Seale of her Virginity piercing it only as the Sun-beams do the Christal How should it seem incredible that in the Sacrament it needs as little Locality Suffer'd under Pontius Pilate was Crucify'd Dead and Buried He that Lov'd Thee so dearly O my Soul that when he could have sav'd thee with shedding but one drop of his Blood only nay by the least of his Sufferings yet was so willing to expose all his Body to such Torments and Passion and to a most bitter Death too that thou mightest have Life Ah! He it is the very same He who that This life might be preserv'd and maintain'd in thee gives thee That Body to Nourish it too Or is this only so hard to be believ'd from his Love whilst every Mothers Love contents not it self to have brought forth an Infant partaking of the same substance with themselves unless with the same substance they proceed to Feed and Nourish it too The truth is After so many divers Shadows and Representations of that Passion of His wherewith his Servants were once sustain'd as the Paschal Lamb Manna and many others It had been a very lean and hungry Commemoration a cold Entertainment of it for his Children If to that purpose there had been set before them nothing but meer Bread and Wine He descended into Hell the third day He rose again from the Dead Again if he that would have Visited his Friends Descent lodg'd in the Bosom of Abraham many other ways yet had rather Descend in Person and visit them by the Real Presence of His Soul Why should it seem strange if in like manner tho' he could have found out infinite other means to Nourish Vs by yet he made choice of This as the most endearing most Admirable most Amorous even to give his Own Flesh to Us for Food If by his Raising It from the Dead Resurrection he hath quite freed His Body from those grosser Properties of Passibility or suffering violence of Weight of Thickness of Opacousness and the like so that with It he penetrated the Stone of his Sepulchre pass'd through Doors that were shut which could never be done but by causing two Bodies to be so in one place that the One should take up no room made it invisible Vnpalpable Imperceptible and to take up no place at all why can he not make It so in this Sacrament though never so excluded from Room or Sense since he hath affirm'd It to be there Why should we tie him still to the conditions of a mortal and Corruptible Body He Ascended into Heaven Sitteth on the right Hand of God the Father Almighty Can it seem strange to us that This Body of his should come into Our Bodies Really and substantially though supernaturally when as mounting lighter and swifter than any Bird Ascent beyond all the Laws of a Humane Body It soar'd above all the Spheres and sat It Self down at the right Hand of God his Eather far beyond the highest Heavens out of all Place and Where for what Superficies can environ That Body which is above all Bodies And then what hinders but that It may be present here too after the same manner without filling any Place or Vbi And from thence He shall come to Judge the Quick and the Dead And so no longer confin'd to Place or Vbi His coming nor subject to Weightiness He shall appear at the last day with His Saints in the Air made Visible to all Men where-ever they are though to divers effects as Miraculously as he is now Invisible to them in the Sacrament And then shall He Judge as Guilty of His Body and Blood those that have participated of this precious and adorable Sacrament unworthily because they discern'd not the Body of their Lord. Of what kind of Meat was it ever said but this that He that eat It unworthily became Guilty of the Blood of Jesus Christ because it being Really the Body of Jesus Christ It makes them too really guilty of It who abuse It and discern it not No such severe Sentence is given about Manna or the Paschal Lamb though that in Eating Them Christ was to be Fed on too Spiritually and by Faith I Believe in the Holy Ghost As all that God has done heretofore he hath done it by Holy Ghost the Operation of the Holy Ghost so doth he now by the same Holy Ghost work these Supernatural Things which none but Faith conceives How shall this thing be said the Blessed Virgin since I know not Man The Angel Gabriel reply'd The Holy Ghost shall come upon Thee and the Power of the most High shall overshaddow Thee So now thou demandest the like How shall the Bread be made the Body of Josus Christ and I I answer then just so The Holy Ghost overshadows and works these things inneffably un-conceivably That Holy Ghost that dictated the Sacred Text would he have ever put in these words there so plain and punctual as are This is my Body were it not the true Body of our Lord would He not have added there some declaration of his meaning had it been other than what those words do bear in their principal and proper acception He that was sent to teach the Church all Truth would He have let it follow an Errrour and a Lye in an Article of such importance and so long together The Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints And in good earnest how could one call the Church Holy which is never but One H. Cath. Church in all times and places where and when it is if it did not maintain the Truth as well in this point as in others in all times in all places and amongst all Nations which it hath not done if the True Body of our Lord be not in the Sacrament Again Communion of Saints is there any more perfect Communion of Sts. than this whereby we are One Bread and One Body for as much as we are all partakers of the same One Bread that came down from Heaven living in It Self and also giving life And how can it be precisely understood that we should all Eat of One and the same Bread if this Bread were not the Body of Jesus Christ otherwise look how many places nay how many Persons so many Breads in strictness of speech there would be And if you understand it so that we Eat all One and the same Spiritual Food by Faith only what greater Communion hereby Saints Christians hath one Christian now with all other Christians than He hath done with those Jews of Old who Fed on Jesus Christ by Faith and consequently on One and the same Spiritual Food The forgiveness of Sins Lord thou hast said that Thy Body and thy Blood in this Sacrament was Given Broken and Shed for many for the Remission of Sins Ah neverlet it enter into my thoughts to Believe that any Other Blood was spilt any Other Body given for the Remission of my Sins than
what was proper and naturally Thine And what A simple Figure and Commemoration only of That can it ever have such a Power The Blood of the Heyfer sprinkled though the true and near Figure of that Blood shed upon the Cross yet serv'd only to the Purification of the Flesh No 't is the Proper Blood of God alone that purges Our Consciences from dead works to serve the Living God The Resurrection of the Body O Gracious Jesus When shall It be that in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye at the last Trump the Dead shall arise and the same Flesh of every One now crumbled into Dust and scatter'd a thousand ways shall be re-compacted again into an Incorruptible Immortal Consistency Good God the Miracle of Miracles This And yet I am contemplating one well nigh Equal That in a Moment too in the twinkling of an Eye at the Trumpet of thy Word that very Body of Thine Seated at the right Hand of thy Father in Heaven is in a certain manner Reproduc'd in this Sacrament in all places where-ever the Mystery of It is duly Celebrated But O my wonderful Saviour If a little Leaven can Leaven a great Lump of Dough If one Spark of Fire be enough to Enflame a whole House if one Grain of Corn put into the Earth there works so as out of that Earth to cause so many more to grow and shoot up How may I hope that Thy Blessed Body entring into mine will Greg. Nyssen cap. 37. in its due time ferment it so as to make It rise warm and heat and Enflame It so as to make It like Thy Glorious Body and cause it to come up Immortal Impassible Subtile Nimble Clear and Shineing with all the Radiant Qualities that belong to Its perfection and may be expected from so Divine a Seed This Efficacy I confess can never be in the Figures of thy Body It comes only from the true and Real Presence of thy Precious Body It Self being There The Life Everlasting And indeed what other Nourishment Blessed Saviour but thy dear Body alone can possibly give A Life Everlasting It must be Bread that Lives It Self or it cannot give Life Bread that comes down from Heaven to give a Heavenly Life Bread that is no other than Thine Own Self my Lord and my God to give an Immortal Eternal Everlasting Life The Manna which was a true Type and Figure of thy Body yet could not do That there is need of some Food to be had more Substantial and Solid and Spiritual for such a Life and what can that be but Thy Self who hast Life in Thy Self and Livest now and for evermore World without End Amen