dastardly and low-spirited were even the very Apostles tho they lived and dayly conversed with him their courages were impaired by their sears they betrayed deserted and denied him but his Resurrection did beget in the mind of the Christian World a true generosity and fortitude able to subdue and trample on all dangers in as much as men of no breeding no natural valour of no interests or friends durst prefer the confession of their Saviour and his Gospel to their Countrey and Relations to their quiet and security and to life it self and passionately to chuse scourges and prisons and the various methods of death before all sorts of voluptuous enjoyments But what is more and more acceptable than all knowledg and all power the Resurrection of Christ gave the Holy-Ghost to the World for the blessed Spirit could not be given till Christ was risen Thus this one act of the Almighty Redeemer of mankind baffled all the fears of his servants compleated the satisfaction for their sins secured unto them the company of the Spirit of Truth Peace here till they should be carried into his Kingdom on the wings of Angels And what greater blessings canst thou wish than these O my soul Give the riches and the honours of this life O my dearest Saviour to others I will never envy their fruitions so thou give me thy Self let me partake of the benefits of thy Resurrection in the pardon of my sins in the indwelling of the Comforter in my mind and in the first fruits of obedience in frequent approaches to thy Table and other acts of devout converse with thee and leaving the manner of my death to thy disposal for on these terms in what sort or at what time soever it shall be I shall not be disturbed I shall be happy in the remembrance that when my Master comes and finds me so doing he will give me a share in his joys The Collect. ALmighty God who through thine only begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome Death and apened unto us the gate of everlasting Life we humbly beseech thee that as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect through Jesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy-Ghost ever one God world without end Amen The Anthem The Resurrection and Aseension I. COme holy Spirit from above Come warm me with Seraphick love That I may the triumphant Jesus sing Whose resurrection heaven to earth did bring And put thee long'd-for peaceful Dove upon the wing II. Jesus is risen mount my mind And leave this sordid earth behind God made thy body dust but Sin a grave Let thy Soul too its Resurrection have No longer be thy Lusts the Worlds or Satan's slave III. Attend the Conqueror to his Throne Who from the lower world is flown Make tho the meanest one in that parade The bleeding Jesus did my heart in vade And none can heal the wound but he whose hand it made IV. View yonder Arch inscrib'd above Sacred to Coelestial Love There the incomparable Jesus dwells Iesus who charms thee by the strengest spells Love him with transports O my passions and none else V. See the bright Angels how they glide Up and down by 's Chariot's side See where ten thousand hover and attend To guard the Conqueror to his journies end Whose Chariot does directly to God's right hand bend VI. There Jesus fixes and from thence Sheds his benignest influence And like triumphant Victors does bestow His donatives on us who dwell below That we in time our Triumphs may accomplish too VII You Angels you who dwell above Spend all your time in songs and love While I who sadly want your light and fire Detain'd in sensual fetters would mount higher And wish to do what I can only now admire VIII You Guardians are by Heaven design'd To awe and to protect Mankind When Jesus rose you did the news relate When he ascended you did on him wait That I might triumph so give me my Saviours Fate Rules of Conduct for Easter-Day and the Sacrament § 1. It is taken for granted that the devout Person hath humbled himself in the sight of God for his sins the Week aforegoing more particularly on Good-Friday and the Holy Saturday and it is requisite he should watch a great part of if not all the Saturday night which time should be spent in more intense Supplications and more ardent Meditations the Vigils of the Ancient Church were an excellent Institution and Watching and Prayer are joined by our Saviour and we are bid to be sober and to watch unto Prayer by the Apostles that is to fast to watch and to pray it is true the Vigils at last gave offence and were for that reason almost all prohibited because such promiscuous meetings of men and women under the covert of the night did administer to many Exorbitances But the Vigils of Easter and the greater Festivals were always kept up and are so still in the Churches of the East and tho our Church doth not expresly injoin the observation yet it mentions them in her Rubricks and leaves every man to his own liberty to watch in his Closet where there can be no such temptation as gave occasion to the disuse of that practice And whenever the Christian Penitent goes to bed it is requisite to rise very early on Easter day because our Blessed Master rose ‖ Joh. 20.1 while it was yet dark § 2. After the private devotions are performed and the necessary duties of the Family if any considered and attended the good man goes to Church nor will he choose to receive any other where but at his own Parish Church if there be a Sacrament there which on this Festival is expresly enjoined to be celebrated over all Christendom * Can. 6. The Council of Gangra denounc'd a solemn Anathema against the Erecters of private Conventicles that those who dislik'd the publick Assemblies might communicate at home in private And by the old †Ludov. 1. tit 101. Lothar l. 1. tit 357 c. Capitulars every Priest was ordered to be degraded every Layman to be excommunicate who lest his own Parish to receive the Blessed Eucharist in another unless extraordinary business or a Journey called them that way or they had a dispensation so to do from their Superiours § 3. But if the devout Person be hindred by sickness or some other inevitable obstruction he bears the loss with Patience but looks on it as a great affliction and longs to go up to the House of the Lord and to communicate with his Saints and that he may not lose all the benefit of the solemnity his thoughts are present and go along with the Service and he begs God earnestly to accept of his willing mind and to send him his Blessing and his Holy Spirit as much as if he actually communicated Thus the
this his Piety than that act of intire Resignation in the Garden ' For as * Chillingw Serm. 5. p. 71. an acute man observes he in the manner of expressing this act of his Humility in the Three Evangelists supercedes all scruple and clears all evasion for in St. Luke 22.42 it is Not my will but thine be done In which words he resigns the faculty of his will the whole power of it into his Father's hands In St. Mark 14.36 it is not what I will but what thou wilt wherein he resigns the act and exercise of his will But in St. Matth. 26.39 it is Not as I will but as thou wilt wherein he submits his will not only as to the act and power of it to do what God shall command him but is willing to do it God's way and after what manner God shall please Nor can any man conceive a degree of Obedience beyond this This was his Glory Nor did it lessen his Excellencies or his Happiness For notwithstanding this his Humiliation he was always glorious and always blest as the Angels when they leave the Throne of God and come down on Earth carry their Heaven with them or rather find a new one in their Obedience And ought not I to learn of this our great High Priest not to remove mountains or to curb the winds not to feed five thousand by Miracle or to raise the dead but to be humble and meek to deny my self and to depend on God How should this Love of Christ constrain me For can there be any room for pride or covetousness for lust or ambition for wantonness or intemperance when I have given my self intirely to my Saviour Since * Gal. 5.24 they who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof and must resolve to love nothing but their Saviour to hate nothing but disobedience to dread his power only and to grieve at nothing but his displeasure To such persons all things else are insignificant and cannot cheer the heart unless he vouchsafe his Favours and the light of his countenance And tho perhaps my portion may be severe and my province difficult yet I cannot expect to be better treated when my Master's Cup was so imbitter'd It could not be expected that our Redeemer should love his Disciples better than his Father loved him who was his only begotten and beloved Son But when God loved thee most ardently O my Saviour he inured thee to labours and sufferings to great conflicts and struglings And thus he * Heb. 2.10 consecrated thee to be our High Priest and gave thee perfection by thy adversities For such a sacrifice became us and his sufferings were a great testimony of his Innocence For not only the Blood of the Oblation was first let out at the foot of the Altar to emblem the mortification of our passions before we approach our Maker but it was also observable that every beast was not thought fit to make a Sacrifice Sheep and Doves Creatures famous for their harmlesness and their purity for their innocence and their tenderness were destin'd to the Altar while Dogs and Swine and other creatures that delight in Rapine or Pollution were banisht from God's House And can I expect to communicate with my Jesus in his Kingdom who refuse to share with him in his sufferings How unreasonable is it to expect how impossible to be conform'd to his Ascention and Triumphs without a conformity to his Indignities and Passion to his Agonies and Crucifixion For that Text If any man will come after me let him deny himself is a Prophecy as well as a Precept and so must be fulfill'd in the Church as long as it hath a being and every good man must do what St. Francis and others are only feign'd to do he must bear about in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus Nay it is one of the conditions on our part of the Covenant which we make with God in the Sacrament To be ready if need be to die with and for that Saviour of ours who hath given us his own most precious Body and Blood to represent his dying for our sins For if the love of St. Thomas was so great to Lazarus that he was content * John 11.16 to die with him