DECORATING THE OLD CHURCH.
Gray old gardener, what do you bring? "Laurel and ivy and bay, With palms for the crowning of a King— The morrow is Christmas Day.
"Holly with thorns, and berries like blood On its shiny greenness flung. O the piercèd side, and the thorny crown, And the cross whereon He hung!
"The mistletoe, meaning All-healing, Hangs close to the holly's thorn, Lest we forget that on Christmas Day The Healer of Souls was born.
"Ivy's for faith; on the altar rail Let it creep where all may see; It crept till it kissed a cheek so pale That night in Gethsemane.
"Bay's for remembrance, full and sweet; It speaks with its fragrant breath Of manger and cross and a lowly tomb, And a love that conquered death.
"And laurel leaves for the wreath I bring, The laurel for victory, And palms for the crowning of a King— The morrow is Christmas Day."