Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-02

hump-backed. bow-breasted. crippled and
lame. but his mind triumphed over these
tnfirmities. He had devouring desire for
knowledge, and in time added his name to
those of the masters in the development of
the sequences and antiphons of the church.
From a keeper of swine to the wearing
of the red hat and purple robes OF cardi-
nal was the portion of Peter Damiani,
noted writer of hymns who lived in the year
1000.
Thomas of Celano a devout italian monk
of the thirteenth century, gave to the world
the Dies Irae,' the great sequence or
prose song in the service for the dead OF
the Roman Catholic Church.
ST. Thomas AquinaS was also product
of the thirteenth century, and is known as
one of the great sacred poets and scholastic
doctors of the Roman Catholic Church or
that period.
To Jacobus de Benedict or Jacoponus Is
ascribed the authorship of the famous
hymn, "Stabat Mater" He was an italian
jurst and nobleman who led a wild life,
but a crisis came in the sudden death of his
wife. and. being much affected by her piety,
he sought admittance to the Franciscan
order. He was a brilliant writer.
Gloria, laus ct honor" the beautiful
psalm sung on Palm Sunday in the Roman
Catholic churches, is ascribed to Theodul-
PLUS, bishop of Orleans, who died In the
year S21. The translation was made by DR..
John Mason Neale in 1856. Clichtovens, one
of the earliest authorities Latin hym-
nology. says that Theodulphus wrote this
hymn in prison whence he had been cast
by Louis I, the debonair. He had been i'm
prisOned at Anjou, and 1t is said that on
Palm Sunday he sweetly sang before all
this hymn from his grated window. The
king thereupon ordered his release and re-
stored him to office and appointed that
hymn for the professional on Palm Sun
day. The Roman Missal recognizes this by
10 vt -1Nf nt bod NOT
ton at st. Pauls Roman Catholic Church
on Palm Sunday just passed.
'In Temptation" that immortal hymn by
Charles Wesley, is one of the most famous
hymns in the English-speaking tongue.
There are many accounts as to how this
beloved example of psalmody came to be
written, one of the most favored being that
the hymn had its inspiration on the sea. 1t
is said that but short time before writing
1t Mr.. Wesley had narrowly escaped ship
wreck in storm on the Atlantic, and 1t Is
thought that the words taken as whole,
seem to indicate this vision before his mind.
The memory of Charles Wesley is rightly
revered by millions who have used this
hymn a form of prayer.
Lead Kindly Light" and it's author need
Henry Newman was man Of marked in
tellectuality, the writer of many books,
and who filed large place in the intel
lectual and religious life of many genera
tons, he Is best known to humanity as
the writer of this notable hymn of three
stanzas 1t has been said by biographers
that In June 1885, DR.. Newman was sail
ing on the Mediterranean, coming home
from Sicily. The boat had become be-
Gained, and DR.. Newman was aching" to
reach home. and travellers who have been
placed in a like predicament understand the
great demand for patience that such po-
sition exacts. He had been writing verses
nearly the entire trip, and while the poets
vessel was lying in the straits between
Sicily and Sardinia he penned those i'm
mortal lines which have been an fnspira-
ton and consolation to the high and lowly
of all Chimes
abide With Me-" that glorious, sacred
song of eventide was the work of Henry
Francis Lyle 1t has crossed all oceans
and transcribed the boundaries of both
race and speech. There Is a fascinating
story connected with its authorship. Henry
Francis Lyle had frail and weak body,
that climatic changes easily affected and
to make matters worse he was always
poor. But poverty and sickness made to
a fine development in his character, and
advantage fine Christian grace. He was
a poet-preacher in the town of Brixham,
where he carried on his pastoral labors for
more than twenty years among the sailor
and fisherfolk. He was greatly devoted TO
his pastoral labors, and composed hymns
to sing about the fishers cottage and from
the decks of their boats. He was afflicted
with dangerous malady, and his friends
and physicians insisted on his going away
to more congenial climate. Once more he
went to his pulpit TO deliver his farewell
address to a fearful congregation, and it is
stated that after administering the Lords
Supper he went home tired in body but
exalted in spirit. Poetic inspiration burned
high in his SOUL and on that Sunday even
ing he wrote his everlasting hymn.
"Abide with me; fast falls the eventidc-"
What an inestimable debt of gratitude the
Christian world owes to the Rock of
Ages" one of the most powerful song pray
ers In the lexicon of devotion. This grand
old anthem of trust was the work of Au-
gustus Montague Toplady a writer of ex-
quisite verse, who happily lived to see
marked fruition of his work. a distinction
that comes to few great authors This
hymn may be said to vie in popularity with
Charles Wesley's Jesus, Lover of My
Soul Its historical sequence has been
quite similar to that of its prototype in
greatness. for many distinguished people
have used it as a form Of prayer. Many
miraculous stories are told of its religious
potency, especially on the sea.
distinguished psalmodst of the Chris
tian church was Isaac Watts, the author of
many fine songs of praise which are des-
tined to be handed down to posterity for
ages to come. Isaac Watts had a highly
dramatic history. Historians say that dur
ing the reign of the second Stuart the father
of Watts had been jailed because of his
faith He had a beautiful wife, who used
to come to the Jail every day with Isaac in
her arms and spend hours in singing for
the comfort of her husband. When Isaac
Watts reached the age of eighteen he is
said to have been greatly Disguised with
the ungraceful and ugly rhymes which were
used in the church he attended and
though in those days youngsters were ex-
pected to keep silent such matters he
took occasion TO express to the church elder
his contempt for the doggerel
Give US something better" said the off,
cial.
Watts accepted the challenge. and before
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