how much more should I be ready to lay all my concerns at the feet of my Redeemer For of him * Ap. Theophyl in loc p 721. Origen understands St. Thomas to speak How acceptable therefore would Martyrdom be to me for such a friend And how prescrable to the Ease and Honours the Pomps and Voluptuousness of this sensual and giddy world Poor St. Romanus when he was Repriev'd from Execution exprest himself with much grief * Theodorit Eccl. Hist l. 3. c. 17. Romanus is not worthy the Honour of Martyrdom And when the holy ‡ Basil Orat. in S. Gord. Gordius was to be beheaded he was troubled at nothing but that he had but one life to lose for his dearest Redeemer and would have been contented to have shed his blood for his Saviour as often as he had shed his tears for his sins had God given him Powers adaequate to his Will and Resolutions For what can check the Sallies of a Seraphick Passion or daunt that man who lives above the world And what should hinder but that I also should exert as great Courage and as much Resolution and love my blessed Master as much and as heartily as they I am sure my Obligations are a great and therefore my Gratitude should be as eminent and illustrious The Collect. SEnd down O Lord the Spirit of Power into my heart to triumph over the degenerate and fearful Spirit that resides there Enable me to subdue all my Passions to the Laws of Reason and Religion to mortifie my Lusts and to deny my self that what thou determinest may be my choice and I may devoutly and humbly resolve to make thy will the Rule of all my actions through the merits and mediation of the great High Priest and Bishop of Souls Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen CHAP. XVIII Of Humiliation before the Reception AMong the many duties preparative to Worthy Receiving Fasting humiliation and intense devotion are not of the least use and advantage tho the world is so much a slave to sloth and ease and hates any thing that is laborious and painful most men being like * Cicer Tuscul 2. Dionysius of Heraclea who finding the pains of the Gout too strong for his principle of Apathy deserted the Stoicks and turn'd Epicurean an undeniable evidence how much more we are guided by our Senses than our Reason But notwithstanding all our prejudices these methods of severity are very requisite to compleat our preparations for the Lord's Table The Fathers generally observe that Adam undid himself and was the cause of our Ruin by transgressing the Rules of Abstinence which his Maker had prescribed him in Paradise That when the Old
of the Synagogue would not in this particular be singular and therefore are apt to believe * Mat. 14 26. that the Hymn which he sung before he went out to the Mount of Olives was the great Hallel But if it were not the same it was doubtless some Laud to the Almighty as for all his Benefits so particularly for his Sacraments And this is highly worth consideration that when Jesus sung this Hymn it was the Eve to his cruel and unparallel'd Tragedy that the Man of Sorrows who all his life long did eat the bread of affliction and quench his thirst with his tears having the Cross in view sung an Hymn 'T was a dismal and affrighting Evening But God gives the good man songs in the night while the sinner is astonish'd with the Terrors of a disturb'd Conscience And as this Joy agrees to the Custom of the Synagogue and our Master's practice so it properly corresponds with the intention of the Institution For tho Thanksgiving be but a part of the Office yet because the denomination is given from that which is most eminent the whole Service is called the Eucharist by the ‡ 1 Cor. 10.16 Apostle because ‖ Cabasil Expos Liturg. cap. 52. when we communicate we have greater cause to rejoice than to supplicate For when we are made partakers of these Mysteries we have received many more favours than we want For of the things that we want some we cannot yet attain unto as the incorruptibility of our bodies and our translation to Heaven Some we have forfeited by our frequent Relapses as the Gifts of the Holy Ghost our Health and our Riches So that were we as pious as we ought there would be even in this world no need of supplications all our Offerings would be Eucharists and Praises But our sloth and our negligence are the causes of our needs Do we beg Remission of our sins Was not that given us in Baptism And how came we but by our own fault to need it again Do we want Heaven Does not the Scripture tell us the Kingdom of Heaven is within us And were we not made Sons of God in the Laver of Regeneration And if Sons then Heirs Why then do we so pray Because we have forfeited that Estate and deserve to be disinherited and to be made of Sons Servants And do we want Temporal Blessings We should first seek the Kingdom of God and all these Things would be added When we are fit to communicate with God our Wants are inconsiderable and our greatest Employment in the duties of Religion is to celebrate his Condescention to admire his Goodness and Patience and to adore his Majesty and therefore the Hymn which the Ancients sung at the Celebration of these Mysteries was by some called ‖ Dionys Ar. Eccl Hier. c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy Eucharist because it comprehended in it self the commemoration of those holy Gifts that descend from God and seemed to include all the particulars of that Office nor did the Primitive * Constit Ap. li. 5. c. 13. Just M. apol 2. c. Church ever receive this Blessed Sacrament but they had their Psalms and Forms of Thanksgiving for if every worldly Blessing deserved its Remembrance and an acknowledgment how much more were they bound to praise God for spiritual Blessings in heavenly places and to this day the ‡ Olear Itiner li. 5. p. 279. Armenian Church think they cannot communicate aright unless they have not only vocal but Instrumental Musick and they plead for the usage that while our Blessed Saviour prayed in the Mountain the Angels came down and entertain'd him with such sort of Musick and tho this be an ungrounded Tradition yet Antiquity was agreed that the Angels were present at the Celebration of this Sacrifice and that when the o Gr. Nyss To. 1. p. 957. Church sung Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth the Seraphim sung with them and that they attended on these Representations of our Saviour as they did upon his Person For it was also an ‖ Hippolyt in Ps 42. apud Theodorit dialog 2. Euseb Epist ad Constant Imp. in act Conc. Nic. 2. act 6. Col. 493. Jul. Firmic p. 48. Ambros de his qui initiant c. 7. c. undisputed tradition among them That when the great Conqueror of Death and Hell was ascending to His Father's Right Hand the Holy Angels which attended him on Earth followed him with Songs of Praise and Triumph and spake to their Brethren the Angels in Heaven in the Words of the inspired Psalmist Ps 24.7 c. according to the Translation of the Septuagint then in use Lift up your gates O ye Princes and be ye life up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in To which the Heavenly Angels sollicitous to enquire who it was that came with so much Authority to demand the opening of the Gates of that Palace because no man to that day had ever entered into the Holy of Holies answered Who is this King of Glory To whom the return was presently made It is the Lord strong and mighty even the Lord mighty in Battel and after that all the Heavenly Host joined Consort and did sing with one Voice Lift up your heads O ye Princes and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in And if those bright Spirits were so transported at the sight of the victorious Jesus should not my Soul be much more engaged to break out into Exclamations and Rejoicings and to imitate the Harmony of the admiring Angels And for this Reason when the Church at Easter had remembred the Resurrection of Christ and strengthned themselves with the Sacrament that they might be able to walk in his steps every day between that Festival and VVhitsuntide was a day of rejoicing every day of the fifty was a Sunday say ‖ Tert. de coron c. 3. Ambr. in Luc. li. 8. c. 17. Marx. Taurin Homil. 61. the Fathers nor did they on any of those days so much as stoop to kneel at their Prayers nor do we in our Church ever fast the Eves of the Feasts that then happen * Except before Ascention day only in this interval we humble our selves in the Rogation Week which was introduc't upon extraordinary occasion and necessity or rather as I think was transferred to this season from some other time of the Year And so sensible was the Church of the infinite Benificence of God that in the fourth and fifth Centuries several Monasteries were erected societies of devout Persons whom they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men who never slept because some or other of the Fraternity was always in the House of God singing his Praises and celebrating his Bounty But why should I want the Encouragements to adore my Redeemer which Angels and Saints afford me The Heathens guided only by the Dictates of Nature entertained every little secular
