Third Sunday of Lent
Lucifer before the Lord, by Mihály Zichy (19th century)
Today's Devotional
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder —Luke 11: 21,22 (NIV).
See Lucifer like lightning fall,
Dash’d from his throne of pride;
While, answering Thy victorious call,
The Saints his spoils divide;
This world of Thine, by him usurp’d too long,
Now opening all her stores to heal Thy servants’ wrong.
About the author and the source
At a time when the Church of England needed renewal, John Keble (1782–1866) stirred its embers to life and started a renewal by preaching a sermon on national apostasy. He was a leader of the Oxford Movement. His verses for the Christian year had already gone through over ninety reprints by 1846.
John Keble. The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays Throughout the Year. Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1846.