369. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He receives the Rewards of his new-created Soul which the Spirit had reformed by Water And of his Sister Gorgonia who died not long after viz. on the ninth of December 372. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The things which are now present to thee are much more precious then those which are seen The noise of those which make a Feast the Quires of the Angels the Order of Heaven the contemplation of Glory and more then all this the Irradiation of the Trinity which is above all things and of all things the most pure and most perfect And â—f St. Athanasius who died May the second 371. That thou wouldest he pleased to look on us from on high Of Gregory his Father who died the year following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Make known unto us in what place of Glory thou art and the light which encompasseth thee Of his dear Friend St. Basil who died January the first 378. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is now in Heaven St. Gregory Nyssenus of St. Ephraim who died on the 28th of the same Moneth of January 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He expired in the quiet Haven of the Eternal Kingdom and is kindly received into it But where otherwise may it be conjectured that his Soul hath been deposited if not as indeed it is manifest in the Celestial Tabernacles where are the Batallions of Angels a Populace of Patriarchs Quires of Prophets the Thrones of the Apostles the Joy of the Martyrs the Exultation of Saints the Splendour of the Doctours the Assembly of the First-born the perfect Noise of those that are a Feasting To those good things in which the Angels desire to rest themselves that they may see them into that sacred place the most blessed in all kinds and most holy soul of our Blessed and worthy-to-be-celebrated Father is passed Of the great Meletius Arch-Bishop of Antioch who died on the twelfth of February 381. before he could have enjoyed the Communion of Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. No longer as through a Glass and obscurely but face to face he prays to God Of Pulcheria Daughter to the Emperour THEODOSIUS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 She was transferred from one Kingdom to another Of Flavilla first Wife to the same Prince who died in the year 385. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Her conversation is in the Royal Palaces of Heaven St. Ambrose of his Brother Satyrus who dyed September the seventeenth 383. De istius Beatitudine dubitare nequaquam debemus c. We ought not to doubt of his Beatitude Of the Emperour VALENTINIAN the Second two Moneths after his Assà ssination which happened on Saturday Whitsun-Eve May the fifteenth 382. before that Prince had received Baptism Ille etiam talis ut ei nihil timeatis c. He is now in such a condition that you need not fear what may happen to him as before c. I ask whether there be any Sentiment after death or not If there be he lives or rather because he lives he is already in possession of Eternal Life c. That he was so soon snatched from us we are to grieve that he is passed into a better Estate it should be our comfort c. Thou lookest on us Holy Soul from an high place as casting thy sight on things that are below c. Now borrowing light from the Sun of Righteousness thou enjoyest a clear day c. His going hence was most noble as a Flight into Heaven c. What thou hast sown upon Earth reap it there c. The stain of Sin being done off he whom his Faith washed his Prayer consecrated is gone up cleansed into Heaven c. joyned with his Brother Gratian he enjoyes the pleasures of eternal Life c. Of the Emperour THEODOSIUS who dyed January the seventeenth 395. Regnum non deposuit sed mutavit c. He hath not layd by but exchanged the Royal Dignity being admitted by the Prerogative of Piety into the Tabernacles of Christ into that Jerusalem which is above where being now placed he saith As we have heard so have we seen in the City of the LORD of Hosts c. Having gone through a doubtfull combat Theodosius of famous Memory does now enjoy perpetual Light and a Tranquility of long continuance and hath the self-satisfaction of what he did in his â—…ly in the Fruits of divine remuneration c. He hath deserved admittance into the Society of the Saints c. His abode is in light c. He is over-joyed to be in the Assemblies of the Saints c. There he now embraces Gratian c. Who enjoyes the rest of his Soul c. Being pious he hath passed from the obscurity of this World to eternal Light c. Now does he know that he reigns since that he is in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and considers his Temple c. Constantinople thou art evidently happy who receivest a Guest of Paradise and shalt entertain in the narrow Inn of a Sepulchre an Inhabitant of that City which is on high c. And of Ascholius Arch-Bishop of Thessalonica who dyed about the year 385. Est Superorum incola possessor civitatis aeternae illius Hierusalem quae in caelo est videt illis facie ad faciem c. He is an Inhabitant of the places which are above a Possessour of the Eternal City of that Jerusalem which is in Heaven there he sees face to face St. Hierome of Blaesilla who died in the year 382. Postquam sarcinâ carnis abjectâ c. Having layd down its burthen of Flesh the Soul is fled back to her Authour after a long Pilgrimage she is ascended into her antient possession c. Me-thought then when her Coffin was making ready she cryed from Heaven I know not those Garments that Covering is not mine c. Blaesilla now followeth Jesus she is now in the society of the holy Angels c. She is passed from Darkness to Light c. She lives with Christ in the Heavens c. Of Lea who died March the two and twentieth 384. Universorum gaudiis prosequenda c. She is to be attended with the joy of all who having trod Satan under foot hath received the Crown of Security c. For a short trouble she now enjoyes eternal Beatitude she is received into the Quires of Angels she is cherished in the Bosom of Abraham c. she follows Christ and saith All the things which we have heard of the same we have also seen in the City of our God c. Of Nepotianus a Priest of Altinum who died in the year 397. Scimus Nepotianum nostrum esse cum Christo Sanctorum mixtum Choris c. Corpus terra suscepit anima Christo reddita est c. We know that our Friend Nepotianus is with Christ and among the Quires of the Saints c. The Earth received his Body his Soul