was covered with a robe of honour purpled in his own blood And should it not be my greatest honour to be conform'd to the Image of his sufferings Hath Jesus carried with him not only our humane nature but the marks of his wounds that were given him on Earth into that Heaven which he opened unto all believers and do I not long to go to that my greatest benefactor into that Heaven which his wounds have purchas'd And am I not redeemed from my former vain conversation by the Blood of God And shall I continue in sin because Grace hath abounded or dare to damn that Soul for which Christ died No I will endure the contradiction of sinners and I will resist if God see fit unto blood Jesus shall be my darling and I will love him as I love my life and Heaven The Collect. BLessed Saviour who for our sakes wert cloathed with ignominy and dishonour and didst patiently digest all the injuries and affronts which thy malicious enemies could put upon thee enable me also to endure the Cross and to despise the shame and to rejoice when thou shalt count me worthy to suffer for thy name Let my sins no longer dishonour thy Religion and bring discredit to my dear Master but enable me to live to thy glory O my crucified Redeemer that when I come to dye I may share in thy triumphs world without end Amen The Anthem An ALTAR GReat and good Saviour could my frozen heart Melt into tears equal to thy desert Nature and all its mournful sons I 'd call T' attend and grieve at th'wondrous funeral So when dear Jesu thou didst dye The Earth groan'd sadly Heav'n did cry The Sun retir'd as one agast To see th' Almighty breathe his last And the fam'd Temple's basis shook When God who dwelt there it forsook While men more hardned and more rude Than those Pillars sensless stood As they unconcern'd had been At the cruel frightful scene Astonish'd at their scorn I raise This Altar to my Saviour's praise Cever'd with wounded Loves and bleeding Hearts For who can live i' th' World when God departs Accept the Votary and th' Inscription hallow And teach the Priest the great Exemplar still to follow EASTER-EVE AS the solemn Festival of Easter drew nearer the Antients bound themselves to stricter observances enlarging their Fasts encreasing their Devotions and doubling their preparations for the approaching Christian Passover because nothing but perseverance gives a title to a Crown of Glory and the end of all labour and industry Prayers and Fastings Alms and Discipline is only to enable the devout Christian to bring a pure Conscience and void of offence to the participation of the benefits of the Lord's-Table and for this reason Easter-eve even in those Churches where the Saturday was admitted to an equal honour with the Lord's-day always celebrated as a Festival was made a day of the strictest abstinence and mortification It is called the Great Saturday in the account of * P. 19. V Const App. l. 8. c. 33. S. Pelycarp's Martyrdom and it could not but be a great encouragement to that good Bishop to dye cheerfully at the same time when his Master did that he might from the place of Execution go to Heaven to keep the Feast of Easter for ever it is also called the holy Saturday the Paschal Vigil the Holy Night whose obscurity is illuminated with a glorious light the devout people watching and praying all night and singing Hymns unto God nay those who seldom else came to Church * Eus devit Const l. 4. c. 22. p. 536. Chrys to 5. p. 541. to 7. p. 156. Gr. Naz. Orat. 42 p. 676. now were compelled by shame and interest to Fast and Pray the House of God being filled with Torches and lights and sometimes the Streets of the City so adorn'd in expectation of the joyful morning of Christ's Resurrection it was also stiled the ‡ Pallad vit Chrys p. 85. Angelical night in which the Evil Angels tremble their kingdom being destroyed and the Good Angels rejoice that the World is redeemed for now were the holy Quire busy to attend the Sepulchre and to give the Disciples the blessed news of their Saviour's Resurrection This day some Fathers assure us Christ went down into Hell dismantled its fortifications and by his presence made that miserable dungeon Heaven for whereever Jesus is there is Heaven All the day was a strict Fast and all the night a Vigil at least till midnight †Hier. in Matt. c. 25. the Congregation not being dismist till then it being the Tradition of the Church That our Saviour rose a little after midnight but in the East till the * Const App. l. 5. c. 14 17 18. Dionys Alex. Ep. Basil Cock-crowing the time being spent say the Apostolical Constitutions in watching prayers and supplications in reading the Law and the Prophets in expounding the Holy Scriptures and in Baptizing the Catechumens and therefore it ‡ Euseb Hist l. 2. c. 17. l. 6. c. 9. is called the All-night Vigil of the great Feast and the great watching before the Christian Passover In the Latin Church ‖ Rupert de divin offic c. 35. alii on this day the Water for the Font is blest and reserved for the use of the persons to be Baptized the year following which Custom is a shadow of the Ancient usage for on Easter-Eve were the Catechumens Baptized ⸫ Chrys to 5. p. 585. by the Bishop himself if present and able to do the Office for no Presbyter or Deacon without his leave durst do it for the Church had select times for the Baptizing of adult Converts Children being baptized at all times of which Easter was the chiefest for which reason the number of the Candidates for that initiatory Sacrament in the greater Churches was very large * Pallad vit Chrys p. 86 Three Thousand being made Christians at Constantinople on this day * Ambros de Sacramen li 3. cap. 1. the Bishop in some Churches of the West at Millian I conjecture for at Rome the practise was otherwise immediately after his conferring the Sacrament of Baptism using to wash the feet of those whom he had newly made Christians * Smith of the Gr. Ch. p. 124 125. In the Greek Church through the Sundays of Lent they use the Liturgy of St Basil and on Thursday and Saturday in the Holy Week which being longer than St Chrysostom's is esteemed fitter for the times of Fasting but on the other days of Lent ‡ Conc. Trul. can 52. except Saturdays and the Feast of the Annunciation they use the Liturgy of the Presanctificata So mindful are they to suit all their Offices to the designs of Religion and the promoting of Mortification and true Contrition The Epistle Eccles 7.3 SOrrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better the heart of the wise is in the
of it to dine with him treating them with all affability and humble carriage relieving their bodily wants and instructing their minds and by this means earning their Prayers And this he does over and above what he hath given at the Offertory where he hath liberally according to his ability offered unto God and the Poor remembring that a thinking Heathen never came in sight of an Altar tho but occasionally but he tendred something thereon if it were but a little Salt or a handful of Flower and thought himself also obliged to provide for the indigent as for his brethren § 23. At his return he does not think fit to go immediately to his own dinner but retires to his Closet * Scalig. de Emendat temp l. 6. the Jews were obliged that night on which they did eat the Passover to taste nothing after it for the whole night that the relish of the Paschal Lamb might continue in their mouths a long time and the reason holds good in the Christian Church for our Blessed Saviour after he had eaten of this Supper resolved never to eat more till he had accomplish'd our redemption for says he I will drink no more of the fruit of the Vine till I drink it new in my Father's kingdom In the Closet the good man recollects the proceedings of the day and in his thoughts acts over again the solemnities of that glorious triumph for he dares not spend any part of this day but in holy Offices in Meditations and Prayers in acts of Faith and Love of Piety and Charity in Reading and Conference and in all other exercises that may serve to increase his virtues both in number and degree especially in holy praises and solemn thansgivings to God for all his benefits § 24. And after this manner he expresses himself I am thine and nothing shall separate thee from my love on the Cross every member of thy body every faculty of thy soul had its sufferings and its agonies for my sins and should I reserve any thing from thee No my most obliging Saviour I make an intire oblation of my self to thee a whole burnt-offering sacrificed in the flames of holy love and this I do with all my might and power nothing could atone for my sins but thy sufferings nor can any thing testify my gratitude but the devoting of my self to thy service Thou hast redeemed me thou God of Truth and I will be thy servant for ever My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour For I have found him whom my soul loveth Jesus the Messiah of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits I will receive the Cup of Salvation and will praise the name of the Lord. I will go into thy House with my offerings and will pay my Vows which I promis'd with my lips when I was in trouble § 25. To which he subjoins Lord my single praises make but an insignificant and low sound they are the poorest of recompences and the most disproportioned to thy Majesty and thy Merits I therefore call in the assistances of Angels and of the whole host of Heaven of Sun Moon and Stars of the Earth and Sea and all that is therein to joyn with me in the magnifying of my Redeemer Let all the World worship thee sing of thee and bless thy name let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord for great is the Glory of the Lord and let all the Earth be filled with the knowledg of his Glory for his Name alone is excellent and his Glory above Heaven and Earth Amen Amen Glory be to the Father c. Then follows the Trisagios Holy God Holy and Powerful Holy and Immortal have mercy upon us § 26. After which he thus expresses himself How unwillingly have I left the place where my blest Saviour dwells and how well pleased should I be could I live and communicate with him always How amiable is that Palace where my dear Friend fixes his residence And how do I long to be treated continually at the Supper of the Lamb Oh that I could dye this very moment if it were but pleasing in the sight of my Heavenly Father and pass immediately from this antepast of joys to the intire entertainment of that Glorious Feast And would my Redeemer affist me how readily would I be this moment his Martyr How acceptable would a Prison or the Rack the Flames or a Sword be to me so I could by any means embrace an opportunity to let my beloved Jesus know how dear he is to me how much I value him and how ready I am to offer him my Blood who hath shed his own Blood for me upon the Cross and sed me with it at his Table And if that be an Honour that I am not worthy of and perhaps not capable of yet O Lord let me always be thy Martyr in resolution and since there is so much happiness in communicating with thee let me never leave the World so suddenly but that I may have the assistance of a good Priest to give me in thy name Absolution and to strengthen me in the agonies of death with the blessed Sacrament § 27. After which Meditation the worthy Communicant uses this Prayer taken out of the * Ps 8. c. 14.15 Constitutions commonly called the Apostles How ready and willing is my soul which hath been cherish'd and fed with the most Precious Body and Blood of my Saviour to offer him the thanks which I can pay tho neither what he deserves nor what I ought since he hath vouchsaf'd me the honour to partake of his holy Mysteries Grant holy Jesu that it may be for my Health not for my Ruin for my Happiness not for my Condemnation for the Security of my Soul and Body for the increase of Piety for the remission of Sins and for the introducing me into thy Palace for thy Name is called upon me and into thy Family I am adopted among thy faithful Servants Strengthen me and them by thy Holy Spirit inlighten our ignorance and supply all our defects and confirm us in the resolutions of a holy Life rescue and defend us from Satan and all our enemies ghostly and bodily sanctifie and protect help and keep us in our going out and in our coming in and at last assemble us in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Glory Honour and Worship now and for ever Amen To which he adds this other Collect. ALmighty God who hast united the Christian World in one common Brotherhood by the Holy Sacrament that we being many might be one body because we are all partakers of that one Bread let me be partaker this day of the Prayers of all that this day have communicated whereover thy Church be dispers'd over the face of the whole earth and let my Petitions be available in
