in Ex Psalmis 127. 84. vain to build it except the Lord keepeth the city the watchman waketh but in vain 2. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are thy ways 3. They go from strength to strength every one of them in Sion appeareth before God 4. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts 5. My soul longeth ye even fainteth for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God when shall I come and appear before the presence of God 6. The sparrow hath found her an house and the swallow a nest for her self where she may lay her young even thy altars O Lord of Hosts my King and my God 7. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be always praising thee 8. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness 9. For the Lord God is a Sun and a shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly 10. O Lord of hosts blessed is the man that trusteth in thee Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen ¶ Then shall the Bishop go to the vault appointed in the Church for the burial place in case there be any or else standing in the most open pavement of the Church the Archdeacon shall read this lesson ¶ The Lesson in the Coemetery ANd when the Inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard of 1 Sam. 31. 11. that which the Philistims had done to Saul all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the walls of Bethshan and came to Jabesh and burnt them there And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days And they told David saying that the men of Jabesh 2 Sam. 2. 4. Oilead were they that buried Saul And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh Gilead and said unto them Blessed be ye of the Lord that ye have shewed this kindness unto your Lord even unto Saul and have buried him And the son of David King Solomon said If a man Eccless 6. 3. beget an hundred children and live many years so that the days of his years be many and his soul be filled with good and also that he have no burial I say that an untimely birth is better than he And so I saw the wicked buried who had come and Eccless 8. 10. gone from the place of the Holy and they were forgoten in the city where they had so done But let a man remember the days of darkness for they chap. 11. 8. shall be many For the dust shall return to the earth as it was and the chap. 12. 7. Spirit shall return unto God that gave it ¶ Then the Bishop standing in the same place shall pray O Almighty God with whom do live the spirits of them that die in the Lord grant unto all thy servants whose bodies shall be buried in this dormitory that they may lie down with the righteous and their souls may be gathered unto their Fathers in the bosom of Christ and their bodies may rest in peace unto the latter day and when thy holy Son shall come to judge both the quick and the dead they may hear the sentence of the right hand and may have their perfect consummation and bliss in thine eternal and everlasting glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ¶ Then the Bishop with the Clergy attending shall go to the Font and the Verger or Clerk presenting pure water to him he shall pour the water into the Font. ¶ Then shall the senior Priest read this Lesson ¶ The Lesson at the Font. ANd Jesus came and spake unto them saying All power Mat. 28. 18. is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you and lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Amen Then shall the Bishop pray O Eternal God Fountain of all Purity bless and sanctifie the waters which thou hast ordained and constituted for the mystical washing away of sin and grant unto all those who shall come hither to be presented unto thee and be washed in this Lavatory that they may receive the baptism of the Spirit and may have a title and portion in repentance remission of sins and all the promises of the Gospel that they may not onely have the washing of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God that they dying unto sin and being buried with Christ in his death may live unto righteousness and become thy Disciples in an unreproveable faith and a perfect obedience and at last may partake of the Resurrection of thy Son to life Eternal through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ¶ Then the Bishop shall go attended as before to the Pulpit and laying his hand upon it shall appoint one of the Priests to read the following Lesson The Lesson at the Pulpit I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus 2 Tim. 4. 1. Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine For the time will come that they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou Tit. 3. 8. affirm constantly that they who have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the Law for they are unprofitable and vain But let the man of God watch in all things endure afflictions 2 Tim. 4. 5. do the work of an Evangelist and make full proof of his Ministery ¶ Then shall the Bishop pray O Almighty God who by thy Word and by thy Spirit dost instruct thy servants and teach them all truth and lead them in the way of salvation Grant that this place may be always filled with wise and holy persons who may dispense thy word faithfully according to the ability thou givest and the charge which thou imposest and the duty thou requirest giving to every one their portion in due season and feeding the flock of God not of constraint or of necessity but willingly and cheerfully not for filthy lucres sake but readily and of a good mind O
