1. Angels Holy, Angels of Light | 2.  Rolling Away the Stone |. 3. Appearance of the Angel | 4. The Angel of Sleep and the Angel of Death | 5. To the Realms of Endless Day | 6. Soothing Troubled Hearts | 7. Serving the Savior | 8. The Legend of St Catherine | 9. Angels Sexless | 10. Gathering the Elect | 11. The Knowledge of Angels | 12. Perpetual Youth | 13. The Apparition of the Angel | 14. Thy Prayer is Heard | 15. The Joyous Message | 16. The Sign of Angelic Ministry | 17. Gabriel, the Messenger of God | 18. They Serve on Earth and Sing in Heaven | 19. Embassador Extraordinary | 20. Gabriel's Symbol, the Lily | 21. The Visit to Mary | 22. A Comforting Assurance | 23. Sweetest Name in Seraph Song | 24. Guardian of Celestial Treasury | 25. Angels Pictured by Artists | 26. Angels in Sculpture | 27. The Archangel Gabriel | 28. The Mystic Rose | 29. The Prince of Peace | 30. Good Tidings of Geat Joy | 31. Gloria in Excelsis  

GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY.

July 30.

And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of
great joy which shall be to all people.—Luke 2:10.

CHRIST was born not merely nor simply for the delight and
joy of the angels, but especially for the redemption of man.
And man must hear the glad tidings. But who shall bear them?
Wp know not who the honored angel was. His name is not recorded
in our Gospels. No doubt, however, he was high among
the ranks and orders of the heavenly hierarchies. For when he
appears, the glory of the Lord has so enswathed them that it
shines all around the shepherds and bathes the plains with its
rosy light, its celestial radiance. —Rev. Lewis R. Dunn.

There is a beautiful legend, however, which tells how one
shepherd did miss what the others enjoyed that night, and yet
was not a loser. The legend relates that one of the shepherds
was kept at home, watching a fevered guest, the night the angels
came to Bethlehem with the announcement of the birth of Jesus,
and sang their songs of joy. The other shepherds saw the heavenly
host, heard their song, and beheld the glory. Returning
home, their hearts were wondrously elated. But all the night
Shemuel sat alone by the restless sufferer and waited. His
fellow-shepherds pitied his deprivation—that he missed the vision
and the glory which they had seen. But in his lowly serving,
Shemuel had blessing and reward of his own. He missed, indeed,
the splendor of that night in the fields, and in his serving he gave
his own life ; but his eyes saw then a more wondrous glory than
that which his fellow-shepherds had seen:

"Shemuel, by the fever bed,
Touched by beckoning hands that led,
Died and saw the Uncreated ;
All his fellows lived and waited."
                          -Anonymous.

Par away in an Eastern country,
On a peaceful plain,
Watchful shepherds their flocks were guarding,
Where for rest their folds had lain.

Suddenly a great light breaketh
'er the little fold,
And a voice so strangely tender
Spake the words foretold :

"Fear not, little band of watchers,
Only peace our message brings ;
Peace on earth, good will to men,
The harmony of heaven sings.

This the message bear we to you,
Filled with peace, and joy, and light ;
In the little town of Bethlehem,
Lies the Savior, born tonight."
                         -W. A. W.