ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST'S DAY. O God, who gav'st thy servant grace, Amid the storms of life distressed, To look on thine incarnate face, And lean on thy protecting breast: To see the light that dimly shone, Eclipsed for us in sorrow pale, Pure Image of the Eternal One, Through shadows of thy mortal veil. Be ours, 0 King of mercy, still To feel thy presence from above, And in thy word, and in thy will, To hear thy voice and know thy love; And when the toils of life are done, And nature waits thy dread decree, To find our rest beneath thy throne, And look, in humble hope, to Thee. INNOCENT'S DAY. O weep not o'er thy children's tomb, O Rachel, weep not so : The flower in heaven shall blow. Firstlings of faith, the murderer's knife Has missed its deadliest aim : For them to suffer came. Though feeble were their days and few, Baptized in blood and pain, He knows them, whom they never knew, And they shall live again. Then weep not o'er thy children's tomb, O Rachel, weep not so : The flower in heaven shall blow. SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS ; OR CIRCUMCISION. Jesus, hear and save. Who, when sin's tremendous doom Jesus, hear and save. Mighty monarch, Saviour mild, Jesus, hear and save. Throned above celestial things, Jesus, hear and save, Who shalt yet return from high, Jesus, hear and save. EPIPHANY. BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid. Star of the East, the horizon adorning, Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid. Cold on his cradle the dew drops are shining, Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall, Angels adore him in slumber reclining, Maker and Monarch and Saviour of all. Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion, Odors of Edom and offerings divine ? Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean, Myrrh from the forest or gold from the mine? Vainly we offer each ampler oblation ; Vainly with gifts would his favor secure: Richer by far is the heart's adoration; Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor. Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid. Star of the East, the horizon adorning, Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid. FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. LUKE II. Be hoary learning dumb, Behold an infant come. O Wisdom, whose unfading power Beside the Eternal stood, The land, the sky, the flood; Yet didst not Thou disdain awhile An infant form to wear; And lisp thy faltered prayer. But, in thy Father's own abode, With Israel's elders round, Thy chiefest joy was found. So may our youth adore thy name, And, Saviour, deign to bless Of early holiness. |