question the truth of other times Of that kind is that which is attributed to the Sibyl of Moses hinting at and foretelling the Deluge Lib. 1. p. 9. as also what is found written in the same Book pag. 11. that the Sibyl her self with her husband her Father-in-law Mother-in-law her brethren-in-law and others was tâ—ss'd up and down by the waves in the time of the Deluge But it is evident rom pag. 30. that those very things which have come abroad under the name of Oracles were written fifteen hundred years after the Empire of the Greeks whereof whether we take the beginning from the reign of the Argives or Sicyonians or Athenians or whether it be taken from Moses from the reign of Solomon the Macedonian Empire or the four Monarchies those things which are called Predictions will be frivolous and after the things done They will be found also to be wanting as to truth if the government of the Greeks began since Moses for from the departure of Moses and Israel out of Aegypt to the destroying of the Administration or Commonwealth and Government of the Jews under Vespasian are reckoned one thousand four score and two years Further what can be said as to what we find in the fifth Book p. 49. where the Sibyl affirms that she had seen a second conflagration of the Temple of Vesta And that according to the testimony of Eusebius it happened under the Emperour Commodus in the year 199. for in that year the Temple of Vesta and the Palace and the greatest part of the City was burnt whereas the first conflagration happened in the 134. Olympiad Whence it is to be conceiv'd that the Prophetess if it may be lawfull to call her such prophesy'd not before the birth of Christ but long after and pretends not to any thing beyond Commodus since that in the eighth Book p. 57. she says that three Emperours shall reign after Adrian that is to say Antoninus the Debonnaire Antoninus the Philosopher and Commodus To this may be added that it is apparent from the first Book of Lactantius Firmianus Chap. 6. that each of the Sibyls writ her own Book and yet that now they seem to be all the Work of one because they all go under the name of the Sibyl and that we cannot distinguish them nor assign to any one her own unless it be to the Erythraean who put her name into her Poem and is called Erythraea now that was the Work of the Erythraean which takes up the third place among those Books The Author of the first Book feign'd himself to be daughter-in-law to Noë the second and the seventh seems to personate a most impudent strumpet pag. 56. though there want not some credible Authors who affirm that the true Sibyls were chast and inspir'd of God The sister of Isis challenges the fifth Book the rest were publish'd under the names of uncertain Authors By way of Annotation upon this granting what he sayes as to the supposititiousness of the pretended Sibyl as also that Moses is more ancient then any that have gone under that name I affirm In the first place That the writing which goes commonly under that title does not introduce Moses but Noah himself foretelling the Deluge which speaks yet a little more confidence 2. That from the departure out of Aegypt to the taking of Jerusalem by Titus there are 1600. years compleat 518. more then was thought 3. That the Author of the Sibylline Books does not affirm he saw the second conflragration of the Temple of Vesta but the last of Jerusalem The house sometime so much desir'd by thee says he to Rome when I saw that house pull'd down and set on fire the second time by an impure hand a house ever flourishing and having God in it which house he supposes that Christ himself descending from heaven will come and re-establish together with Jerusalem to reign there in his glory Which manifestly argues that though threatning Rome with finall destruction he writes The Virgins shall not always find the Divine fire yet he neither saw nor foresaw the conflagration that happened in the twelfth year of Commodus which was but the 191. of our Saviour but reflected on the Prediction of St. John expressing that Rome should be utterly burnt with fire and be found no more at all so that he thought it would be to no purpose to look there for Vesta's fire and other Monuments of her Paganisme 4. That if his intention had been to denote the conflagration happened under Commodus he could not truly have call'd it the second for that besides the first mentioned in Dionysius Halicarnassaeus and happening under the Consulate of Gracchus and Falto in the third year of the 135. Olympiad and the 516. of Rome there had been a second observ'd by Tacitus and other creditable Authors under the Consulship of Bassus and Crassus in the fourth year of the 210. Olympiad which was the 817. of Rome the 64. of our Saviour and 11. of Nero. 5. That he doth not onely not pretend to any thing beyond Commodus but makes an apparent stop at Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus which latter he presum'd must needs as being the younger by seven years out-live the other After him saith he whose name begins with a T. the note of the number three hundred that is to say Trajan another shall reign a person with a silver head that is one that was already arriv'd to grey hairs or shall be as he speaks in the eighth Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoary and his name that is to say Adrian shall be deriv'd from the Sea Adriatick and he shall be good all manner of wayes and shall know all things and under thee O man absolutely good excellent all manner of wayes and hoary headed and under thy boughs that is to say thy adoptive sons the last dayes shall come to pass three shall reign that is to say Antoninus Marcus and Lucius but the last that is Lucius shall obtain the soveraignty of all things And in the eighth Book After him that is to say Adrian there shall reign three who shall see the last days filling the Name of the heavenly God whose kingdom is now and to all ages that is to say they shall be called Antonini or according to our manner of pronouncing Andonini from the name Adonai and Adonim that is Antoninus the Debonaire Antoninus the Philosopher and Lucius Verus Antoninus who he pretends ought as being the youngest to survive the other two succeed them and continue til the 948. year of Rome or the 195 of our Redemption in which he would have been 67. years of age never imagining that Lucius by his irregularities would prejudice his health so as to be cut off in the flower of his age in the midst of Winter between the years 169. and 170. 6. That though Lactantius carried away with the prejudice of his time conceiv'd that the Books called Sibylline
Activity Who is so much liable to the interposition of the Lion and Dragon to endure the open Ravage of his Violences and the secret mischief of his Ambushes as he who like an undischarged Debtour is dragged before the dreadfull Tribunal of God's avenging Justice Can Debts of what nature soever they are be Legally exacted of those who are by the Acquittance of the Creditour absolutely discharged Are they in fine to fear any Unhappiness whose Sins our Lord bore in his own Body upon the Tree and blotted out the Hand-writing that was against them Thirdly That the Church of Rome in whose Communion there is not any one that prays for St. Monica whom the said Church hath taken out of their Rank for whose benefit she designs her Suffrages to raise her into the Sphear of Glorious Spirits whose Intercession she begs however she may make a great stir about the Example of St. Augustine does not onely not satisfy the Intreaty of that Great man any more then the Protestants whom she accuses as desertours of the antient Tradition but conceives it neither just nor rational to satisfy it And as she does not think her self guilty of any breach of Duty in forbearing to pray for St. Monica because she accompts her to be in Bliss and as such not in a capacity to receive the assistance of the Living in their Prayers nor that they should according to the desire of St. Augustine expect inspirations from God such as might incline them to demand things already done and undertake what she conceives neither rational nor feasable so the Protestants who in this particular are the more willing to follow his