A FORM OF CONSECRATION or DEDICATION OF CHURCHES AND Chappels Together with What may be used in the Restauration OF RVINED CHVRCHES AND EXPIATION of CHURCHES Desecrated or Prophan'd Dublin Printed by John Crook Printerto the Kâ—â—â—â— Most Excellent Majesty and are to be soâ—â— by Sam. Dancer in Castle-street 1666 Imprimatur Haecformula Consecrationis c. Ja. Armachanus Mich. Dublin Can. A FORM OF CONSECRATION OR Dedication of Churches and Chappels according to the use of the Church of Ireland ¶ THe Patron or the chief of the Parish where a new Church is erected is to give timely notice to the Bishop of the Diocess and humbly to desire him to appoint a convenient time some Lords day or other great Festival of the Church for performance of the solemnity ¶ At the day appointed the Bishop with a convenient number of his Clergy of which the Dean or Archdeacon to be one and the Chancellor of the Diocess and his Register shall come between the hours of eight and ten in the morning and when they are neer the bell is to ring till they be entred into the Church appointed to be consecrated ¶ First the Bishop and his Clergy together with the Patron or his Deputy shall go round about the Coemitery or Church-yard which done the Bishop and his Clergy shall enter into the Church at the West door the Patron and people standing without while the Bishop and Priests do vest themselves in their respective Ecclesiastick habits ¶ When they are vested they shall kneel down in the body of the Church with their faces to the East and say together OUr Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Amen ¶ Then the Bishop shall pray PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ¶ Then rising up they shall go together to the West door and the Dean or Archdeacon on one hand and the Chancellour on the other shall bring the Patron to the threshold of the West door and present him to the Bishop who shall thus say to him SIr I am come hither at your desire I ask therefore for what intent you have desir'd my coming ¶ The Patron shall answer or some of the Clergy at his request and appointment shall answer for him HE hath or mutatis mutandis I have caused a house to be built for the service of God and the publick Ministeries of Religion and separated a burying place for my dead and his or my humble desire is that it may be set apart from all common and prophane uses and dedicated to the honour of God by your prayers and holy Ministeries according to the Word of God and the Laws and Customs of this Church ¶ Then shall the Bishop say WHiles it remained was it not thine own and before it is given to God was it not in thine own power but when once you give it to God it can never be recalled but is in his propriety for ever ¶ The Patron or his Deputy shall answer I humbly desire he will be graciously pleased to accept it and that it may remain his own for his service and his honour for ever ¶ Then shall the Patron kneel down and receive the Bishops blessing in the words following ¶ The Bishop laying his hand upon or lifting it over the Patrons head shall say THe Lord bless you and prosper you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be merciful unto you Remember thy servant O God concerning this also accept his gift sanctifie his heart purifie his intentions reward his loving kindness and spare him according to the greatness of thy mercies Enrich him and his family with all blessings of thy Spirit and thy Providence for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen And now in the Name of God and to the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ let us perform this Ministery ¶ Then the Patron arising the Bishop shall call for the instrument of Donation which the Bishop receiving from the hands of the Patron shall deliver to the Register to be read publikely in that place ¶ Which being done all may enter into the Church Then shall the Bishop attended by his Clergy kneel in the body of the Church before the Chancel door at a convenient distance upon a footstep raised higher than the floor and shall say Let us pray I. BLessed be thou O Lord God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever Thine O Lord is the greatness 1 Chron. 