This you see if you have Read and Weigh'd it well that the Articles of Our CREED cannot be consider'd in that full heighth wherein they ought to be literally and expresly believ'd and profess'd by every good Christian but that withall they dispose the Soul to a Firm Faith of the Real Presence of the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament which Article thereby seems to carry a very Natural and congenious proportion to all the rest at least as the possibility I may add and probability of it which is enough for the first step The next step shall be to weigh the several Testimonies of the Fathers and Their various Expressions wherein they seem to Labour so to set down what they believ'd in this High Mystery as that it might not be mistaken by Others wherefore from Them it will further appear that the Faith of the greatest part of the Church in all Ages was as it is now of the Real Presence Lastly Shall the particular Exceptions Answers Limitations Distinctions Subterfuges of latter Dissenters as to those Testimonies be produc'd and brought into the Light One by One. All this if you receive not Satisfaction before and if not after I have no other way left to help you with but Prayer Jam hoc qui dicit Non meis Disputationibus Refellendus sed Sanctorum Orationibus Revocandus est Aug. Preparatory Prayers toward the due Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament Authoriz'd by the Church Ad Mensam Dulcissimi Convivii c. TO Thy Table O most Bountiful Lord Jesus Christ where with such Delicious and Heavenly Food Thou usest to Entertain and Feast Pure Souls I a sinner though not presuming on any Merit or Desert of Mine but solely on Thy Goodness and Gracious Invitation do yet Tremble and Fear to approach For I have a Heart still prone to evil and Treacherous evne to the deceiving of my Self A Mind unconstant in all good Purposes A Body enslav'd to sin and which hath been Tainted and render'd loathsome by Corruption Original and many Crimes committed in it Senses wholly depriv'd and by long Custom dispos'd to admit any sort of Temptation Members all retain'd for the Service of some Vice or other A Tongue especially an unruly Evil and under no Guard or Discipline It self a very World of Iniquity And therefore now in this Misery and great Perplexity what to do and how to carry my self in this Conjuncture of Thy Call and my own Wretchedness towards Thee a God of so much Benignity but of such a Frightning Majesty too I nevertheless am here come unto Thee But To Thee as the Fountain of Mercy To Thee as the sole Curer of all my Maladies and Distempers at Present and the best Preserver against all Ills to come And whom I dare not appear before as my Judge I humbly Sue to have for my Saviour To Thee O Lord as such I here unbind and lay open my Wounds and Sores To Thee I discover my shame I know my Sins are great and many and they cause this Fear in me but I hope in Thy Mercies which are without number or stint Look upon me Then with those tender Eyes of Thy Compassion O Merciful Jesus Eternal and most Munificent Saviour God and Man Crucify'd for Man Hail Saving Sacrifice Offer'd up on the Altar of the Cross for Me and all Mankind Hail Precious and Royal Blood pour'd forth of the Wounds of my Crucify'd Lord and Cleansing a whole World from Sin Remember Lord this Creature of Thine for whom Thou hast spilt that Blood I am sorry that I have Offended Thee I desire to Amend what is Amiss Take from me O most Indulgent Saviour all my Iniquities and Transgressions that so beset me and cleave so close to me that being Purg'd and Sanctify'd throughout in Spirit Soul and Body I may come Worthily to feed at Thy Table on the Holiest of all Things And Grant that this Sacred prae-libation and fore-taste of Thy Body and Blood which I now intend to take though most unworthy may be to me A full Remission of my sins A perfect Evacuation of all vitiated and peccant Humours A chacing out of my Mind all unseemly Cogitations A producing therein a Series of better Thoughts and Sentiments An Effectual and Active Principle of
Will too as I do still by the Tendencies of my Nature which rests only and un-interruptedly upon Thee as Its Author and support 4. Let me account it a Happiness that I can Perish for Thee and not Be as well as I have receiv'd from Thee to be And that in some forward Disposition to This I may now present my self to Thee at this Sacrifice of Thy Son To be Offer'd up with Him and to die every day Thus before-hand to make my self readier to be Sacrificed to Thee Once really and indeed To yield up this Life for Thee which Thou hast given me in any such Occurrences as it shall please Thee to fit for Me and Me for it 5. Lastly I Worship Thee in the Fore-sight of that Last Sacrifice which at the End of the World Thy Son shall make to Thee of all other Creatures before He Offer up his Elect to Thee as a Sacrifice too but after a far more Admirable manner For He shall first Consume by Fire all visible Things to make men see by the Light thereof That Thou alone art a fit Object for their Love as Thou alone art He that hast a Being firm and Incorruptible The first Memento COnsequently the Priest descends to some Particulars in the Church yet living Commemorating First Those for whom especially he Intends the Offering of this Sacrifice And being thus United to the Living here in Charity in Honour and Reverence growing too from the same Charity he next aspires to joyn with the principal Saints Living in Paradice as the Glorious and Blessed Virgin The Apostles and chief Prelates of the See Apostolick together with other Great Saints in several Conditions Imploring Gods protection to be granted through their Prayers Thereby in this Mystical Bond of Mutual Love testifying the Communion and inseparable Conjunction of the Church-Militant and Triumphant DEVOTION I Offer unto Thee O my Lord Thy whole Church all Thy Chosen and especially Those whom thou in a manner hast given me uniting them to Me by a particular tye that in This little number I may represent to my self Those few which Thy Father hath Chosen out of all the World and Given to Thee from all Eternity that I may Love Them and Serve Them as Thou dost uncessantly Love and Assist all Thine Have in mind O Lord Them and Me by the Intercession of All Thy Saints and particularly of the Blessed Virgin of the Apostles and Bishops of the Apostolick See who are now made by Thee the chief in Heaven as They were First the Chief in Thy Church here on Earth I desire to make one among These in the Offering up my Self together with them This Sacrifice Vpon the Priest's holding over his Hands and saying Hanc Oblationem Hanc igitur Oblationem AFter all the Priest makes the Third General Oblation of the whole matter of the Sacrifice Oblatio Generalis 3 putting his Hands over both the Host and Chalice together By this putting His Hands over them He joyns Himself and the whole Congregation Church to this matter of the Sacrifice protesting then to God That He Offers and Sacrificeth all this to him and substitutes in the place this to be Sacrific'd for Himself and Them since it is not permitted that they should Sacrifice so as to destroy themselves Such a thing just did God Ordain in the Old Testament where he commanded the Jews to lay their Hands upon the Head of the Sacrifice which they Offer'd to Him to shew that they were One with It and that in their stead it was Sacrific'd DEVOTION STretch forth Thy Divine Power Over me as now the Priest Extends his Hands over That Bread and Wine which He is about to Consecrate that I also with those Elements may in some sense be Converted into the Body and Blood of Thy Son and consequently in Him be Offer'd up as an Acceptable Sacrifice and Holocaust which thou canst not Despise The Consecration and Elevation THis Protestation made the Priest proceeds to the Prayer of Consecration including a Commemoration of what Jesus Christ did and said when He Instituted This Holy Mystery and Imitating Him Blesses and Consecrates the Bread and Wine in the same manner and with the same Words as He us'd And immediately after Consecration and profound Adoration of Each to give Example to the People in all Piety He Elevates each aloft both to shew that He Offers them up to God the Father above in Heaven and also to make the People more Visibly behold Jesus Christ and so to bow down and Worship Him DEVOTION BRing now fresh into my Memory and fill my Fancy with all that Thou didst for Vs that Night before Thy Death when Thou Institutedst the Blessed Sacrament of thy Body and Blood as the last and most incomparable Pledge of Thy Love to Vs and a Memorandum indelible of our Obligation to Thee Assist Me with Thy Grace O my Saviour and I will Imitate Thee and give my self to Thee even as thou gavest Thy Self to Me without any reserve Change my Heart as Thou Changest This Bread Create a new Heart in Me by this new Body