now raised up again by the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus walk after a new manner in all religious and holy Conversation so should our deliverance be for the glory of his holy name through Christ Jesus for whatsoever Lusts we shall conquer or whatsoever good we shall perform the praise must wholly redound to him who did revive and restore us And surely we shall find it a most happy change from the slavery of sin the bondage of Satan and the fear of Hell to be acquainted with the pleasures of holiness the peace of a good Conscience and the love of God wherefore though this be the last let it not be thought the least of these Petitions but let us beg it with such Devotion as may attest our sincerity in all the other parts of this Confession so will our Heavenly Father grant them all to us through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Paraphrase of the Confession § 9. O Almighty God we thy poor sinful Creatures full of anguish and confusion for our offences against thy Majesty do make bold to come unto thee because thou art the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and for his sake inclinable to shew us mercy Thou art the Maker of us and all things and thou hatest nothing which thou hast made but hast pity on all the works of thy hands so that we are encouraged to make our supplication unto thee O thou judge of all men for it is in thy power for ever to acquit or to condemn us We tremble and blush to be found Sinners against so infinite a power and goodness but we must not add Hypocrisie to our disobedience Wherefore We acknowledge freely and bewail most bitterly our manifold offences of all kinds from the least of our Sins to the greatest of our Crimes and wickedness All and every one of which we long and frequently from time to time with many provoking aggravations most grievously have committed O Lord who can tell how oft we have offended * Here call to mind some of the greatest of thy particular sins in thoughts words or actions By thought in vain and evil imaginations by word in false uncharitable or blasphemous speeches and by Deed in ungodly unjust or intemperate actions For alas by all and every one of these ways we have daily sinned against thy Divine Majesty turning thereby thy loving kindness into displeasure and provoking thee to anger we have given thee cause most justly to let loose thy wrath and indignation against us to our utter ruine if thy mercy do not help us Our guilt is evident our danger apparent and our estate is most deplorable wherefore We do most passionately and earnestly repent us that ever we did commit them And are heartily sorry with all our Souls for these our so many and so abominable misdoings When we look upon the baseness and presumption of these vile offences The remembrance of them doth pierce our hearts with shame and sorrow and is most grievous unto us When we behold thy Favour which we have forfeited and Eternal Damnation which we have deserved thereby the burden of them presseth down our Souls with a load of terror and amazement that is intolerable Yet since thou callest all that are heavy laden we must not despair of thy pity but in this great distress we do beseech thee to Have mercy upon us and since our necessity forceth us to be importunate we will cry again Have mercy upon us We know thou art a most merciful Father though by sin we are unworthy to be called thy Children yet we hope thy bowels will yern upon us We lie prostrate and helpless begging of thee for thy dearly beloved Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake and by the merits of his Cross and Passion to forgive us freely and fully for all that is past from the beginning of our life until this very moment Lord make us instances of thy mercy And grant when we have received so excellent and undeserved a favour that we may be so engaged thereby as that for ever hereafter we may beware of falling back into the like sin and misery Convert us we beseech thee as well as pardon us and enable us most obediently to serve and most intirely to please thee by spending the rest of our time in newness of life and all holy conversation Which through the help of thy grace we do here vow and resolve upon that this mighty change may tend to the honour and glory of thy Name who hast so wonderfully delivered us All which we most heartily beg through Iesus Christ our Lord to whose intercession for us do thou say Amen and it shall be to us according to thy word Amen SECT IV. Of the Absolution § 1. HE must be wholly a stranger to the Discipline of the Antient Church who knows not how great a care was taken that no publick offender might partake of these mysteries until by a long tryal and a great humiliation he had received an Absolution as publick as his crime had been so that it was a mighty and scandalous irregularity in S. Cyprians time a Nondum poenitentiâ actâ nondum exomologesi factâ nondum manu eis ab Episcopo Clero impositâ Eucharistia iis datur Cypr. de laps that lapsed persons by the favour of the Confessors and Martyrs were in some places suffered to Communicate without the solemn Absolution which yet was rectified afterwards b Vbique mysterii ordo servatur ut prius per remissionem vulneribus medicina tribuatur postea alimonia mensae coelestis exuberet Ambr. in Luc. But this godly Discipline being now every where laid aside it is so much the more necessary to supply it by this general Confession and Absolution Concerning which in general the Reader may consult what is said before Compan to the Temp. SECT IV. § 1. And as to this particular form it shall suffice to note that it is in imitation of that antient form of blessing c Benedictio ista pronuncianda est à sacerdote stante facie ad populum versâ manibus elevatis altâ voce in nomine Dei proprio RR. ap Fag Numb 6.24 c. being expressed by way of Prayer as there The Lord bless thee c. And since it is certain there is such a Power vested in the Ministers of the Gospel to support the spirits of a dejected Penitent by antedating his pardon in the name of God there can be no fitter opportunity to exercise this power than now when so many poor humbled Sinners are kneeling before God and begging forgiveness at his hands Then it becomes the Priest in Confidence of his Masters Mercy to give them his best wishes and with more than an ordinary Prayer to signifie as well as ask their pardon You have said with David We have sinned wherefore God hath sent his Minister like another Nathan to assure you that He hath also put away the iniquity of your
observeth the Ordinances of Religion confidently f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Apol. saith unto me Thou art my Saviour Lord wilt thou not own me Lord who have ever called thee Master I say it this be all not any one of these pretenders shall enter into the glories of the Kingdom of Heaven or be accepted by me then But he that doth acts of Mercy and Charity which is the command and the Will of my Father which doth good to all himself and ever is in Heaven whither I must not admit any that do not please him by being merciful § 5. Luke 19.8 If the Precepts and Exhortations work not on you perhaps this Example may Behold a Publican usually the worst of Men who had received that Christ into his House whom you are to receive into your hearts by the Words of Jesus wholly changed into justice and liberality Paraphrase And while the Lord was Preaching of Justice and Charity Zacheus a chief of the Publicans who entertained him stood forth before many Witnesses and said of his own accord with great Devotion unto the Lord Jesus I confess I have loved the World too well but Behold Lord thy sayings have now wrought in me such a contempt of these things that to shew how much I prize Heaven above Wealth Lo the half of my goobs and great Estate I give at Pesent to thee to be disposed to the Poor nor do I keep the other half out of any love to Riches but desire to do justly And if in my exacting Office I have taken any thing more than was due from any Man Poor or Rich by false accusation or bribery Let him come and challenge me of the wrong and here I restore him fourfold which is more than the Law requires where there hath been no denial nor alienation Exod. 22.1 2 3 4. § 6. 1 Corinth 9.7 The next care of the Church is to shew us who are the objects of our Charity viz. The Ministers in the next five Sentences And secondly All especially the Christian poor Gal. 6.10 First The Ministers for it is evident by these places and Heb. 13.10 as also by the Writings of St. Cyprian and all the Antient Canons g Episcopus Presbyteri inter Diaconos reliques clericos eas oblatione scil dividunt Can. Apost 5. Si quid ex collatione fidelium offertur apud unum Clericorum fidelitèr colligatur constituto tempore semel aut his in anno inter omnes clericos dividatur Concil Bracor can 39. Vid. Concil Agathens can 26. Decret Epist Simplic Pont. R. 3. that the Clergy were chiefly maintained out of the oblations made at the Communion until Ihe Piety of Christian Kings had otherwise provided so that it was very ancient to exhort the people at this Sacrament to liberality to Gods Minister from whom they did here receive so great a gift as the Body of Jesus Christ Nor is it fit to leave out these sentences now because in many places still especially in Cities and appropriate Churches the Ministers chief maintenance is Free-gifts and Oblations especially at Easter These parts therefore of Gods word ought to stir up all People not to think the bare Dues sufficient where the Minister hath not an honourable Provision but privately where the custom of the Priests sharing in the offerings at Church is now laid aside to give some considerable gratuity to him that ministers to them in spiritual things Now to the Texts St. Paul urgeth liberality to the Ministers First by Similitudes for as to the dangers of their Calling they are likened to Souldiers h 2 Tim. 2.3 4. as to their pains to Husbandmen and Vine-Dressers i 2 Tim. 2.6 Math. 20.1 as to their love and care k Acts 20.28 Ezek. 34 c. they are compared to Shepherds Now all these have profit by that they labour in Ergo. Paraphrase The office of the Ministry requireth more pains and care than any Profession and therefore ought to be maintained at least as well as any Now who goeth a Souldier to warfare at any time in defence of his Country of his own cost Doth not his Prince and Nation for which he fighteth give him Wages Or who planteth Vines and dresseth a Vineyard that would think his time well bestowed if he drinketh not of the Wine and eateth not of the Fruit which groweth thereof Or who feedeth and waiteth on a Flock of Sheep if he getteth no profit by them and eateth not of the Milk and cloatheth not himself with the Wool of the flock if he might not have this reward of his care he would soon be weary of his charge and so may Ministers also § 7. 1 Cor. 9.11 Secondly He proves it from Reason because the people receive from them greater and better things which if they value according to their worth all that they can give will appear far short of a requital Paraphrase It is most reasonable you should be bountiful to the Messengers of Salvation for If we Ministers in Praying for you Preaching and Administring the Sacraments to you have sow that Seed of Grace which will procure unto you Eternal life and have ever dispensed to you all spiritual things for the good of your Souls Is it too much or seems it a great matter if in requital for Heavenly blessings sown we shall reap some small part of your Worldly things for the supply of our necessities § 8. 1 Cor 9.13 14. Most of these Corinthians had been first Jewish Proselytes and now become Christians wherefore the Apostle sets before them the known Example of the provisions for the Priests under the Law ver 13. and secondly Propounds unto them the Ordinance of Christ in the Gospel ver 14. Paraphrase ver 13 The Ministers of the Gospel certainly deserve as much as the Levitical Priesthood and Do ye not know how honourably the Law provided for them for besides many free Cities and Lands and all the Tiths it was appointed Tâ—at thâ—y which l Which Scaliger proveth to have been 19. parts out of 100. De decim ap Critic sacr and Josephus notes there was enough for above 5000. Priests were but Levites and only minister and serve the Priests about holy things should be nobly fed and live plentifully upon the best parts of the Sacrifice And that the Priests which offer all Oblations being They who wait on the service of God at the Altar should have a large share of the offerings and the benefit of all consecrated things so that they are partakers with the Altar which only consumeth Gods part and the rest they feasted upon Ver. 14. Even so for the same Reason and by way of Analogy to this Provision hath the Lord Jesus m Per Traditionem non scriptam ut plurimi Veterum crediderunt vel in Evangelio Math. 10.10 Luke 10.7 under the Gospel also Ordained and appointed That they who leaving all other imployments betake themselves
life-giving hand and lift us up who are bowed down and lie groveling upon the Earth under a grievous and deadly burthen We can hardly bear up under the weight of this momentany sorrow and how then are we like to endure the eternal Vengeance Thus then we must be affected when we say this Confession for let us remember that we do not confess to instruct an All-seeing God but to humble our selves And to reckon up our sins without such contrition is but a renewed provocation he that abhorred our wickedness when it was done will abhor us if we tell the story of it with an unrelenting heart Let him therefore not only hear the words of our lips but the sad groans of our penitent hearts saying a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo legis alleg l. 2. Ah me how long have I been sick of the Disease of folly Miserable wretch can I excuse or dare I deny any of this Indictment the facts are apparent the Law is plain and the sentence unavoidable I must confess I have been as unworthy and as grievous a sinner as ever the Earth bore and I am amazed at my self for I am here liable to all that God hath threatned to the greatest offenders Wo is me I have no refuge no sanctuary but in the divine mercy and thither will I fly for succour § 7. Have mercy upon us have mercy upon us most merciful Father for thy Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake forgive us all that is past After the Confession of our sin and our hearty Contrition for it most regularly follows this supplication for Mercy We have clearly represented our miserable Estate how we lie groaning and oppressed with an intolerable load of guilt and terror and he that commands us not to see our Enemies Beast lie under his burden without relief Exod. 23.5 will never suffer our poor Souls to perish under this our grievous pressure but will pitty and help us especially because we do with so much Passion beg his Mercy with redoubled Cries Have mercy upon us have mercy c. We must not censure this as a vain repetition for it is the very words of David Psal 57.1 123.3 and doth rarely express our great necessity our earnest desire and our imminent danger b Repetitio ardorem precandi denotat clementiam divinam commovet ad opem accelerandam Muis. Gejer. in Psal 57. it is an importunity pleasing to our gracious God Mark 10.47 48. who is ready to give his mercy as soon as we are fit to receive it and when by our urgent cries we shew that we have found ouâ— want of mercy he rejoices in that opportunity to bestow it He is a most merciful Father and the fountain from whence all the pity in the World doth flow and if men who are often churlish and unnatural can scarce deny the cries or abuse the expectations of their Children Luke 11.11 12 13. how much more impossible is it for our Heavenly Father to reject so earnest and so necessary a request The Prodigal no sooneâ— pronounces the word Father Luke 15.21 but the resâ— of his speech was much of it interrupted by his Fathers embraces charmed with that endearing name which as we here use on the same occasion let us do it with like affections and it shall have the same success Mercy is the first but not the only thing we ask for we further beseech him to forgive us and this will follow thâ— other because the mercy of God is not a meer useless pity or ineffective condoling c Misericordia est animi condolentis affectiâ— cum additamento beneficii ut compatiamuâ— proximo largiamus de proprio August but it immediately brings us help for by removing our sin the cause it soon takes away our misery which was only the effect thereof we desire therefore his mercy may appear in our forgiveness and we have a powerful motive annexed not for our Righteousness d Non quia merui sed quia egeo justitia meritum quaerit misericordia miseriam Bern. but for our Lord Jesus sake whose Death is here set forth and who hath so purchased mercy as to satisfie justice e Misericordia tunc est vera misericordia si sic facta est ut justitia per eam non contemnatur Chrysos hom in Math. Wherefore we may most chearfully ask a pardon in his name even for all that is past because he hath deserved mercy for all the World if they will receive it and there are Millions of Souls now in Heaven that once lay under as great a burden as we now do who making their Confession and supplication in his name have for his merits sake been advanced to a state of glory Let us ask then also and that with all possible fervency considering how blessed we shall be when God hath crossed out all our debts and Jesus cancelled all our Obligations Oh how will this dispel all our Clouds of sorrow how chearfully shall we stand upright and praise God in the following Office when this dismal load is thus removed § 8. And grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life to the honour and glory of thy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen In the same breath that we ask for Pardon we must also Petition for Grace to amend our lives or else we affront the Holiness of God f Non est poenitens sed â—rrisor qui adhuc agit â—nde poeniteat S. Bern. while we pretend to crave his mercy He that only desires forgiveness to be quit of his present fear is an Hypocrite g Improbus quo ad metuit omnia est promissurus fimulatque timere desierit similis est futurus sui Cicero 2. Phil. and doth not hate or grieve for his iniquity but for the punishment annexed to it and when that fear ceaseth will be as bad as ever But I hope we have truly felt the weight of sin and duly apprehended the misery of having God to be our Enemy and if so we shall be as desirous to be kept from future sins as we are to be delivered from our past offences We have seen how base how foolish and how desperate a thing it is to displease the Lord let us now therefore beg it as a mighty favour that we may hereafter please him by an obedience that may last for ever and may extend to all parts of our duty so that we may be wholly changed into new Persons and live in newness of life Rom. 6.4 Proclus tells of one Eurynous who died and was buried at Nicopolis yet some days after was taken up alive h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comm. in Plat. Rep. and afterwards did lead a much more holy life than he had done before h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comm. in Plat. Rep. Even so should we who were dead in Law and by the sentence of our own Conscience being
