THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS.

(ON THE MORTAL REMAINS OF THE DEAD.)

AT THE VESPERS.

If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.-ROMANS viii.

"O vos unanimes Christiadum chori."

REVERENCE their poor and sadly dear remains !
Folded in peace their earthly vesture lies,
Dear pledges, left below, but thence to rise,
Pledges of heavenly bodies, free from pains!
And here ye may lift up your thankful strains,
Ye Christian companies. The spirit flies,
And hath its recompence in quiet skies,
And leaves with you below its broken chains :
Yet for their bones meek Piety shall plead,
Blest Piety, which honoureth the dead!

Though scatter'd far and wide, yet God's own eye Doth keep them that they perish not; and when The promised hour shall come, their God again Shall gather them, and as He builds on high

His habitation, each there, moulded by His grace, Shall live and find a sure abiding place.

To us the places where your ashes lie

Shall be as altars, whence shall steadier rise

Our prayers to Heav'n; and that blest Sacrifice, Where God the Victim cometh down from high, Shall consecrate to holier mystery;

He here accepts your deaths as join'd with His, Here builds all in one body, and supplies Our dying frames with immortality.

And hence your graves become a tower of aid, A refuge from bad thoughts, a sacred shade; Until, fresh clad with new and wondrous dowers, Our flesh shall join th' angelic choirs, and be A living temple crown'd with heavenly towers; Where evermore the praises shall ascend Of the great undivided One and Three, And God be all in all, world without end.

AT THE MATTINS.

Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.-COLOS. iii.

"Adeste, sancti, plurimo."

YE holy ones departed be around;
Like incense are your memories; do ye not
Hear our poor prayers ascend,
And, hearing them, rejoice?

Your dear remains have moulder'd to their dust,

Long since committed to the sorrowing grave; But from behind the veil

Your presence breathes around.

Your hallowing and soothing influence

Fills all our temples, softening our rude hearts;

While ye are in new worlds,

To higher service bound.

Your ashes, which beneath our altars lie,

Breathe a deep spell, divinely eloquent,

To heal the heart-sick soul,

And bid bad spirits flee.

To Father, Son, and Spirit, Three in One,
Our Maker, Guide, and Saviour, One in Three,

All praise, all glory be,

Lasting eternally.