Watch by the sick, enrich the poor
With blessings from Thy boundless store:
Be every mourner's sleep to-night,
Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.

Come near and bless us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take;
Till in the ocean of Thy love

We lose ourselves in Heaven above.

Praise to the FATHER, and the SON,
And HOLY SPIRIT, Three in One;
Eternal praise to each be given,
By all on earth and all in Heaven.

"Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."

138. AND now the day is past and gone,

Holy GOD, we bow to Thee;
Again as nightly shades come on,
To Thy sheltering side we flee.

For all the ills this day hath done
Let our bitter sorrow plead,
And keep us from the wicked one,
When ourselves we cannot heed.

Ravening he prowls Thy fold around,
In his watchful circuitings:
FATHER, this night may we be found
'Neath the shadow of Thy wings.
O when shall that Thy day have come,
Day ne'er sinking to the west;
That country and that Heavenly home,
Where no foe shall break our rest?

Now to the FATHER and the SON
We our feeble voice would raise,
With HOLY SPIRIT join'd in One,
And from age to age would praise.

On the Holy Eucharist.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."

139. SING we that blest Body broken,
Our weak soul's mysterious food;
And the words our King hath spoken,
Gifting us with His own Blood,
His true presence to betoken,
And our holy brotherhood.
Born for us, and for us given,
Of a Virgin undefiled,

Scattering precious seed from Heaven,
Sojourned He in this world's wild;
On that much remembered even,
He His wondrous course fulfilled.
Meekly to the law complying,

He had finished its commands;

And to them at supper lying

Gave Himself with His own hands,
A memorial of His dying,

Thenceforth unto all the lands.

GOD the Word by one word maketh
Bread His very Flesh to be;
And whoso that Cup partaketh
Tastes the Fount of Calvary;
While the carnal mind forsaketh,
Faith receives the Mystery.
Unto that His presence veiled,

Draw we nigh with heads bowed low,
All that Paschal rites entailed

Yield to higher blessings now;
Earthly touch and sight have failed-
Faith adores, nor questions how.
Power ascribe we, praise, and blessing,
Both to FATHER, and to SON;

HOLY SPIRIT, Thee addressing,

One with them, as LORD alone;
This right faith we hold, confessing
Persons three in Substance One.

The Conversion of S. Paul.

"The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beast of the field devour it. Turn Thee again, Thou GoD of Hosts, look down from heaven, behold, and visit this Vine." 140. 'GAINST what foemen art thou rushing, Saul, what madness drives thee on? Innocents in fury crushing, Children of the sinless One:

O, how shortly

Shall He make His vengeance known!
See the LORD from Heaven descending,
Smites him, blinds him, lays him low;
See the persecutor bending
Humbly, meekly to the blow.

See him rising

Friend to CHRIST, no longer foe.
Breathing slaughter, chains preparing,
O, how fierce his anger burned;
Now that he has lost his daring,
And the Gospel truth has learned,
The destroyer

Now into a lamb is turned.

CHRIST, Thy power is man's salvation,
And Thy love is here made known,
He who wrought such desolation,
That Thy cause might be o'erthrown,
Now converted,

Makes that sacred cause his own.

Praise the FATHER, GOD of Heaven,
Him Who reigns supreme on high;
Praise the SON, for sinners given,
Both to suffer and to die;

Praise the SPIRIT,

Who prepares us for the sky.

"Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but CHRIST liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of GOD, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me." 141. WHY, SAVIOUR, dost Thou come Descending from the sky?

Canst Thou have left Thy heavenly home
Again for man to die?

Or see we drawing near

The dreadful day of doom,
When Thou the Avenger shalt appear,
The guilty to consume?

On milder vengeance bent,

Thou camest from above,
To bid the hardened heart relent,
And slaughter change to love.
The spoiler fallen lies
Before Thy glorious ray,

A shepherd of the flock to rise,-
The flock he sought to slay.

From all the Heavenly host,
And all on earth below,
TO FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST,
Let endless praises flow.

Presentation of Christ in the Temple,

COMMONLY CALLED

The Purification of S. Mary the Virgin.

"Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the LORD, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of Hosts."

142. O SION! open wide thy gates;
Let figures disappear,

A Priest and Victim both in one,
The Truth Himself is here.

No more the simple flock shall bleed-
Behold, the FATHER'S SON
Himself to His own altar comes,

For sinners to atone.

Conscious of hidden Deity,
The lowly Virgin brings

Her new-born Babe, with two young doves,
Her tender offerings.

The hoary Simeon sees at last

His LORD so long desired,

And hails, with Anna, Israel's Hope,
With sudden rapture fired.

But silent knelt the mother blest,
Of the yet silent Word;

And pondering all things in her heart,
With speechless praise adored.

Praise to the FATHER and the SON ;
Praise to the SPIRIT be;

Praise to the blessed Three in One,
Through all eternity.

"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their LORD." 143. SWEET incense breathes around, The coming LORD to greet;

And Sion, through her sacred bound,
Awakes her GOD to meet,
Arise ye then, ye wakeful quires,
And early light your altar fires.
Let faith with glistening eye,
Trim up her torch so bright;
And flame-encircled charity

Breathe out her glowing light;
And white-robed innocence be there,
To pour its sweetest incense prayer.
Why love to linger here-

These guilty days prolong?—