Transubstantiate in Me that seeming Life and Strength which yet is indeed but a dying feebleness into a True and Divine Spirit as Thou changest the Wine which is but the Blood of the Grape a Terrestrial juice into the Vigour and Blood of God Grant that this present Elevation of Thy Body and Blood in mine Eye may produce another like It in my Heart and Spirit as to Crucifie my Flesh that is my Passions and to deliver me from all Affections to this World so also to enflame me with a desire of that Life above and always to keep my Conversation in Heaven with Saints with Angels and with thine Own Dear Self sweet Jesu I Adore Thee O my Saviour in all Thy Elevations Thy Elevation on the Cross the Day of Thy Passion Thy Elevation in the Air at the great Day of the Last Judgement Thy Elevation to the Right-hand of Thy Father in that never-ending Day of Eternity Immediately upon the Priest's reposing the Body and Blood upon the Altar DEVOTION SAnctify me here now by Thy Presence Renew me again by Thy Nativity Purify me by the Memory of Thy Passion by which Thou hast Obliterated in Thy Self the Memory of those Sins which lay so heavy upon Thee to the very last Gasp of Thy Life here Vnde Memores Domine c. THen immediately to express that by Words which he just now did in Action the Priest makes a Solemn and more distinct Oblation to God the Father Avowing that He Offers this now Holy Pure and Immaculate Sacrifice as for the whole Church so in the Person of Jesus Christ whose room he supply'd in the Mystery of the Consecration And he sayes he does it in the Honourable Memory of the three great Mysteries of the Son of God His Passion Resurrection and Ascension In the word Passion including whatsoever the Son
doing ever hereafter Things pleasing to Thee An Impregnable Defence both of Soul and Body against all Assaults or Treacheries of mine Enemies A Token of present Grace and a sure Pledge and Earnest of future Glory Amen Another ALmighty and Immortal Father Behold I come to this Sacrament of Thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ I come As an Infirm and Languishing Person to the Physitian that gives Life and Health As one Defil'd and Unclean to the pure Spring of Grace and Mercy As the Blind to a Light of never failing Clearness As a Poor and Indigent Creature to the Lord of Heaven and Earth I humbly supplicate and beseech Thee therefore in such Abundance and so copious overflowing of Plenty of Favours To daign me A Cure of mine Infirmity A Cleansing from my Defilements A Recovery from Blindness An Enriching of my Poverty A Nuptial Garment for hiding my Shame and Nakedness That being admitted a Guest at Thy Table and Feeding on the Bread of Angels the King of Kings and Lord of Lords I may demean my self with So great Reverence and Humility So true Contrition and Devotion So much Purity and Faith That purpose and Intention As may most conduce to the Salvation of my Soul Grant me now I pray Thee to Receive not only the Sacrament of our Lords Body and Blood but the Virtue also and real Effect of the Sacrament O most Merciful God Grant me in such manner to Receive This Body of Thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ which he took from the Virgin Mary that I may thereby become Incorporated into His Mystical Body and be one of its Living and Sound Members O most Indulgent Father Vouchsafe that this Thy Beloved Son whom now I intend to Receive as here He comes Masqu'd and under these Veils So I may hereafter be admitted to Enjoy with open Face in full Vision as with Thee and the Holy Spirit he Lives and and Reigns one God World without End Amen Prayers after Communion I Give Thee Infinite Thanks from the very bottom of my Heart and with all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Body Holy Lord Omnipotent Father Eternal God! Who hast now Vouchsafed Me a Sinner a most unworthy Servant upon no account of any Merit in me but in meer condescention of Thy Mercy to have an Interest in this Inestimable Sacrifice and Holy Communion of the Precious Body and Blood of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ Which I have now Offer'd and fed upon In Honourable memory of His Death and Passion In Gratitude for all Benefits Receiv'd c. For Reconcilement and Remission of my Sins c. For increase of Grace to c. In Memory and Veneration of such and such Servant or Saint of Thine c. And I humbly beseech Thee that these Acts of Devotion and Worship of Thee may not be to me any new Guilt of Sin to be Punish'd but an Effectual Intercession rather and Procurement of Pardon An Armory of Faith and Shield of Good Will A clean riddance of all Vices in me A total quenching of Lust and Concupiscence An Increase of Divine Love and Patience of Humility Obedience and all other Virtues A Fortress against all the Machinations of my Enemies Visible and Invisible A perfect Calming of all Commotions from Flesh or Spirit A close adhaesion to Thee the only True God and the Happy Conclusion of my Life And after this Viaticum Conduct I beseech Thee Thy Servant to that inexpressible never-ending Feast where Thou together with Thy Son and Holy Spirit Indivisible Trinity art to Thy Saints Their true Light Their full Satisfaction Their everlasting Joy Their compleat Delight and Their Every perfect Happiness Through Jesus Christ Amen Another O My Lord Jesu Sweet above all Sweets Infuse into my Heart my Bowels and inmost Entrails of my Spirit such a strong Passion for Thee so True Clear Apostolick and most Sanctify'd Affection to Thee that my Soul may languish and be always melting with a Love of Thee only Long for Thee pant after Thy presence in these Thy Courts the places of Thy particular Residence and Worship wish to be quite dissolv'd to be with Thee yet nearer Make my Soul Hunger after Thee The Food of Angels The Refreshment of Sanctify'd Spirits Or daily Super-substantial Bread full of all Delightful Relishes and Suavities Savouring of the Varieties of all-pleasing Tasts and Gusts After Thee whom the Angels so much Covet to pry into let my Heart always have an Appetite and feed on Thee Let it ever Thirst for Thee The Spring of Life The Fountain of Wisdom and Knowledge The Source of Eternal Light The Torrent of Pleasures The Plenty of God's House Court Thee seek Thee find Thee run after Thee over-take Thee Muse on Thee Talk of Thee do all things to the Praise and Glory of Thy Name With Humility With Discretion With Delight With Felicity With Affection With Perseverance And be Thou only at all times my Hope my Confidence my Riches my Pleasure my Divertisement my Joy my Rest my Peace my Delight my sweet Perfume my Meat my Sauce my Meal my Retirement my Aid my Wisdom my Portion my Possession my Treasure on which my Mind may still run my Heart be ever set fix'd and unchangeably Establish'd Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for Nathaniel Thompson at the Entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charing-Cross A Brief Discourse of Confession to a Lawful Priest wherein is treated of the last Judgement By P Manby Dean of London-Dery A Manual of Controversies clearly proving the Truth of Catholick Faith by Texts of Holy Scripture Councels of all Ages Fathers of the first 500 years Common Sense and Reason and fully Ansering all the Principal Objections of Protestants and all manner of Sectaries By H. T. A most Excellent way of Hearing Mass with Profit and Devotion Containing the whole Mase in Latine and English with divers Select Prayers before and after Confession and Communion and an Examen of Conscience c. A Manual of Devout Prayers fitted for all persons and all occasions To which is added the Rosary in Latine and English Prayers to the B. V. The Prayers of St. Bridget c. with the Vespers or Even-Song
