The moon that now is shining

In skies so blue and bright,
Shone ages since on shepherds

Who watched their flocks by night.
There was no sound upon the earth,
The azure air was still,

The sheep in quiet clusters lay
Upon the grassy

hill.

When lo! a white-winged Angel

The watchers stood before,

And told how Christ was born on earth,

For mortals to adore;

He bade the trembling shepherds

Listen, nor be afraid,

And told how in a manger

The glorious Child was laid.

When suddenly in the heavens
Appeared an Angel band,
(The while in reverent wonder
The Syrian shepherds stand.)
And all the bright host chanted
Words that shall never cease,
Glory to God in the highest,

On earth good-will and peace!

The vision in the heavens

Faded, and all was still,

And the wondering shepherds left their flocks,

To feed upon the hill;

Toward the blessed city

Quickly their course they held,

And in a lowly stable

Virgin and Child beheld.

Beside a humble manger

Was the Maiden Mother mild, And in her arms her Son divine,

A new-born Infant, smiled.

No shade of future sorrow

From Calvary then was cast; Only the glory was revealed,

The suffering was not passed.

The Eastern kings before Him knelt,
And rarest offerings brought;

The shepherds worshiped and adored
The wonders God had wrought;
They saw the crown for Israel's King,
The future's glorious part:

But all these things the Mother kept
And pondered in her heart.

Now we that Maiden Mother
The Queen of Heaven call;
And the Child we call our Jesus,
Saviour and Judge of all.

But the star that shone in Bethlehem
Shines still, and shall not cease,
And we listen still to the tidings,

Of Glory and of Peace.

ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.

One day, while our Lord was teaching a number of people, He told them the following story:

The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits.

The rich man said to himself: "What shall I do, because I have no room to store my fruits?"

After thinking for some time, he said: "This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater ones. Into them I will gather all the things that are grown to me, and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thy rest; eat, drink, and make good cheer.'

6

God said to the rich man: "Thou fool, this night thou shalt die."

Turning then to His disciples, Jesus said: "Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall put on.

"The life is more than the meat, and the body is more than the raiment.

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Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns; and

your Heavenly Father feedeth them. not of much more value than they?

Are you

"And for raiment, why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labor not, neither do they spin.