sin 2 Sam. 12 13. And though David might by his Faith in the Promises have found some Comfort yet neither so sure nor so sweet a consolation as when he receives it from the mouth of a special Messenger So likewise if we would chuse to believe rather than dispute it would be a powerful Cordial to every troubled Spirit by a particular Officer from the King of Heaven to be thus saluted and he that cannot value this Absolution from the Priest can no other way receive satisfaction to his doubts and fears unless he expect to be assured of his Remission by an immediate Revelation or can be content to stay till the day of Judgment for the Resolution of this great enquiry Only let us but be careful that our Repentance be sincere and then we may with much joy hear the following Absolution which very briefly we shall now explain The Analysis of the Absolution Sect. 2. The Absolution hath three parts 1. The Original from whom it springs Almighty God our Heavenly Father 2. The ground on which it depends His promise 1. The motive to it who of his great mercy hath promised 2. The matter of it forgiveness of sins 3. The conditions annexed to it to all them that with hearty repentance and true Faith turn unto him 3. The Petitionary blessing or Absolution it self for 1. The Averting the Evil of 1. Sin Have mercy upon you 2. Punishment Pardon and deliver you from all your sins 2. The obtaining of good both 1. Present Confirm and strengthen you in all goodness 2. Future and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Practical Discourse of the Absolution § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him The Spiritual Physician doth here proceed most regularly in the Cure of poor Sinners that labour under a burden of guilt and sorrow for he first premises such Considerations as may dispose them to believe that the following Blessing shall be ratified and the Absolution confirmed by a higher Power For first He minds them that he who is Almighty and only can forgive Mar. 2.7 is also their Heavenly Father and full of Compassion toward them yea like as a Father pittyeth his own Children even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him Psal 103.13 But of this before Secondly therefore that he is not only engaged by his affections but by his truth also to deliver them for he hath solemnly promised Isai 55.7 Ezek. 18.30 John 3.16 c. that he would freely forgive and fully be reconciled to all such as unfeignedly grieved for their sins and wholly cast themselves upon his mercy so that they cannot doubt of a pardon if they believe him to be faithful that promised d Qui credidit promittenti fidentèr promissum repetit promissum quidem ex misericordiâ sed jam ex justitiâ persolvendum Bern. de gr lib. It was indeed only his great mercy which moved him to promise this because he might most righteously have taken the first forfeiture made to his justice but now this gracious Promise is made by him that cannot lie there is a certainty of the performance He knew that as the stroke of his Vengeance was intolerable so the expectation thereof was terrible and amazing wherefore he promised forgiveness on purpose to prevent the despair of such as were willing to amend that by so great a favour he might engage them to obedience and encourage them in all the parts of duty Yet because it almost exceeds belief that ever God should receive such grievous Sinners and they that are most truly humble are most apt to Question this therefore is all this premised to prepare them with faith and hope to entertain that which follows § 4. Have mercy upon you pardon and deliver you from all your sins confirm and strengthen you in all goodness and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen When Jesus was to raise up Lazarus from the dead he commanded the men who stood by to remove the stone from the Grave and afterwards to unloose the Grave-Cloâ—hs even so though he only do give life to Sinners e Absolutio hominis in Dei miseratione non in hominis potestate est Ambr. in Job l. 1. c 6. yet he is pleased to use the Ministry of his Servants in the Dispensation of their Pardon f Nostrûm est onera removere illius exuere de sepulchro exutos vinculis idem de poen l. 2. cap. 7. The Prayer is made by the Priest but then it is directed to the Divine Majesty and though according to the antient manner g Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus dimittat vobis omnia peccata vestra Missal it be put into the form of a request yet being grounded on the promise and agreeable both to the nature and design of God it hath a mighty force and ascends Heaven Cum privilegio it is like the Fathers Blessing which hath always been believed to convey as well as crave the Benediction thus Isaac blessed Jacob Gen. 27.28 29. in the Imperative Mood God give thee c. Let the people c. Be thou Lord c. And thus Jacob blessed Josephs Sons Gen. 48.15 16. and the Lord accomplished all the particulars Let it therefore chear your hearts ye contrite ones to hear this Blessing from your spiritual Father for behold it contains all that you do need or can desire Are you miserable here is mercy are you sinful here is pardon are you liable to punishment here is deliverance are you desirous but unable to do good here is strength and confirmation are you fearful of Death and Hell here is Heaven and Everlasting Life And all this asked of God by one that he hath Commissionated to make this Prayer so that your only care is that your Repentance be such as your Minister believes it to be and then this Absolution shall certainly be confirmed in the High Court of Heaven and not one word thereof shall fall to the ground The Paraphrase of the Absolution § 5. Let not the multitude of your sins discourage any of you who are truly grieved for them for I am bound to speak peace to you in the name of Almighty God against whom you have offended because he is our Heavenly Father infinite in mercy and loving kindness And you may believe this the more firmly since it is he who of his great mercy and pity to poor Sinners so freely and frequently hath promised to grant forgiveness of sins and a gracious Pardon to all them that with hearty Repentance for their grievous offences and true Faith in his mercy and the merits of Jesus do turn unto him to seek remission and obtain his favour I his Substitute believing you to be such do according to mine office beseech and require
Blessed Sacrament on purpose to purifie us and unite us unto our dear Redeemer Why then do we stand looking one upon another Gen. 42.1 and not rather look up to him that only can help us all will not our own necessities open our mouths nor his tender mercies incourage us to call upon him to give us grace that we may eat and live We do intend to eat but we had better not eat at all than not eat So k 1 Cor. 11.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So let him eat Psal 26.6 So will I compass c. as God requires and So as to be bettered thereby Now to the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure Titus 1.15 In vain therefore should we desire in the following Prayer of Consecration that these Elements should become the body and blood of Christ if we did not first pray that we might worthily receive them There must be a change in us or else though Christs natural flesh and blood were here and we should eat and drink thereof every day we could not partake of Christ l Qui discordat à Christo nec carnem ejus manducat nec sanguinem bibit etiamsi tantae rei sacramentum quotidiè indifferentèr accipiat Prosp sent 341. It is our eating with Faith and penitence love and holy purposes that makes it to be Christs body and blood to us most wisely therefore hath the Church ordered that before we pray for the Consecration of the Symbols we should desire to be Consecrated our selves Thus St. Ambrose in that Prayer said to be used by him before he Communicated saith O holy Bread which camest down from Heaven and givest life to the World come into my heart and cleanse me from all defilements of flesh and spirit enter into my Soul heal and sanctifie me within and without Let us consider the spots and stains the foulness and diseases with which our bodies and Souls are overspread and then behold this salutary and living Manna which hath power to restore us to an excellent purity and to make us amiable in the Eyes of God and then we shall heartily put up this Petition we shall hunger and thirst after it groan and long for it m Famelicus accedo ne recedam impastus si antequam comedam suspiro da vel post suspiria ut comedam August Med. c. 39. as it is reported St. Catherine was wont to do with the same passion that the Child doth for the Breast of its Mother Let us come then with most ardent desires and summon up all our Powers now the Angel is so near who makes our Bethesda Medicinal let us passionately cry out and say Lord hast thou set open this Fountain and wilt thou let a wretched Creature die for thirst in thy presence hast thou prepared such balm to heal me and shall I languish here before thee I know if thou wilt thou canst make me clean here is the very instrument in thy hand Grant therefore holy Jesus that I may duly apply it and rightly use it and then it shall prepare me for thee and unite me to thee by such inseparable Bonds as shall never break unless Eternity can have an end Blessed are they that So eat thy flesh and So drink thy blood So as thou requirest and So as thy Saints of old have done for they have been cleansed at this Fountain and here their Vnion with thee first began Oh happy season Excellent opportunity Lord let me do it well this once and I am thine for ever Amen The Paraphrase of the Address § 6. Holy God! thou mightest justly wonder to see so many grievous Sinners daring to come so near but We do not impudently rush upon these dreadful mysteries nor do we presume to come to this thy Table where Angels do attend as if we deserved this Honour O merciful Lord We do not approach trusting in our own Righteousness for alas we have done nothing which can bear that name but that which drew us hither was our confidence in thy manifold and great mercies which exceed our manifold and great offences And now that we are before thee we must still confess whatever favours thy goodness heaps upon us that we are not worthy by reason of our sinfulness and backslidings so much as with the Dogs to gather up the Crumbs which fall under thy Table not fit to receive the least mercies or measures of grace from thee much less to sit as guests before thy Majesty at this Heavenly Feast But yet we make bold to do this because thou art not to be changed by our sins being ever the same Lord whose property is to be unwearied with well-doing and never wanting in pity and thou art wont always to have mercy on those who confess their offences as we have done Grant unto us therefore gracious Lord by the present assistance of thy holy Spirit so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Iesus Christ spiritually in this Sacrament and so to drink his blood as that we may receive all the benefits of his Cross and Passion even that our sinful and defiled bodies may be made clean by his holy and immaculate body and our Souls which are polluted in every faculty washed through his most precious blood which taketh away the sins of the World Let us be so wholly purifyed that we may now begin to be inseparably united to Jesus and that we by Faith may evermore dwell in him abiding in his love and that by his spirit he may dwell in us always Amen SECT II. Of the Prayer of Consecration § 1. AFter all this Preparation we need not ask with Isaac Gen. 22.7 where is the Lamb for the Burnt-Offering for God hath provided his own dear Son whose blood being already spilt is so efficacious and all-sufficient that there is now no need of any other but this unbloody Sacrifice a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril cat Myst 5. incruentam oblationem Liturg. 5. Marci sacrificium absque sanguine Liturg. S. Basil to be offered and that in memorial of that great Sin-offering which taketh away the sins of the World 1 Pet. 2.5 And for this purpose Christ himself hath b Ille mirabilem quandam victimam pro nostra omnium salute obtulit memoriam nobis tradens loco sacrificii continuo offerendam Euseb praep Evang. l. 1. c. 10. appointed these Creatures of Bread and Wine ordaining that because they are designed to express so great a Mystery they shall have a peculiar Consecration The antient Greeks and Romans would not taste of their ordinary Meat and Drink till they had hallowed it by giving the first parts thereof to their Gods c Romani Graeci in convictu familiari ciborum particulis vino in ignem conjectis libamina Diis dabant Alex. ab Alex. gen dier l. 5. c. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. de abst l 2. c. 20. The
believing Persons thereby 3. And it is the more probable that we shall prevail when we ask this mercy because that Our Lord himself was pleased to honour this Ordinance by causing it to be Administred to himself by St. John in the River Jordan Math. 3.17 And He was Baptized saith St. Ambrose not that he might be cleansed but that he might cleanse the Waters that they themselves being washed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin might have a right to be used in Baptism ever after Ambr. in Luc. 3. and the grace which it received from him it pours upon us Christians idem Serm. Domin 6. post Pentec Yet we must not fancy as Tertullian and St. Ambrose note that this Sanctification was derived only to that one River whereupon some of old would be baptized no where but in Jordan For the Blessing was communicated say they to all Water that should ever be used to this purpose Now if the great end why Jesus was baptized were to Hallow the Water to this use we may the more chearfully present our Petition that the Party to be baptized may find supernatural effects from this holy Laver. 2. The Petition therefore advanced upon these Premises is First For Gods general Pitty to be expressed towards this infant because it is miserable by nature and liable to his wrath 2. Particularly that he will please to wash and purifie it from all its Natural Pollutions by the living Water John 7.38 even his holy Spirit o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in Johan 3. which alone can cleanse the Soul and which gives the power of cleansing to this Water We pray that he who gave so many illustrious Types of Baptism before its Institution and at its first Original dignified it with the presence of his own Son that he will now look with Compassion on the original misery of this Child and wash it wholly away by his Spirit 3. And we ask this the more fervently because there will follow so blessed an effect upon our being heard viz. 1. Privative if it please him so to wash away the Sin of this Child it shall be delivered from Gods wrath Math. 3.7 since his wrath doth not remain on those whose Sins are pardoned but when the iniquity the cause is gone the wrath is removed also 2. There will follow also positive effects even the Seeds of Sanctifying Graces which will manifest themselves in due time The sum is that if it be washed with the Spirit it shall not be left to perish in the general deluge but be taken into the Church as Noah into the Ark p Ecclesia est arca figurata Tertul. de bap In illa mirandae capacitatis arca Ecclesia figuratur Ambros de voc gen l. 2. c. 4. and so be saved from the common destruction and although this Child as the Ark q Navicula illa figuram Ecclesiae praeferebat quod in mari id est seculo fluctibus id est persecutionibus tentationibus inquietatur Tert. of old be tossed a while upon the troublesome Waves of this World yet if Faith be the Pilot Hope the Sails and Charity the Lading no boisterous Billows shall be able to overwhelm it but it shall triumphantly and joyfully ride over these Surges until they have conveyed it safe to the Port of Immortality All these Graces are the fruits of that One Spirit so that if here it be received all these happy effects will be the consequents thereof §. 4. The second Collect for the Child Almighty and immortal God the aid of all that need c. To express our earnestness and importunity we do again renew our Address and in this second Prayer we request First That this Child may be pardoned and regenerated Secondly That it may be adopted and accepted by Almighty God both which are enforced with their proper motives 1. The first Petition is ushered in by a solemn Invocation wherein we call upon God by all those Attributes which do express his Power and Mercy we confess him to be Omnipotent and immortal 1 Tim. 6.16 the reliever of the needy Psal 10.16 69.33 the helper of those that fly to his Protection John 6.37 He giveth Eternal Life to Believers and raiseth those that are Dead John 11.25 and therefore he is the fittest to be sollicited in behalf of a weak and helpless infant dead in trespasses and sins Yea we esteem our selves happy that we have so great and so good a God to come unto in its behalf for here we do present him with an object suitable to his Might and his Mercy and since this poor Creature is so miserable but yet can neither apprehend its own misery nor speak in its own behalf we our selves become its spokesmen that it may be born again in this Laver of Regeneration and have all its Sins both pardoned and removed and doubtless so Charitable a Prayer from so many Hands presented to such a God for so deplorable an object cannot return empty 2. The next Petition proceeds further and craves that when the sin is removed and the nature renewed it may be most favourably received by God and adopted for his own Child And herein we seem to imitate that antient custom prescribed by the Roman Law in that kind of Adoption which was called Adrogation r Arrogatio autem dicta quia genus hoc in alienam familiam transitûs per Populi rogationem fit Au◠Gellius noc Att. 5. 19. Et Justinian instit l. 1. titul 11. de Adop Sect. 1. whereby a Child being to be adopted into a better Family was admitted by the approbation of the High Priest and at the Intercession of all the people in a publick Assembly Thus we who are already Citizens of Heaven do all join in requesting there may be one more added to our number and received into the Houshold of God And the motive to this Petition is no less than Gods gracious Promise by Jesus Christ Math. 7.7 that if we ask we shall have which St. Luke applies to the giving of the Holy Spirit Chap. 11.13 and some of the Antients refer this promise to this very mystery Nor can this promise be urged more properly For we have brought this infant to Heaven Gate but we cannot make it the Child of God nor let it in so that all we can do is to ask and seek to him to open the Gate and to receive it who hath promised to hear the Prayers of his Church The External washing is but a temporal priviledge and only makes this Child one of the number of the visible Church But the Heavenly washing of the Soul ſ Aquâ enim corpus abluitur Spiritu animae delicta mundantur Ambros in Luc. 3. Quod incorporale est invisibilitèr abluatur idem is an Everlasting Blessing and doth purifie the Soul and fit it for Eternal Life t Foelix Sacramentum aquae nostrae quâ abluti delictis pristinae caecitatis