Sentiment the more consonant they finde it to the Word of God and to Reason cannot whatever the Church of Rome may say to insinuate the contrary be perswaded they err in not-acknowledging any Object of Religious Adoration however it may be conceived other then God alone Father Son and Holy Ghost blessed for ever according as the Church of Rome her self expresses it in the first of her Commandments One onely God shalt thou adore nor any Advocate properly so called other then him who is proposed to all Christians by St. John as a propitiation for the sins of all the World For as they have learn'd of St. Paul that there is one Mediatour between God and men the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all whence Avitus Arch-Bishop of Vienna inferred That if our Saviour was not according to his Humane Nature taken into the Unity of Person Father's Hand-writing against us They religiously stand to the Protestation made by the Primitive Christians concerning their Martyrs viz. We adore him who is the Son of God but we love according as it is required of us the Martyrs as Disciples and Imitatours of our Lord and Saviour and to that of St. Augustine We honour the Martyrs by a Worship of Dilection and Society by which the Holy men of God are in this life also honoured Whence they conclude That according to the common Sentiment of the purest part of Antiquity there cannot be done to the Citizens of the Jerusalem that is on high any Honour but what may be called a civil Honour or of Society Whether they are actually received into that blessed Habitation or are in their way thereto that they have been and ever shall be entertained there immediately upon their departure out of this World and that the honourable Solemnities which accompany their Bodies when they are deposited in the Earth never had any Ceremony which served not to demonstrate the assurance and joy which the surviving had conceived of their happy Condition CHAP. XXXVIII The Sentiment of the Protestants confirmed by the Eloges antiently bestowed on the Faithfull departed THe same thing may be said of the Eloges wherewith the worthy Persons of Antiquity have honoured the Memory of those for whom the Custom would have Prayers made Eusebius speaking of the Death of Helene who died on the eighteenth of August about the year 330. saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. She was called to a better Lot c. So that those who had a right Sentiment justly conceived that that thrice-happy Lady should not die but to say the Truth expect the Exchange and Translation of a Terrestrial life into a Celestial Her Soul therefore returned to the Principle thereof being received into an incorruptible and Angelical Essence near her Saviour And of Constantine who preparing himself for Death protested of himself that he was making haste and that he would no longer delay his departure towards his God he affirms that on Sunday May 22.th 337. being Whit sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He was gathered to God leaving to Mortals what was of the same Nature with them and as for himself uniting to God whatever his Soul had that was Intellectual and beloved of God Then representing the common Belief of all the Subjects of the Empire concerning his Beatitude he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Having framed a figure of Heaven in a draught in colours they painted him above the Celestial Vaults resting in an heavenly Mansion c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They graved his Effigies upon Medals having on one side the Pourtraiture of the Blessed Emperour with his â—…ead veiled and on the Reverse the same mounted on a Chariot drawn by four Horses as if he drove it raised into the Seat by an hand reached forth to him from heaven on the right side which Description might as well relate to the carrying up of Elias rather then to the Apotheoses of the Heathens which Constantine upon his embracing of Christian Religion had absolutely renounced Saint Athanasius who observes that St. Anthony had seen the Monk Ammonius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 raised from the Earth and the great joy of those that came to meet him affirms that on the seventeenth of January 358. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As having seen friends coming towards him and filled with joy because of them he fainted The same St. Athanasius making a Relation of the wicked attempt of Magnentius upon the Life of Constans who was murthered on the eighteenth of January 350. and numbring that Prince among the Martyrs hath these remarkable Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That to the Blessed Man proved the occasion of his Martyrdom St. Gregory Nazianzene represents in Celestial Glory Constantius who after he had through misapprehension persecuted the Orthodox died on the third of November 361. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I know that he is above our Reprehension having obtained a place with God and possession of the Inheritance of the Glory which is there and transported to such a distance from us as the Translation from one Kingdom to another amounts unto The same St. Gregory saies of his Brother Caesarius who died on the 25.th of February about the year
was restored to Christ c. And of Paulina the Wife of Pammachius departed this life in the year 393. Illa Blaesilla cum sorore Paulina dulci somno fruitur tu duarum medius leviùs ad Christum subvolabis c. Blaesilla with her Sister Paulina rests in a quiet sleep thou being between both shalt have a more easie flight to Christ c. Of Paula the Mother of Blaesilla and Paulina departed in Beth-lehem on the twenty eighth of January 404. Fides opera tua Christo te sociant praesens quod postulas facilius impetrabis c. Thy Faith and Works associate thee to Christ being present O Paula thou shalt more easily obtain what thou desirest c. Aspices angustum praecisâ rupe Sepulchrum Hospitium Paulae coelestia regna tenentis c. Seest thou a Rock t' a narrow Coffin hewn 'T is Paula's Mansion who to Heav'n is flown Of Lucinus departed about the year 410. Obsecro te c. I beseech thee Theodorus that thou wouldest bewail thy Lucinius as a Brother yet so as to rejoyce withall that he reigns with Christ c. Confident and Conquerour he looks from on high c. Of Fabiola departed in the year 401. Depositâ tandem sarcinâ levior volavit ad Caelum c. Having lay'd down her burthen she is fled with more ease towards heaven Saint Chrysostome of Berenice and Prosdoce who were drowned during the Persecution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moreover these were with the Souldiers of Christ the heavenly Angels Of Pelagia who had cast her self down Headlong 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. She ran not towards the top of a mountain but towards the highest heaven c. The threatning of the Judg c. pressed her to flie with greater haste towards heaven c. She went out of her Chamber out of the Woman's Closet into another Chamber that is to say heaven c. Which is as much as he could have said and what he had said in substance of the greatest Martyrs St. Ignatius of Antioch St. Romanus St. Julian St. Juventinus St. Maximus and others whose Elogies he writ The same St. Chrysostome says also of Philogonius Arch-Bishop of Antioch deceased the twentieth of December about the year 322. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ascending into heaven he hath no need of the Praises of men since he is gone to a greater and more happy portion c. He is transferred to the Society of Angels c. Of Eustathius who had held the same See and died about the year 359. upon the sixteenth of July 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Transferred to heaven he is gone towards Jesus whom he had desired and almost in the same Terms of Meletius his Ordinary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is gone towards Jesus whom he had desired St. Augustine of Verecundus who had entertained him and all his Company at his Countrey-House Retribues illi Domine in resurrectione Justorum quia jam ipsam sortem retribuisti ei c. O Lord thou shalt reward him in the Resurrection of the Just because thou hast already cast that Lot upon him And of Nebridius who was come out of Africk into Italy to live with him Nunc ille vivit in sinu Abrahae c. Now he lives in Abraham ' s Bosom whatsoever it be that is understood by that Bosom There my Nobridius lives that dear Friend of mine and thy adopted Son O Lord who had once been a Bond-slave but was after freed There he liveth for what other place can be fit for such a Soul In that place he liveth whereof he was wont to ask me miserable and unexperienced man so many Questions Now he no longer laies his Ear to my Mouth but applies his spiritual mouth to thy Spring and drinks Wisdom after the rate of his greedy Thirst happy to all Eternity Paulinus of Rusina the Wife of Alethius Habes jam in Christo magnum tui pignus c. Thou hast already in Christ a great pledge of thy self an earnest Suffr age thy Wife who prepares as much favour for thee in the Heavenly Places as thou furnishest her with abundance from those upon Earth c. She abounds by the supplies of thy Wealth being clad in a Golden Vesture and cloathed all over with variety viz. precious light c. Paulinus the African of St. Ambrose Ubi corpus Domini accepit c. After be had received the Body of our Lord he gave up the Ghost taking along with him a good provision that his Soul being more refreshed by the strength of that Viand should be now rejoycing in the Society of Angels and Elias whose Life he lived here Sulpicius Severus of St. Martin who died on Sunday November the eleventh 400. Spiritum coelo reddidit c. He resigned his Spirit to Heaven c. There was an holy rejoycing at his Glory c. The Heavenly Company singing Hymns accompanies the Body of the Blessed man to the place of his Enterment c. Martin hath the Acclamations of divine Psalms Martin is honoured with Ecclesiastical Hymns c. Martin is entertained with joy in Abraham ' s Bosom Martin who had been here poor and beggarly enters Rich into Heaven c. And it is to be noted by the way that that Great Man a little before he gave up the Ghost had answered those who would have had him to lie on his side Sinite me Fratres coelum potius respicere quà m terram ut suo jam itinere iturus ad Dominum Spiritus dirigatur Suffer me Brethren rather to look up towards Heaven then down upon the ground that my Spirit which is now taking its journey to God may be directed in its way Palladius writes of St. Chrysostome who dyed November the seventh 407. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passing hence to Christ c. Ennodius Bishop of Pavia of Epiphanius his Praedecessour deceased January the twenty first 496. Cùm beatissimus cerneret Pontifex c. The blessed Prelate seeing c. that he was ready to fly to the pure brightness of Heaven c. assured of his perfection he added My heart is confirmed in the Lord c. So as that heavenly Soul resounding with Hymns and Songs even at the point of Death returned to her Lord c. He whose departure we bewail upon Earth is in possession of the high places with God c. And of Anthony the Hermit of Valtelina afterwards a Monk in the Monastery of Lerina deceased December the twenty eighth 488. Mundi istius sarcinam deponens c. Laying down the burthen of this World and having overcome the Ambushes laid by the craft of the old Serpent he hath exchanged our day and the light of this present World for that which is perpetual If the Harmony of all these Testimonies which have been produced suffice not to satisfie and perswade the most-prepossessed Spirits that the most eminent and best-informed Antiquity reforming the
c. He rejoyces with the Angels in the Kingdom of heaven I acknowledg that the Opinion of Purgatory crept in among the Latines about the end of the sixth Age having by little and little gained credit many were easily induced to compose Epitaphs containing certain Wishes and Prayers for the Dead Yet did not their scrupulous manner of proceeding hinder any that would from attributing to them the possession of Celestial glory immediately upon their departure out of this life Thus the Epitaph of Pope Stephen the Sixth deceased the one and twentieth of May 891. hath these express Terms Aethera scandit spiritus almus ovans c. His milde Spirit ascends heaven triumphing That of the Kings Conrade the First Otho the First and Second and Zuentibold of Adalberon Bishop of Mets of Count Hugh and his Wife of the Countess Eve and her Sons of Arnoul and Rembal of Oudri Arch-Bishop of Rheims of Beatrix and Warin Abbot of Saint Arnoul de Mets express that their Souls In Coelis aeternâ pace fruuntur c. In heaven enjoy eternal Peace That of Reynold Abbot of S. Cyprian in Poictiers deceas'd in the year 1100. Rainaldi pars promptior Astra petivit c. Reynold's more willing part to heav'n is gone That of the Nun Benedicta Spiritus Astra tenet c. Of heav'n her Spirit 's possest That of Ranulphus the Priest her Contemporary Protinus ad Superos carne solutus abis c. Spiritus ecce tuus gaudens fuper Astra perennat c. Flesh once lay'd by to heav'n thou streight dost go c. Thy Spirit above eternal Joy attends Again Dans animam Coelo reddidit ossa solo c. To heav'n thy soul to earth thy bones return That of King Philip the First deceased in the year 1108. Augusti ternis conscendit in aeth'ra Kalendis c. He on the third of the Calends Of August unto heav'n ascends That of Reynold de Martigni Arch-Bishop of Rheims deceased in the year 1137. Hunc duodena dies Februi praeeuâ—do Kalendas Destituit mundo substituitque Polo c. On January's one and twentieth day He left the world and went to heav'n to stay That of Gerald first Abbot of Selue-Majour in Bourdelois deceased in the year 1094. the sixth of April En felix anima Coeli laetatur in Aula c. Coelorum civis dormîit in Domino c. Liber Coelos spiritus obtinuit c. Spiritus Abbatis vindicat Astra sibi c. Spiritus alta tenet c. His blissfull soul in Heav'n rejoycing is c. Heav'n's Citizen rests in the Lord c. His unconfin'd spirit in Heav'n is fix'd c. The Abbot's soul does challenge heav'n c. His spirit is on high That of Berenger Arch-Deacon of St. Maurice's of Anger 's deceased the sixth of January 1088. In Jano patuit tibi Janua vitae c. In Janus Moneth Life's Gate receiv'd thee And again Coelos animâ corpore ditat humum c. His Body Earth his Soul does Heav'n enrich That of the Empress Agnes deceased the 14th of December 1077. Die XIV Mensis Decembris animam bonis operibus foecundam Lateranis Salvatori suo atque omnium bonorum Authori reddidit hic quintâ die Mensis Januarii expectans spem Beatae Resurrectionis adventum