He comes, the prisoners to release
In Satan's bondage held;
The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.
He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of His grace
To bless the humble poor.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And heav'n's eternal arches ring
With Thy beloved Name. Amen.
52 Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.
! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favour'd sinners slain;
Thousand thousand Saints attending
Swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia !
GOD appears on earth to reign.
Every eye shall now behold Him,
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at nought and sold Him,
Pierced and nail'd Him to the Tree,
Deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.
* Every island, sea, and mountain,
Heav'n and earth, shall flee away;
All who hate Him must, confounded,
Hear the trump proclaim the Day:
Come to judgment !
Justice can no more delay.
*Now redemption, long expected,
See in solemn pomp appear
All His saints, by man rejected,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Alleluia !
See the Day of GOD appear!
Those dear tokens of His Passion
Still His dazzling Body bears,
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransom'd worshippers:
With what rapture
Gaze we on those glorious scars!
Yea, Amen, let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the power and glory:
Claim the Kingdom for Thine own:
Alleluia !
Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone. Amen.
*These verses can be omitted.
53 The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.
GREAT GOD, what do I see and hear?
The doom of things created:
The Judge of all men doth appear,
On clouds of glory seated:
The trumpet sounds, the graves restore
The dead which they contain'd before;
Prepare, my soul, to meet Him.
The dead in CHRIST shall first arise
At that last trumpet's sounding,
Caught up to meet Him in the skies,
With joy their LORD surrounding:
No gloomy fears their souls dismay;
His presence sheds eternal day
On those prepared to meet Him.
Th' ungodly, fill'd with guilty fears,
Behold His wrath prevailing;
In woe they rise, but all their tears
And sighs are unavailing:
The day of grace is past and gone;
Trembling they stand before His throne,
All unprepared to meet Him.
Great Judge, to Thee our prayers we pour,
In deep abasement bending;
O shield us through that last dread hour,
Thy wondrous love extending:
May we, in this our trial day,
With faithful hearts Thy word obey,
And thus prepare to meet Thee. Amen.
I sleep, but my heart waketh.
In noctis umbra desides.
FOR A LATE EVENING SERVICE.
HEN shades of night around us close,
And weary limbs in sleep repose,
The faithful soul awake may be,
And yearning sigh, O LORD, to Thee.
O Thou, for Whom the nations long,
O Word of GOD, Thou Saviour strong,
Turn unto us Thy pitying eyes,
And bid at length the fallen rise.
O come, Redeemer, come and free
Thine own from their iniquity;
The gates of heav'n again unfold,
Which Adam's trespass closed of old.
All praise, Eternal SON, to Thee
Whose Advent sets Thy people free,
Whom with the FATHER We adore,
And HOLY GHOST for evermore.
The following Hymns are suitable for this season:
104 LORD, in this Thy mercy's day.
234 Lo! from the desert homes.
235 The high forerunner of the morn.
302 Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
335 From highest heav'n th' Eternal SON.
352 Thou art coming, O my Saviour.
354 Thou Judge of quick and dead.
355 That day of wrath, that dreadful day.
370 Thy kingdom come, O GOD.
371 O quickly come, dread Judge of all.
374 Hail to the LORD'S Anointed.
377 The world is very evil.
428 A few more years shall roll.
429 Days and moments quickly flying.
433 Ye servants of the LORD.
434 Christian! seek not yet repose.
527 LORD, her watch Thy Church is keeping.
632 Litany of the Four Last Things.
55 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son.
Veni Redemptor gentium.
COME, Redeemer of the earth,
Show to the world Thy virgin birth;
Let age to age the wonder tell;
Such birth, O GOD, beseems Thee well.
No earthly father Thou dost own;
By God's o'ershadowing alone
The WORD made flesh to man is come,
The fair fruit of a mother's womb.
A maiden pure and undefiled
Is by the SPIRIT great with child;
Like standard fair, her virtues tell,
'Tis GOD within her deigns to dwell.
Forth from His chamber cometh He,
The court and bower of chastity;
Henceforth in two-fold substance one,
A giant glad His course to run.
From God the FATHER He proceeds,
To GOD the FATHER back He speeds;
Runs out His course to death and hell,
Returns on GOD's high throne to dwell.
O ancient as the FATHER Thou,
Gird on our flesh for victory now;
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.
E'en now Thy manger glows; new light
Is borne upon the breath of night;
Let darkness ne'er eclipse the ray,
And faith make everlasting day.
All praise to GOD the FATHER be,
All praise, Eternal SON, to Thee,
Whom with the SPIRIT we adore,
For ever and for evermore.
O LORD, the Virgin-born, to Thee
Eternal praise and glory be,
Whom with the FATHER we adore
And HOLY GHOST for evermore.
NOTE.-The first Doxology is sung only on Christmas Eve at Evensong.
56 Who being in the form of God... took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
A solis ortus cardine.
ROM east to west, from shore to shore,
Let every heart awake and sing
The Holy Child Whom Mary bore,
The CHRIST, the everlasting King.
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