Pictures in the Closet while at other times any draught that represents a grave and honest Subject may well enough become the place except a Mary Magdalen or Peter in his penitent posture after the denial of his Master or a lively Representation of my dying Saviour with this Motto I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified For I would willingly have my bleeding Master always present to my eye when I am well inclined to encourage me when bent to do evil to reclaim me He pray'd often and meditated frequently and was continually a man of sorrows and mortification But his Passion is an indispensible Obligation to Piety For what can endear holiness so persuasively as the remembrance that Christ died to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Can I look upon that sad spectacle and not be toucht with remorse and compassion and with a due consideration that my sins brought my Saviour to so much shame and torture and nothing but my Repentance can answer the ends of his sufferings A Lute or some such grave instrument if the devout person hath any skill in Musick were very proper to joyn with the Voice in the praises of God The room also should be hung so as the Windows may be darkned to make the Closet gloomy and awful upon any time when it may be convenient but more especially during the Lent the weekly Stations or half fasts of Wednesday and Friday but above all on Good-Friday and the Holy-Saturday the days when our blessed Master suffered on the Cross and lay in the grave I know nothing more necessary but that the place should be furnisht with Books according to every mans capacity as he is able to buy and to understand but nothing should be there but what is devotional such as Sacred History Divine Poems devout Meditations and the Rules of Holy Life Nor should these be intermixt with any Books of other sorts for tho Secular History and Poems Romances and Plays be an allowable diversion yet because the Closet is a Chappel I think them not allowable in that place For the men who are lovers of those Writings never carry them to Church with them And therefore any other room in the house is better fitted for such Books Those who can only read English for the Masters of Languages are best able to advise themselves I counsel That whatever else may be either admitted or wanting the devotional Works of the Reverend Dean of Peterborough Dr. Patrick with his excellent Paraphrases may always find a shelf there and with them the Writings of that good person the Author of the Whole Duty of Man who hath given so liberally to the Treasury of the Church and so humbly denied himself his due praises by a studious concealing of his Name together with the Primitive Christianity of Dr. Cave that they who cannot read the Works of the Ancients may in that Learned Author admire and imitate their transcendent Virtues And I mention these Books only not that I undervalue any other Authors who have writ on Pious Subjects for I know that there are now extant many very valuable Treatises set out by the Divines of our Church and perhaps more and better than all the rest of the Christian World can boast of but because in so great a multitude there ought to be some choice and I think these the most convenient and best adapted to the necessities of the persons to whom I undertake to prescribe tho at last I must acknowledg that all this discourse hath its relation only to people of condition of estate and leisure For to the poor every room in the house that is private is a Closet and the Liturgy of our Church with the Whole Duty of Man a Library When the Closet is so furnisht the next thing considerable is what time must be spent in it And here it is impossible to prescribe the same Rules to all persons only it is to be remembred that the rich and prosperous are freed from the drudgeries of Life and so have much time to dispose of as also have Scholars and all that are studiously inclined And that whereas twice or three times a day may be enough for a man of business to retire and serve his Maker I much question whether people of leisure can be dispenc't with unless they observe all the Canonical hours at lest those which happen between six in the morning and nine at night inclusively as long as health will permit I am injoin'd in the Name of our Holy Saviour and St. Paul * Luke 21.36 1 Thes 5.17 to pray always and without ceasing that is as often as I can conveniently for the other duties of my Calling as a Man and a Christian but I must never omit doing it every day at some set seasons and returns of time For so the good Widow is said * Luke 2.37 to have served God day and night at the Temple i. e. at the accustomed hours of the Jewish devotion And so this Example binds me also to the publick service of the Church if I am where I can enjoy that honour and priviledg as well as to the private performances of my Closet And to encourage this it is well worth the remembring * Act 2.1.15 V. Basil regul fusior inter 37. that the Holy Ghost the most glorious and useful donative that ever the Christian Church did enjoy was bestowed on the Apostles when they were celebrating the Festival of the Pentecost with prayers and praises and that upon one of the solemn set-hours of prayer the third hour of the day My first employment in my closet is Prayer and that either supplication or praises as I am sensible of what either sins I have lately committed or blessings received And if the Aegyptians acted only by the light of Nature in the beginning of all their ceremonies made three solemn acclamations to the Unknown Darkness i. e. to that God whom humane faculties cannot comprehend ought not I to preface my service with as many acts of solemn adoration to the blessed Trinity After I have prayed I am under obligation to read some part of Holy Writ and after it some Paraphrase or other suitable discourse with awe and attention And when I have so done I meditate which when I do I fly the society of the World to converse with God and good Angels I put my self into the true way to that peace of mind which a sinner wants and I walk directly toward Heaven I follow my Saviour who left the multitude and went into a mountain apart to enjoy the society of his Father I am taken from the occasions of censuring others or judging my Neighbours and have nothing to do but to contemplate the state of my own foul and the Mercies of my God In this place also do I chuse to fast that I may do it in secret and by avoiding being seen of men may earn an open
the Doctrine of the Book of God obliging them to learn the Psalter and the Epistles of St. Paul without book while we think that study unworthy of our selves or our posterity We plead it 's true as St. Caesarius of Arles says the difficulty of learning the Rules of Faith and Holy Life without book especially if we cannot read But if the most ignorant and unlearned can find out a way to remember a prophane or lewd Song or Story will their ignorance excuse them if they have not learnt the Precepts of the Gospel Men have wit and memory enough to attain without reading to that which the Devil teaches them for their destruction But when they are to receive from the mouth of their blessed Saviour the Laws that will make them eternally happy then they plead ignorance But whatever others do or my self have heretofore practis'd I profess for the future that I will love thy Law And do thou think upon me O Lord according to thy word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust Thou hast given me thy Holy Scriptures that through them I might have hope in all capacities and in all distresses of mind body or estate For tho I read there that Lucifer sinn'd himself beyond the hopes of Redemption and that there is a sin against the Holy Ghost that cannot be pardon'd and a sin unto death that is not to be pray'd for yet the state of sinful men is declared to be different from that of the fallen Angels And what these particular Transgressions are and wherein they consist is not plainly revealed in those Oracles that no man might despair of mercy but withal that every man might beware of the smallest sin as if it were of the greatest magnitude the deepest dye and most dismal consequences From this Book also I learn That at what time soever a sinner repents and doth that which is lawful and right he shall save his soul alive For who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect since it is God who justifies and who is he that condemns since Christ hath died and is risen again and sitteth at the right hand of God to make intercession for us Lord be merciful to my former sin for my neglect hath been great and keep me stedfast to my duty for the remainder of my life that tho I cannot see my God yet I may every day hear him and converse with him in his word and being inlightned thereby may learn to depart from evil The Collect. For the 2d Sunday in Advent BLessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning grant that I may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word I may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed Hope of Everlasting Life which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen CHAP. IX Of Christian Love WHen I have thus adorn'd my soul with saving knowledg my next employment is strictly to examine my practise and what degrees of divine love I have attained to now I better feel what that love is in my heart than I can describe it with my tongue For when I am in the Palace of