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Canticles
AND THE
?Demn,
AN EXPOSITION
OF THE
HYMNS OF THE INCARNATION,
BY
A. C. A. HALL, M.A.,
MISSION PRIEST OF THE SOCIETY OF 8T. JOHN THE EVANGELIST.
Neto Yorfet JAMES POTT & CO., 14 AND 16 ASTOR PLACE.
.99 C5H3.4
TO PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE CHOIR
OF THE
S&ission ©Ijiircf) of St. Jtoini tf)e
BOSTON,
WITH GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THEIR SERVICES
AND THE EARNEST PRAYER THAT ALL MAY
HAVE A SHARE IN THE NEW
SONG BEFORE THE THRONE.
PREFACE.
THE Exposition of the Gospel Canticles contained in this little book is based on Lectures given in the Mission Church of St. John the Evangelist, Boston, during Advent, 1886, when by the action of the Gen eral Convention the inspired hymns of the Blessed Virgin, of Symeon, and of Zacharias (in an unmu- tilated form) were restored to their proper place in the Daily Service.
It is hoped that in print the notes may be helpful to many who would sing these great traditional hymns of Christendom both with the spirit and with the understanding.
It will be seen that free use has been made of the words of other writers and of larger works in pre paring this little commentary for general use.
Particular acknowledgment should be made of valuable help as to Liturgical references derived from a pamphlet published at Davenport, Iowa, before the last General Convention as a plea for the restoration of these Hymns to the Prayer Book, and entitled The Evangelical Canticles in the Services of the Church, by a Priest of the Anglican Branch of the Holy Catholic Church.
MISSION HOUSE OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGRLIST, TEMPLE ST., BOSTON, September, 1887.
Canticles,
THIS title is given to Mary's Magnificat, to Zacha- rias' Benedictus, and to Symeon's Nunc dimittis as being the only sacred songs of the Gospel narrative, and as having for their subject the central theme of the Evangelists, the Incarnation, "God manifest in the flesh." All three are contained in the first two chapters of St. Luke's Gospel.
" Thou hast an ear for Angels' songs, * A breath the Gospel trump to fill, And taught by thee the Church prolongs Her hymns of high thanksgiving still."*
These Evangelical Hymns have ever held a posi tion of pre-eminent honor and dignity in the worship of the Catholic Church. We cannot indeed trace them by name beyond the sixth century, but their use at this time in the stated services of the Church was probably a continuance of a still earlier custom. What more probable than that they should have been among the " Hymns and Spiritual Songs " in which along with "Psalms" St. Paul bade the Ephesians rejoice ?f The very word ooSai ("Songs') used by the Apostle is the term employed by the Greek Church for such Canticles. Doubtless they were among the " Hymns sung to Christ as God," of which Pliny the Roman Governor speaks in his report to the Emperor Trajan concerning the customs and worship of Christians at the beginning of the second century. Chrysostom says of the Benedicite, the Song of the Three Children, " It is sung in all the
* The Christian Year for St. Luke's Day. fEph. v., 19.
2 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
world."* It may safely be assumed that the Gospel Hymns were at least as well known as the Benedicite for when first they are mentioned they are in undis puted possession of the place of honor in the daily services which they now hold throughout the Catholic Church. In the writings of Simeon, Archbishop of Fhessalonica (A. 0.510), we have the first diiect reference to the use of the Evangelical Canticles The Ninth Ode " he says " is that of Zacharias prophesying of his son, who, according to his voca tion, was the forerunner of grace ; and with this, and before this, and above all, the song of the most chaste and revered Mother of Christ, which song is at once a theological and sacred prophecy, and supremely blessed, in that it is uttered concerning that miraculous conception, whereby God, clothed m flesh from her womb, received us to be the new Israel, as it had been promised to Abraham. "f
Apparently the ordinary form of morning and evening service, distinct from the Eucharist, was in the earliest times very much as it is now in our Prayer Book. One or more Psalms were recited, one or more Lessons read, interspersed with Canticles, and these were followed by Prayers. Generally apparently, in the East both the Magnificat and the Bfmdictus, were sung in the morning service ; but in the West the Magnificat was reserved for evening use. The Benedictus, the Song of the Herald, tell ing of the Day-spring visiting us to lighten and cheer our path, is of course a morning Canticle. In the Day Hours it is the centre of the Office of Lauds, the office which should properly be s.iid at day break. The Magnificat is the central feature of the Vesper service. "When the fulness of time was
*Bingham, Ecclesiastical Antiquities, p. 691. •fQuoted in The Evangelical Canticles, p. 9.
THE GOSPEL CANTICLES. 3
come God sent forth His Son made of a woman
. . that we might receive the adoption
of sons."* As the Advent Vesper Hymn puts it:
" Thou cam'st the Bridegroom of the Bride As drew the world to evening-tide, Proceeding from a Virgin shrine, The spotless Victim all Divine."
The Nunc dimittis belongs naturally to Compline, or a closing evening service. It tells of the old passing into the new, the sinking down to rest in faith and hope and love.
Hooker's masterly reply to the uninstructed Puri tan prejudice, which in his day attempted the exclusion of the Gospel Hymns from the English Prayer Book, must be quoted. The Puritans object ed also to the constant recitation of the Psalter, and, after having given reasons for the conveniency and use of reading the Psalms oftener than the other Scriptures, Hooker continues : " Of reading or singing likewise Magnificat, Benedictust and Nunc dimitiis oftener than the rest of the Psalms, the causes are no whit less reasonable, so that if the one may very well monthly, the other may as well even daily be iterated. They are songs which concern us so much more than the songs of David as the Gospel toucheth us more than the Law, the New Testament than the Old. And if the Psalms for the excellency of their use deserve to be oftener repeat ed than they are, but that the multitude of them permitteth not any oftener repetition; what disorder is it if these few Evangelical Hymns which are in no respect less worthy, and may by reason of their paucity be imprinted with much more ease in all men's memories, be for that cause every day re hearsed ? "
*Gal. iv., 4, 5.
4 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
Then he speaks of them as being " the first gratu- lations wherewith our Lord and Saviour was joyfully received at His entrance into the world by such as in their hearts, arms, and very bowels embraced Him ; being prophetical discoveries of Christ already pres ent, Whose future coming the other Psalms did but foresignify, they are against the obstinate incredulity of the Jews the most luculent testimonies that the Christian Religion hath ; yea the only sacred hymns they are that Christianity hath peculiar unto itself, the other being songs too of praise and thanksgiving, but songs wherewith as we serve God so the Jew likewise."*
The use of the Gospel Canticles points to aprinc'ple. It is not only in obedience to a traditional sentiment that the Church clings to them, but by a true spir itual instinct. They are the Hymns of the Incarnation. And the Incarnation lasts on. The mystery is con tinually re-enacted, as its virtue is applied. When we repeat these words we do not simply throw our selves back in memory eighteen centuries and asso ciate ourselves in imagination with their original authors, but we are ourselves in circumstances analogous to those of Zacharias, and Symeon, and the Blessed Virgin. Christ is born in our hearts, and all the mysteries of the Incarnation are to have their counterpart in our spiritual life. This is the principle, the spiritual truth, that underlies so many of our Prayer Book Collects. Those, for instance, for Christmas Day, for the Fes tivals of the Purification and the Annunciation, for Easter Eve and Ascension Day. He who was born for us is born in us, that we may be re-born in Him ; with Him we are crucified ; we share His
*Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, V., xl.
THE GOSPEL CANTICLES. 5
death, that in Him we may rise to newness of life, and with Him in heart and mind ascend.
We say our Gospel Canticles therefore both as a commemoration of the great mystery of the Incarna tion in the past as an historical event, and as rejoicing in those spiritual experiences wherein its virtue and grace are made ours.
THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
Bene&fctugf,
THE SONG OF ZACHARIAS.
St. Luke i., 68-78.
We should remember the primary and historical setting of the Hymn. Any personal and spiritual applications are based on, developed from this.
Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, we are told, were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame less. They had no child. It was the great longing of every Jewish woman that she might be, if not the actual mother of the expected Messiah, at least in the line of His maternal ancestry. Although know ing not the true dignity of the Messiah, the promised Seed of the Woman, yet she hoped to share in the blessing of Eve (Gen. iii., 15). Barrenness was a sign to her of God's displeasure. Moreover the Jews knew that the time was now accomplished when the Deliverer should come. Great was there fore the expectation of faithful souls like Zacharias and Elizabeth ; sad their disappointment at their lot (St. Luke i., 5-7).
Then came the opportunity for Zacharias. " While he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense." For the first and only time in his life probably this honor able function was assigned to him. So high a priv ilege was this ministration esteemed that until every member of the course had executed it in his turn it was not assigned to any one for a second time.
BENEDICTUS. 7
Zacharias was now an old man; he would soon be retired from active ministration on a pension; and we may well "believe that this duty when it fell to him by lot was eagerly welcomed, that as he entered the Holy Place, and offered the incense on the golden altar, he gathered up all the prayers of a lifetime in one intense petition — for the speedy manifestation of the Messiah and that he might have a share in the joy of His advent. As he offers the incense, the symbol of Christ's prevailing merits, the Angel Gabriel appears to him and announces that his prayer is heard. " Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord. . . . and he shall go before His face in the spirit and power of Elijah ... to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for Him." Zacharias staggers at the Angel's word in un belief. How often we do likewise! We pray, and when the answer comes, instead of recognizing it with glad thanksgiving, we do not believe it is the answer to our prayer, but suppose the blessing has come about in some other way. Just this kind of doubt was that of Zacharias. And he was punished. He receives not the Word of God : he cannot pro claim that Word to the people. He is struck with dumbness. Not until at the circumcision of the child when he acts in faith, and, setting aside his natural inclination and the wishes of his kinsfolk that the son should bear his own name, names the child according to the word of the Angel, is his speech restored. Then he bursts forth in this in-, spired Song of Thanksgiving, the result of those nine months' silent meditation. " This song which was composed in the priest's mind during the time
8 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
of his silence broke solemnly from his lips the mo ment speech was restored to him, as the metal flows from the crucible in which it has been melted the moment that an outlet is made for it."*
We should regard the song as " an inspired burst of praise for the accomplished fact of the Incarna tion, viewed, as was natural to a Priest of the Temple, especially as the fulfilment of the covenant promises of God to His ancient people, but reaching out into a wider and more distinctly Evangelical scope in the last three verses. "f
It is divided into three main sections, which Godet thus sums up :
I. vv. 68-75. The Theocratic sentiment breaks forth first. Zacharias gives thanks for the arrival of the times of the Messiah.