receive it able to understand it b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plotinus John 7.17 Ecclus 1.26 nor likely to profit by it Nor must any Man think these divine Precepts of the Moral Law so appropriated to the Jewish Synagogues where they were constantly with great reverence used as to deserve no place in the Christian Worship Or at least that we need not so great preparations before they are read to us For our Saviour hath rather more strictly enjoined than any ways abrogated these Measures of Eternal goodness And withal assures us that the keeping of the Precepts is the way to Everlasting Life Matth. 5.19 20. and Chap. 19.17 So that all of us are concern'd to know this Covenant to which we have ingaged in our Baptism this Rule by which we are to square our lives here and this Law by which we must be judged hereafter And therefore it is appointed that these Commandments shall be read in this place while all the Congregation is together to the Catechumens as well as to the Elder Christians to those that do not as well as to those that do Communicate And that immediately before the Gospel to make that the more welcom to us when the Law hath humbled us by its Terrors Wherefore we here present the general Division of them both to instruct the ignorant and to afford all an Opportunity to see their principal offences against them at one glance while the Minister is reading them or when we have no time for more particular Examination The Analysis of the Ten Commandments § 2. The Ten Commandments are by Christ himself divided into Two Tables I. Table Of Piety towards God 1. As to the Object of Worship I. Com. Thou shalt have no other gods c. I Sins chiefly forbidden Apostasie Deifying the Creature Distrust of God 2. As to the Manner of Worship 1. In our solemn Addresses to God II. Com. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image c. II Idolatry Superstition Slight and careless Worship 2. In all other Acts that have respect unto him III. Com. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord c. III Blasphemy Swearing vainly falsly Cursing Profaning Holy things Sacrilege 3. As to the Time of Worship IV. Com. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath c. IV Neglect of the Sabbath Holy Times Mispending them in Idlenesâ— or Debauchery II. Table Of Charity to our Neighbor 1. Directing us in the Duties of our several Relations 1. Natural as Parents Children 2. Religious Ministers People 3. Civil Princes Subjects 4. Domestical Masters Servants V. Com. Honour thy Father and thy Mother c. V Superiours Negligence Pride Evil Example Inferiour Disobedience Contempt Resisting 2. Forbidding us to do any injury either 1. Indeed against our Neighbour's 1. Life VI. Com. Thou shalt doe no murder VI Taking away Life Quarrelling Anger Revenge Cruelty 2. Chastity VII Thou shalt not commit adultery VII Adultery Fornication Wanton Desires Words Behaviour Drukenness 3. Estate or Goods VIII Thou shalt not steal VIII Theft and Robbery Oppression Cheating Unjust detaining Idleness 4. Good Name IX Thou shalt not bear false witness c. IX False Testimonies Lying Slandering Tale-bearing Flattery 2. Or in thought or desire X. Com. Thou shalt not covet c. X Covetousness Envy at others Discontent with our own A Practical Discourse of the Ten Commandments § 3. It must not be expected that I should explain the particular Commandments which would too much swell this work Only I shall undertake two things First To direct how to use them for our profit when there is no Communion Secondly And chiefly how they may be used in private to help us in our Preparation for the Blessed Sacrament As our natural Ignorance makes it necessary to teach us this Law of God in our Catechism So our aptness to forget that which is good requires that it should be repeated in our publick Service It is dangerous either not to know or not to remember these holy Commandments which are proclaimed by our God approved by our own Consciences established with eternal rewards and punishments c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. de abst 1. 8. Whosoever therefore thinks it a trouble to hear them so often neither considers the weight of these divine Precepts nor observes that his own frequent breaches of them do shew that they are not read often enough to fix them so in his mind as to procure a sincere Obedience For till we do exactly observe them We do not know or remember them as we ought Let us then endeavour so often as we use them to receive benefit to our Souls thereby And to that purpose First You must with great humility receive them from the Mouth of the Minister as if they were spoken from Mount Sinai by God himself imitating the tenderness of good Josiah 2 Chron. 34.19 and cast your selves down upon your knees for that is the most suitable posture for Criminals who are to petition for pardon and thus listen to every Commandment with diligent attention and a submissive Reverence Secondly Apply them every one carefully to your ways for since you have neglected to follow the direction of this holy Law as your Guide d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex Paed. 1. it now becomes your Accuser e Rectum est index sui obliqui and it may be an excellent opportunity to bring you to the knowledge of your sinful Estate and so unto repentance because your gracious God doth allow you the liberty of second thoughts and will not condemn you for these offences if you condemn your selves for them Ask then your own heart seriously at every one Have I not been such an one Done this evil Neglected this duty And when your Conscience Answers Yes then you must most passionately cry out Lord have mercy upon me and forgive me this or that sin Thirdly Let the discovery of so many breaches and the sight of so vast a heap of guilt make you afraid to add Sin unto Sin f Iterata enim lex solliciâ—iores reddit regligente Ambr. in Galat. and to break these holy bonds any more g Hoc nos pâ—ssimos facit quod nemo vitam suam respicit Sen. Epist 38. for therefore have you lived at random because you have not considered your ways nor compared them strictly with Gods sacred Law But now that you are freshly minded of your Duty and reproved for your former Neglect It will be expected you shall be more afraid to transgress hereafter and therefore desiring never more to offend say Lord incline my heart to keep this Law And thus the hearing of the Ten Commandments may be an exercise of our Repentance and a means of amendment every day § 4. It is of excellent use frequently to compare our ways with Gods Law for so it would be our guide before we act to put us upon our Duty Our reprover afterward to bring us
have another opportunity but that thy next Inditement may be in another World And in the mean time that an All-seeing God will come in at this Feast to inquire how faithfully thou hast performed this Duty And then fifthly Set your self seriously to look over all the Records of your Memory and Conscience Call to mind all Places you have been in all Companies and Persons with which you have conversed Reflect upon your designs your business your pleasure and divertisements with all those circumstances which may represent unto you all your evil thoughts words and actions and may set before you all the good which you have omitted And if any seem dubious Quo praetergressus quid factum in tempore quid non Offensus pravis date palmam praemia rectis you must prove and try them Lam. 3.40 That you may condemn them in your judgment as well as recollect them by your memory And do this as impartially as is possible judging the same of your own Actions as you would if they were done by the worst of your Enemies For your better help wherein the following Table is contrived Sect. 6. Brief heads of Self-Examination upon every one of the Commandments I. Commandment § Though I have not Atheistically denied the Being of God or wickedly renounced him by Apostasie Yet § Have I not loved desired and delighted in other things more than God § Have I not feared Men more than God and sinned against him to avoid their displeasure or outward Sufferings § Have I not trusted in Man and relyed on outward means more than on God in my wants dangers and distresses § Have I neither neglected lawful means nor used unlawful means to bring me out of them § Have I not despaired of Gods mercy so as to neglect my duty or by presuming upon it incouraged my self to go on in Sin § Have I not been fearless of the divine threatnings And yet discontented with impatient under and unreformed by Gods Corrections § Have I not been unthankful for goods things or ascribed the praise of what I am have or can do to fortune my self or any other Creature Lord have mercy c. And encline c. II. Commandment Though I have not worshipped God by Images Yet § Have I not entertained gross and false Conceptions of God and worshipped him so as is unbecoming his Divine Nature § Have I not failed in any of the parts of Religious Worship § Have I not either omitted or sleightly performed Morning and Evening Prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures § Have I not been indifferent and customary as to my coming to the Publick Worship § Have I not behaved my self there without Reverence or Devotion forgetting the Presence of the Invisible God whom I serve § Have I not by design or carelesness neglected the Lords Supper or come to it ignorantly rashly and without preparation § Have I not received it irreverently and without spiritual affection or broken the vows and promises I then made Lord have mercy c. And encline c. III. Commandment If I have not openly blasphemed the Holy Name of God § Have I not sleightly or irreverently mentioned his Holy Name or Attributes § Have I not prophanely jested upon or abused his holy Word § Have I not violated holy Places Persons Ordinances or any thing peculiarly dedicated to God § Have I not taken Gods name in vain by common Swearing or by Cursing my self or others § Have I not taken false or unlawful Oaths Or broken my lawful Oaths or Vows Especially my Baptismal Vow Lord have mercy c. And encline c. IV. Commandment § Have I not neglected the publick worship of God on the Sabbath Day § Have I not mispent any part thereof in vain sports idle discourses complemental visits or unnecessary business § Have I not permitted those under my charge to prophane it § Have I not forgotten to praise God for the Creation and Resurrection especially on this Day § Or for his other Mercies in his Son or his Servants upon the Festivals of the Church § Have I not sleighted these solemnities or abused them by debauchery Lord have mercy c. And encline c. V. Commandment § Have I not omitted or acted contrary to my Duty in those Relations wherein I stand § Have I not censured envyed or railed against my Domestical Ecclesiastical or civil Governours instead of honouring imitating and praying for them § Have I not been undutiful to my Parents disloyal to my Prince stubborn or unfaithful to my Master fractory and unthankful to my Minister peevish and unkind to my Yokefellow § Have I been careful to instruct and incourage in well doing To reprove and chastise for ill doing those under my charge Lord have mercy c. And encline c. VI. Commandment If I have not actually taken away the life of any person Yet § Have I not made my Neighbours life grievous concealed designs against it or willingly hastned his death or wished it § Have I not by fighting or quarrelling wounded or maimed him or drawn him to any vice which might destroy his health or shorten his life § Have I not been rashly and immoderately angry or used reviling and quarrelsom speeches or harboured thoughts and purposes of Malice and Revenge § Have I not been intemperate in meat or drink or any other ways prejudiced my own health or indangered my life Lord have mercy c. And encline c. VII Commandment If I have escaped the grosser acts of Adultery and Fornication Yet § Have I not neglected to use the means to preserve my own and others Chastity § Have I not by gluttony and drunkenness pampered my body or by cherishing unclean thoughts purposes and desires defiled my Soul § Have I not run into any occasions or used any provocations of wantonness § Have I not used or listened to filthy talking or been guilty of immodest Garbs or unchast behaviour Lord have mercy c. And encline c. VIII Commandment If I have not been guilty of notorious Felony or Robbery Yet § Have I not by negligence in my particular Calling run into debt without hopes or purposes of repayment § Have I not wasted my own Estate and ruin'd my Family by idleness or prodigality § Have I not cheated my neighbour in buying or selling breaking my Covenants fraudulent writings or falsifying my word § Have I not by violence or oppression exacted of my inferiours or by unreasonable usury taken advantage of others necessity § Have I not wasted or imbezeled that which was committed to my trust refused to restore the pledge abused what was lent or denied that which was found by me Lord have mercy c. And encline c. IX Commandment If I have not before a Magistrate directly sworn falsly Yet § Have I not accustomed my self to lying in my common discourse § Have I not maliciously and uncharitably raised or spread abroad evil and false
Almighty almost weary of Correcting thee and shewest thou lovest thy Sin too well to be easily torn from it Fifthly And finally how mischievous have the effects of thy transgressions been They have dishonoured God disgraced thy Religion incouraged the wicked to persevere incited the innocent to follow thy steps and offended weak and tender Christians This is indeed a sad story and if we rightly apprehend it may make the best to cry out with trembling and deep contrition Lord have mercy upon us But lest this dismal Account which will scarce fetch one sigh from a stupid Soul should overwhelm others in grief and desperation I shall add that we are not like the Jew who when the Law thundered from Mount Eball could only sign it with a dreadful Amen For we look further and beholding the Lamb of God make bold to crave mercy the very acknowledgment of our Sin being wrapt up in a Petition for Pardon And the right use of all this is not to affright us from Jesus but to drive us to him to shew not only how little we deserve but how much we need a pardon It is to represent how far God can forgive and how highly our dear Redeemer hath merited seeing so great and deserved vengeance is yet with-holden and the Gate of Mercy still kept open for such wretched Creatures Our design in this discovery of Sin is to convince us that it is high time to desist from adding to this infinite heap that it is extreamly necessary to seek for Absolution and that it will be an admirable ingaging favour if we be again accepted For Mount Sinah is the way to Sion and the Law our School-master to bring us to Christ When therefore your heart is full of these thoughts and when hope and fear sorrow and desire are strugling within you In the midst of these Passions bend your knees and begin to arraign your self at the Bar of your merciful Judge where humble Confession a In quantum tibi non peperceris in tantum tibi Deus crede parcet Tertul. is the readiest way to Remission Acknowledge therefore all you have found relate your shame and indignation at your self your grief and anguish for all your misdoings intreat as for your life and with all earnestness beg for pity and pardon remembring he never did cast off any that thus came to him Your Confession it self will be no other than a larger Paraphrase of Lord have mercy c. But if you require a form the Church hath made excellent provision in that acknowledgment before the Consecration b See Part. 2. Sect. 3. Sect. 9. to which the Reader is desired to turn and while his heart is in this frame with great Devotion to recite that Form § 8. But that this is not all the use of these Ten Commandments we may learn from the other part of the Versicle repeated after each of them which is Davids Prayer Psal 119.36 viz. And incline our hearts to keep this Law Which minds us of the next part of our Preparation for the Holy Sacrament to which the Law is apt to minister viz. Secondly The Renewing of our Covenant and this will necessarily follow our Confession if it be sincere and the language of a contrite heart Since we now have discovered the vileness and danger of our sinful courses We must needs be full of indignation against those ways and cannot but wish we may never fall into the like circumstances again Nay God may expect that those who are so drenched in tears and amazed with fear shall now study how they may keep the right paths of his Law hereafter And this was the principal end why you were put upon considering your ways that you might turn your feet to his Testimonies Psal 119.59 And if you be now desirous to do this it is the best sign of your Repentance the surest evidence of your pardon and the best disposition in the World for your reception of these Mysteries wherein it is Gods part to seal your Absolution by the blood of his dear Son and yours to give up your self entirely to his Service for ever hereafter since he hath so graciously quitted the old scores So that there is no doubt but the true Penitent doth now desire with all his Soul to forsake his Sins and do his duty better Only because he finds his heart averse and not easily inclined to this which his Conscience tells him is his interest and his happiness The Church hath added this short but significant Petition to him that can turn the heart and work in us both to will and to do That he would Encline c. Which Prayer that it may be said with Davids Spirit c Et oremus quod ille â—ravit quod oremus imitemur effectu si eramus sermone compatiamur mente S. Ambr. in Psal 119. We must resolve to follow those good inclinations when it pleaseth God to work them in us And to that purpose before we make this our solemn promise we must labour to bring our hearts to condemn the wayes of Sin and to approve of the ways of Holiness lest we should mock the Almighty by begging his help in that which we never intend to perform and lest our vow should vanish into Air if we do not first consider the particulars to which we bind our selves And for our assistance herein viz. that our Engagement may be advised and well grounded and our Prayers for the divine Aid may be hearty and sincere We may after our Confession while our hearts are yet bleeding for our former offences enlarge our thoughts into these or the like Meditations § 9. First to alienate our affections from Sin that we may in earnest and for ever renounce it Let every one of us ask his Soul these Questions First How little of either true profit or solid pleasure have I reaped from Sin The gain is cursed and intangled the delight short and unsatisfying ending either in vexation or a restless desire which stays longer and wounds deeper than ever the fantastick pleasure reached How certain is it that none of these purchases can last beyond the short duration of my frail life and how little security have I that my death shall not be ere the next Morning Secondly How great a trouble yet have I had all my life for this trifling and uncertain reward the gain was a shadow but have I not thereby lost my good name or my health my time and my parts the love of my best friends and the hopes of Gods favour Have not these Sins hindered my Prayers disquieted my Conscience set my Neighbours against me and filled my ways with losses crosses mischiefs and evil Accidents Have they not often made me ridiculous and base hated and distrusted and left me full of fears and sad expectations making my life uneasie and my death far more bitter and more terrible Thirdly But these are but the beginnings of sorrow
