where the bereft wife or husband, silent and alone, looks [10]
in dull despair at the vacant seat, and the motherless
little ones, wondering, huddle together, and repeat with
quivering lips words of strange import. May the great
Shepherd that “tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,”
and binds up the wounds of bleeding hearts, just comfort, [15]
encourage, and bless all who mourn.
Father, we thank Thee that Thy light and Thy love
reach earth, open the prison to them that are bound, con-
sole the innocent, and throw wide the gates of heaven.