II. vv. 76, 77. Then his paternal feeling comes out, as it were, in a parenthesis : the father expresses his joy at the glorious part assigned to his son in this great work.
III. vv. 78, 79. Lastly, thanksgiving for the Messianic Salvation overflows and closes the song.
be tfir ?Lor& <Boti of Israel: for l)e fjatf) btsitelr anfr refceemea ?i)ts people;
&nir fiatij ratsrO up a mtgf)ti> salbatton for us: hi tfir fjouse of |t)is sernant DabtU.
Separate the titles, as in the Revised Version, " The LORD, the God of Israel." Jehovah the Self-Existent One, who is the God of Israel. See Ex. iii., 14-18; and Gen. xxii., 18 (in Israel all nations were to be blessed).
He hath visited — in the Incarnation — and re deemed— -by the Passion of His well-beloved Son —
* Godet, Commentary on St. Luke's Gospel. f The Evangelical Canticles, p. 31.
BENEDICTUS. 9
His people, not the ancient literal Israel alone (St. John, x., 16; 'xi., 51, 52), but all whom He would gather into a better covenant as the true Israel of God (Gal. vi., 16; Rev. vii., 4 sq.)
We need not suppose that Zacharias understood fully the meaning of the words he uttered. Like the words of the prophets they had a higher and richer significance than was perceived by those who first spake them (i St. Pet. i., 10-12; 2 St. Pet i., 21).
The declaration of God in Ex. iii., 7, 8, receives a grander fulfilment. God has seen mankind groaning under the tyranny of sin, under the cruel bondage of Satan, and He has come down to deliver man. " With His own Right Hand and with His Holy Arm: hath He gotten Himself the victory " (Ps. xcviii., 2).
In prophetic spirit Zacharias speaks of that as already accomplished of which the initial stages are now being executed. The Incarnation had taken place some three months previous. (St. Luke i., 36.) " The Word was made flesh."
ft mtgfitg calbatton — Literally " a horn of salva tion." The horn was an emblem of strength de rived from the lower animals whose most powerful weapon it is. The term is equivalent to " a tower of strength." (Comp. Ps. cxxxii., 18.)
In tlie %>ougc of JBabttr — See the promises to David's Seed in 2 Sam. vii., 12 sq.; Isa. xi., i, 10; Jer. xxiii., 5, sg. All of which, whether or not they had any earlier realization, receive their fulfilment in Christ " Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrec tion from the dead " (Rom. i., 3, 4),
IO THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
as H|r spake br> tfie moutf) of ffits ftohj propftets: tof)tclj tjaur been since tfjr luorla began.
We should trace the gradual unfolding of the promise concerning the Seed of the Woman (Gen. iii., 15) given immediately upon man's fall; the Seed of Abraham in whom all nations should be blessed (Gen. xxi., 17); Shiloh to whom should the gather ing of the people be (Gen. xlix., 10); the Star that should arise out of Jacob (Num. xxiv., 17).
By later prophets the promise was continually de veloped until the whole work and character of the Messiah, His Person, the family and place and time of His birth were all sketched out, and it only re mained for Him to appear and fulfil all that was written concerning Him in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms. (St. Luke xxiv., 27, 46; Rev. xix., 10.) " The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Cftat toe sIjoulU fie eabelr from our enemies: antr from tfjr fiaiios of all tliat fiate us;
Co perform tfje mercj) promised to our forefathers; anU to remember ?£ts tool? cobenant.
Co perform tfte oatft toljtcfi ffie stoare to our forefather afirafjam: tfiat |^c tooultr gtbe us;
Cfmt toe being Helibereli out of tfir fjanU of our enemies: migfyt serbe ?i)im toitfiout fear;
£n fioliness anti righteousness before 21) im: all tt)r trass of our life.
// is a spiritual deliverance from spiritual foes that Zacharias sings, of which Israel's temporal deliver ance — from Egypt or from Babylon — was a type and pledge. (Comp. Isa. xl., i-io; Heb. iv., 8, 9.)
Doubtles.s the first thought in Zacharias' mind was of deliverance from the galling yoke of the Roman conqueror, that God's people " being delivered out of the hand of their enemies might serve Him with-
BENEDICTUS. II
out fear " of their own blood being mingled with their sacrifices, or of their holy places being defiled by contemptuous heathen governors. Think of the purpose of our deliverance from those spiritual foes who are typified by Israel's temporal oppressors
— that being set at liberty from the bondage of sin we should serve God without fear. Here in a poor, imperfect way we struggle on year after year to present ourselves, our souls and bodies, a sacrifice to Him (Rorn. xii., i; Ps. cxix., 32). We look forward to our perfected deliverance to be enabled to serve Him perfectly, "in holiness and righteousness," without let or hindrance (Rev. xxii., 3). The end of our redemption is not mere acquittal, to be let off the punishment of our sins, but perfect service. Comp. Ps. cv., 41-44, "That they might keep His statutes: and observe His laws." This is the promise contained in the Holy Name. " His Name shall be called JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins " ( St. Matt., i., 21).
go perform tfle mercg [promises] to out forefathers.
— There is no word corresponding with " promised " in the original; it is better omitted, as in the Revised Version, " To show mercy towards our fathers," to them along with us, for they without us are not made perfect (Heb. xi., 40). They too are ad mitted to a higher blessedness by the coming of Christ. The Church of God is built on the founda tion of Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief Corner-Stone, binding all in one (Eph. ii., 20).
Cfte oatfi toflicf) l%e stoare to our forefather
— See Gen. xxii., 16 ; Heb. vi., 13, sq. ; and the plead ing of God's covenant in Ps. Ixxxix. " Which prom ise He for His part will most surely keep and per-
12 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES
form." The meaning of the name Zacharias is " God hath remembered."
forefather gftraflam — Christ is the Seed of Abraham, in Whom the promises are fulfilled. (See Gal. Hi., 7, 9.) We inherit in Christ. We must shew ourselves Abraham's seed as sharing his faith. (Rom. iv. , 11-17; St. John, viii., 39.)
®ur enemies — Both Satan and his angels our personal spiritual foes (Eph. vi., 12), and sin re garded impersonally (Rom. viii., 34). Bishop An- drewes in his Devotions treats the seven Canaanitish nations as types of the Seven Capital Sins.
From the power of all we are set free by Christ. (I. St. Pet. i., 18, 19; Tit. ii., 11-14; Col. ii., 15.)
Xn floliness an& rtsBteousness. — His service is per fect freedom. (St. John viii., 36.) Holiness is negative, the absence of all stain; Righteousness, the more positive description, the presence of all those religious and moral virtues which render worship acceptable to God.
&ntr tljott, rfjtliJ, sfjalt fcc callcU HK propfjet of tjjr ?i>igijcst: for tijou sfjalt QO before tfje Mrr of Jfjr 2Lortr to prepare ®ts toans ;
So gibe fmotoleftge of salbatton unto JQis people : for Jfjr rrmisston of tljrtv sins,
" From the height to which he has just attained Zacharias allows his glance to fall upon the little child at rest before him, and he assigns him his part in the work which has begun." *
John the Baptist occupies a position of special honor in the Church of God. It was his part to put the finishing stroke to the work of the goodly fellow- * Godet.
BENEDICTUS. 13
ship of the Prophets, whose last representative he was (St. Matt, xi., 9 sq.). He appears as the actual herald of the King, the outrider before His chariot. It is his privilege to point Him out as having come Whom a long line of predecessors had foretold as about to come (St. John, i., 26, 36). John Bap tist himself was the subject of prophecy to two of his predecessors (Isa. xl.; Mai. iii., iv.). Notice the doctrinal lesson in the expression " Thou shall go before the face of the LORD." Christ is "the LORD " before Whose face John goes to prepare His way, as the Prophet of the Highest.
go prepare 3%is toags— For six months before our Lord entered on His public ministry John Bap tist was preaching, saying, " Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." His was the last utterance of the Law which was to convince man of sin that so they might be ready to welcome the Deliverer from its guilt and power.
In our individual experience this ministry of John the Baptist, as the Preacher of Repentance, must ever go before the revelation of Jesus. Hindrances must be cleared away, the mountains of pride must be levelled, valleys of neglected duties filled up, the crooked ways of self-deceit made straight, and the roughness of our uneven tempers smoothed — that His way may be made ready. " The pure in heart shall see God."
" On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry Announces that the Lord is nigh; Awake and hearken, for he brings Glad tidings of the King of kings.
" Then cleans'd be every breast from sin, Make straight the way of God within, Prepare we in our hearts a home, Where such a mighty Guest may come."
14 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
go gibg fenotolettge of salbation. — He was to pre pare the way of the Lord by giving knowledge. " Why was the ministry of the Messiah preceded by that of another Divine messenger? Because the very notion of salvation was falsified in Israel, and had to be corrected before salvation could be real ized. A carnal and malignant patriotism had taken possession of the people and their rulers, and the idea of a political deliverance had been substituted for that of a moral salvation. There was needed then another person Divinely authorized to remind the people that perdition consisted not in subjection to the Romans but in Divine condemnation, and that salvation therefore was not temporal emanci pation but the forgiveness of sins."*
gn tfle remission of tfletr sins. — Salvation consists in this (St. Matt, i., 21; St. John i., 29).
t&e tender trims of our @fotr: tojjerefcw tlje from on f)tsf) fjatf) bfsttctr us; fitbe liojt to tijem tfjat sit in Oarfuuss, antr in tfje of toeatf): antr to suitre our feet into tfjc toa» of peace.
Dar&ness is the emblem of alienation from God, and of the spiritual ignorance that accompanies it. This darkness is a shadow of death because it leads to perdition, just as the darkening of sight in the dying is a prelude to the night of death. The term sit denotes a state of exhaustion and despair, like that of belated and benighted travellers.*
The light of God — in the face of Jesus Christ — has dawned upon the world in its sluggishness and alienation (See 2 Cor. iv., 3-6) to guide our feet into the way of peace. Peace can only be found in recon-
* Godet.