Messias coming together with the Joy of Men and Angels immediatly upon It. This being the Hymne Sung at His Nativity Very properly therefore is This Angelical Hymne of Joy omitted upon days of Sadness and Penitence such as are days of Commemorations of the Dead and Ordinary Feria's which in going before Sunday the day of the Resurrection sitly shaddow out to us the Time of this Life to be a Time of Repentance and preparing our selves for that Great Lords-day at the General Resurrection And so this Hymn of Glory is Sung still on every Lords-day and the days of the Blessed Virgin and the other Saints now Regnant in the Glory of Christ their Lord. DEVOTION I Humbly Thank Thee my God! That thou hast been pleas'd to give Me my Being Now after thy Incarnation and Nativity Vnder the New-Law and In Thy Holy Church Thus separating me from so many Infidels so many Hereticks and Schismaticks as be without and if I be not Treacherous to my self from so many False Christians that Live even in the midst of It as if they had as little Faith as those I beseech Thee that As the Reflection upon this Transcendent Good is deservedly the Cause of so Great Joy and Jubilation common to All the Angels in Heaven and on Earth to All Men of good Will so It may ever Affect my Soul more sensible and more piercingly then All the Pleasures or then All the Pains that can befall It in this World Make me count it my chiefest Felicity to be One in the Number ber of those Men of Peace and Good-Will that the Angels Saluted and gave the Joy to at Thy Nativity Give me that Peace which the World cannot give and That Good Will which alone gives me back again to Thee There 's no good Good Will but in a True Love of Thee O give me That Dominus Vobiscum HEre the Priest turning about to the People and Blessing Them seems to Communicate to them the Benedictions of Christ Jesus now born in the Flesh for this very purpose to Bless Mankind And therefore his Blessing in particular is That God may continue amongst Vs Exprest in those very words which unfold That Name which the Scripture gives to Christ in order to his Incarnation that is Emanuel as much as to say A God with Vs But before he pronounceth This Blessing He Kisses the Altar as It were taking It in his Mouth first from Jesus Christ himself in whose stead stands the Altar as from whom being an in-exhaustible Spring open'd by God for our refreshment All manner of Blessings Favours and Graces are deriv'd upon Us. DEVOTION VOuchsaefe me the Grace to lead in this Blessed Time of the New-Law and in the Communion of thy Holy Church where thou art still Present with Vs after a special manner such a Life as may render me capable of all thy Blessings that thou mayst still Turn thy Face towards Me and lift up the Light of Thy Countenance upon Me to succour Me and to impart unto Me every day more and more of that Rich Treasure which thou hast provided for Me. V upon the Priest's turning back again and Praying Oratio HAving breath'd forth this Benediction over the People He turns him to Jesus Christ again 1. to the Altar to present to Him some Prayers as the time requires one or more for Confirmation of That Blessing and humbly to testifie his Dependance on him as not being any thing but his Instrument nor able to confer on others the least good but only by way of Humble Petition to his Divine Majesty DEVOTION ENable me to Pray without Ceasing as thy Scriptures Command me since in this Life thou bestowest Nothing upon Us for our good but by being Petition'd first Let me then still be putting up Requests unto Thee often Re-inforcing the Old and Multiplying as Thy Priest at the Altar does New upon every important occasion At the Reading the Epistle NExt is read The Epistle taken sometimes out of the New Testament Sometimes out of the Old This puts me in mind of that Notice which was all along given To the Jews of the Coming of their Messias first by the Prophets fore-told and then exhibited to them by St. John and the Apostles And for this reason I think 't is read on that Corner of the Altar which is on the Priest's Right-hand because the Jews were a Nation chiefly Belov'd of God and at first his chosen People to whom he entrusted his Oracles DEVOTION I Do not a little Wonder at Thy Constant and Vntyr'd Love to the Jews who were the Only People whom Thy Prophets were sent to Save to whom Thou thy Self cam'st and Preached'st the Gospel And though not the Only yet the First to whom Thy Apostles declar'd Thy Resurrection Thy Resurrection A point of such moment that to Represent It the more Lively The Priest who sustains the Person of Thee Risen throughout the Whole Mass even in the Act of Sacrificing and Oblation Celebrates all Standing O my God Permit not Me to Slight Thy Holy Word or to Undervalue its Preachers who come to Vs in Thy Name and on thy Errand As that Stiff-necked Hard-hearted and Rebellious People have rejected the Addresses of the Prophets and Apostles Thy Servants nay of Thy Son Christ Jesus himself Let not thy Holy Commands be a New Occasion and Aggravation of Sin to Me as to Them It was but Improve them to Me into True Gospel and Words of Salvation by Inspiriting me to do That which Thy Law injoyneth and not suffering my Sinful Inclinations to Quench this Spirit and Evacuate Thy Grace Gradual and Alleluja or Tractus Immediately after the Epistle read succeeds the Gradual with either Alleluja or the Tractus IF with the Alleluja I apprehend that thereby Priest and People joyn in Acclamations of Praise and Thanks to God as It were in lieu and Supplement for the Jews Ingratitude Infidelity and great neglect of the Gospel as if therefore by way of Reparation we would shew our selves the more zealous and by certain Degrees of Versicles and Benedictions raise our selves to be more Attentive to what they slighted Or if in the place of Alleluja a Tractus be annex'd which being a Mournful Ditty therefore appointed for days of Penitence and Sorrow and to be read more Gravely and drawn out more leasurely and Sadly We are admonish'd thereby to compose our selves to ask Pardon of God for Those Sins which we also no less than the Jews have committed in our Great Neglect of the Gospel and to look on our selves as partakers of their Guilt and to be Penitent for It. DEVOTION LEt Thy Goodness prevent me from such Jewish Ingratitude and more Now I have received from thee so many more and Greater Favours than They. As particularly The Light of the Gospel the Grace of Baptism and then a greater Portion of Thy Holy Spirit Confirming Me and Even Thine Own Body and Blood for Nourishment Be It the Business to
of God Suffer'd for Us from the first Moment of his Conception to the very last of his Death All which space was one continual Suffering for the Redemption of the World By these Three methinks the Church in this Sacrament which she calls Mysterium Fidei would represent unto our Thoughts the very principal and most necessary Objects of our Faith without which we cannot be sav'd Which are in St. Augustin's Judgement the Passion and Resurrection of which the Ascension is the accomplishment of Jesus Christ And for this very Reason perhaps is the number of Three so often observ'd in the Benedictions Crosses and Oraisons to intimate to Us the Holy Trinity the Capital Object of our Faith and withall this Blessed Sacrament which is Offer'd up to all Three Persons therein though attributed more particularly to the Father This may here be Noted by way that the Crosses made by the Priest on the Hoste after Consecration are not as others Benedictions but only marks of Crucifying of the Hoste intimating the particular manner of its Immolation DEVOTION BLess me O my God by frequent Impressions made upon my Soul of Thy Death and Passion as the Priest makes Tokens thereof by so often Signing the Cross ✚ upon Thy Body and Blood after he hath Offer'd them up unto Thy Father Multiply upon Me Thy Graces in abundance Now that thou hast vouchsafed to Consecrate and make Me Thy Son by Baptism and to Feed me in the Fucharist with thine own Substance the same with That of the Son of God That my Whole Life may be suitable to so Divine a Birth and Aliment Accord me the Grace I Pray Thee that in all Occurences of This Life Good or Bad I may still draw Comfort from Thy Cross to support me that I may Ever and anon renew in my mind the Memory thereof so effectually as thereby to sweeten to my self my Sufferings and to learn Moderation in Happier Success and throughout the whole course of my Time to find still in That History seasonable Applications to all my Necessities At the Supra Quae. NExt He Prays God Graciously to accept from Us This Sacrifice remembring how well he was pleas'd with That of Abel that of Abraham and that of Melchizedech that so having so kindly taken from those Holy Men the most Famous Sacrificers in all Antiquities such remarkable Types and Figures of This he would not less favourably receive from Us The Substance it Self but endue us with some of that Grace and Purity wherewith They accompanied the Offering up of what was indeed but the shaddow of This. DEVOTION I Beseech Thee O my God That as This Sacrifice is altogether Spiritual and Divine having nothing in It of Sensible or Earthly but only the Outward Appearance and Shell as it were so I may Offer it up to Thee together with the Priest by a Motive and Inspiration wholly Spiritual and Divine in such manner as That the very External Actions themselves flowing from and govern'd by it may have Nothing of Flesh or Corporealness in them except the bare Appearance and Outside only And that all the Works and Services which I pay to Thee during my whole Life may be One Continual Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving Internal and from the Heart That being according to the Scriptures the Chief Sacrifice that thou likest and Callest for Thus let me Imitate the Devotion of those Holy Patriarchs Abel Melchizedech and Abraham who Sacrific'd to Thee after the same manner long before the Evangelical Law of Grace by Voluntary Affection and not by Command in the Spirit