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
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
Confession and that the Priest and Minister have openly avow'd their Faults and Indignities both severally and joyntly Praying for each other They further Animate and Encourage one another by Reflection on God's Mercy express'd in Words of a Holy Boldness and Confidence as they find them in the Scriptures * Psal 85. of the Messiah Deus tu Conversus c. Ostende nobis Domine c. So proclaiming alternately that though from themselves they can hope for Nothing yet they cannot but grow most Confident in their God considering what he hath given his Word for to perform With such Holy Cheerfulness and yet still check'd by a private Awe occasion'd by his particular sins secretly then also Pray'd against The Priest adventures up again to the Altar and Kisses It. In token say I of a New Reconciliation to Christ Jesus and all His Church-Triumphant for by the Altar is represented Christ Crucify'd and by the Relicks of some Saints enchas'd in It. The whole Body of that Triumphant Society now more nearly joyn'd to their Head and becoming even one with Him DEVOTION I Adore O Lord this Infinite Mercy of Thine which is now brought into my Mind by the Priests going up again unto Thy Altar and Kissing of It in Token that Thou art again Reconcil'd to us So early was Thy Goodness to us that no sooner had We Offended Thee but instantly Thou hadst projected a Way by which we might come to be Pardon'd As appears by thy Calling after and searching out our first Parent in Paradice immediately after he had fled from Thee and lost himself In that so Antient and indeed Eternal project and design it is that Thou hast already in effect Pardon'd us so long before We were Born and extended Thy Grace even to Vs in Jesus Christ before all Ages as one of Thy Apostles hath computed it And now Thy Mercifulness still equally willing to make good that Design and to appear as Great and as Ready to save in Time as it was to Project in Eternity doth here Receive Vs into Favour again as soon as ever We but Acknowledge and Confess our Faults as that Prophet of thine hath Noted and as Thou publickly declarest to Thy whole Church in admitting the Priest thus to Kiss thy Altar which is an Image and stands in stead of thy self suddenly after he hath ended His and Our Confession Thereby to shew that Perform we but our Duty once in a true Confession of our Faults and there 's no doubt to be made but Thou in the same moment art Reconcil'd unto Vs I most Earnestly beseech Thee to give me the Grace to value and entertain this Immense Bounty of Thine with a Respect due to it and to enable me in some degree to imitate it That is that First never never willingly Offending Thee never so next for those Involuntary Lapses and Delinquencies which my surpriz'd infirmity so often stands guilty of and in this frail Life are utterly unavoidable I may so take all diligent Care to discharge my self of Them as soon as ever I perceive them committed as Thy Goodness is ready to Pardon them as soon as ever in a true Penitence and Detestation I acknowledge them before Thee At the Introit THis which is call'd the Introit * Vide Durand l. 4. c. 5. Goar p. 124. of the Mass signifies That great Declaration Evangelical which God made to Mankind presently upon Adam's Fall Of his good Pleasure and Will to deliver them from that Misery wherein they lay and to restore them to Grace and Favour again by giving them a Saviour This seems so to me because every Introit in particular either Prayes or gives Thanks for or Celebrates with some Joy some special Execution of that Will of God suitable to the Feast or Mystery for which the Mass is said DEVOTION I Thank Thee O my God for that ever since that first Inclination and Good Will of Thine To be again Reconcil'd to Mankind Thou hast taken care all along to make it evidently Appear to men by some real effect thereof and by some particular Grace and way of Dispensation suitable to each Age hast gone on advancing and Accomplishing by little and little that thy Great Design of Redeeming and Saving the World even to the very Fulness of Time wherein it was to be Entirely perfected O that the Resolutions which I too have already taken or shall farther yet take to do Thee Service towards this End might have something in them also of the Stability and Immutableness of that Thy unchangeable and everlasting Purpose And that though sometimes I be not able to Execute them fully according to my Intention yet even then they may discover themselves in some partial yet seasonable Effects enough to testifie that I have not forgot them or am Vnfaithful to Thee but only do expect with some Passion the Time wherein I may according to my little Abilities most compleatly acquit my self Kyrie Eleison Kyrie Eleison Kyrie Eleison c. WHat are these but ardent Aspirations and Sighs of the Saints for the fulfilling of that Promise of the Father in the sending his Son address'd to the Son himself whom they Invoke as a Saviour and would incline Him to come quickly They are Thrice repeated in Honour of the Holy Trinity from whom they beg the accomplishment of that Mystery Christe Eleison Is said in the second place to shew 't was the second Person they demanded to be their Saviour