Part 10 (1/2)

G.o.d of all Grace, Thy mercy send; Let Thy protecting arm defend; Save us, and keep us to the end.

Have mercy, Lord.

II

And through the coming hours of night, Fill us, we pray, with holy light; Keep us all sinless in Thy sight.

Grant this, O Lord.

III

May some bright messenger abide For ever by Thy servants' side, A faithful guardian and guide.

Grant this, O Lord.

IV

From every sin in mercy free, Let heart and conscience stainless be, That we may live henceforth for Thee.

Grant this, O Lord.

V

We would not be by care opprest, But in Thy love and wisdom rest;-- Give what Thou seest to be best.

Grant this, O Lord.

VI

While we of every sin repent, Let our remaining years be spent In holiness and sweet content.

Grant this, O Lord.

VII

And when the end of life is near, May we, unshamed and void of fear, Wait for the Judgment to appear.

Grant this, O Lord.

HYMNS FROM THE EARLY GREEK POETS NOT FOUND IN THE SERVICE-BOOKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

ST. METHODIUS

Methodius, a prominent name in Ecclesiastical history, and a Father of the Church, was born about the middle of the third century. He was first of all Bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and, according to Jerome, became ultimately Bishop of Tyre. He combated certain views of Origen, but would seem to have been influenced not a little by the teaching of that great theologian.

In his princ.i.p.al work, _The Banquet of the Ten Virgins_, the hymn is found from which the following is a cento. It contains twenty-four strophes, each beginning with a letter of the Greek alphabet in alphabetical order, and ending with the same refrain.