O ye loyal servants of the Ancient Beauty! In every
cycle and dispensation, the feast hath been favoured and
loved, and the spreading of a table for the lovers of God
hath been considered a praiseworthy act. This is especially
the case today, in this dispensation beyond compare, this
most generous of ages, when it is highly acclaimed, for it is
truly accounted among such gatherings as are held to
worship and glorify God. Here the holy verses, the heavenly
odes and laudations are intoned, and the heart is quickened,
and carried away from itself.