THE SOUL'S AFFIANCE IN THE
DIVINE LORD

Whom have E in Heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth E desire in comparison of Thee

FAIRER than the sons of men, long, long since seen by mortal eyes,-O holiest Love, now high enthroned, by pure trembling spirits ceaselessly adored, God of God, Light of Light, Master, Lord, to Thee I cry. My soul fleeth unto Thee.

Taught by those who knew the power of Thy coming, and were eye-witnesses of Thy majesty, I have learned the wondrous history of Thy life, while yet Thou didst teach in the courts of Thy Father's house, and didst walk over the slopes of Olivet; and still for me Thou speakest words of life by Thy dearest of the mighty Twelve.

And I know Thou art the same Lord, Whose property is ever to have mercy.

The eyes that wept over the Holy City are not hidden away from us. Still from the throne of Thy glory, Thou, God Incarnate, seest us, as we groan, being burdened; still Thou readest the heart's unspoken desire; still Thou needest not that any man should teach Thee. . . . . Thou listenest long, O gentle Master, for the sighing of

one contrite heart: Thou waitest to be gracious, seeking love.

And we worship Thy Name, not Thy fairest works, not Thy mighty sacraments, not the holy flock of Angels that never strayed from Thee, not the Virgin Mother, not Thy blessed Saints,-but Thyself in Thy supreme majesty, O Lord Jesu, true God and Man, Who died, yea, rather, Who art risen again, in Whom also we are builded together as an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Thou fillest all holy places with an equal splendour; there art manifest, though not unto the world. There is set forth the Memorial of Thine abundant kindness; there is Thy power present to heal. Still, O good Saviour, may we draw near, in faith to touch Thee, lest we die. We draw near in fear, we rejoice unto Thee with trembling; we cease not to kiss Thy sacred Feet, O Son of God!

We feel that for the truth of Thine unspeakable gift, received we know not how, —we must earnestly contend, as for a dear friend in mortal peril; yea, could witness with the life-blood poured forth.

In that wondrous grace I have now shared. The desire of my soul was towards Thee, and towards the remembrance of Thy Name -I came where Thou hast promised Thy blessing, yea, life for evermore--I have par

taken of Thy much-desired Bread of Pardon, have received of Thy fulness, my dread and loving Lord, and once more I will lift my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.

Yea, Lord and Master, I lie at Thy blessed Feet, here, in this House of Mercy, Thy holy Church, praying of my failings of nature to be made whole, ere, stript of this mortality, I enter the mystic realms of the waiting.

O do away as the night so my transgressions; scatter my sins as the morning cloud.

Cast forth the unclean thing, though I be rent and torn.

Drive forth all that defileth the temple of my soul.

O save my life from fear of the Enemy. Lord Christ, I would that I might believe in Thee, might hope in Thee, might love Thee with a love stronger than fear, stronger than sin, stronger than Death. could I conquer through Him that loveth me: thus be with Thee, dear Lord, where Thou art.

Thus

FAITH IN THE UNSEEN LORD

Whom not having seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory

BLESSED Lord Jesu, Thou knowest all

things, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Thou hast ever been my Hidden Life, yea, I may even dare to think that it is Thy Spirit that within me so earnestly sighs and longs,-that it is the Christ within me that cries so mightily to the Christ who standeth without, and yet is ever nigh.

O eternal, Long-suffering King, I may not, cannot doubt Thee-Dost Thou not live, O mine Holy One? Then wherefore should I die?-For I have felt Thine infinite gentleness and mercy; I know that Thou hast loved me, that Thou dost still love me with a love of which the holiest earthly love is the faint, faint shadow.

And because Thou didst first love me, do I love Thee; and through the constraining power of that love, would I fain serve Thee, as men serve those whom they love best, counting nothing weary, nothing hard, that is done for them. O Love, holiest, tenderest, purest,-O Light of Life, draw me, and I will follow Thee. For this one thing only,

...

Lord, dear Lord, I plead,-be not Thou far from me. . . . And if the shadow of Thy gentle Hand should fall across my path,-if the gate through which I must pass if I would reach my Home, be indeed strait, and the way narrow,-if Thou shouldest call on me to glorify Thee by bearing in body or in soul the semblance of Thy Cross,blessed be Thy Name! nothing can deprive me of the consolation of knowing that Thou wilt never lay more on me than I am able to bear; that I can indeed endure all, if only Thou wilt help me to see Thee, Invisible,-if only I can cling to the nail-pierced Hand that has hitherto led me, can gaze into the Eyes once dimmed by human tears, can hear the Voice, once heard on the darkening waters of the Eastern lake, It is I, be not afraid. . . . Then though I walk through the dark valley Thou once didst tread for me, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy Cross doth comfort me: the Arms that held the children embrace me, none can pluck me from the pierced Hands whose wounds were made by Love.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,shall be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.