahout a stone's cast, and
kneeled down and prayed. — Luke xxii.40, 41.
JESUS ! my Master ! when I feel
The world's temptations round me steal,
When things of sense too much employ
My heart with their deceptive joy,
When things of faith too little move
My soul to thoughts and deeds of love,
I'll turn aside, and keep with Thee
Watch in that sad Gethsemane.
When, — cross' d by cares which Thou hast sent
In mercy, sadder to prevent,
Cares which, if rightly understood,
Must only work me deeper good, —
I, slighting what Thou dost provide,
Would push the bitter cup aside, —
O give me grace, to keep with Thee
Watch in that sad Gethsemane.
Life's gaudy but unreal glow,
The littleness of human woe,
The joys which some so much control,
They should be payment for a soul ;
THURSDAY BEFORE EASTER. 6j
The griefs which some so much depress,
As if our right were happiness ;
Their nothingness we best can see,
When look'd on in Gethsemane.
Thy sorrows there, alone can can prove
The depth of real grief and love ;
Thy lonely and thrice offer'd prayer,
If it were possible, to spare ;
The meekness of that love, which still
To Heav'n subdued Thy human will.
These are the lessons which can be
Best taught us in Gethsemane.
There let us kneel, and ' watch and pray/
Against that dark and awful day,
When Thou, upon the cross, didst give
Thy life, that all the world might live.
If, for one moment, sin seem slight,
Or our offences few or light,
They'll take their proper form, when we
Kneel by Thee in Gethsemane.
r
F 2
68
6u0ir ifrikg.
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. — Is. liii. 3.
D
AY of loss and day of gain,
Day of peace and day of pain,
Thou art come to us again !
Death on thee hath done his worst,
Hell on thee his gates hath burst,
God on thee hath been accurst.
Yet the Death, which struck so high,
Doom'd its very self to die,
In the hour of victory.
And the Hell, which mutter d low
Triumph at that deed of woe,
Felt the suicidal blow.
And the God accurst, doth rise,
In the very hour He dies,
Over all His enemies.
GOOD FRIDAY. 69
Mystery for high, belief !
How, from depths of guilt and grief,
God doth work for man's relief.
Christ, on the accursed tree
Bound, to set the sinner free,
Triumphs in His agony.
Hell, whose deadly hate and pride
Heaven its very self defied,
Bows before the Crucified 1
Mystery ! all thought above !
Death the birth of Life to prove !
Hate to be the womb of love !
Wonder ! of all wonders known !
Christ upon the cross alone
Makes the whole world's sins His own.
Horror ! of all horrors wrought !
Sinful man, whose soul was sought,
Sheds the blood by which he's bought !
Day ashamed a veil doth take,
Earth dismay'd doth reel and quake,
And the very dead awake.
Jesus ! Gentle Sufferer ! say
How shall we, this dreadful day,
Near Thee draw, and to Thee pray 1
70 GOOD FRIDAY.
We, whose proneness to forget
Thy dear love, on Olivet
Bathed Thy brow with bloody sweat ;-
We, whose sins with awful power,
Like a cloud did o'er Thee lower,
In that God-excluding hour ; —
We, who still in thought and deed
Often hold the bitter reed
To Thee, in Thy time of need ; —
Canst Thou pardon 1 wilt Thou pray,
As thou didst that dreadful day,
For those who took Thy life away ?
Yes ! Thy Blood is all my plea,
It was shed, and shed for me,
Therefore to Thy Cross I flee.
At Thy feet, in dust and shame,
I dare breathe Thy holy name,
And a ' great salvation ' claim.
Save me Saviour ! stoop and take
Pity on my soul, and make
This day bright, for Thy dear sake.
<5Mttt &bt.
In the garden, a new sepulchre. -John xix. 41.
LOWLY kneel and softly tread
Round the Saviour's Sabbath bed,
Mourn not, weep not, ' watch and pray/
Put all restless thoughts away,
Whatsoever grief or strife,
Thou hast ever known in life,
Bring it to this garden-ground,
Where His sepulchre is found.
Hath thy youth been fresh and fair,
Unobscured by cloud or care 1
Have all precious things of earth,
Smiled upon thee from thy birth ?
Come and watch against the day,
When these joys may pass away,
And in thine own garden-ground
Some new sepulchre be found.
Is that stain the stain of tears
That upon thy cheek appears 1
Is that long and dreamy stare, —
Fix'd on that one vacant chair, —
72 EASTER EYE.
Are those hush'd and chasten'd ways —
That going softly all thy days —
Proofs that in thy garden-ground
Some new sepulchre is found ?
Come, and on Christ's Sabbath bed
Aching heart and throbbing head
Lay in meek submission down,
For, heart's-ease and glorious crown
Shall for both from thence arise,
When the Living Sacrifice
Bursts the bands by which He's bound,
And makes all earth one garden-ground.
To waiting souls how purely blest
That last primal-Sabbath-rest,
Coming, as it did, between
Calvary's dark Passion-scene,
And the dawning of that day
When every doubt would flee away,
And Sharon's bursting Pose be found,
The glory of that garden-ground.
Ere its claim on them expired,
It did all their souls required ;
Shut the world's intrusions out,
Cherish' d faith, and chasten'd doubt,
Kept them from that loving deed
Christ would show He did not need,
By His grave next morning found
Empty in that garden-ground.
EASTER EVE. 73
Thus my soul ! wait in thy place,
Meekly use all means of grace,
Days of toil, or days of rest,
As God sends them, suit thee best ;
Simply strive to do His will,
Keep self under, and be still,
Though thy struggling heart be found
Yearning toward some garden-ground.
The best spices to prepare
Are waiting faith, and earnest prayer ;
With these, in holy rest and calm,
All thy fondest hopes embalm ;
Lay them at thy Saviour's feet,
Wrap them in His winding-sheet,
And, some morning, they'll be found
Risen from that garden-ground.
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Arise; shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon thee. — Is. lx. 1.
AWAKE glad soul ! Awake ! awake !
Thy Lord hath risen long ;
Go to His grave, and with thee take,
Both tuneful heart and song :
Where Spring awakens all around,
Where vernal voices sing,
The first bright Blossom may be found
Of an Eternal Spring.
Yet woman's love, too true and brave
For guards or night to scare,
Last at the Cross, first at the grave,
Found not that Blossom there ;
To Angels' sleepless eyes alone
Did Heav'n that boon accord,
Their hands had roll'd away the stone,
And deck'd their rising Lord.
So ever lag our steps behind
The Lord's preventing grace ;
So often fail our hearts, to find
The beauty of His face :
EASTER DAY.
Yet in that tomb's depressing shade
Two Angels sat and shone,
To point where lately He was laid,
And tell how He was gone.
Not selfishly their souls enjoyed
The secret which they knew,
Grateful they wait — by Christ employed
To comfort others too :
Words long forgotten — to recall,
Faith drooping — to revive,
And tell His followers, where all
May see His face alive.
O Love ! which lightens all distress,
Love, death cannot destroy ;
0 grave ! whose very emptiness
To Faith is full of joy :
Let but that Love our hearts supply
From Heaven's Eternal Spring,
Then Grave, where is thy victory %
And Death, where is thy sting %
The shade and gloom of life are fled
This Resurrection Day,
Henceforth in Christ are no more dead,
The grave hath no more prey ;
In Christ we live, in Christ we sleep,
In Christ we wake and rise ;
And the sad tears Death makes us weep
He wipes from all our eyes.
7^> EASTER DAY.
And every bird, and every tree,
And every opening flower,
Proclaim His glorious victory,
His Resurrection-power :
The folds are glad, the fields rejoice,
With vernal verdure spread,
The little hills lift up their voice
And shout that Death is dead.
Then wake ! glad heart ! awake ! awake !
And seek thy risen Lord,
Joy in His Resurrection take,
And comfort in His Word :
And let thy Life, thro' all its ways,
One long thanksgiving be ;
Its theme of Joy, its words of Praise,
1 Christ died and rose for me.'
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Abide Tvith as, for it is toward e-enine, and the day is
far spent. — Luke xxn. 29.
1 A BIDE with us,' the shades of eve
-£^- Are falling fast around ;
' Far spent' the day — 0 do not leave
The souls Thy Love has found.
We lost Thee in an hour of fear,
Thy words of love forgot ;
Once more that blessed Yoice we hear,
O Saviour leave us not.
Too cold, too sad, too slow of heart
We wander'd here alone,
And where Thou wert, not where Thou art,
Was all our souls would own.
Alas ! that we should e'er forget
The hope Thy suff'rings gave,
' Thine agony and bloody sweat,'
The Garden, Cross, and Grave, —
MONDAY IN EASTER WEEK.
Or lose amid their gloom the pure
Perfection of that joy,
No clouds of grief should e'er obscure,
No cross or grave destroy.
But Thou art come to us again, —
Our souls so dull and sad
Thou ' madest soft with drops of rain,'
And now with sunshine glad.
Then O ' abide with us,' nor leave
Those whom Thy love hath found,
For life is wearing — shades of eve
Are falling fast around.
The solemn joy, the awful fear,
The hallow' d hush of peace,
The consciousness that Thou art near,
We would not these should cease.
They came to us with glad accord
This blessed Easter-tide,
They will ' abide with us' O Lord,
If Thou with us abide.
79
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ie 3ame day at evening, "being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut where the disciples were
assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus,
and stood in the midst, and saith
unto them, Peace he unto
ycu.--J ;hnsx. 19.
LOUD, when my feet would turn away
From keeping of Thy Holy day
To worldly joy or care ;
When secret pleasures of mine own
Tempt me one moment to disown
Thy blessed House of Prayer : —
When that sweet call of Sabbath bells,
Which on the ear now sinks now swells,
Hath fail'd my heart to win;
And, with averted soul and eye,
I pass thine open portals by,
When others enter in : —
Let me remember days of gloom,
When, gathered in an upper room,
With closed and guarded door,
8o TUESDAY IN EASTER WEEK.
Depressed with fears, by foes beset,
Thy broken band of followers met,
In secret to adore.
No solemn pomp of worship theirs,
No bells to call to Holy prayers,
No aisles by thousands trod ;
The Church, which was to bear to men
Freedom of soul, enjoyed not then
Freedom to worship God.
Yet never, in her palmiest days,
Or fairest shrines which love could raise,
Or most melodious choirs,
Hose truer service to the ear
Of Him, who stoops with joy to hear
The prayer which faith inspires.
The beauty of that little room,
The rainbow lights across its gloom,
Were love, and trust, and prayer ;
The glory of that simple spot,
Where gold and frankincense were not,
Was, that their Lord was there.
His presence all their fears subdued,
His words of peace their faith renewed,
No more their souls complain ;
He showed to them His hands and feet,
He shared with them their earthly meat,
And was their own again.
TUESDAY IN EASTER WEEK.
0 Saviour ! in a world like this
What purer j oy ! what deeper bliss !
Can faith for mortals win ?
Their joy — Thy presence to adore !
Their bliss — an ever open door !
With grace to enter in.
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|irst JSamtoig ato faster.
And after eight days again His disciples were within, and
Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors
being shut, and stood in the midst, and
said, Peace he unto you.
John xx. 26.
FEW and fleeting days remain,
Christ returns to Heaven again,
Bearing far above the sky
Glorified humanity ;
That which here for us He bore,
Mortals soon shall see no more,
Till the day when to the skies
He descends, and we arise.
Sweet, to mark the tender care
All His best belov'd ones share,
To their lowest wants He bends,
To their weaknesses attends,
Was there one who fail'd or falter'd 1
He shall find His love unalter'd,
And some gentle deed or word
Have from his forgiving Lord !
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 83
Still by leaguering foes beset,
Where the first Lord's Day they met,
There the little Church is found,
When the next Lord's Day comes round :
Weeping, watching, waiting, praying,
Wond'ring where their Lord is staying,
Why the constant Friend of old
Now so seldom they behold !
In the midst of hearts and hands
Lifted up in prayer, He stands :
Peace to every soul He brought,
But one doubter chiefly sought,
With His wounded hands and side,
Proof abundant to provide,
And exchange his faithless grief
For the blessings of belief.
Well He knew the human heart
Loth with unbelief to part ;
'Twas to help it in its need,
Not to ' break the bruised reed,'
Tenderly each fault reprove,
Then lead back to joy and love,
'Twas for this He died for men,
And now seeks His Church again.
Thus His clay of sacred rest
Lately changed he own'd and blest,
Thus He taught, where best to find
Comfort for a doubting mind,
G 2
84 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
In that holy gathering, where
Waits His Church in earnest prayer,
And His promise is, to meet
All who seek His mercy seat.
Thus He teaches you and me
Where alone the blame will be,
If — against such tender pleading,
Watchful care, and gentle leading —
If — despite such lovingkindness —
We, in wilfulness and blindness,
Still His Holy Spirit grieve
By refusing to believe.
j&Mm)r Swtim after faster.
After these things Jesus shewed himself again to his
disciples at the sea of Tiherias. — John xxi. 1.
SAY, who are these once more afloat
AdcI toiling in their fishing boat,
Who, bending to the lab'ring oar,
Pull outward from Tiberias' shore,
And spread their nets upon the main,
And watch all night, but watch in vain 1
And who is He upon the beach,
Where bends the shore with silent reach,
Watching, at morning's early dawn,
That net so vainly cast and drawn,
Bidding them, tho' it still seem vain,
Cast out, and wait, and hope again 1
They are the children of the Lord,
Who once so freely at His word
Left ship and calling, His to be,
And now, on their accustomed sea,
Such healthy occupation find
As best relieves a troubled mind.
And He who loves them comes to teach
One lesson more, on that lone beach ;
86 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTERv
How, from rough hand, and hopeful heart,
They never more in life must part,
But baffled oft, must strive again,
When fishing for the souls of men.
In that long night of cheerless toil,
In that one morn's unlook'd-for spoil,
Their trials and their triumphs, all,
Shadow and gleam before them fall,
They see what they must do and bear,
They see how God will answer prayer.
Love reads at once the lesson taught
By the great draught of fishes caught,
Zeal taught by Love to Christ doth flee,
Plung'd fearless in the foaming sea,
Others may drag the net to shore,
His one sole thought is — to adore !
0 Saviour ! when on life's dark main
The Gospel net seems cast in vain,
When — through the long and cheerless night
No souls the fisher's toils requite —
Give them the grace content to be
With this one thought — they toil for Thee.
Some glorious morn the dawn will break
Upon them brightly, for Thy sake,
And patient love the past forget
In blessings of a teeming net,
Let down, obedient to Thy word,
Ingathering thousands to the Lord.