not Letter and became thereby the most Notable Figures of the Sacrificing that Thou performd'st afterward more perfectly to Thy Father and that all Thy Faithful are oblig'd to perform together with Thee all their Life long Let me not Rest in or Content my self with the bare Outward Actions and Ceremonies how Solemn and Pompous and truly Great soever they are themselves but Worship Thee chiefly by a Movement that comes into my Heart like that Fire of Old from Thee thy self in that Spirit and in That Truth which alone Soveraignly Ingratiate to Thee whatever is Offer'd Even this very Oblation of Thy Self Supplices te Rogamus HE proceeds higher and Prays that this Sacrifice may now be Offer'd rather upon that High-Altar of Gods in Heaven by his most Holy Angel For touch'd with a Consciousness of his own great unfitness to Offer a Sacrifice so transcendently Holy he falls back to Re-substitute Jesus Christ in his own room that He himself who is The Angel of the Great Councel would Offer It up to the Divine Majesty By this imploying that as Jesus Christ is the only High-Priest for this Sacrifice so He alone is fit to be the Presenter of It to His Father and to hear the Name of Angel however it be in some sense Communicated to other Priests also and that no man is worthy to be in this no not so much as His Deputy DEVOTION YEt after all 't is not Me O my God 't is not Me nor any one else here Offering Sacrifice to Thee that I desire Thee to Regard in this Action Regard Jesus Christ who is That Angel That Mediator between God and Men That Sacrificer for the whole Church Regard Him Be He the Person that now Presents to Thee this most Holy Host and be We meerly and barely His Instruments not stirring in this Heavenly Operation in the least guise as we are Animated and Mov'd by His Spirit And whatsoever we have about us Impure and Unclean let It all sall off aad be quite remov'd from us by the Cleansing power of Thy Grace That As in very deed It is not We that Live but He that Lives in Us so It may truly be said It is not We now that Offer up to Thee this Sacrifice but It is He that Offers it in Us as who alone hath the Faculty and Power to do It. But keep Vs all the while This is doing in a Trembling Posture looking at this Sacrifice and Mystery as that which the Church hath thought and styl'd Terrible that all our Confidence in a Business of this High Nature so infinitely beyond the Port of our low and despicable Condition may be rais'd and support It self solely upon Jesus Christ and we be no more than the visible Hands of that other Inviâ—sible one by which he presents It to Thee above upon that Caelestial Altar The Second Memento THis Sacrifice now fully perfected He designes it First for the Dead Offering It up for Them in a particular Commemoration following here in the custom ever practic'd in the Church 2. And then for the Living and more earnestly and intimated by a Thump on the Breast and a more Audible Tone for such as are Present that we may all be joyn'd to the Society of Those in Glory not for our Merits but for those of Jesus Christ since we have none of our own but what He pleases to
and They are but One living in the Unity of His Body consisting of such Members and Co-integrated with Him in a True though not Ordinary sense In one person May I never be perswaded to acknowledge any other manner of Honouring and Serving Thee or of Performing Acts and Exercises of Holy Religion to Thee but This wherein are compriz'd and to which tend all that be good and True so that in Effect The Eucharist and Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Thy Son may be to Me not only a Lively Representation and Continual Memorial of His Passion but also a complete and moving Model of all the Actions and good Works that belong to a Christian Life O Holy Body of my Saviour Let Virtue Issue out from Thee to Bless me Now that the Priest Lifts Thee and the Chalice a little up from the Altar into the Air and presently re-placeth you there again It is even so O Lord that thou usest to give Vs suddain and short Glympses of Thy Self in this Life by certain quick Gleams of Light which dure not like those Thou displayest in Heaven permanently and Eternally But 't is enough to make me Thine for ever that but once thou vouchsafe to pass before the Eyes of my Soul though but like a flash of Lightning as heretofore thou didst to Elias Humble my Soul lowly with the Priest still as He bowes so oft before thee at Thine Altar and Adores Thee in Silence Let the Eyes thereof shew their Modest Submission in Closing themselves to All the Objects of this World and They shall quickly discern Thee upon the Altar of my Heart within when I am Thus become Thy True Temple At the Pater Noster NOw these acknowledgements or Acts of Faith being thus Solemnly made that whatsoever Good we receive from or whatsoever Service or Worship or Glory we thereupon pay to God do all pass through Jesus Christ the Priest proceeds to desire that this devout Spiritual Commerce between Heaven and Us may be put in Execution and he begs It not only in the Name of Jesus Christ joyning himself to Him as a Brother imploring one common Father but in Those very words which Jesus Christ taught Vs to say Testifying thereby that not only the External Vocal Prayer which he recites is His but the Internal Mental one too and that It is He and His Spirit that Prayes in Vs and makes Vs Pray and say so But because in the very first words of this Lords Prayer we are to call God Our Father The Priest reflecting upon the greatness of the Honour we receive by being permitted the Use of That Title because of Gods Infinite Eminency and Grandeur above Us vile and abject Creatures Infinite unworthy to take such a Term into our Mouths He excuses this Presumption in Himself and Us declaring that if we dare to call God Our Father It is not only by the command of Jesus Christ but also by the very Express form of words so drawn by Himself for Us to do It by which we much less dare to alter or omit Wherefore he proceeds to say it as with some Considence shewn by a louder Tone so with Earnest and flagrant Desire that what is contain'd in this Prayer may be accomplish'd and stand Ratify'd for ever To which Vote the People give their most Hearty Assent by their subjoyning the last Clause as it were Subscribing and Sealing it with Et Libera nos a Malo And thus is the Canon of the Mass clos'd with the same Joynt desire of Priest and People and with the same Elevation of Hearts and Aspiration towards God as its Preface began with DEVOTION T Is most properly Now Certainly Now at the Holy Mass that Thou Obligest Vs to believe Thee to be Our Father Now that Thou here dispencest to Vs Thy Childrens Bread â—â—eding Vs with the Body and Blood of thine only Son with His very Substance Humane and Divine to make Vs Gods too and Children of the most High This Largess and Honour is so Great that though our Faith permits not to doubt of It yet an Humble Estimate of our selves and true Acknowledgement of our great vility and unworthiness makes it almost incredible at least suffers us not to receive any assurance thereof but in the single bare contemplation of thy Mercy only Imprint we beseech thee This Resentment so deep in our Souls that we growing as little in our own esteem as we are design'd to be Great in Thine may therefore be made the more certain of this Great Favour and Incomprehensible Dignity and by this means be in a better disposition and preparation to receive the precious Earnest thereof in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ which is but the Typical Pledge of that Other Infinitely Higher and more August which thou reserv'st for us in Heaven Only take such Care of Vs in the mean time that we no way degenerate from this Divine quality of being Children of Thine nor render Our Selves unworthy of having Thee for Our Father by some Ungracious deed that may argue Vs to Be no less than thy profest Enemies O if the frailty of this Present Life is not Compatible with an absolute Freedom from all sorts of Faults as we are sure the Felilicities of the Next will be yet Guard Vs at least that we incur none but such as are altogether Inseparable from this Frailty and so ruine not that Dignity which Thou hast given us of being Thy Children for all This Only take we good heed still of Explating them again as soon as ever committed and of Procuring from Thee our Own Pardon by Pardoning in like manner freely and from the Heart whosoever have Offended Us since this is that most Equitable Condition which thou hast so wisely caution'd in this Admirable Prayer and wilt surely Observe so as not to Pardon the Trespasses against Thee Our Father unless we first forgive those that our Brethren commit against Vs I cannot say that I would desire such Exact Purity or so Perfect an Absolution from all my Sins for any other reason but that I may be so able more Holily to Serve and Glorifie Thee having no desire of any one thing in this World so much as to see Thy Name Hallow'd Thy Kingdom come and Establish'd in the total Ruine of Thine Enemies Thy Will be done in the utmost Latitude as well by good Men as Bad These fulfulling It though against their Own Will but those in perfect Love and True Obedience Libera Nos quaesumus Domine Da Propitius Pacem THe Canon ended the Priest now begins to prepare Himself to the Participation and Communion of this Sacrifice Which he does First by Imploring Peace from God 2. And then wishing and deriving It to the People still shewing that he can impart to them nothing of Himself but must first receive it Himself from God Now Peace is the chiefest and prime qualification or disposition toward the Receiving
