101. The Church in Prayer
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{173}
WHY loiterest within Simon's walls, |
| Hard by the barren sea, |
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Thou Saint! when many a sinner calls |
| To preach and set him free? |
Can this be he, who erst confess'd |
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For Christ affection keen,
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| Now truant in untimely rest, |
| The mood of an Essene? |
Yet he who at the sixth hour sought |
| The lone house-top to pray, |
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There gain'd a sight beyond his thought, |
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The dawn of Gentile day. {174}
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Then reckon not, when perils lour,
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The time of prayer mis-spent;
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Nor meanest chance, nor place, nor hour,
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Without its heavenward bent.
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Off Sardinia.
June 21, 1833.
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