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Thy Church, do Thou mercifully work in her to the end of the world, Who livest and reignest with GOD the FATHER in the Unity of the HOLY SPIRIT, GOD for ever. Amen.

Our FATHER, &c.

Hark! an awful voice is sounding
"CHRIST is nigh!" it seems to say;
"Cast away the dreams of darkness,
O ye children of the day !"

Startled at the solemn warning,

Let the earth-bound soul arise;
CHRIST, her Sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.

Lo! the Lamb, so long expected,
Comes with pardon down from heaven;
Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,
One and all to be forgiven.

So, when next He comes with glory,
Wrapping all the earth in fear,
May He then as our Defender
On the clouds of Heaven appear.

Honour, glory, virtue, merit,
To the FATHER and the SON,
With the Everlasting SPIRIT,
While eternal ages run.

Amen.

PSALM XCIV. Deus ultionum.

O LORD GOD to Whom vengeance belongeth Thou GOD to Whom vengeance belongeth, shew Thyself.

Arise, Thou Judge of the world : and reward the proud after their deserving. LORD, how long shall the ungodly: how long shall the ungodly triumph?

How long shall all wicked doers speak so disdainfully and make such proud boasting?

They smite down Thy people, O Lord : and trouble Thine heritage.

They murder the widow and the stranger: and put the fatherless to death.

And yet they say, Tush, the LORD shall not see neither shall the GOD of Jacob regard it.

Take heed, ye unwise among the people: Oye fools, when will ye understand?

He that planted the ear, shall not He hear or He that made the eye, shall He not see?

Or He that nurtureth the heathen: it is He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not He punish?

The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man that they are but vain.

:

Blessed is the man whom Thou chasten

est, O LORD and teachest him in Thy law.

That Thou mayest give him patience in time of adversity until the pit be digged up for the ungodly.

For the LORD will not fail His people: neither will He forsake His inheritance.

Until righteousness turn again unto judgment all such as are true in heart shall follow it.

Who will rise up with me against the wicked or who will take my part against the evil doers ?

If the LORD had not helped me it had not failed but my soul had been put to silence.

But when I said, My foot hath slipped: Thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

In the multitude of the sorrows that I had in my heart: Thy comforts have refreshed my soul.

Wilt Thou have anything to do with the stool of wickedness: which imagineth mischief as a law?

They gather them together against the soul of the righteous: and condemn the innocent blood.

But the LORD is my refuge and my GOD is the strength of my confidence.

He shall recompense them their wickedness, and destroy them in their own ma

lice: yea, the LORD our GOD shall destroy

them.

Glory be to the FATHER, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.

MONDAY IN ADVENT.

"Bring forth fruits meet for repentance.' S. Matt. iii. 8.

66

The coming of CHRIST is intimately connected with repentance. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the essence of repentance consists in the love of GOD, and the hatred of sin. Without these essentials GOD does not pardon sin, nor is the Priest able to absolve the sinner. But the union of these two things forms in us that godly sorrow for the past, and that resolution, by Divine grace, of not offending GOD any more, which makes the reality of repentance. Moreover the sorrow should be life-long, and the resolution should be renewed at least every day.

But to dispose myself to repentance, let me consider its necessity. Let me think what sin does in the soul. If it be a deadly sin, it separates the soul from GOD, and de

prives it of His HOLY SPIRIT's presence. And if this be my case, have I truly repented before GOD? Have I bewailed my sin, confessed it, and done penance for it? But even lesser sins, though they do not banish the HOLY SPIRIT from us, yet they are obstacles to the infusion of grace, and grieve the HOLY SPIRIT. The least wilful fault, the slightest permitted irregularity of affection, every inordinate passion unsubdued, all these disorder and check our spiritual life. To repent at all then, I must endeavour by God's grace to correct these evils, and to remove whatever obstructs the incoming of His SPIRIT. I must ask GOD to change my heart, to heal my wounds, to save me from my sins, and to make me whole. I must ask Him to increase my hunger and thirst for His righteousness, and to deepen in me the sense of my vileness and corruption, that I may more thoroughly throw myself upon the merits and advocacy of our blessed SAVIOUR. Moreover to co-operate with GOD in the work of repentance, I must dig deep into my heart till compunction flows forth like a stream from it. I must endeavour to attain that broken spirit, that sacrifice of contrition, which is the very soul of repentance, and the condition of justification and salvation. But from this groundwork of repentance I

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