This is the day the Lord hath made :
Let us rejoice therein with mirth.
And be not thou, my soul, so sad :

William Austin.

PEACE.

My soul, there is a country
Afar beyond the stars,
Where stands a winged sentry

All skilful in the wars.

There, above noise and danger,

Sweet Peace sits crowned with smiles,

And one born in a manger

Commands the beauteous files.

He is thy gracious friend,

And (oh, my soul, awake!)

Did in pure love descend,

To die here for thy sake.

If thou canst get but thither,

There grows the flower of Peace,

The Rose that cannot wither,

Thy fortress and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure,

But One, who never changes,
Thy God, thy Life, thy Cure.

Henry Vaughan.

O SAVIOUR, Whom this holy morn
Gave to our world below;

To mortal want and labour horn,
And more than mortal woe!

Incarnate Word! by every grief,
By each temptation tried,
Who lived to yield our ills relief,
And to redeem us died!

If, gaily clothed and proudly fed,
In dangerous wealth we dwell;
Remind us of Thy manger-bed,
And lowly cottage cell.

If, pressed by poverty severe,
In envious want we pine,
Oh, may the Spirit whisper near,
How poor a lot was Thine!

Through fickle fortune's various scene,

From sin preserve us free;

Like us Thou hast a mourner been,

May we rejoice with Thee!

Reginald Heber.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day.

In Bethlehem in Jewry

This blessed Babe was born,

And laid within a manger,

Upon this blessed morn;

The which His mother Mary,

Nothing did take in scorn.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day.

From God our Heavenly Father

A blessed angel came,

And unto certain shepherds

Brought tidings of the same;

How that in Bethlehem was born

The Son of God by name.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day.

Fear not then, said the angel,

Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour,

Of virtue, power, and might,
So frequently to vanquish all
The friends of Satan quite.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day.