TO SEPTUAGESIMA.
Grant us grace to see Thee, LORD,
Mirror'd in Thy holy word;
May we imitate Thee now,
And be pure, as pure art Thou;
That we like to Thee may be
At Thy great Epiphany,
And may praise Thee, ever Blest,
GOD in Man made manifest.
During this period Hymns of a general character may be sung.
And again they said, Alleluia.
Alleluia, dulce carmen.
FOR THE WEEK BEFORE SEPTUAGESIMA.
ALLELUIA, song of sweetness,
Voice of joy that cannot die ;
ALLELUIA is the anthem
Ever dear to choirs on high;
In the house of GOD abiding
Thus they sing eternally.
ALLELUIA thou resoundest,
True Jerusalem and free;
ALLELUIA, joyful Mother,
All thy children sing with thee;
But by Babylon's sad waters
Mourning exiles now are we.
ALLELUIA may not always
Be our song while here below;
ALLELUIA our transgressions
Make us for a while forgo;
For the solemn time is coming
When our tears for sin must flow.
TO SEPTUAGESIMA.
Therefore in our hymns we pray Thee,
Grant us, Blessed TRINITY,
At the last to keep Thine Easter
In our home beyond the sky,
There to Thee for ever singing
ALLELUIA joyfully. Amen.
The following Hymns are suitable for this week:
328 The strain upraise of joy and praise.
383 Sing Alleluia forth in duteous praise.
90 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Te læta, mundi Conditor.
REATOR of the world, to Thee
An endless rest of joy belongs;
And heav'nly choirs are ever free
To sing on high their festal songs.
But we are fallen creatures here,
Where toil and travail daily come;
And how can we in exile drear
Sing out, as they, sweet songs of home?
O FATHER, Who dost promise still
That contrite souls shall mercy see,
Grant us to weep for deeds of ill
That banish us so long from Thee :
But let the wholesome sorrow blend
With hope, and faith which hope sustains ;
A little while, and it shall end
In Thine own rest and those glad strains.
91 The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall nerer be destroyed.
Rebus creatis nil egens.
No Want in Thyself art bliss complete,
of Thine, O GOD, to meet,
Thou issuedst from Thy secret place
To set the world upon its base.
Things that were not, Thou, LORD, didst call,
And they obey'd Thee one and all,
And all to their Creator raise
A wondrous harmony of praise.
But while this visible fair earth
From Thy creative will took birth,
Thou in Thy counsel didst enfold
Another world of loftier mould.
That world doth our Redeemer frame,
And build upon His own great Name,
And sow, wherever speech is heard,
The seed of His almighty word.
When time itself has pass'd away,
That higher world shall share for aye
The throne and board of CHRIST in heaven,
By Him to GOD the FATHER given.
O FATHER, SON, and SPIRIT blest,
Thou GOD, Who all things orderest,
Preserve, direct, and sanctify
Thy realm below, Thy realm on high. Amen. From Septuagesima Sunday to Lent the following Hymns are also suitable:
(For Septuagesima.)
15 O blest Creator of the light.
326 O worship the King.
331 There is a book, who runs may read.
334 Almighty FATHER, Unoriginate.
337 Praise to the Holiest in the height.
(For Quinquagesima.)
363 Gracious SPIRIT, HOLY GHOST.
447 Great Mover of all hearts.
92 Now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.
Ex more docti mystico.
BY precepts taught of ages past,
Now let us keep again the fast
Which, year by year, in order meet
Of forty days is made complete.
The law and seers that were of old
In divers ways this Lent foretold,
Which CHRIST Himself, the Lord and Guide
Of every season, sanctified.
More sparing therefore let us make
The words we speak, the food we take,
Deny ourselves in mirth and sleep,
Our bounden watch more strictly keep;
Avoid the evil thoughts that roll
Like waters o'er the heedless soul;
Nor let the foe occasion find
Our souls in slavery to bind.
In prayer together let us fall,
And cry for mercy one and all,
And weep before the Judge, and say,
O turn from us Thy wrath away.
Thy grace have we offended sore
By sins, O GOD, which we deplore ;
Pour down upon us from above
The riches of Thy pardoning love.
Remember, fallen though we be,
That yet Thine handiwork are we;
Nor let the honour of Thy Name
Be by another put to shame.
Put all our evil deeds away,
Enlarge the good for which we pray;
That we, though late, our wanderings o'er,
May please Thee now and evermore.
Blest THREE in ONE, and ONE in THREE,
Almighty GoD, we pray to Thee,
That Thou wouldst now vouchsafe to bless
Our fast with fruits of righteousness. Amen.
In due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Summi largitor præmii.
THOU Who dost to man accord
His highest prize, his best reward,
Thou hope of all our race;
JESU, to Thee we now draw near
Our earnest supplications hear,
As we devoutly seek Thy face.
With self-accusing voice within
Our conscience tells of many a sin
In thought, and word, and deed;
O cleanse that conscience from all stain,
The penitent restore again,
From all the load of trespass freed.
If Thou reject us, who shall give
Our fainting spirits strength to live?
"Tis Thine alone to spare.
With cleansed hearts to seek aright,
And find acceptance in Thy sight,
Be this, O LORD, our lowly prayer.
**Tis Thou hast bless'd this solemn fast;
So may its days by us be pass'd
In self-control severe,
That, when our Easter morn we hail,
Its mystic feast we may not fail
To celebrate with conscience clear.
|