AT THE MATTINS.

Surely the Lord is in this place .... How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.-GEN. xxviii.

"Patris æterni soboles coæva."

O WORD of God above,

Who fillest all in all,

Hallow this house with Thy sure love,

And bless our festival.

There dwells in this deep fount

Anointing souls to lave,

And from beneath this holy mount
Goes forth the healing wave.

Here Christ, of His own blood,

Himself the chalice gives,

And feeds His own with angels' food,

On which the Spirit lives.

For guilty souls that pine

Sure mercies here abound,

And healing grace, with oil and wine, For every secret wound.

God from His throne afar,

Comes in this house to dwell; And prayer, beyond the evening star, Builds here her citadel.

No wintry storm nor shower
Shall harm this holy home,

Nor, worse than they, the evil power
Which dwells within the gloom.

All might, all praise be Thine,
The God whom all adore,

The Father, Son, and Spirit Divine,
Both now and evermore.

G g

AT THE SECOND VESPERS.

Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle: or who shall rest upon Thy holy hill? Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life: and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart.-PSALM XV.

"Ecce sedes hic Tonantis."

THIS is the abode where God doth dwell,
This is the gate of heaven,

The shrine of the Invisible,

The Priest, the Victim given,
Our God himself content to die,

In boundless charity.

O holy seat, O holy fane,

Where dwells the Omnipotent,
Whom the broad world cannot contain,
Nor heaven's high firmament.
He visits earth's poor sky-roof'd cell,

And here He deigns to dwell.

Here, where the unearthly Guest descends

To hearts of innocence,

And sacred love her wing extends

Of holiest influence,

He 'mid his children loves to be

In lowly majesty.

Let no unhallow'd thought be here
Within that sacred door;

Let nought polluted dare draw near,
Nor tread the awful floor;

Or, lo, the Avenger is at hand,
And at the door doth stand!

To Thee, ne'er ending, ne'er begun,

Thrice holy Trinity,

Father, and Son, and Spirit—One,
For ever glory be ;

Anointing for Thy dwelling-place
The living shrines of grace.

FROM THE PARISIAN MISSAL.

Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice: O let Thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If Thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it?-PSALM CXXX.

"Dies iræ, dies illa."

DAY of wrath!-that awful day

Shall the banner'd Cross display,

The trembling, the agony,
When His coming shall be nigh,
Who shall all things judge and try!

When the trumpet's thrilling tone,
Through the tombs of ages gone,
Summons all before the throne.

Death and Time shall stand aghast,
And Creation, at the blast,

Rise, to answer for the past.

Then the volume shall be spread,
And the writing shall be read,
Which shall judge the quick and dead!

Then the Judge shall sit! oh! then,
All that's hid shall be made plain,
Unrequited nought remain.

What shall wretched I then plead ?

Who for me shall intercede,

When the righteous scarce is freed?

King of dreadful Majesty,

Saving souls in mercy free,

Fount of Pity, save Thou me !