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النشر الإلكتروني

SAINT JAMES'S* DAY.

JULY 26.

COLLECT. Grant, O merciful God, that as thine holy Apostle Saint James, leaving his father and all that he had, without delay was obedient unto the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him; so we, forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore ready to follow thy holy commandments, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

HYMN.

AND couldst thou, JAMES, to win the meed
Of glory for his saints decreed,

Thy Saviour's cup of sorrow taste?
And couldst thou bear above thee spread
The waves baptismal, dark and dread,
Which o'er thy Saviour past?

:

Thou couldst such aid his Spirit lent!
The stripes, the bonds, the imprisonment,
The scornful look, the taunting word,
The angry council's stern decree,
The tyrant's rage and cruelty,

And last the fatal sword:

*The Greater.

These came in turn; and then thy death!
O thou, to wear a martyr's wreath

The first of all thy brotherhood!
First of thy Saviour's chosen train,
Like him the cup of woe to drain,
Like him baptized in blood!

We dare not rend the veil aside
By which the All-knowing wills to hide
The secrets of the unseen world;
But to our vision it should seem,
Might we without irreverence deem
Of that dark veil unfurled;

Should seem that thou wert there to see,
O James, O son of Zebedee,

And he, the favored of your Lord,
Martyr with thee at least in will;
Together throned on God's high hill
Beside your King adored.

For not in vain his word was given
That ye who have through sufferings striven,
For him and for his Gospel known,
With him shall in his glory dwell,
And judge the tribes of Israel,
Throned by Messiah's throne.

Nor vain the word, that whosoe❜er
Shall the Messiah's name prefer

To houses, parents, children, wife,
Shall hundred-fold by him be blest,
Be welcomed to his Father's rest,
And dwell in endless life.

BP. MANT.

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY.

AUGUST 24.

COLLECT. 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.

HYMN.

"BEHOLD, in whom no guile I find,
An Israelite indeed!"
NATHANAEL, thus thy virtuous mind
Did Israel's sovereign read.

A guileless heart! what fairer scene
In all this world below
Does nature's loveliness contain,

Or God's creation show?

Fair are the snow-wreaths that infold
Yon Alpine mountain's head;
Fair is the stream, all crystal, rolled
Clear o'er its pebbly bed;

Fair is the star of evening bright,
A gem in heaven's blue zone;
And fair the moonlight's robe of white
O'er earth's green surface thrown;

But Alpine snow, nor crystal stream,
Can pure delight impart,

Nor moon, nor evening planet's gleam,
To match the guileless heart.

For these material works of God
Of him memorials stand,
And tell the Maker's power abroad,
The wonders of his hand:

But guileless truth and innocence,
By God to men consigned,
Reflect his moral excellence,
And image of his mind.

BP. MANT.

SAINT MATTHEW'S DAY.

SEPTEMBER 21.

COLLECT. 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 our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, world without end. Amen.

HYMN.

PREPARE the feast! the viands bring,
Heap high the festal board!
The subject welcomes Israel's king;
The follower greets his Lord.

But who is he, the host, whose care
Provides the costly feast?
And who are they assembled there
Around the heavenly guest?

'T is MATTHEW, 't is the publican;
The favored host is he

Who sat, a much-despised man,
Beside Tiberias' sea.

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