29. 10 c. and the power and the glory and the victory and the Majestie All that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine Thine is the Kingdom O Lord and thou art exalted as head above all Both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all Now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious Name that thou hast put it into the heart of thy servants to build a house for the honour of thy Name and the service of thy Majestie O Lord our God What are we and what is this people that from thy servants any thing should be given and offered unto thee by us All things come of thee and of thy own we give unto thee But we know also O God that thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness O Lord God of our Fathers God of mercy and Father of men and Angels keep this and all thankfulness and piety and devotion in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy servants for ever and prosper thou the works of our hands unto us O prosper thou our handy-work Confirm this thing which thou hast wrought in us from thy holy Temple which is in Jerusalem which is from above and is the Mother of us all And for ever be pleased to imploy us in thy service to strengthen us in all obedience to lead us in the way everlasting and to accept us in those Religious duties which we shall perform by thy Commandment and by the assistances of thy holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen II. O Almighty and Eternal God who by thy Immensity fillest all places both in heaven and earth and canst not be limited or circumscrib'd in any Thou art the most High and dwellest not as we do in houses made with hands for Heaven is thy Throne and the earth is thy foot-stool And what house can we build for
or any other sort of prophanation the Bishop attended by two Priests at least and one Deacon shall enter into the Church which shall be first prepared by cleansings and washings c. ¶ The Bishop and his Clergy being vested shall go in Procession about the Church on the inside saying alternately the seventh Psalm and the ningth Psalm ¶ After which the Bishop with his Clergy shall go to the Holy Table and there kneeling down shall pray O Almighty God who art of pure eyes and canst not behold impurity behold the Angels are not pure in thy sight and thou hast found folly in thy Saints have mercy upon thy servants who with repentance and contrition of heart return unto thee humbling our selves before thee in thy holy place We acknowledge our selves unworthy to appear in thy glorious presence because we are polluted in thy sight and it is just in thee to reject our prayers and to answer us no more from the place of thy Sanctuary for wickedness hath entred into the Courts where thy holy feet have trod and have defiled thy dwelling place even unto the ground and we by our sins have deserved this calamity But be thou graciously pleased to return to us as in the days of old and remember us according to thy former loving kindnesses in the days of our Fathers Cast out all iniquity from within us remove the guilt of that horrible prophanation that hath been committed here that abomination of desolation in the holy place standing where it ought not and grant that we may present unto thee pure Oblations and may be accepted by the gracious interpellation of our High Priest the most glorious Jesus Let no prophane thing enter any more into the lot of thine inheritance and be pleased again to accept the prayers which thy servants shall make unto thee in this place And because holiness becometh thine house for ever grant to us thy grace to walk before thee in all holiness of conversation that we becoming a Royal Priesthood a chosen Generation a people zealous of good works thou mayest accept us according to thy own loving kindness and the desires of our hearts O look upon thy most holy Son and regard the cry of his blood and let it on our behalf speak better things than the blood of Abel O Let that sprinkling of the blood of the Holy Lamb who was slain from the beginning of the world make this place holy and accepted and purifie our hands and hearts and sanctifie our prayers and praises and hallow all our Oblations and preserve this house and all the places where thy Name is invocated from all impurity and prophanation for ever and keep our bodies and souls and spirits unblmeable to the coming of our Lord Jesus Then O blessed Father grant that we being presented unto thee without spot or wrinkle or any such thing may be clothed with the righteousness of the Saints and walk in white with the Lamb in the Kingdom of our God for ever and ever Grant this O Almighty God our most gracious Father for Jesus Christ his sake to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all worship and love and honour and glory from generation