agreed to abolish that Custom To conclude the famous Huniades is as great in Story for his Humility as for his Victories and as much celebrated that he would not tho on his Death-bed receive the blessed Sacrament but on his knees as for the many Overthrows that he gave the Mahometans Since therefore these and the like Excuses are but Engines to entrap and betray me And since the same Authority that forbids me to kill or to steal bids me do this in remembrance of my Saviour I do from henceforth resolve to communicate upon every Occasion as I love my life and my salvation The Collect. GRacious God the instructor of the ignorant and the guide of them who are out of the way convince me of my folly remove my prejudices and arm me with thy Grace against the assaults of Satan that I may not consult with Flesh and Blood but with thy lively Oracles that I may long for all occasions to communicate with thee and may stifle all Excuses that would hinder that holy Converse that above all things I may love thee here and live with thee for ever hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. III. Of the danger of unworthy Receiving BUT do not thou imagine O my deceitful heart that there is nothing required of thee but only to approach this holy place and taste of the Dainties it affords They never relish well but to the Palat that is seasoned This Bread turns to a Stone and the Wine into Gall and Wormwood to the sinner whose soul is vitiated Our Saviour does not vouchsafe to eat this Christian Passeover but with his Disciples with the penitent and the devout He is the Carkass and here the Eagles are expected but Dogs are prohibited * Revel 22.15 without are dogs and all that work iniquity And whatever wretch should dare break through these Fences and commit a Rape on this blessed Sacrament he will be deceived of the benefit expected for this spiritual food to him hath no extraordinary relish nor does it differ from that which ministers to his Lust and his Wantonness and he runs the greatest hazard of eternal damnation He had better have swallowed the deadliest Poison I dare not therefore magnifie constant Communion so as to depretiate the Vertues that must qualifie the Communicant and make him worthy It is an insufferable affront to Religion and an intrusion not to be pardoned when the crafty Usurer shall come from his yesterdays grinding the face of the poor to eat to day the Body of his Saviour the Shop-keeper from his little arts and methods of fraud the Glutton from his cramm'd dishes the Intemperate from his last nights debauch and the lustful from the arms and embraces of his Mistrisses to force themselves a way to Gods House and Table that man unavoidably * 1 Cor. 11.27 29. eats and drinks damnation to himself and is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And tho perhaps the word in the Original which our Translators render Damnation be sometimes taken in a softer sense and only signifies Temporal Judgments And it be a Quaere whether he who thinks himself unworthy be for that Reason unfit because the most humble is the best prepared or whether every actual unworthiness makes a man liable to so severe a sentence Yet doubtless every prophane and impenitent Wretch is in the high-road to Ruin And hardly can salvation it self save such a man * Heb. 6.6 c. who after he hath been inlightned from above and tasted of the good gift of God falls away For he hath anew crucified to himself the Lord of life I therefore as a private person charge thee O my soul look to thy self and examine severely thy state Thy happiness and eternal welfare depend on thy due preparation And as God's servant in the Function of the Priesthood I charge the Drunkard and Adulterer and I do it in the Name of our adorable Saviour I charge the Covetous and the Extortioner the Proud and the Revengeful the Prophane Man and the Hypâ—crite the practical Infidel and Debauchee not to presume to tread this holy ground Fire will break from this Altar and consume them Here is an angry Cherub with his Flaming Sword turning every way to secure the Tree of Life that it may not be tasted of by the wicked and profligate but I also charge the same Atheistical and vicious liver to alter his evil habits to wash his soul clean in the waters of true penitence and then let him visit the Temple It is equally damnable not to come at all and to come unprepared The Collect. In imitation of St. Chrysostome HOly Saviour who hast been in all places who didst not disdain to visit the Grave with thy Body and Hell with thy Soul while thy Divinity was with the penitent Thief in Paradise and with thy Father on his Throne Thou Spirit of Truth thou Heavenly King and Comforter who art present every where and fillest all things Thou Treasure of Goodness and Guide unto Eternal Life where wilt thou that I shall provide the Passeover O! come and pitch thy Tents in my Soul and purge me from all pollution cleath me with thy Righteousness give me Faith and Knowledg Love and Obedience that I may always be fit to enjoy thy company and to share in thy Merits Pardon my sins and save my soul O thou Author of all Goodness Amen CHAP. IV. Of Examination in general THere is an indispensible necessity of Examination preparative to worthy receiving For tho Charity inclines me to judg Favourably of others yet I dare not flatter my self And if severity be at any time lawful it is in the Offices of Repentance I ought to suspect my best actions and censure my very devotions I ought to fly the very appearances of evil as I dread the shadows of the Grave and to tremble at a temptation when first in View For nothing can be so terrible as the state of a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reprobate For if the Sacrifice must be without blemish if it must not only not want any Essential or Integral part not an Ear or an Eye but also must not so much as have a Scab or an Ulcer the blood must not be tainted nor the Lungs scirrous how much more ought the Priest to be perfect throughly furnisht unto every good work It is the Apostle's advice 1 Cor. 11.28 Let every man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a word of a very large and comprehensive signification I ought to examine my self as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. S. Chrysost Hom. 20. in Ep. ad Rom. to 3. p. 174. the Ancient Priests did their Sacrifices For both the Jews and Gentiles when an Oblation was brought to the Temple did not only inspect its Out-side but cut it down by the back
to pray as heartily for my most malicious enemies as for my own salvation And I cannot but remark the folly of the Romanists who tho they say all the rest of their prayers on Good-Friday kneeling do alter that posture when they pray for the Jews as they also omit saying the Amen and that for these poor Reasons * Durand Ration lib. 6 cap. 77. 1. because the Jews mock'd our Saviour with bowing the Knee and saying Hail King 2. Pecause all their prayers cannot alter the Divine Decrees nor shorten the time their conversion not being to commence till the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in But the Arguments are vain and frivolous and the usage savours of a narrow and a contracted soul For to ingross salvation to my self or party is Christian Judaism it is impropriating the Messiah and depriving all others of the capacity of being happy So that if I consider my Relation to the rest of the world either as a Man or a Christian I cannot but account my Adversaries whether they be so to my person or principles in the number of my Friends and such as do me good For by envious exclaiming against my Irregularities they engage me to more circumspection and greater care in performing my duty to my God the world and my self And they give me occasion to manifest my Patience my Humility and Self-denial with many other Vertues And were the Malice of my Enemies never so causeless and inveterate and the Injuries done me never so great yet they have not crucified me But so did my Saviour's Enemies deal with him while he forgave them and interceded for them And hath not that my Saviour * Matth. 