The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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St. John Baptist's Day.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
St. John Baptist's Day.
“The voice of Him that crieth in the Wilderness,—Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”
Epistle for the Day.
Precursor of that peerless One
Gift of all gifts, God's only Son,—
We celebrate his wondrous birth to-day;
Where mystery and miracle combine
To arm with purity almost divine
Truth's martyr, who for Christ prepared the way.
Gift of all gifts, God's only Son,—
We celebrate his wondrous birth to-day;
Where mystery and miracle combine
To arm with purity almost divine
Truth's martyr, who for Christ prepared the way.
Herald and harbinger of grace,
He terminates a mighty race
Of Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests, and Kings of yore,
Whose mingled types and tokens now depart
Since Thou of shadows perfect Substance art,—
God in our Flesh, Whom prostrate Worlds adore!
He terminates a mighty race
Of Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests, and Kings of yore,
Whose mingled types and tokens now depart
Since Thou of shadows perfect Substance art,—
God in our Flesh, Whom prostrate Worlds adore!
No wilful passion, strange or wild,
Faith's holy anchorite beguiled
Like stern Elijah,—girt with camel-hair
In rocky solitudes to hide and dwell
Far from the sway of home's domestic spell,
And build his being up to Virtue there.
Faith's holy anchorite beguiled
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In rocky solitudes to hide and dwell
Far from the sway of home's domestic spell,
And build his being up to Virtue there.
But, guided by the God within,
He battled with the world of sin
Lifting the banner of the Cross on high;
And utter'd forth with fearlessness sublime
Words which are trumpets in the ears of Time,—
“Creation! listen, for the Lord is nigh!”
He battled with the world of sin
Lifting the banner of the Cross on high;
And utter'd forth with fearlessness sublime
Words which are trumpets in the ears of Time,—
“Creation! listen, for the Lord is nigh!”
In John behold the hero-part!
No compromise could bend his heart:
When vice and villany rebuke deserved
He with undaunted brow and daring breath
Bore his true witness in the face of Death,—
By God inspir'd, and for His glory nerved.
No compromise could bend his heart:
When vice and villany rebuke deserved
He with undaunted brow and daring breath
Bore his true witness in the face of Death,—
By God inspir'd, and for His glory nerved.
And are not pulpits preaching-thrones
Where heaven-voiced Truth her function owns,—
To censure all which Church and Creed condemn?
Alas, for Discipline, if palsied mind
Become emasculate and o'er-refined,
And vice in torrents will not dare to stem!
Where heaven-voiced Truth her function owns,—
To censure all which Church and Creed condemn?
Alas, for Discipline, if palsied mind
Become emasculate and o'er-refined,
And vice in torrents will not dare to stem!
Bold in rebuke Saints cannot be
Till Error in their lives can see
Patterns, which give to precept all its grace;—
For words are weakness when they stand alone,
Without example to inspire their tone
With grander meaning than our guilt can face.
Till Error in their lives can see
Patterns, which give to precept all its grace;—
For words are weakness when they stand alone,
Without example to inspire their tone
With grander meaning than our guilt can face.
A Belial-heart from John may learn
Athletic virtues keen and stern,
And sainted hopes, serenely form'd for heaven:—
Lone as Elijah, far from home and pride
The flesh he tamed, self-will was crucified
And the whole man to prayer and pureness given.
Athletic virtues keen and stern,
And sainted hopes, serenely form'd for heaven:—
Lone as Elijah, far from home and pride
The flesh he tamed, self-will was crucified
And the whole man to prayer and pureness given.
Un-worldlike in the world to prove,—
Hard problem this, for highest love!
And, unresolved,—except by vestal souls
Who like incarnate angels can retain
Baptismal purity without a stain,
Keeping the covenant no flesh controls.
Hard problem this, for highest love!
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Who like incarnate angels can retain
Baptismal purity without a stain,
Keeping the covenant no flesh controls.
Not in the harsh and heedless crowd
Heaven's lulling tones can be allow'd
With inward melody the heart to fill;
There, fever'd passion with exciting sway
Frets the worn mind, and frights that Dove away
Whose wings are brooding o'er the Altar, still.
Heaven's lulling tones can be allow'd
With inward melody the heart to fill;
There, fever'd passion with exciting sway
Frets the worn mind, and frights that Dove away
Whose wings are brooding o'er the Altar, still.
Far from the strife of tongues, oh Lord!
Attract us by Thy teaching Word
To haunts of holiness and heavenly calm;
Where, sprinkled with the Blood of blest release,
Conscience is lull'd to everlasting peace
And bathes our being in celestial balm.
Attract us by Thy teaching Word
To haunts of holiness and heavenly calm;
Where, sprinkled with the Blood of blest release,
Conscience is lull'd to everlasting peace
And bathes our being in celestial balm.
Hail, solitude! true nurse of Saints,
The soul that in thy shadow faints
Can never like a second Baptist be—
A hero-spirit, unto whom was given
On earth to lead the angel-life of heaven
And starlike shrine through all eternity.
The soul that in thy shadow faints
Can never like a second Baptist be—
A hero-spirit, unto whom was given
On earth to lead the angel-life of heaven
And starlike shrine through all eternity.
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