The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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Saint Andrew's Day.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
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Saint Andrew's Day.
“Jesus ------ saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, and he saith ------ Follow me.”
—Gospel for the Day.
The world knows least its greatest men,
Their records are on high,
But where they liv'd, or, how and when
They laid them down to die,
Rests oft conceal'd from that recording fame
Blind earth-gods call the glory of a name.
Their records are on high,
But where they liv'd, or, how and when
They laid them down to die,
Rests oft conceal'd from that recording fame
Blind earth-gods call the glory of a name.
And in this dwells a wisdom deep
To solemnise our thought,—
A truth which bids Ambition weep
If we have basely wrought:
For, crowns and conquests God's elect despise,
Whose angel-worth seems copied from the skies.
To solemnise our thought,—
A truth which bids Ambition weep
If we have basely wrought:
For, crowns and conquests God's elect despise,
Whose angel-worth seems copied from the skies.
Thus holds it with that Saint who came
To Jesu's village-home,
The first that bore disciple's name
And bade his brother come
Like him, to gaze upon the Lamb of God
And follow where His guiding footsteps trod;
To Jesu's village-home,
The first that bore disciple's name
And bade his brother come
Like him, to gaze upon the Lamb of God
And follow where His guiding footsteps trod;
Since o'er that night a veil is thrown,
Screening in silence there
All which Tradition would have known
Of penitence and prayer,—
Of calm enquiry, or celestial word
That thrill'd St. Andrew, by devotion stirr'd.
Screening in silence there
All which Tradition would have known
Of penitence and prayer,—
Of calm enquiry, or celestial word
That thrill'd St. Andrew, by devotion stirr'd.
Yes, he who was the primal guest
Beneath Messiah's roof,
By whom enquiring Greeks were blest
(While others shrank aloof)
In seeing Jesus on that festal day
When pilgrims sought old Salem's walls to pray,—
Beneath Messiah's roof,
226
(While others shrank aloof)
In seeing Jesus on that festal day
When pilgrims sought old Salem's walls to pray,—
Is fameless in the roll of men!
Nor on God's mystic page
Mark we his shadow rise again
For musing saint or sage,
Except to bring a lone and shrinking “lad”
Blent with the crowd, who loaves and fishes had,
Nor on God's mystic page
Mark we his shadow rise again
For musing saint or sage,
Except to bring a lone and shrinking “lad”
Blent with the crowd, who loaves and fishes had,
Before his Lord,—that Christ might feed
By miracle the host.
Thus learn we what the wisest need
And angels value most,—
How oft the nearest unto heaven are those
Of whom the loud-voic'd world but little knows!
By miracle the host.
Thus learn we what the wisest need
And angels value most,—
How oft the nearest unto heaven are those
Of whom the loud-voic'd world but little knows!
Poor victims they of time and sense,
Whose glories must arise
From what mere lips of clay dispense
Or lauding sinners prize!—
How can the wisdom which is born of earth
Weigh the true measures of immortal worth?
Whose glories must arise
From what mere lips of clay dispense
Or lauding sinners prize!—
How can the wisdom which is born of earth
Weigh the true measures of immortal worth?
Oh rather, like St. Andrew, be
By secret virtue great;
Resign'd, if God reserve for thee
That first Disciple's fate,—
In exiled loneliness to preach and die
And mount to glory on the martyr's sigh.
By secret virtue great;
Resign'd, if God reserve for thee
That first Disciple's fate,—
In exiled loneliness to preach and die
And mount to glory on the martyr's sigh.
Lord of our souls! by this we find
'Tis not through outward fame
The moral saviours of mankind
Eternalise their name;
Since oft in secrecy of love retir'd,
For heaven they toil, by heaven alone inspired.
'Tis not through outward fame
The moral saviours of mankind
Eternalise their name;
Since oft in secrecy of love retir'd,
For heaven they toil, by heaven alone inspired.
Far from the rush of public strife
In hearts and homes serene,
The hidden and the heavenly life
Of Saints hath ever been
That salient impulse, on whose virtue wait
The master-elements of Church and State.
In hearts and homes serene,
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Of Saints hath ever been
That salient impulse, on whose virtue wait
The master-elements of Church and State.
Nor may we mourn because our God
Thus for high worth decreed,
That Minds who most this way have trod
And lessen'd mortal need
Should often vanish into fameless gloom,—
Unheard their country, and unknown their tomb.
Thus for high worth decreed,
That Minds who most this way have trod
And lessen'd mortal need
Should often vanish into fameless gloom,—
Unheard their country, and unknown their tomb.
But rather let disciples learn
To conquer self and sin;
And thus a higher law discern
By which our souls begin
To work like Angels, who in secret move
On countless errands of celestial Love.
To conquer self and sin;
And thus a higher law discern
By which our souls begin
To work like Angels, who in secret move
On countless errands of celestial Love.
True glory is what God decrees,
By faith's obedience done;
While they, who earth-blind man would please,
Forget that awful One
Who wrapt his Godhead in a robe of clay
And died in darkness from the earth away!
By faith's obedience done;
While they, who earth-blind man would please,
Forget that awful One
Who wrapt his Godhead in a robe of clay
And died in darkness from the earth away!
| The Sanctuary | |