The Purification of St. Mary the Virgin.

HYMN LXXX.

“BLEST are the pure in heart,
For they shall see our God;
The secret of the Lord is theirs,
Their soul is Christ's abode.”

Might mortal thought presume
To guess an angel's lay,

Such are the notes that echo through
The courts of Heaven to-day.

Such the triumphal hymns

On Sion's Prince that wait,
In high procession passing on
Towards his temple-gate.

His throne, thy bosom blest,

O mother undefiled

That throne, if aught beneath the skies,

Beseems the sinless Child.

Wide open from that hour

The temple-gates are set,

And still the saints rejoicing there

The holy Child have met.

Still to the lowly soul

He doth himself impart,

And for his cradle and his throne
Chooseth the pure in heart.

Saint Matthias's Day.

HYMN LXXXI.

THE highest and the holiest place
Guards not the heart from sin;
The church that safest seems without,
May harbour foes within.

Thus in the small and chosen band

Beloved above the rest, One fell from his apostleship,

A traitor-soul unblest.

But not the great designs of God

Man's sin shall overthrow; Another witness to the truth

Forth to the lands shall go.

Righteous, O Lord, are all thy ways; Long as the worlds endure,

From foes without and foes within

Thy Church shall stand secure ;

112 THE ANNUNCIATION of the blessed vikGIN.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die ;

But thine shall never fail ;

The word of grace no less shall sound,
The truth no less prevail.

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin

Mary.

HYMN LXXXII.

THE first sad hours of shame

One promise bright bestow;
The woman's seed shall rise at length,
And bruise the deadly foe.

Where sin abounded once,

Grace shall abound much more;
Woman, the first gave ear to sin,
The great Redeemer bore.

Blest was her favoured womb,
Happy her sacred breast;
The sojourn of the Lord of life,
And where his lips were prest.

But doubly blest are they

Who hear and keep his will;
In them by faith is Jesus formed,
And dwells within them still.

And still the gracious words

To each believer sound;

"Hail, highly-favoured; with the Lord Thou hast acceptance found."

Saint Philip and Saint James's Day.

PSALM CXIII.-Ver. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

WITH GLORIA PATRI.

YE saints and servants of the Lord,
The triumphs of his name record;
His sacred name for ever bless.
Where'er the circling sun displays
His rising beams, or setting rays,
Due praise to his great name address.

God through the world extends his sway,
The regions of eternal day

But shadows of his glory are.

With Him, whose majesty excels,

Who made the heav'n in which He dwells,

Let no created power compare.

To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
The God whom heaven's triumphant host,

And suffering saints on earth adore,

Be glory; as in ages past,

As now it is, and so shall last,

When time itself must be no more.

Saint Barnabas the Apostle.

HYMN LXXXIV.

FATHER of mercies, in thy word
What endless glory shines;
For ever be thy name adored
For these celestial lines.

Here springs of consolation rise,
To cheer the fainting mind;
And thirsty souls receive supplies,
And sweet refreshment find.

O may these heavenly pages be
Our ever new delight,

And still fresh beauties may we see,
And still increasing light.

Divine instructor, gracious Lord,

Be Thou for ever near; Teach us to love thy sacred word, And find salvation there.