AN INTROIT TO BE SUNG BETWEEN THE LITANY AND COMMUNION SERVICE. O most merciful! O most bountiful! God the Father Almighty! By the Redeemer's Sweet intercession Hear us, help us when we cry. BEFORE THE SACRAMENT. BREAD of the world, in mercy broken; By whom the words of life were spoken, Look on the heart by sorrow broken, That by thy grace our souls are fed. AT A FUNERAL. BENEATH our feet and o'er our head Beneath us lie the countless dead, Above us is the heaven. Their names are graven on the stone, And ere another day is done, Death rides on every passing breeze, He lurks in every flower; Each season has its own disease, Our eyes have seen the rosy light Our eyes have seen the steps of age Turn, mortal, turn! thy danger know; Turn, Christian, turn! thy soul apply The bones that underneath thee lie STANZAS ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND. THOU art gone to the grave; but we will not deplore thee, Though sorrows and darkness encompass the tomb: Thy Saviour has passed through its portal before thee, And the lamp of his love is thy guide through the gloom. Thou art gone to the grave; we no longer behold thee, Nor tread the rough paths of the world by thy side; 'But the wide arms of mercy are spread to enfold thee, And sinners may die, for the SINLESS has died. Thou art gone to the grave; and, its mansion forsaking, Perchance thy weak spirit in fear lingered long; But the mild rays of paradise beamed on thy waking, And the sound which thou heard'st was the seraphim's song. |