5.24 injoin'd me rather to leave his service undone than that my duty to my Neighbour rather to leave my Gift at the Altar unoffer'd than to make the Oblation without being in perfect charity for * Tert. de Orat. c. 10. Optat. lib. 6. Chrysost in loc c. the Fathers generally understand that passage of the Holy Sacrament ‖ Chrysost To. 6. p. 622. If I cannot forgive ten days fasting will not fit me for this Altar For where Envy and Malice dwell neither the Fast nor the Festival do any good Where Envy abides thence the Spirit of God is banisht And what hopes can that man have of salvation who is destitute of the Holy Ghost There is nothing therefore that can excuse me from the practice of this so amiable a Vertue which intitles me to a conquest of my Passions and makes me Master of my self Revenge is not my Province God will repay And tho it may make me for a while uneasie not to pursue it yet I am sure it is much more uneasie to be damn'd and to be confin'd to eternal torments The Collect. BLessed Jesu who when thy Sacred Body suffer'd its acutest pains and when thy Innocent Soul felt its most afflicting Agonies wert ready to implore thy Father's Forgiveness on thy most imbitter'd Adversaries be thou pleas'd to forgive my Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and to turn their hearts and so enable me by thy Holy Spirit to walk in thy steps that I may bless them who curse me and do good to them who hate me and pray for them who despightfully use me whether they are my Enemies justly or without a cause willfully or unwillingly by what means or way soever they have done me Injury Father forgive them as I desire thou wouldest forgive me For no man can use me worse than I have deserved at thy hands and when they curse then do then bless And be thou pleas'd to remove from me and all Mankind all Bitterness Wrath Anger Clamor Evil speaking and Malice and whatever grieves thy Holy Spirit that we may be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for thy sake hath forgiven us that the Spirit of Love may subdue all desires of Revenge that we may be Followers of those Rules which be first pure then peaceable and at last may be admitted into the Habitations of Eternal Concord and Unity through thy Merits and Mediation who art the great Reconciler the Angel of the Covenant Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen CHAP. XVI Of Love to the Holy Sacrament WHen I love any man sincerely every thing that hath a Relation to my Friend is dear to me and of a particular value I look upon a Ring given me by a living Friend as a Remembrancer of the Donor and his Affection but if it be given to me at his death and that death a Martyrdom and the Ring be dipt in the sacred blood * Act. Passion ss Perpet Faelic p. 34. which was sometimes practis'd by the Martyrs it upon that very account becomes venerable in my eyes and I reflect on it with a deep respect intermixt with love and such is the blessed Sacrament to me When Jesus was crucified his Passion for the time was very terrible the Earth shook the Rocks rent and the Sun was Eclips'd but such things easily die in our memories unless reqresented by something visible by some outward sign The sight of Calvary must needs engage a modern Traveller to remember a bleeding Saviour who died there sixteen hundred years agon And as the marks of our Redeemer's Foot steps when he ascended which made their impression in the ground and continued visible * Paulin. Ep 11. ad Severum till the Fifth Century could not but presently recall into the thoughts of but a transient considerer the History of the Triumphs of Jesus which were the Reward of his sufferings and such sights without doubt wrought wonderfully in the primitive Martyrs when the Blood of a dying Redeemer was yet warm and those Memorials not defac'd who lookt upon the places with Respect and there built Churches to perpetuate the Memory of the Mercy It is true afterwards those places administred to superstition and I am sorry to say so did the Sacrament too and to Idolatry also tho it owes its Original to divine Institution When therefore I contemplate these symbols I not only remember my Master as he hath obliged me till his second coming but I also put an Estimate on his Institution I account it an Honour to be admitted to his Table and I long for frequent opportunities of going thither and nothing can satisfie me but such an Entertainment For the highest degree of Holiness is most acceptable And I am no Christian if I love not my God with all my heart And nothing less than a vigorous passion and the desires of a necessitous person deserve to be called love to the Eucharist Nor dare I desire it to gratifie any by-end but to save my soul For if I long for it only out of wantonness the Bread may feed my body but it will never supply the wants of my soul the Wine may cheer my spirits but never refresh my mind Nothing less than transports can express the sense of the
Blessing with joyful Acknowledgments ⸪ Jul. Firmic p. 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they never saw a Candle brought into the Room but they saluted the Light and bid it welcome but at Gods Altar I am blest with the light that lightens every man that comes into the world And when the men of o Id. p. 6 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aegypt found their Mock-Deities they excliamed We have found him let us rejoice together And am not I much more obliged to do so when I have found the Messiah to whom Moses and the prophets bear witness when I have found the way of Salvation the means to attain to the favour of God To this end the Book of Psalms should be alway in my hands and the Jubilees of it in my mouth for nothing like that Book fits a man for the giving or receiving these Mysteries * Dion Areop Eccl. Hier. c. 3. p. 288. ' In the Psalms we praise God for all his Works and we praise all good men for their holy Speeches and excellent Actions they quiet our Affections and subdue our unruly minds as Davids Harp did drive the evil Spirit out of Saul And they call to our Remembrance that Saviour of ours who is almost in every one of them described to the World With these Songs of Praise did those devout men deceive the tediousness of a Journey and of worldly Business the Husbandman sung the Hallelujahs while he followed his Plough and the Shopkeeper while he managed his Trade and with them they begun and ender their Meals they were the Companions of their Employments the entertainment of their leisure Hours and the solace of their Cares And are not these things written for Examples Nothing therefore shall hinder but that I will treat my Saviour with Cheerfulness and a glad Heart who treats me with a Feast above the desert of Angels Angels cannot make him more happy than he is they can only sing his Praises and to their Hallelujahs will I joyn mine nor shall my joy make it self visible only in my Anthems but it shall be more illustrious in my Conversation for this Blessing which I receive is a Sacrament 't is an Oath that obliges me as it did my Forefathers in the Faith * Vid. Plin. lib. 10. Ep. 97. the Primitive Christians to a Holy Life to Justice and Temperance and the practice of every other Virtue it binds me to avoid Theft and Adultery and every other Crime as I am willing to avoid Damnation I do resolve therefore as I live by the Mercies of God so I will live to his Glory and nothing shall make me weary of loving and serving him but I will as far as I can imitate the Adorations and Obedience of the Seraphim till they carry me to Heaven where I shall bow down to and exult in my Saviour for ever The Collect. IT deserves my best Praises O most merciful Lord the Benefactor of my Soul that thou hast thought me worthy to be a partaker of thy holy and immortal Mysteries guide me uprightly in my ways and confirm me in thy fear and because all that I have is derived from thee O Lord I devote all unto thee I give thee my Body my Soul my Fame my Friends my Liberty and my self dispose of me and all that is mine as it seemeth hest to thee and may most advance the glory of thy blessed Name who livest and reignest with the Father and the holy Spirit world without end Amen CHAP. XX. Of the Priest who consecrates BUT above all men I hope my Brethren of the Clergy will not take it amiss that I have inserted this Chapter I did not design it to instruct them they are the Angels of God but to direct and guide my self in the discharge of the Priestly Office Gods Minister who consecrates ought to be careful that he be duly qualified in the purity of his intention and the Holiness of his conversation in self-examination and self-denial in Humility and true joy for Jesus who instituted the Mysteries was a holy and innocent High-priest and separate from sinners And tho it be no wonder that Judas may communicate yet it is monster when Judas consecrates to see dogs and swine and other unclean beasts wallow and delight in filth and pollution is common and ordinary but to see Ermins defiled is prodigy To behold one of the Sons of Belial making haste to be damned is an usual tho deplorable sight but to see an Angel fall into the condemnation of Satan to behold one of the Sons of God turn Apostate and to make a League with the Powers of Darkness is a reversing of the methods of Nature and Providence and a defiance to the constitutions of Holy Religion Shall I take the immaculate Body of my Saviour into a polluted Mouth and think to consecrate his Blood with profane Lips Ought I not to wash my hands in innocency before I compass the Altar of God before I receive Jesus for my self and give him in to the hands of others It was given in charge to the Priests of the Old Law Be ye holy for I the Lord your God am holy Nor can that Commandment be antiquated under the Gospel Nay the Mosaical Constitutions required that the Priest should not only be free from any inward Pollution but also that he should have no * Levit. 