And every person is Invok'd thrice to shew the numerous multitude of these Desires which they put up to the Trinity before the attaining them The number of Three signifying Often or many times in Scripture So St. Paul is said to Pray Thrice c. 1. Often to have his Temptation remov'd DEVOTION INcrease in me O Lord my Faith Of the Holy Trinity and of Thy Incarnation by which means thou art become the Saviour of the whole World and kindle in my Heart a lasting longing Desire of Thy second Coming no way Inferior to What the Antient Patriarchs had to See Thy First As the chief Point of Their Piety and Devotion consisted in This Of a Strong Faith and Passionate yet Patient Attendance for the Day of Thy Incarnation and Resurrection So by thy Grace and Favour Let It be the scope of Mine still to be in an Earnest Expectation and Waiting for the Great Day of thy Triumph when Thou shalt appear so Gloriously to All Men and to All Angels And let me Live in This Interim with the Eye of my Intention so uncessantly fix'd Upon Thy Divine Person as thou thy self Livest by having Thine perpetually plac'd on That of Thy Father And may my Heart ever and anon breath out her Wishes in these words Veni veni Domine Noli tardare Even Come Come Lord Jesu and tarry no longer Gloria in Excelsis NOw is Represented the Performance of That Promise of the so much desired and so long expected
will be of no profit 2. And when the People Answer that They have their Hearts so Elevated and dispos'd and set upon God as he desires them to have 3. The Priest rests not therewith Content unless They make present Reflection upon This and Consider that it is not They themselves but God that hath rais'd their Hearts and drawn them towards Himself and therefore that they ought Instantly to make their Acknowledgement thereof by publick Thanks before they go any further 4. Gratias Agamus c. 5. To which they Reply that this is very fitting and just and so they proceed to do it by the Priest in publick and in private by their own particular Resentments moving their Hearts according to the Words which they hear from him For so now he begins here in a Louder Tone 6. To acknowledge the Mercies and Blessings that God showers down on Men at all Times and in all places and in particular those which at that very occasion the Churches Order recommends to be Commemorated 7. But then She by great Modesty Conscious to her self how mean a Thing Her Laudes and Praises are to be tender'd to Gods Supreme Majesty she makes haste to joyn her Self in this Action to her Lord and Spouse Jesus Christ and by Him to present her Praises and Thanks to the Father Offering up withall joyntly those Infinite and Eternal Benedictions that he uses to give him 8. And not tâ— omit any Hymnes of this Nature she endeavours to make one too in the Consort of Angels Cherubims and Seraphims that Magnify Adore and tremblingly Reverence through Jesus Christ The Majesty of God Hence It is that she joynes her self to Them under Him as under the common Patron of Men and Angels That so All together by their chief Head may Worship and Glorisie the Deity And therefore now useth she here upon Earth That very Ditty which the Scripture hath reveal'd to be us'd by the Angels in Heaven in their Honouring of God Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus 9. And to It adjoyns another Triumphantly Sung by Men of Jerusalem to Jesus Christ Benedictus qui venit c. Testifying hereby the Unity of Spirit moving Angels and Men to Praise the Divine Majesty for the Approach and Coming of his Son DEVOTION Raise up my Spirit at this Instant Great God far above all the things of this World to fasten It upon and make It Conceive both the Variety and Greatness of Thy Blessings especially those conferr'd upon us by Thy Son Jesus Christ his Assuming and Uniting our Nature into Himself I must needs acknowledge that my single Abilities are much too Weak to perform this as I ought and therefore cannot Thank and Praise Thee as I should Vouchsafe to permit and help Me to joyn the very best I have to those of the Choire of Angels above borrowing from and using with them those Transcendent Acclamations wherewith they Adore Thee to all Eternity that so I may begin to Honour Thee here on Earth as they do in Heaven and imping my Wings with Theirs mount not according to My feebleness but Their force Enrich me also with a Part of the Innocence and almost Angelical Purity of those Souls who Sung to Thee that Triumphant Jubilee at thy Entrance into this lower Jerusalem that so the Song that I would now take Thee with might be more perfectly made up of all its parts especially that Canterelle of Angels and This Base of Men. Why not prepare my Self in this Solemn manner To certainly the greatest Action upon Earth The Sacrificing of Thy Son By as much as I can procure The Holyest Hosanna 's and highest Ravishments of Spirit that Mortality can bear up with In this Elevation and Extasie such as 't is Thee I adore My Saviour Jesus Christ sitting at the Right Hand of Thy Father To Thee as High-Priest and prime Sacrificer I joyn this Wretch my Self though Infinite Infinitely unworthy to be not only in thy Company but here among the Angels and Blessed Saints now Assembled at this Sacrifice of a God O amaze me with that Confusion that belongs to me for