AT HIGH MASS
Thou Who hast made this world so wondrous fair;—
The pomp of clouds; the glory of the sea;
Music of water; songbirds' melody;
The organ of Thy thunder in the air;
Breath of the rose; and beauty everywhere—
Lord, take this stately service done to Thee,
The grave enactment of Thy Calvary
In jewelled pomp and splendor pictured there!
Lord, take the sounds and sights; the silk and gold;
The white and scarlet; take the reverent grace
Of ordered step; window and glowing wall—
Prophet and Prelate, holy men of old;
And teach us children of the Holy Place
Who love Thy Courts, to love Thee best of all.
Robert Hugh Benson.
THE LAMP OF SACRIFICE
All else for which the builders sacrificed, has passed away—all their living interests, and aims, and achievements. We know not for what they labored, and we see no evidence of their reward. Victory, wealth, authority, happiness—all have departed, though bought by many a bitter sacrifice. But of them, and their life and their toil upon the earth, one reward, one evidence, is left to us in those gray heaps of deep-wrought stone. They have taken with them to the grave their powers, their honors, and their errors; but they have left us their adoration.
John Ruskin.
XX
ROCHER-ST.-POL
Sacristy Steps in the Church of Ste Frédigonde
HUNTING THE STAG