Glory to Father, Son, And Spirit-Eternal Three in One. Lo! this the stedfast creed we bring Drawn from high Heaven's eternal spring. THE INNOCENTS' DAY. AT MIDNIGHT. Suffer little children to come unto Me; for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.-MATT. xix. "Salvete flores martyrum." LITTLE flowers of martyrdom, Whom the ruthless sword hath torn, On the threshold of the morn, Rosebuds by the whirlwind shorn! All regardless of their doom, 'Neath the altar where they lay, Tyrant, what avails their tomb? Thus the type of Him to come, Restorer of lost Israel, Moses 'scaped the tyrant fell, Jesu, born of Virgin's womb, AT MIDNIGHT. They serve God day and night in His temple: they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.-REV. vii. "Molles in agnos ceu lupus." As the wolf in fierceness sore Falls on lambs o'er fold and fence, And the cradles flow with gore- H Mourning mothers, weep no more! Virgin-born whom we adore, ON THE CIRCUMCISION. AT THE FIRST VESPERS. What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.-ROM. viii. "Debilis cessent elementa legis." YE legal elements, Your clouds of fear remove, That Christ may come forth to dispense The eternal law of love. True sun without a cloud, O'er heav'nly heights He trod; Already stain'd with blood, The signs of sin He feels, That precious drop which now hath flow'd |