BENEDICTUS. 15
ciliation to God, and when all the faculties of our nature are brought into obedience to His law. Christ as the Word of God is the light of all men. Illuminating the conscience He gives light to every^ man that cometh into the world (St. John i., t)). Clothing Himself in our nature He brings light to a world that in turning from God had become in volved in darkness, intellectual and moral (Rom. i., 8-32.) "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined " (Isa. ix., 2). " I am the Light of the World," He proclaims; "he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (St. John viii., 12; Comp. xii., 46, and i St. John v., 18-20.)
As tfte J®H8*S>V*in& from on frigf) we welcome His advent. " The Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His wings" (Mai. iv., 2). The light which He gives us here is but the dawn of that per fect day in which the blessed shall rejoice in His unveiled Presence (Rev. xxi., 23-25). To His light we must expose ourselves that He may heal and quicken our darkened sickly souls and may guide our feet into the way of peace. " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee " (Eph. v., 14).
Morning by morning as we lift up our hearts in thankfulness for His life-giving visitation let us pray (as in the collect for St. John the Evangelist's Day) that He would more and more cast the bright beams of light upon us and all His people, and grant us so to walk in the light of His truth, that we may at length attain to the light of everlasting life.
l6 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
THE SONG OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
St. Luke i., 46-55.
It is indeed surprising that this Hymn commem orating the central fact of our Religion, the Incarna tion of the Eternal Son of God, should ever have been excluded from our Service Book.
It is easy to see the prejudice and suspicion which led to its exclusion. But how shallow and contrary to true reason ! To sing Mary's song, with her to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God her Saviour and ours, could hardly lead to Mariolatry. Indeed it puts her at once in her proper place as the represen tative of the Church, the first among the Saints, the leader of the Church's worship of Almighty God. With her we sin^, not to her.
A second objection of the Puritans to this and the other Evangelical Canticles was that they were too personal.* Apart from the fact that the Psalms if regarded in the same narrow spirit would for the most part come under the same objection, this was to lose sight of the representative and typical char acter of their authors as prominent actors in the mystery of the Incarnation. Mary is the representa tive not only of the collective Church which is ever bringing forth Christ to the world (Rev. xii.), but also of every individual soul among the faithful, of whom and in whom Christ is to be born by the opera tion of the Holy Ghost. In one sense Mary's pre rogative is unique, chosen out of all the daughters of men to be the Mother of the Incarnate Son of
* For Hooker's fuller consideration of this objection see on the Nunc Dimitlis, p. 28.
MAGNIFICAT. 1 7
God, that when the Word was made flesh He willed to take from her substance by the power of the Holy Ghost that Body in which He lived and died and now reigns at God's Right Hand in glory. But in another sense she is the pattern and representative of all the faithful. When on one occasion during our Lord's ministry a woman out of the multitude which was hanging on H?s words exclaimed, "Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked," He replied, " Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it." (St. Luke xi., 27, 28.) He denied not His mother's blessedness ; but He pointed to its true and highest cause. More blessed was she in that she heard and kept His Word and thus -was fitted for her high voca tion than in the mere bringing Him forth according to the flesh.
" Joy to be Mother of the Lord,
And thine the truer bliss, In every thought and deed and word
To be forever His."
And in this her higher blessedness we too may share. For on another occasion her Son de clared, " My mother and My brethren are these which hear the Word of God and do it " (St. Luke viii., 21). " One is the Mother of Christ according to the flesh," says St. Ambrose, "but according to the spirit the fruit that all bear is Christ." Christ is to be formed in us, in ever fresh developments of His all-perfect likeness, by the grace of the Holy Ghost. (Gal. i., 16 ; iv., 79 ; Eph. Hi., 17.)
" Blessed is the womb that bare Him — blessed The bosom where His lips were pressed;
But rather blessed are they Who hear His Word and keep it well, The living homes where Christ shall dwell
And never pass away." * * Christian Year, for the Annunciation.
l8 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
The Magnificat then is to be sung by us along with Blessed Mary both in praise for the mystery of the Incarnation of which she was the chosen and highly favored instrument, and likewise in glad thanksgiving for all those spiritual gifts and experi ences by which the grace of that central mystery of the Faith is wrought out 141 ourselves individually. As the author of the older version of " Jerusalem my happy Home " quaintly expresses himself in his description of the Heavenly City, —
" Our Lady sings Magnificat In tones surpassing sweet, And all the Virgins bear their part Sitting about her feet."
Concerning the historical setting, the environment, so to speak, of the Magnificat and its relation to Hannah's Song (given in i. Sam. ii.) the words of Dr. Liddon may be quoted :*
" The Magnificat is tacitly recognized, by the judgment and by the heart of Christendom, as the noblest of Christian hymns. The occasion of its utterance was unique in Jewish or rather in human history; it was such as to place Mary's Hymn in a higher category than those other Evangelical Can ticles which together with it, and with a view to illus trate St. Paul's teaching, are preserved by St. Luke. When Mary sang, she had received Gabriel's mes sage, and she knew that her expected Child, con ceived under circumstances altogether preternatural, would be greater than any of the sons of men. Her hymn in fact is presented to us in Scripture as the Hymn of the Divine Incarnation ; and its contents, alike in their explicitness and in their reserve, are in
* University Sermons, 2nd series, " The Prophecy of the Magnificat" p. 203, sq.
MAGNIFICAT. 19
keeping with its historical origin. It has indeed been suggested (by Strauss, in his Leben Jesii) that Mary in visiting her cousin, would scarcely have broken out into a long Canticle instead of engaging in the conversation which would be natural between rela tions after a period of separation. But it may be replied, first, that the Evangelist does not profess to report all that passed at the Visitation ; and, secondly, that, even within the sphere of purely natural experi ence, there are moments when human feeling alto gether refuses to submit to the ordinary restraints of homely intercourse, and when, under the stress of great joy or sorrow, we must either be silent, or ex press ourselves in a strain which to cool observers at the time, and to ourselves at other times, would ap pear to be unnatural. If, then, we reflect what, according to the Evangelist, the recent experience of the Virgin Mother had actually been, we must feel the impossibility of interpreting this utterance by the rules which govern our feelings and conversation in daily life. And, indeed, it is not difficult to imagine how our critic would himself have treated the report of a business-like discussion on family matters, in terspersed with some pious reflections, if St. Luke could have bequeathed one. Nor is it possible to agree in the forced expression of surprise that a hymn emanating immediately from so high a source of inspi ration ' should not be more striking for its originality.' " Certainly the modern feeling of anxiety to owe nothing to a literary predecessor finds no place in the sacred writers ; prophets continually repeat, with new freshness and authority, the language of older men of God; and, to omit other examples, the holiest of all prayers is largely based on Rabbinical petitions which were in use when it was first pre scribed. Yet in all such cases new combinations, new
2O THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
associations, a new and all-inspiring purpose do secure a true element of originality ; for originality may be achieved not less perfectly by the effective use of old ideas and language than by the production of new material.
" Unquestionably Mary in her hymn does speak almost entirely in the sacred language of the past ; two Books of the Law, a late Psalmist, two Prophets, and the work of the Son of Sirach are laid under contribution ; above all, the Song of Hannah, to whose memory in her new circumstances Mary would not unnaturally have turned, supplied a large propor tion, both of its language and its form, to the Hymn of the Visitation. And yet who would seriously com pare the earlier with the later poem ? ' Throughout the Magnificat? exclaims a living foreign Protestant Divine,* ' there reigns a truly royal majesty ; Mary passes from pouring forth the thankful joy of her heart to point with reverent awe at the Divine fact which was its provoking cause ; and then, as if gazing from a lofty eminence, in the fulness of the prophetic spirit, she describes the consequences of this fact in human nature and history ; and the last strophe of her song dies away, as she owns in it not simply a personal honor done to herself, but the supreme token of God's faithfulness and compassion towards the people of His choice.' "
|«M 0oul &otlj majjntfw tfje 2Lor& t anlr ms sjJirtt fjatjj rejoiced in CSoO ma? Sabtour,
God is to be worshipped, Mary to be honored. She is not the object, but the leader of our worship.
*' Highly favored " indeed she is, and "filled with grace" — as a chosen receptacle, not "full of grace"— as a source.
*Godet in his Commentary on St. Luke.
MAGNIFICAT. 21
Elizabeth had excitedly, " with a loud voice," exclaimed, "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me ?" Mary in reply calmly refers all the glory to Him Who has so highly honored her. She denies not the great things done to her, but she refers them all to the true Source and Giver.
jfor ?IJe fjcitfj refiar&elr: tfje lotoltness of 5^ts &an&= tmii&rn.
Literally, the lou> estate. She is not praisin g he humility, but telling of His condescension. She was indeed a princess of the house of David, the lineal representative and heiress of David's throne ; but betrothed to a village carpenter, residing in a provincial town of evil repute ; the family of David had sunk into so great obscurity that when she came to Bethlehem, her own royal city, no room was found for her in the inn. This low estate of His hand maiden God regarded. It was an illustration, the first great instance, of the law of the New Kingdom noted by St. Paul : "Behold your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called, but God chose the foolish things of the world, that He might put to shame them that are wise ; and God chose the weak things of the world, that He might put to shame the things that are strong ; and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that He might bring to nought the things that are." (i Cor. i., 26-28.)
jFor foeljoltr, from fjntcefortf) : all ffnterattons 0fiall call me filrssrtt.
Hear the words of Bishop Pearson : " It was her
22 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
own prediction, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed ; but the obligation is ours to call her, to esteem her so. If Elizabeth cried out with so loud a voice, Blessed art thou among women, when Christ was but newly conceived, in her womb, what expressions of honor and admiration can we think sufficient now that Christ is in Heaven and that Mother with Him ? Far be it from any Christian to derogate from that special privilege granted her, which is incommunicable to any other. We cannot bear too reverend a regard unto the Mother of our Lord, so long as we give her not that worship which is due unto the Lord Himself. Let us keep the language of the primitive Church : Let her be honored and esteemed, let Him be worshipped and adored."*
ffov 74 e tijat is mi&Dt£ Jati) majjtttffelr mej ana Jjolg is Name.
