O Thou just Judge of the age,
And true light of the world,
We pray Thee with the supplications of our hearts
Hear the prayers of Thy suppliants,
Thou who shuttest the heavens by a word,
And loosest its bars.
Loose us by command, we beseech Thee,
From all our sins.
Thou to whose word is subject
The health and weakness of all,
Cure us who are diseased in morals,
Restoring us to virtue.
So that when Thou shalt come,
The Judge at the end of the world,
Thou mayest make us partakers
Of eternal joy.
Glory to Thee, O Lord,
Who wast born of a virgin,
With the Father and the Holy Spirit,
For ever and ever. Amen.
Only for a moment let us see how peculiarly all these expressions are
fitting in a hymn of prayer and praise {266} to our God and Saviour,
recalling to our minds the words of inspiration; and then again let us
put the question to our conscience, Is this language fit for us to use
to a fellow-creature?
Let the heaven exult with praises, Let the heavens rejoice, and
Let the earth resound with joy: let the earth be glad ... (exultet
is the very word used in the Vulgate
translation of the Psalm)--before
the Lord, for He cometh
to judge the earth.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316