They met the tyrant's brandished steel, They bowed their necks the death to feel. A noble army-men and boys, They climbed the steep ascent of Heaven, O God, to us may grace be given. 5* ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST'S DAY. O God, who gav'st thy servant grace, To look on thine incarnate face, To see the light that dimly shone, Be ours, O 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, The bud is cropt by martyrdom, The flower in heaven shall blow. Firstlings of faith, the murderer's knife 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 bud is cropt by martyrdom, The flower in heaven shall blow. SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS; OR CIRCUMCISION. LORD of mercy and of might, Jesus, hear and save. Who, when sin's tremendous doom Didst not scorn the Virgin's womb, Mighty monarch, Savio ur mild, Throned above celestial things, Who shalt yet return from high, EPIPHANY. BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning, Cold on his cradle the dew drops are shining, Say, shall we yield him,in costly devotion, Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean, 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. |