87
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Lord, Thou knowest that I love thee. — John xxi. 15.
LORD thou knowest that I love Thee !'
1 Whom have I in Heaven but Thee V
None on earth I prize above Thee,
O be gracious unto me.
For my heart is sad and broken,
Sins of old my sorrows move ;
And I want some kindly token
Of Thine all-forgiving love.
Sorely have I spent and squander'd
Precious gifts by Thee bestow'd,
Heart, and footsteps, both have wander'd
Far too often from my God ;
Heedless of Thy silent finger
Pointing upward, I have stray 'd —
Where earth-lights delusive linger —
From the path Thy footsteps made.
Draw me, draw me gently nigh Thee,
Let me see again Thy face,
Yes ! tho' I did once deny Thee,
And tho' still my heart can trace
88 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
In those eyes that soft dejection,
Slighted love and grief impart,
That sad look, whose hurt affection
Almost broke my coward heart.
Yet forgive, and draw me near Thee,
Tho' it be to probe, and prove ;
Tho' it be alas ! to hear Thee
Doubt and question of my love :
Can / wonder, whose denial
Thrice disowned Thee in Thy need ;
If Thy Love, with gentle trial,
Three times make my heart to bleed.
O my Saviour ! from the sorrow
Which I feel at doubt of Thine,
Teach me some faint thought to borrow,
Of Thy grief at doubts of mine ;
Show me what it is to grieve Thee,
Or to cloud that loving face ;
Take me back — I'll never leave Thee
With the help of Thy good grace.
0 the bliss of that parental
Watch, which Thou didst o'er me keep ;
0 the comfort of that gentle
Restoration — * feed my sheep.'
Three times lost, Thou thrice hast found me,
Three times fallen, thrice restored ;
0 how threefold Thou hast bound me
Unto Thee, my loving Lord.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 89
Henceforth, all my life's devotion
I shall deem too poor to prove,
With what trembling fond emotion
I repent, and trust, and love :
Thankful even if my falling,
May to others warning be,
And my gentle kind recalling,
Draw some wand'rer back to Thee.
po
$mxt\ Sttt&as afer faster.
[Follow me.— John xxi. 19.
LORD, to Thy will my anxious soul
Submits and loves the sweet control :
Fever' d and tost with its own fears,
The shelter of Thine arm endears
The weakness, that from self must flee,
And find its strength, in following Thee.
I ask for nought but this dear grace —
To hear Thy voice, and see Thy face ;
Dark tho' my path in life may prove,
Thy smile of peace, Thy voice of love,
If they my lamp and guide will be,
Are all I need, in following Thee.
My safety and my peace, I know,
From faith and not from sense must flow
Yain hopes and fears disturb the rest
Of the self-led self-trusting breast ;
But now one thought engrosses me,
Simply, how best to follow Thee.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, 91
As those who tremble, in the day
Revisiting their midnight way,
Passed without danger or alarm
When trusting to some friendly arm ;
How would I shudder, could I see
What I escape when following Thee.
Sometimes, I know, I do complain,
Imagine ills, and fret at pain,
Wish that the journey home were o'er,
That I might toil, and grieve no more,
And with Thee in Thy rest might be,
Instead of ever following Thee.
But instantly rebuk'd I stand,
My f times ' are ever ' in Thy hand,5
And tho' I cannot follow now,
Yet if thro' grace I keep my vow,
Thou wilt remember Thine to me,
And ' afterwards ' I'll follow Thee.
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Wait for the promise of the Father. — Acts i. 4.
ONE lesson more the Church must learn,
Ere her great Head to Heav'n return,
To claim His regal state :
The hardest for the human heart
To take in good and friendly part,
That lesson is — to wait.
The little mind of little man,
Frets so within its little span,
Unless it sees and knows ;
Restless in its activity,
It cannot in God's order see
The progress of repose.
From carelessness to over care,
Security to dark despair,
It ever wavers; till
It loses that bright golden mean,
Which lies so blessedly between ;
Whose ' strength is to sit still.'
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 93
This lesson Christ His Church would teach,
Ere He had pass'd beyond the reach
At least of eye or ear ;
He knew how every warning word,
The last on earth they ever heard,
Would be to memory dear.
On the lone mount, beyond the ken
And bustle of the ways of men,
His little band is met ;
Never, thro' far off lonely years,
Thro' toils, and martyrdoms, and tears,
Will they that hour forget.
He knew their hearts, their love He knew,
Their ardent zeal to dare, and do,
It was not these He sought ;
But what he wanted was the calm
And child-like waitings, which embalm
All that to God is brought.
No worldly dream of human power
Must come to cloud that glorious hour,
Or mar the path they trod ;
No vaunting trust in human might
Must tempt them to essay the fight,
Till strength come down from God.
They must be nothing, and lie still,
Waiting the Father's promise, till —
Baptised with heavenly flame —
94 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
They from Jerusalem go forth,
And east and west, and south, and north,
Their glorious Lord proclaim.
Thus in their weakness strength shall be,
And power in their humility,
And glory in their grace ;
Thus, with clean hands, hearts pure and true,
They shall their ' Father's business ' do,
And then behold His face.
So must we ever strive to prove,
In self-denying lowly love,
What we for Christ may be ;
It is not what strong hands can win,
But what meek hearts escape of sin,
That He delights to see.
His Church hath times when she must rise,
And battle with her enemies,
And hold her place and state,
But she hath also seasons when
Stillness becomes her best, — and then
Her glory is — to wait.
*
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^SMStJOM gag.
Thou art gone up on high. Thou hast led captivity captive,
and received gilts for men ; yea, even for Thine
enemies, that the Lord God might dwell
among them. — Psalm lxviii. 18.
RISE my soul ! to Heaven ascend,
Follow Christ, thy Lord and Friend,
He is gone into the skies,
Follow Him with straining eyes,
Tho' He seem from thee to part,
Follow Him with faithful heart,
Sense may fail, and sight grow dim,
But still faith can follow Him.
He hath fought and He hath won,
He His glorious work hath done,
He is now gone up on high,
Captive leads captivity ;
Taking to the mercy seat
Wounded hands, and weary feet,
Bleeding brow, and bleeding side,
Thus returns the Crucified !
Heav'n, tho' earth had made Him mourn,
Stoops to welcome His return ;
g6 ASCENSION DAY.
God's own chariots are at hand,
Twenty thousand near Him stand,
Thousand thousand angels wait
Lowly on His royal state,
Backward angel hands have roll'd
For His entrance gates of gold.
Yet those glorious guards of light
Blush to see that shameful sight,
Horrified at human sin,
Blush to let the Conqueror in ;
Him, th' Eternal One, the Holy,
Him, the Saviour meek and lowly,
Stain'd with travail, tears, and toil,
Wounds ! His only seeming spoil !
But therein His glory lies,
Mystery of mysteries !
That despoiled humanity,
Angels wond'ring weep to see,
Is the great Redeemer's crown,
Which triumphant He lays down,
And, before His Father's throne,
Claims all nations as His own.
He — whose faintest sigh, or thought
Legions had around Him brought,
When on earth His petty foes
In their wretched wrath arose —
ASCENSION DAY. 97
Comes not now for vengeance pleading,
But for mercy interceding,
And, by His own grief and loss,
Pleads His prayer upon the cross.
Gifts, the best that Heav'n can pour
Out of its exhaustless store,
Spring-tide days, and summer hours,
Kindly dews, and gracious showers,
Never more for souls to cease,
Till the blessedness of peace,
Re-uniting sinful men,
Bring them back to God again ; —
These He asks for, these obtains,
These His glories ! these His gains !
'Twas for these His wounded feet
Hasten'd to the mercy-seat,
'Tis for these that there He stands
Holding out His pierced hands,
Earth to save, and Heav'n to move,
And for hatred gives back love.
' Headstone ' of the wondrous plan !
Perfect God ! and perfect man !
In th' ascended Saviour met,
On the throne of judgment set,
Mighty in His power to bless,
Almighty in His tenderness,
All that man can want in need,
With him to feel — with God to plead.
H
98
^ttttiag after Qtaxam gag.
Because I ha-e said these things unLo you, sorrcw hath
filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth ;
it is expedient for you that I go away : for if
I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you ; "but if I depart I
will send Him unto you. —
John xvi. 6, 7.
SAVIOUR ! Thou hast done much, but we want
more,
We cannot reach Thee, where Thou now art gone;
Coldly we plead, and heartlessly adore,
Thou art too far above us Holiest One !
0 send us down some earnest that Thy love,
So tried, so proved, thro' absence does not cease ;
We watch we wait for the returning Dove,
To bring us back the olive-branch of peace.
The waters seem aswaged, — but Thy word
Has bid us for Thine own permission stay,
We dare not venture forth, till Thou O Lord
Send down Thy Dove to lead us on our way.
SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION DAY. 99
Once we could touch Thee, hear Thee, read Thy face,
And the deep meaning of its tender care,
Thou wert beside us then in every place,
Thou art above us now — 0 Saviour ! — where 1
^Ye want Thee as of old, or nearer still,
We want Thee hidden here in every heart,
All time, all space, all thoughts, all souls to fill,
And never more from us or ours to part.
And Thou didst promise Thou wouldst come again,
Nor leave us ' comfortless' on earth to mourn,
And Thou didst go to get good gifts for men, —
Best gift of Heaven ! O Saviour Christ ! return !
Come — be Thyself ' the Comforter we need,
All that w^e feel we want is — Thee alone ;
O pardon ! if we know not what we plead,
Give us whatever makes Thee most our own.
It cannot grieve the Spirit, if our love
Still long Thy once familiar face to see ;
Come on the quivering pinions of the Dove,
As once that Dove came lighting down on Thee.
r
H 2
ICO
Mjjit-jsanbag.
And suddenly there came a sound ircm Heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them ; and they were all rilled
with the Holy Ghost, and "began
to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit ga^e them
utterance. — Acts
ii. 2,3,4.
WHAT gleam of later times hath e'er resembled
The glory of that Pentecostal day,
When, ' in one place, with one accord' assembled,
Christ's infant Church, knelt down, to watch and
pray?
One in the faith and earnest expectation
Of the great promise of all-guiding grace,
One in the bright and blessed revelation
Of God's full love, and reconciled face.
Sudden there came a sound from out of Heaven,
' As of a rushing mighty wind,' which filled
The house ; — and to its inmates God had given
The grace to do whatever He had willed.
WHIT-SUNDAY. TOI
They knelt — how few ! how weak ! yet O how
glorious
In that surpassing unity of faith !
They rose — endowed with power to be victorious
Over all might of sin, and hell, and death.
And ' tongues like as of fire' play'cl lambent o'er them,
With sacramental promise sealing each,
The presence of their Saviour to restore them,
Kindle with love, and touch with fire their speech.
One tongue alone their mission-work had bounded
To that one soil they had from childhood trod,
But now all nations, in amaze confounded,
Hear them tell forth the wondrous works of God.
From every shore, and clime, and tongue, and nation,
Diverse in speech, tho' in pursuit the same,
' Devout men,' met in that great congregation,
Hear His young Church her Saviour's love pro-
claim,—
And with her first-fruit offerings adore Him,
Faint earnest of the triumphs of His Word,
While angels joy to see her lay before Him
c Three thousands souls,' all c added to the Lord.'
Where is the glory, once so glad and golden,
That bless'd the Church of God in early days,
Hath He in wrath Himself from her withholden,
Stay'd all her triumphs, hush'd her hymns of
praise ?
102 WHIT-SUNDAY.
Where is the promise of that wide dominion
To be subdued beneath the conquering Cross ?
Where the bright leading of that dove-like pinion,
Which, ever followed, never led to loss 1
We have not for we ask not, and our sorrow
Will not suffice to bring us back to peace,
Nor ever shall we know a brighter morrow,
Till faith toward God, and love to man increase.
Send down O Lord, send down Thy Holy Spirit,
To fill our hearts, and lead our steps above,
That we may toil for that which we inherit,
The kingdom of Thy glory and Thy love.
Give us the splendour of those golden ages,
Such unity of heart and faith, that we
May quench with love the battle-fire that rages
In this rude world, 'gainst truth, and peace, and
Thee.
r
I03
Storing in Wtftom-totA.
But covet earnestly the best gifts ; and yet show I unto
you a more excellent way. — 1 Cor. xii.31.
HOW glorious in the sacred page
The triumphs of that golden age,
When, in her morning hour,
The Church went forth with might divine,
And giant-like, refresh'd with wine,
Put forth her primal power.
Fresh from her baptism of fire,
Elate with hope and fond desire
She rose, as set her Sun :
Looked to the crown, upreared the Cross,
And never dreamed of let or loss,
But felt the world was won.
Hers was to do, and hers to dare,
Upon her Lord she roll'd the care
He gladly made His own ;
What lay before her here below
Of trials, martyrdom, or woe,
To her was all unknown.
104 MONDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK.
She only sought to lift on high,
And keep, in unstain'd purity,
The banner which she bore ;
Christ's love exalt, Christ's praise proclaim,
And teach how by no other name
She could the lost restore.
And thus she conquer'd, far and wide
She glorified the Crucified,
And by His holy word
Dagons upon their thresholds lay,
And souls, by thousands, day by day,
Were added to the Lord.
Deem we, in less successful hours,
The secret of these wondrous powers
Lay simply in the might
Which miracles and tongues could give 1
Can these make souls of dead men live,
Restore blind hearts their sight 1
They were her glory, and her grace,
They proved her rights, maintain'd her place,
Avouch'd her from above ;
But she had better gifts by far,
Which were to these as sun to star —
The gifts of faith and love.
With these God's Church as then is blest,
O covet them, they are the best
That e'er adorn'd her prime ;
MONDAY IX WHITSUN-WEEK.
And they, who use them well below,
A way more excellent shall know,
In His own blessed time.
Had we but faith with Heav'n to plead,
Faith, as a grain of mustard-seed,
Simply to trust, and try ;
Pow'r — yea to cast into the sea
A mountain — if such need may be,- —
Our Lord would not deny.
\o6
tafoag in fflpfut-totdL
As the dew oi'Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon
the mountains of Zion ; for there the Lord
commanded the "blessing, even
life for evermore. —
Ps. cxxxiii. 3.
ALL around the gracious seasons
Breathe of Heav'n, of grace remind,
Whispering unto faith such reasons,
As in Nature's Book they find.
Gloomy winter comes, and teaches
Unto all its tale of death,
Spring the Resurrection preaches,
With its life-reviving breath.
Summer-blooms with glorious promise
Tell of manhood's opening day,
Autumn comes, to gather from us
Golden harvests on life's way.
