Scriptural narratives of those passages in Our Blessed Lord's life and ministry, which are subjects of annual commemoration in the church preceded by preliminary notices of the days on which they are commemorated, and followed by reflexions and collects: adapted to the greater holydays of the United Church of England and Ireland; and designed, together with biographical notices of the apostles, evangelists, and other saints, to form a course of reading on all the holydays of the church. By Richard Mant |
 |
THE
PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE,
COMMONLY CALLED
THE PURIFICATION
OF SAINT MARY THE VIRGIN. |
 | Scriptural narratives of those passages in Our Blessed Lord's life and ministry, which are subjects of annual commemoration in the church |  |
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THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE, COMMONLY CALLED THE PURIFICATION OF SAINT MARY THE VIRGIN.
107
When to the temple I repair,
Thy house, O God, the house of pray'r,
Or ere thy white-robed priest
Invite his gather'd flock to raise
The voice of penitence and praise,
From holy hearts addrest;
Thy word employs my musing mind:
Nor other scene more apt I find
To lift the heavenward thought,
Than when the mother undefil'd,
To grace thy courts, her first-born child
A blameless offering brought.
Thy house, O God, the house of pray'r,
Or ere thy white-robed priest
Invite his gather'd flock to raise
The voice of penitence and praise,
From holy hearts addrest;
Thy word employs my musing mind:
Nor other scene more apt I find
To lift the heavenward thought,
Than when the mother undefil'd,
To grace thy courts, her first-born child
A blameless offering brought.
That mother undefil'd I see
Present her blameless offering, free
From sinful spot or stain:
Best gift, that e'er by God was given
To man; best gift and worthiest heaven,
By man return'd again.
My heart responds; and bids me haste
Before my God a body chaste
And spirit pure to lay;
And with whate'er of rich or good,
Thy love in bounty hath bestow'd,
That bounteous love repay.
Present her blameless offering, free
From sinful spot or stain:
Best gift, that e'er by God was given
To man; best gift and worthiest heaven,
By man return'd again.
My heart responds; and bids me haste
Before my God a body chaste
And spirit pure to lay;
And with whate'er of rich or good,
Thy love in bounty hath bestow'd,
That bounteous love repay.
108
Again I muse: and lo, appears
Simeon, that seer of many years,
That man devout and just:
His arms infold the Babe divine,
His lips avouch salvation's sign,
His long-expected trust.
Again responsive beats my heart;
It yearns to take the prophet's part,
To hymn the prophet's lay;
To bless thee for thy saving grace,
The glory of thine Israel's race,
The Gentiles' rising day.
Simeon, that seer of many years,
That man devout and just:
His arms infold the Babe divine,
His lips avouch salvation's sign,
His long-expected trust.
Again responsive beats my heart;
It yearns to take the prophet's part,
To hymn the prophet's lay;
To bless thee for thy saving grace,
The glory of thine Israel's race,
The Gentiles' rising day.
Nor fail I then in order due
That widow'd prophetess to view,
By kindred zeal possest:
Tho' fourscore years and four had shed
Their hoary winters on her head,
They had not chill'd her breast.
And aye she warns me to resort
Unwearied to thy hallow'd court,
Thine own appointed place;
To serve my God by day, by night,
Observant of each holy rite,
And trust thy promis'd grace.
That widow'd prophetess to view,
By kindred zeal possest:
Tho' fourscore years and four had shed
Their hoary winters on her head,
They had not chill'd her breast.
And aye she warns me to resort
Unwearied to thy hallow'd court,
Thine own appointed place;
To serve my God by day, by night,
Observant of each holy rite,
And trust thy promis'd grace.
Thus musing on the train, who trod
On that high day the house of God,
I fan devotion's fire;
And cherish thoughts chastis'd and meek,
Love that would fain thy praises speak,
And zeal that would not tire:
And beg, that whom in thought I see
Presented in thy house to thee,
May bless this house of pray'r;
While to the footstool of thy throne
My gifts I bring by him alone
To be presented there.
On that high day the house of God,
I fan devotion's fire;
And cherish thoughts chastis'd and meek,
Love that would fain thy praises speak,
And zeal that would not tire:
And beg, that whom in thought I see
Presented in thy house to thee,
May bless this house of pray'r;
While to the footstool of thy throne
My gifts I bring by him alone
To be presented there.
| Scriptural narratives of those passages in Our Blessed Lord's life and ministry, which are subjects of annual commemoration in the church | |