FRIDAY NOON.

REPENTANCE.

GODLY sorrow worketh repentance to salva

tion not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 2 Corinth. vii. 10, 11.

HYMN.

LORD! have mercy when we strive
To save, through Thee, our souls alive!
When the pamper'd flesh is strong,
When the strife is fierce and long;
When our wakening thoughts begin,
First to loath their cherish'd sin,
And our weary spirits fail,
And our aching brows are pale,
O then have mercy! LORD!

F

LORD! have mercy when we lie
On the restless bed, and sigh,
Sigh for Death, yet fear it still,
From the thought of former ill;
When all other hope is gone;
When our course is almost done;
When the dim advancing gloom
Tells us that our hour is come,
O then have mercy! LORD!

LORD! have mercy when we know
First how vain this world below
;
When the earliest gleam is given
Of Thy bright but distant heaven!
When our darker thoughts oppress,
Doubts perplex and fears distress,
And our saddened spirits dwell
On the open gates of hell,

O then have mercy! LORD!

The Lesson.-Luke xv. 11–24. .

A CERTAIN man had two sons: and the

younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my

father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.

:

[Nicene Creed, as in p. 42.]

[Litany, as on Sunday Noon, p. 43.]

SATURDAY NOON.

THE

SHORTNESS OF LIFE.

'HE days of man are but as grass; for he flourisheth as a flower of the field. For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.-Psalm ciii. 15, 16.

HYMN.

Beneath our feet and o'er our head
Is equal warning given;
Beneath us lie the countless dead,

Above us is the Heaven!

Their names are graven on the stone,
Their bones are in the clay;

And ere another day is gone,
Ourselves may be as they.

Death rides on every passing breeze,
He lurks in every flower;

Each season has its own disease,
Its peril every hour!

Our eyes have seen the rosy light
Of youth's soft cheek decay,
And Fate descend in sudden night
On Manhood's middle day.

Our eyes have seen the steps of age
Halt feebly towards the tomb,
And yet shall earth our hearts engage,
And dreams of days to come?

Turn, mortal, turn! thy danger know ;
Where'er thy foot can tread,

The earth rings hollow from below,
And warns thee of her dead!

Turn, Christian, turn! thy soul apply
To truths divinely given;

The bones that underneath thee lie
Shall live for Hell or Heaven!

The Lesson.-Luke xii. 16-21.

THE ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Psalm vi.

LORD, rebuke me not in Thine indignation : neither chasten me in Thy displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am

weak: O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul also is sore troubled but, Lord, how long wilt Thou punish me?