Gentle dews at evening falling
Tree, and leaf, and fiow'r renew,
Grateful memory recalling
Of the Spirit's kindly dew.
TUESDAY IN WHITS UN-WEEK. 107
God is all about us, guiding
Day by day His perfect plan,
And insensibly providing
For the thousand wants of man.
Stay the dews, or check the showers,
Let the sunshine cease to fall,
Wither hopes, and hearts, and flowers,
Buds and blossoms, wither all.
God is over, God is under,
God is all around our way,
Deeds of mercy, deeds of wonder,
Wait upon us day by day.
Not alone His angels tend us,
With their kind and holy care,
Nature's influences befriend us,
Cherish faith, and answer prayer.
Messengers from Heaven, they teach us
All their wise and blessed parts,
If we only let them reach us
Thro' the doors of open hearts.
Thus not only in the shadow
Of His house, where we have knelt,
But in wood and sunny meadow,
Hill or dale, He's found and felt.
108 TUESDAY IN WHITS UN-WEEK.
Wheresoe'er our footsteps wander,
Grace and Nature teach His love,
Guide us here, and lift us yonder,
Where He dwells in light above. -
Holy Spirit ! Morn and even,
Still and soft as gentle clew,
Drop into our souls from Heaven,
And their languid life renew.
Till each heart with Thee o'erflowing
Bends, like flowers surcharged with rain,
To arise, more glad and glowing,
In the light of Heav'n again.
*
109
%thxtv Santo.
Hc^v can these things he?— John iii. 9.
ALMIGHTY Father ! Blessed Son !
Holy Spirit ! Three in One !
Thy Name be praised ! Thy will be done !
Threefold is Thy glorious might,
Threefold is Thy name of light,
Yeil'd before our mortal sight.
Threefold let our praises be,
Great mysterious One, to Thee,
Undivided Trinity I
Mighty Father ! from the springs
Of Thy life, all living things
Thy eternal purpose brings.
Blessed Saviour ! wond'rous Word,
Thou didst die, Thy Death restored
Life, else forfeit to the Lord.
Holy Spirit ! Thou hast moved
O'er Thy people's hearts, and proved
The calm, the bliss, of being loved.
110 TRINITY SUNDAY.
Father Everlasting ! we
Are so drawn in love by Thee,
Lest we should presuming be, —
Saviour ! Thou hast come so near,
So familiar art, and dear,
Lest we should forget to fear, —
Holy Spirit ! sacred Dove !
Life so hangs upon Thy love,
Lest we should unmindful prove, —
Into mystery deeper higher
Thou dost awfully retire,
Lowlier reverence to inspire ;
And what seemed so near our eyes
Thou dost lift into the skies,
Farther than our sense can rise :
That, within the golden door
Sense and sight must wait before,
Faith may enter, and adore.
Mystery ! 'tis all around !
Mystery ! but ' Holy ground,'
Where Thy mercy may be found.
Heason, j)roud, may turn to Thee,
Ask to understand and see,
Whisper, ' How can these things be V
Awful and mysterious God !
Have we then so near Thee trod !
With shoes of worldly wisdom shod 1
TRINITY SUNDAY, III
Winds around us soft are blowing,
All can feel, but who are knowing,
Whence thev come, and whither groins 1
How the planets, one by one,
Silver moon, and golden sun,
Their perpetual courses run ■
How the buds and blossoms swell,
How the flowers, with joyful bell,
Chime out fragrance, — who can tell 1
Every hour on earth we find
Things, familiar as the wind,
Yet beyond the human mind :
Something we, from day to day,
Trust and use, yet cannot say,
We can read its secret way :
Holy lessons God doth teach,
Which the inmost soul do reach,
By more subtle paths than speech.
All such deep heart-teachings must
Humble to the very dust
Human pride, and vain self-trust :
Till our ignorance doth prove,
Handmaid help to Faith, and Love,
While they lift the soul above :
And admonish us that more
Than our reason must adore,
When we bow our God before.
112 TRINITY SUNDAY.
0 my God ! mine all Thou art !
Take my whole in every part,
Nor my head, without my heart :
Threefold is Thy Love to me,
Threefold let my graces be,
Faith, and Hope, and Charity !
Thus shall best < Thy will be done,'
Almighty Father ! Blessed Son !
Holy Spirit ! Three in One !
^
"3
$int ^wukir nfkx f rii%
G-od is love. — 1 John iv. 8.
a OB is love,' the Heavens tell it
Thro' their glorious orbs of light,
In that glad and golden language
Speaking to us, day and night,
Their great story,
' God is Love,' and God is Might.
And the teeming earth rejoices
In that message from above,
With ten thousand thousand voices
Telling back, from hill, and grove,
Her glad story,
God is Might, and ' God is Love.'
With these anthems of Creation
Mingling in harmonious strife,
Christian songs, of Christ's salvation
To the world with blessings rife,
Tell their story,
' God is Love,' and God is Life.
114 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Thro' that precious ' Love ' He sought us
Wand' ring from His holy ways,
With that precious ' life ' He bought us,
Then let all our future days,
Tell this story,
Love our life — our life be praise.
Gladsome is the theme, and glorious,
Praise to Christ our gracious Head,
Christ, the risen Christ, victorious,
Death and Hell hath captive led !
Welcome story !
Love is Life — and Death is dead.
Up to Him, let each affection
Daily rise, and round Him move,
Our whole lives, one Resurrection
To the life of Life above,
Their glad story,
God is Life — and ' God is Love.'
r
II-
j&Mmfc Suntog after %xmtt%.
;ome, for all things are now ready! And they all
one consent began to make excuse. — Luke xiv. 17, IS.
AND art Thou ready, Saviour dear !
And is Thy Table spread for me,
But the poor soul that should draw near
Still all unreadiness for Thee ?
Hast Thou come down, with tender care
Thy weary people's hearts to bless,
And host, and feast — dost Thou prepare
A Table in the wilderness ?
And still, can dying souls refuse
To take the bliss while yet they may,
With some poor plea their sin excuse,
And cold and heartless turn away 1
What is it keeps me from Thy side 1
Not the world's toil, or grief, or strife !
No constant struggle to provide
Against the needs and storms of life !
1 2
Il6 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Sunshine and calm are overhead,
Plenty and peace are all around,
Abundance, more than ' daily bread,'
Doth thro' Thy Providence abound/
And shall the joy, by Thee bestow'd,
Engross the hearts by right Thine own,
Exalt itself into a God,
And occupy the Saviour's throne ?
This pleasant Home in which we live,
These lawns, and glades, and bow'ry trees,
Whose garden-bloom and fragrance give
Joy to the sunbeam, and the breeze;
Those herds that in soft evening hours
Come lowing thro' the dewy grass,
Or in the lane, fresh filled with flowers,
Breathe on us perfume, as they pass.
Those fields, with ripening verdure clad,
Prophetic of their golden store ;
These hearts, with very pleasure glad
Of mere existence, if no more.
But above all, that look of love
Which makes man's home supremely dear,
Which should uplift his heart above,
But ah ! too often holds it here ;
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. ri'
From eyes of husband, wife, or child,
Like sunbeams falling, — 0 shall this, —
Which o'er life's bleakness sheds the mild
Calm sunshine of domestic bliss, —
— Darken the souls, whose only light,
Perfect and changeless, is in Thee ;
And qualify its own delight,
By dimming what should cloudless be ?
Teach me my God ! the c better part,'
When I some vain excuse would plead ;
What stills not my own anxious heart,
How could it e'er with Thee succeed %
O if the joys bestowed on earth
Shine only to distract from Heav'n,
Not only are they little worth,
But better they had ne'er been given.
t
nS
f |Mj ^mtiraji afto ttiijr.
There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth. — Luke xv. 10.
HOW the spirit oft is moved
By the sounds of joy on earth,
Ringing laugh from voice beloved !
Manly cheer, or childish mirth !
Songs of birds in leafy trees,
Hum of insects everywhere,
Joybells coming up the breeze,
Playing with the evening air.
All, like notes of one full chord,
* Bearing each its proper part,
Soft and sweet, as loving word,
Pass into the human heart.
If the joy of earth below
Be so fair to hear and see ;
Who of mortal men can know
What the joy of Heaven must be ?
THIED SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. II9
' Joy in Heaven,' where joy alone
In perfection may be found,
Spreading from the glorious throne
Widening circles all around ;
Till thro'out remotest space
Each successive circle steals,
With its bright and holy grace,
Into everything that feels.
Sure it is no vain conceit,
But a faith to feeling dear,
That whate'er of soft or sweet
Ever waits around us here,
Is some faint pulsation felt
From the joy of Heav'n above,
That can die not, till it melt
Human hearts to joy and love.
Slimmer breeze ! 'tis Heav'n's pure air
Stirr'd above bv Angel's wing,
Pleasant sound ! 'tis music there,
Echoed from where Angels sing :
* Indescribable delight P
That doth oft the heart beguile,
Comes from waving rings of light
Moved by God's approving smile.
120 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Pleasant thought ! but still more blest
That which we for surety know,
That into the realms of rest
Joy may e'en from mortals flow. -
Not our pride, nor our success,
Angels' sympathy may win,
But the tear of heart-distress,
Shed in penitence for sin.
Not, like drops of morning dew,
Jewel-like to distant eyes,
And whose light, on nearer view,
Slowly fades away and dies ;
But, like diamonds in the mine
Of Bedemption, seen afar,
And to hearts and eyes divine
Brighter than the evening star.
Such the tears repentance sheds,
When the soul to God is given ;
Dew-drops here on drooping heads,
Jewels there, and ' Joy in Heaven.'
r
121
jfjorartjf Sttntotj after f riratjj.
Cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt
thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy
"brother s eye. — Luke vi. 42.
WOULD I lead another right 1
Lord I first must walk with Thee,
Would I help another's sight 1
Mine from blemish must be free.
Would I wander all around
Seeking those who Godless roam ?
I must first myself be found —
6 Charity begins at home !'
Would I others' vineyards keep,
Warn of dangers while they slept ?
I must rouse myself from sleep,
My own vineyard must be kept.
They who struggle to be free,
From the faith they own but fear —
Oft believe the truths they see
While rejecting those they hear.
122 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Self-accusing look or word
Better pleads than lofty speech,
In the heart's deep silence heard
Argument could never reach.
He — who his own will subdues
To whatever God requires,
Who can cheerfully refuse
All his own untoward desires, —
He — who can unruffled bear
Bitter speech, and taunt unkind,
Bow to grief, or bend to care,
Gently with submissive mind, —
He — who, thro' the snares of earth
That around his pathway lie,
Mindful of his higher birth,
Presses on with heav'nward eye, —
Preaches sermons to the heart,
Which the head would little heed,
If, tho' with consummate art,
Eloquence alone should plead.
Would I therefore guide another 1
I must walk myself aright,
Would I save an erring brother
From the mote that dims his sight 1
I must honest be, and careful
Not about his eye alone,
But, with spirit prompt and prayerful,
Pluck the beam out of mine own.
i=3
fiftlj &rattotg after f riratg.
And who is he that will harm you, if ye he followers of that
which is good ?— 1 Pet. iii. 13.
WITH what bright and holy charm
Christian life is here endued,
Nought on earth can vex, or harm
Followers of the thing that's good. ,
•
For, tho' from the lot of all
No exemption they can claim,
But "Disease and Death must fall
Upon good and bad the same : —
Still there is a joy, that glows
Thro' the Christian's inmost soul,
Which the worldling little knows,
And the world can less control : —
Which, above the cares of life,
Lifts him into calm and peace,
Keeps him tranquil in the strife
Which, he knows, must shortly cease :
124 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Shows a meaning, and an end,
In the training of his heart ;
Draws him nearer to a Friend,
From whom nought but sin can part.
Even they, who think they harm
With their poor and spiteful hate,
Only work a deeper charm
In the earnest Christian's fate ;
Workers in Love's wondrous plan,
Though unconscious and accurst,
They a holier happier man
Leave him, when they've done their worst.
Turning his sad eyes within, #
Showing him God's meaning there,
Some unknown unconquer'd sin,
Which affliction has laid bare.
Thus all things are for the best,
He by hindrances doth rise ;
Hides his secret in his breast,
Passes upward to the skies.
Mystic secret! far more worth
Than the sage's charm of old,
Turning all the dross of earth,
Into Sanctuary gold.
12.-
$te\ BmUu after inratjr.
Therefore if thou "bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy "brother hath aught against
thee ; Leave there thy gift "before the altar,
and go thy way : first "be reconciled to
thy brother, and then come and
offer thy gilt.— llatt. v. 23, 24.
HOW solemn ! Lord ! the days that find
Thy children at Thine altar kneeling,
How life's whole dream comes o'er the mind
In that one hour of faith and feeling.
Long byegone years of guilt and grace
Come crowding painfully before us,
When the deep shadow of Thy face
So calm, so awful, settles o'er us.
Things long forgotten then come back,
As tho' but yesterday we did them ;
They will not leave the well-worn track
Of Memory, for all we bid them.
We thought them buried, or when done
They little moved us, then light-hearted,
But now they rise up one by one
Like ghosts of enemies departed.
126 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
We see them in their real light,
Stript of the veil once thrown around them,
All bare and naked in Thy sight
Our startled consciences have found them.
Some angry word, some thought unclean,
Some act, some feeling of unkindness,
Something the world had never seen,
And we pass'd o'er in passion's blindness :
They come their sure revenge to take,
And spoil that hour of holy gladness
We little cared for, when we brake
Thy laws in such unmeaning madness.
Yet better far they now should come,
And lead us back to such repentance,
As may, thro' Christ, avert the doom
Of Thy dread Heav'n-excluding sentence.
Better they vex with present grief,
Than ambush'd lie against the morrow,
And come when there is no relief
To shelter us from endless sorrow.
One moment now, with God well spent,
Of real earnest soul-returning,
Were worth a life- time of well-meant
But aimless, fruitless, Godless yearning.
God slights the richest offering
With which unhallow'd hearts adore Him,
Nor owns the fairest gift we bring,
If laid with unclean hands before Him.
127
kkwili Suntotg ato Iriraig,
Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord nry-
G-od of that which doth cost me nothing. —
2 Sam. xxi~, 24.
LORD ! in all I offer Thee
Let this rule my guidance be,
It must cost me loss or pain,
Else Thou wilt not deem it gain.
JTis not meet that first my wealth,
Time and talents, heart and health,
Should be all on self bestow'd,
Thence to overflow to God.
Not the refuse of my field,
Nor the worst my flock may yield,
Are the offerings I should bring
To the great and glorious King :
Rather be my gifts supplied
Out of luxuries denied :
Out of pleasures I might take,
But refuse for Jesus' sake.