Think how we should thus sing along with Blessed Mary. It is true of our regeneration in Holy Bap tism, and of all the gifts of grace that flow therefrom. We have been made " partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 St. Pet. i., 4), members of Christ, chil- dran of God, heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed He hath done to us great things. Probably Mary did not understand the full significance of her words. Who can tell how much she knew of the mystery of the Incarnation ? Much she must have learned aj to the meaning of that which had been accomplished in her as time went on, from her Son Himself, and after the Day of Pentecost, and through the teaching of St. John. She knew at least that she was to be the Mother of the Messiah, and that by
*Bishop Pearson, on the Creed. Art. iii, ch. III.
MAGNIFICAT. 23
an altogether preternatural conception. The angel had told her, "The Holy Ghost shall call upon thee, the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God." (St. Luke i., 35.)
" We must measure the meaning of her words not by the ignorance which we in our ignorance impute to her, but by what the Spirit of God, Who inspired her, has since revealed to us." *
How little do we realize the greatness of the things God has done to us, even when in words we tell of them. Indeed they surpass our comprehension. (See i Cor. ii., 6-16; St. John i., 12, 13; i St. John iii., i, 2.)
1%is meres is on tfjem tljat fear Jfyimt r&roufii)= out all (jenerations.
Mary, after acknowledging what God has done to her, goes on to speak of the way in which His mercy has been shewn in the past on His people. She re members Abraham, and David, and the restoration of Israel after the Captivity. God had watched over His covenant people and led them on until this cul mination and fulfilment of all His promises.
Looking forward from the utterance of Mary's song we behold her words continually fulfilled.
Jfyt fjat& sfjetoelr strenjjtf) tottfj %ts arm: ®e Jjatfi scatteretf) tfjc jjroutt in tfjc imagination of tfjeir fjearts.
The proud in thought, who exalt themselves in their thoughts and imaginations. Man fell through Pride: he is restored through Humility.
Dr. Liddon in the Sermon already quoted traces out the historical sequence:
*Sadler, Commentary on St. Luke.
24 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
" Mary has already referred in tender, solemn, and reserved language to the great things which God has done to her. And now she is, as it were, look ing out across the centuries at the mighty religious revolution which would date from the appearance of her Divine Son on the scene of human history. God, she exclaims, hath shewed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud; He hath put down the mighty; He hath exalted the humble; He hath filled the hungry; He hath sent the rich empty away. It is true that these are past tenses, and they might thus be referred to the triumphs and fortunes of Israel in by-gone days: to that ancient discomfiture of the Egyptian power, which was scarcely ever ab sent from the memory and heart of Hebrew Saints and patriots; to the dethronement of the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Amalekite kings who vainly en deavored to arrest the advancing destinies of Israel; to the abasement of the pride of Moab, and of the might of Babylon; to the restoration in splendor and in power of the chosen race, when it had been fast bound by merciless conquerors in misery and iron. Mary has been understood to mean that Israel, as a people, did, on the whole, even in its worst moments, hunger and thirst after righteousness, and was re warded by a long line of teachers of spiritual truth, culminating in the Greatest Teacher of all; while other peoples, rich indeed in natural endowments, but sated with the conceits of misdirected specula tion, or with the cumbrous splendors of a mere ma terial civilization, were sent empty away from the spiritual feast. But it seems that Mary is thinking less of the past than of the present, and of the future which lies in the womb of the present. So, after the manner of prophets, she does not anticipate that which is yet to come; she sings of what she sees intui-
MAGNIFICAT. 25
lively, as if it were already history. He hath scat tered the proud; He hath put down the mighty; He hath exalted the humble; H-Qhath filled the hungry; He hath dismissed the rich. God's work is for Mary as if it were present or past, while speaking histor ically, although on the point of beginning, it was still, in its richest and truest sense, altogether future. In her great hymn Mary stands no doubt between two dispensations. They present many points of resemblance to each other, and she can hardly prophesy without describing, or describe without prophesying. But upon the whole she is looking forward rather than backward; she is prophetess rather than historian; and her language is to be in terpreted less by the history of Israel after the flesh than by that of the New Kingdom of her Son."
put ttotou tfje mtsfjtg fr.m tfjetr seat : antor tiatf) ejraltelr tjje ijumfile antt meefc.
Better in the Revised Version, " Princes from their thrones."
" All praise to Him at whose sublime decree
The last are first, the first become the last ; By whom the suppliant prisoner is set free,
By whom proud first-borns are cast down ; Who raises Mary to be Queen of Heaven, While Lucifer is left condemned and unforgiven." *
It is the great law of God's dealings laid down again and again in the Gospel. See St. Luke xviii., 14; and contrast the overthrow of Babylon, the great World City, with the description of the New Jerusalem descending from God out of Heaven all aglow with the glory of God, in Rev. xviii. and xxi.
* The Angels' Song in The Dream of Gerontius.
26 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
?i)r fiat!) ftllrtr tf)r f)tiiiQr» tuttfj gootr tfjurgs: and tijc rut) ?$e flat!) sent emptg atoag.
This, as St. Augustine points out, in commenting on the word St. James iv., 6, " God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble," is by no arbitrary decree. As the rain falls equally on the mountain and on the valley, but the hill-tops remain parched and arid, while the moistened valleys laugh and sing with verdure and crops, because the former cannot receive or retain the water, even so does Pride incapacitate man from receiving the gifts of God, which the Humble obtain. We must come before God in the acknowl edgment of our need. They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. Christ comes not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (St. Matt, x., 12, 13.) Compare Isa. Ixvi., i, 2, how applicable to the Magnificat, the song of the humble to whom Christ reveals Himself! " Thus saith the Lord, the Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool ; what manner of house will ye build unto Me ? And what place shall be My rest ? For all these things hath Mine hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word."
5^c rememfiertrtp; 2£ts meres fjatf) fjotyen 3^ts serbant fisrael: as i£e promises to our forefathers, anli f)is seett for eber.
The verse is better translated : —
" He hath holpen Israel His servant, That He might remember mercy (As He spake unto our fathers) Toward Abraham and his seed for ever."
MAGNIFICAT. 27
Mary recognizes the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham, that in his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed. (Gen. xxii., 18; Gal. Hi., 16.) See how fitly the Magnificat serves to connect the First Lesson from the Old ^Testament, which it fol lows, with the Second Lesson from the New Testa ment. It looks back to the original promise to Abraham ; and it declares that in the coming Saviour that promise will have its realization.
We may note the force of the names here intro duced.
It is the Israel of God (Gal. vi., 16), not "Israel after the flesh," which is really in view, the true covenant people of God (Rev. vii.), who, like their spiritual ancestor, strive with God in prayer and win His blessing. (Gen. xxxii., 24-28 ; Hos. xii., 3, 4.) Although the fulfilment of God's promises may seem to tarry, the faithful, like Mary and Symeon and Anna, are looking for redemption, knowing that His promise will not really fail.
The covenant is with Abraham, "the father of the faithful." If we are to share in the blessing of Blessed Mary, we must like her prove ourselves true children of Abraham, shewing his faith in our lives, and then claiming the promises as we fulfil our part of the covenant. (Rom. iv., n, 12.) Think of Mary's transcendent faith when she accepted the Angel's message, simply surrendering herself to God's good pleasure: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord : be it unto me according to Thy word." (St. Luke i., 38.) This was, indeed, the word of a daughter of Abraham, who, " when he was called, by faith obeyed . . . and he went out, not knowing whither he went." (Heb. xi., 8.)
28 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
EDfmfttte,
THE SONG OF SYMEON.
St. Luke ii., 29-32.
Hooker* quotes the Puritan objection to the use of these Hymns as being too personal and peculiar to their authors. "They sing (the Puritans objected) Benedictus, Nunc Dimtttis, and Magnificat we know not to what purpose except some of them were ready to die, or except they would celebrate the memory of the Virgin and John the Baptist," etc. Hooker replies " By this your reason we may not use any of the Psalms, until we be in like case as David was, or other, when they were first made." He continues, " And whereas they tell us these Songs were fit for their purpose when Symeon and Zachary and the Blessed Virgin uttered them, but cannot so be to us which have not received like benefit ; should they not remember how expressly Ezechias among other good things is commended for this also, that the praises of God were through his appointment daily set forth by using in public Divine Service the songs of David and Asaph unto that very end ? Either there wanted wise men to give Ezechias advice and to inform him of that which in his care was as true as it is ours, namely, that without some inconvenience and disorder he could not appoint those Psalms to be used as ordinary prayer-, seeing that although they were songs of thanksgiving such as David and Asaph had special occasion to use, yet not so the whole
* Ecclesiastical Polity, Bk. V., xl., 2, 3.
NUNC DIMITTIS. 29
Church and people afterwards whom like occasions did not befall : or else Ezechias was persuaded as we are that the praises of God in the mouths of His Saints are not so restrained to their own particular,but that others may both conveniently and faithfully use them : first, because the mystical communion of all faithful men is such as maketh every one to be inter ested in those precious blessings which any one of them receive at God's hands : secondly, because when anything is spoken to extol the goodness of God Whose mercy endureth forever, albeit the very par ticular occasion whereupon it riseth do come no more, yet the fountain continuing the same, and yielding other new effects which are but only in some sort proportionable, a small resemblance between the benefits which we and others have received may serve to make the same words of praise and thanks giving fit, though not equally in all circumstances fit for both; a clear demonstration whereof we have in all the ancient Fathers' commentaries and meditations upon the Psalms: last of all, because even when there is not as much as the show of any resemblance, nevertheless by often using their words in such manner, our minds are daily more and more inured in their affections."
Symeon of course in this Song stands forth in a very marked and special sense as a typical and repre sentative person. He is a type of God's people in all ages, rejoicing in the fulfilment of His promises, and in a special sense representative of the ancient Jewish Church welcoming the realization of the promise long expected and prayed for. As an old English Divine neatly puts it, " Symeon only was the Precentor, he began the Song, which is to continue to the end of the world. And though Symeon be departed, according to his wish, yet has the Church
30 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
taken up his Hymn, and sings it continually, as a perpetual memorial of this day's benediction."*
In like manner an older writer, Venerable Bede, in the ninth century, says, " The aged and righteous Symeon, the good old man of the Law, received into his arms the Child Jesus presented in the Temple, and signified his desire to depart, and thus represents to us the Law, now worn out with age, ready to embrace the Gospel and so depart in peace."
In another place Bede puts the same thought in a different way: " The old man received the Infant Christ to convey thereby that this World, now worn out as it were with old age, should return to the child-like innocence of Christian life."