Magni Dei membra carnis commendavit in pace Amen Vpon the fourteenth of December at Lateran she returned to her Saviour and God the Authour of all good things her soul fruitfull in good Works and on the fifth of January she recommended to this place her fleshly Members expecting the hope of a blessed Resurrection and the coming of the Great God Amen That of Bruno first General of the Carthusians deceased the sixth of October 1101. Ossa manent Tumulo Spiritus Astra petit c. Earth hath his bones to heav'n his spirit flies That of Geoffrey Bishop of Amiens deceased the eighth of November 1118. Hic jacet Astra petens c. Here going to Heav'n he lies That of Peter of Placentia Cardinal Terra suum Corpus Animámque recepit Olympus The Earth his body Heav'n his soul receiv'd That of Burohard Arch-Bishop of Vienna deceased about the year 1035. August the twenty ninth Cum quo perpetuò pace viget placidâ c. Sanctus Spiritus Astra petit c. Curribus ignicomis ad Superos gereris c. With him he lives in undisturbed peace c. His Holy Spirit to Heav'n flies c. In fiery Chariots to Heav'n thou' rt convey'd That of Alberic Arch-bishop of Bourges deceased in the year 1140. Modò major in arce Polorum c. In Heav'n he greater is That of Peter Leo in the year 1144. Junius in Mundo fulgebat Sole secundo Separat hunc nobis cùm Polus atque Lapis c. June's second day shone bright when joyless we Lost him between Earth and Felicity That of Peter Bishop of Poictiers deceased in the year 1115. unjustly reduced by Cardinal Baronius to the year 1130. Nunc dives liber stabilis sua praemia Christum Astra petit sequitur possidet iste Petrus c. Promovit privavit eum profugúmque recepit Papa Comes Christus ordine sede Polo c. This Peter rich freed firm rewards Christ Heav'n Now seeks pursues possesses freely giv'n c. A Pope Count Christ him rais'd depriv'd with love Receiv'd to Prelacy of 's See above That of Thomas Arch-bishop of Canterbury Assassinated the nine and twentieth of July 1170. Ab Orbe Pellitur fructus incipit esse Poli c. Forc'd hence in Heav'n he begins to grow That of Stephen Bishop of Meaux deceased the 12th of January 1187. Liber vivit terrâ divisus Astris Quae dederat Coelum Terráque solvit eis c. He freely lives 'tween Heav'n and Earth bestow'd And pay'd what unto Heaven and Earth he ow'd That of Robert Arch-bishop of Vienna deceased in the year 1195. June the seven and twentieth Junius aethereis mensis te reddidit oris c. Thee to thy Heav'nly Countrey June hath brought That of Mauricius Bishop of Paris deceased the eleventh of September 1196. Migrat Parisii Pater ad patriam Paradisi Mauricius c. Father of Paris Mauricius is hence To Paradise transferr'd That of Humbert Arch-bishop of Vienna deceased the twentieth of November 1125. Spiritus aeth'ra Praesulis Umberti petit c. The Prelat Umbert's Soul to Heav'n is gone That of Raoul Bishop of Arras deceased in the year 1220. Coeli Civis meritorum pondere vivis c. The weight of thy Good Works do thee sustain Thou Citizen of Heav'n That of Peter of Doway Arch-bishop of Sens deceased the twelfth of June 1222. Qui Spei certae suberat modò cernit apertè c. Who what he surely hop'd now clearly sees That of Hervey Bishop of Troyes deceased July the second 1223. Reddo Polo Spiritum ossa Solo c. My soul to heav'n my bones to
enquiry into the Motives which might have induced the Authours of those Epitaphs to insert into them Prayers for their departed Friends and to place their Tombs near those of the Martyrs who had sealed with their Blood the Truth of Christianity The most antient Epitaph we finde containing a mixture of Wishes and Prayers is that which St. Gregory Nazianzene writ in Honour of St. Basil deceased the twelfth of January in the year 378. where we read these Words concerning that Great Prelate gathered to his Fathers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God give him Happiness as if he had not been in the actual possession thereof and as if St. Gregory had not expresly required of him before that he would appear for the World and offer gifts to God and that in consequence of his being in Heaven as he had desired Again That he had quitted his Episcopal See as Christ would have it that he might become one among the Inhabitants of Heaven It seems then he believed him in Heaven and possessed of the Glory and Happiness of Heaven as soon as he had at his departure out of this World quitted his Episcopal See and yet he desires that God would give him Happiness meaning that he would confirm and improve the gift he had already made him which hath nothing common with the Hypotheses maintained at this day by the Church of Rome In the year 395. deceased the Prefect PROBUS and his Epitaph which loudly published that he was in the Plains of Heaven seated among the Saints possessed of perpetual Rest that he lived crowned with bliss in the Everlasting Mansions of Paradise concludes with this Prayer Hunc tu Christe Choris jungas Coelestibus oro Te canat placidum jugiter aspiciat Quique tuo semper dilectus pendet ab ore Auxilium soboli conjugióque ferat Joyn'd with Celestial Quires O Christ may he Thy praises sing thy constant favour see Whō ever-lov'd did ev'r on thee depend May he to 's Race and Widow some help lend Shall we say he was in Heaven and yet not joyned with the Celestical Quires That he was in any danger to see his Saviour incensed and that he could be possessed of Paradise without Happiness If not it must needs be that the Authour of his Epitaph prayed that he might enjoy it without any diminution and be eternally in the Favour and Peace of his Saviour in the Society of the rest of the Blessed Saints which hath nothing common with what is now desired by the Church of Rome We have such another Desire made in the Epitaph of Pope BENEDICT Hic Benedictus adest meritò sub rupe Sepulchri Quem tenet Angelicus Chorus in arce Poli Aurea saec'la cui pateant sine fine per aevum Sorte beatificâ scandat ut aetheria c. Here Benedict justly beneath this Stone Is plac'd whom Angels in the Heav'ns enthrone To whom be golden Ages without end That he the Skies may ever-bless'd ascend For who sees not that he who is enthroned by Angels in Heaven must of necessity be there and stood not in need of ascending thither nor that any golden Ages should be desired for him But in as much as he was to ascend thither in his Body after the general Resurrection the Authour of the Epitaph makes a Wish to that purpose and requires that the Happiness which he was then possessed of as to his Spirit might be ever continued to him that he might be eternally filled with Joy as well in body as soul thereby discovering that he reflected not in the least on the Purgatery held by the Church of Rome which none of her Followers ever yet placed in Heaven or any way thought on the delay of Benedict's Felicity whom he esteemed already received into the Society of the Angels The same accompt is to be given of the Epitaph of Marinian Arch-Bishop of Ravenna deceased in the year 601. where we finde these words Ipsius in locis sit tibi certa quies c. Mayst thou with God assured rest obtain As also of that of Venerable Bede deceased in the year 735. Dona Christe animam in Coelis gaudere per aevum c. Dáque illum Sophiae inebriari fonte Christ grant his soul in heav'n eternal joy c. And him inebriate with Wisdom's spring For it does not thence follow