doth acknowledge himself to be thy Servant even CHARLES our King and Soveraign Liege Help him so to defend Religion execute Justice and subdue his Enemies that under him we and all his Subjects may be religiously and godly peaceably and quietly Governed and accordingly be obedient unto as well as happy in so gracious a Prince And that his excellent Laws may not be perverted in their Administration O Lord Grant such grace unto his whole Council with whom he adviseth in making Laws and to all Magistrates and Officers that are put in Authority to execute them under him That they may deliberately weigh every cause and truly and indifferently determine it so as to make it appear they do minister Iustice and imploy their Power To the punishment of wickedness and greater Crimes the correction of lesser enormities and Vice And the maintenancâ— and defence of the Profession of thy true Religion together with the Practice of all Equity and Vertue which is the endeavour of all Righteous Magistrates But that Piety and Justice may be taught by the Ministers as well as outwardly incouraged â—iâ—e grace O Heavenly Father for the same thy Son Jesus Christs sake to all whom thou hast made Bishops and Governours or Pastors and Curates over thy Flock Assist them so in those sacred offices that they may both by the holiness of their life and the purity of their Doctrine declare and set forth the excellencies of thy true quickening and lively Wâ—rd so that many may be won to live according to it And grant that they may also orderly and rightly frequently and duly Administer both Baptism and the Lords Supper which are thy Holy Sacraments And let them be particularly assisted in the Celebration of the present mystery And that all their labours be not in vain Do thou to all thy People throughout the Christian World â—ive thy Heavenly Grace to dispose their hearts rightly to receive divine things Especially grant to this Congregation and every person here present before thee that with meek hearts from a sense of their own ignorance and due reverence from the apprehension of thy Authority they may hear attentively and receive by Faith the directions of thy Holy Word O Lord let them be converted by it and become real Christians truly serving thee in all the duties of Piety and Holiness Charity and Righteousness and continue in this Obedience all the days of their life especially after this solemn renewing of their Covenant with thee And further reflecting upon thy pitty towards all afflicted persons for the sufferings-sake of thy dear Son We that yet are spared do most humbly beseech thee that though we and our Brethren deserve to suffer yet of thy goodness thou wilt be pleased O Lord effectually at present to comfort and speedily to deliver and succour not those distressed Creatures alone which we particularly love or know but all them who are capable of the benefit of our Prayers even all who in this transitory life the Scene of sorrows are in trouble and fear of some approaching Evil or in sorrow for some Calamity already sustained All that are in need and want as to their outward Estate or in pain and sickness as to their body Or who are visited with some or all of these or any other Adversity Oh pitty and relieve them all And Finally as we praise thee for all the Mercies which thou minglest with the Miseries of this life so we also bless and chiefly praise thy holy Name for those who have no mixtures of sin or sorrow in their Cup of pure and perfect joy even for all thy Saints and holy Servants who were once as frail as we but by thy grace are now departed out of this life but who did live in thy Faith and die in thy fear never forsaking Religion nor a good Conscience We rejoice in their happiness and though we need not pray for them yet we cannot forbear beseeching thee for our selves who are yet upon the Waves that thou wilt please to give us also the same grace which thou gavest them That we may be able so to follow their good Examples in all Piety and Charity while we live that with them and in that glorious Society we may when we die be Partakers by the like Mercy of thy Heavenly Kingdom and its unspeakable felicities Hear us we beseech thee and Grant this and all the rest O Father to thy poor Children who make not our Requests in our own Name or trusting in our own merits but for Iesus Christ his sake and through the most prevailing Sacrifice of his Death here Commemorated Nor do we need or desire to use any other name since he is Our only Mediator to make our peace and Advocate to plead our cause who also joins with us in these Petitions and therefore we hope thou wilt say to him and to us Amen and then it shall be so SECT VIII Of the warning before the Communion § 1. IT is fit that great Mysteries should be ushered in with the solemnities of a great preparation for which cause God gave the Israelites three days warning of his design to publish the Law Exod. 19.15 and ordered their Festivals to be proclaimed by the sound of a Trumpet some time before Levit. 25.9 Numb 10.2 The Paschal Lamb the Type of Christ in this Sacrament was to be chosen and kept by them four days to mind them to prepare for the Celebration of the Passover Exod. 12.3.6 And Christians having more and higher duties in order to this Holy Feast must not have less time or shorter warning whereupon as good Hezekiah published by particular expresses his intended Passover long before 2 Chron. 30. so hath our Church prudently ordered this timely notice to be given that none might pretend to stay away out of ignorance of the time or unfitness for the duty but that all might come and come prepared also It is needless to expect a President for this in the antient Church their daily or Weekly Communions made it known that there was then no solemn Assembly of Christians without it and every one not under censure was expected to Communicate But now when the time is somewhat uncertain and our long omissions have made some of us ignorant and others forgetful of this duty most of us unwilling and all of us more or less indisposed for it it was both prudent and necessary to provide these large Warnings and Exhortations Cautions and Instructions For the Composures themselves they are exact and rarely fitted to be the Harbingers to this blessed Sacâ—ament and if we duly weigh and carefully improve them they will exceedingly help towards our Preparation as will be evident enough without a Paraphrase in the succeeding Analysis and Discourse The Analysis of the Warning before the Communion § 2. This Warning consisteth of three principal Parts 1. Information concerning 1. The Time Dearly beloved on next I purpose c. 2. The Persons to administer to all
do his duty so well as he can nor did Jesus institute this Ordinance to be a snare to intangle Souls Secondly The truly humble Christian also pleads this and wishes with all his heart he durst come but he is kept off by a deep sense of his own guilt and great unworthiness To such I shall observe that this Feast was not made for Angels and glorified Saints but for lowly and Repentant Sinners it being a Seal of their Pardon or at least a most refreshing Declaration of Gods willingness to forgive for Jesus sake If their fear did only make them examine more strictly repent more heartily and come more humbly to their Saviour it were filial fear b Sapiente diffidentiâ non alia res utilior est mortalibus Eurip. Prov. 28.14 and the best disposition in the World for the Eucharist but when it drives them from Jesus c Stultus est timor reverentia minus prudens qui ad Dominum se vocantem invitantem non accedit sed procrastinat Gerson in Magnif who invites and calls all that are heavy laden Math. 11.28 it is foolish and unreasonable and is mixed with some infidelity Many of these Persons have already the first part of preparation viz. a true sorrow for sin let them therefore endeavour to add the second that is a lively Faith If they say they are so sinful they cannot believe there is any mercy for them I ask why is God so hard to Sinners whom he doth court and wooe to turn to him protesting he desires not their ruine but longs for their restauration hath he not given his Son for Sinners and sent his Ministers to them and offered his grace and glory also to engage them to return and live to be afraid to live in sin is something but to be afraid to come in when our heart is humbled for it and desirous to be quit of it is most unreasonable but let them entertain better thoughts of God and in all humility venture to approach if they stay in their sin they die and if God should reject them they can but die but oh blessed venture to commit their Souls to that infinite mercy which never did cast off any in this Case they that are Sinners and are sensible thereof either at present or quickly may be fit to come to this Celestial Banquet therefore let not the pretence of former sins keep any back who are now humbled for them Thirdly Those who live in open and notorious sins do also make this excuse that they dare not receive the Sacrament because they are so grievous Sinners But to these we cannot give so gentle an answer For though they must not come so long as they are Drunkards and Adulterers Swearers or malicious yet because they are thus by their wilful wickedness it doth not extenuate but aggravate the Crime of absenting themselves because they have made themselves unfit Were it not a strange excuse in a Jewish Priest daily to touch dead bodies and so plead he was excused from attending on the Sacrifice would he not deserve a double punishment both for wilful defiling himself and then for making that a pretence to neglect his Duty It seems these men know they are Sinners but thâ—y make a mischiâ—vous use of their sight of their sins viz. not to excite them to Repentance but to shelter them in omissions oâ— Gods commands and spend the time which God gives them for Repentance in making vain Apologies And yet some of these known Sinners do perswade thâ—mselves that they reverence these mysteries and dare not prophane them by coming to them but nothing is more false for if they fear to offend God why are they not afraid to live in abominable sins which he hates Is there more danger in receiving the Sacrament than in being drunk and adulterous violent or revengeful or do they imagine nothing will damn them but this Holy Food Alas it is not staying from the Communion that will keep off Damnation but a sincere and speedy Repentance Hence the Church hearing them confess they are Sinners asks them sharply why then do they not Repent for then they might come hither without danger and truly if they repent not they shall perish although they stay away so that if they could consider God hath brought them into a happy necessity of repenting for without that if they come to the Altar they die as coming unworthily if they forbear and continue in sin they die also so that there is but one way left We do not exhort men therefore to come in their sins but to cast away their sins that they may come worthily and therefore we give them notice so long before If they say a week is too little time to do this great work of Repentance in let them ask themselves why they put it off till Death when perhaps they may not have an hour and can such Persons be sure that their Death is not nearer than this next Sacrament If they think it be too sudden to resolve to leave their Sins let them blush to say they are not yet resolved and beware that the time do not come when they shall wish they had done it sooner It is possible that scandalous and habitual Sinners cannot be fit against the next Communion but then they must lament their unfitness and spend all the time they can to be prepared for the next after and only forbear for once that they may come with more Comfort ever after And to plead they are sinful and never strive to amend but to neglect Receiving from time to time is a Declaration that men have sinned and will sin and intend not to be troubled with Repentance or tyed to a religious course of life and therefore they avoid this Sacrament as a thing which is inconsistent with their purposes of going on in sin Wherefore neither is this excuse sufficient to hold us back § 8. When God calleth you are ye not ashamed to say you will not come when ye should return to God will ye excuse your selves and say ye are not ready Consider earnestly with your selves how little such feigned excuses will avail before God There are two sorts of those who absent themselves from the Eucharist those that are so bold as wholly to deny to come at all and those who more modestly put it off till another time the first are arrogant and the second trifling but neither the confidence of those nor yet the policy of these can excuse them to Almighty God First Those who say plainly they will not must consider it is intolerable insolence thus to Answer their supream King and Master our Lord Jesus doth expresly bid us to do this Luke 22.19 1 Cor. 11.25 and under the name of Wisdom earnestly invites us to this Feast Prov. 9.2 3 4 5 c. he intreats us to accept his love Revel 3.20 the Spirit saith come and the Church saith come Revel 22.17 The Primitive Councils
require less time and pains to review the sentence Now our Souls will easily lye down in all humility and penitential acknowledgments at Gods footstool we shall long for mercy passionately vow amendment sincerely and be at peace with all the World so shall we be by God himself accepted as worthy Receivers and then all the terrors vanish for there are better things provided for us § 7. And above all things ye must give most humble and hearty thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both God and Man To commemorate the Death of Christ with thanksgiving is the principal duty at this Eucharistical Feast Humiliation and Repentance are chiefly to be exercised before But now we are come to the Altar we must above all things give thanks for all the foregoing Exhortations to examine and judge our selves are designed to bring us with a clear Conscience and an unburdened Soul to sing Praises For which reason this Admonition doth well follow the former because those that have searched most diligently for their sin and those that have been most fully convinced of it and most deeply humbled for it these will best apprehend their need of the Death of Jesus and offer up the most affectionate praises for it These will offer up most humble thanks because they see their danger and unworthiness and most hearty because they have the briskest perception of this sweet and seasonable mercy Draw near therefore ye contrite Souls and behold the Lamb of God dying for those sins for which ye have mourned removing that wrath at which ye trembled let your sorrow be turned into joy and your fear into Faith and Hope Come and offer up your best praises to the Father who contrived this glorious Redemption to the Son who effected it and to the Holy Ghost who gives us the benefit thereof As every Person of the blessed Trinity hath joined in this noble work let every person share in the praise and as all the World hath been Redeemed so let every man make his particular acknowledgments Behold how fit a Saviour is provided One that is God that he might conquer Man that he might suffer and both God and Man that he might reconcile the Divine Majesty to humane nature Praise ye the Lord Thus in general we do excite you to give thanks and the next Paragraph will furnish you with particular Considerations on which your gratitude may enlarge it self § 8. Who did humble himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners who lay in darkness and in tâ—e shadow of Death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to Everlasting Life As the Jews had their Paschal Hymn recording their miraculous deliverance from Aegyptian Bondage Buxt Syn. Jud. cap. 13. and the Antient Christians their Commemoration of the Lords Passion at this Holy Feast So our Church hath here provided a brief but clear description of the wonderful work of our Redemption taken from Philip. 2.8 and Colos 1.12 13. thereby to supply every devout Soul with rare matter for those humble and hearty praises which are here to be offered up For in these few words are contained these four Considerations 1. Who it was that did redeem us 2. Whereby he did redeem us 3. From what we were redeemed 4. To what Estate we are thereby brought Each of which we shall so represent as may best beget or exercise our Gratitude on this Occasion 1. Let us consider the dignity of our Redeemers person who was the Eternal and only begotten Son of God far above all Principalities and Powers higher than Angels or Arch-Angels adored by all the Coelestial Host He was the delight of Heaven the joy of his Father in whose Bosom he had perfect felicity and should have enjoied it to all Eternity whatsoever had become of us He was most happy in himself and not concerned with us yeâ— no other durst undertake no meaner Person b Ex personae celsitudine facti aestimatio augetur Grot. in Johan 13.3 idem de satisfac Christi cap. 8. pag. 173. could have accomplished our Redemption and ought we not to be infinitely thankful that such a Saviour is given to us 2. Let us further meditate by what means he did effect this great Salvation He could by one word create the World out of nothing but it cost more to redeem our Souls This was not to be accomplished till he stripped himself of his glory descended from the felicities of his Throne and was abased into the condition of a man yea of the meanest of the Sons of Men. He took on him the form of a servant who was Lord of all and yet all this was not sufficient He that did no sin must suffer he from whom all receive life must die and that by the most cruel and tormenting the most ignominious and accursed kind of Death too base for the meanest of Slaves c In Crucem milites tulit servilibus suppliciis semper affecit Jul. Capitolin de Macrino 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion de Sossio Visum est ignominiosâ morte obscurare memoriam ejus Joseph Antiqu. l. 15. c. 1. Pone crucem servo Juven Cur non honesto aliquo mortis genere affectus est cur potissimum cruce cur infami genere supplicii quod etiam homini libero quamvis nocenti indignum videatur Lact. inst l. 4. c. 26. too barbarous for the worst of Malefactors Yet thus he was contented to exchange the Musick of Angels and the pleasures of Heaven for reproaches and Agonies scorn and tortures that so he might expiate our offences But as C. Marius when he shewed his wounds received for his Country once in the Senate-House so may I say now What need is there of words when there are so many bleeding Witnesses He suffered more than we can conceive or express more than the best of us would have endured for the greatest or dearest concern in the World only that we might suffer nothing and will not this elevate us into the highest Key of Praise 3. Let us remember the Persons for whom Jesus endured all this and that will help to encrease the wonder it was not for Angels or any of the Heavenly Orders but for Creatures of a meaner kind even for us the miserable Sons of Men his Vassals by Creation but Rebels and Enemies against him by our Sins for us who could not expect it did not deserve it nor cannot requite it for us who were Heirs of Hell and Slaves of Sathan unable to satisfie Gods Justice fly his Anger or bear his Sentence for us whom with Equity and honour enough he might have left to perish for ever For our sakes he suffered all this moved so far by his pity till he forgot all pity to himself and took that load upon his own shoulders that would have sunk us into the bottomless
