BETHLEHEM

LITTLE town of Bethlehem,

How still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,
The silent stars go by ;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light;

The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above

While mortals sleep the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together

Proclaim the holy birth!

And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;

O, come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel !

PHILLIPS BROOKS

ALMOST nothing is known of Bernard, save that he was a monk at the old abbey of Cluny, France, in the twelfth century, and that he wrote a poem entitled " De Contemptu Mundi," in which there occur the stanzas from which this hymn and several others were translated. Dr. John M. Neale (London, June 24, 1818 - East Grinstead, Aug. 6, 1866), as the translator, deserves much of the credit for the great popularity of this hymn. The vigor and freedom of his version may be judged by comparison with the first lines of the Latin original:

"Urbs Syon aurea, patria lactea, cive decora,

Omne cor obrius, omnibus obstruis, et cor et ora,
Nescio, nescio, quæ jubilatio lux tibi qualis,
Quam socialia guadia, gloria quam specialis."

JERUSALEM, THE GOLDEN

JERU

ERUSALEM, the golden,
With milk and honey blest!
Beneath thy contemplation

Sink heart and voice oppressed;
I know not, O, I know not
What joys await me there;
What radiancy of glory,

What bliss beyond compare.

They stand, those halls of Zion,
All jubilant with song,
And bright with many an angel,
And all the martyr throng;
The Prince is ever in them,
The daylight is serene;
The pastures of the blessèd

Are decked in glorious sheen.

There is the throne of David;

And there from care released,
The song of them that triumph,
The shout of them that feast;
And they, who with their leader
Have conquered in the fight,
Forever and forever

Are clad in robes of white.

O sweet and blessèd country,
Shall I e'er see thy face?
O sweet and blessed country,
Shall I e'er win thy grace?
Exult, O dust and ashes,

The Lord shall be thy part;
His only, his forever

Thou shalt be and thou art.

BERNARD OF CLUNY AND JOHN M. NEALE

It is

THE authorship of this celebrated hymn will probably remain forever unknown. the most ancient Christian hymn of any length, coming to us, through the Latin, from a very early Greek original.

TE DEUM LAUDAMUS

WE praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the

Lord.

All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.

To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens, and all the powers therein.

To thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.

The noble army of martyrs praise thee. throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,

The holy church

The Father of an infinite majesty; thine adorable, true and only Son;

Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of glory, O Christ, thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst humble thyself to be born of a virgin.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge.

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom tho hast redeemed with thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy saints, in glory everlasting. O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage; govern them and lift them up forever.

Day by day we magnify thee; and we worship thy name ever, world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin ; O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us;

O Lord, let thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded. Amen.

ANONYMOUS