128 SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The intrinsic worth of gold
Lies not in what men behold,
Its more valuable part
Is its trial of the heart.
O how often it has proved,
Whether God or self be loved,
And, when doubtful hung the scale,
Turned the beam, and told the tale.
Tho' the rich may, lavish, pour
Wealth from their abounding store,
Time there was, when in God's sight
Dearer proved the widow's mite.
God alone the value knows
Of what from abundance flows,
And, tho' He the gift may use,
We the giver's grace may lose.
Earth should from her pattern, Heav'n,
Take the bright example giv'n,
Where, upon God's altar lies
What He deem'd a sacrifice :
Not the lowest that could show
Sympathy with human woe,
But the highest He could give,
Christ to die — that man should live.
Lord ! let such the model be
Of my offerings to Thee,
And, the spring my heart to move,
Thine unutterable love.
129
&ty\t\ Sttttirag after f rimtg.
Heirs of God, and joint heirs -with. Christ: if so be that
we suffer -with Him, that we may he- also glorined
together. — Rom. viii, 17.
WORK in me, Lord, Thy wondrous will,
Only let me be meek and still,
Let me not even think of Thee,
That thus this should, or should not be,
Content, whate'er my lot may prove,
If it be fashion'd by Thy love.
Were I mine own, then I might rest
Pleased with the things that pleased me best,
Were I an angel, I might try
To pass the teasing trouble by,
Or, were I free from sinful stain,
Might deem all trials needless pain.
But being thine — a mortal too,
Sinful in all I think or do,
Let me rejoice, that One so high
Shrinks not from one so vile as I,
But having died to save my soul
Still takes the trouble of control.
*3C
Pittjj Sratircn nikx % rinttj. •
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common
to man: hut God is faithful, who will not suffer you
to he tempted ahove that ye are able ; hut
will, with the temptation, also make a
way to escape, that ye may he able
to bear it.— 1 Cor. x. 13.
/^\ OD of Truth ! tho' Thy hand
VJ Oft doth try me,
God of love ! Thou dost stand
Ever nigh me.
Not a pang Thou dost send
But to prove me,
And draw near to the Friend
Who doth love me.
In Thine arm's sweet constraint
Thou dost hold me,
To Thy heart, when I faint,
Thou dost fold me.
When I fret at some pain,
Thou dost teach me
How, thro' grief, every gain
Best can reach me.
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. I3I
When my strength, all decay'd,
Cannot bear it,
Thou dost come to mine aid
And dost share it.
Thro' the struggle and strife
Thou dost lead me,
With the bread of Thy life
Thou dost feed me.
And I feel every day
I am dearer,
And I trust I may say
I am nearer.
And I would not exchange
Even sadness,
For all the free range
Of life's gladness ;
With the fear, that in joy,
I might let Thee
My heart less employ,
Or forget Thee.
I ask not for grief,
But still grieve me,
If Thy only relief
Be, to leave me.
K 2
132 NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Better far, round about
Me Thy sorrow,
Than to joy wake without
Thee, to-morrow.
For no hand but Thine own
Safely frees us,
One escape, one alone,
'Tis in Jesus !
r
133
totl] Srattotg after % wratg.
And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept
over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou,
at least in this thy day the things which
belong unto thy peace ! Bub now
they are hid from thine
eyes. — Luke xix.
41,42.
PEACEFUL lay the doomed city
In the evening's golden air,
Little cause for grief or pity
Men could see around it there :
Waving palms, and shouting voices
Lately thro' its streets had swept,
With Hosannas still rejoices
All the air, but — ' Jesus wept.'
Busy thousands, coming, going,
Meeting, passing, one by one,
All intent, but little knowing
What they seek, or what they shun :
Some — alone of pleasure dreaming —
Woke and laugh' d, lay down and slept,
Others planning, sinning, scheming,
Still toil'd on, but — ' Jesus wept.'
134 TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Little reck'd they then of sorrow,
Deep the Temple stones were laid,
Little thought they of a morrow
Soon to see its glory fade.
Yet, tho' light seem'd round them shining,
Slowly up the Temple crept
Shadows of their day declining ;
Jesus saw, and — ( Jesus wept/
For He saw that hour of madness
When they flung their joy away,
Fear, and famine, siege, and sadness,
All at no far distant day :
Then a ' scatter'd peeled nation' —
While the fox and vulture kept
Darkling watch of desolation
O'er those stones, and — ' Jesus wept.'
Often thus — when Pleasure sees us
Flaunting on in dreamy pride —
Near us stands the gentle Jesus,
Weeps and watches by our side :
Tho' the heart to man dissembles,
He can fathom all its deej:>s,
He can see how conscience trembles,
Tho' we smile, and — Jesus weeps.
Weeps for precious souls, pursuing
Such a sad and downward way,
Which must end in their undoing,
Bring what present joy it may
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
While the tide of human passion
On thro' time so darkly sweeps,
And, in old accustom'd fashion,
Man will sin, while — Jesus weeps.
0, if there be joy in Heaven
When one soul — by grace restorecl-
Pleads the promise Love hath given,
And — repentant — seeks the Lord :
From such wilfulness and blindness
Lord do Thou Thy children keep,
As, despite His loving-kindness,
Makes the gentle Jesus weep.
f
136
(b\titm\\ jstotag nikx t&rii%
G-o& "be merciful tc me a sinner. — Luke xviii. 13.
SINFUL, sighing to be blest,
Bound, and longing to be free,
Weary, waiting for my rest,
' God be merciful to me !'
Holiness ! IVe none to plead,
Sinfulness in all I see ;
I can only bring my need,
' God be merciful to me !'
Broken heart, and downcast eyes,
Dare not lift themselves to Thee,
Yet Thou canst interpret sighs,
6 God be merciful to me !'
From this sinful heart of mine
To Thy bosom I would flee,
I am not mine own, but Thine,
' God be merciful to me !'
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 137
There is One beside Thy throne,
And my only hope and plea
Are in Him, and Him alone,
6 God be merciful to me P
He my cause will undertake,
My Interpreter will be,
He's my all — and for His sake
'God be merciful to me!'
r
T38
®inlit\i SunbiW after Irinitjr.
And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him,
Ephphatha ; that is, Be opened. — Mark vii. 34.
WHEN the Summer Morning breaking
Calls to birds and boughs and breeze,
And the breath of their awaking
Whispers through the tops of trees,
(Day's first footsteps, soft and light,
Falling on the ravish'd ear,)
'Tis a perfect pure delight
Simply to sit still, and hear.
When the Summer Evening closing,
In the shade which twilight makes
Heart on heart in love reposing,
Heart with heart communion takes ;
Pouring out, with boundless measure,
Thoughts and feelings each to each ;
O how priceless is the pleasure
Of the blessed power of speech !
Thoughtful souls, while grateful musing,
Cannot fail in such employ
To recall, Whose gifts they're using
In those tranquil hours of joy :
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. T39
We have naught on earth our own,
All thro' tender mercies come ;
'Tis through God's good love alone
We are neither deaf nor dumb.
Yet on mortals so affected
We more pity could not take,
Than the Angels feel, dejected
For our desolation's sake :
They a world of beauty round us
Watch, with wond'ring eye and ear,
Tho' its joy hath never found us,
And its voice we cannot hear.
Light and love in mazes moving,
Pulses, beating from the heart
Of the Father, the All-loving,
Searching life thro' every part :
If we would but let them reach us —
Sweeter are than aught that dies,
If we would but let them teach us —
Might prepare us for the skies.
God is ever near us, guiding
By unseen but certain ways,
In His Providence providing
Fires for nights, and clouds for days :
Yet we feel not we are near Him,
With Him no communion hold,
Sj)eak not to Him, do not hear Him,
Love's so dead, and Faith so cold.
140 TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Blessed Saviour ! put Thy finger
Upon every ear and tongue,
Till, in one Love's music linger,
By the other praise be sung :
With Thine ' Ephphatha ' draw near,
With Thy touch our silence break,
Make the heart that's deaf to hear,
And the tongue that's dumb to speak.
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I4i
f {rtrtMtttjj jiratirag ate iriratj.
"Who is my neighbour ? — Luke x. 29.
' AlTHO is my neighbour V do I ask 1
▼ ▼ The answer is in every task
Of love, that on the common way
Of life lies round us day by day.
Whatever fellow-man can plead
The brotherhood of grief or need,
The Christian's heart admits the call,
He is the neighbour of us all.
He need not prove the tie of race,
Of creed, of parish, or of place,
He is a man, he is in grief,
And we can give, and owe relief.
Let Priest or Levite pass him by
With solemn but averted eye,
No rule or order could approve
Him who would slight one deed of love.
T42 THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Religion pure and undefiled
Seeks widow' d heart, and orphan child,
Least spotted by the world where e'er,
For Jesus' sake, it dries a tear.
Tho' poor in gold and silver, still
If rich in love and kindly will
We do our best, the tend'rest way,
Then we do all that mortals may.
To change our course, give up our ease,
Our pleasure lose that we may please ;
That we may soothe another's woe
To make our poverty o'erflow ; —
Not when we feel, in fervent mood,
1 The luxury of doing good ;'
But when, excitement's impulse gone,
We still for conscience' sake go on ; —
This is the neighbour-love of Heav'n,
The Love which God to man hath giv'n ;
The Love which man to man must give,
If he with God in Heav'n would live.
God's neighbour was the creature He,
Found in the most extremity ;
Man's heart must feel God's wondrous plan,
If man would neighbour be to man.
M3
Jmtcmtjf j&untotg after % riratg.
Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
There are not found that returned to give glory
to God, save this stranger. —
Luke svii. 17, 18.
THERE are ten at the feet of the Saviour
In wearisome sickness they pine,
They are whole — but is this their behaviour
6 Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine V
They came all one sorrow confessing,
They knelt with one prayer at His shrine,
He sent them all back with one blessing,
1 Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine V
They were one in the season of danger,
How many own Mercy divine ?
Only one ! — and that one is a ' stranger !'
' Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine ¥
O Saviour ! how often in sadness
Our steps to Thine altar incline,
But return not in sunshine and gladness,
' Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine ¥
144 FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
We shrink from the pain of displeasure,
Will not study its loving design ;
All we want seems the leisure of pleasure,
6 Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine f
The vows — that in sickness or sorrow
Bound us over tenfold to be Thine —
Will they live thro5 the joy of to-morrow ?
i Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine V
Better far our afflictions remaining,
If grace with the chast'ning combine,
Than to call forth Thy gentle complaining,
e Ten cleansed ! — but where are the nine V
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145
Jiftetntjr Santas nfkx inratg.
Consider the lilies of the field. — Matt. vi. 28.
WHEN care on the heart would lay hold,
And fears as to silver and gold,
Awaken some dread,
About life's i Daily bread,' —
' Behold ' ye ' the fowls of the air :'
' They sow not, nor yet do they reap,'
No stores for the future they keep,
Yet God all their need
With His bounty doth feed, —
Let them teach you to trust in His care.
When the garments, whose presence proclaim
At the best but our sin and our shame,
With their pomp and their pride,
Our souls would misguide,—
Consider the lilies of the field ;'
i They toil not, nor yet do they spin ;'
And still for himself who can win
A garment so fair,
With perfume so rare ?
' Consider the lilies of the field.'
L
I46 FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
When the wisdom that rises from earth
By thy heart hath been found little worth,
And teachings of Love
Thou dost seek from above, —
' Consider the lilies of the field :'
Their beauty and perfume will reach
Farther into thy soul than could speech,
From each bell, and each leaf,
Speaks thy God to thy grief :
' Consider the lilies of the field.'
They are teachers so gentle and lowly
And — by Christ thus ordain'd — are so holy,
We cannot refuse
Their instruction to use,
But to God speaking by them must yield :
They will find out the way to the heart,
They will guide it with heav'nly art,
How mystic the powers
Vouchsafed to God's flowers 1
' Consider the lilies of the field.'
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x47
Stetotl] Santas after f riiutg.
The lo^e of Christ, Tvhich passeth. kno^vle&ge. — Eph. iii, 19.
1 ~T~ OVE of Christ which passeth knowledge/
-" That is what I long for most,
Till I feel that I possess it,
Every hour of time is lost :
I have but its cold resemblance,
All the life of Life is dead,
If within my heart I feel not
That which plays around my head.
I can see and understand it,
And my tongue hath often told
Others of its priceless beauty,
Still my heart seems dead and cold :
I must know it, I must feel it,
More alas ! than now I do,
Else Religion's best convictions
Soon themselves may seem untrue.
Deeper, higher, fuller teachings !
Than the lips of man can give,
Must be mine, or else I have not
More than the mere name to live :
I48 SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Just like one to whom, while sleeping,
Shadows all so real seem ;
But who finds, upon awaking,
It has only been a dream.
What I want — is something real,
More than man to man can tell,
Substance of the fair ideal,
Christ within my heart to dwell !
That abiding, deep experience —
Which no change or chance can move,
Of their blessing — who are settled,
6 Rooted,' c grounded' in His Love : —
Till my heart, in large communion
6 With all saints,' doth ' comprehend'
' Breadth, and length, and depth, and height'
Of a Love, that knows no end :
' Love of Christ which passeth knowledge !'
Let me from that well-spring drink ;
Fill me Father with its ' fulness,'
More than I can ' ask or think.'
l49
StfemtttoQ Sttitbag after Irinitg.
'['he Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
"bath; therefore the Son of man is Lord also of
the Sabbath.— Mark ii. 27 28; and
' the Gospel.'
OHOLY Sabbath day !
Full of the purest bliss !
What treasure on life's way
Find we so fair as this 1
Thou wert to God a rest
Thou art a rest to man ;
And they who know thee best
Hallow thee all they can.
Like little Isles of Heaven
Scatter' d thro' life's rough sea,
All round about storm-driven,
All calm and still on thee.
Like Eclen-spots on earth,
Where curse hath never been,
Which dews of Heavenly birth
Keep ever ' pure and' green.
150 SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Foot-prints — which mark, thro' time,
Where down its wastes have trod —
From old Creation's Prime, —
The footsteps of our God !
Sweet day of holy calm !
With Heavenly sunshine bright !
Whose very air is balm
To those who use thee right.
The body, toil'd and worn
With work- day strife and care,
Doth unto thee return,
And finds refreshment there.
The anxious mind o'er- wrought—
To save the precious store —
Lays down its load of thought
Beside thy golden door !
The heart, whose love would die
Crush'd out by toil for gain,
Finds home beneath thy sky,
And feels and loves again.
Were there no soul in man,
Had he no hope above,
This blessed Sabbath-plan
Would even then be love.
