It is not my intention to dwell on the hymn writers of this period, as S. Gregory Nazianzen and S. Sophronius, because their works have not been employed in the Divine office, are merely an imitation of classical writers, and, however occasionally pretty, are not the stuff out of which Church song is made. There is but one writer in this epoch who gives spring-promise of the approaching summer, and that is S. Anatolius. $. Anatolius. d. 458. The first poet who emancipated himself from the tyranny of old laws-hence to be compared to Venantius Fortunatus in the West-and who boldly struck out the new path of harmonious prose, was S. Anatolius of Constantinople. His commencements were not promising. He had been apocrisiarius, or legate, from the arch-heretic Dioscorus, to the Emperor's Court: and at the death of S. Flavian, in consequence of the violence received in the "Robbers' Meeting" at Ephesus, A.D. 449, he was, by the influence of his Pontiff, raised to the vacant throne of Constantinople. He soon, however, vindicated his orthodoxy: and, in the Council of Chalcedon, he procured the enactment of the famous 28th Canon, by which, (in spite of all the efforts of Rome,) Constantinople was raised to the second place among Patriarchal Sees. Having governed his Church eight years in peace, he departed to his rest in A.D. 458. His compositions are not numerous, and are almost all short, but they are usually very spirited. STICHERA FOR A SUNDAY OF THE FIRST TONE. ζοφερᾶς τρικυμίας. Fierce was the wild billow; Peril was nigh; Then said the GOD of GOD, Ridge of the mountain-wave, Wail of Euroclydon, Be thou at rest! Peril can none be, Sorrow must fly, Where saith the Light of Light, "Peace! It is I!" JESU, Deliverer! Come Thou to me: Soothe Thou my voyaging Over Life's sea! Thou, when the storm of Death Roars, sweeping by, "Peace! It is I!" EVENING HYMN. τὴν ἡμέραν διελθών. This little hymn, which, I believe, is not used in the public service of the Church, is a great favourite in the Greek Isles. It is attributed to an Anatolius; and its evident antiquity may well lead to the belief that it is the work of our present author. It is to the scattered hamlets of Chios and Mitylene, what Bishop Ken's Evening Hymn is to the villages of our own land; and its melody is singularly plaintive and soothing. The day is past and over: All thanks, O LORD, to Thee! I pray Thee now, that sinless The hours of dark may be. O JESU! keep me in Thy sight, And save me through the coming night! The joys of day are over : The hours of dark may be. The toils of day are over : I raise the hymn to Thee; And ask that free from peril The hours of dark may be. O JESU! keep me in Thy sight, And guard me through the coming night! Lighten mine eyes, O SAVIOUR, "He could not make their darkness light, Nor guard them through the hours of night!" Be Thou my soul's preserver, O GOD! for Thou dost know How many are the perils Through which I have to go: Lover of men! O hear my call, And guard and save me from them all! |