Symeon then we regard as the representative
1. Of Fallen Humanity, waiting for the promised Deliverer, in Whom it should find its regeneration, and then rejoicing at His manifestation:
2. Of the Jewish Church, waiting for Him in Whom all its hopes centred, in Whom all its rites and ordinances should find their true solution and significance:
3. Of all the Faithful in the Christian Dispensation, rejoicing in ever fresh revelations of Christ's fulness:
4. Of the whole Church of the Redeemed at the last, when God's purposes are accomplished, and the Blessed behold Him in his unveiled glory.
Accordingly the custom of the Church has been to use this Canticle for two special purposes.
I. The Nunc dimittis is the central feature of the Compline Office, the closing service of the day. As the Benedictus is naturally the morning hymn of the Church, welcoming the rising of the Sun of Right-
*Frank, Sermon on the Purification, in his Works published in the Anglo-Catholic Library, p. 342.
NUNC DIMITTIS. 31
eousness, and as at Vespers the Magnificat commem orates the Incarnation in the fulness of time, " As drew the world to evening- tide,"
so in the closing service for the day the Church teaches her children to recite the Song of Symeon in daily preparation for the closing of our earthly life and the lying down in the sleep of death.
For the Compline Office there are said along with the Nunc dimittis certain fixed Psalms : Ps. iv. which ends with the verse " I will lay me down in peace and take my rest : for it is Thou, Lord, only that maketh me dwell in safety "; part of Ps. xxxi. ending with our Lord's own dying prayer, " Into Thy hands I commend my spirit"; Ps. xci. which more than any other Psalm tells of God's continual watchful care over His people, and which ends with His promise to the faithful servant, " with long life will I satisfy him (when this short troubled life is ended): and shew him My salvation "; and Ps. cxxxiv. which maybe thought of as calling upon the Angels and the Blessed, who need not the rest of sleep to refresh their energies, to carry on the worship of God while we seek rest after toil ; " Behold now, praise the Lord: all ye servants of the Lord; Ye that by night stand in the house of the Lord: even in the courts of the house of our God."
Then follows the Nunc Dimittis, expressive of the soul's attitude of humble, trustful hope towards God.
" As Christ upon the Cross
His head inclined, And to His Father's hands His parting soul resigned,
So now herself my soul
Would wholly give Into His sacred charge,
In whom all spirits live.
32 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
One Sacred Trinity!
One Lord Divine ! May I be ever His,
And He forever mine." •
Our Service Book combines in the Order for Evening Prayer the leading features of the older Vesper and Compline Offices. Recited after the New Testament Lesson at Evensong the Nunc Dimittis has its special force as an expression of grateful trust based on the revelation of the full salvation given to us in Christ, Who is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemp tion (i Cor. i., 30).
2. The Nunc Dimittis has also by a true instinct of the Church been employed as a Thanksgiving after Holy Communion. In the old service books it was a part of the Office which the Priest was directed to say after celebrating the Holy Eucharist. Its appropriateness for such use is at once obvious. Hooker's words before quoted concerning the Evan gelical Canticles in general have their special appli cation to this Hymn and to its use in connection with that Blessed Sacrament in which the promises of God are in a special manner sealed to us: " They are the first gratulations wherewith our Lord and Saviour was joyfully received at His entrance into the world by such as in their hearts, arms and very bowels embraced Him."
As we join in Symeon's Song we may well think of his character as given us in a few touches by St. Luke (St. Luke ii., 25). As the representative of all who should take this hymn on their lips he was "just and devout: :" just, in his relation to man, de vout, pious and God fearing. And " he was waiting for the consolation of Israel:" — for the first coming
NUNC DIMITTIS. 33
of Christ in the Flesh, as we for His final coming in Glory, and meanwhile for His continual manifesta tion in Grace. "The Holy Ghost was upon him: " he was taught by the Spirit as was St. John Baptist in the wilderness (St. John i., 33). There was a wide spread belief at this time that God was about to re store again the kingdom to Israel. The sceptre was on the point of vanishing from Judah,but Jacob had declared this should not be until Shiloh came (Gen. xlix., 10). Daniel and Jeremiah had given the number of years to Messiah's advent, and these were now fulfilled. While the Jews in general were in ex pectation of a temporal deliverance, an earthly Mes siah who should raise their nation again to a great place among the kingdoms of the world, a few faith ful earnest souls, like Symeon and Anna, and the Blessed Virgin, and later those whom John the Bap tist instructed, were looking for higher spiritual blessings, for freedom from the bondage of sin, for a fuller knowledge and love of God. Symeon we may believe had pored over the Old Testament Scriptures longing to know more of their true meaning and of the character and work of the Messiah whose coming they foretold. " It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ."
On the occasion when Mary and Joseph brought the Child to present Him to the Lord, Symeon was irresistibly led by the Spirit to visit the Temple, at some hour apparently when he was not usually wor shipping. It has been thought by some that Sym eon was himself the officiating Priest, and that it was when he took the Child in his arms in the execution of his ministerial office that his eyes were enlight ened, and through all the poverty and meanness he beheld Who it was Whom he held. What a though};
34 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
for those often engaged in or attending upon Holy Mysteries — Baptism and the Eucharist ! how our hearts should be lifted up to the contemplation of the heavenly realities therein signified and wrought ! Whether we regard him as Priest or not, we may see in him and in Anna the example and the reward of faithful and diligent attendance on God's Worship and in God's House. What would they have missed had they not been there ! Amid whatever perfunc- toriness or unspirituality of ministration let us " not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is, but exhort one another; and so much more as ye see the day drawing nigh " (Heb. x.,
25)-
JLortr, noto Irttrst CD on Ol> scrbant depart in peace: cording to &f)B tuor&.
It is not a prayer, but a thanksgiving. The em phasis is on the word Peace. " Now, whenever my call comes, I can depart in peace."
Think of the Peace in which we are called to rejoice, peace in believing, peace in Jesus, the Prince of Peace (St. Matt, xi., 25-30):
Peace for the Mind in the knowledge of the Truth, as it is revealed to us by the Incarnate Word of God (Heb. i., i, 2 ; St. John i., 20). We are not looking for "a Christ to come," for "a Church of the future " ; the revelation given in Jesus Christ is for this world final. There can be no further or fuller revelation than that given by and in the Word made flesh. (St. John i., 14; 2 Cor. iv., 4-6; St. Luke x., 21—24.)
Peace for the Heart in the presentation and pos session of a satisfying object for our affections. If Christ were anything short of God, we should always be looking forward to some more perfect
NUNC DIMITT1S. 35
object. " The heart of man was made for Thee, O God, and nought but Thou canst fill it. It is ever restless until it find its rest in Thee " (St. Augus tine). In Christ's absolute claims (St. John xiv., 15, 21 ; St. Luke ix., 59) He implicitly asserts His Godhead. In entire surrender to Him the heart finds its true peace.
Peace for the Conscience in the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God (Rom. v., i-n ; St. John xx., 21-23).
Peace for the Will in its enfranchisement from the tyranny of evil, the thraldom of passion and self- love (Ps. cxix., 32, 45).
"Their Symeon-like joy and exultation at the dis covery — rather say at the revelation of the Truth, the early Christians expressed with great beauty in one of their symbolic representations which adorned the Catacombs where they worshipped and had their burial places. It depicts a scene in the history of the ancient Israel, the Rock smitten by Moses, sud denly opening and sending forth a stream of pure water which pours over the desert sands. The painting is rude, but there is an indescribable beauty in the expression of the Israelites rushing to the fountain. Every feature bespeaks holy eagerness, unutterable joy, and they drink in long draughts of that which is indeed to them the water of life. The symbol is easy of interpretation ; the first Christians sought thus to set forth the joy unspeak able of having seen the fountain of Divine Life opened in a desert a thousand times more arid than that crossed by the Israelites. At this they slaked their thirst, according to His promise Who said, ' If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink ' (St. John vii., 37), 'Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst : but
36 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (St John iv., 14). "*
As we say the Nunc Dimittis we ought to ask our selves, Have I a share in Symeon's song ? Am I simply repeating his words with my lips, or have they an echo in my heart ? Symeon only saw Christ at the beginning of His work, while we see Him having finished His work.
Through life, amid its sorrows an d disappointments its pains and temptations, are we cherishing the peace which the world can neither give nor take away, the peace of God which passeth all under standing (Phil, iv., 27) ?
In the hour of death can we look forward to a de parture m peace like Symeon's, with a song on the lips, Christ in the arms, Heaven in view ? • That same old English writer who was quoted be fore says,f ' This is a point which may comfort us when all worldly comforts are past us. When like old Barzillai we have neither pleasure nor taste in our meat or drink, we may find sweetness in Christ's Body and Blood. When ' the grasshopper is a bur den, this Child is none; when 'the keepers of the house tremble,' our hands may yet hold Him fast- when they that look out of the windows be dark ened/we may steadfastly behold Him; 'when the grinders <Cease,' we may yet eat this Bread of Life- he that rises at the voice of the bird ' may sleep soundly with this Child in his arms; when ' all desire shall fail ', this ' Desire of all nations ' will not leave him; when he is 'going to his long home,' this Child will accompany and conduct him to his rest."
How, we may ask, can we attain to this ? By re- *Pressense, Early Ye.irs of Christianity, p. n. t Frank, Sermons, p. 361.
NUNC DIMITTIS. 37
sembling Symeon in the four points marked out in Holy Scripture:
1. By obedience, as he " was led by the Spirit." In obedience to the Spirit's inspirations, following His leading.
"Them that are meek shall He guide in judg ment " (Ps. xxv., 8).
" If thou with Symeon would touch Jesus and grasp Him with thy hands, strive with all thy might to have the Holy Spirit for thy Sanctifier and Guide, and come into the Temple of God where thou mayest find Him " (Origen).
2. By a holy life, as he was "just and devout." Careful and faithful in the performance of all duties towards God and towards man.
" To him that ordereth his conversation right will I shew the salvation of God " (Ps. ]., 23).
3. By a diligent use of the means of grace, as he was "in the Temple."
" We wait for Thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of Thy Temple " (Ps. xlviii., 8).
4. By a patient prayerful waiting for the fulfilment of the promise.
" Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay " (Hab. ii., 3).
Embrace Him with a lively faith; Embrace Him with a faithful love; Embrace Him and be embraced by Him In His Sacraments of grace.
St. Ambrose.