divine Love I am in St Paul's Third Heaven where tho the Apostle without doubt saw ravishing sights and such as were worth dying for and heard admirable discourses such as the King of Glory entertains his favorite Angels with yet he assures us he heard and saw * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 12.4 what could not be uttered or described But as it is said of Heaven tho it does not appear what we shall be yet we have a glorious character of that City given us in Holy Writ so it may be said of Christian Love Great things are spoken of it and such as render it venerable in the eyes of all wise and discerning persons For 1. It is a complication * Aug. de C. D. l. 15. c. 22. Nihil aliud virtus est quà m or do amoris Id. de C. D. l. 14. c. 7. Amor inhians habere quod amatur cupiditas est idem habens eóque fruens laetitia est c. of all Vertues When it longs for what it affects it is desire and when it enjoys it it is gladness when it flies what it abominates it is fear and when it falls into the hands of its enemies it is sadness says St. Austin and * 1 Cor. 13. a greater than St. Austin hath told me That Love is the most comprehensive Vertue For Charity suffers long and then it is meekness it is kind and then it is courtesie it envies not and so it is peaceableness it vaunteth not it self and so it is modesty it is not puft up and so it is humility it doth not behave it self unseemly and then it is called decency seeketh not her own and then it is publick-spiritedness is not easily provok'd and then it is patience thinketh no evil and so it is simplicity and innocence rejoiceth in the truth and so it is verity and spiritual gladness beareth all things and so it is Christian fortitude believeth all things and so it is faith hopeth all things and so it is assurance endureth all things and then it is magnanimity and it never fails and so it is perseverance it purifies more than the flames of Martyrdom and is a better Alms than the world dispos'd of to charitable uses it enlightens more than all reading and all contemplation and it makes a man a Christian while Knowledg and Miracles only make him a Prodigy In a word it is all Philosophy and all Religion and he alone truly knows how to live who knows how to love Nay it is Heaven upon Earth says the devout Poet For We know not what they do above But that they sing and that they love Nay it is God himself * 1 John 4.8 For he that loves not knows not God for God is Love ' Who is able to describe the beauties of Holy Love says St. Clement * Ep ad Corinth p. 63 64. The height to which it carries us is unsearchable it unites us to God and it covers a multitude of sins it is the bond of Union and the bane of Schism and Divisions and without it nothing can please God It was nothing but Love that brought down Jesus from Heaven to shed his Blood for us and nothing but Love that can carry us thither whence he came down on Earth 2. Love is the only Original of all our satisfactions in this Life it sweetens all sufferings and makes difficulties easie for it subdues whatever opposes it True Love is a flame enkindled in the mind by our holy Saviour which preys upon and destroys all secular and carnal affections its eye is fixt on Heaven and its wings spread toward that bright Palace and thither it endeavours with unwearied speed to fly because that is
they who sow in tears shall reap in joy and be made partakers of the Anthems of Angels and glorified Spirits through Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem for Monday The CREATION I. THE Mighty God long in his Palace dwelt Blest without want of other Things E're Time had plum'd his Silver Wings Or Heaven and Earth the powerful Voice had felt For ever happy in themselves alone Were th' undivided Three and One E're sensual Transports or voluptuous Arts were known II. But when the great Prolifick Word went forth Then every Thing began to be The Light broke from Obscurity Light which we use but do not know its worth The spacious Tent of Heaven was smoothly spread Like Curtains to the Earths Green Bed With most Illustrious Torches richly furnished III. The Waters which before made one great Deep And like a deluge did appear Floating confusedly every where Aw'd by th' Almighty Word their distance keep Part into th' Earth's vast hollows did retreat While the rest in Heaven fix their seat But when the Showers fall these distant Brethren meet IV. In Heaven was plac't the Prince of Day the Sun Adorn'd with Beams of strongest Light While over the dull shades of Night The Stars bear rule and over them the Moon Who does not only o're the night preside But guards the motion of the Tide In which the turbulent Whale and all the lesser Fry do glide V. The Earth was in her loveliest Verdure clad Her Fruits and Blossoms kindly grew VVater'd with soft and balmy dew The Forrests smil'd and every Field was glad Anumerous Herd cover'd this Fertile Space The Beasts of a more generous race And those that were for burthens made here found a place VI. In the expanded Air upon the VVing The Fowls did range of which some flew For shelter others did pursue Some hoarsly sereecht others did sweetly sing In that vast Region Lightnings first take Fire There VVinds and Thunders do conspire And Comets do forebode when Princes shall expire VII When all things thus were order'd God made man Whose Ornaments of Soul and meen To Heaven declar'd him to be kin At first view all the Creatures round him ran Lord of the World was Adam at his birth His Territory the whole Earth And nought was in his Kingdom heard but innocent mirth VIII In Eden did this mighty Prince keep house Eden where every thing was gay And all the Year did look like May. There did he fall in love with Eve his spouse But Heavens first blessing straight became a curse Of all his Evils she the source Enticing him to fall who could not fall by Force IX Thus shorter was deluded Adam's Reign Than Persian Kings their Slaves allow Whose three days Royalty's a show Which ended the mock Monarch must be slain The difference lies in this the Persian slave Unwillingly goes to his Grave But man refus'd to live when Mercy would him save Tuesday before EASTER THis Day was called the Holy and great Tuesday or the third Day of the great Week for the more solemn Festivals of the Christian Church never wanted their Appendages they had their Antecedent Fasts as Advent was to Christmas and the Lent to Easter and perhaps this was the Reason why the Rogation week preceeded Whitsuntide whereas else the whole fifty Days ought to have been days of Exultation and rejoicing as also after the great Festivals succeeded the Octaves which were eight days of Gladness attendant on the extraordinary Solemnity when by the Laws of the * Constit Ap. li. 8. c. 33. Church and by the Authority of the ‖ V. Scalig de Emend Temp. p. 730. Epiph. Haer. 70. Empire servants were exempted from Work and all People kept Holyday according to a very Ancient Practice Now as the whole forty days of Lent were a preparation to the Paschal Festival so the Offices suited to that time of self-denial were doubled on this last week that put a period to that Fast and that all such devout and mortified Penitents might not want the ghostly comfort which was requisite on such an occasion on this week * Cypr. Ep. 56. the absent Bishops returned to their Churches whatever had caused their absence that they might give the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist to their People and that now * Conc. Nic. c. 5. also they might hold their yearly Synods at the time appointed that all disputes might be quieted all quarrels reconciled all abuses rectified and all hinderances removed that might obstruct a general receipt of the Holy Communion And because this Week was called the Passion Week therefore in the Ancient Church as in ours the History of our Blessed Redeemers sufferings as it is recorded by the Four Evangelists was read to the People that nothing relating to that performance on our behalf might be omitted and that the Congregation might be continually put in mind of their obligations to their Saviour The Epistle Rom. 8.1 THere is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The Gospel John 14 15. IF ye love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not neither knows him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you yet a little while and the world sees me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also The MEDITATION IT is the great Honour as well as the Happiness of the Christian World that the good things which our Religion promises its Proselites stoop not to our senses but gratifie our Reasons for were Pleasure all the Felicity of a pious Man how much better were it to be a Bruit since the greatest Epicure never lived so voluptuously as the Beasts that perish they eat they sleep with an uncontroulable freedom and whenever their inclinations lead them to it they live above the restraint of Laws and whatever they desire they pursue without the fear of being countermanded in the Attempt by reason or scourged afterwards by the lashes of Conscience they are under no necessity of Building Planting or Sowing the liberal Provisions which Nature makes them are both their Palace and their Feast they do not foresee dangers nor make their lives uneasie by studying to prevent them nor do they