either that he was at the hour of his death deprived of the Joy of Heaven or that Wisdom had not filled him with the Effects of her Virtue or lastly that those who are once entred into the Joy of Heaven could ever forfeit it or be deprived of the communication of eternal Wisdom but that the Surviving thought they might rationally demand for their deceased Friends the perpetuity of their Happiness though they certainly knew it could never be taken from them That of Pope ADRIAN the First writ either by Charle-maign or in his Name by Alcuin notwithstanding he had presupposed that his Death was the entrance of a better Life yet forbore not to make these Wishes for him Cum Christo teneas regna beata Poli c. Quique legis Versus devoto pectore supplex Amborum mitis dic miserere Deus Haec tua nunc requies teneat charissime membra Cum sanctis Anima gaudeat alma Dei Ultima quippe tuas donec Tuba clamet in aures Principe cum Petro Surge videre Deum Auditurus eris vocem scio Judicis almam Intra nunc Domini gaudia magna tui Tum memor esto tui Nati c. Mayst thou with Christ a blessed Seat obtain c. Who humbly readst this Verse with pious heart May God his mercy say to both impart May here the precious body finde it's Rest May the fair soul rejoyce among the blest Since when the latest Trump shall summon thee God and the great Saint Peter for to see I know thou 'lt hear the Judge's gentle voyce Of thy Lord enter into the great Joys Remember then thy Son Now as the demand he made for Adrian that he might obtain a blessed seat with Christ in Heaven did not signify that he was not yet admitted into the Possession of that better Life whereof his death was the entrance so the Invitation to implore for him the Mercy of God was no argument that he had not obtained it since that even then he exhorted his Soul to rejoyce with the Saints of God and shewed that he thought it not tormented in a Fire such as were likely to deprive it of all Joy but that it was in Bliss reigning in the Company of the Saints of the Apostle St. Peter and our Saviour a felicity whereto nothing could be added by desire but the perpetuity of it which yet is so much the more certain in as much as it is grounded on the unchangeable counsel of God whose Gifts and Calling are without repentance That of Charle-maign of whom the Authour viz. Agobard Arch-Bishop of Lions said That he
had been admitted to the aetherial Plains and consequently that he was entred into Glory yet recommends it to the Reader 's Devotion to pray for him using these Words Astriferam CAROLI teneat dic spiritus Arcem c. Wish that Charles ' s Soul May be possessed of the Starry Pole That of Pope Sergius II. deceased April the 12th 847. Pro tanto tundamus pectora pugnis Pastore amisso vivat ut axe Poli c. So great a Pastour lost We are to grieve With beaten Breasts that he in Heav'n may live That of Ermengard Wife to the Emperour Lotharius deceased on Friday March the 20th 852. and immediately introduced as the Authour of it observes into the Kingdom of Heaven where she was abundantly filled with the Joy of Christ c. Hanc rogo te Lector commenda ritè Tonanti Assiduis precibus Christus eam ut habeat Cum quo congaudens vivat feliciter ipsa Angelicis semper mista beata Choris c. Reader employ thy daily Pray'rs I crave That Christ with him may Ermengarda have With whom in lasting Joys she may remain A Saint to live amongst the Heav'nly Train Whereupon the Authour to give us a more particular Accompt of his intention adds Has ego Rabanus confeci Versibus Odas Ex obitu maestus ex requie gratulans c. I Rabanus this into Verse have drest Griev'd at her Loss but glad she is at Rest Whence it follows that all he intreated the Reader to desire was not properly the happiness but the continuance and eternity of the happiness of that Princess already glorified with Christ in Heaven Whereto may be added that as Reason requires that the Gratulations whereby we express the good Wishes we have for our Friends be grounded not on the imagination of their future-good but on the advantage they have to be in actual possession of it so the Authour of this Epitaph had had no great reason to congratulate the Rest of the Empress Ermengard if she had not been admitted into it To the same Predicament may be reduced that of the Emperour CHARLES the Bald which after the Authour had observed that he returned his Soul to God that is to say died so piously that Pope JOHN the Eighth said he was in Paradise with the Angels concludes in these Terms Deus excelsus dignetur jungere Turmis Sanctorúmque choris consociare piis c. May the high God to the Saints holy Quires Joyn him That of Pope STEPHEN the Sixth whom the Authour had represented as Triumphantly ascending to Heaven inviting all that should read it to desire pardon for him saying Dicite Fratres Arbiter Omnipotens da veniam Stephano c. Th' Almighty Judge's grace Brethren implore For Stephen And that of Benedict the Fourth deceased in the year 907. following the same Track hath these words which denote the excessive Charity of the deceased Mercatus coelum cuncta sua tribuit c. To purchase Heaven all he had he gave And adds immediately this Advertisement Inspector Tumuli compuncto dicito corde Cum Christo regnes O Benedicte Deo c. Who seest this Tomb say with a contrite Heart May'st thou O Benedict with Christ have part Which Words proceeded not from the Authour out of any design he had to insinuate that Benedict when he uttered them had not yet obtained his part or reigned with God for what can be imagined more absur'd then that God should refuse to crown Charity the greatest of his Gifts and suspend the Effect of his Promises towards those who have as is supposed of Pope Benedict most conscientiously exercised it But his intention was to discover that he thought it not onely lawfull but necessary that the Faithfull surviving should continually desire of God the ratification of the Gifts he had already bestowed on those he had taken to himself According to this Principle which seems to have been common to all Antiquity may be understood in a good sense the Inscription of Amatus's Tomb which runs thus Pro animâ Amati poenitentis hîc sepulti Domini misericordiam deprecari digneris c. Vouchsafe to implore the Mercy of the Lord for the Soul of penitent Amatus here buried But when the Opinion of Purgatory by the Monks management of the Business had a little more prepossessed the minds of People the use of Prayers in Epitaphs became much more frequent then it had been before And as it were easie to produce Centuries of Instances to that purpose as of John Bishop of Nepete deceased October the 31th in the year 770. of Paul Arch-Deacon of Pavia deceased in the year 774. of Alcuin deceased May the 19th 804. of Hincmar Arch-Bishop of Rheims deceased December the 21st 882. of Boson King of Provence deceased January the 11th 887. of Fulk Arch-Bishop of Rheims deceased June the 17th 899. of Pope John IX deceased September the 23d the same year of Pope Anastasius 111. deceased in the year 912. of Pope John XIII deceased September the 6th 972. of Pope Benedict VII deceased July the 10th 984. of Pope John XV. deceased May the 7th 996. of Gebhard Bishop of Constantia deceased August the 27th the same year of Pope Sylvester II. deceased May the 12th 1003. of John surnamed Capanarius deceased October the 12th 1004. of Pope John XIX deceased August the 31. 