275

PRA

ST. MATTHIAS

7.6.7.6 D.

RAISE to the heavenly Wisdom
Who knows the hearts of all,

The saintly life's beginnings,

The traitor's secret fall;
Our own ascended Master,
Who heard his Church's cry,
Made known his guiding presence,
And ruled her from on high.

2 Elect in his foreknowledge,

To fill the lost one's place;
He formed his chosen vessel
By hidden gifts of grace;
Then, by the lot's disposing,
He lifted up the poor,
And set him with the Princes
On high for evermore.

3 Still guide thy Church, chief Shepherd,
Her losses still renew;
Be thy dread keys entrusted

To faithful hands and true;
Apostles of thy choosing

May all her rulers be,

That each with joy may render
His last account to thee! Amen.

John Ellerton, 1888

276

THE ANNUNCIATION

RAISE we the Lord this day,

PRAISE
This day so long foretold,

S.M.

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,

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

277

B

Anonymous, 1846

OLEST are the pure in heart,
For they shall see our God;
The secret of the Lord is theirs;
Their soul is Christ's abode.
2 The Lord, who left the heavens
Our life and peace to bring,
To dwell in lowliness with men
Their pattern and their King;

3 He to the lowly soul

Doth still himself impart;

And for his dwelling and his throne
Chooseth the pure in heart.

4 Lord, we thy presence seek;
May ours this blessing be;
Give us a pure and lowly heart,
A temple meet for thee. Amen.

S.M.

John Keble, 1819, alt., cento

278

ST. MARK

7.6.7.6

7E praise thy grace, O Saviour,
That beareth with us long,

WE

And ever out of weakness

Thy servants maketh strong.

2 The saint, who left his comrades, And turned back from the fight, Behold at last victorious

In thy prevailing might!

3 From thee, Lord, came the courage
Once more to front the host:
Thy strength, most mighty Saviour,
In weakness shineth most.

4 Thy love Saint Mark hath numbered
Among the blessed four,
And all the world rejoiceth
To learn his Gospel-lore.

5 O Lord, our human weakness
With pitying eye behold;
Uplift the fainting spirit,

And make the coward bold.

6 O Jesus, glorious Victor

O'er all the hosts of sin,
In us thy strength make perfect,
In us the victory win. Amen.

W. Walsham How, 1871

Also the following

288 Come, pure hearts, in sweetest measures

279

TH

ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES

HOU art the Way, to thee alone From sin and death we flee; And he who would the Father seek, Must seek him, Lord, by thee.

2 Thou art the Truth, thy word alone
True wisdom can impart;

Thou only canst inform the mind
And purify the heart.

C.M.

3 Thou art the Life, the rending tomb
Proclaims thy conquering arm;
And those who put their trust in thee
Nor death nor hell shall harm.

4 Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life;
Grant us that way to know,

That truth to keep, that life to win,
Whose joys eternal flow. Amen.

280

George W. Doane, 1824

ST. BARNABAS

11.10.11.10

SON of God, our Captain of salvation,

O Thyself by suffering schooled to human

grief,

We bless thee for thy sons of consolation,

Who follow in the steps of thee their Chief;

2 Those whom thy Spirit's dread vocation

severs,

To lead the vanguard of thy conquering host;

Whose toilsome years are spent in brave endeavours

To bear thy saving Name from coast to coast;

3 Those whose bright faith makes feeble hearts grow stronger,

And sends fresh warriors to the great campaign,

Bids the lone convert feel estranged no longer,

And wins the sundered to be one again;

4 And all true helpers, patient, kind, and skillful,

Who shed thy light across our darkened earth,

Counsel the doubting, and restrain the willful,

Soothe the sick bed, and share the children's mirth.

5 Such was thy Levite, strong in selfoblation

To cast his all at thine apostles' feet; He whose new name, through every Christian nation,

From age to age our thankful strains repeat.

6 Thus, Lord, thy Barnabas in memory keeping,

Still be thy Church's watchword, "Com

fort ye,'

Till in our Father's house shall end our weeping,

And all our wants be satisfied in thee.