Scriptural narratives of those passages in Our Blessed Lord's life and ministry, which are subjects of annual commemoration in the church preceded by preliminary notices of the days on which they are commemorated, and followed by reflexions and collects: adapted to the greater holydays of the United Church of England and Ireland; and designed, together with biographical notices of the apostles, evangelists, and other saints, to form a course of reading on all the holydays of the church. By Richard Mant |
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TUESDAY IN EASTER WEEK. |
 | Scriptural narratives of those passages in Our Blessed Lord's life and ministry, which are subjects of annual commemoration in the church |  |
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TUESDAY IN EASTER WEEK.
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I saw a vision! Through a dreary vale
Pass'd one of lowly semblance, weak and pale:
Thick clouds and darkness o'er his passage hung,
Thorns in his path his tender feet had wrung,
His cup was grief, his food affliction's bread,
It seem'd he had not where to lay his head;
And, as unkindness' bitter sting he bore,
Much was his body vex'd, his blameless spirit more.
Pass'd one of lowly semblance, weak and pale:
Thick clouds and darkness o'er his passage hung,
Thorns in his path his tender feet had wrung,
His cup was grief, his food affliction's bread,
It seem'd he had not where to lay his head;
And, as unkindness' bitter sting he bore,
Much was his body vex'd, his blameless spirit more.
Thus as midway through that drear vale he went,
A place I saw for sinners' punishment:
Straight, yelling crowds the harmless pilgrim bind,
To that sad place of guiltiness consign'd;
Crown him with thorns, and bow the scornful knee,
Strip, scourge, and nail him to a cursed tree,
Then give him o'er to suffering and to shame,
His limbs all marr'd with wounds, with blasphemy his name.
A place I saw for sinners' punishment:
Straight, yelling crowds the harmless pilgrim bind,
To that sad place of guiltiness consign'd;
Crown him with thorns, and bow the scornful knee,
Strip, scourge, and nail him to a cursed tree,
Then give him o'er to suffering and to shame,
His limbs all marr'd with wounds, with blasphemy his name.
Yet were there some, who, as he pass'd along,
Heard with delight the dictates of his tongue;
Mark'd what he did, and all his doings bless'd,
With reverence tended, and with love caress'd;
Poor though he were, obedient to his call
To share his poverty forsook their all;
Or to his wants, still following where he led,
Of their world's substance gladly ministred.
Heard with delight the dictates of his tongue;
Mark'd what he did, and all his doings bless'd,
With reverence tended, and with love caress'd;
Poor though he were, obedient to his call
To share his poverty forsook their all;
Or to his wants, still following where he led,
Of their world's substance gladly ministred.
And some there were, who, when that ruthless crew
To his last stage the patient victim drew,
His steps with zeal that falter'd not pursued,
And smote their bosoms as from far they view'd:
And some who closer to that cursed tree
Press'd with mute grief his sinking form to see,
Caught the last words his parting spirit gave,
And laid the lifeless corse with honour in the grave.
To his last stage the patient victim drew,
His steps with zeal that falter'd not pursued,
And smote their bosoms as from far they view'd:
And some who closer to that cursed tree
Press'd with mute grief his sinking form to see,
Caught the last words his parting spirit gave,
And laid the lifeless corse with honour in the grave.
I saw a vision! On a rainbow throne,
Bright as a jasper or a sardine stone,
Sate one of passing splendour, passing might;
His crown was glory, and his robe was light:
To swell his pomp were countless angels there,
And countless men his high decree to share.
Power flash'd in beams of radiance from his eye,
And a dread name inscrib'd his vesture and his thigh.
Bright as a jasper or a sardine stone,
Sate one of passing splendour, passing might;
His crown was glory, and his robe was light:
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And countless men his high decree to share.
Power flash'd in beams of radiance from his eye,
And a dread name inscrib'd his vesture and his thigh.
That name (I read it) told the owner's right,
Supreme dominion, kingship infinite:
That eye—no need was there of other fire
To do his pleasure, and to wreak his ire.
Thrill'd through and through his foes its sharpness felt,
They sink: like wax before the flame they melt:
“Shield us, ye hills,” I heard their panick call,
“To save us from his wrath, on us, ye mountains, fall!”
Supreme dominion, kingship infinite:
That eye—no need was there of other fire
To do his pleasure, and to wreak his ire.
Thrill'd through and through his foes its sharpness felt,
They sink: like wax before the flame they melt:
“Shield us, ye hills,” I heard their panick call,
“To save us from his wrath, on us, ye mountains, fall!”
But were there none, who in that radiant eye
Might other signs of fairer omen spy,
And mark its rays of healing light declare
The royal claim to pity and to spare?
There were, there were: I see them bending meek
Before that rainbow throne; I hear them speak
With lifted hand, and supplicating tone
Of faith and humble hope to Him who sits thereon:
Might other signs of fairer omen spy,
And mark its rays of healing light declare
The royal claim to pity and to spare?
There were, there were: I see them bending meek
Before that rainbow throne; I hear them speak
With lifted hand, and supplicating tone
Of faith and humble hope to Him who sits thereon:
I hear the answer of a gracious voice,
Which bids their hearts take comfort and rejoice:
“Well was it done, that in my cause ye strove!
Come, blessed children of my Father's love!
For me ye suffer'd, and with me ye wept,
My footsteps follow'd, and my sayings kept.
Behold, a princely guerdon is your due:
For you are thrones ordain'd, and crowns are wreath'd for you!”
Which bids their hearts take comfort and rejoice:
“Well was it done, that in my cause ye strove!
Come, blessed children of my Father's love!
For me ye suffer'd, and with me ye wept,
My footsteps follow'd, and my sayings kept.
Behold, a princely guerdon is your due:
For you are thrones ordain'd, and crowns are wreath'd for you!”
True are the visions, scorning fiction's aid,
In sober characters of truth array'd.
The portrait twofold, but the Person one,
Who trod the valley, and who fill'd the throne.
Turn the recording page of times gone by,
And there portray'd “the man of grief” descry:
Him, in the scroll of times to come enroll'd,
The same “the King of Kings and Lord of Lords” behold!
In sober characters of truth array'd.
The portrait twofold, but the Person one,
Who trod the valley, and who fill'd the throne.
Turn the recording page of times gone by,
And there portray'd “the man of grief” descry:
Him, in the scroll of times to come enroll'd,
The same “the King of Kings and Lord of Lords” behold!
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He thought not scorn, for man's distemper'd race
The vale of tears, a pilgrim mean, to pace:
He thought not robbery, to claim again
By birth his own hereditary reign.
Hear, when I call thee, Jesu, name ador'd!
Son of the Father, universal Lord!
Spare, spare thy suppliant, mildly speak his doom,
My Saviour, God and man! my King, and Judge to come!
The vale of tears, a pilgrim mean, to pace:
He thought not robbery, to claim again
By birth his own hereditary reign.
Hear, when I call thee, Jesu, name ador'd!
Son of the Father, universal Lord!
Spare, spare thy suppliant, mildly speak his doom,
My Saviour, God and man! my King, and Judge to come!
| Scriptural narratives of those passages in Our Blessed Lord's life and ministry, which are subjects of annual commemoration in the church | |