O Thou, who canst not slumber, Whose light grows never pale, Teach us aright to number

Our years before they fail. On us Thy mercy lighten,

On us Thy goodness rest, And let Thy Spirit brighten

The hearts Thyself hast bless'd.

Lord, crown our faith's endeavour
With beauty and with grace,
Till, clothed in light for ever,
We see Thee face to face:
A joy no language measures;
A fountain brimming o'er;
An endless flow of pleasures;
An ocean without shore.

THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST.

Lessons Gen. xvii. 9; Deut. x. 12; Rom. ii. 17; Col. ii. 8-18.

Epistle Rom. iv. 8-15. Gospel : St Luke ii. 15—22.

:

THE COLLECT.

ALMIGHTY God, who madest Thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man; Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey Thy blessed will; through the same Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?"- Deut. x. 12.

O Jesu, consecrate to God always,
Baptized in blood for us from infant days,
Be Thine, O Lord, by holy prayer and vow
The year we enter by Thy mercy now.

We know not, Master, and we would not know,
What shall befall us day by day below;
Or if the angel of Thy will and love
This year shall bear us to Thy rest above.

But well we know Thy tenderness and power
Will never faint nor fail us hour by hour,
And all our supplications blend in one,-
Thy will in us, Thy will by us be done.

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER
CHRISTMAS.

Lessons: Isaiah xlii., xliii., xliv.

Epistle and Gospel same as the Circumcision.

"O Israel, fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine: when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee."-Isaiah xliii. I, 2.

"Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee.”—Psalm lxxiii. 1. 24 (Prayer-Book Version).

When Thy smile, serene and bright,
Floods my homeward path with light,
Open, Lord, mine eyes to see;
"Whom have I on earth but Thee?"

In affliction's darkest cloud,
To the dust with anguish bow'd,
Let me plead confidingly;
"Jesu, whom have I but Thee?"

In the shadowy vale of death,
Be my last and labouring breath,
"Flesh and heart are failing me :
Whom, Lord, have I now but Thee?"

Jordan past, how sweet the song!
Canaan won, how bright the throng!
Lord, through all eternity,

Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

:

THE EPIPHANY.

Lessons Isaiah lx., xlix. 13-24; St. Luke iii. 15-23; St. John ii. 1-12.

Epistle Ephes. iii. 1-13. Gospel St. Matt. ii. 1—13.

THE COLLECT.

:

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest Thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we which know Thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of Thy glorious Godhead; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."-Isaiah lx. 1.

Rise, captive Zion, shine; thy light is come;
The glory of the Lord on thee hath risen.
Arise and sing; and in thy palace home

Forget the dust and darkness of thy prison.

Lost and astray, thy Shepherd now hath found thee:

Childless so long, thy children cluster round thee : A widow for these weary centuries,

Thy Husband hath return'd and bids thee, rise.

Yet faint and feeble to the eyes of man

Dawns the far dayspring for the dead and dying. Earth cannot read heaven's mighty mystic plan, Where sleeps yon Infant in a manger lying; But God's own courier leads His Eastern sages There to adore the great Desire of ages, Who shower before Him costliest offerings, And worship in that Babe the King of kings.

O Thou, who badest light from darkness shine, Write in our hearts Redemption's earliest story, The Human only veiling the Divine,

Love's coronation in that hidden glory.

Faith knows Thee now. Oh, grant us the fruition
Hereafter of Thy Godhead's glorious vision:
Now God with us, all hail Emmanuel !

Then and for ever we with God to dwell.