ST. BARTHOLOME W.* [AUGUST 24.] Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. St. John i. 50. [O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy word; grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church, to love that word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] * HOLD up thy mirror to the sun, And thou shalt need an eagle's gaze, So perfectly the polish'd stone Turn it, and it shall paint as true Our mirror is a blessed book, Where out from each illumin'd page We see one glorious Image look All eyes to dazzle and engage, [Bartholomew, one of the twelve Apostles, is generally believed to have been that Nathaniel of whom Jesus said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."] The Son of God: and that indeed We see Him as He is, we know, Since in the same bright glass we read Eye of God's word!* where'er we turn Who that has felt thy glance of dread Can doubt what spirit in thee dwells? "What word is this? Whence know'st thou me?" All wondering cries the humbled heart, To hear thee that deep mystery, The knowledge of itself, impart. The veil is rais'd; who runs may read, Bows down t'adore the Nazarene. So did Nathaniel, guileless man, At once, not shame-fac'd or afraid, Owning him God, who so could scan His musings in the lonely shade; "The position before us is, that we ourselves, and such as we, are the very persons whom Scripture speaks of: and to whom, as men, in every variety of persuasive form, it makes its condescending though celestial appeal. The point worthy of observation is, to note how a book of the description and the compass which we have represented Scripture to be, possesses this versatility of power; this eye, like that of a portrait, uniformly fixed upon us, turn where we will." Miller's Bampton Lectures, p. 128. * In his own pleasant fig-tree's shade,* Oh! happy hours of heaven-ward thought! In waiting for the Lord he lov'd. We must not mar with earthly praise Take up the promise He reveal'd; "The child-like faith, that asks not sight, "Twixt God above, and Christ below." So still the guileless man is blest, To him all crooked paths are straight, Him on his way to endless rest Fresh, ever-growing strengths await.‡ God's witnesses, a glorious host, ["Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee."] t["Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."] Psalm lxxxiv. 7. They shall go from strength to strength. Martyrs and seers, the sav'd and lost, Yet shall to him the still small voice, ST. MATTHEW.* [SEPTEMBER 21.] And after these things, He went forth and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom, and He said unto him, Follow me: and he left all, rose up, and followed Him. St. Luke v. 27, 28. [O Almighty God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom, to be an Apostle and Evangelist; grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches; and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. YE hermits blest, ye holy maids, Who talk with God in shadowy glades, To whom some viewless teacher brings The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale; * ( 66 [Matthew, called also Levi, was a publican, or collector of taxes, under the Roman government. He was sitting at the receipt of custom," when, called by Jesus to be his disciple, he arose and followed him. He was appointed one of the twelve Apostles of our Lord, and wrote one of the four Gospels.] Say, when in pity ye have gaz'd On the wreath'd smoke afar, That e'er some town, like mist uprais'd, To the green earth and open sky, But Love's a flower that will not die And Christian Hope can cheer the eye* Then be ye sure that Love can bless Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, * How sweet to them, in such brief rest In thought to wander, fancy-blest, To where their gracious Lord, [It may doubtless be believed that the simplicity and retirement of the country is better fitted to nourish and increase spiritual religion than the hurry and bustle, the engrossing occupation and artificial associations, of the city. Yet in all places Christianity has found its true disciples; and its pure doctrines and peaceful precepts, are adapted for man's reformation and consolation in all places and in all conditions.] |