may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace Thirdly He is the Maker of all things and of us among the rest Now he hateth nothing that he hath made for his mercy is over all his Works wherefore we may have good hopes that he will pity and help the work of his own hands Lastly He is the Judge of all men Let us therefore now make our supplication to him for it is yet the time of mercy Job 9.15 and he is now willing to help them whom he hath redeemed with his precious blood Being thus prepared by meditating on these Attributes we may fitly begin to confess as followeth § 4. We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have Committed These two words to acknowledge and bewail are taken out of Psal 38.18 For I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for my sin And if as St. Augustine notes Davids bare resolution to do this before the words were in his mouth did obtain his pardon f Nondum pronunciat sed promittit se pronunciaturum ille dimittit Vox nondum in ore erat sed auris Dei in Corde erat August in Psal 36. how much more shall we be admitted to forgiveness who do actually perform them both They are indeed the proper parts of Repentance to be exercised in Confession and are both of them most reasonable and fit to be done just now 1. What impudence were it to deny our sins before him from whom we cannot hide them and what folly to conceal them from him that would heal us and forgive them g Quis non invitaretur illi ad praemium confiteri cui non possis negare quod feceris Cassiodor in Psal 118. Are we ashamed to acknowledge them in the Church and are we not afraid to be charged with them before all the World h Hoc in Ecclesiâ facere fastidis ubi nihil est quod pudori esse debeat nisi non fateri cùm omnes simus peccatores ubi ille justior qui humilior Ambr. de poen 2. 10. Alas we are all Sinners and he that confesseth it most humbly shall soonest become innocent 2. And there is as great reason that we should bewail them also because here we see the wounds which they have made in the Lord Jesus When David saw his people dying by thousands for his sin immediately he cryes out i As Nisus in Virg. Aen. 9. seeing Euryalus his friend like to be slain No longer could he hide himself nor see So sad a sight but cries at me at me Behold my self who did the fact am by Against me turn your steel ye Rutuli I have sinned I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24.17 And can we behold the innocent and immaculate Lamb of God bleeding and dying for our offences and not cry out with tears Lord what hadst thou done to be thus used thou hadst acted no evil nor was guile found in thy mouth sweetest Jesus my sins were thy murtherers and thou sufferdest for my wretchedness If I may not weep for thee Luke 23.28 yet let me weep for my self who have brought all this upon thee Now when your heart thus begins to bleed with sorrow and your mouth is opened to confess behold what excellent matter is here prepared First You are taught what you must acknowledge viz. All your Sins and Wickedness your lesser as well as greater iniquities k Omne enim malum etiam mediocre magnum est Cicer. Tuscul qu. l. 3. for though they are many and manifold of several kinds and qualities yet they all agree in this that they are all odious to God and will be damnable to you without repentance Consider also 1. How often 2. How grievously they have been committed First You have been raising this heap and running on this score all your life from time to time l Hebr. de Die in Diem Psal 96. ver 2. that is both continually as to duration and frequently as to the repetition You have long been disobedient and renewed these offences every day and every hour if not every moment so that it is next to impossible to compute them they are compared to the hairs of your head and the Sands of the Sea both which exceed humane Arithmetick yet God that numbers our hairs and reckons the sands can particularly accuse you for every one of these sins and have you not great reason then to acknowledge and bewail them And the rather Secondly Because they are not only many but very heinous and committed in a most grievous m Lam. 1.8 Heb. peccando peccavimus Angl. grievously sinned quam phrasin nostri reddunt Exod. 32.31 A great sin Jer. 6.8 grievous revolters ubi Vulg. C. Par. principes declinantium Jun. Trem. contumacium contumacissimi and provoking manner in despite of mercies and the means of grace in defiance of your own knowledge and your Consciences with so much ingratitude and baseness that it cannot but be grievous to your Heavenly Father to bear it and I hope it will also be grievous to you to consider it and that when you think thereon you will weep unfeignedly § 5. By thought word and deed against thy divine Majesty provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us Although it is impossible to recite here all the particulars in which we have sinned yet we should run into the suspicion of Hypocrisie if we did wholly rest in generals wherefore the Church sees fit to put our thoughts into some method for the furtherance of our penitential recollections and how could that be better done than by that brief yet full division so often found in the Antient Liturgies n Peccavi nimis cogitatione locutione opere Miss Rom. and so much used among the Fathers directing us to consider of the several sins of our Thoughts our Words and our Deeds For the Heart in which Jesus should lodge the Mouth by which he should enter and the Hand with which we should receive him all of them are defiled And Solomon tells us that for every secret thought Eccles 12.14 Christ that for every idle word Math. 12.36 St. Paul that for every evil deed 2 Cor. 5.10 God will bring us into judgment Let us therefore now prevent that by considering and judging our selves First For the sins of our Thoughts for our Cogitations are always vain and roving often haughty wanton or envious sometimes revengeful mischievous or Atheistical and because these sins of the heart require no determinate time or place to their Commission and are acted without either pains or assistants o Animi motus citra temporis moram fiunt citra lassitudinem perficiuntur citra negotium consistunt omnem temporis occasionem idoneam habent S. Basil Conc. 3. they are almost every where and always done and we may all cry out Lord who can tell how oft he
this our gracious Lord to Have mercy upon you and to pity your misery as also to Pardon the guilt and deliver you from the punishment temporal spiritual and Eternal due unto you for all your Sins And when he hath acquitted you and so engaged you to live more holily hereafter Let him confirm you in the purposes and strengthen you in the performance of all goodness and virtue so that finally he for his mercy may save your Souls and bring you safely through all the dangers of this World to everlasting life Let all this be granted and made good unto you every one through the Merits and the Intercession of Iesus Christ our Lord who hath purchased all these benefits for repentant Sinners Amen Be it so SECT V. Of the Sentences of Scripture § WHosoever hath been truly sensible of his sins and deeply humbled for them will find it no easie matter to believe that God hath yet any favour for him for although it be most desirable yet it is a happiness so strange and undeserved that it is often too big for the hope of a poor Penitent a Proprium hoc miseros sequitur vitium Rebus nunquam credere laetis Redeat foelix fortuna licèt Tamen afflictos gaudere piget Sen. Thyeste Wherefore we must now labour by all means to beget in those that come hither a firm perswasion of Gods mercy for Faith is as necessary in a Communicant as Repentance the Antient Church calling those properly the faithful b Is igitur vocabatur fidelis non qui baptizarus aut confirmatus est sed qui Eucharistiae sacris participasset Albaspin obs l. 1. who had received the Lords Supper The Germans allowed none to come unto their Sacrifices who had lost their Shield c Tacitus de mor. Germ. nor do we approve that any should come to this Christian Sacrifice who wants the Shield of Faith for how can they repent kindly whose hearts are not softned with the hopes of mercy d Nemo enim potest bene agere poenitentiam nisi qui speraverit indulgentiam Ambros de poen l. 1. or how can they delight in Jesus or give him thanks who doubt whether they shall receive any benefit by his Death or no Fears and misgiving thoughts trembling and despair must by all means be removed before we feast at this Holy Table And for this reason our Church hath subjoined these Sentences to the Absolution Some may be so scrupulous or so fearful as to question the power or the fidelity of the Servant but who can or dare doubt of the Authority of the Truth of God e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Al. strom 5. Can any deny what he affirms in his own word or shall any suspect that which he promiseth with his own mouth Be the Sinner never so much disconsolate surely it will revive him to hear the Majesty against whom he hath sinned so kindly speaking peace unto him Yet these Sentences are not to be thought a different kind of comfort from what we had before in the Absolution for these are those Promises there mentioned and are in pursuance of it and a further Confirmation to it There is but one thing in that Act of Grace which the most timorous person can doubt viz. Whether it be certain that Almighty God hath promised forgiveness to such as they are Now to satisfie this enquiry here are selected four of the most full and proper Sentences in all the New Testament containing in them the very marrow of the Gospel so overflowing with sweet and powerful comforts that if duly considered they will satisfie the most jealous Souls and chear the most broken heart if believed and embraced they will utterly banish all the Clouds of sorrow and despair There are it is true Sentences also in the Roman Missal but those generally taken out of the Psalms f Deus tu conversus laetificabis nos Et plebs tua laetabitur in te Ostende nobis c. Psal 85.6 7. Sacerdotes tui c. Psal 132.9 Miss secund usum Ebor. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini c. Psal 121.2 Benedictum fit nomen Domini Psal 113.2 sec usum Sarum for as their form of Absolution hath no mention of the Evangelical promise of forgiveness so their Sentences are out of the Old-Testament and seem too much to forget the Redeemer by whom this Pardon is obtained As for these Sentences before us they have nor need no other method than that order in which they lie in the New-Testament the words of the Master first and those of his two principal Apostles following them only that we may derive seasonable comfort from them we will briefly discourse upon them severally § 2. Come unto me all that travel and are heavy laden and I will refresh you St. Math. 11.28 This gracious invitation is the proof of the first assertion in the Absolution viz. that our Lord doth promise forgiveness to all them that with hearty Repentance turn to him For whereas all Sinners do lie under a heavy burden yet the impenitent do not perceive it g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Only those that discern the baseness and foresee the punishment of their iniquity these travel that is in the antient English labour with great pains these are heavy laden therewith and cry out that their sins are a burden too heavy for them to bear Psal 38.4 these therefore are they that truly repent who are oppressed with trouble and sorrow shame and fear And Jesus though he be the offended party doth most courteously call all such to come unto him that is to believe that he is able and willing to help them John 6.37 Heb. 11.6 and saith he will refresh them by taking this burden off from them for he hath born it upon the Cross Isai 53.4 6. nay taken it away for ever by satisfying the Divine Justice to which we were obnoxious nor doth he require any merit in us to deserve thus to be eased or expect any other qualification than only that we be sensible of our own Sin and Misery and find our need of his Mercy Sweetest Saviour how excellent is thy goodness we cannot doubt thy power to ease us because thou hast born the sins of the whole World we may not question thy willingness who callest us to thee of thy own accord nor dare we suspect thy sincerity who art Truth it self and always in earnest with poor Sinners Our guilt made us think to fly from thee but thy melting voice hath encouraged us to turn to thee and laid us prostrate at thy feet groaning under the offences we have done against thee and now if thou dost pity us we are safe if thou art pleased we are eased if thou dost pardon us the burden is gone And if thou wilt take away this intolerable load we shall then venture to come nearer even to thy holy Table there to receive still more refreshment from
thy mercy These are thy words O Christ for thou hast spoken them and they are mine because thou hast spoken them for my Salvation O sweet and amiable words in the Ears of a poor Sinner by which thou invitest an indigent starved wretch to partake of thy holy body But who am I O Lord that I should dare to come the Angels and Archangels reverence thee thy Saints and holy ones fear before thee and yet thou sayst unto me Come c. unless thou hadst said it who could have believed it to be true unless thou hadst commanded it who durst have attempted this approach T. à Kempis de imitat Chris l. 4. c. 1. The Paraphrase O ye of contrite hearts Hear with joy and wonder what comfortable words he whose love you so much long for even our Saviour Christ himself saith to all such as you that truly grieving for your sins do turn to him to find mercy Lo he pities you and most affectionately calls upon you saying Come unto me with a perswasion that I am able and desirous to help you O all ye that travel with much grief and pains for your sins and are heavy laden with the apprehensions of my anger against you for them be not discouraged for I will bear this burden my self and I will by my sufferings make your peace with my Father and so refresh you according to your hearts desire § 3. So God loved the World that he gave his only-begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life S. John 3.16 The second Assertion in the Absolution is confirmed by this Sentence viz. that Almighty God will forgive all that with true Faith turn unto him If he were willing to grant pardon on easier terms yet a man void of Faith could not receive it It was an absurd practice in some places of old to give the Sacrament to the Dead who had been surprized by mortal sickness and prevented to receive it living but an antient Council condemned this h Placuit ut corporibus defunctorum Eucharistia non detur Dictum est enim à Domino Accipite c. Conc. 3. Carthag Can. 6. because the Dead could not as Christ commands Take and eat it And for the same reason a Man without Faith cannot receive Absolution because he is dead i Vnde mors in animâ quia non est fides unde mors in corpore quia non est anima ergo animae tuae anima fides est Aug. in Johan void of all spiritual life and power to apprehend the benefit thereof Therefore if our sins and sorrows have wrapt us in such mists that we can scarce discern the light of Gods countenance let us throughly meditate of this one Sentence and the glories of it will dispel them all For here it doth appear that he first loved us and gave the noblest testimony of the biggest affection to us for he gave not a Creature nor a Servant a Prophet nor an Angel for us but he gave up his Son his only Son to a cruel Death for the World his Enemies and liable to his justice and all this for no other end but that we and the rest of this miserable World might be freed from the Damnation which we had deserved and be advanced to that glory which we could never have expected And do we still question his willingness to save us Did he give such a price to purchase our Salvation when we were Enemies and shall we think he will cast us into those flames out of which we were so dearly rescued now when we beg his mercy Did he send his Son on purpose to preserve us and will he lose his end in so glorious a work Away ye misgiving thoughts dishonour not the incomparable goodness of God hath he not given more when he gave his own Son for all than to grant life to a few for his sake Oh do not question that Love which is sealed with such an Evidence but believe admire embrace it and be thankful The Paraphrase Dost thou fear O my Soul that God will not have mercy on thee behold he that best knew his Fathers mind affirms that So wonderfully God loved his miserable Enemies even all the Sinners in the World that he when none else could help them freely gave up not some of his noblest Servants but his only-begotten and intirely beloved Son to die for them And this he did to the end that we and such like poor Sinners even all that believe this Jesus is able and willing to save them and so trust in him might be delivered from the wrath to come for all this was done on purpose that we should not perish in endless Torments but have everlasting life in his Heavenly Kingdom Doubt not then but this design shall be accomplished in thy Salvation § 4. This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received that Iesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners 1 Timoth. 1.15 Although there needs nothing to confirm what Jesus saith yet since he himself was pleased to take his Apostles for his Witnesses we have here brought in two of the principal of them to avouch this excellent truth viz. That there is mercy for Penitent Sinners And first the certainty thereof is averred by Saint Paul who had found the experience of it and was himself so great an instance thereof that he thinks ver 16. no sinner will ever despair that can but consider how great an offender he was and yet that he found mercy whereupon he doth with great confidence assert this as a tried and infallible Maxim and because all men have sinned he propounds it as a Truth which every man is concerned to receive as unquestionably and believe as firmly as the Cabala l Cabala fig. receptam doctrinam qui docet enim apud Judaeos tradere dicitur qui discit recipere Vid. Ham. annot in 1 Tim. 1. Drus praeterit l. 8. was amongst the Scholars of Jewish Rabbins And he urgeth this the more vigorously because we are so apt to object what such as we shall we ever partake of such a happiness Yes such as you for our Lord Jesus had no other errand into this World no other design in putting on our nature no other end in dying than to save Sinners He came not to call the Righteous Math. 9.13 but to seek and save those which were lost Chap. 18.11 and he assures us there is more joy in Heaven at the difficult and unexpected Salvation of a Sinner than at the more likely and more looked for glorification of many righteous Luke 15.7 But you say you are grievous Sinners Are not all the World so if there had been no Sinners there had needed no Saviour if Sinners cannot be saved no man did ever enter Heaven if sin be unpardonable Jesus hath died in vain Do not argue against your own felicity but be assured if you
only with the Priest but with Angels and with Archangels and all the Company of Heaven c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 18. in 2. ad Cor. for Jesus by his Death hath united Heaven and Earth and designed all his redeemed ones to sing Hallelujahs with the blessed spirits above for ever Wherefore it is fit that in this Commemoration of his Passion we should begin to unite our Voices to them with whom we hope to praise God to all Eternity Only as we sing with them let us sing like them and not spoil their blessed harmony by mingling flat and discordant notes O with what delight and pleasure sincerity and joy do they sing this Hymn while they are ravished with the prospect of the divine perfections Could we but see their felicity and hear their Musick it would transport us above our selves and make us forget and despise all other pleasures to join with them It may be we fear that we cannot sing in so high a note yet if we do it with like sincerity our lower key may grace the harmony and compleat the Concord Behold those blessed Spirits who had no need of any Saviour and who never did offend do praise God with incessant Voices for his mercy and love to us and seem to invite us saying O ye Sons of men praise the Lord with us and let us magnifie his name together How then can we be silent especially when our glorified Brethren Prophets and Apostles Saints and Martyrs do also bear a part in this admirable Hymn How justly do we stile the object of these praises a glorious Name since all the World resounds its praise To it Cherubin and Seraphin Angels and Archangels continually do cry Holy Holy Holy and all the Saints in Heaven and Earth do join to set forth the glory thereof § 7. Evermore praising thee and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high This primitive and triumphant Hymn was first taught unto the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 6.3 when he was admitted to hear it sung in the Quire of Heaven But as Procopias well observes the Triple Holy could not fit the Jewish Synagogue and so was designed at first for the Christian Church who confess the Holy Trinity wherefore it was again revealed to St. John Revel 4.8 and afterwards constantly used by all Churches in the Celebration of these Mysteries for it is found in all the Liturgies of St. James St. Mark St. Basil and fully in St. Chrysostoms thus Before thee stand thousands of Archangels and many thousands of Angels Cherubins and Seraphins singing the triumphant Hymn chanting forth crying and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God c. and the like appears in the Apostolick Constitutions lib. 8. cap. 16. so that though some affirm that Sixtus the eight Bishop of Rome brought it first in use with the Latine Church about 130. years after Christ yet Nicephorus doubts not to say it was derived from an Apostolical Tradition hist lib. 18. c. 51. The Grecians call it the Trisagium because the word Holy is thrice repeated and of latter times do express it thus Holy God Holy Strong Holy Immortal d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sixt. Sene◠Bib. Sanct. l. 5. annot 58. Have mercy on us And they have a Tradition that they were commanded thus to repeat it by a Child which for some time was rapt up into Heaven in the time of a great Earthquake in the days of Theodosius junior and Proclus the Patriarch and by so repeating it the City was delivered However it is certainly an Act of Praise wherein we worship and adore the whole Trinity and Galatinus d Pet. Galatinus lib. 2. c. 1. de Jesai 6.3 saith it was antiently read in Jonathans Chaldee Paraphrase Holy Father Holy Son Holy Spirit but as it is nothing is more plain e Non semel dicunt ne singularitatem credas non bis dicunt ne spiritum excludas non sanctos ne pluralitatem aestimes sed ter repentant idem dicunt ut etiam in hymno distinctionem Trinitatis divinitatis intelligas unitatem Ambr. de sp sanc l 3. c. 18. ita Epiphan in Ancorat Procop. Gazaeus in Jesaiam than that every Person is acknowledged to be Holy and all to be one Lord God of Hosts who commands the Armies of Heaven and all the Creatures of the World whose Glory fills both Heaven and Earth Which way can we look or what can we think upon that doth not declare how great and gracious their Creator and Preserver is and how can we then refrain from giving glory also unto the Lord most High In his nature he is holy in all his works glorious let us praise him therefore with pure hearts for he is thrice Holy let us bless him with a mighty vigour that as the Angels make the Upper so we may make the lower Region Eccho with his praise It was long since ordained that this Hymn should be used every day supposing the faithful would never be weary of so sweet and desirable an imployment f Quia tam dulcis desiderabilis vox etiam si die noctuque possit dici fastidium generare non possit Concil Vasens can 6. An. 450. But surely it is most proper for this blessed Sacrament that as every person in the Trinity concurred to our Redemption so every one may be adored in the memorial thereof The Father is Holy who gave us such a Saviour the Son is Holy who effected this Salvation and the Spirit is Holy who sanctifies us by the vertue thereof and yet these three are one Lord to whom we must now with most fervent gratitude offer up the Sacrifice of Eucharist and Thanksgiving O ye Heavenly powers that rejoice for the sake of us poor Sinners we join with you and with joyful hearts over our Propitiation do sing Holy Holy Holy Lord God c. Glory be to thee O Lord most high Amen An Appendix of the particular Prefaces § 8. It is long since the daily and weekly Communions have been generally laid aside by the people for St. Chrysostome himself takes notice that ordinary Christians in his time had appropriated their communicating to the greater Festivals of the Church g Chrys orat de B. Philogono and some affirm that Fabian the Martyr did order those seasons especially for all the faithful to receive h Sabellicus Volatteranus ad An. Christi 236. And truly a solemn time of joy seems the most proper for the Celebration of this Heavenly Feast Now hereupon it came to pass that as the Church was wont at this Holy Table to give thanks for all mercies so they did peculiarly praise God for the mercy commemorated on that Festival upon which they did Communicate which doubtless was the Original of these particular Prefaces In the Roman Church there were formerly nine of them to which Vrban added