21.18 c. outward Blemish not so much as a flat Nose nor a broken Hand or Foot not a crook back or the Scurf no nor so much as a Blemish in his Eye nay so careful were they of the Priest who sacrificed that they not only surveyed the shape and make of his limbs but as †De sacrific Init. Philo observes they also curiously made inspection into his Skill whether he were able to discern a Sacrifice and every part of it from the Head to the Foot Tert. Apol. c. 30. p. 223. cur praecordia victimarum potius quam ipsorum sacrificantium examinantur that nothing tainted or defective might be offer'd for an Oblation to God and is there not the same skill and diligence required from an Evangelical Priest who must advise others and above all things should not neglect his own soul For if a Physician of the body gives no encouragement to his Patient to depend on his skill unless himself be of a vigorous constitution and a healthy look since all his Discourse of keeping others alive for ever will appear but empty talk and vain boast if his own livid Countenance and decayed Limbs are a contradiction to his confidence how much more ought those who take on them the Cure of Souls to mind the conforming of their Conversations to the Preceps which they give to others lest while they make their boast of the Law through breach of the Law they dishonour God For how necessarily sad and affrighting must be the reflections of that man who reads the threatnings of Heaven
to others against those sins which his own Conscience testifies himself hath been guilty of 'T is an exemplary story if it be true that Epiphanius relates of Origen * Haeres 64. p. 228. that after his fall returning to Jerusalem he was defired to preach which Office he addressing himself to occasionally lights upon that passage of the * Ps 50.16 17. Psalmist Unto the ungodly saith God why dost thou preach my Law and take my covenant into thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee Which passage as soon as he had read he could not but call to mind his former Apostacy whereupon he sate down and wept and the whole Congregation wept with him and that was all the Sermon they had for that day Who O my Soul dares speak evil of that Priest who spends all his Time and Strength in the service of that God whom he acknowledges and who will not reverence that Clergy-man who busies himself in visiting the sick in instructing the ignorant in reclaiming the profligate in comforting the disconsolate in diligent Preaching and Catechizing and in a reverent Administration of the Sacraments There is a natural Veneration and Respect that all men pay to that which is truly Religious but when he who instructs others never preaches to himself this casts an odium on Christianity that is not easily defac't for a wicked Priest at the Altar is worse than Judas for when Judas kist and then betrayed our Blessed Saviour tho the action was as he intended it abominable yet as God applied it it became the Instrument of the World's Happiness but when the vicious Priest approaches God's Table and puts the Body of Jesus into his own Lips and the hands of his people he prophanes the tremendous Sacrament he affronts the Majesty of God he does no good to himself or others but much harm he eats and drinks Damnation to himself and gives a very evil Example to his Neighbours and what Power can bring any good out of so much Wickedness And yet to sin like Judas is to be a vile and notorious Transgressor and the case of that Traytor is an affrighting Example our Holy Redeemer had given him his Body and Blood tho he knew he would betray him that he might attempt all methods to reclaim him to soften his hard Heart by Kindness and Condescention and to secure him from the Temptations of Satan by arming him with the power of God and the Grace that is conveyed with those Mysteries but Judas was the first Instance that the Holy Sacrament which the Son of God instituted for the Consolation and Welfare of his Servants may become the occasion of Condemnation to those who receive it unworthily and that the Devil may enter into that Man's mind whose Body hath received the Lord Jesus and how impudently wicked doth such a Wretch grow of a sudden for when our Master had declared that one of his Family would be that Traytor who should deliver him into the Hand of the High-priest * Luk. 22.21 When the rest of the Innocent Apostles were struck dumb with Astonishment Judas took the hardiness to ask him the Question Thus he who is not better'd by the means of Grace insensibly grows worse and hardly can a Miracle save such a resolute sinner And what dismal Lamentations what complication of Woes are sufficient to mourn the state of such a Priest for * Vid Hieron Ep. ad Heliodor to 1. p. 4. m. who shall make attonement for him whose Office it is to intercede for others ' The Soul of a Priest says * Lib. 6. de Sacerdot p. 44 46 c. St. Chrysostome should be bright and more untainted than the Rays of the Sun lest the Spirit of God be forc't to desert him and that he may be able to say Now it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me for like that great Light that rules the day he should enlighten the World and warm it with the Ardors of Divine Love for when the Priest stands at the Altar the Angels attend him and all the Heavenly Powers mix their Voices with his and all the Space round the Altar is filled with the Blessed Spirits who honour him that is there represented and incircle his Body as Guards do a Prince Nay so great is the Honour that is done to a good Priest when he administers in Holy Things that he stands in Gods stead for as God offer'd up his only Begotten Son for the Redemption of the World So doth the Priest at the Altar make a Commemoration of that one perfect and intire Sacrifice and Oblation of our Holy Saviour for the sins of Mankind and was it ever known that any man durst play the Devil in the likeness of God To meet Satan in the Habit of an Angel is not unusual but to see an Angel of God as Priests are called and truly are to be a real Fiend is abominable When therefore thou considerest this dost not thou tremble O my Soul when thou consecratest this Tremendous Sacrament And oughtest thou not to practice the deepest Reverence and to demean thy self humbly and decently because of the Angels who attend thee and because of God whom thou representest Great is the Honour which God gives his Priests and great is their Charge and who is sufficient for these Things A prayer for the Priest before he goes to consecrate out of St. Chrys Liturgy 'TO minister to Thee O thou King of Glory in Holy Offices is a great and terrible undertaking and such as is dreadful to the powers of Heaven but thou acted by thine unspeakeable and Infinite Love becamest our High-priest and being Lord of all things deputed'st men to the Ministry of this Sacrifice Look down upon me a sinful and unfruitful servant of thine cleanse me from an evil Conscience and prepare me by the Powers of thy Holy Spirit to stand before thy Holy Table and to minister thy sacred and uncorrupted body and thy precious Blood turn not thy Face away from me nor reprobate me from the number of thy Children Lord remember me when thou art in thy Kingdom Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under the polluted roof of my Soul but as thou wert pleased to lye down in the Manger among the Beasts and to sit at Meat in the House of Simon the Leper and to receive the Harlot a like sinner to my self when she came unto thee so vouchsafe to make thy entrance into my unreasonable Mind and into my defiled Body which is dead as well as Leprous and as thou didst not abominate the mouth of the Harlot when she kist thy unpolluted Feet so O Lord my God do not despise and abominate me a sinner Pardon blot out and forgive all my sins which I have committed either willingly or unwillingly whether they are sins of Knowledg or Ignorance whether in Deed or in Word or in
