Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1853-07-14
MISCE'L.LA N Y J.
THE EVENING PRIAYER.
q OUR FATHER.

OUR FATHER.
i Our Father The mothers voice wal
low, and tender and solemn
Our Father On two saeet voices the
words were borne upward. 1t was the in
necence of reyercnt childhood that gave them
utterance.
Who art in the heavens
sWho art in the heavens, repeated the
children, one with her eyes bent meekly
down, and the other loekiugfupward, as il
she would penetrate the heavens into which
her heart aspired.
HalIpwed be Thy name
! Lower fell the voices Of the little ones
/ In gentle murmur they said Hall6wed
be Thy name
Thy kingdom come
And the burden Of the prayer was still
taken up BY the children. Thy kingdom
Come
Thy will be done on earth as it is done
in. Heaven II
Like low sweet echo from the land Of
angels Thy viii b done on earth as lit is
done in Heaven filled the chamber
And the mother continued Give us this
day our daily bread
Our daily bread fingered 10 moment on
the air, as the mothers voice was hushed in
to silence.
Sand forgive US our debts a. we also for
give our aebtsrs' +
The eyes Of the children had dropped for
a moment But they were uplifted again as
they prayed Is And forgive uslour debts as
we also forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation but
deliver us from e7il For Thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for
ever. Amen.
and ferven tly, by the little ones, as they
kneit with clasped hands beside their moth
err Then, as their thoughts, uplifted on the
wings Of prayer to their Heavenly Father,
came back again and rested onEtheir earthly
parents d warmer love came gushing from
their hearts.
Pure kisses-tender embraces 1.-The fend
good night What a sweet agitation per
vaded all Itheir feelings The two dear
heads were placed side by side on the snowy
pillow, the mothers last kiss given, and the
shadowy curtains drawn.
What pulseless stiffness reigns through
out the chamber InwardlyFthe parents
listening cars are bent. They have given
these innocent ones iuto the keeping of
Gods angels, and they can allrost hear the
rustic Of their garments as they gather a.
round the sleeping babes a sigh deep and
tremulous, breaks on the air. Quickly the
mother turns to the father of her children,
with look of earnest inquiry ion her conn-
teDance. And he answers thas her silent
question !
Far back through many years, have my
thoughts been wandering Atlmy mother
knee thus said nightly in my childhood,
my evening prayer. II was that best and
hottest Of all prayers, Our ather,' that she
4 taught me! Childhood aud my mother
4 passed away. j went forth as Ia man into
the world, strong confident, notwithstanding.
4 Once came into great temptation. Had
l fallen in that temptation, / would have
fallen, / sadly fear, never to have risen again.
4 The struggle in my mind went on for hours.
4 l was about yielding All the barriers ]
4 could oppose to the in-rushing aood, seemed
just ready to give way, when, az sat in my
i room one evening, there came frem an ad-
joining chamber, now first occupied for
many weeks, the murmur Of low voices 1
listened At FIRST, no articulate sound was
heard, and yet something in the tones stir
red my heart with new and strange emo
tions. Al length there came I'd my ears, in
THE earnest loving veice Of woman, the
lwords-'Deliver us from evil For an In
stant. it seemed to me as if tha voice was
that of my mother. Back, with a sudden
bound through all the intervening years,
went my Thoughts; and, child in heart
again, Twas kueeling at my mothers knee.
IIHumbly and reverently ]. said over the
words Of the holy prayer she had taught me,
heart and eyes uplifted TO Heaven. The
hour and the power Of darkness had passed
! was no longer standing in slippery places,
With hocd of water ready to sweep me to
destruction but my feet were On rock -
My mothers pious care saved her sen. In
the holy words she taught her child to re-
peat his evening prayer ,1hew little dreamed
she that the holy words weys a resch, !.
strangers ears. and sasehkim, through znera-
ories Of his own ehildbaod, and his own
mother + Andyet i was So What nav.
er there is in God's Word, as It flows into and
rests in the minds Of innocent chiIdrenr
Tears we're ID the eyes Of tbs vile and
| mother, IS she lifted her face ana gaz2d with
subdned tenderness upon the donnthnance
Df her husband Her heart wasEteo fnlI -
ntterance- a little while she thus $500
! and then, Vi ih trembling ;eF. l.;d ~
head upon bis hossm Aneels we're n ~
1 chamber where their dear ones SILENT. ana
/ they felt their holy psesencs.-H 1iTss;oa
n l,7- rs
BEr-En co,,kAxx fHAs Biabs.t7'ks es;,s, n Il.
Erie Observers ncply Inarzed M. "a ~ a. !,