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‘The Exhortation to the Apostles’ by James Tissot (1836-1902), painted in 1886-96. “Watch ye therefore” Christ tells his disciples, according to Mark 13:35-37: “for ye know not when the master of the house cometh.” This was the mood of the Watch-Night services that John and Charles led on New Year’s Eve and throughout the year. “The service begins at half an hour past eight,” John tells us, “and continues till a little after midnight. We have often found a peculiar blessing at these seasons. There is generally a deep awe upon the congregation, perhaps in some measure owing to the silence of the night, particularly in singing the hymn with which we commonly conclude.”