Christian Scientists, you have planted your standard on the rock of Christ, the true, the spiritual idea,—­the chief corner-stone in the house of our God.  And our Master said:  “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.”  If you are less appreciated to-day than your forefathers, wait—­for if you are as devout as they, and more scientific, as progress certainly demands, your plant is immortal.  Let us rejoice that chill vicissitudes have not withheld the timely shelter of this house, which descended like day-spring from on high.

Divine presence, breathe Thou Thy blessing on every heart in this house.  Speak out, O soul!  This is the newborn of Spirit, this is His redeemed; this, His beloved.  May the kingdom of God within you,—­with you alway,—­reascending, bear you outward, upward, heavenward.  May the sweet song of silver-throated singers, making melody more real, and the organ’s voice, as the sound of many waters, and the Word spoken in this sacred temple dedicated to the ever-present God—­mingle with the joy of angels and rehearse your hearts’ holy intents.  May all whose means, energies, and prayers helped erect The Mother Church, find within it home, and heaven.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEXTBOOK

The following selections from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” pages 568-571, were read from the platform.  The impressive stillness of the audience indicated close attention.

Revelation xii. 10-12.  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ:  for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.  Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts.  What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin?  A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain.  Self-abnegation, by which we lay down all for Truth, or Christ, in our warfare against error, is a rule in Christian Science.  This rule clearly interprets God as divine Principle,—­as Life, represented by the Father; as Truth, represented by the Son; as Love, represented by the Mother.  Every mortal at some period, here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed to God.