believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The Epistle, Heb. i. 1–12. (Phil. ii. 5–11.) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish; but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. The Collect. ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given us Thy only begotten Son to take our nature upon Him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; grant that we, being regenerate and made Thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by Thy Holy Spirit after the image of this same blessed and glorious Christ: who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. The Festival Prayer. O THOU only begotten Son of God, who in the fulness of time coming forth from the bosom of the Father, wast made flesh and didst dwell among us, full of grace and truth, we bless Thee for Thy conception by the Holy Ghost and for Thy birth of the blessed Virgin, whereby Thou hast become the true seed of Abraham and didst take upon Thyself all our sins and infirmities, that we might have salvation from sin and eternal life in Thee. With the multitude of angels who proclaimed Thy joyous Advent, and with Thy people among all nations we unite in saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Amen. O GOD, merciful Father, vouchsafe unto us, we hum. bly beseech Thee, the continual help of Thy grace, that we may acknowledge and confess Thine incarnate Son as our true and only Lord and Saviour, and that receiving Him with childlike faith we may ever feed on His precious body and blood as the true meat and drink of our souls unto everlasting life. Amen. St. Stephen's Day. [The Festival of St. Stephen, the first martyr, is celebrated on the first day after Christmas, to symbolize the idea that the terrestrial birth of our Saviour i immediately followed by the death, that is, the celestial birth, of His martyrs.] The Gospel, St. Matt. xxiii. 34-39. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The Epistle, Acts vi. 8; vii. 60. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. The Collect. As we honor on this day, O Lord God, the memory of Thy blessed martyr, St. Stephen, grant unto us grace, we beseech Thee, to follow his faith and charity; that however sorely tried by the contradiction of sin ners, we may be able, like him, to look steadfastly up into heaven, and to commend even our enemies to the pardoning mercy of our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ: to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen. St. John the Evangelist's Day. [The Festival of St. John is celebrated on the second lay after Christmas, because he was the bosom friend of Jesus, and has most fully unfolded the mys tery of the Word made flesh for our salvation.] The Gospel, St. John xxi. 19-24. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall th man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry tiľ. come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. The Epistle, 1 John i. 1-10. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in dark ness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, ard the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. The Collect. SHINE graciously upon Thy Church, we beseech Whee, O Lord; that being enlightened by the doctrine and filled with the mind of Thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist, Saint John, whom Jesus loved, it may come at last into Thy beatific presence and enjoy the rewards of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. The Innocents' Day. [This Festival, in memory of the slaughtered infants, is celebrated on the third day after Christmas. Martyrdom was regarded by the ancient Church as a heavenly birth. Hence, the day of St. Stephen, martyr both in will and in fact, of St. John, martyr in will though not in fact, and of the Holy Innocents, martyrs in fact though not in will, follow immediately after Christmas.] The Gospel, St. Matt. ii. 13-18. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and |