Chapter VII

And when the end of life is near,
May we, unshamed and void of fear,
Wait for the Judgment to appear.
Grant this, O Lord.

HYMNS
FROM
THE EARLY GREEK POETS
NOT FOUND IN THE SERVICE-BOOKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

ST. METHODIUS

Methodius, a prominent name in Ecclesiastical history, and a Father of the Church, was born about the middle of the third century. He was first of all Bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and, according to Jerome, became ultimately Bishop of Tyre. He combated certain views of Origen, but would seem to have been influenced not a little by the teaching of that great theologian.

In his principal work, _The Banquet of the Ten Virgins_, the hymn is found from which the following is a cento. It contains twenty-four strophes, each beginning with a letter of the Greek alphabet in alphabetical order, and ending with the same refrain.

Methodius is said to have suffered martyrdom under Diocletian about 311 A.D.

{anôthen, parthenoi, boês egersinekros êchos}

I

Behold the Bridegroom! Hark the cry,
The dead, awaking, rends the sky!
Go, virgins, He is near,
Your lamps all burning clear;
He enters where the rising light
Asunder bursts the gates of night.
In holy garb, with lamp aglow,
To meet the Bridegroom forth I go.

II

The smiles of earth that turn to tears,
Its empty joys and foolish fears
I leave, for Thou dost call--
Thou art my Life, my All;
I would Thy beauty ever see,
Then let me, Blessed, cling to Thee.
In holy garb, with lamp aglow,
To meet the Bridegroom forth I go.

III

For Thee I leave the world behind--
Thou art my Bliss, O Bridegroom kind;
My beauty's not mine own--
'Tis Thine, O Christ, alone;
Thy bridal-chamber I would see,
In perfect happiness to be.
In holy garb, with lamp aglow,
To meet the Bridegroom forth I go.