The Sanctuary A Companion in Verse for the English Prayer Book. By Robert Montgomery |
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Offertory.
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 | The Sanctuary |  |
275
Offertory.
“Begin the Offertory.”
—Rubric.
When Death itself on Calv'ry died
Hosannah! wond'ring Angels cried
Who saw in that abyss of love
A Miracle unknown above,—
Hosannah! wond'ring Angels cried
Who saw in that abyss of love
A Miracle unknown above,—
God in depression!—'Twas a sight
Whose dreadful glories, over-bright,
Seem'd to appal their wing-veil'd eyes
As though the earth outshone the skies.
Whose dreadful glories, over-bright,
Seem'd to appal their wing-veil'd eyes
As though the earth outshone the skies.
Thus, mystic radiance robes the Cross,
And in the depths of Adam's loss
The Incarnation bids us see
All grace can do and God can be.
And in the depths of Adam's loss
The Incarnation bids us see
All grace can do and God can be.
But still in vain, with verbal glow
Mere lips of doctrine overflow,
If no true sacrifice can seal
By outward stamp our inward zeal.
Mere lips of doctrine overflow,
If no true sacrifice can seal
By outward stamp our inward zeal.
The christian Altar claims a trine
Of blended acts, in which combine
Forgiveness, charity, and gift,—
Which up to heaven the heart uplift.
Of blended acts, in which combine
Forgiveness, charity, and gift,—
Which up to heaven the heart uplift.
Alas for us, if formal grown,
A fast or sigh, or tears alone,
Be all th' oblations men can bring
Who call The Crucified their King!
A fast or sigh, or tears alone,
Be all th' oblations men can bring
Who call The Crucified their King!
Fasting and Alms,—between them stands
Devotion, when the mind expands,
And plumed on double wing would rise
To greet Her Master in the skies.
Devotion, when the mind expands,
And plumed on double wing would rise
To greet Her Master in the skies.
276
And did not He by Whom we live
Himself as passive off'ring give,
And bid us on His mystic shrine
Love-tokens lay of truth divine?
Himself as passive off'ring give,
And bid us on His mystic shrine
Love-tokens lay of truth divine?
Bright centre of consummate love!
Whence radiate to worlds above
Expressions of almighty grace
Eternity will not erase,—
Whence radiate to worlds above
Expressions of almighty grace
Eternity will not erase,—
Thou Cross! the crest of Calvary,
Religion moves and breathes in Thee;
And they are mockers dead and cold
Who do not in Thy light behold
Religion moves and breathes in Thee;
And they are mockers dead and cold
Who do not in Thy light behold
A Model and a Motive pure,
Of sin and self the perfect cure,—
Transforming with a spell divine
The hearts which rest, oh Lord! on Thine.
Of sin and self the perfect cure,—
Transforming with a spell divine
The hearts which rest, oh Lord! on Thine.
And days have bloom'd, when such the zeal
Enrapt adorers lov'd to feel,
That jewell'd vestments rich and rare,
Charters and Deeds, combined with prayer,
Enrapt adorers lov'd to feel,
That jewell'd vestments rich and rare,
Charters and Deeds, combined with prayer,
And Lands and Rev'nues,—all encrown'd
The christian Altar, and around
The central Presence of The Lord
A wealth of boundless worship pour'd.
The christian Altar, and around
The central Presence of The Lord
A wealth of boundless worship pour'd.
But times prevail, when lip and life,
To God reveal an impious strife;
The first,—celestial in its tone,
The last,—is self, and self alone!
To God reveal an impious strife;
The first,—celestial in its tone,
The last,—is self, and self alone!
Blest Giver of enlarging grace
Regenerate the human race;
And on Thy Cross, before we die
Our earth-chain'd feelings crucify,
Regenerate the human race;
And on Thy Cross, before we die
Our earth-chain'd feelings crucify,
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Till body soul and spirit be
A holocaust of love to Thee,
While soaring prayers like incense rise
To consecrate the sacrifice.
A holocaust of love to Thee,
While soaring prayers like incense rise
To consecrate the sacrifice.
| The Sanctuary | |