not being such as I ought at this Solemnity For the Entrance into the Canon The Canon NExt succeeds the Canon of the Mass so term'd because 't is the Rule and Constant Order which the Church observes in the Celebration of this Sacrifice This is alone never to be alter'd as the other parts of the Mass are which use to be vary'd according to the diversity of several Mysteries and the Feasts by which they are Celebrated But this being the chief part becomes as the Sacrifice it self Immutable Te igitur c. ANd 't is considerable That it begins with an Address to the Father presenting to Him the Sacrifice as being the Prime Principle and Beginning not only of all Creatures but also of the Divine Persons in the Holy Trinity We Offer up this Sacrifice to Him by and through Jesus Christ His Son our Lord. That is By Jesus Christ as our Only Mediator taking part of the Father in being His Son and so God from all Eternity and taking part with Us in being made Man by his Humanity wherein He hath receiv'd the Power and Dominion over Heaven and Earth and always Offers up A Sacrifice to His Father as the only High-Priest to whom all other Priests here in the Church are but subservient Officers and Ministers Offering up the same with Him For That which the Son of God in Heaven and This which the Priest here below Offers however it differ in the manner is in Reality and Substance but One and the same Sacrifice And it is Offer'd here principally for the Whole Catholick Church in whose Name the Priest presents himself before God to do Homage For though this here and that Sacrifice there as 't is said differ not in the Substance of the Thing yet in the manner of Offering it does and accordingly this is offer'd but for the Church Only and all the Faithful within its Communion though the other of which This yet is Commemorative be for the whole World as the Scripture testifies DEVOTION O God the Father 1. I Here Worship and pay Homage to Thee as to the prime Principle of all Things both in Earth and Heaven too of all Sanctity in Men and Angels of all the Persons in the God-head of the whole Trinity and of all the Deity it self also as far as Thy Church taught by Thee can and doth though but Lispingly speak it It is to Thee I acknowledge in this quality of prime Principle that this Sacrifice is due and so to Thee is It Now Offer'd by Thy Church and by Thine own Son who is prime Priest as Thou art the prime Principle 2. I Worship Thee also as the chiefest and last End of all Creatures recurring and Ebbing into Thee as They flow'd from Thee 3. Vouchsafe me the Grace to Reflect upon Thee always after this manner as well by the Motions of my
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
Impart to Us and account Ours DEVOTION DO not forget O Lord Those Souls whom though gone out of this World Thou hast yet a Favour for because they are better dispos'd for the receiving the Effects of Thy Mercy in That Condition than those who are still joyn'd to this Body of Clay Haste so much the more to help Them as They do more Humbly and more Patiently wait for Thy help desiring no other Happiness than to fulfill thy Will and good Pleasure and therefore finding so far as That is done upon them even in Purgatory and in the midst of extream pains which they suffer a kind of Paradice I would I had as much Purity as They to be the more capable of Interceding for Them But since I come far short of That I interpose and present Thee with that of those Saints who now reign with Thee which is the best that can be found among Creatures but especially with that of the King of Saints Thy Son from whom as from the Fountain and Head flow all those Graces and Merits which Thou hast Communicated to Thy Servants and to whom thou canst not deny the farther Perfecting and Final Accomplishment of Thine Elect since Thou hast already begun to work Righteousness and Holiness in Them Add then and Finish the Rest of what is to be done in Them and Unite both the Living and the Dead to Thy Son as to the proper Head of Their Body and only Source of their Virtue and Victory that together with Him they may Sing to Thee Triumphant Lauds to all Eternity after they have Labour'd and Suffer'd as He and in Him to Thy Glory in this World At the Nobis quoque Peccatoribus DEVOTION O That these Words now spoken out by the Priest might Humble me Effectually to make me Cry to Thee for Mercy for my self and all Thy Faithfull upon Earth who all with me now appear before Thee but as One and the same sinner and one and the same Penitent Work in me the Flexibleness and Humble dejection of that Publican whom Thou hast Justify'd in the Temple and under the Law that smiting my Breast like Him I may obtain the same Grace which Thou accorded'st to Him at the same time that Thou didst blast the Pride of the Pharisee Per quem Haec Omnia c. ANd from this Acknowledgment of our own Worthlessness the Priest goes on to another much Greater Confessing to God the Father that also This Sacrifice now upon the Altar and all its worth and Virtue or what ever else contain'd in it comes only from Him by Jesus Christ by whom He Creates It to be a Source of Sanctity and Life and all Blessings and so Gives It to Vs Not but that Jesus Christ was all this before But because by the same Act by which He produceth Him in