Oh, hallowed be the approaching day!
Let meekness be our morning ray:
And faithful love our noon-day light;
And hope our sunset, calm and bright.
O Christ, with each returning morn,
Thine image to our hearts is borne;
Oh! may we ever clearly see
Our Saviour and our God in Thee.

MORNING HYMN.

BY BISHOP KEN.

AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run:
Shake off dull sloth, and early rise
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Redeem thy mispent moments past,
And live this day as if the last;
Thy talents to improve take care,
For the great day thyself prepare.

Let all thy converse be sincere,
Thy conscience as the noon-day clear,
For God's all-seeing eye surveys,
Thy secret thoughts, thy works and ways.

Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart,
And with the angels bear thy part,
Who all night long unwearied sing,
High glory to the Eternal King.

D

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow : Praise Him, all creatures here below : Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

EVENING HYMN.

BY BISHOP KEN.

GLORY to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light:
Keep me, oh ! keep me, King of kings,
Beneath thine own Almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my
bed;
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the awful day.

Oh, let my soul on Thee repose,

And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close! Sleep that may me more vigorous make, God when I awake.

To serve my

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow: Praise Him, all creatures here below: Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

DIVISIONS OF THE DAY.

In the arrangement of these Hymns for the different periods of daily worship, I have preserved, as far as possible, the original order in which I found them. I will add a few words in explanation of the manner in which each day was parcelled out, in the primitive times, into seasons for devotion. It appears there was a service at the end of every three hours, or eight services in the course of the twenty-four. To wit, first, Nocturn, 12 at night; second, Matins, 3 in the morning; third, Ad Primam, 6 A. M.; fourth, Ad Tertiam, 9 A. M.; fifth, Ad Sextam, 12 in the day; sixth, Ad Nonam, 3 in the afternoon; seventh, Vespers, or Evensong, 6 P. M.; eighth, Completorium, or Conclusion, 9 P.M.

This would give seven out of the eight divisions to the day, and only one to the night, and thus agree with Psalm cxix. 164, "Seven times a day do I praise Thee," and Psalm cxix. 62, "At midnight will I rise to give thanks unto Thee;" or by counting the "Completorium" and the Matins with the night, it would make three Nocturns, which is the most usual division. These divisions were evidently made originally in a country where the len h of days is more uniform than in ours; and,

I may add, at a time when men's minds reverted with more uniform frequency to their religious exercises than appears to be the case at present.

The Nocturn, or night service, was intended, not merely for the secret meditation of the individual Christian, "if in the night he sleepless lay," but for the benefit of all those who might be disposed to meet together, even at that unseasonable hour, for the purpose of worshipping God.

"Matins," and "Lauds," seem to be convertible terms; they began at the cock-crowing, or as I may also call it, the “bird-singing,” at that time when, in summer, it is broad daylight, but before the sun has risen, and which is the time of all others when the birds seem most earnestly engaged in their lauds or song of praise to their great Creator.

Ad Primam, or by 6 A.M., the sun is supposed to have risen, and the labours of the day to be regularly commencing; the hymn accordingly contains petitions for assistance, guidance, and protection, through the course of it.

Ad Tertiam, or 9 A. M., is invariably a hymn to the Holy Spirit, as being the hour in which, on the day of Pentecost, He came down on the Apostles. This seems to have been observed from the very earliest times; most likely the "Veni Creator," of St. Ambrose, was merely a new hymn written by him on a subject already familiar to the Church, from the Apostles downwards.

Ad Sextam, was 12 o'clock, or mid-day; allusion

is made to the Sun of Righteousness, to whose beams all true worshippers desire to lay open their hearts.

cross.

Ad Nonam was 3 P.M.; allusion is made to its being the time when our Lord expired on the Our word noon is derived from hence; it seems the three hours of which each division of the day consisted, received their name from the service they preceded. Thus the three hours before "Ad Nonam," were called the "Ad Nonam" time, or noon-tide. Thus the beginning of noon-tide was immediately after the "Ad Sextam" was over, or just over 12 o'clock. Hence 12 o'clock came to be called noon, or the beginning of "noon-tide," the Ad Nonam service was not till 3 P. M.

Vespers, or Evensong, was about the going down of the sun, and the close of the day; which circumstances are noted in the hymn.

The Completorium, or Conclusion, as I have called it, for want of a better name, was at 9 P. M., and seems to have been intended for a wind-up, as it were, to the services of the day, and a last committal of self into the hands of God, before retiring to rest for the night.

In the present days, these systematic subdivisions may stand a chance of being objected to, as formal and old-fashioned, or be condemned as tending to cramp the energies of the awakened soul with unwarrantable shackles. When we consider, however, how the naturally wayward heart needs every