my Will and Thoughts forgive me all of them as thou art Good and Gracious and preserve me from condemnation that the Oblations of thy People may be acceptably offered unto thee by me thy unworthy and sinful servant and that I my self may receive thy Precious Body and Blood to the curing of my soul and Body and may distribute thy Mysteries to others to their benefit and salvation For thine is the Kingdom Power and Glory Thine O Father Son and Holy Spirit now and for ever Amen CHAP. XXI The Methods of the ancient Church at the Celebration of the Holy Communion THe Writings of the Fathers together with the Old Rituals and Liturgies do at large give an Account both of the deep Respect that was paid to the Sacrament and of the Zeal Reverence and Devotion of those who received it together with the several Rites and Ceremonies that beautified and compleated the performance It cannot be denied but that in several Churches there were circumstantial differences in the Performance of this Duty but withal it cannot be denied that in the main there was an exact agreement As soon as the Bishop or Priest who Preacht had ended his Sermon all persons * Dionys Areop Eccl. Hier. c. 3. who were not Baptized or were possest by Evil Spirits or were in the state of Pennance were dismist the Deacons or Sub-Deacons keeping the Doors that no unqualified person might presume to stay any longer in the Church or to see the solemnity of the Celebration who was not worthy to Communicate After which the Deacons brought the materials of the Holy Sacrament which they had before received from the Hands of the Faithful * Vid. Mendoz. in Can. 22. Concil Illiberit and had layed up in the Church Treasury a place like our Vestry and delivered them to the Bishop if present if not to the Priest who laying them on the Table tendred them to God with this short Prayer Lord we offer thy own out of what thou hast bountifully given us Then the Deacon or as in some Churches the Sub-Deacon brought Water to the * Cyril Catech. Mystag 5. Liturg. Bishop and his Presbyters in which they were obliged to wash because the Psalmist says I will wash my hands in innocency and so will I compass thine Altar O Lord for washing was an Emblem of the Purifying both of the Body and Mind the * Enseb l. 10 c. 4. Chrys to 6. p. 619. c. people having washt at the Church-door before they begun their prayers it being accounted very indecent to appear before God unless they could lift up clean hands without wrath or doubting The Bishop and his Clergy had their seats round the Altar which stood in the middle of the Quire nor was any person permitted to be there besides the Clergy except the Graecian Emperor in the Churches of the East for even the Monks themseves in those days had no place among the Clergy but stood just without the Cancelli or Rails the Episcopal Throne for so it was stiled was placed just above the Holy Table his Presbyters seats being on each side of it the Deacons standing by * Chrys to 4. p. 271. passim all cloathed in white Garments some being concern'd in the Ministration of the Sacrament which they were injoined to do * Const Ap. li. 2. c. 57. with fear and reverence others to quiet the people and * Ap. Const l. 8. c. 12. one to keep the Children in due order for they also were admitted to this Sacrament and in some Churches two of the Deacons shaded the Chalice with a Skreen that no flyes or other such insects might fall into the Consecrated Wine Now the Churches among the Ancients were so ordered that as there was a partition between the Body of the Church and the Quire so there was also a Veil or Curtain which shaded the Altar and kept it from the sight of those who had no right to the Mysteries which Curtain when it was drawn the People in a solemn manner looking upon the Holy Table as a Type of Heaven and the Priests attending as the Angels of God descending to Minister to Men did give God hearty thanks * Liturg. S. Jacobi that there was an entrance given them into the Holy of Holies * Cyril Cat. myst 4. Ambr. de his qui initiantur c. 8. and that he had prepared a Table in their sight before the face of them for they believed * Chris to 5. p. 565. that this was tipified by the rending of the Veil at our blessed Saviour's passion that the people might look into the Holy of Holies and see their Crucified Redeemer now upon the Altar besides the Linnen and the Vessels necessary for the Consecration of which * Tet. de pudirit c. 7. and c. 10. the Chalices had the Impress of the good Shepherd bringing back the lost Sheep on his Shoulders there was nothing set besides a * Tert. apol 1.39 and Chrys to 6. p. 631. Cross and Lights and both of them very anciently to express that whatever was there done was a representation of that Sacrifice which our Blessed Saviour made of himself on the Cross for our sins and of that first Supper which he instituted and that it was a Feast of Joy to the Christian World After these preparative Actions the people were * Dion Areop ubi sup Const Ap. 2.57 Basil Liturg. c. bid 'To rise up together and to stand decently and with trembling and turning toward the East to pray to that God who ascended into the Heaven of Heavens and fitteth in the Eastern part of it toward which place stood Paradise whence the first man by the cunning of Satan was banisht And when the Congregation had put themselves into this posture the Deacon who attended the Bishop said aloud * Const ap l. 8. c. 11. Let not any man who is at enmity with his brother let not any man who is only hypocritically reconciled approach this table To which also he subjoined Let us attend after which the Bishop saluted his people with the peace of God be with you to which they answered and with thy Spirit tho o To. 3. p. 647. St. Chrysostome places the double salutation as it was called after the Kiss of Peace and immediately the * Dion Areop ub sup Cyril Cat. mystag 5. Const Ap. 2.57 Deacon aloud bad the people give each other the Holy Kiss or the Kiss of Charity which Action was managed with the greatest care and modesty imaginable for * Conc. Laodic Can. 19. first the Bishop gave the Kiss to his Presbyters and the Presbyters to the inferior Clergy and afterward among the Laâ—ty the men kist the men but the women their own Sex only for they had their different apartments and particular Officers appointed to each apartment the * Ostiarii Door-keepers at the entrance of that which belong'd to
flames begun to rage in the Recollects Convent And yet many of the practises of some men of that Communion are no way reconcilable to the notion of the Divinity of the Eucharist for not to mention ‡ Alan de Sacrific c. 32. that if but a Hen be sick in the Neighborhoud you may have a Mass said for its recovery it was usually buried with the Corpses of Bishops whom they Inter'd in their Episcopal Robes with a Patin and Chalice by them and the Consecrated Bread on their breast and this says the old ‡ Bals in Can. 83. Trullan Canonist was done to affright the Devil from Hannting their Tombs and it was also given as an ‡ Bals in Can. 61. Trull Conc. Wormat. c. 10. c. Ordeal to discern whether a person were guilty of a crime that could not be proved especially to Clergy-men to purge themselves from notorious crimes It was also sometimes left as a pawn or pledg and so St. Lewis of France pawn'd an Host for the pledg of his Ransome to the Sultan of Aegypt as did also Uladislaus King of Hungary to the Turkish Emperor Amurath when they made an Agreement But beyond all this men were not only contented to receive this Sacrament as an Oath of secrecy to conceal Treason Parricide Murther and such like crimes but some were so hardy as to attempt the damnable villany of poysoning their God to murther the Lords Anointed so the * Naucler Gener 42. p. 991. Emperor Henry the 7th was dispatcht and so also Pope ‖ Malmesb. l. 3. c. 39. Victor 3d was sent to his Grave and we are told * Lambard's Peramb of Kent p. 66. that William Arch-Bishop of York being discontent that he could not get the Preeminence of the See of Canterbury mingled Poyson with the Wine of the Chalice and so murther'd himself But I should tire my self and others should I multiply quotations for either these are proofs enough or a greater number of witnesses will not serve turn And May the Blessed Jesus the Governor of his Church purge it from all dross from all unwarrantable opinions and superstitious practises that all his Family may Worship Serve Honour and Humbly Obey him as we ought to do till the number of the Elect be Consummated when the Sons of God shall be admitted to sing Eternal Praises to his Majesty in Heaven Amen Amen The End of the First Part. PART II. Containing an Account of the Festivals of the