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 151
The wear and tear of life
Thus for awhile would cease,
Thus for awhile its strife
Give way to rest and peace.
And he would longer hold
That which he loves so well,
And with his gods of gold
On earth would longer dwell.
But, for th' eternal soul !
Sweet day ! what gain thou art !
Until we reach the whole,
0 what a precious part !
Until we reach the bliss
Of worlds beyond the skies,
How dost thou colour this
With their immortal dyes !
The world is hush'd — the din
Of work-day life is o'er,
The sights and sounds of sin
Distract the sense no more.
The tide of life is set
To quiet haunts of prayer,
We for awhile forget
The rushing tide of care.
152 SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
We hear the blessed Word,
We bend our knees, and pray,
Our inmost souls are stirred,
We tremble and obey.
Our daily sins we mourn,
Confess, and are forgiven,
In penitence return,
And we are nearer Heaven !
The Bread of Life we break,
Feed on that ' heav'nly food :'
The Cup of Life we take,
Are strength en'd and renew'd.
0 how such days help on
Along the Heavenly road,
Steps upward — one by one —
Into the rest of God.
Sweet Sabbath ! still the same
As in the days of old,
Not lost, because Christ's Name
Is stamp'd upon thy gold.
With jealous care my heart
Watches, lest time deface
The very smallest part
Of thine accustomed grace.
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 153
Freedom ! I love it not !
If this its meaning be,
That Christian days have brought
Freedom to lower thee.
Thy name we need not lose,
Because thou didst array
Thyself in brighter hues,
Becoming ' the Lord's Day.'
Both names are dear and blest,
In each a meaning lies,
From making — God did rest,
In saving — Christ did rise.
As warp and woof enfold,
God weaves in one the two —
The strictness of the Old 1
The freedom of the ISTew !
t
J54
tfigjjfetntjf g\mh\) after f nraijj.
Blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Cor. i. 6.
HIGHER ! higher to aspire !
That is all my soul's desire,
Nearer to the Light and Love
In which saints and angels move,
Nearer to the Glorious Throne,
And to Him who sits thereon,
To perfection nigher, nigher
To my Saviour, higher ! higher !
Higher ! higher ! every thought
More into His presence brought !
Every passion, every feeling,
More His inner Life revealing,
Less of self from hour to hour,
More of faith's transforming power,
Yearnings Heaven-ward that aspire
Unto Jesus, higher ! higher !
Higher ! higher ! till at length
Passing on ' from strength to strength,'
Pressing up from grace to grace,
I behold that long'd-for Face,
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 155
Which is daily o'er me leaning,
With Its deep and tender meaning,
And doth into light retire,
But to lead me higher, higher !
Higher, into Heavenly air,
On the wings of Faith and Prayer,
Let my aspirations rise,
Like the lark, into the skies,
Singing, in her shade of light,
Not unheard, tho' out of sight,
Upon wings, that never tire,
Rising ever higher ! higher !
Higher ! higher, Lord ! the fire
Of my full, and fond desire,
Mingled with Thine altar flame,
Rising in Thy sacred name,
Tho' by earth- winds tost and driven,
Ever let it point to Heaven,
Never never to expire,
Till it lift me, higher ! higher !
Higher, higher on thro' life,
More above its storm and strife,
Every day I'm older growing,
Less of earth's distractions knowing,
With a purer, freer heart,
Ready — at Thy call — to part
Erom its dearest ties, and nigher
Rise to Jesus — higher ! higher !
156
pitftotl] Stmtag after frinttg.
And Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sic"k of the palsy,
Son, "be of good cheer; thy sins he forgiven thee.
Matt. ix. 2.
HOW often those, most dearly loved,
Seem to be all too far removed
Beyond affection's reach ;
We cannot help them in their grief,
We cannot bring them the relief
Of kindly look or speech.
We know they suffer — and we fain
Would bear some portion of their pain,
Or cheer them on their way ;
But either distance lies between,
Or colder cause may intervene,
All proofs of love to stay.
Some are on beds of sickness laid,
And some, in disappointment's shade,
Life's early visions mourn ;
Some have long left the narrow road,
And will not seek * the Way ' to God
By which they may return.
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 157
Is there no pathway that will lead
Our hearts to theirs in time of need,
No secret, by which we —
Tho' wanting outward means to prove
The depth and fervour of our love —
Their comforters may be !
Go read the Gospel, and behold
The palsied sufferer of old
Borne by the faithful four,
Who — thro' the roof — an entrance found
To Jesus, which the throng around
Denied them at the door.
There learn what faith and love can do,
When they to God and man are true,
And how that God approves
The deep devotion which would share
The burden of another's care,
And ever trusts and loves.
( Their faith ' our true and loving Lord
Left upon record in His Word,
All drooping souls to cheer,
And teach us how the trusting heart,
If it will only do its part,
Need never doubt or fear.
Then is there one, whom thy fond soul,
From waywardness cannot control,
In sickness cannot tend 1
158 NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
One who in sorrow or in sin,
Cannot, or will not let thee in,
To be his heart's dear friend 1
Faint not, and fail not, only try,: —
Since there is no extremity
For thy dear Lord too great,
Only be earnest, and in proof —
Denied the door — break up the roof —
And on thy Saviour wait.
He may not in His mercy grant
The very thing you ask or want, —
Still, in this comfort rest —
His Power, His Wisdom, and His Love
In bright and boundless concord move,
He'll do the thins that's best.
*
*59
fttotntiety Stating aftar frinttg.
Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having a ^redding
garment? — Matt. xxii. 12.
FROM Bethlehem to Calvary,
One seamless robe He wove,
Its warp was human suffering,
Its woof, Eternal Love.
And He, who wore it, to His Spouse
Bequeathed it when He died,
' A wedding garment ' to adorn,
The beauty of the Bride.
That she might fair and spotless stand,
Before her Bridegroom's sight,
Bob'd in ' the righteousness of Saints,'
( Fine linen, clean and white.'
The Supper of the Lamb is laid,
And I am summoned there ;
How can I for so great a feast
My ' filthy rags,' prepare ?
l6o TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
How can I meet my Lord and King,
How for His table dress,
Deck'd in so poor and vile a thing,
As my best righteousness ?
The Heavens are in His sight unclean,
His angels are not clear
From charge of folly, how dare I
Before my Lord appear 1
Skins of the primal sacrifice
Our primal parents clad !
( The wedding garment' of the Lamb
Makes His redeemed ones glad !
Fond soul ! the Love, that could provide
So rich a feast for thee,
Can make thee, with Christ's seamless robe,
What guest of Christ should be.
' He that His own Son spared not '
From death, that we might live,
' How shall He not with Him,' to us
' All things' as 'freely give ¥
What is the garment to the feast ?
Or to His kindly call ?
He, for thy most, and for thy least,
Is thy great ' All in All.'
i6i
ftjmirtg-fiwt Smtkir after f riititg.
Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not "believe.
John iv. 48.
THE simple trust, that can confide
All troubles to the Lord,
And ask for nothing else, beside
The warrant of His Word :
That no desire beyond it knows,
No ' sign or wonder ' craves,
This is the trust that peace bestows,
And this the Faith that saves.
The Syrian Lord despised of old
The Prophet's simple way,
Change but the names, the tale is told
Of thousands every day.
Like teaching at the Saviours knee
The Jewish Lord received,
Doubt and distress when he would see,
But joy when he believed.
M
^62 TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Thus, ever on thro' life, we find
To trust O Lord ! is best,
Who ' serve Thee with a quiet mind,'
Find in Thy service rest.
Their outward troubles may not cease,
But this their joy shall be,
' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stay'd on Thee.'
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1 63
tanijr-sctonfr Santas after %xklt%.
Lord, how oft shall my "brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? — Till se~en times. Jesus saith unto him, I
say not unto thee, Until seven times ; hut,
Until seventy times seven, —
Matt, xviii. 21, 22.
LORD ! how oft shall I forgive ?
0 my soul ! dost thou not live
Every day, and every hour,
On thy Father's Love, and Power,
Still vouchsafed thee, tho' with sin
Days will end, as days begin ;
Life, with all in life bestow'd,
Justly forfeit to thy God i
Count the moments as they fly,
Sunbeams floating in the sky ;
Smiles of morning's golden hours,
Bright with breathing bloom of flowers ;
Quivering shadows of the trees,
Playing between sun and breeze •
Blessed things of earth and air,
That surround thee everywhere.
M 2
164 TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Count the pulses of thy heart,
Search thro' memory every part,
All the thousand nameless ways,
In which God, thro' all thy days,.
Hath thy life sustained and blest,
Giving thee the thing that's best,
Tho' alas ! that life has proved
All unworthy to be loved : —
When thou hast the sum of all
Blessings, that uncounted fall
Round thy path, the light and love
Waiting on thee from above,
All by boundless Mercy brought,
Into judgment ent'ring not ;
Thou hast some reply from Heav'n
How offenders are forgiven.
Then my soul ! be this thy law,
For each breath, which thou dost draw
Of God's mercy full and free,
Let thy love outbreathed be ;
And, as with each Heav'n- sent gale
Thou forgiveness dost inhale,
Let thy heart breathe out again,
Pardon to thy fellow-men.
*
165
ftofl^-tprib Anting after friratjr.
For our conversation is in Heaven. — Phil. iii. 20.
WE walk on earth — and to its ways
Much time and thought are given,
Yet, amid all its busiest days,
Our hearts may be in Heav'n.
Nothing so lightens the dull load
Life's urgent claims impose,
As close communion with our God,
It is our best repose.
When vex'd with ills, which we despair
To baffle, or control,
The lifting of the heart in prayer
Sheds sunshine on the soul.
When disappointed in the love
We lean'd on, too secure,
What joy it is to look above,
And feel — one Friend is sure !
l66 TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
When, wearied with life's ebb and flow,
We for ' still waters ' sigh :
0 how it sweetens change below
To know there's rest on high.
Thus we in peace our souls possess,
Tho' all around be fear,
Full of the blessed consciousness
That Heav'n is sure, and near.
Dark clouds may o'er us threatening stand,
We can sing on, and smile,
The sunshine of the sunless land
Lies round us all the while.
We can bear any cross, or grief,
If, with their gloom, be given
This one sweet secret of relief,
To keep our thoughts in Heav'n.
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167
tantg-fottrtjf Selrag after f rinitir.
Be of good comfort ; thy faith hath made thee whole.
Matt. ix. 22.
WHEN, by the busy crowd of life
Too often pressed and thronged,
A nd, in their rude and selfish strife
Both overlooked and wronged ;
How sweet to know, Faith's lightest touch
The watchful Saviour feels,
And healing, in reply to such,
Into the suff'rer steals.
Oft thro' the world we smoothly go
Hiding some secret care,
Our nearest, dearest, may not know,
Which God alone can share.
We mingle with the busy throng,
They pass unheeding by ;
They bear us in their tide along,
We commune with the sky.
l68 TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Saviour, it is Thy people's bliss
To feel Thy care for them,
And, while the crowd Thy mercy miss,
To touch Thy garment's hem.
Friends may mistake, or foes may slight,
. Thyself not seem to see,
One touch of Faith, however light,
Will find its way to Thee.
And Thou wilt give, when sorrow pleads,
1 Good comfort ' to the soul,
The healing it so sorely needs,
The Faith which makes it whole.
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169
©mta-fiftfe guntoig after Inratg. '
Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be
lost. — John vi. 12.
THE God, who made the silver stars,
And hung them with such care •
The little insects made and keeps
That fill the evening air.
The forests lift their heads on high,
Obedient to His call ;
Without His knowledge, and His will,
A sparrow cannot fall.
There's nought on earth so small or mean
To His all- seeing eye,
But hath its purpose, and its use,
Whether it live or die.
The very leaves, that Autumn sheds,
Nourish the hidden root,
In Spring-time to arise again,
In foliage, flowers, and fruit.
170 TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
There is no needless loss or waste
In all His wondrous plan,
One lesson, amid may more,
God ever teaches man.
So, when five thousand once were fed,
At — but one blessing's cost,
Th' Almighty was all-careful too,
That nothing should be lost.
c Twelve baskets full of fragments,' left
The miracle to prove —
Were gather'd up, to teach mankind
The Providence of love.
So thou my soul ! with careful step,
Follow thy leading Lord,
The broken fragments ' gather up,'
Of every deed and word.
From the Great Masters table clropt,
One crumb may comfort be,
Where thousands have been fed before,
Some thing is left for thee.
Use all committed to thy care,
With liberal hand and heart ;
But waste not, thro' improvidence,
The very smallest part.
Thy time, thy talents, health, and wealth
Were all by Heaven bestowed,
To be made useful here for man,
Then reckoned for with God.
I7i
St. Jwtoto's gag.
One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him,
was Andrew, Simon Peter's "brother. He first findeth
his own "brother Simon, and saith unto him,
We have found the Messias, which is,
"being interpreted, the Christ.
And he brought him to
Jesus.— John i. 40,
41, 42.
DOMESTIC CARE.
WHAT day in all the year, than this
More meet to bring domestic bliss
In praise, before the Lord ?
Or, if we have domestic care,
To lay it before God in prayer,
And search His answering Word 1
We think of one, this blessed day,
Who followed Christ without delay,
And — full of holy fear,
First his own brother Simon sought,
And him to Jesus meekly brought,
In brotherhood more dear.
172 st. Andrew's day.
The youthful convert, fain to prove
The blessings of his new-found love,
First seeks his own abode ;
And the dear brother of his heart
Persuades to choose the better part,
And give himself to God.
No triumphs of maturer years,
Won for the Cross in toil and tears,
Will ever seem so fair,
As that one gain — a brother found !
And doubly, as a brother, bound
His new-born bliss to share.
Are there for us some brethren dear,
Near to our hearts, but not so near
To God, as they should be 1
For whom we know no peace, or rest.
Until they choose the thing that's best,
And Christ's salvation see %
Or are there those, whom we have borne
Upon our hearts, till their return
To Him from whom they strayed,
Has been to prayer the best reply,
The Saviour's tenderest sympathy,
In mercy could have made ?
Then let us come, and one and all
Use this glad Christian festival,
For special prayer and praise ;
ST. ANDREWS DAY. 173
Prayer for the lost to be restored,
Praise for the loved ones, whom the Lord
Hath brought back to His ways.
And, as the rolling year brings round
The memory of some lost one found,
Some loved one gone astray ;
Let each domestic grief, or joy,
Our heart's best Faith and Love employ
On each St. Andrew's Day.
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1/4
St. $fyrai t\t Jipsile.
.Because thou hast seen rae, thou hast believed : "blessed are
they that have not seen, and yet have believed. —
John xx. 29.
DOUBTING S.
