ST. LUKE was born at Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, and travelled for improvement into several parts of Greece and Egypt, where he became particularly skilled in physic, which he made his profession; and was also famous for his dexterity in painting. He became the inseparable companion of St. Paul in all his travels, and constant fellow-labourer in the work of the ministry, who calls him The beloved Physician. The time or manner of his death is not very well agreed on by the ancients; but some assert, that, after coming into Greece, he successfully preached the Gospel, till at last a party of infidels opposing his doctrines, they dragged him from the place where he was preaching, and hung him on an olive tree, in the 80th, or, according to St. Jerome, in the 84th year of his age. 139 ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. THIS beloved disciple of our Lord was a native of Galilee, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James the Great. After the ascension of our blessed Saviour, he applied himself to propagating Christianity, and founded many Churches in Asia; but being accused as a subverter of the religion of the empire, he was sent bound to Rome, by order of the emperor Domitian, and thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, but was taken out unhurt. This not being sufficient to convince this cruel emperor, or abate his fury, he ordered him to be transported to the island of Patmos, where he wrote his Book of Revelation. After the death of Domitian, his successor recalled those that had been banished, and St. John returned again to Asia, and fixed his seat at Ephesus, till death put an end to all his toils and sufferings in the 98th year of his age. "COME to judgment! come away!" (Hark, I hear the Angel say, Summoning the dust to rise,) Haste, resume, and lift your eyes; Hear, ye sons of Adam, hear"Man, before thy God appear!" Come to judgment! come away! This the last, the dreadful day. Sovereign Author, Judge of all, › Dust obeys thy quickening call: Dust no other voice will heed; Thine the trump that wakes the dead. 141 Come to judgment! come away! Come to judgment! come away! A PRAYER FOR THE TRUE USE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. O GRACIOUS God and most merciful Father, who hast vouchsafed unto us the rich and precious jewel of thy Holy Word, assist us with thy Spirit, that it may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to thine own image, to build us up, and edify us into the perfect building of thy Christ, sanctifying and increasing in us all heavenly virtues. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Q. Who was the first woman?-A. Eve. A. Of the dust of the earth. Q. Of what did God make woman? A. Of one of the man's ribs. Q. Where did Adam and Eve dwell? A. In Paradise. Q. What cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise? A. Sin. Q. Who was the best man? A. The man JESUS CHRIST. |