of Religion to an Infidel Debauch't and Superstitious World for let Men and Devils combine against such Persons and exert all their Strength and Cunning to ruin them they suffer no more than what their Master hath done already nor can they perish because they are under the Shadow and Protection of the Almighty Not but that Christianity like the Author of it is and always will be attended with Opposition and the contrivances of the Kingdom of Darkness to ruin it but that man does not deserve the Priviledges of the Kingdom of God that cannot be a Martyr for it that cannot patiently suffer an unjust Excommunication from the Synagogue and from Life it self that he may follow his Saviour It is true the Doctrine of the Cross is uncouth and uneasie and Men naturally are unwilling to court Ignominy and Tortures especially when their Bigotted Enemies shall by their uncharitable Censures as much as lies in them destroy their Souls as well as their Reputations and their Lives by pretending the Advancement of Religion and God's Service when they murder the Professors of the best Religion that ever was or shall be in the World But these are the Terms of the Gospel Covenant and this is owning our Master for tho a Man may formally call Christ Lord and yet be shut out of his Kingdom yet no man can say so effectually but by the Holy Ghost and he who will not embrace the Hardships must renounce the Advantages of this Religion Nor is this so disconsolate an Estate as Men imagine for besides that it is better to be afflicted here than to be damn'd for ever that man cannot be miserable whom the Holy Ghost comforts and tho in the World he shall unavoidably meet with Tribulation yet he ought to be of good Chear because he hath Peace in his Saviour who hath by his Death and Resurrection overcome the World and emancipated the Sons of God from a state of Slavery to enstate them into the Glorious Liberty of the Gospel There was no need that the Son of God should have promis'd these Consolations to his Apostles while himself was with them his own Presence was a sufficient Blessing great enough to supply all their wants but this was a Felicity that they were not always to enjoy it being requisite that he should depart to make way for the descent of the Comforter who when he should come into the World should direct the Apostles in the discharge of their duty giving them an intire Account of the Nature Excellency and Extent of their Masters Kingdom and instruct them in all other things which during their Masters Life time their shallow Understandings were capable of comprehending and who also should solidly convince all their Enemies that notwithstanding their Pride and Confidence they were in a state of sin particularly guilty of Unbelief and that nothing but Faith in a Saviour could render them acceptable to God that all their Righteousness whether by the guidance of the Law or by the strength of Nature was insignificant and of no value and that nothing could reconcile the World but the Death of Christ but if this Holy Spirit could not perswade men it should at last assure them that they shall be judg'd for their perverseness for Satan is already condemned and so shall all his Followers be This Spirit our Compassionate Saviour engaged to bestow on his Apostles and as his Performances always out-do even his own Promises so he filled them with Wisdom and Power and the other Gifts of the Holy Ghost till they by the incredible method of suffering and dying overcame all Prejudices and triumpht in the Conquest of the World And so shall all the other Servants of God who sincerely take Jesus for their Master tho they may not be enabled by the Holy Ghost to cure the desperately diseased or to raise the dead tho they cannot allay Tempests or cast out Devils yet their Triumphs shall be as great tho of another Nature the Blessed Spirit shall impower them to mortifie their Lusts to resist Temptations and to raise a Soul dead in Trespasses and Sins to a state of new Life and holy Performances and this in Truth is a nobler Honour and a more beneficial enjoyment than Ability to work Wonders for many that have called others from their Grave have themselves dropt into Hell But he that hath renounc'd himself and despised sensualities shall infallibly enter into unspeakable Joys And now what hinders but that I also should be my Redeemer's Disciple and partake of his Grace Why should any of thy Creatures O my God love thee better than I Why should any of thy Servants tho Prophets Apostles or Martyrs be more conformable to thy Laws than I Hast thou done more for them than me Didst thou not dye for me also And hast thou not given me thy Gospel thy Blood thy Sacraments and the Assistance of thy Spirit Nay hast thou not done more for me in forgiving me more and greater sins than ever they committed And where there is much forgiven should there not also be a proportionable Degree of Love I will therefore hearken diligently to these passionate Words of my dying Saviour and I will remember they are his last Will and Testament and as I hope to enjoy the Legacies that he hath left me of inward Peace and Heavenly Bliss so I will comply with his Desires and perform all that he enjoyns me and so tho I here come behind the Apostles in Age in Knowledg in Zeal and Holiness yet I shall overtake them at the Day of the Retribution of all Things when I shall be enabled to understand all Mysteries and to fulfil all Righteousness and shall share in the Crowns and Scepters that shall be the largesses of that happy time which shall end in Eternity The Collect. HOly Saviour who didst despise secular Pomp and wert the greatest Pattern of Self-denial I most humbly beg thee give 〈◊〉 thy holy Spirit to be my Guide my Instructor and my Comforter that I may pray by its Assistances and be heard for thy Merits and because nothing on Earth can make me truly and perfectly happy I beg nothing more but that Blessed Donative I beg nothing that may gratifie my senses that may please or profit me but what may most honour thee and advance thy Glory that I may love and serve thee and obey thy Commandments now and for evermore Amen The Anthem for Tuesday The NATIVITY I. FRom the lov'd Mansions of the Blest Where true Pleasures are possest Where bright Angels always sing Hallelujahs to their King The lovely Gabriel who does Heav'n adorn The happy Tidings brought Jesus was Born II. Glorious were the Beams that shone Brighter than the Summer Sun Midnight had its Curtains drawn And the Morn was far from dawn When Beams of wondrous Lustre did display Beauties that baffle all the shine of day III. The humble Shepherds stood amaz'd Awful Tremblings had them seiz'd While they
Appetites to mortifie no Lusts to conquer no Doubts to be resolved his Understanding was clear and his Will regular and there was need of nothing but an external Law to guide him and the two Trees to be his instructors And when Paradise was lost Adam and his followers still retain'd their peculiar Ceremonies they had their set places and times of Divine Worship and the eldest of the Family was deputed to the Priesthood till the generality of Mankind corrupting themselves the Divine Vengeance swept them away drowning the Old World and sealing a Covenant of Mercy with the New ratified by the Sacramental Sign of the Rainbow that God would no more bring a Deluge on the Earth Out of this new Race of Men did God select the Jews among whom he was resolved more solemnly and in an extraordinary manner to fix his dwelling the Divine Majesty refiding over the Mercy-Seat This Seed of Jacob he singled out to be a Holy Nation and mark'd them as his own People by Circumcision which was a Character of Genealogical Sanctity and having united them into one numerous brotherhood instituted the Passover which was a publick Foederal Rite of their Union with their Maker And to this purpose he required them to furnish him continually with a Table whereon should be Bread and Salt and the Flesh of the Morning and Evening Sacrifices with the Drink-Offerings which they were obliged to tender him Not that God did either need or actually devour these Oblations or lived on the steam of the Blood or the souls of slain beasts as the Gentiles imagined nor that hereby a contrivance might be made for the easier maintenance of his Priests this was the custom of the Temple of Baal but because eating and drinking together was look'd on as a Confirmation of Friendship and one of the strongest engagements to love and kindness as to trespass the Laws of Hospitality to eat of a Man's bread and then to lift up his Heel against him was accounted the Character of a most profligate and vile person But this was only a temporary institution and to last no longer than till the true Passover came till the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World should be offered on the Cross for the Sacraments of the Jews were only Emblems of the Christian Sacraments which were ancienter than that Polity for the Fathers speak a great truth when they assert that the Evangelical Sacraments began under Melchisedech who brought out Bread and Wine to Abraham the Father of the Faithful in whose Seed all the Nations of the Earth were to be blest to inform us that the Christian institutions as they were to last longer so they began sooner than those of the Jews And it is very observable that tho our great Master came into the world to institute a new Religion and in pursuance of that design to abolish all the typical ceremonies yet he was pleased to adopt almost all the other Rites of the Jews and to make them free of the Christian Church thus he chose to complete his most excellent prayer out of the usual forms of the Synagogue and as he establisht the government and jurisdiction which he left behind him according to the different Orders of the Priesthood So especially he ordain'd that as they Baptized their proselites so all that were admitted into the Society that he purchased with his Blood should be washed in the Laver of Regeneration and as after the Paschal Lamb was eaten the Master of the Family took Bread into his hands and lifting it up from the Table that all who were in the House might see it blessed it by calling upon the name of the Lord and when that was distributed took the Cup in like manner so did our blessed Saviour And whereas the Jewish Masters did not only allow the people when they did eat the Passover to mix and dilute their rich and generous Wines thereby to correct the strength and heat of them ‡ Misch Beracoth c. 7. but would not permit them to bless the Wine till they had put Water to it our Master probably did so in the Eucharist as all the Ancients believed and according to that example practised and when the Office was over he sang the great Thanksgiving as their Rubricks required condescending in all things to the Jewish customs that by these methods he might the more easily induce them to become Christians and to correct the scrupulous squeemishness of some of his followers who he knew would take unjust offence at the conforming the Ecclesiastical ceremonies to forreign observances This was the institution of this tremendous mystery nor was it only a temporary institution for our Saviour being willing that his Disciples should always carry about with them the marks of his love and always have in remembrance the benefits of his crucifixion not only gave this Sacrament to his Apostles but enjoyned them himself to take Bread to bless it break it and distribute it as their Master did to the worlds end and obliged also the Laity by the mouth of St. Paul