Essens d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. ut supr l. 4. c. 12. and the Christians e Tert. Ap. c. 39. Nec cibi sumantur nisi oratione praemissâ Hieron ep 22. ad Eustach began their common meals with a solemn Prayer for a blessing The Jews would not eat of the Sacrifice till Samuel came to bless it 1 Sam. 9.13 How much more then ought we to expect the Prayers of the Priest over this mysterious food of our Souls before we eat thereof especially since Jesus himself did not deliver this Bread and Wine until he had Consecrated it by giving thanks There are some other parts of this Office which may upon some occasions be omitted * Non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad Deum praegustetur but this must never be left out it being the most antient and Essential part of all some learned Men do believe that the Apostles themselves in their daily Communions did ever use the latter part of this form from who in the same night c. Alcuin de divin off and it is most certain that no Liturgy in the World hath altered that particular For in every Church the Priest repeats the words of our Saviours Institution and by those words the Consecration is made f Quomodo potest qui panis est esse corpus Christi Consecratione consecratio igitur quibus verbis est Domini Jesu paulò post ubi venitur ut conficiatur venerabile sacramentum jam non suis sermonibus sacerdos utitur sed Christi Ambr. de sacr l. 4. c. 4. ita D. Chrys serm de Judâ prodit Vbi Christi verba deprompta fuerunt jam non panis dicitur sed Corpus appellatur Aug. de verb. dom ser 28. ita Author de Card. op Christi ap Cypr. for it is not the power of the Priest but the efficacy of the Author which makes the Elements to become sacramentally the body and blood of Christ S. Chrys hom 2. in 2. ep ad Cor. versùs fin The Roman Church indeed hath made large additions to this Primitive Form so that it is not above a tenth part of the Canon of their Mass much of the rest being the names of Saints and commemorations of the dead But these corruptions and innovations being removed our excellent Reformers have given us the Apostolical and Catholick Form alone only with a short Prayer to introduce it and because all the Communicants ought to join with the Minister therein we will proceed so to explain it as may assist every ones understanding and devotion The Analysis of the Prayer of Consecration § 2. The Prayer of Consecration hath Three Parts 1. An Introduction shewing the Reasons of this Duty because 1. We have a dying Saviour given for us Almighty God our heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy onely Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption 2. That Death is so perfect and meritorious who made there by his own oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World 3. We are commanded to remember it and did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again 2. A Petition for a Blessing on it intimating 1. The Author of this Blessing Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant 2. The occasion of desiring it considering 1. The Act which we are about to do that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine 2. The Manner we intend to do it in according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs most holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion 3. The Blessing desired may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood 3. The Consecration it self reciting 1. The time when it was instituted Who in the same night that he was betrayed 2. The Manner how it was Instituted 1. As to the Bread 1. The Preparation I. Took Bread II. And when he had given thanks III. He brake it 2. The Administration and gave it to his Disciples saying Take eat This is my Body which is given for you 3. The Direction Do this in remembrance of me 2. As to the Wine also 1. The Preparation Likewise also after Supper I. He took the Cup II. And when he had given thanks 2. The Administration He gave it to them saâ—â—ng Drink ye all of this â—or This is my Blood of the New-Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins 3. The Direction Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer of Consecration § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy only Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption Our blessed Lord hath taught us to whom we should direct this Prayer even to God the Father of whom he himself did first beg this blessing and since the foundation of this Ordinance was the Death of Jesus Christ we do most fitly begin this Prayer with a Commemoration of that Mercy for how can we more effectually move Almighty God to give his blessing to us in this Sacrament than by acknowledging his infinite love in granting so glorious a Redemption to us And he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up to death for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 He that made him a Sacrifice for us will certainly make these Symbols to communicate him to us if we be desirous and prepared to receive him It is the method of the divine bounty to give his second mercies meerly because he had freely given the first g Cui initio ratio non fuisset praestandi aliquid ei praestamus ob hoc quia praestitimus Sen. de benef l. 4. c. 15. especially when he finds the former thankfully accepted so that we cannot have a better introduction to this Petition than the acknowledgment of Gods goodness in first giving his own Son for us especially if we make it with an humble and graâ—eful heart Besides it must need be a mighty strengthening to our Faith and a great encouragement to our hope of prevailing in this request when we have first remembred so rare an experiment of Gods mercy already received Let us therefore most thankfully confess the incomparable bounty of our Heavenly Father in giving his only Son to suffer for our Redemption and then we may with more confidence beseech him to sanctifie these Elements that they may be his body and blood to us because the divine appointment hath made them to be the means whereby we may become partakers of the benefits of that Holy Passion § 4. Who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice
not sustained your fury ye had delivered me over to Everlasting Burnings I do abhor and detest ye all how dear soever you have been to me the sight of my bleeding Saviour hath stirred up my indignation against you and I will revenge his blood upon you by sacrificing you all at this Altar How can my Eyes but drop down tears of Contrition when they behold thee pouring forth Rivers of thy Blood but while I grieve to see thy bleeding wounds I must not forget for whom thou didst sustain them thy Blood was shed for me because my life was forfeited why art thou then so cast down O my Soul wilt thou dishonour that price by thy doubts and fears which God hath accepted for all the World cannot that Sacrifice which appeaseth the divine wrath satisfie thy Faith Be not afraid only believe and be assured he will not cast away those whom he hath bought at so dear a rate for thee it was shed for thee it is prepared open thy mouth wide and he will fill it §. 12. Preserve thy Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life An Act of Supplication O Lord I tremble at the apprehension of all those Evils that stand between me and thy glory behold the Grave gapeth for my Body the Infernal Pit threatens to swallow my Soul and Satan is ready were he permitted every moment to devour me wherefore I beseech thee sprinkle me with thy all-saving blood that the destroying Angel may pass over me let me drink of this Cup of Life and so shall my Body be free from Corruption and my Soul from Condemnation Death shall be defeated the Grave dismantled and Satan disappointed Let me drink of thy precious Blood that I may receive thereby abundance of thy Spirit so shall my Body be hallowed into a sacred Temple and my Soul shall be replenished with such Graces that I can never perish Sweetest Jesus how desireable are thy Provisions oh let us not always languish without them but pitty our dry and parched Souls and water them we intreat thee with these living streams for behold we thirst and long with a mighty Passion to drink of this Fountain of Life that we may not faint in our journey to those Rivers of pleasures which are at thy right hand Oh give us this divine Cordial at present and make it to us a Preservative for Body and Soul to everlasting life Amen A Meditation in the receiving of the Cup. §. 13. Drink this in remembrance that Christs blood was shed for thee An Act of Commemoration How chearing is this Cup to me Blessed Jesus which was so dreadful unto thee it was thy Agonies and thy Wounds which afforded me this Wine of Joy Thou didst find how bitter it was when thou wert appeasing an offended God but I tast how sweet it is now that thou hast made him a tender and reconciled Father I receive this Cup O my Saviour as a new plâ—dge of thy dearest love for from those pits whence these Rivulets did flow I can discern thy heart bleeding in pity to my misery and sick of Love And since thou dost here give me a right to that great expiation which thou hast made I do most humbly commemorate the same before the Father of Heaven as the full satisfaction for my innumerable debts and I will remember the dolours of thy Cross with a brisker sense than ever because thou hast made me drink of thy blood and given me thy Soul thy Life and thy Spirit so that now I will live no more but thou shalt live in me because we have mingled Souls and thou hast joined me to thy self by the Communications of thy Spirit O let nothing separate that which thou hast so graciously joined together A Meditation after the receiving of the Cup. §. 14. And be thankful An Act of Thankfulness and Resolution Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy name for now I find the Mercy and the Peace the Comfort and the Grace which flows from the Death of Christ let all the World know what he hath done for my Soul he hath rescued me and many of my poor Brethren round about me from the nethermost Hell wherefore I will love thee holy Jesus more than I can express and I will love them for thy sake And since thou hast given thy self thy merits and graces to me and sealed a New Covenant with me in thy own blood I do here bind my self by this sacred Cup to be sincerely thine m Mos est regibus quoties in societatem coeant implicare dextras pollicesque inter se vincire Mâ—x levi ictu cruorem eliciunt atque invicem lambunt id foedus arcanum habetur quasi mutuo cruore sancitum Tacit. Annal. lib. 12. I will spend my time and strength in thy service yea and Sacrifice my blood to bear witness to thy truth if ever thou callest me thereunto I will never betray nor forsake thee but live and die with thee for I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgments Oh let me never unhallow that body nor defile that Soul in which the Lord Jesus delights to dwell let no Oaths or lying prophane those lips no Obscenity or Intemperance pollute that mouth by which those holy Symbols have passed And methinks I feel new desires and new hopes my nature seems râ—newed my blood refined my Soul full of holy vigour blessed be thy name for it let thy mercy keep me in this happy temper till I have accomplished all my resolutions Amen § 15. By these and such like contemplations you must keep your minds imployed all the time that the Heavenly Banquet doth continue and if the Congregation be numerous and there be further opportunity the devout Soul will easily find more fuel to nourish these flames viz. by considering the necessities of all Mankind the Calamities of the Church the Miseries of the Sick the wants of the Poor the condition of our Relations Friends and Acquaintance and recommending them all with an effectual Charity to Almighty God through Christ Jesus As also by lamenting its own unworthiness and indispositions by recollecting all its present wants both spiritual and temporal by surveying the difficulties and dangers of that pious course now undertaken and by calling upon the Father of Mercies for grace and relief for courage and strength for support and protection in order to each of these So likewise by doing Acts of mental Charity to be put in Execution afterwards viz. Resolving for the sake of Jesus to forgive and do good to our Enemies to reprove Sinners instruct the ignorant help those that are in need And finally by contemplating of the wisdom and advantage of a holy Life the comfort and peace of a happy Death the joys and felicities of the life of Glory with the pleasures of those Souls that behold Jesus face to face these and many more which the good Spirit will offer we must improve
so afterwards that we may retain the benefits which we have received as the more particular consideration thereof will shew The Analysis of the First Prayer in the Post-Communion § 2. This First Prayer consisteth of Three Parts 1. A Supplication to the Father 1. For the Acceptance of our Sacrifice of Praise O Lord our heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly Goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving 2. For the Benefits of the Oblation made by Jesus Christ Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the Merits and Death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may receive remission of our Sins and all other benefits of his Passion 2. An Oblation of our selves by 1. A solemn Dedication 1. The thing dedicated And here we offer and present unto thee O Lord our selves our souls and bodies 2. The end of the Dedication to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto thee 2. A Petition for Grace to make good this Vow Humbly beseeching thee that all we who are Partakers of this Holy Communion may be full filled with thy Grace and heavenly Benediction 3. An Act of Humility expressed in 1. Acknowledging our unworthiness And although we be unworthy through our manifold Sins to offer unto thee any Sacrifice 2. Petitioning to be mercifully accepted yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden Duty and Service not weighing our Merits but pardoning our Offences 3. A Doxology to the whole Blessed Trinity Through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost all Honour and Glory be unto thee O Father Almighty world without end Amen A Practical Discourse upon the first Prayer with Meditations after the Communion § 3. O Lord our Heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving The devout Soul being newly refreshed with these Heavenly Comforts and even ravished with joy to find him whom she loved and longed after desires now an opportunity to express her gratitude But alas what have we to return we can make no requital only we must acknowledge the favour and offer up a Sacrifice of Praise for it and since this is all we can do we had need do this very well but if we reflect upon the manner even of this Oblation we shall easily perceive there have been many defects so that without a merciful acceptance it could never avail us in the sight of God how apparent is it that we have not praised God so affectionately and unfeignedly as so infinite a mercy doth deserve Wherefore if we be really his humble Servants the first thought in our hearts and the first word in our mouths will be the confession of our failings even in the whole office from the beginning to the end for the Ancients called the whole Communion the Sacrifice of Praise c Ecclesia immolat in Corpore Christi sacrificium laudis Aug. l. 1. in advers legis cap. 20. as our Church here doth whereas the Romanists only call it a Sacrifice d Praesta ut hoc sacrificium quod oculis tuae Majestatis indignus obtuli Missal Rom. without any other addition but it is not the Sacrifice of Christ which we here speak of for that is always pleasing to God and was absolutely perfect but it is our own Peace-offering in Commemoration thereof in which there have bâ—en many failings and therefore we desire and beg that it may be accepted in mercy so that our infirmities may not deprive us of the benefit and the comfort thereof to which purpose let us thus Meditate When I compare thy acts with mine Holy Jesus I am exceedingly ashamed to behold so vast a disproportion thou givest me thy merits and graces thy life and thy love at present and hast promised thy Kingdom to me in reversion and I have scarce returned this with the intire devotion of one half hour Oh how little is my obdurate heart affected with the sense of my own guilt the fears of the divine wrath or the apprehensions of thy sufferings Yet Lord I do desire and did endeavour to praise thee so that I hope thou wilt consider my infirmities with much compassion and measure my services not by the exactnâ—ss of the performance but by the sincerity of my wishes so shall I be accepted before thy Heavenly Father and by the mercy of that acceptance be obliged unto thee for ever § 4. Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the merits and death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of his Passion Our Heavenly Father doth not at any time require our praises meerly for the advancement of his own glory but that we may thereby be the more fit to receive greater benefits from him e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ch. in Gen. hom 52. thus in the design of this holy Sacrament he doth not only intend it as a Sacrifice of Praise for the Death of Christ but as a means to convey the blessings thereof to us Wherefore we must in the next place petition that we may find the happy effects of our Lords Passion and then we shall have good grounds to turn this memorial thereof into Eucharist and Thanksgiving We have beheld that sacred body broken and that precious blood spilt in a mystery which is sufficient to attone our sins and the sins of the whole Church and we have now perceived our own need of mercy and we are in perfect Charity with all Christian people so that it is now most proper for us to pray that that so excellent a price may not be paid in vain so glorious an offering may not want its due effects But that by this Sacrifice as the meritorious and moving cause and by our Faith therein as the instrumental we and the whole Church may find remission at the hands of God This is the great end of our Communicating and if we would most earnestly intreat for it we may thus enlarge our selves Gracious Lord we have beheld the efficacious and all-saving Sacrifice which thy Son hath offered for us we have remembred it and blessed thy name for it as well as we were able though not so highly as we are obliged to do f Gratias agimus Deus omnipotens non quantum debemus sed quantum possumus Liturg. S. Clement For the benefits thereof are inestimable Oh let them not all be lost unto us for want of Faith to believe and receive them There is no want of merit in Jesus to deserve no want of mercy in thee to bestow remission Oh let there not want in us or in any of those for whom Christ died grace to accept this Pardon Behold Lord how we struggle under a load of guilt