Holy Week Lessons Meditations Prayers and Anthems 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athenag legat pro Christ p. 5. No Christian can be wicked unless he be-ly his profession PART II. The INTRODVCTION THE devout Christian being thus fitted to commucate with his Saviour being instructed how to discern the Lord's Body and being acquainted with the advantages which the worthy receiving of it does bring with it and with the Duties preparative to such a receiving what remains but that every occasion of coming before God and partaking of the Dainties of his Table be with all eagerness pursued after and embrac'd Consider therefore O my Soul how shouldest thou long to dwell in the Courts of God and to serve him in the Beauties of Holiness His Name is wonderful and he is fairer than the Children of Men full of Grace are his Lips for God hath blessed him for ever and in him also hath God blessed the rest of the Sons of Men him hath God anointed with the Oyl of Gladness above his Fellows consecrating him to be our high Priest to make Attonement for the Sins of the World All his Garments smell of Myrrh Aloes and Cassia of bitter Scents that embalm his Crucifixion for when he was nailed to the accursed Tree then was the Wine mingled with Myrrh given him and when he was to be buried he was laid in a mixture of Myrrh and Aloes to fit his Body for its Sepulcher And what wilt thou do O my Soul to express thy gratitude to this thy Redeemer who is become thy Lord and thy God But worship him and Adore him and give Thanks unto him World without end Every day of his Life was to him a day of Affliction and Suffering from his first appearance at Bethlehem to his being Crucified on Mount Calvary his whole Age was one continued Good-Friday and should not every day of my Life be an Easterday He dyed daily and should I not daily remember that Passion and celebrate the Praises of that Condescenton and live to the Glory of that Mercy Should I not every day if I may be actually concern'd in the showing forth the Lord's Death till he come or at least intentionally and in Preparations Representing to my mind my bleeding Saviour and mourning over those Sins of mine which brought him to so much shame and so much torture and rejoycing in the Salvation which he hath wrought out for me By this means the subsequent Directions will serve as well for any other Week as for the Holy Week and I shall always be in a readiness to communicate with my Master Jesus and blessed are those Servants whom our Lord when he comes shall find so doing The Collect. HOly and immortal Saviour who didst both Dye and Rise again that thou mightest be Lord both of the Quick and Dead and didst Institute and in thy Holy Gospel command thy Church to continue a perpetual memory of that thy precions Death and glorious Resurrection until thy coming again Send thy Grace unto me and to all People that we may Worship thee Serve thee and Obey thee as we ought to do and be thou pleased to give us all things that be needful both for our Souls and Bodies give us this day and every day that heavenly Bread the Spiritual Manna that comes down from above and send thy Holy Spirit into our Hearts that we may be always in a fit Posture to receive it forgive us all our Sins and preserve us from all Temptations that we may live for ever to ascribe unto thee with the Father and the Holy Ghost the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and for ever Amen PALM-SVNDAY PAlm-Sunday is the day on which our blessed Saviour being determined to fulfil all that was spoken of him in the Law and the Prophets took his last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem to compleat our Redemption by his Sufferings and his Resurrection the People meeting him at Mount Olivet with Branches of Palms Olives and other Trees in their Hands Emblems of his Meekness and his Triumphs crying Hosannah to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosannah in the highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among the Greeks Dominica Palmarum Florum atque ramorum among the Latins and from this Original the day hath its Name in all Churches and the Transactions of this day were so observable that the Latin Church of the later Ages turn'd this as well as the other Festivals into
Execution allowed nothing but Preparation for the approaching Solemnity of Easter Nay such Veneration was paid to that Festival that on this Week all Prisoners except a few notorious Criminals were releas'd and in the Regions of Darkness as their Dungeons were Lights were set up the ‖ Ambr. Ep. 33. Cod. Theodos li. 9. Tit. 9. l. 3 4 c. Emperors forgave those who had forfeited their Lives to the Crown and private Persons releas'd their Debtors so that this Week was like the Jubilee or the seventh years release among the Jews for this was the time when God forgave the World their Sins and releas'd them from the Prison of Hell now the War was ended that had been so long maintain'd between God and Man now was Death laid in Grave and Buried the Curse of the Law taken away the Empire of the Devil destroyed and the hinderances of Reconciliation removed and therefore all devout People lookt on themselves as bound to do something equivalent in pardoning those who had offended them in Testimony of their gratitude * Orig. l. 1. in Job Ambr. ub Supr On this Week the Church ordered the reading of the Book of Job in which History they had a plain example in the Afflictions of Job of our Saviour's Sufferings and in his Restoration of our Saviour's Resurrection and ‡ Chrys To. 5. pag. 542. the subject of the Sermons at this time was the duties of Compassion of remitting Injuries and forgiving Enemies of which the time afforded them a signal Example And now also they used to sing the 146 Psalm Praise the Lord O my Soul while I live will I praise the Lord c. The men the Women the aged Persons and the Youth all joyning in this excellent Hymnody And in * Smyth of the Gr. Ch. p. 221. the Greek Church to this day as they read over the Psalter twice every Week in Lent so they read it over but once in this Week ending it on Wednesday from which time to the Saturday acccording to the Ancient Custom it is wholly omitted for from the day of our Masters apprehension to the day of his Resurrection the mystical Body of Christ sympathized with its Head was full of sadness and cover'd with the marks of a deep and solemn Sorrow and therefore intermitted the Psalms which for the most part consist of Thanksgivings and Exultations The Epistle Isa 42.1 BEhold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delights I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles he shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his Voice to be heard in the Street A bruised Reed shall he not break and the smoaking Flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth he shall not fail nor be discouraged till be have set Judgment in the Earth and the Isles shall wait for his Law The Gospel Matth. 21.33 THere was a certain Housholder which planted a Vineyard and Hedged it round about and digged a Winepress in it and built a Tower and let it out to Husbandmen and went into a far Country and when the time of the Fruit drew near he sent his Servants to the Husbandmen that they might receive the Fruits of it and the Husbandmen took his Servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another Again he sent other Servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise But last of all he sent unto them his Son saying They will reverence my Son but when the Husbandmen saw the Son they said among themselves This is the Heir come let us Kill him and let us seize on his Inheritance and they caught him and cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him When the Lord therefore of the Vineyard cometh what will he do unto those Husbandmen He will misâ—rably destroy those wicked men and will let out his Vineyard unto other Husbandmen who will render him the Fruits in their seasons The MEDITATION GReat was the Wisdom of the Son of God in adapting his Discourses to the several Genius's Capacities and Needs of his Auditory and tho he were sometimes upbraided with his Birth Education and want of Learning yet truth at other times extorted this Confession from his Enemies Whence hath this man this Wisdom and these mighty Works Nor could the-sharpest Philosopher or the most subtil Rabbi express himself with that Acumen and strength of Reason that the blessed Jesus often uses What Stoick could entertain the World with such Discourses of Self-denial and Mortifying the Passions as the Sermon on the Mount affords us What Platonist could Treat of Divine Love