The Sanctuary :: :: University of Virginia Library

Hymns rise from earth, and from the God-made Sea
Hosannah! cry the conscious waves to Thee,
Lord of the living world! whose word Divine
Decreed creation to become a Shrine.

Sun, moon, and planet, to a priestly heart,
In this vast worship take a beauteous part,
While mystic cadence from each starry lyre
Joins the full chorus which Thy works inspire.

And from that realm, where Providence for man
Unfolds high purpose, and pursues each plan,
And through the windings of our mortal will
Rules o'er each way, but leaves it freedom, still,—

Comes a true Voice, whose many-toned appeal
O'er the deep conscience must divinely steal,
Telling of goodness, wisdom, and the power
That leads the marches of each moving Hour.

But, eloquent beyond all earth-breathed voice,
Sweeter than melody to minstrel-choice,
Is thine, thou Mother of the Spirit-born!
Heard in the quiet eve, or waking morn.

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Voice of the Church! through eighteen hundred years
Rolling thy summons high o'er human fears,
Thy deepen'd echoes, with undying play,
Prolong that promise, “Heaven shall pass away

But I am with you!”—Lord of Truth and Time!
Thy word is certain, and our creed sublime,—
That power and permanence, and peace and grace
Claim Thy one Church to be their dwelling-place.

Ps. xcv. 5.

Rev. iv. 11.

Ps. cxl. 5.

Second Sunday in Advent.

“With one mind and one mouth glorify God.” —Epistle for the Day.

Oh, speak to Man, that Man to Thee may speak
Thy sentences of calm,
Spirit! from Whom the wounded and the weak
Derive celestial balm:
For, taught by Thee, the Church prepares,
As martyr'd Cyprian's voice declares,
Themes of pure wisdom, comfort, help, and aid,
Ere Worship be with echoing words array'd.

E'en the blind Jew, in Synagogues of prayer,
Ponder'd, before he spoke,
Stood like embodied silence there,
And then, devotion broke
Forth from his lips, in words which rose
To that true God his fathers chose:
Thus may he teach Irreverence an awe
For worship deeper than the Levite saw.

And, our own Mother, ere the full-voiced tide
Of blending homage rolls,
Her Children hath preluding tones supplied
To harmonise their souls;

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And from that Harp of holy thought,—
Scripture, with heaven's own music fraught—
Borrows whate'er can soothe the awe-struck mind
While God in words descends to teach mankind.

With foot unsandal'd, thus the Temple seek;
God dwells on holy ground!
In Whose dread Courts the mighty are the meek
By faith of self uncrowned:
And, while the wafted chimes are pealing,
From the thrilled air descends a feeling,
A creed of Sentiment, which seems to say,—
Heaven brightens earth, when souls begin to pray.

Cyp. de Orat. Dom.

Third Sunday in Advent.

“Grant that the ministers and stewards of Thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready Thy way.” —Collect for the Day.

Alone God spans the gulph 'tween sin and God,—
Then, Lord of Worlds! how far are we
From that true path by sainted Martyrs trod,
Whose radiance was eternity;—
By nature and by act, emotion, will, and thought
Each on his ruin'd soul Thy righteous Ban hath brought!

Contrite and calm, yet, in the lowest dust
Of piercing anguish, stern and deep,
Children of guilt, with o'erawed grief we must
Our sin lament, and inly weep,
To think what distance lies between the soul, and Him
Around Whose glory-shrine bend wing-veil'd Seraphim.

Jesu forbid! impetuous Man should dare
Enter with harsh or hasty feet
Temples, where God and Angels hear each prayer
Offer'd before Thy mercy-seat:

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For, if the crystal heavens before Thee stand unclean,
What but Omniscience knows, how black some hearts have been?

Incarnate Mercy! ere to Thee we raise
The mind, on soaring wings of speech,
Oh, teach us how to introvert our gaze,
And thus, the hidden conscience reach;
While thrill'd devotion hears, all prayerfully intense,
Those echoes of Thy Heart celestial words dispense.

And, with pure wisdom's providential skill,
Our ancient Mother in the Lord
Doth for the soul Her teaching work fulfil
By due gradations of the Word—
Liturgically plann'd, to guide and govern all
Who in her creeds and chants on thron'd Emanuel call.

Luke xvi. 26.

Is. vi. 2.

Fourth Sunday in Advent.

“With great might succour us; ------ through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered.” —Collect for the Day.

Lord of the Church! Thy priestly word
By Thee commission'd, charged, and blest,—
Grant, we may hear it; and, compunction-stirr'd,
Under the Cross have guilt confest.

None but the damn'd should cease to pray;
Crime may be hid, but not subdued;
E'en now, rehearsals of the Judgment-day
Enacted are, in solitude.

But, might we to that dread Assize
In secrecy of sin depart,
Myriads of Worlds, with their concenter'd eyes,
At length must read Man's open heart!

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In light unroll'd, and read aloud,—
Who can anticipate their cry
When all which earth commits of unavow'd
First rolls along the list'ning Sky!

Atoning Priest, triumphant Lord,
Historian of the heart alone,
Prostrate beneath the radiance of Thy Word
Now to the sinner let himself be shown.

Confession is Thy law of grace;
Without it, vain are sighs and tears;
And, pardonless, oh! who can meet that Face
Whose frowns are darker than our fears?

Long 'ere the summon'd dead awake,
Let penitence and prayer disclose
Those voiceless burdens which from conscience take
The calm, which Absolution knows.

Wash'd into whiteness by that Blood
Which streams from God's incarnate Son,—
Thus only, have the Lord's elect withstood
Terrors, that rise from hell begun!

So hear we, then, that voice of Love
Whose accents are of Cross, and Crown;
And while, faith-wing'd, we soar to Christ above,
Be ev'ry tower of Self cast down.

Pardon is peace; but, peace retires
To guiltless hearts absolved for heaven;
And, he who most to purity aspires,
Will find it in that word,—“forgiven.”

Jeremiah xvii. 20.

Matthew ix. 20.