back again to thy self better than I received thee There needs no application but that every Communicant do as sincerely make oblation of their Souls and Bodies to God for this the poorest may give and yet this is more acceptable than thousands of Gold and Silver If these reasons do convince us of the justice and the necessity of our making this Oblation we may learn in the next place from the very form in this Prayer how and in what manner it may be done for we are taught therein I. What it is which we must offer viz. our whole selves not only our Bodies but our Souls also n Quodâ—si corpus quo inferiore tanquam famulo utitur anima sacrificium est quanto magis anima ipsa cum se refert ad Deum August Deinde cum plena resignatione integrâ voluntate offer teipsum in honorem nominis mei corpus tuum scil animam mihi fidelitèr câ—mmittendo Tho. à Kemp. de imit Christi l. 4. c. 6. for we consist of both these God hath created and redeemed both and each of them in their capacity can do him service wherefore we must give him both or he will accept neither o Pectora vestra duanon admittentia curas Juven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macrob. Saturn because he hath no equal he will have no Rival All the members of our Bodies and all the powers of our Souls our Limbs and Senses our Will and Affections our Reason and Understanding must be dedicated to him for so long as any of these are under the bondage of sin the rest cannot be intirely the Servants of God Math. 6.24 II. To what end we make this Oblation of our selves First To be a reasonable Sacrifice The offering up of our Souls and Bodies since we are rational Creatures is not like the Sacrifices of brute Beasts by dying but by living agreeable to the will of God and the rules of right reason p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. ap Stobaeum for reason as it is inlightned in us Christians doth direct us to approve of all things that are good and doth attest and confirm the Duties which God requires He therefore makes himself a reasonable Sacrifice who doth live prudently and piously and walk according to the dictates of the best reason he that is religious and just sober and humble meek and patient compassionate and charitable q Qui innocentiam colit Deo supplicat qui justitiam Deo libat qui hominem periculo subtrahit optimam victimam caedit Min. Foelix Vis Deos propitiare bonus esto satis illos coluit quisquis imitatus est Sen. ep 95. for these things are in themselves the most rational and we have the greatest reason and the highest obligations to perform them Secondly We offer our selves to be an Holy Sacrifice that is to be pure and spotless as all those offerings were appointed to be r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Athenaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Suidas which were offer'd to the Divine Majesty And as all such offerings were set apart and sanctified never to be accounted the owners Å¿ Nullius autem scil hominis sunt res sacrae religiosae quod enim Divini juris est id nullius in bonis est Justinian instit l. 2. tit 1. Sect. 7. or to be used to any common or prophane use afterwards so when we are purified by the blood of Christ and dedicated to God it is with intent never to use our faculties as the servants of sin nor our members as the instruments of unrighteousness any more Our Eyes must not look towards wantonness our Ears must not hearken to vanity our tongues must not speak lies or slanders our hands must not wrong nor oppress nor our feet spurn the poor neither may our wit or reason our passions or our will be the slaves of Sin hereafter For we are Holy 1 Cor. 3.16 17. and if we unhallow our selves again it is a crime equal to Belshazzers sacrilegious drinking in the holy Vessels of the Temple Thirdly That we may be a Living Sacrifice for we do not vow to kill or destroy our selves as some of the Heathens did in honour to their less-deserving Deities but we resolve to Sacrifice our Lusts t Non enim sicut tunc corpora pro corporibus immolanda sed vitia corporis perimenda sunt S. Ambros in 12. ad Rom. by mortification because so long as they live we are dead to the service of God We engage to be living u Aqua viva Hebr. Dialecto est aqua fontana ebulliens perennis jugitèr manans that is lively and strong vigorous and persevering in all religious duties and that we will perform all kind of good works with such an alacrity as may express life and spirit so that although we do not or cannot return the love of Jesus by dying for him as he hath done for us yet we will live to him and desire our life no longer nor for no other end than to advance his glory and do his blessed pleasure And now if we do so far understand our own interest and are so really weary of the bondage of Satan as to desire and long for a better Master and do wish unfeignedly that we may be accepted as the servants of God let us resign up and dedicate our selves to him in this or the like form An Act of Oblation of our selves or the form of a Vow after the Holy Communion O most merciful Lord God I am amazed at the mighty faâ—â—â—â—s which thou hast shewed to me a sinful wretched Creature I cannot but acknowledge thy goodness although I can make no retribution had I all the World at my disposal I could freely give it all to thee as a testimony of my unfeigned gratitude but I hear thy gracious voice saying My Son give me thy heart It is not mine dearest Lord but me thou seekest sinful and miserable though I am yet I am that purchase for which Jesus hath left his glory laid down his life done and suffered all these things O marvellous condescension I am nothing I have nothing I am void of all good full of evil and deserving thy wrath so that I abhor my self and canst thou delight in me Be it so then for I will dispute no more with unsearchable mercy I believe O my God and wonder I can no longer resist thy condescending and Almighty Love I will with all the joy imaginable give my se f to thee for thou hast but lately restored me to my self Alas I have been a Prisoner to Satan a Slave to Sin and marked for destruction but thou hast procured my Pardon my Liberty and my Life requiring no more for so unexpressible bounty but only that I will intirely become thine Had I the life of an Angel the understanding of a Cherubin or the powers of one of the Heavenly Host
profess if we had not been encouraged by his love and goodness and commanded by his own Precept we durst not have approached to these terrible mysteries Yet since it is our bounden duty and a service so fit so just and reasonable we may hope he will accept us not because we are worthy or have done any thing to merit his favour but because he is merciful y Non aestimator meriti sed veniae largitor Ambros Rom. Missal and apt to forgive our failings if he should take a measure of the worth of our Sacrifice by the Holiness of the offerers z Qui petit primo debet attendere ut pro suis meritis nihil accepturum se putet sed de Dei misericordiâ tantum Bern. in sent it is sure ours would be rejected and therefore it is best for us to fly to his mercy For the best of Gods Saints whose devotion far excelled ours have set us this Example and found it the wisest and safest way I confess to thy goodness saith St. Ambrose that I am not worthy to come near to so great a mystery for my manifold sins But thou canst make me worthy Wherefore although a Sinner I come to thy Altar to offer the Sacrifice which thou hast appointed Whose example we may follow by this or the like Act of Humility O thou all-seeing and most holy Lord God I have been admitted to make an Oblation of my praises and my self unto thee and I am infinitely concerned that thou shouldst accept me therein not for any merit in me but for thy own mercy sake O my God thou knowest I have been polluted with Sin undutiful to thy commands unfaithful to my promises unmindful of my obligations confederate with thy Enemies yea and even in the time of these holy mysteries so obdurate and confused that I might justly fear lest my wretchedness should make my Sacrifice an abomination I blush that I am no fitter I lament that I should bring so many defilements where the purity of an Angel is scarce sufficient but I take sanctuary in thy most obliging condescensions and because I am so unworthy I will endeavour to esteem my self as vile as I really am in thy sight O do not look upon the deserts of a wretched sinner but remember thy own mercies and accept what thou hast required of me And so shall thy favour be more illustrious because it is bestowed upon so undeserving a Creature and the sense of my unworthiness shall enlarge my thankfulness and make me praise thee more than if I had approached with all perfections § 8. Through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the unity of the Holy Ghost all honour and glory be unto thee O Father Almighty World without end Amen When the people prayed without Luke 1.10 they directed their faces toward the Temple and the Priest who was there offering Incense but we have much more reason to lift up our hearts to our great High Priest who is now entred into the Heavens and doth there present most perfect intercessions and unreproveable Mediations for us We know our own services to be altogether imperfect wherefore we do here declare that our only hopes of Acceptance and Pardon is Through Jesus Christ by whom we are directed to offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Heb. 13.15 as we here do in this present Doxology which comes very near to the antient form used in this Office a Audi quid dicat sacerdos Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum in quo tibi est cum quo tibi est honor laus gloria magnificentia potestas cum Spiritu Sancto à seculis nunc semper in omnia secula seculorum Amen Ambros de sacr l. 6. c. 5. and doth glorifie the whole Trinity from every person whereof we have now received peculiar testimonies of grace and favour and I wish that we may do it with a devotion proportionable to the great Obligations now laid upon us and then it will be accepted according to our desire Amen The Paraphrase of the first Prayer § 9. O Lord whom though we may make bold to call our Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus yet We esteem it our honour to be accounted thy humble Servants Having now finished this great mystery we do most heartily and entirely desire thy Fatherly goodness to pass by our failings therein as the infirmities of thy own Children and beseech thee mercifully to accept this our Oblation of our selves together with our Eucharistical Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving for the sufferings and merits of our Redeemer Most humbly deseeching thee who hast given such a Sacrifice for us and in this holy Sacrament offered the benefits thereof unto us That thou wilt please to grant that it may not be in vain to us or any of thy people But that â—y the merits of the Passion and death of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ which we have now commemorated and through a lively Faith in his blood which was shed for us Both We who have now Communicated and thy whole Church throughout the World may receive a free Pardon and full remission of our Sins And also obtain reconciliation and adoption sanctification and power against sin assurances of peace hopes of glory and all other benefits of his all-saving Passion And here at thy Altar where thou hast re-minded us of thy giving thy Son for us and where thou hast offered to make a League with us in his most precious blood We offer not only the praises of our lips which are too mean a return for such favour but we dedicate and present unto thee O Lord that which thou chiefly requirest and all that we have to give even our selves wholly and entire all the powers of our Souls and all the members of our Bodies designing them absolutely to thy service and intending them to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice and therefore we have consecrated them unto thee And we hope thou wilt accept us for thine own and never suffer us to be enslaved to sin hereafter And that we may keep this vow we do here crave thy gracious assistance humbly beseeching thee to send thy holy Spirit to take possession of our hearts so that all we who are partakers of the outward part of this holy Communion being made thine may be fullfilled and replenished in Soul and Body with thy grace within us and thy Heavenly benediction upon us And although we confess thou maist justly charge us to be unworthy through the stain and the guilt of our manifold sins which mingle with all our duties to offer unto thee so pure and holy a Majesty any Sacrifice of Praise or to make any Oblations before thee Yet we have ventured in hopes of thy goodness upon this â—acred mystery and we do beseech thee to accept this our imperfect endeavour as a testimony of our desire to please thee since it is our bounden Duty to shew
stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord. And I beseech thee give me constant and continual supplies of thy Grace that I may be able to perform whatsoever I have promised and let not forgetfulness or indevotion seize upon me hereafter Let me hold fast that which I have and daily strive to gain more and finally make me faithful to the Death so shall I receive the Crown of Life for he that endureth to the end shall be saved Amen § 8. Through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory World without end Amen There is a mighty efficacy in the name of Jesus used by a devout Soul that hath lately beheld the Commemoration of his great Attonement Through him we beg this Grace therefore And to him together with the Father and the blessed Spirit we offer up all honour and glory for the favours imparted to us in this Communion which but just now we did acknowledge and these Prayers and Praises we have cause to sign with an unfeigned Amen For we need the grace desired and the blessed Trinity deserves the glory ascribed wherefore we say Amen So be it But of this we have spoken before The Paraphrase of the second Prayer O Lord who art ever able and always ready to help thy servants being an Almighty and everliving God whose power and mercy can never fail We thy poor Creatures according to our bounden duty do most heartily thank and most unfeignedly praise thee for that of thy infinite pitty and bounty thou dost vouchsafe at this thy holy Table to feed us who have with penitence and Faith devoutly and duly received these holy Mysteries For therein thou hast refreshed our Souls with the spiritual and most desirable food of life thou hast made us Partakers by Faith of the most precious Body and of the most holy blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ which was offered for the Redemption of the whole World We acknowledge O Lord that besides the present comfort of this inestimable gift thou hast convinced us And dost assure us thereby of that which though we do not deserve yet we esteem above all things even thy favour thy gracious designs and goodness towards us poor Sinners And further by this holy Rite thou hast declared us thy Children and that we are very certainly living Members incorporate in and united unto the mystical Body of thy Son even thy Holy Church which is the blessed Company which are redeemed reconciled and sanctifyed by Jesus consisting of all faithful People in whose Prayers Priviledges and hopes we have now a happy interest And are also together with those thy servants by this Seal of thy Covenant made Heirs through hope already of thy Everlasting Kingdom which was purchased by the Merits of the most precious Death and Passion of thy Dear Son whose sufferings are set forth and the benefits of them conveyed to us in this Sacrament And now lest we should lose these blessings again by relapsing to folly as we have formerly done We most humbly and earnestly beseech thee O Heavenly Father for thy mercy sake so constantly and powerfully to assist us with thy grace in all our endeavours to perform our Obligations and our Vows that we may continue for ever in that holy fellowship with thy Son and thy Saints to which thou hast admitted us And do all such good works of Mercy Piety and Vertue as thou hast by the direction of thy holy Word prepared for us to walk in who have professed our selves to be thy Servants All which we beg through the most powerful intercession of Iesus Christ our Lord by whom we have received these and all other Mercies To whom therefore with thee O Father Almighty and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God let there be all honour and glory ascribed both now and World without end Amen Be it so SECT IV. Of the Gloria in Excelsis or the Angelick Hymn § 1. TO conclude this Office with an Hymn is so direct an imitation of our Saviours practice Math. 26.30 that it is observed in all Churches and hath been used in all Ages And although the forms may differ yet this is as Antient as any now Extant The former part of it is of an Heavenly Original and was sung by the Angels at our Lords Nativity Luke 2.14 and it seems from thence it was transcribed into the Oriental Liturgies for it is thrice repeated in that of St. James The latter part is by Hug. de S. Victor l. 2. said to be composed by St. Hilary Bishop of Poictiers but by Rabanus Maurus who lived 200. years before the said Hugo it is ascribed to Telesphorus about the year of Christ 139. Certain it is that it was added by the Ecclesiastical Doctors as we are informed by the fourth Council of Toledo a Concil Tolet. IV. Can. XII celebrated about 1000. years ago and yet those are accursed by that Council who shall reject this or the Gloria Patri or other Hymns because they are not verbatim in the Scripture for as is there well noted upon that pretence we might reject the most part of the Church Offices It is also to be noted that with very little difference we find this Hymn in Clement's Constitutions l. 17. cap. 48. so that it is likely to have been of very antient use in the Western Church And whereas in the present Roman Missal it stands in the beginning of this Office it is much more properly placed by our Liturgy here in the end of the Communion for every devout Communicant is now even full of gratitude and longeth for an opportunity to pour out his Soul in the praises of God and how fit this Hymn is for that purpose the Analysis and following discourse will shew The Analysis of the Angelick Hymn or Gloria in Excelsis § 2. The Angelick Hymn hath Two Parts 1. The Angels Song acknowledging 1. The Effect of Christs Death 1. Above Glory be to God on High and 2. Below in Earth Peace 2. The moving Cause of it good will towards Men. 2. A Descant upon it by 1. A Glorification of the Father expressing 1. The Manner how we offer this Praise We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks unto thee 2. The Reason why for thy great Glory 3. The Person to whom O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty 2. A Supplication to the Son who is 1. Confessed in his Titles O Lord the only begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father 2. Invocated by his 1. Office to 1. Pardon that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us Thou that takest away c. have mercy c. 2. Hear us Thou that takest away the sins of the World receive our Prayer 2. By his Glory also to pardon us Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father