as our dying Saviour does in his last Oration before his Passion What Sophist argue with that readiness and quick address as Christ does when he puzzles the Pharisees with his Dilemma's about St. John's Baptism and the Father of the Messiah What Scribe ever explain'd Moses or interpreted the Prophets so clearly as the Son of God did Nor was the matter only of his Discourses severe and profound as his Knowledg was Infinite and Unlimitted but his very manner of expressing himself had its peculiar Graces sometimes his talk was mystical and his words a Prophetick Riddle when there being no present need the Interpretation was left to the Spirit who was to succeed him but for the most part he expresses himself with a becoming plainess using Similitudes and Parables than which there is no more speedy and effectual method to instruct the Ignorant who are desirous of Knowledg but hardly drawn to pursue after that Wisdom which is not without much Study acquired for there cannot be a plainner because there cannot be a more familiar way of Instruction than this a Parable being commonly taken from things that are seen and so is both a Precept and example at once and by that means not only makes easie impressions on the understanding but as easily sways the Affections and by a certain secret kind of delight wins a man before he is aware but above all it insinuates a reproof without disgust and causes a man insensibly to be the accuser of his own Vices while he condemns the like practices in another and in this manner are the Jews treated in this Parable our Saviour chusing this method to induce them to a belief of his Doctrine and an acknowledgment of their own Enormties Wretched and Infatuated People whom salvation it self cannot rescue from ruin Did God ever deal so graciously with any Nation as with the Jews From a mean and small Original when they were the fewest of all People they insensibly multiplied into vast numbers under the hardships of slavery and tyrannical usage and when Israel was to be no longer a stranger in Aegypt by what stupendious wonders did God deliver them With what a strong Hand and a stretched-out Arm did he take them out of the House of Bondage notwithstanding the Anger of Pharaoh and the Opposition of
for Confirmation or have I slighted the Prayers and Benediction of God's Priest Have I wholly forsaken Satan or rather am I not still under his power by being a slave to the habits of folly and disobedience Have I ever at any time used Charms or Amulets or consulted Witches or Conjurers Am I not yet in love with the pomps and vanities of the World a great frequenter of sports to the hindrance of Religious Duties and do I delight in profane and lascivious representations and are not my Lusts yet unmortified and have I not derogated from the honour of the Captain of our Salvation by cowardise and negligence Eucharist Have I not profan'd the holy Supper of the Lord by not acquainting my self with the nature of the Mystery and the necessity of preparation or by coming to it without Faith and Repentance without an universal charity and a thorow reconciliation to God and my enemies without examination without a due sorrow and amendment of Life Have I not often received that Sacrament without those ardors of devotion which I am obliged to or without that bodily reverence which the most Sacred and Heavenly Mysteries require Have I not made rash promises when I have received and never minded them afterwards Have I not suffered the House to lye idle when it hath been so swept and garnish'd to encourage Satan to take with him seven other Spirits worse than himself and to come and dwell in my Soul till its later estate be more deplorable than its first To which I subjoyn Lord be merciful to me a sinner and so strengthen me by thy Grace that I may perform my Vows and keep the robes of my Baptism unspotted and tho I have approach'd thy Table without the Wedding Garment yet cast me not into outer darkness whence there is no deliverance Now these and all other Transgressions are either heightned or lessened by their circumstances the Examinant therefore ought to consider 1. The Time when he offended Was it on the Lord's day Here additions and alterations may be made by the devout penitent according to his own state or any other publick Festival on a publick Fasting day or the days of my own private humiliation during the hours of Prayer either at the Temple or in my Closet either at or immediately before or after the receipt of the holy Sacrament and have I often committed one and the same sin for these circumstances argue a perverse frame of mind and that it is not infirmity but wilfulness that makes the offender 2. The place where the sin was committed Was it in the Church at the holy Table or in my Closet or in any publick place where the offence became scandalous incouraging the vicious and offending my weaker brethren 3. The state and condition of the Offender Am I not in Holy Orders one of God's Priests that Minister at his Altar have I not more knowledge and a better acquaintance with my duty hath not God afforded me more convictions greater light and frequenter opportunities of doing good was the sin committed when I was under some affliction of mind body or estate or after some sudden deliverance out of some severe judgement on me for my former failings hath not God by his holy Spirit laid many hinderances in my way to ruine and have I not overcome all difficulties and often been my own tempter have I not continued to be wicked after many checks of Conscience and many solemn Vows to the contrary after the experience of much mercy many deliverances and great tenderness compassion and long-suffering in my Saviour towards me 4. The persons injured Are not my sins committed against my God my Master my Saviour my best and only Friend have I rob'd the House of God of its ho nour or revenue have I ground the face of the Poor or rob'd the Fatherless and Widows have I given evil counsel to the ignorant or those that cannot discern the fallacy have I been unjust to my Children or Relatives who are nearest to me and as it were parts of my self Among all which sins I must particularly mourn over and detest those to which I have been most inclined by natural temper or custome and resolve to avoid all provocations and temptations and whatever hath or may promote such evil habits and to practice the contrary virtues To which I subjoyn Lord I have caused thy Name to be blasphemed among the enemies of Religion and Piety but be thou pleased to pity and pardon me the greatest of sinners and give me thy Grace that I may do so no more Besides all which I am bound to reflect on my many secret sins and forgotten offences and to subjoin Lord who can understand how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults and keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins lest they get the dominion over my Soul so shall I be innocent from the great offence The Collect. ALmighty Lord and everlasting God Grant I most humbly beseech thee to thy distressed Servant Pardon and Peace and vouchsafe to direct sanctify and govern both my heart and body in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever I may be preserv'd in body and soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen To this I add the 38 Psalm or the 51. or some other penitential and after that the 22 Psalm Then follows the Litany much agreeable to the former method LORD let thy Ear be attentive to the Prayer of thy Servant who desires to fear thy name O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him the Father of Mercies have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Son the Redeemer of the World and the lover of Souls have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Holy Spirit of Peace and Love the giver of every Grace and every good Gift have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Holy Powerful and Compassionate Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace Lord hear Lord forgive hearken O Lord and do and defer not for thine own sake O Lord our God From polluting the robes of my Baptisme and making new leagues with Satan from a feigned sorrow and an outside repentance Good Lord deliver me From sin and shame from the paths of folly and destruction from great boasting and little performance and from a vain and empty frame of mind from stoath and idleness and the neglect of my best concerns Good Lord deliver me From Self-Love and love of the World from being busy about nothing and slighting the thoughts of Eternity from deferring my repentance and putting off my accounts to the day of
