The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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Saint Mark's Day.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
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Saint Mark's Day.
“Almighty God, who hast instructed thy holy church with the
heavenly doctrine of thy Evangelist St. Mark.”
—Collect for the Day.
If dying words can never die,
How deathless that departing one
Which, ere he closed his placid eye,
Was murmur'd by the Almighty Son
When “finished” gave the earth-convulsing sign
Sin was atoned by sacrifice Divine.
How deathless that departing one
Which, ere he closed his placid eye,
Was murmur'd by the Almighty Son
When “finished” gave the earth-convulsing sign
Sin was atoned by sacrifice Divine.
What lack they, then, who call the Lord
Their own, by likeness and by love?—
The treasures of His will and Word
Descend upon them from above;
While church and creed by covenant are theirs,
With feasts and festivals and heaven-breath'd prayers.
Their own, by likeness and by love?—
The treasures of His will and Word
Descend upon them from above;
While church and creed by covenant are theirs,
With feasts and festivals and heaven-breath'd prayers.
Inheritors by faith are we
Of more than golden worlds could give,
If through Incarnate Deity
A spirit-life we yearn to live,
And daily by devotion's law are taught
The finished work atoning God-man wrought.
Of more than golden worlds could give,
If through Incarnate Deity
A spirit-life we yearn to live,
And daily by devotion's law are taught
The finished work atoning God-man wrought.
What lack we?—grace and gifts are ours,
Sermons, and Sacraments and rites,
While guardian-hosts of wingèd Powers
Circle our pathway day and night.—
Alas, one thing we need!—inward power and will
In danger and in darkness to fulfill
Sermons, and Sacraments and rites,
While guardian-hosts of wingèd Powers
Circle our pathway day and night.—
Alas, one thing we need!—inward power and will
In danger and in darkness to fulfill
Implicitly the Lord's command!—
Through blasts of doctrine vain as vile
What reeds we are! who cannot stand
When Persecution storms awhile;
But shake and tremble in the tempest-gloom
And sigh in secret for a pangless tomb.
Through blasts of doctrine vain as vile
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When Persecution storms awhile;
But shake and tremble in the tempest-gloom
And sigh in secret for a pangless tomb.
May he, who was St. Peter's friend
And echo of his chasten'd heart,
Some holy warning this day send,
Whose wisdom may its worth impart
To all who, in the calm of culture, seem
Of life enamoured as a lulling dream.
And echo of his chasten'd heart,
Some holy warning this day send,
Whose wisdom may its worth impart
To all who, in the calm of culture, seem
Of life enamoured as a lulling dream.
But if, Mark-like, our courage faint
When death and danger bring their cross,
And in the sinner merge the saint
Because we did not count the loss,—
May his revival prophesy our own
And so prepare us for the Judgment-throne!
When death and danger bring their cross,
And in the sinner merge the saint
Because we did not count the loss,—
May his revival prophesy our own
And so prepare us for the Judgment-throne!
Though recreant once,
his palsied soul
Shrank from a conflict fierce and far,
Rallied by Peter's blest control,—
He lived to wage the christian war;
Founded a Church, and when the summons came,
Corded and crush'd he bore Emanuel's shame.
Shrank from a conflict fierce and far,
Rallied by Peter's blest control,—
He lived to wage the christian war;
Founded a Church, and when the summons came,
Corded and crush'd he bore Emanuel's shame.
And should we, through betrayful sin,
Feel discord in some loveless hour
Profane the soul with impious din
That echoes back the Tempter's power,—
Let harsh contention, by Apostles, find
That Christ alone can harmonise the mind.
Feel discord in some loveless hour
Profane the soul with impious din
That echoes back the Tempter's power,—
Let harsh contention, by Apostles, find
That Christ alone can harmonise the mind.
Friendship and love, as born of earth,
Wither and waste when left alone;
'Tis heaven that grants the crowning worth
Whence true affections take their tone;—
What men call union, is a moral cheat
Unless cemented at the Mercy-seat.
Wither and waste when left alone;
'Tis heaven that grants the crowning worth
Whence true affections take their tone;—
What men call union, is a moral cheat
Unless cemented at the Mercy-seat.
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And, are not saints profoundly taught
By shrinking Mark on this high day
A lesson with this warning fraught,—
That evermore men watch and pray
Lest, in some dreaming trance of sense and time,
For bliss on earth they barter hope sublime.
By shrinking Mark on this high day
A lesson with this warning fraught,—
That evermore men watch and pray
Lest, in some dreaming trance of sense and time,
For bliss on earth they barter hope sublime.
Come, blended trial, woe and tears!
Arise, and shake the earth, O Lord;
Winnow the chaff till wheat appears
Created by Thy living word:—
Far better thus to tremble, ere we die,
Than perish when Thy throne o'ershades the sky!
Arise, and shake the earth, O Lord;
Winnow the chaff till wheat appears
Created by Thy living word:—
Far better thus to tremble, ere we die,
Than perish when Thy throne o'ershades the sky!
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