of this Sacrament which is a Sacrament of Vnion and Love And therefore as this Sacrament is the most Powerful means to work it in them who partake thereof Worthily so doth It prae-require It in Them as far as they by other means can procure It that they may Worthily pertake thereof by express Precept of the Son of God so often repeated and especially in that famous Text which Commands us to go 5 Mat. 24. and be Reconcil'd to our Brother before we Offer up our Gift at God's Altar DEVOTION I Now supplicate Thee O Lord for this First Preparatory Peace which is the necessary and best Disposition toward the receiving of that other which Thou desir'st to confer on Vs by this Holy Sacrament and Sacrifice for in the Gospel we learn Luc. 10.6 that Thy Peace cannot rest upon any but such as are First the Sons of Peace This Peace then not finding how to Repose It self upon me here in a perfect Aboliton of All Passions as It shall do hereafter in Heaven may It at least Possess me in a perfect Absolution from all my past Sins which let me Hate and Abolish perfectly by a True and Vnintermitted Penitence That so I may begin to receive now in the Communion of this Sacrament That Peace which consists in a total Ruine and Extirpation of Passions which are Calm'd and Cur'd more effectually by the Blessed Eucharist than by any other Remedy whatsoever Vpon the Fraction of the Host IT is worth the Noting here That after the Priest hath made Supplication for This Peace of God before He derive It by way of Blessing to the Church He first divides the Host into three parts representing the 3 several Estates and Portions of the Church for which He hath implor'd Peace And the part representing this Portion of the Church Now Militant here on Earth He laye down upon the Altar that which is for That other Portion Now Expectant in Purgatory He holds still in his Hand after he hath sever'd from It a third Part which he puts into the Chalice to signify both that third Portion of the Church Now Regnant and Triumphant and as it were imbib'd and absorpt into the Deity in Heaven And also Jesus Christ Himself as the First Born from the Dead and Re-uniting His Body and Blood and so entring into the Glory of God as the Head and Elder Brother of all the Saints Pax Domini ANd hence in the very joyning of this third part of the Hoste to the Chalice he wisheth the Peace to the People informing Us thereby that Jesus Christ rais'd again and Enter'd into Glory gives Peace to his Church and that This Peace is nothing else but an over-flowing of that Complaisant Tranquility which in His Glory himself infinitely abounds with and fully satisfies the Blessed in Heaven DEVOTION INcrease in me O my Father Faith and Charity That I may Believe as this Sacrament now lying upon the Altar is but one Bread only that came down from Heaven so That the whole Church together with Jesus Christ make but one Body and that the distinction and separation of Persons in It by distant places do no more hinder Its Unity than if They were all and always visibly to the Eye closely compact and joyn'd together even as this Hoste upon the Altar is still after its division into parts here representing the divers Members in the Church as truly and precisely one as it was before I beseech Thee Enable me to Love and Embrace Jesus Christ in Heaven and his Members where-ever dispers'd throughout the World with an Affection as True and with an Enamouredness as Great and Constant as if they were perpetually by me and I enjoyed their Personal Corporal Presence Thy Grace Vniting Me to those from whom I am absent and severing me in a Holy Abstraction even from those to whom I am most Present my very self and all to whom Thou hast any way joyn'd me in this World The Agnus Dei. TO Jesus Christ therefore in particular is this Address made for that Peace Praying Him three several times to vouchsafe It. Now to that part of his Church here yet remaining as at His Ascention he gave it there to them he left behind and as He Himself now enjoys It. and makes others enjoy It too His Fellow-Citizens in that Jerusalem above that City of Peace And all this enforc'd not only by an Ardent Affection imply'd in the Repetition but also by a Choice and most pertinent Compellation of of Him as of the Lamb of God just now lying upon the Altar to take away our Sins the Impediments and so making our full Reconciliation and Peace with the Father DEVOTION I Presume O God to Petition Thee for Thy Peace though it be indeed The greatest of all Thy Gifts since but the day before Thy Death thou left'st to Vs this Legacy in the Persons of Thy Apostles as the Close and Accomplishment of all the Rest and wert pleas'd to stile Vs Children of Peace But let It be Thy Peace not that of the World The Inward Peace of Thy Holy Spirit to at subsists un-impair'd in the midst of all pains and outward Conflicts to be sustain'd by Vs for Thy Service Let it be a Peace wholly proceeding from Thy Mercy The Result of a Conscience undefil'd and of Remission of all Sins The Crown of a Perfect Righteousness obtainable only by Thee who art That Lamb of God Sacrific'd to Reconcile Us unto Thy Father and to make Peace between Heaven and Earth which the Sin and Rebellion of Men and Angels had set at so great an Enmity I beg of Thee then That Peace which is settled upon the Full Forgiveness of Sin which caus'd that division between Thy Father and Vs that the Peace which I ought to have with Men may be the Natural Issue of what I have with God First and so be no Humane but a Divine Peace For as the Wisdom of men with Thee is but Folly so neither is Humane Peace any thing else than a War displeasing to Thee in so much that Thou hast profess'd to Persecute all those and disperse their Bones who so Combine together I am transported with a particular Joy and Consolation to hear it now Thrice Asserted that Thou art He who takest away Our Sins I were undone but for That Mercy and but for that farther Assurance which Faith gives me that Thou in bearing our Sins in Thy Body dost also Extinguish them The Lost Sheep upon Thy Shoulders being both Carry'd and Cur'd The Pax Tecum THen he gives the Pax to all present immediately after he hath ask'd It of Jesus Christ by the peculiar Prayer to Him for that purpose Domine Jesu Christe And after he hath as it were taken It from the Altar submissively by a Holy Kiss a Symbole of Peace But in the Mass for the Dead all this is omitted and only Their Rest Pray'd for because the Giving of the Pax among the Faithful
Assembled together which was Antiently by a Kiss Oral as now by Kissing an Instrument as a Crucifix c. for that use was held as a Pledge of the Joy and Tranquility in Paradice and so thought less proper for the days of Sadness and Mourning for those who yet by their Sins were detain'd from Entrance into That Joy DEVOTION SO Cur'd I will take and Kiss the Pax which is given to Me on the Priest's part or rather in truth on Thine since He himself before He derives It to the People takes It from Thee in That Kiss given to the Altar which is in stead of Thee O make me keep always This Peace this Sacred Peace and let me never care for other as I am not taken with any thing call'd good unless it come from Thee And in this Preparation let me Approach to the Communion of Thy Blessed Body which as is said is the Earnest and beginning of That more Perfect Peace that we Hope to enjoy in Heaven intimated by Thy Prophet promising on Thy part A Peace that transcends all other Peace The Communion NExt the Priest having dispos'd Himself to Communicate by those two Prayers Domine Jesu Christi Fili Dei c. and Preceptio Corporis and protested His own great Unworthiness in those Words of the Centurion Domine non sum dignus c. thrice re-doubled after a little pause or Humble Examination Eates the Body and then Drinks the Blood in the Chalice After each adding a short Rapture or Meditation Then he proceeds to Communicate the Others that are dispos'd thereunto SHewing hereby that both Priest and People do partake of the same Sacrifice are fed with the same Spiritual Food from the same Table admitted to the same Pasture