DOUBTING soul ! lay down thy fears,
For thy Lord is nigh thee ;
Joy for sadness, smiles for tears,
Jesus will supply thee.
Plead not reason's poor pretence,
Trust what God hath told thee ;
Lean not on thine erring sense,
When His arms enfold thee.
Tho' His coming be delayed,
Truth can never alter ;
Where His promise has been made,
Faith should never falter.
Tho' the East be dull, and grey,
Still the dawn is clearing \
Shadows soon shall flee away,
Before Christ's appearing.
ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. IJ5
Thou wouldst with thine eyes behold,
What thy soul desireth \
Thou wouldst to thine ears have told,
What thy sense requireth.
Faith, inured to harder tasks,
In submission kneeleth,
Nor, with doubting Thomas, asks
More than God revealeth.
Many a soul thou canst not see,
To His law attendeth ;
Many a hidden heart and knee
Daily to Him bendeth ;
Unseen thousands ' watch and pray,'
With their lamps all burning ;
Hastening, with their prayers, the day
Of their Lord's returning.
And the eye of Faith perceives
How that day is breaking ;
And its ear, 'mid rustling leaves,
Hears the morning waking.
And the fainting soul is blest,
With the fresh'ning breezes,
Blowing o'er the land of rest,
Whence we look for Jesus.
176 ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE.
Lift then, trembling heart ! thine eyes,
Soon His rays shall reach thee ;
Blushing dawn, and reddening skies,
God's own truth shall teach thee.
Watch above, and wait below,
While thy soul receiveth
That high blessing, he shall know,
Who seeing not believeth.
r
i77
%\t tfmttarsiffn of St {anL
And they glorified God in me.— Gal. i. 24.
CONVERSION.
SEEK we signs by which to place
Ear from doubt, the power of grace ?
To the sinner's soul, to prove
The constraining might of love ?
Show how hearts, the most self-will'd,
May by God be changed and still'd ?
' The conversion of St. Paul,'
Rightly used, will prove it all !
Greater difference cannot be,
Than in Saul and Paul we see ;
He — who Christ and Christ's abhorr'd —
Lowly breathes — ' Who' art thou, Lord V
He — who calmly stood and own'd
Those who holy Stephen stoned —
' Trembling and astonish'd ' too,
Sighs, ' what wilt Thou have me do ¥
Grace his soul with blessings reaches,
He, who persecuted, jDreaches ;
He, who with the bigot's rod
Chasten'd once the Church of God,
N
178 THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.
Takes up now th' insulted Cross,
Counts as naught its shame and loss,
And, before he lays it down,
Shall have won a martyr's crown !
Such God's glorious power of old !
And the story still is told,
Every year that brings again
This high festival to men,
These 'glad tidings' to proclaim,
' Jesus Christ ' is still ' the same/
Still the same, He changes never,
' Yesterday, to-day,' ' for ever.'
That — which humbled to the knee,
The proud-hearted Pharisee —
That — which pardoned all the wrong,
He had done to Christ so long —
That — which, with its soft control,
Sooth'd to love his stubborn soul —
Still remains, it changes never !
1 Yesterday, to-day,' ' for ever !'
Blessed Saviour ! thus may we
Lean on, hope in, trust to Thee ;
Converts to Thy gentle love,
Thus may we obedient prove :
In the power of its might,
'Length, and breadth, and depth, and height/
Realizing, one and all,
' The conversion of St. Paul.'
T79
%\t ^presentation of €\m\ in % fttmjjle,
COMMONLY CALLED THE PURIFICATION OF ST. MARY
THE VIRGIN.
Th3 Lord, whom, ye seek, shall suddenly come to His
temple ; even the messenger of the covenant,
■whom ye delight in. — Mai. iii. 1.
DAILY PRAYER.
THE days of sejDarafcion past,
Commanded by the Word,
The Virgin Mary brings her Child,
To offer to the Lord.
Thanksgivings for His wondrous love,
Her grateful thoughts em])loy,
For blessings spared, and bliss bestow'd,
Life, and a mother's joy !
Thro' childbirth she hath safely past,
Thro' fear of worldly shame,
Her body kept from grief and harm,
Her purity from blame.
N 2
l8o THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST.
And now she comes, her vows to pay,
His law her sacred guide,
Her glorious infant in her arms,
Her husband by her side.
More than a mother's common joy
Her thoughtful heart begun" d,
For to her breast she knew she prest
More than a common child.
The Hope of all the ends of earth
Then on her bosom lay,
Whom saints had sought, while Prophets taught
The coming of His day.
She knew the prize, for which all eyes
So long had strain' d, was won,
And how ' that Holy Thing ' was both
Her Saviour, and her Son.
O wondrous mingling of the love
A mother only knows,
With the deep reverence, which a soul
Upon its God bestows.
Her arms His cradle — while His grace
Sustains her, lest she fall,
He draws from her life's daily food,
She draws from Him her all !
THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST. ISI
No glory of the days of old,
When Great Jehovah bow'd,
» Beneath the Temple gates of gold,
And entered in a cloud —
Was equal to that gentle light
Of reconciling Love,
Which now, thro' all the Holy Place,
Conies beaming from above.
God's rising Sun on Israel's cloud
Its rainbow hues hath thrown,
'A Light, to lighten' Gentile homes,
6 The Glory ' of His own.
But who were they that knew that Light,
And — in that crowding throng —
Saw Jesus — in that little babe —
So meekly borne along i
Who realized the blessed hope,
Which had their hearts beguiled,
And ' Israel's consolation ' saw
In that long-look' d-for child ?
They who, in holy commune, long
With their dear God had kept,
And wakeful watched the break of dawn,
While all around them slept.
l82 THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST.
They who, with aged eyes, had searched
Deep thro' the Sacred Word,
And caught each sign, whose Light divine
Proclaim'*! their coming Lord.
They — who, 'with fastings' and with ' prayers'
Both ' night and day,' did crave
The Lord's salvation to behold,
Before they saw the grave : —
They coming in — as was their wont
In former anxious days —
There find the Saviour sought so long,
And Prayer is changed to Praise.
So keep us ever waiting, Lord,
In ' daily prayer ' for Thee :
For who can say what hour we may
Thy second Advent see.
This Word at least is fix'd, and sure,
That they — who seek to gain
Thy glad salvation for their souls —
Shall never seek in vain.
The long delays of weary days
In Thy good time shall cease,
Some blessed morn Thou wilt return,
And we ' depart in peace.'
i8s
&t Stott&ias's $itg.
And they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which kno^esD the
hearts of all men, shew whether of these two Thcu h
chosen, That he may take part of this ministry, and
apostleship, from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place.
And they gave forth their lots ; and
the lot fell upon Llatthias ; and
he was numbered with
the eleven apostles. —
Acts i. 24, 25, 26.
EMBER DAYS.
THEY do their best, make twofold choice,
Then cast their lot before the Lord *
And kneeling low, with heart and voice,
Plead the fulfilment of His Word.
The sad default of him, who late
Had sinn d so deep, and brought such shame
Upon the high and holy state,
Of those who bore the Sacred Name,
Bids them with trembling hearts refuse
Alone to bear the awful load
Which rests on those, who needs must choose
One who may touch the Ark of God.
184 st. Matthias's day.
But still they do their best, — with care,
From those who knew, and loved their Lord,
Who had walked with Him everywhere
Witness'd His deeds, and learnt His word,
Two they select, whose names they lay
With prayer, and lot before the Throne,
Asking the Lord Himself to say
Which His Apostle He will own.
And taught by lessons such as these
May we, on St. Matthias' Day,
With lifted hearts and bended knees,
For ' true and faithful Pastors' pra y
And, at each solemn Ember-tide,
When those, who rule God's Church, accord
The lot they cast, but cannot guide,
For its disposal to the Lord ; —
Let us their consecrating hands
With fervent Faith sustain on high,
And, o'er the kneeling white-robed bands,
Thus help to guide them wittingly.
To search, to choose, to set apart,
This is their task, and this their care ;
They do their best with earnest heart,
And let us do our best in prayer.
ST. MATTHIAS S DAY.
O if but half the breath, that's spent
To vex the weak, and blame the wrong,
Found thus in Faith and Prayer its vent,
How glad would be the Church's song !
As looks the morning forth, how soon
Her light o'er all the earth would swell ;
c Clear as the Sun, fair as the Moon,'
Like banner'd army terrible.
Revive Thy work, O Lord revive
Thy drooping work, in these our days,
Make us with Thee in Prayer to strive
That we in Thee may rest with Praise.
Awake, 0 North, thou South wind blow,
Upon my garden blow, and move
Its hidden spices thence to flow,
And perfume all the world with Love.
i86
%\t %wmMm at i\t p»& #irp itarg.
Hail! thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee ;
blessed art thou among women. — Luke i. 28.
LADY DAY.
THE world, to-day, divides its year,
And gathers in its golden gear \
With cautious heart, and careful hands,
Takes in its rents, lets out its lands,
And strains its anxious eyes across
The last six months of gain or loss.
This day the world, with cunning arts,
Takes deeper hold on most men's hearts ;
Some loss has sour'd them, or some gain
Ensnared them with its golden chain ;
Some other day, Heav'n's purer bliss
Were easier thought on, than on this.
And yet what day in all the year
Should bring the upper world so near %
This — which commemorates the Love,
That left Its majesty above,
And stoop'd to be, as on this day,
The tenant of a * house of clay.'
THE ANNUNCIATION. 107
He, who ' was rich/ becoming i poor,'
To give us riches, that endure ;
He, who was high, becoming low,
That we might to His stature grow ;
He, who was God, becoming man,
To save us by His wondrous plan.
This day He left His fair estate,
That from this day the Church might date
Her title deeds to that abode,
For her resign'd awhile by God,
That she — as His espoused bride-
Might there dwell with Him, side by side.
Then, when the world is full of self,
And counts its gains, and hoards its pelf,
And strives to grasp, with surest hold,
Its lands, its silver, and its gold ;
Let our whole hearts this day be given
To their inheritance in Heaven.
0 Saviour ! Thou this day didst take
A human body, for our sake ;
To share with us the griefs of life,
Its watchings, weariness, and strife ;
All that belongs to man, but sin,
Thou didst this day Thyself begin.
In flesh Thou didst Thyself entomb,
Thou didst not hate ' the Virgin's womb ;'
THE ANNUNCIATION.
Whole months in secret Thou didst lie,
Waiting for Thy Nativity ;
Not wearied by one hour, which can
Prove Thee, more truly, ' very man.'
Thou mightst have had some griefs the less,
If man's infantine helplessness,
With all the travail, toil, and tears,
That wait on childhood's tedious years,
Had been passed by ; and Thou hadst come,
In perfect manhood, from Thy home.
But we had wanted much to prove
The depth, and oneness of Thy love,
The secret links of many a tie,
Whose all-prevailing sympathy,
(Which we could then have never known,)
Now makes us feel Thee all our own.
Saviour of infants ! Thou didst rest,
Helpless, upon Thy mother's breast,
Saviour of children ! Thou didst play
And grow beside her, day by day,
All human life to soothe and save,
Up from the cradle to the grave.
There's not an hour of life below,
A want, a weakness, or a woe,
In which — to help the human heart —
Thou hast not borne Thyself a part,
That we may draw our best relief,
From Thy dear fellowship in grief.
THE ANNUNCIATION. 189
Saviour ! as low as Thou to me
Didst stoop, in Thy humility,
So high my nature lift with Thine,
Till human things become divine,
And Thy Eternal love once more
God's image to my soul restore.
And when I cling too close to earth,
Forgetful of my Heavenly birth,
And — for the love of its poor dross —
Despise Thy crown, or shun Thy cross,
O let this festal day reprove,
Such wrong to Thine enduring love.
r
190
St. Jgbr&'s gag.
And He gave some apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some
evangelists ; and some, pasters and teachers ; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the "body
of Christ. -Eph. iv. 11, 12.
OPEN-AIR PREACHING,
OEOR the Evangelic faith and love,
That graced the golden Apostolic days,
That drew down gifts uncounted from above,
And souls unnumbered up to Heaven could raise.
When, burning to reclaim a ransomed world,
' Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers,' all
Blew with one breath the Gospel trumpet's call,
And the bright banner of the Cross unfurled.
Then Apostolic order did not keep
Men from the work of God, where'er it lay ;
They watched the fold, but, if one went astray,
Love Evangelic sought the wand'ring sheep :
No church can truly Apostolic prove,
That wants the fire of Evangelic love !
ST. MARKS DAY. IQJ
I love my Church, for iu her walls I see
Shelter, not only for the souls of men,
But for those dear, and deathless truths, which we
Hold as the charter of our faith ; and when
The lamp of truth, placed elsewhere, hath been driven
By every ' wind of doctrine,' I have seen
Its flame without one flicker rise to Heaven,
Within her precincts tranquil and serene.
Yet if I thought one soul, without her bound
Wand' ring' mid gloom and darkness, might be found,
I'd from her very altar snatch that Light,
And bear it forth amid the gusts of night,
Without one fear that, 'neath the wildest sky,
'T would even tremble, much less fail or die.
So when this solemn day, each year, returns,
And, toss'd about with winds, the sacred ark
Seeks ( the Rock's' shelter, and there duly learns
All that we owe th' ' Evangelist St. Mark f
' The Heavenly doctrine' of that blessed Word,
Which he embalmed in Holy Scripture's page,
To be lisp'd out by youth, conn'd o'er by age,
Bead by the learn'd, and by th' unlearned heard ;
Then, let the fervour of Thy Gospel truth
Fill every heart, 0 Lord, thro'out the land,
Until ' young men and maidens,' age and youth,
Swell, with one voice, that great prophetic band,
Which must be found amid the sons of men,
Ere Thou, 0 Saviour Christ, to earth return again.
192
St. f pp anfo St. $amw's gag.
I am tiie way, the truth., and the life : no man cometh unto
the Father, hut "by me.— John xiv. 6.
T
CHKIST ALL IN ALL.
TEMPTED oft, to go astray,
Jesus Christ ! be Thou my ' Way ;'
Mocked with shadowy dreams of youth,
Jesus Christ ! be Thou my ' Truth ;'
Wearied out with manhood's strife,
Jesus Christ ! be Thou my ' Life ;'
Such wast Thou to Thy saints of yore,
Unchangeable Thou art, and shalt be evermore.
Thou ' the Way' art, Thou the prize
That beyond the journey lies ;
Thou < the Truth' art, Thou the guide,
Gone before, yet by my side ;
1 Everlasting Life' below
It is, truly Thee to know ;
Such wast Thou to Thy saiirts of yore,
Unchangeable Thou art, and shalt be evermore.
ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES S DAY. 193
Thus with Thee are linked the names
Of St. Philip and St. James ;
Thee they found, both night and day,
Precious ' Truth,' and guarded ' Way ;'
Thee, in the last martyr* strife,
Thee, 0 Lord, they found their ' Life ;'
Sure, what Thou wast to them of yore,
Unchangeable Thou art, and shalt be evermore.
Would we follow, true and bold,
Steps of holy men of old ;
Freely leave the world, to prove
Our, like their, undying love ;
And, as freely, life lay down,
To receive a martyr's crown 1
0 Saviour of the saints of yore !
Be Thou to us, what Thou to them wast, evermore !
194
The Son of Consolation. — Acts iv. 36.
CHURCH MISSIONS.
OLORD ! what records of Thy love
Live in the sacred page,
Thy wondrous love, on Thy dear Church
Bestow'd, from age to age.
Never, since first she saw Thy face,
Did she for guidance plead,
But Thou wert near at hand to hear,
And help her in her need.
Just what she wanted, Thou didst lend,
Of gifts, from day to day,
And ' sons of consolation ' send
To cheer her on her way.
Large hearts, which loved with such a love,
So fresh, so full, so free,
That nothing they could call their own
Would be denied to Thee.
ST. BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, 195
Their lives , their loves, their all, they deem'cl
Off'rings both due and meet ;
Their lands they sold, and brought the gold,
And laid it at Thy feet.
If Judas here, or Demas there,
Shadowed her light with shame ;
And left the stain of love of gain
Upon the Christian's name :
If Ananias and his wife
1 Kept back ' ( the price,' and lied ;
Saint Barnabas, thro' Thy ' great grace,"
More than their lack supplied.
In nature and in name alike
True to Thy Church and Thee ;
' The Son of Consolation ' called,
And rightly named was he.
Nor hast Thou left Thyself, 0 Lord,
Without Thy witness here ;
Strong hands, and gentle hearts to toil
Onward from year to year.
Men who are willing, both to spend,
And to be spent, to prove
That still Thine Apostolic Church
Feels Evangelic love.
o 2
igt) ST. BARNABAS THE APOSTLE.
And chief amongst that glorious band,
Thy Mission-Church we hail ;
Which from no self-denial shrinks,
And at no fear grows pale.
Which lands and homes can leave behind,
Obedient to Thy word ;
And, with her staff and scrip, go forth,
' To do Thy will, 0 Lord.'
When, harass' d with domestic strife,
Our hearts despond and fear ;
And, weary of home's languid life,
Seek what may soothe, and cheer ;
The soldiers of the Cross abroad
The palmiest days recall,
Of the united fervent zeal
Of Barnabas and Paul.
Best jewels of her crown are they,
Bright on her brow they glow ;
True ' Sons of Consolation,' sent
To all Thy Church below.
Then use we this glad Festival
To lift our hearts in praise,
For all the consolations sent
Thy Church, in former days :
ST. BARNABAS THE APOSTLE. I97
And, ere we leave Thy holy house,
Low bow we down in prayer ;
In Jesu's name, to ask the same
Continuance of Thy care.
Thy l manifold ' and glorious i gifts '
Lord grant us full and free,
Nor leave us ' destitute ' of ' grace '
' To use them ' all for Thee.
$
198
St |0|fn Sjajtisfs Sfattbajf.
And thou child, shalt "be called the Prophet of the Eig-hesI ;
for thou shalt go hefore the face of the Lord, to pre-
pare His ways. — Luke i. 76.
BIRTH-DAYS.
IN" every Christian home on earth
A little church is found,
A type and part of that great whole
Which circles all around.
There the domestic altar stands,
In honour of the Lord,
"Where generations, past and gone,
From childhood have adored.
And there the father, God's high-priest,
In grateful worship pays
Morning and evening sacrifice,
Of daily prayer and praise.
There sins are mournd, there joy and peace
To the repentant come :
God hath on earth no holier spot,
Than is a Christian home.
ST. JOHN BAPTISTS NATIVITY. 199
And they, who use it rightly, feel
In every common hour,
And every simplest deed, and word,
Its elevating power.
They eat and drink in Jesu's name,
By Him are daily fed,
Half sacramental deem the food,
He gives as i daily bread.'
And feasts and fasts devoutly keep,
On days ordain'd by Heaven;
The birth-days, and the death-days of
The children God hath given.
Remote in distant years of time,
When home is far away,
And all are dead and gone, that kept
With them each festal day :
They will, in dreams, live o'er again
Those lov'd but vanished hours,
And breathe once more, as if still fresh,
The incense of their flowers.
The birth-days of a Christian home
Are festivals of love,
Which shed their glow on life below,
And fit for ' life ' above.
2CC ST. JOHN BAPTISTS NATIVITY.
Soft, as the dews of Heaven, they fall
Upon the human heart,
Old mem'ries waken, and recall
New life to every part.
This day the Church commemorates
The birth-day of St. John,
Except our Lord's Nativity,
She keeps this only one.
As if to lift our earth-bound hearts
Above the things which are,
And teach how death-days, when in Christ,
Are brighter days by far.
And by the side of him, whose birth
Like morning star arose,
To light the way of breaking Day
That on the mountains glows ;
She, in the lessons of her truth,
To teach us, ' what is good,'
Contrasts another Birth-day, kept
In shame, and lust, and blood.
0 Saviour ! when this day returns,
— Bright with its summer bloom, —
And, on St. John's Nativity,
Points to his early tomb :
ST. JOHN BAPTISTS NATIVITYo
Be this its holy use, to make
The Birth-days of each year,
Tho' dear for all their human joy,
As helps to Heav'n most dear.
The Baptist's pure, and holy life,
Severe from early youth,
His bold rebuke of haughty vice,
His patience for ' the truth :'
His preparation of Thy way,
His living in Thy Love,
His brief, but hard and toilsome day,
His early rest above :
Be these our Birth-day monitors,
Our souls for Heaven to train,
Teaching us how, ' to live is Christ,'
And how, i to die is gain.'
*
2G2
Bt %tttft gag.
And, behold, the Angel of the Lord came upon him, and !
light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on
the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise
up quickly. And his chains fell off
from his hands. — Acts xii. 7.
PEACE.
WHO is lie that sleeps in chains,
Fears not penalties or pains ;
Calmly sleeps, tho' malice waits,
For him, at his prison gates ;
Dreams not of impending sorrow,
Which may visit him to-morrow,
But, like infant on the breast
Of its mother, sinks to rest ?
He to whom his God hath given
Peace on earth, and hope in Heav'n !
Who is he whom watch, and ward,
Lock and key, and wakeful guard,
Rome's quaternions, rough and bold,
Chains and prison, cannot hold ?
ST. PETERS DAY. 203
From whose hands the fetters fall,
To whom angel voices call,
Who by angel light doth see,
And by angel hand is free ?
He for whom, both night and day,
The Redeemers Church doth pray !
When our peace with God is made,
None can vex, or make afraid :
Tho' the wrath of man be strong,
It can do the soul no wrong ;
Fear of evil tidings never
Can the trusting heart dissever
From the rest, and the repose,
The believing spirit knows :
Cheering thoughts ! which Christians may
Deepen on St. Peter's Day.
And when prayer with one accord
Rises earnest to the Lord ;
Tho' the might of mortal power
Darkling o'er the Church may lower ;
Tho' the promise seem to fail,
And the gates of Hell prevail,
God will never leave His own,
Unprotected, or alone :
Ere His Church should want a friend,
Angels shall from Heaven descend.
204
$t $am*s t\t gptle. •
And they immediately left the ship, and their father, and
followed Him. — Matt. iv. 22.
THE POOR MAN'S OFFERING.
THE Churcli of God, with equal care,
Her blessings and her work doth share
With all, both high and low ;
Her holiest is her highest place,
No rank, but that of growth in grace,
Her loving heart doth know.
She, at the poor man's cottage door,
Stands blessing all his simple store,
And finds, in his abode,
Ofttimes the fairest gifts that can
Be offered, by unworthy man,
To an all-holy God.
The darling child, who from his youth
Had grown in stature and in truth,
His parents' prop and pride,
Hath stoop'd his shoulder to the Cross,
Hath gain'd a life of worldly loss,
And for his Saviour died.
ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE. 205
He left the cottage-home so clear,
Dash'd from his eye the starting tear,
And bade a long farewell
To the low roof, and creeping vine,
That round that blessed spot doth twine,
Where home's belov'd ones dwell.
He bore the Cross to foreign lands,
O'er frozen seas, and burning sands,
He bade its banner wave,
There, with the sword of God's good word,
Won souls, by thousands, to the Lord,
Then found a martyr's grave.
Think not his sacrifice was small,
Poor home ! poor parents ! they were all
His sum of earthly bliss !
The rough but old familiar spot,
Can never be by him forgot,
In the next world, or this.
Up to the latest hour of life,
Thro' all its changeful calm and strife,
That memory did come
Like a soft breath of Summer air,
And the last words he breath'd in prayer,
They were of Heaven and home.
The poor man's son, tho' simply reared,
His home doth hold as much endeared
As do the richest theirs ;
206 ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE.
The scene of all his early years,
Hallowed, alike by smiles and tears,
By pleasures, and by cares.
If he, with earnest heart, doth bring
To God this free-will offering,
The firstling of his store ;
Tho' richer men may deem it small,
Yet, if he give to God his all,
What can he offer more ?
And thus the mem'ry of St. James
In cottage homes affection claims,
When, in some poor abode,
The child of many hopes and prayers,
Despite of added household cares,
Is offered up to God.
The fishers son, ' without delay'
To Christ obedient, shows the way
The poor, for God, may take ;
How England's cottage-homes may yield
Strong labourers for the harvest field,
To toil for Jesu's sake.
And not alone in learning's haunt,
And palace-homes, all that we want
For the great work is found ;
Bold soldiers of the Cross, and true,
Amongst the very humblest too,
With willing hearts abound.
ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE. 207
0 Saviour of the world ! Thy call,
In cottage-home, and palace-hall,
Is wanting, to supply
Those, who, like James, their fisher's net,
Or Paul, their learned ease forget,
For Thee to live and die.
r
208
31 §artprattto t\t gpsilt
_ .
When thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. — John i. 48.
HIDDEN SAINTS.
HIDDEN" close from human eye
Yiolets do love to lie,
Only for the tell-tale air,
No one could discover where :
But there's an Eye which on them dwells
With sunshine, soft and true,
A Hand which fills their purple bells
With drops of morning dew.
Tho' they love the shady nook,
And with bee, and babbling brook
Communing, with fragrant sigh
Live, and bloom, and breathe, and die ;
No gloomy anchorites are they,
In lonely severance sad,
But in their gentle, quiet way,
They make God's creatures glad.
ST. BAKTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE. 2O0
So His hidden saints abound,
Scattered everywhere around,
Violets of Heavenly birth,
Perfuming all parts of earth ;
Fed by the sun and dews of Heaven,
They sleep not night nor day,
Still giving back, what they are given,
In their own quiet way.
Theirs no plea for public place,
Modesty their fairest grace,
So to soothe, that none may know
Whence the healing perfumes flow ;
Themselves, unseen by human eye,
By human hand unsoiled,
Their soul's immortal purity
By thought of self unspoiled.
There to grow in grace and love,
Fitter for their place above ;
Useful in the humblest way,
Fragrant even in decay ;
And all the while their covenant
With Heaven and earth fulfil,
The only thing of God they want,
Power to do His will.
So beneath the fig-tree's shade,
Where, of old, Nathaniel paid
To the Lord his hidden vows ;
Thro' its broad umbrageous boughs,
p
210 ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE.
Upon the saint's lone hour of need,
Fell Heaven's approving smile,
And owned 'an Israelite indeed,'
' In whom' there was 'no guile.'
Almost from himself concealed,
Now to God he stands revealed ;
Isow the blessed fruit receiving,
Which had grown from meek believing,
The hidden saint his Lord ordains
His messenger to be,
To gather in far richer gains,
And ' greater things' to see.
Thence the saint, unknown and lowly,
Set apart by God, and holy,
Changed in office, and in name,
Saint Bartholomew became ;
And on his day, the Church doth pray
Of God, in Jesu's name,
' To love that word, which he believed,'
1 Preach, and receive the same.'
r
211
St. fP%to % J^rstie.
And as Jesus passedforth from thence, he sawa man, named
Matthew, sitting at the receipt cf custom; and He
saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose,
and followed Him. — Matt. ix. 9.
THE MAN OF BUSINESS.
FROM fisher's net, from fig-tree's shade,
God gathers whom He will ;
Touched by His grace, all men are made
His purpose to fulfil.
But not alone from shady nooks,
Fresh with life's noon-tide dew,
From humble walks, or quiet books,
Calls He His chosen few.
Out of the busiest haunts of life,
Its most engrossing cares,
Its nightly travail, daily strife,
Its self- wove golden snares, —
He for His vineyard doth provide,
His gentle voice doth move
The world's keen votaries to His side,
With its persuasive love.
? 2
ST. MATTHEW THE APOSTLE.
So Matthew left his golden gains,
At the great Master's call ;
His soul the c love of Christ' constrains
Freely to give up all.
The tide of life was at its flow,
Rose higher day by day ;
But he a higher life would know
Than that which round him lay.
Nor fortune, bright with fav'ring smile,
Can tempt him with her store ;
Too long she did his heart beguile,
He will be hers no more.
To one sweet Voice alone he'll list,
And, at its ' Follow me,'
Apostle, and Evangelist,
Henceforth for Christ is he.
0 Saviour ! when prosperity
Makes this world hard to leave,
And all its ' pomps and vanity'
Their meshes round us weave :
When Mammon with its subtle chain,
Fair, because forged in gold,
The soul, which up to Heav'n would strain,
In captive thrall doth hold :
ST. MATTHEW THE APOSTLE. 2I'>
When life, with all its balmiest hours,
In sunshine round us lies ;
And bee-like, 'mid a thousand flowers,
Fond fickle fancy flies :
0 grant us grace, that to Thy call
We may obedient be ;
And, cheerfully forsaking all,
May follow only Thee.
r
214
£t W$M m& all Sfljjtto.
Are they not all irinistering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall "be heirs oi salva-
tion.— Het>. i. 14.
GUARDIAN ANGELS,
EYER, round Thy glorious throne,
Where Thou sittest, Lord ! alone,
Yeil'd in light, and clothed in love,
Bright adoring angels move.
They to do Thy bidding wait,
Honouring Thine awful state,
Watchful eyes, and folded wings
Circle Thee, the King of kings.
