FIFTH CHOIR OF ANGELICALS.
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Praise to the Holiest in the height, In all his words most wonderful; O loving wisdom of our God! A second Adam to the fight O wisest love! that flesh and blood Should strive afresh against the foe, And that a higher gift than grace God's presence and his very self, O generous love! that he who smote The double agony in man And in the garden secretly, Should teach his brethren and inspire |
And in the depth be praise: Most sure in all his ways! When all was sin and shame, And to the rescue came. Which did in Adam fail, Should strive and should prevail. Should flesh and blood refine, And essence all-divine. In man for man the foe, For man should undergo; And on the cross on high, To suffer and to die. |
§ 6.
ANGEL.
The judgment now is near, for we are come
Into the veiled presence of our God.
SOUL.
I hear the voices that I left on earth.
ANGEL.
It is the voice of friends around thy bed,
Who say the "Subvenite" with the priest.
Hither the echoes come; before the throne
Stands the great angel of the agony,
The same who strengthened him, what time he knelt
Lone in the garden shade, bedewed with blood.
That angel best can plead with him for all
Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.
ANGEL OF THE AGONY.
Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on thee;
Jesu! by that cold dismay which sickened thee;
Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrilled in thee;
Jesu! by that mount of sins which crippled thee;
Jesu! by that sense of guilt which stifled thee;
Jesu! by that innocence which girdled thee;
Jesu! by that sanctity which reigned in thee;
Jesu! by that Godhead which was one with thee;
Jesu! spare these souls which are so dear to thee,
Who in prison, calm and patient, wait for thee;
Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them come to thee,
To that glorious home, where they shall ever gaze on thee.
SOUL.
I go before my Judge. Ah! …
ANGEL.
… Praise to his name!
The eager spirit has darted from my hold,
And, with the intemperate energy of love,
Flies to the dear feet of Emmanuel;
But, ere it reach them, the keen sanctity,
Which with its effluence, like a glory, clothes
And circles round the Crucified, has seized,
And scorched, and shrivelled it; and now it lies
Passive and still before the awful throne.
O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe,
Consumed, yet quickened, by the glance of God.
SOUL.
Take me away, and in the lowest deep
There let me be,
And there in hope the lone night-watches keep,
Told out for me.
There, motionless and happy in my pain,
Lone, not forlorn,—
There will I sing my sad perpetual strain,
Until the morn.
There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast,
Which ne'er can cease
To throb, and pine, and languish, till possessed
Of its sole peace.
There will I sing my absent Lord and love:—
Take me away,
That sooner I may rise, and go above,
And see him in the truth of everlasting day.
§ 7.
ANGEL.
Now let the golden prison ope its gates,
Making sweet music, as each fold revolves
Upon its ready hinge. And ye, great powers,
Angels of purgatory, receive from me
My charge, a precious soul, until the day,
When, from all bond and forfeiture released,
I shall reclaim it for the courts of light.
SOULS IN PURGATORY.