ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

MARY.

181 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and

PRAI

shall bring forth a Son, and they shall
call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us."

RAISE we the Lord this day,
This day so long foretold,

Whose promise shone with cheering ray
On waiting saints of old.

2 The prophet gave the sign
For faithful men to read;
A virgin born of David's line
Shall bear the promised Seed.
3 Ask not how this should be,
But worship and adore,
Like her whom heaven's majesty
Came down to shadow o'er.

4 Meekly she bowed her head
To hear the gracious word,
Mary, the pure and lowly maid,
The favoured of the Lord.

5 Blessed shall be her name
In all the Church on earth,

S.M.

Through whom that wondrous mercy came, The incarnate Saviour's birth.

SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS.

182 "O praise the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ser

vants of his that do his pleasure."

PRAISE to God who reigns above,
Binding earth and heaven in love;

All the armies of the sky

Worship his dread sovereignty.

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2 Seraphim his praises sing,

Cherubim on fourfold wing,

Thrones, Dominions, Princes, Powers,
Ranks of Might that never cowers.

3 Angel hosts his word fulfil,
Ruling nature by his will:
Round his throne archangels pour
Songs of praise for evermore.

4 Yet on man they joy to wait,
All that bright celestial state,
For true Man their Lord they see,
Christ, the incarnate Deity.

5 On the throne our Lord who died
Sits in manhood glorified,
Where his people faint below
Angels count it joy to go.

II. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

183

L

"Seeing we also are compassed about with C.M.
so great a cloud of witnesses."

O! what a cloud of witnesses
Encompass us around!

Men once like us with suffering tried,
But now with glory crown'd.

2 Let us, with zeal like theirs inspired,
Strive in the Christian race;
And, freed from every weight of sin,
Their holy footsteps trace.

3 Behold a witness nobler still,
Who trod affliction's path-

Jesus, the Author, Finisher,
Rewarder of our faith:

4 He, for the joy before him set,
And moved by pitying love,
Endured the cross, despised the shame,
And now he reigns above.

5 Thither, forgetting things behind,
Press we, to God's right hand;
There, with the Saviour and his saints,
Triumphantly to stand.

184 "He hath prepared for them a city."

OT to the terrors of the Lord,

NOT

The tempest, fire, and smoke:
Not to the thunder of that word
Which God on Sinai spoke :

2 But we are come to Sion's hill,
The city of our God;

Where milder words declare his will,
And spread his love abroad.

3 Behold th' innumerable host
Of angels clothed in light:
Behold the spirits of the just,
Whose faith is changed to sight.

4 Behold the bless'd assembly there
Whose names are writ in heaven;
Hear God, the Judge of all, declare
Their sins, through Christ, forgiven.
5 Angels, and living saints and dead,
But one communion make:
All join in Christ, their living Head,
And of his love partake.

C.M.

185 "Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, C.M. brethren, to dwell together in unity."

From the cxxxiii. Psalm.

HOW vast must their advantage be,
How great their pleasure prove,

Who live like brethren, and consent
In offices of love!

2 True love is like the precious oil,
Which, poured on Aaron's head,
Ran down his beard, and o'er his robes
Its costly fragrance shed.

3 'Tis like refreshing dew, which does
On Hermon's top distil;
Or like the early drops that fall
On Sion's favour'd hill.

4 For Sion is the chosen seat
Where the Almighty King
The promis'd blessing has ordain'd,
And life's eternal spring.

186

FOR

"Their sound went into all the earth,
and their words unto the ends of the
world."

P.M.

OR the Apostles' glorious company,
Who, bearing forth the cross o'er land
and sea,

Shook all the mighty world, we sing to thee,
Alleluia!

2 For the Evangelists, by whose blest word, Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord

Is fair and fruitful, be thy name adored.

Alleluia!

3 For Martyrs, who, with rapture-kindled-eye, Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,

And died to grasp it, thee we glorify.

Alleluia!

187

"We are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses."

P.M.

FOR all the saints, who from their labours

rest,

Who thee by faith before the world confess'd,

Thy name, O Jesu, be for ever bless'd.

Alleluia.

2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought

fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, the Light of
Alleluia.

light.

30 may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, And win, with them, the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia.

4 O blest Communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia.

5 And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph-song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are

strong.

Alleluia.