this Sacrament He likewise Communicates to Him all those Graces and Virtues which he hath as by that Act by which He begot Him from all Eternity He also endow'd Him with all those Excellencies and Perfections proper to the Son of God and so is the production of this Sacrament a lively Image of that Eternal Generation Nor is this yet all that is acknowledg'd but farther That the same God the Father thus producing qualifying this Sacrament also Gives it to Vs Praestas Nobis and by it derives into Us a Participation of all the Excellencies it contains so that this Sacrament becomes not only an Image of that Eternal Generation of Jesus Christ before all time but also of that Incarnation of Him by which in time the Father gives Him to Us and with Him all His Perfections by a New Production as in many Places Holy Scripture testifies DEVOTION THee O God the Father Thee I Adore as the Prime and Original Author of this Sacrifice and wonderful Mystery The Holy Ghost makes It by the Priest Jesus Christ makes It by the Holy Ghost but Thou makest It by Jesus Christ and 't is from Thee as from its Fountain that all the Graces all the Perfections all the Great things contain'd in this Sacrament are deriv'd and It again becomes another Fountain of them to Vs I Admire and Celebrate from the bottom of my Heart this Miracle and more yet that Bounty which after it hath wrought it so Applies it to Men thereby to Feed them thereby to Save them just as for Thy Works have no Parallels but Thy works just as Thou gavest Thy only Son to Men by another Miracle of Incarnation in the fulness of time after Thou hadst first begotten Him in Thy bosom before all Time by which transcends all Miracles an Eternal Generation O let this account of Thy goodness debase and cast me down as low as doth mine own Illness since in the midst of all these Fountains and Sluces of Graces so super-abundantly deluging from forth this Mystery wretched I shall still remain parch'd and barren and dry and Wither'd I unless thou stream into me from thence and that uncessantly another new Grace by which I may suck in the Benefit of all the rest Per Ipsum cum Ipso in Ipso c. NExt to these Two Acknowledgements the Priest here makes a Third That That Honour and Glory that ariseth to God the Father from this His Infinite Bounty comes not to Him but By and With and In Jesus Christ By Jesus Christ as through the Hands of a Mediator for God receives nothing from Us immediately nor we from Him but Jesus Christ standing in the middle between Hands all things from the Father to Us and so back again from Us to the Father With Jesus Christ Because the Son being in all things equal to the Father receives too equally with Him the Glory that men render unto Him and all in the Union of the Holy Spirit In Jesus Christ Because He is the Vine and all men but the Branches in Him and only by being in Him can they bear any Fruit to His Father the Husbandman DEVOTION EStrange me O my God from from all Humane Inventions and ways of Worshipping Thee of what sort soever though never so specious and Holy in Appearance In things of Thy Service let me never be Acted by my own private Spring by my own proper Spirit nor upon any Motive tending to give my self Satisfaction That I may do nothing but at the Call and in submission to the Conduct and by the Spirit of Thy Son since Thou Receivest not any thing from Us but what we Offer unto Thee by Him as being the Mediator nay as being the First Mover and Author of all the Good we do nor received'st it so neither but in the same Act by which He receives It together with Him because both are one and the same Nature One and the same God and therefore are both equally concern'd and Honour'd by the Homages we pay Lastly Thou receivedest nothing but in Him also that is but from Those who are so in Him as that He
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
THe saying of the Creed is a Protestation of our Faith and Obedience to the Gospel coming to Us from God through the Lips of the Priest DEVOTION BVt let me not Content my Self only with this Inward Preparation of Heart To Believe and Serve Thee so but give me Courage to profess before all the World the Sincerity of an Unfeigned Faith in Thee and Constant Love to Thee by which I pretend to Honour and Observe Thee in all things without ever being asham'd of the Truths and Maximes of Thy Gospel Of every one of which as well the least as the greatest let me still have an equal undispensable esteem and be ready to maintain all in General nay each one in particular though with the certain loss of whatever belongs to me beside even of my Life it Self and Salvation too if That were possible in All the Occasions and Encounters that the Conduct of Thy Providence for Tryal shall engage Me In. In special O my Saviour I Believe that Thou art the Son of the Eternal Father That You both Produce the Holy Spirit from everlasting and that You all Three Reside after a most signal manner in The Church which is so the House of the Faithful as that out of It There is no Faith at all to be found or at most none such as shall any thing avail towards Salvation I am resolv'd to Believe as Truth all that is deliver'd to Me as from You and to confirm and justifie my Belief by my Words and my Words by good Works of all sorts and my Works