Page:Prayersmeditatio01thom.djvu/239

 Lead thou, then, the chorus of joy, O Adam, our first parent, founder, so far as man can be said so to be, of the human race ; rejoice thou, together with Eve thy wife of high renown, formed from thy side in Paradise ! Rejoice ; for Christ, a descendant of thy own. Virgin-born, and sacrificed upon the Cross, has come to deliver thee and all thy fellow-captive descendants, who have died trusting in Him, and in the hope of heavenly grace ! Christ has come to deliver thee from the power of the grave, out of the house of bondage, out of the shadow of death, out of the den of lions, from the fear of the evil demons ; and to bring thee and all the Saints of whom thou wert the progenitor, attended by the angels who were your dear companions when on earth, amid songs of sweet rejoicing, into a Paradise of delight and of everlasting bliss.

Do thou too rejoice, O holy patriarch Abraham, father of many nations ; rejoice thou with Sara, thy faithful wife, over the Incarnation of Christ, foretold to thee, and crowned with this Festival ! This is the day which thou hast long expected, and wished to see. Firmly didst thou believe and therefore hast thou been found worthy to be made glad by beholding with thine own eyes Christ, born of thy seed, the Giver of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do thou too rejoice, most ancient father Isaac, at the bright vision of Christ, and at His descent into Hell, concerning which, before thy death, thou didst prophecy ; and when blessing thy son Jacob, didst in mysterious words beautifully point to Christ as of holy ones the most blessed, and didst speak His praises in these words : " Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed. Cursed be he