Imatges de pàgina
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ST. BARTHOLOME W.*

[AUGUST 24.]

Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. St. John i. 50.

[O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy word; grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church, to love that word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.]

*

HOLD up thy mirror to the sun,

And thou shalt need an eagle's gaze,

So perfectly the polish'd stone
Gives back the glory of his rays:

Turn it, and it shall paint as true
The soft green of the vernal earth,
And each small flower of bashful hue,
That closest hides its lowly birth.

Our mirror is a blessed book,

Where out from each illumin'd page We see one glorious Image look

All eyes to dazzle and engage,

[Bartholomew, one of the twelve Apostles, is generally believed to have been that Nathaniel of whom Jesus said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."]

The Son of God: and that indeed

We see Him as He is, we know,

Since in the same bright glass we read
The very life of things below.-

Eye of God's word!* where'er we turn
Ever upon us! thy keen gaze
Can all the depths of sin discern,
Unravel every bosom's maze:

Who that has felt thy glance of dread
Thrill through his heart's remotest cells,
About his path, about his bed,

Can doubt what spirit in thee dwells?

"What word is this? Whence know'st thou me?" All wondering cries the humbled heart, To hear thee that deep mystery,

The knowledge of itself, impart.

The veil is rais'd; who runs may read,
By its own light the truth is seen,
And soon the Israelite indeed

Bows down t'adore the Nazarene.

So did Nathaniel, guileless man,

At once, not shame-fac'd or afraid, Owning him God, who so could scan His musings in the lonely shade;

"The position before us is, that we ourselves, and such as we, are the very persons whom Scripture speaks of: and to whom, as men, in every variety of persuasive form, it makes its condescending though celestial appeal. The point worthy of observation is, to note how a book of the description and the compass which we have represented Scripture to be, possesses this versatility of power; this eye, like that of a portrait, uniformly fixed upon us, turn where we will." Miller's Bampton Lectures, p. 128.

*

In his own pleasant fig-tree's shade,*
Which by his household fountain grew,
Where at noon-day his prayer he made,
To know God better than he knew.

Oh! happy hours of heaven-ward thought!
How richly crown'd! how well improv'd!
In musing o'er the Law he taught,

In waiting for the Lord he lov'd.

We must not mar with earthly praise
What God's approving word hath seal'd;
Enough, if right our feeble lays

Take up the promise He reveal'd;

"The child-like faith, that asks not sight,
Waits not for wonder or for sign,
Believes, because it loves, aright—
Shall see things greater, things divine.
Heaven to that gaze shall open wide,t
And brightest angels to and fro
On messages of love shall glide

"Twixt God above, and Christ below."

So still the guileless man is blest,

To him all crooked paths are straight, Him on his way to endless rest

Fresh, ever-growing strengths await.‡

God's witnesses, a glorious host,
Compass him daily like a cloud;

["Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee."]

t["Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."]

Psalm lxxxiv. 7. They shall go from strength to strength.

Martyrs and seers, the sav'd and lost,
Mercies and judgments cry aloud.

Yet shall to him the still small voice,
That first into his bosom found
A way, and fix'd his wavering choice,
Nearest and dearest ever sound.

ST. MATTHEW.*

[SEPTEMBER 21.]

And after these things, He went forth and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom, and He said unto him, Follow me: and he left all, rose up, and followed Him. St. Luke v. 27, 28.

[O Almighty God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom, to be an Apostle and Evangelist; grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches; and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

YE hermits blest, ye holy maids,
The nearest heaven on earth,

Who talk with God in shadowy glades,
Free from rude care and mirth;

To whom some viewless teacher brings
The secret lore of rural things,

The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale,

The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale;

*

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[Matthew, called also Levi, was a publican, or collector of taxes, under the Roman government. He was sitting at the receipt of custom," when, called by Jesus to be his disciple, he arose and followed him. He was appointed one of the twelve Apostles of our Lord, and wrote one of the four Gospels.]

Say, when in pity ye have gaz'd

On the wreath'd smoke afar,

That e'er some town, like mist uprais'd,
Hung, hiding sun and star,
Then as ye turn'd your weary eye

To the green earth and open sky,
Were ye not fain to doubt how Faith could dwell
Amid that dreary glare, in this world's citadel?

But Love's a flower that will not die
For lack of leafy screen,

And Christian Hope can cheer the eye*
That ne'er saw vernal green;

Then be ye sure that Love can bless
Even in this crowded loneliness,
Where ever-moving myriads seem to say,
Go-thou art naught to us, nor we to thee-away!
There are in this loud stunning tide
Of human care and crime,
With whom the melodies abide
Of th' everlasting chime;
Who carry music in their heart

Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,
Plying their daily task with busier feet,
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat.

*

How sweet to them, in such brief rest
As thronging cares afford,

In thought to wander, fancy-blest,

To where their gracious Lord,

[It may doubtless be believed that the simplicity and retirement of the country is better fitted to nourish and increase spiritual religion than the hurry and bustle, the engrossing occupation and artificial associations, of the city. Yet in all places Christianity has found its true disciples; and its pure doctrines and peaceful precepts, are adapted for man's reformation and consolation in all places and in all conditions.]

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