all which Thou couldest sacrifice, cast out envy from our hearts and fill them with love like Thine.

That in the day of rejoicing we one and all may rejoice with Thee in the Communion of Saints, by virtue of love like Thine. That Apostles, Prophets, Patriarchs, Martyrs, all Saints, even ourselves also, may love one another for pure love of Thee yea, with love like Thine.

That the great rich in tenderness, and the small rich in veneration, may praise Thee each for other, overflowing with love like Thine.

That as heaven is heaven to Thee because of love, so it may be heaven to every one of us because of love, of love like Thine. That we who can carry away nothing when we die, may yet carry love from earth to heaven, love in its measure like Thine. That thither works may follow us, works of love, even of love like Thine.

And to the end that there we may superabound in love, grant us here to abound in love, in love like Thine. Amen. Alleluia.

The least, if so I am;

If so, less than the least,

May I reach heaven to glorify the Lamb,

And sit down at the Feast.

I fear and I am small,

Whence am I of good cheer:

For I who hear Thy call, have heard Thee call

To Thee the small who fear.

6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

Hearken to music of the deaf whose spirit was not deaf, and a song of the dumb whose heart was not dumb; for in this chorus all the redeemed, whatever their sometime gift or blemish, sing together. Deafness, dumbness, every imperfection has been left behind with the dust of death; and God hath put a new song into all mouths, even a thanksgiving unto our God. "Many shall see it, and fear; and shall put their trust in the Lord." (Lord, so be it for Jesu's sake.)

May I be one of those wise master singers! If then I would be so, now I must become so. The talents vouchsafed me I must use and improve thankfully; the gifts withheld I must forego ungrudgingly and thankfully.

O Lord my God the Omnipotent, Who searchest all hearts; Who knowest my heart through and through; Who in many

hearts discernest lifelong disappointment, mortification, aching rankling soreness; O Lord our God, grant us such grace that Thy Will may be to us glory and Thine award satisfaction ; so in our solitary place shall we be glad, awaiting that day of days when patient mourners shall come forth in the dances of them that make merry. Amen, for the honour of Jesus Christ, Who for our sake exhausted human bitterness.

If reverently I may say so:-In the Bible God condescends. to employ multiform overtures of endearing graciousness, wooing, beseeching, alluring, encouraging. We love beauty; He lavishes beauty on the sacred text. We desire knowledge; He tells us much, and promises that one day He will tell us all. We are conscious of feelings inexpressible and as yet insatiable; He stirs up such feelings, at once directing them and guaranteeing their ultimate satisfaction. He works upon us by what we can and by what we cannot utter; He appeals in us to what we can and to what we cannot define.

Whence it seems to ensue that not only words and thoughts compose such a commentary on Revelation as may lawfully be brought by man for his offering of firstfruits; but that painting, sculpture, music, all are sources capable of swelling that store.

Without cavilling or doubt then let us worship God in wordless aspiration aroused by any form of beauty, let us praise Him in musical yearnings and ecstasies. Or if not thou, at least I; who remember how one highly endowed by nature and by grace and by me ever to be venerated, was affected by one movement in the overwhelming harmony of the Hallelujah Chorus.

When wickedness is broken as a tree

Paradise comes to light, ah holy land!

Whence death has vanished like a shifting sand
And barrenness is banished with the sea.
Its bulwarks are salvation fully manned,
All gems it hath for glad variety,

And pearls for pureness radiant glimmeringly,
And gold for grandeur where all good is grand.
An inner ring of saints meets linked above,
And linked of angels is an outer ring:

For voice of waters or for thunders' voice

Lo! harps and songs wherewith all saints rejoice,
And all the trembling there of any string

Is but a trembling of enraptured love.

7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.

Let us meanwhile "be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him," because this which shall come will come, and will not tarry.

As God brought Eve to Adam, so now is He bringing each pure and lovely soul to Christ. As He conducted fair Rebekah to Isaac unseen yet the chosen of her heart, so is He now calling and guiding the elect to Christ. As Jacob loved and served for Rachel, so and much more Christ loves His own, and will accept no different guerdon. As Joseph amid home joys forgot his toil, so Christ makes no account of His toil in comparison with the love of His beloved. As Moses was first champion, then husband; even such Christ is and will be to every sanctified soul. As Moses sang and Miriam answered, so will there be "the song of the Lamb," and the responsive adoring song of the Church. As Moses prayed for leprous Miriam, so is Christ now interceding for the heirs of salvation. As the daughters of Zelophehad were espoused by their near kinsmen, so to blessed souls Christ deigns to say, "My sister, My spouse." As at Achsah's request Caleb bestowed on her water-springs, so does our Heavenly Father reserve "a pure River of Water of Life" for them who ask in His Son's Name. As Jephthah's daughter became the glory of her father's house, so will the King's daughter arise, shine, to His glory, never more lamenting on her mountain-tops, but exulting on the height of heavenly Zion. As Ruth by untried paths journeyed home to Boaz, so are sweet souls by untried paths journeying home to Christ. As Elkanah was better to downcast Hannah than ten sons, so is Christ now to His faithful mourners; what will He be then? As Rizpah's self-devotion to the slain for sin won for her everlasting renown, so even now all who devote themselves to Christ, the Sole Sacrifice for sin, are winning a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; winning, not earning. As the Queen of Sheba exchanged gifts with King Solomon, so gracious souls to-day exchange love with Christ, and will carry on the exchange for ever; unlike that Queen who returned to her own country, they, born in the region and shadow of death, will return no more, nor see their native country, but will stand continually before Christ and hear His Wisdom: "Because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made He thee king." As the Widow of Zarephath entertaining Elijah received a prophet's reward, so all ministries to Christ in His poor and afflicted shall one day by no means lose their reward. As Elisha at the Widow's word turned her penury into wealth, so God is giving good gifts to them that