much devotion and an audible voice he heartily says Amen as a testimony of his strongest desires that it may be so and of his firm belief that God will make it so The Advice in these words Take and eat or drink this in remembrance c. And this puts him in mind 〈◊〉 duty what faith and thankfulness he ought to exercise at the reception of this blessed Sacrament And therefore he says Lord thou hast said it behold the Son of thine handmaid let it be unto me according to thy word I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified and to learn nothing but a conformity to his death and resurrection The word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory the glory as of the only begotten Son of God full of Grace and Truth § 17. Tho the devout Communicant brings with him unsatisfied ardors yet he takes care to receive decently and reverently not to snatch at the Bread nor to drink greedily for it is a Feast of temperance and therefore the Bread is given in a little piece and the Wine was anciently mixed with Water as for other reasons so for this that it might not offend the Head He therefore eats not as one whose antecedent fastings have made him hungry but as one who is little concern'd how his Body be provided for so the longings of his Soul be satisfied with spiritual food and he drinks not with the men of Corinth to be drunk at this Feast of Charity nor so much to allay his natural thirst as to satisfie the intense desires of his mind inflamed with love to his Saviour and the Holy Sacrament For at God's Table we are to eat and drink not to the satisfaction of our sensual appetites but to the sanctification of our Souls § 18. While the mysteries are distributeing to those who receive after him the good man examines his obligations to God's bounty in giving him one opportunity more of serving him in the beauties of holiness He remembers that Jesus being made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honour and considers that now he is crucified with Christ that he might live to God and that the life that he now leads in the flesh he lives by the faith of the Son of God who loved him and gave himself for him He offers himself a sacrifice to God and for the future looks on himself as something consecrated and that can no longer without most prodigious Sacriledg be put to any profane use For how shall he dare to defile that which God hath sanctified For if Belshazzar were punish'd for quaffing in the Vessels of the Temple how much more shall that man be plagued that pollutes the residence of the Son of God And how shall that man presume to appear again before God that sins against him after the receipt of such blessings § 19. After this considering that this Sacrament is called the Cup of blessing and a holy Eucharist he expresses his gratitude in solemn Thanksgivings saying either * Constit Ap. l. 8. c. 13. Psal 34. which the Ancient Church used at this solemnity or Psal 111. rendring verse 6. thus He hath showed his people the power of his works and given us the bread of Angels Or this that follows Give thanks O my Soul unto God the Lord in the Congregation from the ground of the heart Say unto God how wonderful art thou in thy works How glorious are the things which thou in thy goodness hast prepared for the poor Thou hast prepared a Table for me my Cup did overflow and I have tasted and seen how good the Lord is I have eaten the Bread of God with joy and drunk his Wine with a merry heart for God hath accepted me My Soul is filled as it were with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips Blessed is he whom thou chusest and receivest unto thy self he shall dwell in thy Courts and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thy House even of thy holy Temple As long as I live will I magnify thee in this manner and lift up my hands in thy name for thy loving kindness is better than life it self An offering of a free heart will I give thee and praise thy name because it is so comfortable I will love the Lord as do all his Saints I will bless him and magnify him for ever For this God is our God for ever and ever He shall be our guide unto death Glory be to the Father c. § 20. To this he subjoins an act of love and resignation I will love thee O Lord my God for the Lord is my defence and my refuge I will devote unto thee my body soul and spirit which are thine for thou hast redeemed them thou God of Truth Jesus hath loved me and laid down his life for me therefore will I adore him He is the Priest the Sacrifice and the Altar on him will I depend for salvation He hath given me the Sacrament as a confirmation of his former love and as a pledge of future favours therefore will I reverence and worship him world without end Lord I give my self to thee and I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him against that day Write in my heart the laws of love and thankfulness that I may no longer dare to sin against thee For how shall I now escape if I neglect so great salvation § 21. To which may be added this prayer out of the Liturgy of St. Clemens GRant Blessed God that we and all thy Servants who have been admitted to communicate with Jesus by Faith and the participation of the Sacramental mysteries may obtain remission of our sins and be so confirm'd in the ways of godliness and rescued from the dominion and impositions of Satan that being filled with thy Holy Spirit we may here be made worthy Members of Christ's Body and at last become heirs of everlasting life through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen § 22. Just before his leaving the Church the good man thus prays Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel After which he speaks courteously and friendly to all his fellow-communicants for they are his brethren and the Eucharist is the bond of that unity and this serves him instead of the Kiss of Charity which was anciently given at this Sacrament tho now the custom be antiquated And because the Love-feasts succeeded the Eucharist which are also now disused that he may do something that is equivalent thereunto he invites one or more of his poorer Neighbours for the rich are in no need
of it to dine with him treating them with all affability and humble carriage relieving their bodily wants and instructing their minds and by this means earning their Prayers And this he does over and above what he hath given at the Offertory where he hath liberally according to his ability offered unto God and the Poor remembring that a thinking Heathen never came in sight of an Altar tho but occasionally but he tendred something thereon if it were but a little Salt or a handful of Flower and thought himself also obliged to provide for the indigent as for his brethren § 23. At his return he does not think fit to go immediately to his own dinner but retires to his Closet * Scalig. de Emendat temp l. 6. the Jews were obliged that night on which they did eat the Passover to taste nothing after it for the whole night that the relish of the Paschal Lamb might continue in their mouths a long time and the reason holds good in the Christian Church for our Blessed Saviour after he had eaten of this Supper resolved never to eat more till he had accomplish'd our redemption for says he I will drink no more of the fruit of the Vine till I drink it new in my Father's kingdom In the Closet the good man recollects the proceedings of the day and in his thoughts acts over again the solemnities of that glorious triumph for he dares not spend any part of this day but in holy Offices in Meditations and Prayers in acts of Faith and Love of Piety and Charity in Reading and Conference and in all other exercises that may serve to increase his virtues both in number and degree especially in holy praises and solemn thansgivings to God for all his benefits § 24. And after this manner he expresses himself I am thine and nothing shall separate thee from my love on the Cross every member of thy body every faculty of thy soul had its sufferings and its agonies for my sins and should I reserve any thing from thee No my most obliging Saviour I make an intire oblation of my self to thee a whole burnt-offering sacrificed in the flames of holy love and this I do with all my might and power nothing could atone for my sins but thy sufferings nor can any thing testify my gratitude but the devoting of my self to thy service Thou hast redeemed me thou God of Truth and I will be thy servant for ever My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour For I have found him whom my soul loveth Jesus the Messiah of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits I will receive the Cup of Salvation and will praise the name of the Lord. I will go into thy House