Hettegt Cfrp gerbant trepgrt. The Greek word com bines the two ideas of relieving a sentinel on duty and delivering from the burden of life. " Symeon represents himself under the image of a sentinel whom his master has placed in an elevated position, and charged to look for the appearance of a star, and
38 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
then announce it to the world. He sees this long- desired star ; he proclaims its rising, and asks to be relieved of the post he has occupied so long."*
flccorfrtng to Cf)i? tootfr. The Nunc Dimitis is the con tinual Song of Redeemed Humanity in the Christian Church rejoicing in the fulfilment of God's promises concerning the Seed of the Woman (Gen. iii., 15), the Seed of Abraham (Gen. xxii., 18), the Prophet like unto Moses (Deut. xviii., 15-18), the Shoot from David's stock (Isa. xi., i), the Priest upon His throne (Zech. vi., 13).
The promise to Symeon had been that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ (St. Luke ii., 26). Having embraced Christ, to de part will not be death. " He that believeth in Me shall never die " (St. John xi., 26). Death will be no longer a descent into the prison house of Hades; it will be but a falling asleep (Acts vii., 60 ; i Thess. iv., 13, 14) in the assurance of a joyful res urrection.
" Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell ; neither shall Thou suffer Thy holy one to see corruption. Thou shalt shew me the path of life ; in Thy pres ence is the fulness of joy : and at Thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore " (Ps. xvi., n, 12).
jFor fHtitf njrs fjabr Been : Oii> salbatton.
There must be a personal beholding. See Job xix., 27, the sentence which in our Burial Service follows immediately upon our Lord's promise, "I am the Resurrection and the Life ; he that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he live : and whoso ever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die" (St. John xi., 25, 26).
*Godet.
NUNC DIMITTIS. 39
In the words of Job we are taught to appropriate the promise: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."
There must be the personal laying holding of God's promises, the appropriation of His mercy to each individually. This is what is effected by Sacra ments and the ministry of the Church. To empha size this the Church is careful to order that Sacra ments shall be administered to each recipient sever ally, however great may be the number. " I baptize thee." "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee " . . . " The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life."
3 Wf)tr!) Cfiou fiast prrparrtr : brforr tf)c face of all proplr.
That all may reap the benefit. Perhaps the expression is connected with the fact that this scene took place in the Court of the Gentiles. That is where the Woman would come for her Purification.
The Jews were trustees of God's preparatory promises for all mankind. When the promises be came gifts, and the Seed of the Woman appeared, the covenant was enlarged to embrace all mankind. " Go ye into all the world, and make disciples of all nations," was the Lord's command (St. Matt, xxviii., 19; St. Mark xvi., 15). How can we rejoice in His gifts of grace and truth, if we are not seeking by all means in our power — by alms, by prayer, by personal influence and labor — to spread
40 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
these blessings to others, in a spirit of earnest mis sionary zeal ?
5To fce a Itgfjt to lujfjten tjje ©fenttles : anlr to 6e tije » of ffifj» people fisrael.
A light to lighten the Gentiles. Compare the prom ises in the Evangelical Prophet :
" It is too light a thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the ends of the earth" (Isa. xlix., 6).
" The Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the brightness of Thy rising " (Isa. lx., 3).
Cfte glory of &ljg people Esrael. The word used is a technical one, signifying the Shechinah, the Bright Cloud between the Cherubim over the Mercy Seat of the Ark which was the token of God's covenant Presence among His chosen people.
This Presence was in the innermost sanctuary of the Temple, within the Most Holy Place. The idea here is that that radiance is illuminating the whole world while its beauty is most fully seen and enjoyed by those who bask in its immediate Presence.
We may interpret the words likewise of the Chris tian Church, admitted into a higher covenant, a closer union with God, than was vouchsafed to the Jews. By His gifts of sanctifying grace Christ is the in dwelling glory of His faithful people (Col. ii. 27). But His light streams out far beyond the actual boundaries of His Church. Many who would not call themselves Christian believers are living upon Christian truths and sustained by motives that are really derived from Christianity, although they acknowledge not the source from which these bless-
NUNC DIMITTIS. 41
ings are derived. Were the Christian elements to be abstracted from the moral atmosphere, what would become of the Non-Theistic Ethics to which men sometimes point as a substitute for the religion of Jesus Christ ? Our modern civilization and culture are largely based upon ideas which were borrowed from and introduced by the Church of Christ. The great charitable institutions to which we point with pride, our hospitals, homes and provision for the poor and sick and friendless, these are the result of Christianity. They existed not before Christ came. They are not found now apart from the influence ot' Christianity. In this sense also then we may take the words " a light to lighten the Gentiles: and the glory of Thy people Israel."
And again we may apply them to the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant. Here amidst the darkness of earth Christ is our Light, the Light of the world which whoso followeth shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life (St. John viii., 12). Of the Heavenly City it is written, "The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and His servants shall do Him service ; and they shall see His Face; and His Name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light and they shall reign for ever and ever " (Rev. xxii., 5).
Then indeed shall Christ be the glory of His people the true Israel (Rev. vii., 4), who have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed (Gen. xxxii., 28)
St. Buonaventura calls attention to the four titles given to Christ our Lord in this Hymn:
" Christus laudatur in hoc cantico ut Pax, ut Salus, ut Lu%,
42 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
ut Gloria: Pax est quia Mediator, Salus quia Redemptor, Lux quia Doctor, Gloria quia Praemiator."
May He indeed be our Shield in this world, and our exceeding great Reward throughout eternity (Gen. xv., i).
TE DEUM. 43
2Deum.
This great Hymn of the Church we may well con sider along with the Gospel Canticles, not only on account of its use with them in our Service, but also as being so closely allied with them in its contents and spirit.
Formerly it was very commonly called " The Song of Ambrose," or "of Ambrose and Augustine." It stood under this title in the Latin office-books of the English Church before the Reformation The name is derived from the legend, of considerable antiquity, which told of the Te Deum being composed and sung in alternate verses at the Baptism of Augustine by Ambrose. For this story however there Is no real foundation. The Hymn is considerably older than the date (A.D. 386) to which this legend would assign its origin. St. Ambrose probably introduced its use into Italy, and St. Augustine, taught by Ambrose, into Africa.
There is a passage in St. Augustine's Confessions* which may be well understood as including a refer ence to the Te Deum. Speaking of his Baptism at Milan he says:
" We were Baptized, and anxiety for our past life vanished from us. Nor was I sated in those days with the wondrous sweetness of considering the depths of Thy counsels concerning the salvation of mankind. How did I weep, in Thy Hymns and Canticles, touched to the quick by the voices of Thy sweet-attuned Church ! The voices flowed into mine ears, and the Truth distilled into my heart,
* Confessions, Bk. IX., vi., 14.
44 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
whence the affections of my devotion overflowed, and tears ran down, and happy was I therein."
In connection with this passage it will be well to re member that in another place St. Augustine speaks of the care which he felt it necessary to take lest the beauty of the music to which the Church Canticles were sung should distract his thoughts from the spiritual sense of what was sung.*
In its present form the Te Deum is probably of Gallican origin. It has been ascribed to both the Hilaries, St. Hilary of Poictiers, A.D. 355, and St. Hilary of Aries, A.D. 440. Parts of the hymn are much more ancient and are to be found in writings of St. Cyprian, A.D. 252. At the end of the Psalter in the Alexandrine MS. of the Bible, which belongs to the fifth century, and which is preserved in the British Museum, there is a Morning Hymn, still used in the daily service of the Greek Church, which is a combination of the Gloria in Excelsis and the Te Deum.
Concerning the combination of different existing formularies in this great Hymn it has been beautifully said,f " Ancient as the Te Deum is in the form in which we now have it, there is no doubt that its materials are older still, and that the stately tree sends its roots far down into the ritual stores of the sacred East. It is a touching thought that in our grand Te Deum we combine full many a hymn and anthem of untold antiquity, the offspring of the rapt devotion of the early Eastern mind, all welded into one majestic whole by the genius of the Western Church ; and that since its first composition there never has been a time in the history of the Western
*Confessions, Book X., xxxiii., 50.
f The late Canon A. R. Ash well, in the Monthly Packet, for 1867, Second Article on the Cant cles.
TE DEUM. 45
Service Books when it has not formed part of the Matin-Song."
Concerning the date of the Te Deum the same writer says, " Whatever mists envelop its origin, there can be no doubt that in its present form, and in its present completeness, it belongs to some date in the fifty or sixty years next following the Nicene Council, A. D. 325. Not until the Chris tian Doctrine was fully vindicated was the Te Deum completed ; not until the great victory over heresy was won did the Church add her Canticle to the great series which the elder Covenant had com menced. Viewed in this light the Te Deum comes before us with a surpassing claim on our interest and our affections. It is the one sole Canticle in the whole series which is not a direct extract from Holy Writ. And yet the Church has ever placed it side by side with forms derived from Scripture itself; — nay, even more, it is the very central point towards which they all converge, it is as the capital of the column, it is as the keystone of the arch. We may not claim a direct inspiration for any human formulary, but we may say that whatever gift of illumination resides in Holy Church would seem to have been in this one sole Christian Canticle. In it the Church and not any individual would seem to speak. From the East — s > it would seem — arise many of the elements of which it is composed ; then a scrap which looks like part of it turns up in the West in a treatise of St. Cyprian's ; and then, unknown like Melchizedek in its parentage, it has started into complete life in the Western Church sometime after the middle of the fourth century. And the whole Church welcomes it everywhere. As in its scattered portions it seems to have been the utterance of the scattered members of the Church, so in its completeness it is accepted
46 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
universally, as the fitting voice of the Church Uni versal, giving thanks to God for the fulness of the Christian Faith."
In the Rule of St. Benedict (at the beginning of ihe sixth century) and in that of Csesarius of Aries (about the same date) the Te Deum is ordered to be sung at Sunday Matins ; and this has been its ordi nary use ever since, either on Sundays and Festivals, or in other rites Daily except on Fast Days, follow ing the Lessons read in the early morning or mid- niglit service. With reference to the position of the Te Deum in the service, Canon Ashwell may again be quoted :
'' It sums up the revelation of God as contained in Holy Scripture. If our Scripture Lessons begin with the Old Testament revelation of the Father, and then go on through the New Testament revela tions of God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, down to the Second Advent and the final Judgment of mankind ; — so does the great Te Deum. It begins with 'We praise Thee, O God'; it travels onward down the Gospel History to the ' We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge ' ; and thus it embraces the full-orbed round of Scriptural teaching. That it has always been regarded as a thanksgiving for, or a commemoration of, the revelation of God in Holy Scripture is obvious from the way in which it has always been used in every Service Book ever known of. Its place has always been after the Matin Lections, not before them."
