 | The Sanctuary |  |
7
The Sentences.
“Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.”
—Ps. li. 7.
In myst'ry o'er the myriad-chorded soul
The sightless grace of Godhead moves;
And, touching it with undivined control,
Evokes what tone His Will approves:—
Hence, hope and faith, and fear, with joy and grief, by turns
Responsively awake, as Man salvation learns.
The sightless grace of Godhead moves;
And, touching it with undivined control,
Evokes what tone His Will approves:—
Hence, hope and faith, and fear, with joy and grief, by turns
Responsively awake, as Man salvation learns.
And thus, by secret wisdom taught of heaven,
The Church, in her sublime appeals,
Hath to each mind and mood appliance given,
Which probes the heart, or conscience heals:—
In spirit corp'rate, yet, our deep-toned Prayer-book can
Echo the varied needs of individual Man.
The Church, in her sublime appeals,
Hath to each mind and mood appliance given,
Which probes the heart, or conscience heals:—
In spirit corp'rate, yet, our deep-toned Prayer-book can
Echo the varied needs of individual Man.
And, ere the vocal liturgy begin,
A litany of silence now
Let Worship offer; and by faith within
Hear holy Sentences avow
Truths of selected tone, whose pure adjustment may
Meet all those mingled wants, with which men come to pray.
A litany of silence now
Let Worship offer; and by faith within
Hear holy Sentences avow
Truths of selected tone, whose pure adjustment may
Meet all those mingled wants, with which men come to pray.
Solemn and silent, take we then our stand;
And as some vernal bower receives
A dew-born freshness, or the sunshine bland
Which decks the dawning grace of leaves,—
So let our waiting hearts adoring welcome give
To those great fontal Truths, from whence we learn, and live.
And as some vernal bower receives
A dew-born freshness, or the sunshine bland
Which decks the dawning grace of leaves,—
So let our waiting hearts adoring welcome give
To those great fontal Truths, from whence we learn, and live.
Darkness and doubt, formality and dread,
And with'ring apathy abound
Oft in frail souls, by some devotion led
Heaven's face to seek, on holy ground;
But, such in these high words may healing radiance find
Those sinful clouds to break, which overcast the mind.
And with'ring apathy abound
Oft in frail souls, by some devotion led
Heaven's face to seek, on holy ground;
But, such in these high words may healing radiance find
Those sinful clouds to break, which overcast the mind.
8
God of our Fathers! on Thy grace we call,
Whose nature and whose name are one,
And that is,—Love! with light embracing all
Of mortal race beneath the sun:—
Bid Life a living prayer of preparation be
For that transcendant hour, when heaven unveileth Thee!
Whose nature and whose name are one,
And that is,—Love! with light embracing all
Of mortal race beneath the sun:—
Bid Life a living prayer of preparation be
For that transcendant hour, when heaven unveileth Thee!
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