It ends with never-ending Grace,
And never-ending Prayer,
Which Thou, our Everlasting PRIEST,
Art offering for us There!

Praise to the FATHER and the SON,
The Spotless SACRIFICE,

And praise be to the HOLY GHOST-
To GOD the only Wise! Amen.

194

[Commemoration of Evangelists.

Evening.

BEHOLD! the messengers of CHRIST

In words celestial trace

The hidden Mysteries of GOD,

The Secrets of His Grace.

The things, through mists and shadows dim,

By elder Prophets seen,

In the full light of day they saw,

With not a cloud between.

What CHRIST, true Man, divinely wrought,

What GOD in Manhood bore,

They write, as GOD inspired, in words

That live for evermore.

One HOLY SPIRIT rules them all,

For He to each was near;

To us by them That SPIRIT Speaks,
His Voice in them we hear.

O HOLY SPIRIT! Who to man

Those Words of Truth didst give,
Thy Truth incite us to receive,
And by its rules to live!

To GOD the Blessed THREE in ONE,
Be glory, praise, and might,

Who called us from the shades of Death,
To His own glorious Light! Amen.

195

[Commemoration of Evangelists.

Evening.

COME pure hearts, in sweetest measures
Sing of those who spread the treasures
In the Holy Gospels shrined!
Blessed tidings of Salvation,

Peace on earth, their proclamation,
Love from GOD to lost Mankind.

See the Rivers four that gladden
With their streams the better Eden

Planted by our LORD most dear!
CHRIST the Fountain-these the waters!
Drink, O Sion's sons and daughters,
Drink and find Salvation here!

O, that we Thy Truth confessing,
And Thy Holy Word possessing,
JESU, may Thy love adore!

Unto Thee our voices raising,

Thee, with all Thy Ransomed, praising

Ever and for evermore. Amen.

196

[Commemoration of Evangelists.

Evening.

HERALDS of CHRIST to every age,
Who wide the Gospel page,

open

Unfolding all the wondrous plan
Of love Divine to sinful man!

The mysteries, which beneath the law
The Holy Prophets dimly saw,

Ye have beheld in open day;

For CHRIST removes these shades away.

The woes He bore, the words He taught,
The wondrous miracles He wrought,

All this ye wrote as GoD decreed,
That ages yet unborn might read.

The HOLY SPIRIT was your Guide;
On Him your faithful minds relied;
O! may that SPIRIT still be given

To teach our hearts the laws of Heaven!

Now praise the FATHER, praise the SON,
Who Victory over Death hath won!
And to the SPIRIT praise be given

By all on Earth and all in Heaven! Amen.

197

[Beheading of St. John Baptist.

Morning.

O GOD, Thy soldiers' Crown and Guard
And their exceeding great Reward!
From all transgressions set us free,
Who sing Thy martyr's victory.

The pleasures of the world he spurned
From sin's pernicious lures he turned;
He knew their joys imbued with gall,
And thus he reached Thy Heavenly Hall.

For Thee through many a woe he ran,
In many a fight he played the man;
For Thee his blood he dared to pour,
And thence hath joy for evermore.

We therefore pray Thee, full of Love,
Regard us from Thy Throne above:
On this Thy martyr's Triumph-day
Wash
stain of sin away!

every

All praise to GOD the FATHER be,
All praise Eternal SON to Thee;
Whom with the SPIRIT we adore
For ever and for evermore!

Amen.

198 [St. John the Evangelist before the Latin Gate.

AN Exile for the Faith

Of his Incarnate LORD,

Morning.

Beyond the stars, beyond all space,

His soul in vision soared.

There saw in glory Him

Who liveth and was dead,

There Judah's Lion, and the Lamb
Who for our ransom bled.

There of the Kingdom learnt

The mysteries sublime,

How, sown in Martyrs' blood, the Faith
Should spread from clime to clime.

But first, in heart and will,

He earned the Martyr's palm,
Endured the caldron and the flame
With resignation calm.

LORD give us grace, like him

In Thee to live and die,

To spurn the fleeting things of earth

And look for joys on high.

JESU our Risen LORD

We praise Thee and adore,

Who art with GOD the FATHER, ONE,

And SPIRIT evermore. Amen.