In the first Post-Reformation Prayer Book of the English Church (1549), the Benedidievfas ordered to be used in Advent and Lent instead of Te Deum. The Song of the Three Children had its place in the older Office Books as the Sunday Canticle in the
TE DEUM. 47
Office of Lauds. When therefore our present Morn ing Service was formed by grouping together what had formerly been three separate services (Matins, Lauds, and Prime), the compilers found place for the Bene- tlicite by making it an alternative for ihe Te Deum. The idea of its use in Advent and Lent seems to be not that the Benedicite is more suited for peniten tial reasons, but that the Te Deum is less appropri ate. We drop down from the full joyousness and exultation arising from the contemplation of the great mysteries of Grace, in the worship of God our Redeemer, to the praise of God as Creator, cele brating His work in Nature.
Besides its place in the Matin Office, it has been the use of the Catholic Church generally to sing the Te Deum by itself as a solemn act of Thanks giving for any special mercy, much as in America we have been accustomed to sing the Gloria in. Excelsis. A trace of this use is found in both the English and American Prayer Books of the present day, in the Service to be used at Sea, where in the Thanksgiving for Victory over Enemies the Te Deum is appointed to be sung. In the same way it is used at the Coro nation of Sovereigns and on like occasions of solemn thanksgiving.
It is interesting to note that the most ancient Chris tian music known has come down to us in connection with this Canticle — that known as " the Ambrosian Te Deum." It is found in a work on music, written by one Boethius, a Roman Consul, A.D. 487, and is thought to be, like the other ancient Church Tones, an adaptation of the Temple Psalmody.
The Te Deum is as valuable for private devotion as for public use. Its structure suggests certain
48 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES
great laws of prayer and of spiritual life. Begging of our Lord to
" Teach us this and every day To live more nearly as we pray," *
we should seek to keep ourselves continually in that spiritual attitude towards Almighty God in which we consciously place ourselves in times of prayer. We may notice then in the Te Deum
1. How Hope and Petition are based on Faith;
2. How our Faith rests on the testimony of the Church ;
3. That the Worship of Almighty God comes before Petition for the supply of our needs.
1. The Creed is the back-bone of all. The Te Deum is a cord of three strands, each interwoven with the other, so that you can scarcely disconnect them — our Creed, Praise and Prayer. Our prayer must be based on our faith. Every article of the Creed affords some motive for a holy life, some restraint in the time of temptation.
2. The Te Deum begins in the plural, " We praise Thee " ; it ends in the singular, " In Thee have / trusted; let me never be confounded." Our belief is first of all based upon the testimony of the Church. But then the truth must become a matter of indi vidual conviction.
3. The Te Deum begins with Worship and then goes on to Supplication. We are so apt to reverse this order, and to begin with our own personal joys and sorrows: too often these fill up our thoughts and shut out the contemplation and praise of God's Attributes. The Te Deum on the contrary teaches us to begin with simple Worship and then in the
* Christian Year, Morning Hymn.
TE DEUM. 49
strength of this Worship to bring our needs before Almighty God and to trust ourselves to His Power, His Wisdom, His Love, Whom we have learned really to know as the Thrice- Holy.
As one has said, '' The Te Deum is a creed set hymn-wise." It is also a kind ot rhythmical para phrase of the Lord's Prayer. In both this same order and relation of Worship and Petition is set before us. We may thus analyse the Canticle:
I. Verses i and 2 strike the keynote of praise and adoration.
In those which follow the adoration of Angels and of Saints is offered to the Lord Jehovah directly, to God the Father as the Representative Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Vv. 3-6. All the various ranks of the Heavenly Intelligences join in the Seraphic Hymn.
7, 8. The adoration of the Saints in bliss.
II. Then we descend in vv. 10-13 to the adora tion of the Church Militant on earth, offered to the Holy Trinity through Christ mediately :
Vv. 14—18 continue to commemorate Christ's re deeming work.
III. 19—28. Then follows the Supplication of the Church Militant addressed to Christ as Redeemer, that He will ultimately save His people.
The petition of the last verse each worshipper offers for his own individual soul.
" Nothing," says Canon Ashwell, " can be more touching than the way in which this grand Canticle comes gradually down from the elevated strain of its majestic opening to the almost saddened tone of its pathetic close. At first all is grand and noble and jubilant, for it begins with. God and not with men, with Heaver and not with earth. It is God in His
50 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
illimitable majesty Whom we contemplate: we are fi led with His glory, and all our words and thoughts are laden with exultation. We think of those who stand next to Him in adoration: the Heavenly host who have never sinned, Angels and Cherubim and Seraphim: the Redeemed who have fought their fight, Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs : and all our thoughts are joyous.
" Then we come down to earth, to the Church yet Militant, and our words are soberer, but still partake of the 'same general character of jubilation — for is She not the Bride of Christ, although for the present She abides in the wilderness ? Holy in her collec tive capacity, the Temple of the Holy Ghost. But yet our praise is now of moderated tone. The Angels 'cry aloud'; the Apostles ' praise Thee '; of the Church we say, ' the Holy Church . . . doth acknowledge Thee.' Mark the change of word — acknowledge. It is a word of lesser exultation, but still it is decisive in its character. There is no indecision about it; and we observe too that it is the precise description of what the Church Militant is placed on earth to do. She is God's witness upon earth: it is her business to acknowledge Him below, even as the Redeemed praise Him above. And this she never fails to do even in the worst of times. God is» never without the witness of 'the Holy Church throughout the world.' And accordingly we go on next with howihe Church acknowledges Him, t'.e., in the maintenance of the Apostolic Testimony in the Apostles' Creed, the substance of which is next re cited in vv. 11-19. So the Church acknowledges Him throughout the whole world.
" After this we come down a step lower still from the Church to its constituent parts; to ourselves now worshipping, and to the Supplication which forms the
TE DEUM. 51
third part of the Canticle. The Church below is militant, yet sure to be triumphant in the end; but how as to each several member of her body ? How about ourselves ? Are we sure of our crown ? Are we sure that we acknowledge Him ? A pathetic minor now begins to cross the harmony, and from praise we turn to praying. We want 'help'; and where are we to get it ? The answer can only come out of the Creed which the Holy Church has just acknowledged. What is the Creed but the revelation of our help ? Hence the Supplication takes its start from the Acknowledgment: we start off from the Creed when we begin to pray; and we go on to call upon the Redeemer to ' save ' us, to ' govern us,' to 'lift us up.' We conjure Him by the memory of His Redemption, which we have just been acknowl edging, not to leave us without His help. Thrice we call upon Him to have mercy upon us. Once we pray that during the coming day we may be kept from sin, for we are not sure of ourselves for an hour.
" Then comes the last verse, narrowing the ground still more. In verse 10 it was the whole Church Militant throughout all the earth which spoke. After that (19-28) we come to ourselves,/'.^., the actual congregation now uttering these words ; but in the last verse the thought is brought home to our own separate soul. It is no longer, how about our- selves, but how about wyself ? What is my own case? But for the help of God I know that I can never acknowledge Him ; I can never even keep clear of sin ; I can never hope to be numbered with the Saints in Glory Everlasting. So the Te Deum ends with what sounds almost like the cry of Peter upon the waves — a cry for individual help — ' Lord save me,' — not for the whole Church Militant, not
52 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
for the congregation now gathered in God's House, but for myself; and for the first time in our Matin Service we cease to speak of 'our' and 'we'; it is *I ' and 'me.' The last voice of all is that of indi vidual appeal from each soul to God —
' O Lord, in Thee have I trusted : Let me never be confounded.' "
2Bc praCsr JTfjer, © CKolrj toe ncfenoiuIrUgc 2Cfjcr to fie tfjc Horir.
&U tjje eartfj irotfj toorsfjtp STfjcc: tfjc .tfatfjer cbrr= lastinfl.
3138*. There is a grandeur in this beginning, asso ciating ourselves with, losing ourselves in, the whole Body of the Church throughout all ages.
At the end we claim each one his own personal share in the faith attested by all. The Faith we must remember does not depend upon our accept ance of it. Certain facts are objectively true, whether we believe them or not. We must have our eyes opened that we may behold them.
gfte Hurt. The Supreme Ruler (Rev. xix., 6, 16); equivalent, as in the New Testament, to Jehovah, the Self-existent Being (Ex. iii., 14), as distinguished from all false gods ar>d from any created object.
By some these verses are understood as addressed to our Lord Jesus Christ, as a confession of His true Godhead. In that case the title "the Father Ever lasting " would be used as in Isa. ix., 6, where it is applied to Christ our Lord, the Divine Child, as the Father of a new race, who derive eternal life from Him.
The whole hymn would then be directed to our Lord Jesus Christ, expanding in verses 5 and 10-13 into an acknowledgment of the Blessed Trinity.
But this seems forced. And it is better to take
TE DEUM 53
the whole of the first thirteen verses as addressed to the Holy Trinity, or to the Eternal Father as the Representative Person of the Godhead, and then the remainder from v. 14 as addressed to the Incarnate Son. The Hymn will then be parallel to the vision of the Heavenly Worship in Rev. iv. and v., where adoration is first paid to the Thrice-Holy, and then to the glorified Lamb.
flll tfte fartfi, /. e., all persons therein, speaking generally. Even among the Heathen nations who have not the true faith there is hardly any tribe so degraded as to have no belief in the Supreme Being, He whom they ignorantly worship has been declared unto us (Acts xvii., 23).
<To (Tl)cr nil .Clugcls cry aloutr: tije j^tabrns, an& all tfje 4£otoers tljrmit,
JEoSEfjee (Efjcrubtm antr Srrajjljim: conttuuaHn &o cru, ?A>o!i), ?i>oli?, 71) oli,»: Horn (Soft of Safiaotf); ?Ucal>en anti eartf) are full of tfje J&ajestn: of
We rise from earth to Heaven, to join in worship with the spiritual intelligences, the angel host, the first-born sons of light, around the throne of God.
