The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Day.
|
 | The Sanctuary |  |
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Day.
“Then shall be said the Collect of the day. And immediately after,
the Priest shall read the Epistle ------ then shall be read the Gospel.”
—Rubric.
Scripture, the spirit,—form the Church imparts
Of true religion to baptisèd hearts
Who on her creed and counsel live,
And aye with filial rev'rence give
Both faith and feeling to that watchful care,—
Whether we soar on praise, or sink in contrite prayer.
Of true religion to baptisèd hearts
Who on her creed and counsel live,
And aye with filial rev'rence give
Both faith and feeling to that watchful care,—
Whether we soar on praise, or sink in contrite prayer.
271
Thus at the Altar by maternal voice
She warns her children; and with trembling choice
A threefold spell electeth now
To bring upon the heart and brow
Solemnity,—which marks each awing word
Wafted from lips ordain'd in Thy blest Name Oh Lord!
She warns her children; and with trembling choice
A threefold spell electeth now
To bring upon the heart and brow
Solemnity,—which marks each awing word
Wafted from lips ordain'd in Thy blest Name Oh Lord!
Coëval with past Liturgies whose tone
Breathes a pure strain Apostles seem to own,—
Is that dread Rite wherein we learn
Myst'ries divine, which saints discern
Who on that sacrifice by faith can feed
Where Christ himself becomes the Nourishment they need.
Breathes a pure strain Apostles seem to own,—
Is that dread Rite wherein we learn
Myst'ries divine, which saints discern
Who on that sacrifice by faith can feed
Where Christ himself becomes the Nourishment they need.
Thus did the Jew his paschal feast partake
And into worship grateful mem'ry wake
By reading—how the Angel swept
O'er Egypt's clime, and safely kept
Beneath his plumes in that passover-flight
The blood-saved host of God, whom heaven preserved by night.
And into worship grateful mem'ry wake
By reading—how the Angel swept
O'er Egypt's clime, and safely kept
Beneath his plumes in that passover-flight
The blood-saved host of God, whom heaven preserved by night.
And, like the mission'd Seventy, who were sent
To herald forth the great Omnipotent,
Select Epistles now declare
His Advent; and the heart prepare
By truths and tones which harbinger the way
For that Incarnate Love which feeds our souls to-day.
To herald forth the great Omnipotent,
Select Epistles now declare
His Advent; and the heart prepare
By truths and tones which harbinger the way
For that Incarnate Love which feeds our souls to-day.
Now, “Glory be to Thee and Thine, O Lord,”
Such be that strain through all our temples pour'd!—
A God in language cometh He
Whose Gospel breathes of Deity,
Where not a syllable but burns and glows
With that celestial might His majesty bestows.
Such be that strain through all our temples pour'd!—
A God in language cometh He
Whose Gospel breathes of Deity,
Where not a syllable but burns and glows
With that celestial might His majesty bestows.
And let adoring myriads at the sound
Rise with due awe; and while the aisles rebound
With choral echoes loud and long,
Still may consenting hearts prolong
That laud of glory unto Jesu given,—
Throned in our temples now, as truly as in heaven.
Rise with due awe; and while the aisles rebound
With choral echoes loud and long,
Still may consenting hearts prolong
272
Throned in our temples now, as truly as in heaven.
By gesture thus we symbolise to man
Far as mere body unto spirit can,
Both rev'rent mind and ready will
Our Lord to worship, and fulfil
His kingly precepts with heroic zeal
Whatever be that doom the royal Law reveal.
Far as mere body unto spirit can,
Both rev'rent mind and ready will
Our Lord to worship, and fulfil
His kingly precepts with heroic zeal
Whatever be that doom the royal Law reveal.
A verbal eucharist are words divine
Whose depths a sacramental God enshrine;
And hence those hearts can inly feed
And satisfy immortal need,
Who in such paschal food of language share
Realities which prove Emanuel present there.
Whose depths a sacramental God enshrine;
And hence those hearts can inly feed
And satisfy immortal need,
Who in such paschal food of language share
Realities which prove Emanuel present there.
| The Sanctuary | |