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OR Thy mercy and Thy grace,
Faithful through another year,
Hear our song of thankfulness,
Father, and Redeemer, hear!
2 In our weakness and distress,

3

Rock of strength! be Thou our stay!
In the pathless wilderness

Be our true and living way!

Who of us death's awful road

In the coming year shall tread?
With Thy rod and staff, O God,

Comfort Thou his dying head!
4 Keep us faithful, keep us pure,
Keep us evermore Thine own!
Help, O help us to endure!

Fit us for Thy promised crown!

5 So within Thy palace gate

We shall praise, on golden strings,
Thee, the only Potentate,

Lord of lords, and King of kings!

Henry Downton, 1843.

THE EPIPHANY.

"There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise

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HAT star is this, with beams so bright,
More beauteous than the noonday light?

WHA

It shines to herald forth the King,

And Gentiles to His cradle bring.

2 And lo! the eastern sages stand

To read in heaven the Lord's command:
Children of faith they come; they find
The Prince and Saviour of mankind.

3 They bless the meek and holy Child,
An infant Lord, and Monarch mild:
Their riches at His feet they pour
And with the heart their King adore.

4 O heavenly Lord, O holy Light,

That shines through Nature's wondering night,
What marvels in Thy love we trace,

What power divine, what glorious grace.

5 And now, thou bright and morning star,
Arise again, and shine afar

From sea to sea, from shore to shore,
Till utmost tribes their King adore.

Latin Hymn. Translation compiled.

"Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in

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the flesh."

75, 8 lines.

ONGS of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to Thee we raise.

Manifested by the star

To the sages from afar;
Branch of royal David's stem
In Thy birth at Bethlehem ;
Anthems be to Thee addrest,
God in Man made manifest.

Manifest at Jordan's stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
And at Cana wedding-guest
In Thy Godhead manifest;
Manifest in power divine,
Changing water into wine;
Anthems be to Thee addrest,
God in Man made manifest.

3 Manifest in making whole
Palsied limbs and fainting soul;
Manifest in valiant fight,
Quelling all the devil's might;
Manifest in gracious will,
Ever bringing good from ill;
Anthems be to Thee addrest,
God in Man made manifest.

4 Sun and moon shall darkened be,
Stars shall fall, the heaven shall flee:
Christ will then like lightning shine,
All will see His glorious sign;

All will then the trumpet hear,
All will see the Judge appear:
Thou by all wilt be confest,
God in Man made manifest.
5 Grant us grace to see Thee, Lord,
Mirrored in Thy holy Word;
May we imitate Thee now,
And be pure, as pure art Thou;
That we like to Thee may be,
At Thy great Epiphany;

And may praise Thee, ever blest,
God in Man made manifest.

C. Wordsworth.

"They presented unto Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

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IIS, & IOS.

RIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning,

BR

Dawn on our darkness, and lend us Thine aid;

Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

2 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!

3 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?

4 Vainly we offer each ample 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.

5 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.

Reginald Heber, 1811.

"The star went before them, till it came and stood over where the

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young child was.
L. M.

EE now fulfilled what God decreed,

SE

"From Jacob shall a Star proceed;"

And eastern sages with amaze

Upon the wondrous vision gaze.

**

2 The guiding Star above is bright,
Within them shines a clearer Light,
Which leads them on with power benign
To seek the Giver of the sign.

3 True love can brook no dull delay;
Nor toil nor dangers stop their way:
Home, kindred, father-land, and all
They leave at their Creator's call.
4 O Jesus! while the Star of Grace
Allures us now to seek Thy face,
Let not our slothful hearts refuse
The guidance of that Light to use.

Latin Hymn. Altered from F. Chandler.

"The Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the brightness

61

H

of Thy rising."

75 & 6s.

AIL to the Lord's Anointed,
Great David's greater Son!

See in the time appointed

His reign on earth begun!

2 He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,

3

To take away transgression,
To rule in equity.

Before Him on the mountains

Shall peace, the herald, go;

And from a thousand fountains
Shall grace unceasing flow.

4 Kings shall fall down before Him,
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing;
5 To Him shall prayer unceasing
And daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing,
A kingdom without end.

6 O'er every foe victorious,

He on His throne shall rest;
From age to age more glorious,
All blessing and all blest;

7 The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;

His name shall stand for ever,
Jesus, sweet name of love.

James Montgomery, 1822.

"When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."

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75, 6 lines.

S with gladness men of old
Did the guiding star behold;
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright;
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

2 As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger-bed;
There to bend the knee before
Him whom heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy-seat.

3 As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin's alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ! to Thee our heavenly King.

4 Holy Jesus! every day

Keep us in the narrow way;
And when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last,
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

5 In the heavenly country bright
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There for ever may we sing

Alleluias to our King.

Wm. Chatterton,Dix, 1860.

"We have seen His star in the East."

WE

L. M. 8 lines.

'ELCOME! that star in Judah's sky,
That voice o'er Bethlehem's palmy glen,

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