" O praise the Lord, ye angels of His, ye that excel in strength : ye that fulfil His commandment, and hearken unto the voice of His words.
O praise the Lord, all ye His hosts : ye servants of His that do His pleasure" (Ps. ciii., 2o, 21).
The Angels are represented as first of all worship ping spirits, joining continually in the Celestial Lit urgy around our Lord the great High Priest, and then sent forth also to active ministry on behalf of those who shall be heirs of salvation. This is the force of the two words employed in Heb. i., 14, un fortunately rendered by the one word " minister " in our ordinary translation.
54 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
Think of the worship paid by the heavenly host with their vast powers of intelligence. Shall we refuse our homage, or suppose that mysteries which pass our finite understanding are therefore to be regarded as incredible ? We do but proclaim our folly.
Mention is made in Holy Scripture of different ranks of the Heavenly Host (Col. i., 16 ; Eph. i., 21 ; i St. Pet. iii , 22; Rev. iv., v., xii.; Isa. vi) By Theologians they are commonly enumerated as in a nine-fold hierarchy, each rank having its own peculiar place and office.
" Seraphim His praises sing, Cherubim on four-fold wing, Thrones, Dominions, Princes, Powers, Marshalled Might that never cowers.
" Speeds the Archangel from His Face, Bearing messages of grace ; Angel liosts His words fulfil, Ruling nature by His will."
, 3%olB« ffiolg. Derived from the Seraphic Hymn in Isa. vi., repeated in Rev. iv.
Let us remember that it is the contemplation of God's Holiness which most of all calls forth our wor ship. His almighty Power is exercised according to infinite Wisdom and in perfect Love. Thus do we with the host of Heaven worship Him as the Thrice Holy.
llor& (Soft of ^aftaotf). i.e., of Hosts. The name is significant of God's great power and resistless might, and was specially assumed when speaking of Himself to His down-trodden people. It tells of Him under the figure of a military Leader, whose will must ultimately be obeyed. Comp. St. Matt, xxvi., 53 ; xxv., 31.
TE DEUM. 55
If He be for us, who can be against us ? But more than to have Him on our side, our aim must be ourselves to be found on His side.
Cfje glorious company of 1f)e flpostlcg, going forth into all the world to win all nations to the obedience of the Faith (Rom. i., 5 ; ix., 18).
" For they the Church's princes are, Triumphant leaders in the war, In Heavenly courts a warrior band, True lights to lighten every land."
Cfte gooftlt? feUotosfrtp of tftc ^ropnetg. who prepared the way for Christ, and spake of Him before (Rev. xix., 10; i St. Pet. i., 10, n ; St. Luke i., 70), in every age witnessing for God (Heb. xi., 32, sq).
Cfie notle armp of fftartprg. The adjective should be " White-robed" candidatus. The reference is to Rev. vi., 1 1 ; vii., 9, 4.
" The white host " is the old English rendering.
<Tfir 1joli> (Tfntrrf) tfirougfiout all UK toorlo : tint ft arfenotol-
STtirr;
)f .iFatfier i of an infinite majesty; aftoratle. true : ana onlp «on ; 2Uso tfir 7i>ohj iTifiost : tfte Comforter.
The translation " Adorable " in the American Prayer Book is a distinct improvement on the " Honorable " of the English version. Venerandum is the Latin word. " Honorable " of course was used in the same sense, but is capable of a lower interpre tation, whereas "Adorable" is absolutely unques tionable in its significance.
The word '''Comforter" as applied to the Holy Ghost fails in modern English to give the full force of the original title Paraclete, which might be best translated " Helper." Literally the Greek word
56 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
means "one who is called to our side," and so is used of the Holy Ghost, Who comes
1. as the Spirit of Truth to teach us in ou rigno- rance (St. John xvi., 13) ;
2. as the Spirit of Counsel to guide us in perplexity (Isa. xxx., 21);
3. as the Spirit of Might to strengthen us against our foes (St. Luke iv., i);
4- as the Spirit of Grace and Supplication to aid us in our prayers, as our Advocate (Rom. viii., 26, 27);
5. not only as the Spirit of Peace and Love, to console us in sorrow (Rom. v., 5 ; Gal. v., 22).
ffifjou art tfie Bins of CSflorw ; © @fjrist. Eftott art tfje fbtrlastiug Sou : of tfje ffatfjcr J»jen £fjou toofeest unou erfj«r to fcelibtr man.- ijumfcle 5TD»scIf to 6r torn of a
.
wben Sfjou fja&st obcrocme tfje sfjarpness o irrath : 5T(jiou HtDBt open tj&emtiTQ&om of 7Urabeu to all ficltrbrrs.
Stjott stttcst at tfje Kiflfjt 2i}auO of e5o6: in tfje <5lora? of tlje
eberlasting &on. The titl, points t
technically called " The Eternal or perpetual Gen eration " of the Son of God.
The Arians argued in denial of our Lord's abso lute Godhead that the title ''Son" necessarily implied that He came into existence later in time than His Father. Not so, replied the Catholics. The essence of the filial relationship consists in the derivation of the very same nature" from father to son. That a son should be younger than his father is a mere accident of the relationship as it is found among us creatures of time. For God time is not. His Being is spiritual and infinite. The Son of God then must be of One Nature, Essence, Being, with His Father. He too must be Infinite and Eternal and Uncreated. It is in this sense that He
TE DRUM. 57
is spoken of as the Only-begotten Son of God, His Word and Wisdom. (St. John, i., 1-18.)
The Generation of the Son is not a past event, occurring millions of ages ago. It and the Procession of the Spirit are eternal laws of the Life of God. God is ever begetting His Son, the express image of His own being (Heb. i., 2, 3), the utterance of His Mind ; the Holy Ghost, the Personal Love of God, is ever proceeding from the Father and the Son (St. John xv., 26; Rev. xxii., i). This is " the glory of the Eternal Trinity" which by the confession of a true faith we are called to acknowledge.
gggflcn gTj)ou toofecst upon gTijce, ttc This verse fails to give the full sense of the original. The transla tion should run:
" When Thou tookest man's nature upon Thee to deliver it: Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb." The Eternal Son when in order to restore it to holiness He assumed our nature, took hold of the seed of Abraham (Heb. ii., 16, and see the whole chapter), might have come into the world, had He so willed, like the first Adam with fully developed pow ers of manhood. But He chose when He assumed a created nature to take it in its weakest form, in the helplessness and lowliness of childhood, to sanctify by His experience every stage of human existence from the very earliest. This was an added con descension. »
ggf flen gEflou flattst obmonte » • . to all tettebtrg. Compare the message to the Angel of the Church in Smyrna (Rev. ii., 8-u):
"These things saith the First and the Last, Which became dead and lived again . . . Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer . Be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee
58 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
the crown of life ... He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." (Compare also 2. Tim. ii., 11-13.)
gTflou sittest, etc. Enthroned in His Sacred Hu manity at the highest place both of honor and of might. The Manhood of Jesus is now the instru ment through which God carries out His will. (St. Matt, xxviii., 18 ; St. John xvii., i, 2 ; i St. Pet. iii., 22.) Thus He was beheld by St. Stephen (Acts vii., 55, 56), and by St. John (Rev. i., 13 ; v., 6).
fieliebe tfjat 2Tf)ou sfjalt come: to fie therefore prai> STfjer, fjrlii £fjn serbants: tofjom STijou fjast reaeentclr toitf) <Ef)j> precious ISIoolr.
fttafee tftem to fie numfieretr tuttfj £lji> Saints: in ory eberlastinoj.
© Horlr sabe 2Tfi» people: anlr filess STfjtnefleritase. ffiobern tfiem : antr lift tjjem up for eber.
•
gflou sj>alt come,. etc. All judgment is committed unto the Son of Man (St. John v., 27 ; St. Matt. xxv., 31), both —
i. As a pledge of justice. He Who was unjustly arraigned and condemned will then summon all before Him. In that day will all wrongs be righted and God's justice vindicated before all (i Cor. iv., 5 ; Rom. ii., 5, 16).
%. As a pledge of mercy. We shall be judged by Him Who wears our nature and Who has been in all points like as we are (Heb. ii., 17, 18).
3. As a standard of perfection. He is the Pattern Man, the first-born among many brethren, to Whose likeness by the operation of His Spirit we are to be conformed (2 Cor. iii., 18 ; i St. John iii, 1-3).
TK DEUM. 59
gg?e tijerctore prag gfree ;
" Behold the Lamb of God ! O Thou for sinners slain, Let it not be in vain
That Thou hast died : Thee for my Saviour let me take, My only refuge let me make Thy pierced side.
" Behold the Lamb of God ! Into the sacred flood Of Thy most Precious Blood
My soul I cast :
Wash me and make me clean within, And keep me pure from every sin,
Till life be past."
jgafee tflent to tie numfterett. Rather " Make them to be rewarded with Thy Saints in endless bliss," as previous to 1497 all Latin MSS. would have been translated. The alteration arose from a confusion between MVNERARI and NVMERARI.
The word " numbered " may remind us that we must throw in our lot with the Sajnts here if we are to be reckoned among their company hereafter. See Rom. viii., 28-30.
tflent. How ? Not merely by external rule and protection, but by the internal inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier. Thus //// them up to high and heavenly desires (See Heb. x., 16).
i»> Ban : toe ntasnifw
toe toorsftip £f)» Name: eber toorltr toitfjottt nta. Vouchsafe. © Horlf: to fceep us tjjts Daw tottJjout sin. © 3Lortt, fjabe mercw upon its: ijabe mercj? upon us. © Horlr let ffifin merci? fie ttpju us : as our trust is in
.
3Lortt, in Sfjee Jjafae * trustett : let me neber lie con= fountrelr.
Our petition follows on our praise. We plead
60 THE GOSPEL CANTICLES.
with Him Whom we have worshipped as the Thrice- Holy that He will keep us by and in His Name (St. John xvii., 6) ; that His Name which is called upon us may be hallowed in us ; that we, relying only upon His mercy, may never be ashamed or disap pointed of our hope (Rom. v., 1-5).
The Hymn ends with the first verse of Ps. xxxi., from which our Lord chose His own dying com mendation :
" In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust : let me never be put to confusion, deliver me in Thy right eousness."
" Into Thy Hands I commend my spirit : for Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, Thou God of truth." (Ps. xxxi., i, 6.)
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