to take eat and drink the Body and Blood of their Saviour until his second coming for as often as they did it the whole action was a remembrance of the dying Jesus a commemoration of his sufferings for an undone world and of his sacrificing himself to the Divine justice The first Sacrifice that our blessed Master made was the Eucharist but that was but a type of what was to be done the next day when himself was offered on the Cross on a new and unheard of Altar And there ought to have been an Altar erected such as the world never knew of because the Sacrifice was such as was never before heard of for himself was the Sacrifice and the Priest too He was not therefore to be offered at the Temple but without the Gates because to be number'd among the Transgressors and the Altar was erected on high that he might purge the Air and drive the Prince of it thence and that his Blood streaming from him to the Ground might wash and cleanse the Earth also polluted with the sins of its inhabitants Had this Sacrifice been offered at the Temple in Jerusalem the Jews might have pretended a sole claim to it but it was offered without the City that all the world might partake of its benefits This was the primary sacrifice to which we owe our Peace and our hopes of Salvation and this Sacrifice is again slain and offered when the Holy Man stands at the Lords Table for the Eucharist is not only an Emblem of spiritual refreshments how much the soul is nourish'd by Grace and good resolves nor is it only a representation of the joys of Heaven when we shall feast on the everlasting Supper of the Lamb but it is truly a Feast in which we make a Covenant with God by Sacrifice it is a Feast upon that Sacrifice and that a Sacrifice for sin a Sacrifice
to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest § 9. When the devont Christian is invited to draw near to the Holy Table he uses one or more of these Sentencs Lord I have looked for thee in Holiness that I might behold thy Power and Glory How dreadful is this Place this is no other but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven This is the Lords Mercy-Seat which the Cherubim of Glory shadow this is the Altar of Jesus round which the Angels clad in their bright Robes stand This is the Altar where Jesus is crucified let all the Angels of God and all the Sons of Men worship him I will come into thy House upon the multitude of thy Mercies and in thy fear will I hold up my hands and worship towards the Mercy-Seat of thy Holy Temple I will exalt the Lord my God and will worship at his Footstool for he is Holy I will fall down and adore for I know that God is here of a truth § 10. VVhen the good man comes up and kneels before the Altar he says Lord I most thankfully receive this gracious Invitation which thou hast afforded me to come to thy Holy Table and tho the number and weight of my Transgressions might justly deter me yet I am resolved to embrace the opportunity because thou hast bidden all who are weary and heavy laden to come unto thee Will Jesus whom the Heavens must contain till the consummation of all things be content to dwell with his poor servant Oh that I could entertain thee in my Soul with the same joy that the Holy Virgin did at thy incarnation with the same Exultations that the Infant Baptist did when he danc'd before he was Born at the approach of a Saviour with the Hosannah's of the Devout Jews before thy Passion and with the Authems of Angels at thy Ascension For who deserves my praises but my Saviour Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing My Soul therefore shall joyn consort with every Creature which is in Heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the Sea when they say Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb for evermore § 11. VVhile the Priest himself is receiving the good man prays for him The Lord hear thee the name of the God of Jacob defend thee send thee help from the Sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion Remember all thy offerings and accept thy Sacrifice Grant thee thy hearts desire and fulfil all thy mind § 12. After which if the time will permit he Exercises this or the like act of contrition but if he wants time he does it in his Closet at his return Lord I am the greatest of sinners but here is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World His Blood speaks better things than that of Abel and he is the propititation for our sins My sins dearest Jesu brought thee to all thy shame and all thy sufferings but that satisfaction was necessary for the Redemption of the World I am troubled above measure for thy sorrows and will revenge thy death on my vices which were the cause of it Melt me O God into a soft temper fit to receive thy impressions give me an intire detestation of my sins and an indignation that may engage me to forsake my transgressions and to love the paths of virtue § 13. To which he subjoins this or the like act of Faith Jesus is my God and my Saviour he is the Angel of the Covenant I will not leave him till he bless me This is Jesus whom the Jews slew and hanged on a Tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins If God hath given us his Son how shall he not with him give us all things for his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed Lord I believe that thou art present in the Sacrament but in a manner spiritual and ineffable to think that thou art here corporeally bids defiance to my senses and my reason and debases thy glorified humanity and to imagine that I receive nothing more than bare signs is to rob my self of the benefit of communicating with thee Let me feel the truth of that mystery which I admire and believe but cannot prove and let me experiment the glorious effects of this Sacrament tho I am unacquainted with the particular manner how they are derived to me Thou hast convinc'd me that the flesh profiteth nothing but thy Words are spirit and life as therefore thou hast made it so I humbly and thankfully receive it Let it be unto thy servant according to thy word and grant that the days may come shortly when Faith shall be swallowed up of Vision Amen § 14. If many others Communicate before him the good man employs that leasure in reflecting upon the Office of Consecration and because he could not without disturbance interpose his ejaculations while the Priest was saying the Prayer of Consecration he takes this occasion to say When the Priest carries the Patin As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness for the cure of the wounded Israelites so was our dearest Saviour lifted up on the Cross for the redemption of a world of sinners Lord evermore give me this bread When the Priest breaks the Bread he says So was the Body of Jesus mangled so was his flesh torn till there was no whole place in his body When the Priest pours out the Wine he says So when Jesus was in his Agony so when he was scourged crowned with Thorns and nailed to the accursed Tree did the Blood run down so Jesus loved us and wash'd us from our sins in his own blood When the Priest carries the Chalice he says It is the Blood of Jesus that makes atonement being shed for me and for many for the remission of sins I will cleave to the Cross of my bleeding Saviour and will drink his Blood Inable me O my God to overcome all my ghostly enemies by the blood of the Lamb. § 15. When the Priest takes the Elements in his hands to give them to the devout Christian he remembers that so God offers his Son to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to every believer so hath God fitted Jesus a body and indowed him with the spirit above measure that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life § 16. When the Priest delivers the Elements to the worthy Communicant he considers that there are two parts in the form of distribution a Prayer and an Advice the Prayer in these words The Body the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy Body and Soul unto everlasting Life to which with
Blessing with joyful Acknowledgments ⸪ Jul. Firmic p. 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they never saw a Candle brought into the Room but they saluted the Light and bid it welcome but at Gods Altar I am blest with the light that lightens every man that comes into the world And when the men of o Id. p. 6 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aegypt found their Mock-Deities they excliamed We have found him let us rejoice together And am not I much more obliged to do so when I have found the Messiah to whom Moses and the prophets bear witness when I have found the way of Salvation the means to attain to the favour of God To this end the Book of Psalms should be alway in my hands and the Jubilees of it in my mouth for nothing like that Book fits a man for the giving or receiving these Mysteries * Dion Areop Eccl. Hier. c. 3. p. 288. ' In the Psalms we praise God for all his Works and we praise all good men for their holy Speeches and excellent Actions they quiet our Affections and subdue our unruly minds as Davids Harp did drive the evil Spirit out of Saul And they call to our Remembrance that Saviour of ours who is almost in every one of them described to the World With these Songs of Praise did those devout men deceive the tediousness of a Journey and of worldly Business the Husbandman sung the Hallelujahs while he followed his Plough and the Shopkeeper while he managed his Trade and with them they begun and ender their Meals they were the Companions of their Employments the entertainment of their leisure Hours and the solace of their Cares And are not these things written for Examples Nothing therefore shall hinder but that I will treat my Saviour with Cheerfulness and a glad Heart who treats me with a Feast above the desert of Angels Angels cannot make him more happy than he is they can only sing his Praises and to their Hallelujahs will I joyn mine nor shall my joy make it self visible only in my Anthems but it shall be more illustrious in my Conversation for this Blessing which I receive is a Sacrament 't is an Oath that obliges me as it did my Forefathers in the Faith * Vid. Plin. lib. 10. Ep. 97. the Primitive Christians to a Holy Life to Justice and Temperance and the practice of every other Virtue it binds me to avoid Theft and Adultery and every other Crime as I am willing to avoid Damnation I do resolve therefore as I live by the Mercies of God so I will live to his Glory and nothing shall make