to generation for ever Amen ¶ Then the Bishop and Clergy arising from their knees shall say the Anathematism unto the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Acclamation as in the form of Consecration After which kneeling down shall be said the III. prayer plac'd in that Office a little before the Anathematism And next to that the II. Prayer which is immediately before that and then the Prayer of S. Clement ¶ After which arising from his knees the Bishop shall say SEing now dearly beloved in the Lord we have by humble prayer implor'd the mercy of God and his holy Spirit to take from this place and from our hearts all impurity and prophanation and that we hope by the mercies of God in our Lord Jesus Christ he hath heard our prayers and will grant our desires let us give hearty thanks for these mercies and say ¶ Then shall be said the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Acclamation as at the end of the Office of Consecration of Churches c. ¶ And then shall the Priest whom the Bishop shall appoint begin Morning prayer ¶ The Psalms for the day are Psalm 18 and Psalm 30. ¶ The first Lesson is Zechariah I. ¶ The second Lesson Mark II. unto verse 26. inclusively ¶ The Collect the same with that at Morning-prayer in the Consecration of Churches ¶ If any Chalice Paten Font Pulpit or any other Oblation or Vtensil for the Church be at any time newly to be presented the Bishop is to use the forms of Dedication of those respective gifts which are particularly used in the dedication and this to be done immediately after the Nicene Creed at the time of the Communion ever adding the Anathematism and Acclamation Te decet Hymnus Instrumentum Publicum conficiendum ad finem Consecrationis publicè legendum postea in ARCHIVIS EPISCOPALIBUS reponendum IN nomine Dei Amen Quum dilectus filius noster A. B. de C. in Comitatu D. pia Religiosâ devotione ductus Ecclesiam in villa de H. continentem intra muros ejusdem in longitudine ab Oriente ad Occidentem pedes aut circitèr in latitudine verò ab Aquilone ad Austrum versùs pedes aut circiter aedificaverit erexerit construxerit sacra mensâ decentèr ornatâ suggestis ad precandum legendum paerdicandum convenientèr compositis nec non locum sive aream pro Coemiterio separaverit qui locus in toto circuitu continet pedes aliáque necessaria ad cultum divinum sufficientèr decorè concinnaverit nobisque supplicaverit quatenùs Nos authoritate nostrâ ordinariâ atque Episcopali pro nobis successoribus nostris dictam Ecclesiam ab usibus pristinis communibus Prophanis quibuscunque separare in usus sacros divinos consecrare dedicare dignaremur Nos T. D. permissione divinâ D. Episcopus pio Religioso ejus desiderio in hâc parte favorabilitèr annuentes ad consecrationem Ecclesiae hujus de novo sicut praefatur erectae ornatae authoritate nostrâ ordinaria atque Episcopali procedentes eandem Ecclesiam ab omni communi prophano usu in perpetuum separamus soli divino cultui divinorum celebrationi in perpetuum addicimus dicamus dedicamus ac insuper eâdem authoritate pro nobis successoribus nostris licentiam pariter facultatem in Domino concedimus ad rem Divinam inibi faciendam nempè preces publicas sacram liturgiam caetui suo in linguâ Anglicana aut alio Idiomate ipsis communiter intellecto recitandum ad verbum Dei sincerè fideliter proponendum atque supplicandum ad sanctissima sacramenta quoties par erit in eâdem ministranda ad mortuos si voluerint sepeliendos ad caetera quaecunque peragenda quae in aliis Capellis Ecclesiis Parochialibus communitèr licite fieri possunt solent ac tam Presbyteris Diaconis respectivè ad leges Ecclesiasticos inserviendi preces divinas dicendi ceteraque praemissa faciendi quam dicto A. B. Parochianis omnibus in eadem preces divinas audiendi caeteraque praemissa percipiend plenam in domino potestatem facimus eandem quoque Ecclesiam in honorem Dei sacros usus eorum qui in Parochia habitant commorantur nunc in futurum consecramus per nomen Ecclesiae SS individuae Trinitatis vel Christi c. sic consecratam fuisse esse in futuris temporibus sic remanere debere palam publicè pronunciamus decernimus declaramus privilegiis insuper omnibus singulis in tali Ecclesia usitatis aut alicui Ecclesiae Parochiali in hac Diaecesi ab antiquo fundatae competentibus Ecclesiam hanc ad omnem Juris effectum munitam publicam esse volumus quantum in nobis est de Jure possumus sic munimus stabilimus per praesentes Reservamus tamen semper nobis successoribus nostris Episcopis D. potestatem visitandi dictam Ecclesiam quando visum fuerit ad officium spectare ut constet an reparationibus aliisque rebus decoris conservetur an omnia ibidem Canonicè secundùm ordinem fiant quae omnia singula sic reservamus quoad caetera vero praemissa quatenus in nobis est de jure possumus pro nobis successoribus nostris decernimus stabilimus per praesentes FINIS