THE CHRISTMAS MASSES

The bells thro' the darkness are ringing!
Come, haste to God's temple with me!
The priest at the shrine is beginning
The feast of his Masses Three.
The first at the holly wreathed altar,
That tells us, this beautiful morn,
That Christ, in the breast of His Father.
Forever and ever is born!
O Babe! in His bosom Thou liest
Begotten yet coeval still!
Glory to God in the highest!
Peace unto men of good will!

Behold! on the altar's fair table,
The second Mass shows us with joy,
The Mother, in Bethlehem's stable;
Adoring her kingly Boy!
The tapers that shine from the chancel,
[Where the smoke of the incense hath
curled],
Are types of mankind's shining Ransom;
Of Mary's glad Light of the World!
O Babe, on her bosom Thou liest,
Safe screened from the night's bitter chill!
Glory to God in the highest!
Peace unto men of good will!

Draw nearer, the Sacrifice holy
Is offered the Father again;
And now the Child Jesus all lowly
Is born in the hearts of men!
Around the Communion rail cluster!
"Venite" sweet voices intone,
In this House of Bread, full of lustre,
Each heart hath a Crib of its own!
O Babe! in our bosom Thou liest;
Thy Blood thro' our being doth thrill!
Glory to God in the highest!
Peace unto men of good will!

Eleanor C. Donnelly


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