ADVENT SUNDAY.

Lessons: Isaiah i., ii., iv. 2.

Epistle: Rom. xiii. 8. Gospel : St. Matt. xxi.1-14.

THE COLLECT.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which Thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through Him who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

"The night is far spent: the day is at hand."
Rom. xiii. 12.

Hallelujah! He cometh with clouds and with light
And the trumpet of God, in the silence of night:
Heaven's armies before Him adoringly bend,
And thousands of thousands His bidding attend.
Hallelujah! He cometh and every eye
Beholds Him with anguish or rapturous joy:
A wailing is heard from the kindreds of earth,
It is drown'd in Hosannas of heavenly mirth.
Hallelujah! He cometh; the judgment is set,
And the nations are gather'd in crowds to His feet;
The earth and the ocean have yielded their dead,
And the records of time are unfolded and read.
Hallelujah! earth crumbles in ashes and dust,
While calmly He severs the wicked and just;
The shadows of darkness are driven away,
And the morning has dawn'd of celestial day.

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

Lessons

Isaiah v., xi. I-II., xxiv.
Epistle Rom. xv. 4-14. Gospel : St. Luke xxi.

:

25-34.

THE COLLECT.

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of Thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."-Rom. xv. 4.

There is a land of promise,
Which drinks the rain of heaven,

By everlasting charter

To Zion's pilgrims given;

Where Lebanon aud Hermon
Their blessings shower below,
And hills and rocks and valleys
With milk and honey flow.

Joy for its purple vintage!
Joy for its golden sheaves !
No alien heart or stranger
Its wealth of love conceives;
But travellers to glory

May walk therein at will,
And with its flowers and fruitage
Their longing souls fulfil.

There is a feast of gladness

By Royal bounty spread,
The new wine of the kingdom,
The true and living Bread.
And whoso thirsts and hungers
Is there a bidden guest ;
There grief forgets her weeping,
The weary are at rest.

There is a harp of music,

By God's own fingers strung, With sweeter songs enwoven Than flow from angel's tongue; And all who mourn may listen To those soft healing strains,

Until the heavenly harpings

Have chased their bosom's pains.

There is a blessèd vision,
God's own apocalypse,
Whose far-off joys and splendours
All dreams of man eclipse:
Jerusalem the holy

Lit from the sapphire Throne,
Its pearls and gold and crystal,
Faith claims them for her own.

That fatherland of promise,
That banquet of delight,
That more than mortal music,
That vision infinite,—
What are they but the dowry

God to His Church has given

In giving her as heir-loom

The oracles of heaven?

Man, like the grass of morning,
Droops ere the evening hour;
His goodliness and beauty
Fade as a fading flower :
But who may shake the pillars
Of God's unchanging word?
Amen: Himself hath spoken;
Amen: thus saith the Lord.

Death's shadows fall around us, Our path with storms is rife : O God, vouchsafe Thy servants To grasp the word of life ; Until the Life Eternal,

The Life and Light of men, With clouds of glory mantled Returns to earth again.

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

Lessons Isaiah xxv., xxvi., xxviii. 5—19. Epistle I Cor. iv. 1-6. Gospel: St. Matt. xi. 2-11.

THE COLLECT.

O LORD Jesu Christ, who at Thy first coming didst send Thy messenger to prepare Thy way before Thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of Thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready Thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at Thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in Thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

"I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee."-St. Matt. xi. 10.

What is that voice whose far-off echoes stir
The city of the King, Jerusalem ?

Why flock they to that unknown messenger
Whose solitary presence troubles them;
And, leaving home and mart and temple, press
Around that prophet in the wilderness?

Hark! there was in his burning words a fire, Which lit the smouldering embers of their breast;

A lightning flash, which spite of shame and ire,
Laid bare the secret of their heart's unrest.

The axe was lying by the fruitless tree :
Time paled before a near eternity.