me weary of loving and serving him but I will as far as I can imitate the Adorations and Obedience of the Seraphim till they carry me to Heaven where I shall bow down to and exult in my Saviour for ever The Collect. IT deserves my best Praises O most merciful Lord the Benefactor of my Soul that thou hast thought me worthy to be a partaker of thy holy and immortal Mysteries guide me uprightly in my ways and confirm me in thy fear and because all that I have is derived from thee O Lord I devote all unto thee I give thee my Body my Soul my Fame my Friends my Liberty and my self dispose of me and all that is mine as it seemeth hest to thee and may most advance the glory of thy blessed Name who livest and reignest with the Father and the holy Spirit world without end Amen CHAP. XX. Of the Priest who consecrates BUT above all men I hope my Brethren of the Clergy will not take it amiss that I have inserted this Chapter I did not design it to instruct them they are the Angels of God but to direct and guide my self in the discharge of the Priestly Office Gods Minister who consecrates ought to be careful that he be duly qualified in the purity of his intention and the Holiness of his conversation in self-examination and self-denial in Humility and true joy for Jesus who instituted the Mysteries was a holy and innocent High-priest and separate from sinners And tho it be no wonder that Judas may communicate yet it is monster when Judas consecrates to see dogs and swine and other unclean beasts wallow and delight in filth and pollution is common and ordinary but to see Ermins defiled is prodigy To behold one of the Sons of Belial making haste to be damned is an usual tho deplorable sight but to see an Angel fall into the condemnation of Satan to behold one of the Sons of God turn Apostate and to make a League with the Powers of Darkness is a reversing of the methods of Nature and Providence and a defiance to the constitutions of Holy Religion Shall I take the immaculate Body of my Saviour into a polluted Mouth and think to consecrate his Blood with profane Lips Ought I not to wash my hands in innocency before I compass the Altar of God before I receive Jesus for my self and give him in to the hands of others It was given in charge to the Priests of the Old Law Be ye holy for I the Lord your God am holy Nor can that Commandment be antiquated under the Gospel Nay the Mosaical Constitutions required that the Priest should not only be free from any inward Pollution but also that he should have no * Levit. 21.18 c. outward Blemish not so much as a flat Nose nor a broken Hand or Foot not a crook back or the Scurf no nor so much as a Blemish in his Eye nay so careful were they of the Priest who sacrificed that they not only surveyed the shape and make of his limbs but as †De sacrific Init. Philo observes they also curiously made inspection into his Skill whether he were able to discern a Sacrifice and every part of it from the Head to the Foot Tert. Apol. c. 30. p. 223. cur praecordia victimarum potius quam ipsorum sacrificantium examinantur that nothing tainted or defective might be offer'd for an Oblation to God and is there not the same skill and diligence required from an Evangelical Priest who must advise others and above all things should not neglect his own soul For if a Physician of the body gives no encouragement to his Patient to depend on his skill unless himself be of a vigorous constitution and a healthy look since all his Discourse of keeping others alive for ever will appear but empty talk and vain boast if his own livid Countenance and decayed Limbs are a contradiction to his confidence how much more ought those who take on them the Cure of Souls to mind the conforming of their Conversations to the Preceps which they give to others lest while they make their boast of the Law through breach of the Law they dishonour God For how necessarily sad and affrighting must be the reflections of that man who reads the threatnings of Heaven
to others against those sins which his own Conscience testifies himself hath been guilty of 'T is an exemplary story if it be true that Epiphanius relates of Origen * Haeres 64. p. 228. that after his fall returning to Jerusalem he was defired to preach which Office he addressing himself to occasionally lights upon that passage of the * Ps 50.16 17. Psalmist Unto the ungodly saith God why dost thou preach my Law and take my covenant into thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee Which passage as soon as he had read he could not but call to mind his former Apostacy whereupon he sate down and wept and the whole Congregation wept with him and that was all the Sermon they had for that day Who O my Soul dares speak evil of that Priest who spends all his Time and Strength in the service of that God whom he acknowledges and who will not reverence that Clergy-man who busies himself in visiting the sick in instructing the ignorant in reclaiming the profligate in comforting the disconsolate in diligent Preaching and Catechizing and in a reverent Administration of the Sacraments There is a natural Veneration and Respect that all men pay to that which is truly Religious but when he who instructs others never preaches to himself this casts an odium on Christianity that is not easily defac't for a wicked Priest at the Altar is worse than Judas for when Judas kist and then betrayed our Blessed Saviour tho the action was as he intended it abominable yet as God applied it it became the Instrument of the World's Happiness but when the vicious Priest approaches God's Table and puts the Body of Jesus into his own Lips and the hands of his people he prophanes the tremendous Sacrament he affronts the Majesty of God he does no good to himself or others but much harm he eats and drinks Damnation to himself and gives a very evil Example to his Neighbours and what Power can bring any good out of so much Wickedness And yet to sin like Judas is to be a vile and notorious Transgressor and the case of that Traytor is an affrighting Example our Holy Redeemer had given him his Body and Blood tho he knew he would betray him that he might attempt all methods to reclaim him to soften his hard Heart by Kindness and Condescention and to secure him from the Temptations of Satan by arming him with the power of God and the Grace that is conveyed with those Mysteries but Judas was the first Instance that the Holy Sacrament which the Son of God instituted for the Consolation and Welfare of his Servants may become the occasion of Condemnation to those who receive it unworthily and that the Devil may enter into that Man's mind whose Body hath received the Lord Jesus and how impudently wicked doth such a Wretch grow of a sudden for when our Master had declared that one of his Family would be that Traytor who should deliver him into the Hand of the High-priest * Luk. 22.21 When the rest of the Innocent Apostles were struck dumb with Astonishment Judas took the hardiness to ask him the Question Thus he who is not better'd by the means of Grace insensibly grows worse and hardly can a Miracle save such a resolute sinner And what dismal Lamentations what complication of Woes are sufficient to mourn the state of such a Priest for * Vid Hieron Ep. ad Heliodor to 1. p. 4. m. who shall make attonement for him whose Office it is to intercede for others ' The Soul of a Priest says * Lib. 6. de Sacerdot p. 44 46 c. St. Chrysostome should be bright and more untainted than the Rays of the Sun lest the Spirit of God be forc't to desert him and that he may be able to say Now it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me for like that great Light that rules the day he should enlighten the World and warm it with the Ardors of Divine Love for when the Priest stands at the Altar the Angels attend him and all the Heavenly Powers mix their Voices with his and all the Space round the Altar is filled with the Blessed Spirits who honour him that is there represented and incircle his Body as Guards do a Prince Nay so great is the Honour that is done to a good Priest when he administers in Holy Things that he stands in Gods stead for as God offer'd up his only Begotten Son for the Redemption of the World So doth the Priest at the Altar make a Commemoration of that one perfect and intire Sacrifice and Oblation of our Holy Saviour for the sins of Mankind and was it ever known that any man durst play the Devil in the likeness of God To meet Satan in the Habit of an Angel is not unusual but to see an Angel of God as Priests are called and truly are to be a real Fiend is abominable When therefore thou considerest this dost not thou tremble O my Soul when thou consecratest this Tremendous Sacrament And oughtest thou not to practice the deepest Reverence and to demean thy self humbly and decently because of the Angels who attend thee and because of God whom thou representest Great is the Honour which God gives his Priests and great is their Charge and who is sufficient for these Things A prayer for the Priest before he goes to consecrate out of St. Chrys Liturgy 'TO minister to Thee O thou King of Glory in Holy Offices is a great and terrible undertaking and such as is dreadful to the powers of Heaven but thou acted by thine unspeakeable and Infinite Love becamest our High-priest and being Lord of all things deputed'st men to the Ministry of this Sacrifice Look down upon me a sinful and unfruitful servant of thine cleanse me from an evil Conscience and prepare me by the Powers of thy Holy Spirit to stand before thy Holy Table and to minister thy sacred and uncorrupted body and thy precious Blood turn not thy Face away from me nor reprobate me from the number of thy Children Lord remember me when thou art in thy Kingdom Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under the polluted roof of my Soul but as thou wert pleased to lye down in the Manger among the Beasts and to sit at Meat in the House of Simon the Leper and to receive the Harlot a like sinner to my self when she came unto thee so vouchsafe to make thy entrance into my unreasonable Mind and into my defiled Body which is dead as well as Leprous and as thou didst not abominate the mouth of the Harlot when she kist thy unpolluted Feet so O Lord my God do not despise and abominate me a sinner Pardon blot out and forgive all my sins which I have committed either willingly or unwillingly whether they are sins of Knowledg or Ignorance whether in Deed or in Word or in