1009. of Pope Sergius IV. deceased May the 13th 1013. of Pope John XX. deceased November the 8th 1033. of Teresa Sister of Alphonsus v. King of Leow deceased June the 9th 1047. of Geffrey Count of Arles deceased about the year 1052. of Stephen Cardinal deceased in the year 1061. of Peter Damiani Bishop of Ostia deceased February the 23d 1072. of Adam a Monk of St. Victor's deceased in the year 1153 So some might conceive themselves obliged to believe that all the Prayers we read in such Epitaphs were intended onely to this end viz. to deliver the Souls of the departed out of the pretended Purgatory and I am ready to acknowledg that the intention of the Authours many times was or might be such most having especially from the year 900. either embraced or countenanced that new Tenet some upon account of the profit accrewing thereby some upon account of the profit accrewing thereby some because it seemed likely to keep mens Consciences in aw and divert Sinners from their wicked course of Life but this cannot be either said or imagined of all For with what countenance could they have numbred among the Malefactours racked upon the infernal Engines of Purgatory for their Sins either Gebhard whom the Authour of his Life observes to have been conveyed to Heaven by the Hands of Angels and at the time of his Enterment to have wrought Miracles which demonstrated his being glorified by God in Heaven Or Peter Damiani whom in like manner the Authour of his Life affirms to have died on the 23d of February being the Festival day of St. Peter at Antioch to the end that the celestical
place in the bosoms of thy Patriarchs her for whose sake thou mercifully didst descend upon Earth In the later it is said Be mindfull of him O Lord in the glory of thy brightness let the Heavens be open to him let the Angels rejoyce with him Lord receive thy Servant into thy Kingdom Let St. Michael the Arch-angel of God and General of the Celestial Militia entertain him let the holy Angels of God meet him and carry him into the Heavenly Jerusalem c. Loosed from the Chains of flesh may he be received into the glory of the celestial Kingdom c. If after all these Prayers the Agony continue there are at several times read the one hundred and sixth and one hundred and eighteenth Psalms according to the Greeks and Latines that is the one hundred and seventh and one hundred and nineteenth according to the Hebrews who are therein followed by the Protestants and when the Soul is departed they say Afford your assistance O ye Saints of God meet him O ye Angels of the Lord receiving his Soul and presenting it to the most high May Christ who hath called thee entertain thee and may the Angels conduct thee into the Bosom of Abraham c. O Lord give him eternal rest and let everlasting light shine upon him Lord deliver his Soul from the Gate of Hell let him rest in peace In the Mass for the sick who are in Agony besides two Lessons out of the Scripture whereof the former comprehends from the sixth Verse of the five and fiftieth Chapter of Isaiah to the twelfth with these words fastened in the beginning by I know not whom In diebus illis locutus est Esaias Propheta dicens and at the end Ait Dominus omnipotens and the later consists of the twentieth twenty first and twenty second Verses of the sixteenth Chapter of St. John with these words added at the beginning In illo tempore dixit Jesus Discipulis suis We have several Texts alledged containing Thanksgiving to God for his deliverances as the second sixth and seventh Verses of the eighteenth Psalm according to the Hebrews the fourth of the fifty seventh with Confessions of sins and Implorations of his mercy and assistance as the second Verse of the fifty seventh Psalm the first and second of the one hundred and thirtieth the eighth and ninth of the seventy ninth the first of the fifty first and the two and twentieth of the five and twentieth and in conclusion three Prayers in the first whereof we read these words Grant him O Lord thy grace that his Soul at the hour of its departure out of the body may be represented without the blemish of any sin by the hands of the holy Angels to thee who art the proper bestower thereof through our Lord c. The second is closed with this conclusion not much unlike the former That received by the Angels he may arrive at the Kingdom of thy glory through our Lord. And the third is laid down in these Terms O Lord we give thee thanks for thy manifold kindnesses wherewith thou art wont to satisfie the Souls of those who put their trust in thee we now confident of thy compassion do humbly beseech thee that thou wouldest vouchsafe to shew mercy on thy Servant lest at the hour of his departure out of the body the enemy prevail against him but that he may be thought worthy to pass to life through our Lord. If the Latine Church had from the beginning been imbued with this Sentiment that the Souls of the Faithfull are for the most part at their departure out of the Body confined to a place of Torment where they perfect the expiation of their sins through what misfortune is it come to pass that she so far forgot her self as not to have expressed any such thing in all their Service and that her Encouragements and Remonstrances to those that lie at the point of death who are as it is at this day presupposed in so great a necessity to prepare themselves for it and the Wishes and Prayers which she makes and appoints to be made as well for them as for the Dead whom a Superstitious perswasion imagines already set upon and invaded by Infernal flames in Purgatory do not onely not contain any remark thereof but formally teach the contrary And that they do so we are onely to instance out of what hath been newly alledged what they say of all without exception viz. that after death they have their place in Holy Sion that the Angels come to meet them that they convey them into the Kingdom of Glory into the bosom of a blessed Rest into the bosom of Abraham into the pleasant Verdures of Paradise that they might with the Quires of the Blessed contemplate Truth with their blessed eyes and enjoy the sweetness of divine contemplation eternally that the Lord places them in the Portion of the Elect in the place where they hoped for salvation opens the heavens to them gives them an eternal Rest and makes them pass into life which Expressions are such as that the Protestants could not according to the Hypotheses of their Belief either say or think any thing beyond them Shall we imagine her unfortunately seised by a Vertigo so extraordinary as that she would be guilty of such an Extravagance in favour of the Adversaries of her Sentiment so far as to furnish them with all the Expressions capable to ruine it and that she should be so unnatural and cruel towards those of her children whom death snatched away daily from her as not to vouchsafe to let them know by the last word that she had a Resentment of their Trouble or that it was her desire to procure their Deliverance out of it by her Prayers and to fortifie others whom she saw to fall into the like by communicating to them her Advertisements and Remonstrances and representing to them on the one side the necessity which the Justice of God imposed on them as is pretended to pass through the Fire and on the other the Hope which his Promise gave them to be preserved therein by his care till such time as his Goodness should grant them a glorious deliverance out of it Nay though we should be inclined to excuse in her so shamefull a want of compassion and memory could we free her from Prevarication charging her that instead of stirring up in her children the care of preparing themselves for Death and the temporal Pains which according to the Opinion of Purgatory were to follow upon it she hath treacherously permitted that to be rid of it with more ease they should run into erroneous perswasions and presume to promise themselves upon the very start out of this Life a passage into Abraham's Bosom and the Paradise of God or rather that she was resolved to lay them asleep her self by deceitfull Expressions in the Bosom of a prejudicial Security which smothers the apprehension they should have conceived of the Severity of that