by all the Variety of Sufferings that You shall think fit to send me The Second Dominus Vobiscum AFter this Profession of Faith or if that be omitted immediately after the Gospel the Priest having first Kiss'd the Altar turns to the people to Bless them in Christ's Name for so Respectful a Reception of the Gospel and publick profession thereof DEVOTION HElp me O Lord to receive with Pious Affections This Blessing which Thy Priest now Dispenseth in turning Himself toward Thy Faithful as from Thee Now that we have Assented to Try Word and thereof made a publick Profession And Bless me thereby more Internally Thy Self that this Thy Grace may cleave to and continue in my Heart enabling It to Persevere in Thriving and Growing up thereby to a Holy Life and constant practice of Obedience to all Thy Commandments The Offering and Offertory HEre was brought in Antienly Immediately after The Benediction the peoples Offerings as an Effect as it were of that Benediction Then before these Offerings laid on the Altar Sung both Priest and People certain Praises to God which were call'd the Offertorium or That with which They presented their Offerings to terstifie the Sincerity and Joy of Heart wherewith they brought their Gifts and appear'd before Him Antiently before Things came to be set in better Order by the Church These Offerings were Numerous and had their good Use and Edification too For every particular Christian presented Bread to the Priest both for Materials to be Consecrated for the Sacrifice and withall for a Token of his Union to the Body of Christ Jesus and Communion with the Church The whole Congregation uniting it self by This means and putting It self as it were between the Hands of the Priest to be Offerred up with the Body of Christ Consecrated and made in that Bread which they Contributed The Priest indeed Consecrated not all that was brought but took only One or Two as occasion was in the lieu of all that so as the many Breads offer'd severally by each of the Faithful Ones represented the divers Members of the Church the Paucity of the Breads chosen out of all for Consecration might likewise Typifie the Unity of those Members amongst themselves and with the One Body of Christ where all by Participation were United together DEVOTION I Here Offer up unto Thee my God All that I have oram in Acknowledgement and Return for That Light of Truth which Thou hast imparted to Me by Thy Gospel at this Time being convinc'd that in respect of It All other things are but as dross or nothing and that Thy Merciful Favour and Love is incomparably more worth than this Life it self Nay than the Lives of all the Persons now in the World put together and Offer'd up to Thee all in one Great Sacrifice I strip my self of all that can any ways be call'd mine before Thee and here put it into Thy Hands that there may be nothing about me to hinder me from entring into that close and perfect Union that ought to be between Thee and me and Me and every Member belonging to the Body of Thy Church being well assur'd that nothing causes a Division between Thee and those Members or amongst Our selves between one anoother nor slackens the Bond of Charity more than an Adhaesion to the Things of this World The Oblation or Suscipe The Priest having receiv'd the Offerings presents them to God by heaving them up towards Heaven upon the Paten For that Bread which He offers up on the Paten is instead of all that was brought to Him by the people either effectually and really or Spiritually and Intentionally only and so represents the whole people to be Incorporated and Offer'd up with the Body of Jesns Christ in that Holy Sacrisice Hence It is that the Pâ—iest declares that He makes this Obiation for and in the Name of All the Faithful Living and Dead and particularly for All Circumstantibus there present For the present brought their Offerings not only for themselves but for the Dead also as Owning their Communion with the Body of Jesus Christ and with His Church and this is still the Intention Comprehensive and secret meaning of the Charity of every Faithful Christian though It be not then Actually in his Mind or Thought And it is to be Noted that the Priest professeth He makes this Oblation for the Numberless Sins not only of Others but of His Own Meis Because the sins committed every day by the best amongst Us are in every deed innumerable and 't is impossible to know their Multitude and variety our Infirmity and Concupiscence vitiating those Actions in some degree which seem to be most Holy to let pass others DEVOTION I Beseech Thee that As the Priest presents to Thee upon the Paten That Offering which He is to Consecrate for all the People so This Oblation that I have Now made of all that I have and am may likewise be received and accepted by our Lord Jesus Christ as tender'd together with It That the same Priest may Offer and Consecrate it also to Thee for Me that so it may please Thy Divine Majesty who hast set such Order to things as not to receive any thing from us but by Him And may this Oblation dispose Me by little and little to Immolate and Sacrifice my self wholly to Thy Glory in what manner It shall best please Thee to require It. That
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
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