Prime.

Fam lucis orto sidere.

The star of morn to night succeeds;
We therefore meekly pray,

May God, in all our words and deeds,
Keep us from harm this day:
May he in love restrain us still
From tones of strife and words of ill,

And wrap around and close our eyes
To earth's absorbing vanities.

May wrath, and thoughts that gender shame
Ne'er in our breasts abide ;
And cheerful abstinences tame
Of wanton flesh the pride:
So, when the weary day is o'er,

And night and stillness come once more,
Strong in self-conquering purity,

We may proclaim, with choirs on high :
Praise to the Father, as is meet,
Praise to the only Son,

Praise to the holy Paraclete,

While endless ages run.

Terce.

Cardinal Newman.

Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus.

Come, Holy Ghost, who ever One
Reignest with Father and with Son;
It is the hour, our souls possess
With thy full flood of holiness.

Let flesh and heart and lips and mind
Sound forth our witness to mankind;
And love light up our mortal frame,
Till others catch the living flame,
Now to the Father, to the Son
And to the Spirit, Three in One,

Be praise and thanks and glory given
By men on earth, by saints in heaven.

Sext.

Cardinal Newman.

Rector potens, verax Deus.

O God, who canst not change nor fail,
Guiding the hours, as they roll by,
Brightening with beams the morning pale,
And burning in the mid-day sky,
Quench thou the fires of hate and strife,
The wasting fever of the heart;
From perils guard our feeble life,
And to our souls thy peace impart.
Grant this, O Father, only Son
And Holy Spirit, God of grace,
To whom all glory, Three in One,
Be given in every time and place.

None.

Cardinal Newman.

Rerum Deus tenax vigor.

O God, unchangeable and true,
Of all the life and power,
Dispensing light in silence through
Every successive hour.

Lord, brighten our declining day,

That it may never wane,

Till death, when all things round decay,
Brings back the morn again.

This grace on thy redeemed confer,

Father, co-equal Son

And Holy Ghost, the Comforter,

Eternal Three in One.

Vespers.

Cardinal Newman.

Lucis creator optime.

Father of lights, by whom each day

Is kindled out of night,

Who, when the heavens were made, didst lay Their rudiments in light;

Thou, who didst bind and blend in one

The glistening morn and evening pale, Hear thou our plaint, when light is gone, And lawlessness and strife prevail. Hear, lest the whelming weight of crime Wreck us with life in view;

Lest thoughts and schemes of sense and time
Earn us a sinner's due :

So may we knock at heaven's door,
And strive the immortal prize to win,
Continually and evermore

Guarded without and pure within.

Grant this, O Father, only Son
And Spirit, God of grace,

To whom all worship shall be done

In every time and place.

Compline.

Cardinal Newman.

Te lucis ante terminum.

Now that the daylight dies away,
By all thy grace and love,
Thee, maker of the world, we pray
To watch our bed above.

Let dreams depart and phantoms fly,
The offspring of the night;

Keep us, like shrines, beneath thine eye,

Pure in our foe's despite.

This grace on thy redeemed confer,

Father, co-equal Son

And Holy Ghost, the Comforter,

Eternal Three in One.

Cardinal Newman.

Easter.

First Week.

Ad regias Agni dapes.

SING, for the dark Red Sea is past,
The Lamb's high feast is won at last ;
In snow-white stoles to Christ our king
Loud paschal alleluias sing.

Victim and priest-his flesh our food,
The chalice crowned with his dear blood;
His love divine, in death made known,
That royal feast for us hath won.

Of old the avenging angel fled
The blood upon the lintel spread,
For Israel's sons the waves divide,
Closed o'er their foes the refluent tide.

The Church this day in heavenlier strain
Hymns the true paschal victim slain,
Pure bread of truth to pure souls given,
The unleavened bread that came from heaven.

Hail, heavenly victim, Lord of life,

True conqueror in the unearthly strife,

True Lord of life's unfailing crown,

Whom death and hell their sovereign own.

See, Christ his spoils victorious show,

The rebel host in chains laid low;
Dragged to the portals of the sky,
See, hell's dark king a captive lie.

O Christ, from death of sin set free
The sons of life new-born to thee,
So, on our inmost souls shalt thou
Unceasing paschal joy bestow.

Father of heaven, all praise to thee;
To Jesus risen all glory be ;
Dread Paraclete, to thee we raise

Through endless years the song of praise.

Chorus nova Hierusalem.

H. N. Oxenham.

Jerusalem, thy song be new,
To-day a gladlier strain is due ;
Let chastened joy in floods descend
The paschal morning to befriend.
Lion of Judah, ere this hour

Rising, thou break'dst the serpent's power;
Ere light be born, thy voice so clear
Those saved from death shall joyous hear.

Hell yields his prey he held amain,
And those he snared are freed again;
In willing thraldom, bound by love,
Onwards as Jesus' band they move.

His triumph all in splendour is,
Passing the heart's best ecstasies,
Of earth and yon bright heaven to come
He makes one commonwealth, one home.
To him as soldiers all belong,

Blend we a lowly prayer with song,
That in his palace wondrous bright
The king may place us in his sight.

Through ages that a goal have none
To Father homage shall be done,
To Son and Spirit honour be,
And equal praise eternally.

Lord Braye