love give us one heart and one will before Thee. Strengthen thy Bishops with the might of thy Spirit clothe thy Priests with righteousness and truth. Look down on thine anointed servant : lift up the light of thy countenance upon thy people. Turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned : help us, and our hope shall be in Thee. april XIII. A PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION. THE sun hath gone up in his brightness : He is seated on his throne of noon. He hath clad himself right royally with glory : He maketh the beams his messengers; : And sendeth down gifts upon earth his light upon all nations. O how beauteous is thy majesty: how mighty is thy power; Which Thou hast revealed in thine image: O Sun of righteousness, and King of glory, So shine into mine heart : and let the light of thy word fill it with joy. Search out every dark hiding place : drag every fearful secret forth, : And convict them all before thy light and cast them out of their possession. Then shall my spirit be enlightened to maintain thy truth and my body shall be full of light. And I, a child of light, will rejoice in thy glory and praise thy name for evermore. : This sun which I behold, shall be cast down from heaven: his lamp of light shall be quenched in the sky for ever. But my song shall still be praising thy light: my harp shall still be celebrating thy glory. O Lord, thy saints shall live and praise Thee for ever and ever before the dwelling place of thy unapproachable glory. XIV. : THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE. BEHOLD! the flower that was born this morning how proud is its beauty at noon-day. The sun giveth brightness to its colour : the wind scattereth its fragrance through the air. The passenger eyeth it with desire: he plucketh it from its place. And at evening it is withered away and cast amid the refuse of the day. So art thou snatched away in the midst of thy pride, O man at the noontide of thy beauty thou art gathered. When thou sayest peace, behold calamity : when thou sayest, I will take mine ease, behold the hand of death is upon thee. In the morning thou overflowest with the joyousness of life in the evening thou art senseless and motionless in the grave. Where then are all thy high thoughts: where are all the fond hopes of thine heart? Thou wentest up as high as the heaven: earth could not contain thee. Thou didst take thy flight over months and years time could not control thee. And now thou art laid low in the pit : and time is for thee no more. How long wilt thou disobey thy God and forget the hand that made thee? How long wilt thou resist Christ: nor value the blood which redeemed thee? Shall the night find thee still : even where thou wast in the morning? Shall the morrow obtain from thee the same service which hath been obtained by this day? : : Wilt thou not arise and go unto thy Father? Wilt thou not listen to Christ: and do his commandments? Wilt thou still loiter in carelessness and tarry in double-mindedness? Dost thou then think to fix thine own time : and to create thine own seasons? Shall life obey thy measurement : shall the grave await thy opportunity? Countest thou life as a feast which attendeth on thy leisure : and the grave as thy bed which receiveth thee at thy will. Forego thy folly while yet there is time: repent and grow wise unto salvation. April 12th 15 55 XV. A LOOK ON CHRIST CRUCIFIED. O FOR the abounding of sin : alas for the multitude of offences! In the doings of the world I see them in the secret of mine own heart I feel them. They are heavy, they are heavy they are a burden too grievous to be borne. O Lord, I confess my transgressions: I acknowledge my wretchedness. O Lord Christ, the Comforter of them that labour Thou Son of God, the Restorer of the heavy laden. : Help me, or I faint: Heal me, or I die. O Thou adorable light of the world: Thou glorious sun of righteousness, That neither wanest unto darkness : nor waxest unto noonday; When the cross did receive thy precious body and Thou wast laden with the burden of our sins, The sun fainted in heaven: and the noonday sank in darkness; : The earth trembled and shook the gates of her graves flew open; And the dead went forth again into day: and were seen again of the living. Let thy death be ever before me let thy cross ever stand in my sight; Even in the brightness of noonday and amid the joyfulness of life. Let there be no hour of darkness, that I should not see it: no hour of blindness, that I should not look up unto it. But let mine eye be ever fixed on its inscription and my heart ever cry with joy, : "Behold thy banner, O follower of Christ in this thou shalt conquer, O soldier of salvation." XVI. 1844 1865 A PRAYER FOR THE USE OF THE LIGHT. : O GOD, Thou art love indeed: all thy wondrous works declare it. Thou hast poured upon us from on high the brightness of thy truth: Thou hast shined with the knowledge of thy glory amongst us. |