a little Season to rest above and further consider as the highest point of their pretension that admirable perfection which the first shall not attain without the last one and the same day to wit that of the General Resurrection and the Last Judgment being appointed to make an eternal assurance of the full Perfection of their Glory The Antients I say upon these Considerations might and after their Example the Faithfull still may and do continually desire and beg it as well for themselves as for all those who before them had served their generations by the will of God and happily finished their course in this life Fourthly It may be observed that in this kinde of Prayer they seem to follow the Example of the Apostle praying for Onesiphorus that the Lord would grant that he might finde mercy with the Lord in that day in which he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe For whatever may be presupposed concerning the State of Onesiphorus and whether it be said that that good Person was or was not discharged as to the necessities of this life when the Wish set down in the Second Epistle to Timothy was made for him it will make no difference in the main and it will still be certain that the good expressed by St. Paul's Prayer hath not been hitherto accomplished in any one that it is of no less importance at this day to Onesiphorus then when St. Paul prayed for him that St. Paul and Onesiphorus and all the Saints who are with God wait for as much as we do who are saved by Hope onely the Day of the Lord and the Mercy which Onesiphorus and all the rest of the Elect shall finde when that day comes and that he who prays his Friend may obtain what cannot be conferred on him till many Ages after his Introduction into celestial Beatitude seems necessarily to pray for one that is Blessed if not effectually when he conceived his Prayer at least for one considered as such when he shall see the Effect thereof so that whensover a man undertakes to pray for him whether while he is alive or after his death or both before and after his death he still makes the same Prayer for him which not onely does not but canot change its nature in the revolution of Ages since that its foundation still unchangeably subsists and that it is impossible it shall have its Effect in any but a Person that hath been already a long time in Glory with God and who stands in need not of Beatitude in it self which he is already possessed of but the last Perfection of it and as it may be expressed in vulgar Terms the Over-weight which is necessarily to be added thereunto Thus the Fathers not without some Ground conceived they had pertinent Reasons to pray for those whom they thought gathered into the eternal Rest of God nay some out of a Motive of extraordinary compassion took the liberty to pray and advised others to make Prayers and give Alms for the Damned yet so as that for ought we know it hath not happened that for the space of six hundred years together any one of them laid it down as a Tenent of Catholique Faith That the Souls of those who ended their Lives in the Profession of that Faith were reduced immediately upon their departure to endure any temporal Punishment for their sins and to make full satisfaction to the Justice of God before they took possession of their Bliss The Antient Liturgies are so far from teaching any such thing that they have formally expressed the contrary and even to this day the Form of Prayer for the Recommendation of Persons in Agony expresly presupposes that their Souls at their departure out of the Bodies are to be carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom a Mansion of Rest and Felicity and not of Torment For after the Litanies whereby the Mercy of God is implored they say to the sick Person Proficiscere anima Christiana de hoc Mundo c. Depart out of this World O Christian Soul in the Name of God the Father Almighty who hath created thee in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God who hath suffered for thee in the Name of the Holy Ghost which is shed into thee c. May thy place be this day in Peace and thy habitation in Holy Sion through the same Christ our Lord. Amen To this Wish there is added a Prayer which demands for the sick Person the Remission of his sins the Renewing of whatever there was corrupt in him and his reconciliation with God and then this Discourse is addressed to him Commendo te c. I recommend thee most dear Brother to God Almighty and cōmit thee to him whose creature thou art that when by the interposition of death thou shalt have cancelled the Obligation of humanity thou mayst return to thy Authour who hath formed thee out of the slime of the Earth May therefore a bright Assembly of Angels meet thy soul at its departure out of the body c. May the embraces of the Patriarchs confine thee to the Bosom of a blissfull rest c. Mayest thou be delivered from Torment by Christ who was crucified for thee mayst thou be delivered from eternal death by Christ who vouchsafed to die for the May Christ the Son of the living God place thee in the ever-pleasant verdures of his Paradise and may that true Shepheard own thee among his Sheep May he forgive thee all thy sins and place thee in the portion of his Elect on his right hand Mayst thou face to face see thy Redeemer and being ever present behold with thy blessed eyes the most manifest truth Being then placed among the Quires of the blessed mayst thou enjoy the sweetness of divine contemplation world without end Amen After such a Discourse there is made this Prayer Suscipe Domine servum tuum c. O Lord Receive thy servant into the place where he is to hope salvation from thy mercy Amen O Lord deliver the soul of thy servant from all dangers of Hell and from the snares of Torments and from all Tribulations Amen Then having made a recital of the Deliverances of Enoch and Elias of Noë Abraham Joab Isaac Lot Moses Daniel and his three Companions David Saint Peter and Saint Paul they conclude with these words And as thou hast delivered from three most grievous Torments the most blessed Virgin and Martyr Thecla in like manner mayest thou be pleased to deliver the soul of this this thy servant and grant that he may rejoyce with thee in the enjoyment of celestial goods Amen At last follow two Prayers whereof the former begins with these words Commendamus animam Famuli tui c. O Lord we recommend unto thee the soul of thy servant and we humbly beseech thee O Jesus Christ Saviour of the World that thou wouldest not refuse to