have mercy upon us 3. A Doxology to him also together with the whole Trinity For thou onely art Holy thou onely art the Lord thou onely O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most High in the Glory of God the Father Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Gloria in Excelsis § 3. Glory be to God on high on Earth Peace and good will toward men This blessed Hymn the Church hath learned from that Heavenly Choire which came to celebrate our Lords Nativity Luke 2.16 And since we have tasted the Coelestial Manna and fed upon Angels food it is fit we should join with them in singing the praises of their Lord and ours and as one of the Angelick Order first began and then a multitude of the Heavenly Host united their Voices so it was the Custom b Angelicum posthaec sacrifex pater incipit hymnum Inceptum complet vociferando Chorus Hildebert Conoman Episc of old for the Priest first to begin and then all the Communicants to compleat the Harmony of this divine Anthem It was first endited to set forth the happy effects of that Redemption which Jesus did undertake at his Birth and it doth declare that it caused Glory to be given to God in Heaven and made Peace for poor Sinners on Earth because it did engage the good will of the Almighty towards Men But all this was but expected and prophesied of then whereas now when the Merits of this Redemption are really and effectually communicated to Penitent Souls in this Sacrament those things are all performed and accomplished so that the worthy Receivers have juster cause now than ever to sing Glory to God in the highest note who dwelleth in the highest place c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aliquando excellentissimè Math. 21.9 hoc loco terrae opponitur Grot. for he hath now done us the highest favour in making such Peace on Earth d Deus nobis haec otia fecit Virg. and giving such testimonies of his good will toward us No doubt the blessed Spirits above who sing at the Conversion of one Sinner do give glory to God in the highest now when he hath sealed his Covenant of Peace with so many and when they behold us all at peace one with another and rejoicing in these pledges of the divine favour The Church rejoyceth to see so many poor Souls revived with the hopes of Mercy e Gaudet Ecclesia redemptione multorum adstare sibi familiam candidatam spirituali exultatione laetatur Ambros de Sacr. l. 5. c. 3. every heart is full of joy and every Tongue is ready to bless the Lord for this happy reconciliation Oh let us strive to sing the Praises with an Angelick Spirit that so they above and we below may make a lovely Concord and if our Devotion cannot rise to the same note yet let our sincerity keep us in an agreeable Key and for the help of our affections let us thus meditate O my Soul behold and blush to see the Angels who are almost unconcerned sing for thy felicity while thou art silent and unmoved The Heaven is calm above thee the Earth is quiet round about thee and thy God hath testified his good will unto thee Rejoice and be exceeding glad admire and celebrate the Love of Jesus and the efficacy of that Sacrifice which hath filled Heaven with Glory Earth with Peace and all the World with Comfort O ye Celestial Powers it is my concern to magnifie him to whom you pay these Praises for I have received those Mercies which are the cause of your Joy Wherefore I will join with you and bless my God in the highest strain and I will pray that I may extol him more highly O let all the Lords redeemed on Earth and all the glorious Spirits of Heaven unite their Voices till all the World do resound with his Praise who hath restored Peace to us and shewed such good will unto men Hosanna in the highest § 4. We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks unto thee for thy great glory O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty Having before propounded the subject of our Praises we now begin to descant upon it and first we glorifie the Father Almighty to whom the former Praises are primarily directed And although we are taught with many words to express our gratitude and our joy yet none can censure this as a vain repetition because it is done in imitation of those Celestial Hymns recorded in the Revelations viz. Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and might be c. Revel 7.12 and the like Chap. 5.13 as also because every word here used is highly pertinent and hath its peculiar and proper signification f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philem. Poet. Graec. We praise God by setting forth his Greatness we bless him by declaring his goodness we worship him with our Bodies we glorifie him with our mouth we give him thanks with our hearts for the great glory which he hath gotten to himself by these his Mercies toward us And further the adding so many words doth well express the vehemency of our affections and shew that we are so full of admiration and delight that we know not well with what words to signifie the pleasure which we feel within us And whilst we are repeating so many Phrases let our Souls be enlarged in comfortable reflections upon the goodness of God and then we shall not object against their number but find a new motion in our minds to comply with every one of these Eucharistical words and use every one of them with devotion O God the Father of Heaven whose mercy is over all the World I am infinitely pleased to behold the glory and to hear the Praises which thou hast gotten by thy mercy to poor Sinners and I could even pour out my Soul in the manifestation of that joy which my heart conceiveth at thy so universal Honour Wherefore I will praise thee by acknowledgments and bless thee with Hymns I will worship thee with the lowest reverence and glorifie thee in the highest note yea I will give thanks unto thee with all my Soul for thy Pity and thy Patience thy Mercy and long-suffering thy Bounty and Loving-kindness towards thy unworthy yet miserable Creatures And as all men do share in thy goodness I hope they will join in thy Praises in singing that Song of the Lamb which is to be the subject of eternal Hallelujahs Praise and Blessing Honour Glory and Thanksgiving be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne for ever and ever Amen § 5. O Lord the only begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the Sins of the World Have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the Sins of the World Have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the
thanks unto thee with all our hearts for thy great glory Which is given to thee by all the World O Lord God We acknowledge thou art our Heavenly King who hast subdued our Enemies Thou art God the Father Almighty who hast designed and brought about this marvellous work We do also adore thee O Lord our Saviour remembring with delight and confessing with joy that thou art the only begotten Son of God Iesu Christ the anointed Redeemer And now O Lord God As thou art the most innocent Lamb of God slain and sacrificed for our offences and as thou art the most dearly beloved Son of the Father that by thy holy Passion takest away the sins of the World We entreat thee to Have mercy upon us and pitty us And again we beseech thee Thou that takest away the sins of the whole World since we are Sinners Have mercy upon us and forgive us And once more we pray thee O Thou that takest away the sins of the World take away our sins and receive our Prayer which otherwise might be hindred by them We know thou hast the only interest in Heaven wherefore we do again beseech thee Thou that sittest in great glory at the right hand of the Father that thou wilt have mercy upon us and save our Souls To thee we make this application for pardon and acceptance Blessed Jesus for thou only art holy in and from thy self To thee we seek for succour for thou only art the supream Lord of Lords Thou only O Christ together with the Holy Ghost the Comforter art most high in the favour and a Partner in the glory of God the Father constituting the holy and undivided Trinity which is blessed for ever Amen SECT V. Of the final Blessing § 1. OF the concluding the Ordinary Prayers with a blessing we have discoursed Comp. to the Temple SECT ult But besides it is apparent that the people were always dismissed from this Ordinance with a solemn Benediction pronounced by the Bishop when he was present a Plebs ab Episcopo cum benedictione mittatur Concil Agath can 30. and in his absence by the Priest b Populus non ante discedat quà m Missae solennitas compleatur ubi Episcopus non fuerit Benedictionem accipiat sacerdotis Concil 3. Arelatens yet so as none might depart till this was given by the one or the other Which Custom some would ground upon our Saviours practice who after his last eating with his Disciples Luke 24.43 took his leave with a blessing ver 50. The present form is taken out of holy Scripture the first part is from Philip. 4.7 The latter part is a Christian Paraphrase upon the old form of Moses Numb 6.24 25 26. for whereas the name of the Lord is thrice repeated there to note the Mystery of the Trinity we have explained it by the Father Son and Holy Ghost And what is further observable the following method will declare The Analysis of the final Blessing Sect. 2. This Blessing containeth a twofold wish 1. For the Peace of God to be in us shewing 1. The Excellency thereof The Peace of God which passeth all understanding 2. The end for which it is desired Keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord. 2. For the Blessing of God to be upon us intimating 1. Whence it must proceed And the blessing of God Almâ—ghty the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost 2. How it is to be imparted be amongst you and remain with you always Amen A Practical Discourse upon the final Blessing § 3. The Peace of God which passeth all understanding Keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord. When St. Paul had directed us to make our addresses to God by Prayers Supplications and Thanksgivings Philip. 4.6 he immediately adds And the Peace of God shall keep your hearts c. ver 7. So that he may seem to have designed this to be a Conclusion for this very office For we have now by Prayers Letany and Eucharist c Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 4.7 made our applications to the Divine Majesty Wherefore the holy man by this method ought now to give us the Peace of God We have begun in Piety and therefore we shall certainly end in Peace Hence all Liturgies generally conclude with the mention of Peace d In pace Christi eamus Lit. S. Jacob Reg. MS. enim lâ—git 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 4.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysos hom de jejun in Pasch In pace procedamus in nomine Domini Lit. S. Basil And there is not a more comprehensive blessing than Peace nor a more seasonable valediction after this Sacrament whether we understand it of the Peace which God hath made with us or of that which he requires of us 1. If we take it for the Peace which God hath made with us viz. for our Reconciliation to him by Jesus Christ Rom. 5.1 e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac in loc Philip. and the internal Peace of Conscience following thereupon It is so admirable in it self and it brings such comforts to the Soul which enjoys it that it not only surpasseth all the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge but passeth the capacity of the highest Understanding to comprehend it And whereas we do now all pretend to know and to love God and our Lord Jesus Christ the Minister prays that we may find such comfort and delight in our Peace and Reconciliation with God that it may keep us firm and constant to this Knowledge and Love that it may win the affections of our hearts and gratifie the powers of our Mind so as to attract us to a further progress in the knowledge of so gracious a God and in the love of so dear a Saviour He prays that this Peace may make us despise all the friendships of Sin and engage us to seek after a further acquaintance with God and a nearer Union with Jesus Christ so that we may fall off no more to vanity when we have tasted these divine pleasures 2. If we take it for the Peace which God requires of us viz. that Peace which by his command we here make with our Brethren which sense Theophylact also mentions it is very proper to wish that this Peace may keep our hearts also For we are all here joined in the Unity of the Spirit and the Bond of Peace and Amity as a token whereof the Antients finished these Mysteries with a kiss of Peace f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin M. Apol. 2. Osculum Pacis quod est signaculum orationis Tertul. de Or. Roman 16.16 and supposed they had not received aright unless they all departed in mutual Peace and Charity g Quale sacrificium est à quo sine Pace receditur idem Tertul. ibid. And this blessed Peace is both better than
sins of the World receive our Prayer Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father have mercy upon us As the Father is the Object so the Son is the Subject of the Angelick Praises wherefore in the next place we are to glorifie him who is remembred and represented given by God and received by us in this Mystery It is usual at the Entertainment of great Princes by a Herauld to proclaim their Names Stile and Titles with great solemnity Even so the pious Soul which hath now received her dearest Lord doth with a mighty pleasure repeat all the names belonging to his Person to his Nature and his Offices and thereby declare the Majesty and Glory the Mercy and Goodness of him whom she hath now accepted for her Lord and King And whilst we are setting out his glories we do also invocate him by all these honourable and endearing Names that he will imploy his Power his Interest and Merits to make our Persons and our Prayers acceptable We behold him dying for the sins of all the World and we cannot but beseech him to grant our Pardon We discern him sitting at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us and thereby we are encouraged to beseech him to pitty our miseries and accomplish our desires His glory and our necessity makes us beg this with ingeminated cries and a redoubled importunity saying as he once in his Agony did the very same words And thus we do at once provide for our own relief and do honour to the Blessed Jesus for this part is so contrived that it is a Confession of our Faith an acknowledgment of his Glory a Prayer and a Tanksgiving all in one and thus we may reduce it to a practical Meditation How shall we express thy welcom into our Souls Blessed Jesus or how shall we celebrate thy praise We will remember what thou art in thy self and what thou hast done for us for thou art glorious enough in thy own perfections O thou Eternal and only begotten Son of God equal to the Father who art thy self both Lord and God How lovely art thou O thou innocent Lamb of God encircled with millions of redeemed Souls whom thou hast washed in thy blood O how illustrious a brightness shines round about thee whilst thou art in the midst of all thy happiness interceding for poor Sinners I adore thee and long to do thee honour and I delight to see all the Angels of Heaven worshipping thee my Lord and my God Hast thou merited so much on Earth and hast thou so much glory in Heaven sweetest Saviour then sure I cannot perish Behold how many poor Souls are prostrate before thee admiring and publishing the merits of thy Death and the power of thy intercession hear our importunate Supplications and help us all therefore O Lord that we may be able by experience to proclaim thy goodness Amen § 6. For thou only art holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the glory of God the Father Amen This Phrase thou only art holy with some others in this Hymn are taken out of the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Revel 15.4 as that thou only art the Lord is from the first Ep. Tim. 6.15 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apoc. 15.4 Vulg. Solus Pius es 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Timoth. 6.15 Non quod non aliis is titulus aliquo sensu tribuatur sed quia hoc quicquid est à Deo venit Grot. in 1 Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Responsor ad Quaest Graec. There are indeed holy Angels and Saints and there are Lords many 1 Cor. 8.5 Yet none of these have a propriety in this Title because their holiness is imperfect and derived Only Jesus is Holy in and of himself and of his holiness all others do receive He is Holy and Hallowed because he halloweth and sanctifieth us as the Liturgy of St. James paraphraseth it h Solus tu sanctus es qui sanctificas sanctificaris Liturg. S. Jacob. He only is that Lord saith St. Augustine i Solus verus Dominus es qui Dominum non habes Aug. Confes l. 10. c. 36. who hath no other Lord above him For he only with the Holy Ghost is equal to the Father God blessed for ever And this is the reason why we exalt him so highly and pass by the Mediation of Saints and Angels because none is so holy none so mighty none so high in the favour of God nor none so gracious and loving to us as Jesus is This we do acknowledge therefore with all possible joy and triumph and it is a mighty rejoicing to our Spirits that he who hath given himself for us and is come to dwell with us is so High and so Magnificent And while it doth chear our hearts to set forth his glory our Enemies are confounded For while the Church triumphs the powers of darkness tremble at the mention of his perfections Let us then refresh our selves with some such Meditation We have exalted thee O Lord as high as we can and yet scarcely so high as really thou art We will apply our selves to thee only for Holiness for thou only art most Holy we will seek for succour and protection from thee for thou art the supream Lord of Lords and we will not doubt of acceptance with our Heavenly Father because thou art a Partner in his Divinity the highest Favourite of the Coelestial Court Thou art the greatest and the best in Heaven and Earth and to my endless comfort whatsoever thou art thou hast made thy self mine so that the greater thy glory is the greater is my happiness now by Faith hereafter by enjoyment 'T is true I cannot see thee with my bodily Eyes but I admire and bless thee I love thee with ecstasies of affection for thou art my Lord and I am thy servant I feel thy influence and I believe thy excellencies so that I can rejoice in thee with joy unspeakable and full of glory Thou art the highest in thy Fathers favour and in my esteem also to thee therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for ever Amen The Paraphrase of the Angelick Hymn § 7. O come let us join with the Heavenly Host and sing Praises for the Redemption wrought by Jesus which bringeth so much Glory to God who dwells on high from all the Saints and Angels and which makes on Earth such a blessed Peace by reconciling us all to God and to one another and which also declares so great good will in the Almighty towards Men who had perished eternally without his Mercy Holy Father it is we that receive the benefit of this thy goodness wherefore We praise thee for the Power and we bless thee for the mercy of this great Salvation We worship thee with our Bodies and we glorifie thee with our Souls for thou hast redeemed them both We give