'When all My FATHER'S glory Shall shine express'd in Me, Then praise Him, then exalt Him, For magnified is He!' Upon the Mount of Tabor The promise was made good; The Apostolic Three, Sang out to GOD their Saviour, In days of old, on Sinai, The LORD of Sabaoth came, In majesty of terror, In thunder-cloud and flame : On Tabor, with the glory Of sunniest light for vest, The excellence of beauty In JESUS was express'd. All hours and days inclin'd there, And did Thee worship meet; The sun himself adored Thee, And bow'd him at Thy feet: While Moses and Elias Upon the Holy Mount, The co-eternal glory Of CHRIST our GOD recount. O holy, wond'rous Vision! But what, when this life past, The beauty of Mount Tabor Shall end in Heav'n at last? But what, when all the glory Of uncreated light Shall be the promis'd guerdon Of them that win the fight? 3. Stephen the Sabaite. A.D. 725......A.D. 794. S. Stephen, called the Sabaïte, from the monastery of S. Sabas, was the nephew of S. John Damascene, who placed him in that house. He was then ten years of age: he passed fifty-nine years in that retreat; and was the earliest of the hymnographers who lived to see the final restoration of Icons. He has left but few poetical compositions. The two best are those on the Martyrs of the monastery of S. Sabas-(March 20)-on which a monk of that house would be likely to write con amore; and on the Circumcision. His style seems formed on that of S. Cosmas, rather than that of his own uncle. He is not deficient in elegance and richness of typology, but exhibits much of sameness, and is occasionally guilty of very hard metaphors, as when he speaks of "the circumcision of the tempest of our souls." He is commemorated on the 13th of July. IDIOMELA IN THE WEEK OF THE FIRST OBLIQUE TONE. These Stanzas, which strike me as very sweet, are not in all the editions of the Octoechus. κόπον τε καὶ κάματον. Art thou weary, art thou languid, Art thou sore distrest? "Come to Me"-saith One-" and coming, Be at rest!" Hath He marks to lead me to Him, If He be my Guide? "In His Feet and Hands are Wound-prints, And His Side." Is there Diadem, as Monarch, That His Brow adorns ? "Yea, a Crown, in very surety, But of Thorns!" If I find Him, if I follow, What His guerdon here? "Many a sorrow, many a labour, Many a tear." If I still hold closely to Him, "Sorrow vanquish'd, labour ended, If I ask Him to receive me, Will He say me nay? "Not till earth, and not till heaven Pass away!" Finding, following, keeping, struggling, Is He sure to bless ? 66 Angels, Martyrs, Prophets, Virgins, Answer, Yes!" |