The future, how its shadows fall Upon my sinking heart, Each passing murmur seems to breathe, Soon, soon, she will depart. How lonely, oh, how lonely, Our father's hearth will be, For every memory, as it floats, Will bring back thoughts of thee. But it is worse than useless, These fond but vain regrets, Why should my spirit anguish, That thine hath found its rest. Then go, sweet sister, word of mine When God hath whispered to the heart, Its mandate is obey. We yield thee, Lord, our treasure, But let this hope remain, That in a world of changeless love, Our souls shall meet again. AVE SANCTISSIMA. Mater celorum, sweet virgin ever blest, Wandering on life's stormy sea, To thee in hope we fly, Oh, virgin mother hear. Ave mater ave, Hear our lonely cry, Sancte Mater Dei, Mother ever nigh. Sancte Maria, to thee it hath been given, Aid to lead the recreant thro' mercy's gate to Heaven; By that holy grace conferred, Thro' that glorious son adored, Hear thou our fervent prayer. Through the darkness of the night, For Jesus and for thee. Avc mater ave, Hear our lonely cry, Sancte Mater Dei, Mother ever nigh. CHRISTMAS MORN. "In some parts of Germany it is a custom for aged men enveloped in long cloaks to go from house to house on Christmas morn, and announce the birth of Christ. They remind one in their appearance of the description of Palmer's, from the Holy Land." They are regarded as such in the following: Ho, Christian knights and gentlemen, I pray ye listen well, For I have traveled many a league, a story strange to tell, Of one who left His Father's hall, his home and high estate, The glory and the honor which no tongue could c'er relate. To be an humble babe, with scarce a shelter old, To shield his tender helplessness from misery and cold, No trappings He of costly silk, no bed of eider down, His cradle crib a manger, upon His head no crown. Yet monarch He of Heaven and earth, for on this happy day, An angel band with joy elate, proclaims the attesting lay, And still the burden of their song from glowing eve till morn, Is glory be to God on high, for Christ our King is born. And from a far off distant land, skilled in prophetic lore, With sandal shoon and scallop shell placed in each hat before, |