Quote/s of the Day – 24 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – St Bartholomew the Apostle and Martyr
“Here is a true child
of Israel.
There is no guile
in him.”
John 1:47
“The Saints must be honoured as friends of Christ
and children and heirs of God.
Let us carefully observe the manner of life
of all the Apostles, Martyrs, ascetics
and just men
who announced the coming of the Lord.
And let us emulate their faith,
charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering
and perseverance unto death,
so that we may also share their crowns of glory.”
St John Damascene (675-749)
Father and Doctor of the Church
Behold the Messengers of Christ
By Fr Jean-Baptiste Santeul (1630-1697)
Priest, Monk, Hymnist, Poet, Writer
Behold the Messengers of Christ,
Who sow in every place,
The unveiled Mysteries of God,
The Gospel of His Grace.
The things through mists and shadows dim
By holy prophets seen,
In the full Light of Day, they saw
With not a cloud between.
What Christ, true Man, Divinely wrought,
What God in Manhood bore,
They wrote, as God inspired, in words
Which live forevermore.
Although in space and time apart,
One Spirit ruled them all
And in their Sacred pages still
We hear that Spirit’s Call.
To God, the blessèd Three in One,
Be glory, praise and might,
Who called us from the shades of death
To His Own glorious Light.
Amen.
Trans. Compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861.
This Hymn was used for Vespers I & II and Nocturns on the Feasts of St Mark and St Luke in the Paris Breviary (1736). Cardinal Newman’s Hymni Ecclesiae has it listed for the same hours, as the Common of Evangelists in the Paris Breviary (presumably a later edition). Tune: “Tiverton“ J Grigg, c1791.
AnaStpaul 