all in quality of being the Sheep of the same Shepheard And in this the Priest seems to Acknowledge First In Humility that in that Respect of being a Sheep of Christ's and to be fed by Him He is nothing at all different from the People Secondly In Charity that the dispensing the things of God to the People ought to proceed from the fulness which He hath received from God Himself and that He is to feed the Faithful out of his Store and that which remains over and above DEVOTION LOrd I am not worthy of the least of all Thy Mercies much less of the Greatest as is this Communion of Thine own Body and Blood by which Thou enterest into Me and in a most ineffable manner minglest Thy self with my very Substance transplanting into Me Thy Humanity Thy Divinity Thy Person nay together with It The whole Trinity so that I am not only their Temple as before but in some kind even one with Thee and It. This is a Favour so great and so incomprehensible that I may well look on my self as most unworthy of it not only because I no way deserve It but because I can no way Understand It since it surpasses all thoughts of Men or Angels Grant me that after a Communion and Union so Miraculous I be never any thing but Thine never any thing but Thee And that nothing be ever able to separate me in the least kind from Thee But that I may see all Creatures far remov'd from and Infinitely below Me who am in Thee and that as I am not to Live but In Thee so I may have no Affection neither No sense but for Thee Not coucern'd in any thing but so far as thou wilt have Me or as thou esteemest Thy self concern'd in It. Let this Food be my Everlasting Nourishment and let me so Relish It that it may make me loose the Taste of all things else and the gust of My self especially That remaining un-alter'd and Incorruptible in my Heart it may Consume all the Corruption in my Body and Soul and Sublimate them to a Being totally Spiritual and Incorruptible too partly Now but Perfectly at the Great Resurrection May it be within me a Head and Fountain of Life perpetually running into Actions and Increasing toward that Life wholly Divine and Immortal and retarding and putting off farther and farther the Encroachments of a Death which I still carry about Me In like manner as the Corporal Food which I take respites me from the Assaults of Death and helps to lengthen and prolong this Mortal Life of my Body let it be always at Hand since It ought always to be in my Heart And let the Remembrance and Respect wherewith I shall every Moment in a kind of Mastication and Chewing Honour and Adore It Innure me to Taste and Comprehend the Excellency thereof as far surpassing All Manna or what-ever other most Delicate Dainties which can never free Vs quite from Perishing but Perish themselves whereas This on the contrary hath an undecayable Life in It self and makes Vs to live everlastingly Let It be to me instead of all other Affecting me with all the Pleasures and Gusts that any Spiritual Refection is capable of as That Manna is said to give the Jews all the Delicious Relishes that were to be sound in any other repast of the Body Let is fully satisfy me and make me so Reflect upon this great Happiness of being fed now in this Life with the same Bread which so abundantly blesseth with all Felicities Men and Angels that I never Covet more Let this Sacred Body be the Soul of my Soul as my Soul is the Soul of my Body and let all my Thoughts and Affections all Energies Motions and Actions whatever I feel or do proceed from It as all my Natural Movement and Operations come from my Soul Let it be in me A Spring of all Graces streaming them out unto me every moment suitably to my Necessities That Well of Living Waters flowing up to Everlasting Life which it hath pleas'd God to open not only in the midst of His Church as in the middle of Paradice But also in the Middle and Heart of every Faithful Soul which is to Him no less a Paradice and a Church than the whole Vniversal Let this Divine Source quench the Thirst of my Soul Allay my Heats and Irregular Desires by Nourishing another Supernatural Heat of Grace and Divine Love which Dissipates those strange Inflamations and Carnal Feavers of Concupiscence and may that Love consume in me the very Seed of Sin as it Cherishes and makes take root that other Seed of Life and Immortality Let this Admirable Spring float my Soul higher and higher above all Creatures Visible and Invisible till it bring it up into my God from whom it self is fed it being natural to all Waters to raise themselves as high as their Beginnings and to Advance thither too whatever they carry Let this Food as soon as I have taken It give Proof of its Efficacy in making me Strong and Potent against those occasions of Sinning which before abus'd my Feebleness and were too prevalent over Me. Let it give me New Spirits and Light First to discover and discern and then to
Crush and destroy the least Reliques and Remains of any Sin into whatever part it is Retir'd or under what disguise soever It lurks and hides These being indeed the True Idols and Abominations which God hath commanded to put from Vs and utterly to annihilate if we mean to Receive and Conserve His Grace Lastly It is My Saviour Himself that is in This Sacrament O that I might Love according to His Example here Retirement Re-collection Abstraction and Separation from all Creatures as He continues still unmix'd with any now no less in within me than in the whole Church always In a Profound Silence under a Wonderful Humility leading here a Life perfectly Internal and absorpt in a Contemplation and Adoration perpetual of the Greatness and Incomprehensible Majesty of God his Father Upon the Priest's gathering up the Crums and lesser particles of the Hoste and sucking in the rest in the Chalice DEVOTION THe Fragments O Lord The least Crum that jalls from Thy Table the least Drop of Thy Wine no Remainder of Thy Honey Comb is so little but is enough for me as well as for that modest Canaanite and for Thy Apostles at that miraculous Entertainment in the Desart or at That Collation upon Thy Resurrection Indeed all the Graces that we are capable of in This Life are but Crums falling from That Thy Table above but few drops of that Inexhaustible Fountain with which Thy Blessed in Heaven are so abundantly Refresh'd but on Vs here are but sprinkled a little to relieve our Necessities and sustain Vs from fainting in our Passage through the Desart of This World Yet as Thou art no less whole and Entire in the pettyest Particle and Attom of these Symbols than in the biggest Portion so I avouch that there is force enough to Nourish me and to Strengthen me too against all mine Enemies in the Lightest Grain of Thy Grace because Thou art always All in It and With and By It dost uncessantly derive Thy Spirit into Our Hearts Which well considered should Oblige Vs everyone to live Contented in This Life as we shall do in the Next be the Gifts Great or Small that we receive from Thy Mercy Vpon the bringing back again of the Book to the Right-Hand IT is to shew that the Gospel which was remov'd from the Jews at first shall return to them again and be receiv'd towards the end of the World And then the whole Church consisting both of Jew and Gentile being United together The Priest Blesseth God for all the Favours shewn to it in order thereunto and particularly for the Present Communion by which he hath re-united so many beseeching Him that this Receiving of Him at this time may tend to His everlasting Honour DEVOTION I Admire and Adore O my God Thy Goodness and Insinite Patience who having been so long Oppos'd and Vilifi'd by the Jews wilt yet at last before the end of the World receive them again for all that and restore to them the Light of the Gospel before taken from them as is signifi'd by bringing back the Book before the Mass ends to the place It had at the beginning God forbid I should ever Despair of any Sinner how Great or Wretched and Harden'd soever he be as long as He yet Lives No let me rather in all Humility wait till Thy Mercy or Thy Justice declare it self toward Him in the Season that Thou hast appointed and the mean while Pray for Him Wishing Him Thy Grace with the same Charity wherewith Thy Church still implor'd It for the Jews her Enemies and first Persecutors though receive it they should not till after many Ages and at present are Harden'd and even Abandon'd by Thee after a manner most notoriously Hideous O let me so Intercede for a Mercy and a true Repentance for the worst of mine Enemies make me carry them always in my Heart though they little deserve It and have turn'd me out of theirs as Thou lodgest and bearest me in Thine without considering my unworthiness and wert willing to receive me even when I hated Thee and ran from Thee as fast and as far as I was able Sweeten me into a Benignity that as I have receiv'd Thy Grace without all merit so I may keep it without