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ask Him, and withholds no good thing from them that live a godly life. As the great Shunammite according to Elisha's promise embraced a son, so Christ bestows a name better than of sons or of daughters on such as choose the things that please Him. As the daughters of Shallum helped their father to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so now feeble souls are strengthened to edify others, while they themselves are being built as lively stones into Christ's living temple. As Esther excelled Vashti and assumed her forfeited crown, so the Christian vocation at once human and superhuman hath the promise of that which now is, and of that which is to come; and as after a brief fast, mourning, trembling terror, Queen Esther attained to the half of her husband's kingdom, so the Church looks onward, upward, to the moment of sitting down with her Divine King and Spouse in His Throne.

All this and much more I profess when I say: I believe in the Communion of Saints, and the life everlasting. Amen.

As everything human that is masculine is or should be typical of Christ, so all that is feminine of the Church. Why then break off our parallel with the galaxy of holy maids and matrons memorialized in the Old Testament, and not carry it further by help of their sister saints in the Gospel?

Because it is so lovely a privilege to have stood really and truly in some direct relation to Christ that it may well take precedence of aught figurative. There is no title by which to indicate the Blessed Virgin Mary half so august as that of His Mother. The glory of righteous Elizabeth was her worship of His unseen Presence. It was enough for ascetic Anna to behold Him and to speak of Him. And so each named or unnamed personage appears invested with her proper halo. To the Woman of Samaria He announced Himself as the Messiah. The Widow of Nain He consoled. He accepted love and tears from a woman a sinner, and faith from her who had suffered many things from many physicians. Jairus's Daughter He took by the hand. On the Canaanitish Mother He bestowed an unique commendation. Martha and her sister Mary He loved. The woman bowed with infirmity He acknowledged as a daughter of Abraham. He set store by the Widow's two mites. And His last recorded words before the Seven Sentences from the Cross were addressed to the wailing and lamenting Daughters of Jerusalem.

O Christ our God, remember Thy strong and weak ones, great and small, men and women, for good. Remember the

nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers of Holy Church for good. Remember the righteous who worship Thee by faith, and bestow on them the blessing of those who not having seen have believed. Remember and advance all who worship Thee with fasting and prayer, and reveal Thy gracious Presence unto them. Remember any overthrown through frailty, raise them up and perfect Thy strength in their weakness. Remember the bereaved in their anguish, and make their latter end better than their beginning. Furnish the fallen with love, and accept their love. Grant to sufferers faith, and reward their faith. Raise sinners now from sin to righteousness, that Thou mayest hereafter raise them as saints to perfection. Remember the love of Parents; remember not except to forgive them the offences of children. Love us all, that we all may love Thee. Remember the despised, the overlooked, the misunderstood, reserving mercy for them in the day of Thy justice. Remember munificent hands to refill them, and generous hearts to spiritualize them. Remember all who mourn in Zion. My God, forget not any mourner. Remember us all, O Lord our God, for good. Amen.

Who shall decide whether to be constituted in the first instance strong or weak holds out the greater promise of ultimate strength? And it is the end crowns the beginning, never the beginning the end.

St. James erects a standard as it were of equality in inequality: "Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted; but the rich, in that he is made low."

"The marriage of the Lamb is come."

O Gracious Master, Who of old forgavest Thy disciples when they believed not for joy and wondered, so now, so always forgive us. We believe; help Thou our unbelief. If we believe not, let it be for joy and not for unwillingness; through mistrust of self, not of Thy word; for a moment, not for ever. Open Thou our understanding that we may understand the Scriptures; understand somewhat, believe all. So, Good Lord, make us ready. Amen.

"And His wife hath made herself ready." To Jacob by reason of his great love seven years seemed but a few days; we read not that they seemed so to Rachel. He by desire shortened delay; she by responsive desire may have lengthened it.

Christ saith: "Surely I come quickly "— while the Church ceases not to cry: "How long, O Lord, Holy and

True?"