Prom the world's remotest prime,
Since the earliest hours of time,
Thou to man hast let them bear
Proofs of Thy undying care.
Eager for the sweet employ,
Even in the midst of joy ;
Never so supremely blest,
As when succouring the distrest :
ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS. 2I«
Golden harp and starry crown
Willingly awhile laid down,
If Thy voice but bid them go
To relieve some human woe :
Living in the happy air,
Which surrounds Thy presence there ;
They inhale, with breathing heart,
That pure Love, which Lord Thou art :
And the lowest share they can
Have, in saving sinful man,
Is the highest blessing given,
Even in the courts of Heaven.
Once, on charge of sorrow sent,
They — almost unwilling — went ;
If the hearts, to Thee so true,
Could Thy will unwilling do —
Went to close that crystal door,
By which, mortal never more,
From the ways of sin and strife,
Shall re-seek the Tree of Life.
But if once to earth they came,
Arm'd with sword of living flame,
To themselves and man, in guise
As it were of enemies : —
2l6 ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS.
They were truest friends indeed,
Helped him most in time of need,
When they kept him from that tree,
Which eternal death would be :
For eternal life in sin
Is a living death within :
Happy they, whose hands did miss
Such a suicide of bliss.
Ever since that hour of grief,
They have brought to man relief,
Viewless blessings have provided,
And, with viewless hands, have guided.
Promises from Heaven did bear ;
Answers brought to wrestling prayer ;
On th' unwilling shoulder laid
Gentle force, the weak to aid :
Timely by the faithful stood,
Kept th' obedient hand from blood ;
To the perverse brought delay,
When upon his wilful way :
1 Wondrously' for Israel wrought,
Judges to her councils brought ;
Samson's strength, and Gideon's sword,
To the battles of the Lord.
ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS. 2JJ
Watch beside the prophet kept,
When, dispirited, he slept ;
Touched, and woke, and gave him food,
Against hungry solitude.
To the Ethiopian brought
Him, who Christ's salvation taught ;
To the Gentile soldier, bare
Answer to his alms and prayer.
Soothed the holy prisoners pains,
Woke him up, and loosed his chains ;
Hope of life, and shelt'ring shore,
To the saints in shipwreck bore.
Thus from age to age, 0 Lord,
Did Thine Angel bands afford
Help in danger, joy in woe,
To Thy suff'ring Church below.
6 Ministering spirits' sent
Both to ' follow' and ' prevent,'
Lest the loved ones, Thou dost own,
' Dash their foot against a stone.'
But with tend'rest, gentlest love,
All their other care above,
They, with earnest hearts and eyes,
Watch'd the wondrous Sacrifice.
2l8 ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGEL
Follow'dj with admiring gaze,
All their Lord's mysterious ways,
From the day he stooped to men,
Till He rose to Heaven again.
One to ' blessed' Mary came,
Told the hour and breathed the Name ;
One, to ' shepherds in the field,'
Their incarnate God revealed.
Many, when the fight was o'er,
To the desert comfort bore ;
Eager who should first appear,
Their lone Lord to soothe and cheer.
In the agony and sweat
Of His prayers on Olivet,
One, to wipe His brow of blood,
And bring strength, beside Him stood.
Two were near Him when He rose,
Laid aside His burial clothes,
And, with ling' ring fond delay,
Sat to watch where Jesus lay.
And when, from the Mount ascended,
Wrapt in clouds, by hosts attended,
Hail'd, while entering Heaven's abode,
Son of Man ! and Son of God !
ST, MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS.
Two, in robes of white array' d,
Willingly behind Him stay'd,
To uplift the hearts that yearn
O'er His loss, to His return.
Glorious God ! Who didst ordain
This Thy bright angelic train,
Always, in Thy courts, to do
Service to Thee, high and true ;
Grant that they, for us on earth,
Thro' our right of second birth,
May, as guardian angels, move
Round our paths, with Heavenly love.
This, for Jesu's sake, we ask,
Dear to them the blessed task,
O ! to us may grace be given,
Here to serve, as they in Heaven !
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220
St. f uk fyt (&bm\$lhl
Luke, the "beloved Physician. — Col. iv. 14.
GOOD PHYSICIANS.
WHEN" languid frame, or throbbing pulse,
The pride of life subdues,
And colours all its roseate bloom
With sorrow's soberer hues :
How sweet to think that he, who stands
Beside our bed of pain,
And, thoughtful, counts the ebbing sands
Which yet for us remain : —
Comes, in the humble strength of Faith,
Such comfort to afford,
As best may help the deeper work,
Of his Physician Lord.
And while, with skilful hand, he tries
Diseases to control,
Not only sees a mortal frame,
But an immortal soul :
ST. LUKE THE EVANGELIST. 221
And prays for grace to do his part,
In all God's wondrous plan,
And sanctifies his healing art,
To the best good of man.
Puffed not with pride of human skill,
With hushed and awful breath,
He meekly comes ' to do Thy will,'
O Lord of Life, and Death :
Delay the sufferer longer here,
That he may holier be ;
Or feel, how well man cannot keep
One ripened soul from Thee.
Such simple Faith, such child-like trust
His best degree will prove,
Physician in the schools below,
And in Thy school above.
O that, amid the noble band
Of those, who live to heal
The sicknesses which sin hath made,
More might be found, who feel —
That the sick room's a holy place,
And the sick man is given,
Not to be merely kept on earth,
But to be healed for Heaven.
J22 ST. LUKE THE EVANGELIST.
0 God ! on such a day as this,
Let us, with special prayer,
All those who heal thro'out our land
Commend to Thy good care.
Keep them from pestilence by night,
From sickness at noonday,
Tho' thousands by their side may fall,
Drive noisome things away.
And make them hallowed means of good,
In all they think and do,
While truthful to their healing art,
Not unto Thee less true. .
Physicians of the body they —
By Grace's soft control,
May they become, like good St. Luke,
Physicians of the soul !
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22-
£t. SiiMN, aito St. lifte, Jostles.
That they all may he one ; as Thou, Father, art in me, and
I in Thee, that they also may he one in us: that the
world may heiie-e that Thou hast sent me. —
John xvii. 21
UNITY OF SPIRIT.
HEART in heart, and hand in hand,
Once went forth the little band ;
One in thought, and word, and deed,
Unity their law and creed :
Then they conquer'd, in the might
Of their oneness, and their right :
Then the will of God was done,
When they all ( in Christ' were one.
Then the Church of God arose,
Fair despite of all her foes ;
On the broad foundation laid,
Prophets and Apostles made ;
1 Jesus Christ himself alone,
Basement rock, and corner-stone,
All the rest, in modest pride,
Built on Him, and side by side.
224 ST. SIMON AND ST. JUDE.
Lord, Thy Church, in latter days,
Wanteth much these holy ways ;
Wanteth much that gain, which lies
Ever in self-sacrifice ;
Self too proudly keeps its place,
Gifts precedence take of grace,
Men are not content to be
Nothing, when exalting Thee !
Pardon for the past we pray,
Lord upon this holy day,
For the future, grace to lead
Safe thro' every time of need ;
Like St. Simon and St. Jude,
With Thy unity imbued,
Till Thy < holy temple' be
' Acceptable,5 Lord, ' to Thee.'
'f
= 25
&U Saints' gat).
A great multitude which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood "before the Throne, and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands. —
Rev. vii. 9.
THE SAINTS OF GOD.
A FEW bright leaders of her host,
God's glory, and the Church's boast,
She hath set forth, and mark'cl by name,
Fair in the lists of holy fame ;
To cheer the many with the few,
And show what grace in man can do.
Back from their helms of Hope divine,
Reflected sunbeams flash and shine,
Marking where gallant warriors stand,
With buckler poised, and sword in hand,
First of the martyr army they,
To lead it on at dawn of day.
Q
226 ALL SAINTS' DAY.
But as, behind those stars most bright
Which meet us in the front of night,
Myriads on myriads have their place,
Far in the hidden realms of space, -
Unseen by man, but, to the eye
Of God, as bright as those more nigh * —
So in His Church have ever been
Thousands, whom none but He hath seen,
Yet in His eye as bright and fair,
As martyrs and apostles were,
Who, tho' their lives seemed still and calm,
Shall wear the Martyr's Crown and Palm.
Here upon earth they were unknown,
But there's a Book before the Throne,
The Book of Life — in which the Lord
Doth all the lives of Saints record ;
And, in the day when He doth ' spare,'
Their names shall be found written there.
O what a blest c communion' bond
Of fellowship most full and fond,
Christ's mystic body doth entwine,
' Together knit,' with cords divine,
One life electric thro' them all,
On to the Judgment from the Fall.
One ( family in Heaven and earth,'
Bound bv the ties of second birth :
ALL SAINTS DAY.
-I
None dead, tho' some their work have done,
Their battle fought, their freedom won ;
All in the Lord alive and blest,
Tho' some may toil, and some may rest.
Their earthly home a nameless spot,
Unknown, or haply long forgot ;
Where, in some mountain- cottage rude,
Or city's crowded solitude,
Their gentle lives did meekly move,
In the still ways of earnest love.
On beds of noisome sickness laid,
In poverty's depressing shade,
Struggling against the world's distress
With unrepining gentleness,
Their robes unspotted, tho' the road
Was deep and rough that led to God.
Their simple lives exalted high
By unaffected piety,
Tho' sad and sombre in their hue,
And common-place in all they do,
This colouring of the rainbow take,
That all is done for Jesu's sake.
'Twas ever thus from earliest time,
That God's elect, in every clime,
Tho' hidden deep, and unobserved,
Like scatter'd salt, have still preserved
His blessing, (lest it turn again,)
To the rebellious sons of men.
228 ALL SAINTS' DAY.
And when in solemn judgment state
He holds His court, a throng so great
Shall rise before th' astonish'd sight,
Bearing their palms, and c clothed in. white ;'
6 No man could number' those who'll stand,
In that great day, at God's right hand.
His scattered treasures He will claim,
So dear He knows them all by name ;
When He makes up the precious store,
And counts His c jewels' o'er and o'er,
Of all that were on earth His care,
Not one shall be found wanting there.
How solemn then this day's return
To all who for some loved one mourn ;
It soothes the heart, it sheds a grace
Of glory round that vacant place,
Which ever, on our brightest mood,
Will its dull emptiness intrude.
It speaks of life's unfailing breath,
Where we, despondent, think of death ;
It tells of glory, and of gain,
Where we see loss and dreary pain ;
The upper world it doth reveal,
And what we see not makes us feel.
We breathe again the breath of flowers,
That round us bloomed in vanished hours ;
ALL SAINTS DAY. 22C
We commune with the spirit -band,
Walk with them thro' the happy-land,
Still hear each old familiar tone,
And feel that they are still our own ; —
And closer draw to Christ our Head,
Link of the living with the dead ;
And, lifting up our hearts on high,
This All-saints' benediction sigh —
' God give us grace, to see His face,
' And meet our own in the happy place,'
Mentone, Easter Day, 1857.
INDEX TO FIRST LINES.
PAGE
A happy, happy Christmas 19
A few bright leaders of her host 225
* Abide with us,' the shades of eve 77
Alway in the Lord rejoice 7
All around, the gracious seasons 106
Almighty Father ! Blessed Son ! 109
And art Thou ready, Saviour dear ! 115
As odours, press' d in summer hours 5
As, with gentle modulation 36
Awake, my soul ! and for the strife 38
Awake, glad soul ! awake ! awake ! 74
Blessed Lord, who, till the morning 3
Blessed morning ! all the year 9
Blessed hope, that we, the sinful 34
Day of loss, and day of gain 68
Doubting soul ! lay down thy fears 1 74
Dream not, my soul, of cloudless days i$
Ever, round Thy glorious throne 214
Few and fleeting days remain 82
First of the martyred throng 11
From Bethlehem to Calvary 159
From fisher's net, from fig-tree's shade 211
Gently think, and gently speak 32
' God is love,' the Heavens tell it 113
God of truth ! tho' Thy hand 130
Hath the Church of God received ....'.... 26
Heart in heart, and hand in hand 223
INDEX TO FIRST LINES. 231
PAGE
Hidden close from human eye 208
Higher ! higher to aspire ! T54
How calm, how blest this tranquil hour 21
How glorious in the sacred page 103
How often those, most dearly loved 156
How solemn ! Lord ! the days that find T25
How the spirit oft is moved 1 1 8
In every Christian home on earth 198
Jesus Christ ! Thou Son of David 40
Jesus, my loving Lord, I know 53
Jesus ! my Master ! when I feel 66
Last Sunday of the work-day year 17
Long and earnestly she pleaded 46
Lord ! how oft shall I forgive ? 163
Lord ! in all I offer Thee 127
' Lord ! Thou knowest that I love Thee' 87
Lord ! to Thy will, my anxious soul 90
Lord ! when my feet would turn away 79
' Love of Christ, which passeth knowledge' 147
Lowly kneel, and softly tread 71
My sin ! my sin ! 0 God ! my sin 42
Not always in the goodliest rite 49
0 Holy Sabbath Day ! 149
0 for the Evangelic faith and love 190
0 Lord ! what records of Thy love 194
Oft doth the Christian's heart inquire 24
One lesson more, the Church must learn 92
On my Saviour's bosom leaning 13
Peaceful lay the doomed city 133
Proudly, in his Hall of Judgment 60
Rise, my soul ! to Heaven ascend 95
Seek we signs by which to place 177
232 INDEX TO FIRST LINES.
PAGE
Saviour ! Thou hast done much, but we want more . . 98
Say, who are these once more afloat ? 85
1 She hath done what she could' 57
Sinful, sighing to be blest 1 36
Some use religion as a cloak * . . 26
Tempted oft, to go astray 192
The Church of Grod, with equal care 204
The days of separation past 179
The Grod, who made the silver stars 169
The Lord, who sits enthroned in light 44
The sky is dark with storm and cloud 1
The simple trust that can confide 161
The world, to-day, divides its year t86
There are ten at the feet of the Saviour 143
'Tis o'er ! the last kind deed is done 63
They do their best, make twofold choice 183
"We walk on earth — and to its ways 165
What day in all the year, than this 171
What gleam of later times hath e'er resembled . . . . 100
When, by the busy crowd of life 167
When care on the heart would lay hold 145
When languid frame, or throbbing pulse 220
When the faint and famish' d thousands 51
When the Sacred Name is spoken 55
When the summer morning breaking 1 38
' Who is my neighbour ?' do I ask ? 14 1
Who is he that sleeps in chains ? 202
Why, my soul, so sad and fearful 31
With what bright and holy charm 123
Work in me, Lord! Thy wondrous will 129
Would I lead another right 121
THE END
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