MATINS. (Rerum creator omnium. No. 33.) CREATOR of mankind, Thy promised help we claim, If Thou thy grace deny, Our goings, Lord, uphold, Till this dark vale be passed; Till in thy fear for ever bold, Oh, happy, peaceful rest, Prepared for saints above! Where they with all thy joys are blessed, And drink thy streams of love. Oh, Trinity divine, To Thee our hearts we raise: May we thy ransomed people join, And share their songs of praise! EVENSONG. (Supreme motor cardium. No. 34.) SUPREME disposer of the heart, Here faith, and hope, and love, unite Oh, holy love! unfading light! That after all our sorrows here, Here, yet awhile, with many a tear There treasured lie the promised fruits, The harvest of our woe. Triune Jehovah! God of might! Thy present gifts increase; And crown them, in the world to come, With endless joy and peace. MORNING HYMN, by St. Ambrose. (Splendor paternæ gloriæ. No. 35.) O JESU, Lord of heavenly grace, Thou brightness of Thy Father's face, Whose beams disperse the shades of night! Come, holy Sun of heavenly love, Shower down thy radiance from above; The Holy Spirit's cloudless ray. And we the Father's help will claim, May He our actions deign to bless, May faith, deep rooted in the soul, And Christ shall be our daily food, Oh, hallowed be the approaching day! MORNING HYMN. BY BISHOP KEN. AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun Redeem thy mispent moments past, Let all thy converse be sincere, Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart, D I may add, at a time when men's minds reverted with more uniform frequency to their religious exercises than appears to be the case at present. The Nocturn, or night service, was intended, not merely for the secret meditation of the individual Christian, “if in the night he sleepless lay," but for the benefit of all those who might be disposed to meet together, even at that unseasonable hour, for the purpose of worshipping God. "Matins," and "Lauds," seem to be convertible terms; they began at the cock-crowing, or as I may also call it, the "bird-singing," at that time when, in summer, it is broad daylight, but before the sun has risen, and which is the time of all others when the birds seem most earnestly engaged in their lauds or song of praise to their great Creator. Ad Primam, or by 6 A.M., the sun is supposed to have risen, and the labours of the day to be regularly commencing; the hymn accordingly contains petitions for assistance, guidance, and protection, through the course of it. Ad Tertiam, or 9 A. M., is invariably a hymn to the Holy Spirit, as being the hour in which, on the day of Pentecost, He came down on the Apostles. This seems to have been observed from the very earliest times; most likely the "Veni Creator," of St. Ambrose, was merely a new hymn written by him on a subject already familiar to the Church, from the Apostles downwards. Ad Sextam, was 12 o'clock, or mid-day; allusion |