all Envy and be an earnest Suitor unto Thee that Thou wouldst vouchsafe it also to those who I am sure cannot less deserve it than I. Nay let it be to me a particular delight and joy when ever Thou shalt be pleas'd to indulge it to them in a greater abundance than Thou hast done to me that so even their abundance may be as truly mine and the â—â—ches of them supply what is wanting in me as Thy Apostle says At the last Benediction AFter this tender of Thanks in Conclusion of all the Priest turns to the People to Bless them as was us'd to be done in the Old Law after the Sacrifice and shall be more fully done hereafter by our Saviour Himself in that General Benediction of all the Elect at the end of the World Hence is it that he reads the Gospel of St. John treating particularly of the Eternal Generation of the Word and the Highest Mysteries of that His Deity To shew that immemediately after that Last Benediction we shall pass into Heaven there to be better acquainted with and Eternally Admire and Praise these Mysteries And that Jesus Christ having gather'd together all His chosen shall lead them in and place them in the Bosom of His Father where He is from all Eternity His Only Son and where He shall admit Us as His Brethren that where He is We may be also and this without any prejudice of His being still the Only because He shall make Us One with Him Amen DEVOTION I Beseech Thee O my God to make me so partaker of Thy Body and Blood and so to Order the rest of my Life that I may receive That great Benediction which Thou shalt give to Thy Servants at the Last day The which is now Represented unto Me by This which the Priest gives to the People in the end of the Mass In the Hope of This let me live and grow Invincibly strong against the rudest Assaults of the Enemy In the expectation of so great Comfort let my Heart be so Establish'd as to Dread nothing nor can the greatest Beauties or Pleasures in This World seem any thing to the sight of That last Glory or to the perception of That Blessing accumulative of all Blessings which then shall be receiv'd in the presence of Millions of Angels and of all Men which ever were or shall be The Blessing and St. John's Gospel DEVOTION ANd after that Solemn Benediction take me O my God with Thee into Heaven that Heaven of Heavens Where I may enjoy Thee in Thy Majesty in thy Beatitude and Life so Glorious A Scantling of which seems to be Represented to Vs by that Beginning of St. John 's Gospel which is said after the Mass Wherein
those two Sublime Points of Our Faith the Trinity and the Incarnation are Insisted on to shew that Our Eternal Happiness shall consist in the Clear Vision of That which here we have humbly acknowledg'd and embrac'd though but in the obscure and Imperfect Light of Faith and that We shall Live Eternally By Contemplation of the Essence and Trinity of the Persons in the God-head as Thou Thy self livest in it by Comprehension Remove O Lord out of my mind any other Thought and out of my Heart all other Delight or Pleasure Let me now in Time take full Contentment in This Object which and no other must make me Happy in Eternity NOw by what hath been Intimated throughout this short Reflection of my Thoughts it may be inferr'd perhaps not Impertinently what was said in the beginning That the Whole Mass is a Re-view and Commemoration of the being Driven out of Paradice for the Sin of Adam and of Our Return again into Paradice By the Blood and Grace of Jesus Christ Certain Reflections upon the CREED thereby to prepare the Heart the better for being more Confirm'd in another Article of the Catholick Faith touching the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ PREFACE I Believe O My Saviour and my God! When I consider that this Heavenly Manna thy most Holy Body so miraculously contriv'd to be our Nourishment as we pass through the Desart of this World is affirmed to be truly and Substantially present upon the Altar immediately after the Words of Consecration I am struck with wonder and amazement and have not a word left me to say but this which is a plain confession of my ignorance and all that those Israelites could reply upon the first view of that other Manna * Man hu Man hu What 's this What 's this Lord have pity on me My best natural understanding my Judgement as rational and humane all my Senses set themselves in opposition to it and frame a thousand objections to the contrary to deterr me away say they How can it possibly be that Christ should give us his very Flesh to eat This is the hardest saying of all never to be conceiv'd never to be Believ'd But it is by thy Grace O my God that these Seducers in my own Bosom have not yet prevailed upon me I have done still as those two great Servants of thine Councel'd me St. Ambrose and St. Austin I have fled presently to my Creed and opposed to all their contradictions that Symbol that short Lesson which thy Apostles took care to teach thy servants heretofore In the first place I Arm my self with that as with a sure Cart of thy protection with It I close and shut up my Heart as with a Signet that none of all these suggestions can find the way in and like a well-stor'd Quiver it hath afforded me a thousand and a thousand good Shafts by which I am enabled to keep them off and ruin them all What say I if all other Arguments were nothing doth not this one word alone that stands in the very Front of my Creed I Believe suffice to defeat the forces of all such Rebellious Thoughts and make them fall backward I Believe 'T is the word that was given me at my first entrance and Enrolment in this sacred Militia and was pronounc'd by me then at my Baptism by the mouth of those who there undertook for me and I must still make it good I am therefore not one that pretends to be an understander of the Mysteries of my Salvation not a Disputer not one of the Intelligent but my Profession is to be one of the Faithful a Believer And therefore by how much hard and incomprehensible this Sacrament is made appear to me by so much the more is it likely to be one of the Articles I am to believe and so rendred by its proposal more venerably credible For Faith There comes to its true Lustre and is seated as it were on its Throne where the Understanding is most humbled by Obscurities ARTICLE I. In God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth c. God is God in all his works God but his Deity appears to us most in his Greatest And because this Sacrament is confess'd to be one of them if not the very Greatest of all what surer Testimony can it bring with it to make me believe it to be so the work of the Almighty than its being wonderful and un-intelligible Are there not Three distinct Persons Father Son and Holy Spirit in one and the same single Essence A compleat Trinity in a most simple Vnity That Faith which hath swallowed and digested this transcendent difficulty how comes it now to stick and make scruple of Believing One and the same Body to be in divers places at once God defend me from the temper of those Rebellious Children The Father that came to question his Omnipotent Arm and say can he prepare a Table for us in the Wilderness And could all their projecting thoughts ever have pitcht upon such a way as that of Manna Well whatever part of this Paschal Lamb I cannot Chew by my Reason I will cast it into as it were the Fire of the unlimited power of this Father Almighty whom I believe to be Almighty These little Clouds of Difficulties that so intercept and put this Sacrament out of the sight of our Natural Eye how easily do they vanish in the clear Sun-shine of Gods Omnipotency What so hard that this Fire consumes not The bare Word God hath had such Virtue Maker of Heaven c. as to give a Being to such things as were not at all How much more is it able to give a different Being to what already is and how and in as many places as he pleaseth He hath made that which was Not at all any where to be Some-where why can he not as well make That which is but Some where to be every where And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord. Whilst I am assured O my Saviour His Son that thy Father so loved the World as to give Thee his only Son to be its Feeder and Physician What wonder is it say I within my self if this Son of equal Love and Bounty with his Father do further give himself to be its very Food and Physick too thereby to make himself more intrinsecally a Saviour and King Our Lord. and Lord over All and through All. Which was conceived of the Holy Ghost Born of the Virgin Mary So wert thou Conceiv'd O my God in the Womb of a Virgin without any use of Man And why then do we look for Natural Conditions and Properties in That Body Conceiv'd which was made at first not according to the Order of Nature and Born of a Virgin Since thy Body took up no place then when it came forth thro' the un-open'd and Virginal Womb of thy Mother for otherwise Born it had forced the