with my offerings and will pay my Vows which I promis'd with my lips when I was in trouble § 25. To which he subjoins Lord my single praises make but an insignificant and low sound they are the poorest of recompences and the most disproportioned to thy Majesty and thy Merits I therefore call in the assistances of Angels and of the whole host of Heaven of Sun Moon and Stars of the Earth and Sea and all that is therein to joyn with me in the magnifying of my Redeemer Let all the World worship thee sing of thee and bless thy name let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord for great is the Glory of the Lord and let all the Earth be filled with the knowledg of his Glory for his Name alone is excellent and his Glory above Heaven and Earth Amen Amen Glory be to the Father c. Then follows the Trisagios Holy God Holy and Powerful Holy and Immortal have mercy upon us § 26. After which he thus expresses himself How unwillingly have I left the place where my blest Saviour dwells and how well pleased should I be could I live and communicate with him always How amiable is that Palace where my dear Friend fixes his residence And how do I long to be treated continually at the Supper of the Lamb Oh that I could dye this very moment if it were but pleasing in the sight of my Heavenly Father and pass immediately from this antepast of joys to the intire entertainment of that Glorious Feast And would my Redeemer affist me how readily would I be this moment his Martyr How acceptable would a Prison or the Rack the Flames or a Sword be to me so I could by any means embrace an opportunity to let my beloved Jesus know how dear he is to me how much I value him and how ready I am to offer him my Blood who hath shed his own Blood for me upon the Cross and sed me with it at his Table And if that be an Honour that I am not worthy of and perhaps not capable of yet O Lord let me always be thy Martyr in resolution and since there is so much happiness in communicating with thee let me never leave the World so suddenly but that I may have the assistance of a good Priest to give me in thy name Absolution and to strengthen me in the agonies of death with the blessed Sacrament § 27. After which Meditation the worthy Communicant uses this Prayer taken out of the * Ps 8. c. 14.15 Constitutions commonly called the Apostles How ready and willing is my soul which hath been cherish'd and fed with the most Precious Body and Blood of my Saviour to offer him the thanks which I can pay tho neither what he deserves nor what I ought since he hath vouchsaf'd me the honour to partake of his holy Mysteries Grant holy Jesu that it may be for my Health not for my Ruin for my Happiness not for my Condemnation for the Security of my Soul and Body for the increase of Piety for the remission of Sins and for the introducing me into thy Palace for thy Name is called upon me and into thy Family I am adopted among thy faithful Servants Strengthen me and them by thy Holy Spirit inlighten our ignorance and supply all our defects and confirm us in the resolutions of a holy Life rescue and defend us from Satan and all our enemies ghostly and bodily sanctifie and protect help and keep us in our going out and in our coming in and at last assemble us in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Glory Honour and Worship now and for ever Amen To which he adds this other Collect. ALmighty God who hast united the Christian World in one common Brotherhood by the Holy Sacrament that we being many might be one body because we are all partakers of that one Bread let me be partaker this day of the Prayers of all that this day have communicated whereover thy Church be dispers'd over the face of the whole earth and let my Petitions be available in
thy sight for all mankind especially for the houshold of faith through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen May the Blessing of God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be with me and remain with me now and for evermore Amen § 28. And because the blessings of an Easter are very valuable and deserve extraordinary returns the good Christian thinks fit after the Evening Service at Church is over to return again to his Closet to converse with his holy Saviour and to exercise those acts of Love of Faith of Contrition and Hope and other Graces which for want of leisure or other conveniences could not so well be performed in the House of God to which he subjoins this or the like Meditation The MEDITATION § 30. I Am now return'd from that happy place that is preferable to Paradise where I have been treated with a Feast of fat Things and Wine well refined and what does my Lord require of me in point of Gratitude for these his inestimable benefits but to do Justice to love Mercy and to walk humbly with my God For every thing in this Sacrament obliges me to holiness of Life the Institutor of it was the undefiled High Priest of our Profession who did bear all sins but committed none the end of its Celebration is to show forth his Death which when we receive unworthily we act over again we new crucifie the Lord of Life who hath bought us and bring on our selves the most horrid and affrighting guilt that we can incur the preparation is nothing less than a strict examination of our Consciences than strong Prayers and Cries ardent resolutions of being better and a constant course of pious and charitable Actions This Sacrament actually enters us into Covenant with God and what agreement can there be between Light and Darkness It is an Emblem of our holy Profession which calls us to an exemplary Conversation it is a bond of Christian Communion and obliges to Charity 't is a representation of our Saviour's Crucifixion and so calls to the practice of Patience Forgiveness and Holy Resolution and it is a solemn Sacrifice of Praise and so obliges to practical Gratitude How wide are thy Wounds O my dying Saviour and how sorrowful thy Countenance Oh thy bitter Agony Oh thy shameful Cross And all occasioned by my sins and shall I continue in the same Transgressions out of despite to my Saviour Lord let me never be in any capacity to do so any more for how shall I dare to eat with thee and to lift up my heel against thee In this Sacrament I renew the Vow which I made in my Baptism and have so often shamefully broken and thereby forfeited the blessings which were promis'd me upon the performance of my duty Now this Covenant as on Gods part it entitles me to his Protection and his love to the Merits of his Son and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit so on my part it engages me to accept of that Son of his in all his Offices obliging me to receive him as my Sovereign and to obey his Commands and to depend upon him to receive him as my High Priest and to believe that his Sacrifice of himself if I repent and amend shall cleanse me from all sin but if I continue in my disobedience shall avail me nothing and to give my self up to his Instruction as a Prophet learning from him all the particulars of the Divine Will that are necessary to make me wise to Salvation and perfect unto every good Work But how often have I broken that Covenant rebell'd against this my Sovereign made my self unworthy of the blessing of this my High Priest and cast all his Laws behind my back Before my Repentance my bosom was a Den of Thieves and a Cage of unclean Birds but now it is cleansed and I am become a new Creature now know I that I am the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in me but if any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple I am There is a particular Veneration paid to the places where Princes usually entertain themselves and every House where any of the Blood-Royal of Persia is born is afterward converted to a Sanctuary and whereever any of their Princes lodges in a Journey the place is reputed for the future sacred and ought not the place where my God takes up his Habitation to be for the same reason separate from profane and common uses And if some of the School-Doctors who assert Transubstantiation tell us that as soon as the consecrated Host grows mouldy the Body of God retires from it and it is again changed into its old substance of bread can I think that God will pitch his Tents in a polluted Soul infected with the Leprosie of Vice I do therefore resolve and it shall from henceforward be the employment of my time and my strength so to live in thy fear and to thy service that I may dye in thy favour and rest in thy Peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. § 31. At the end of this Meditation this Collect is fitly subjoined BLessed and most bountiful Saviour as thou hast honoured me and made me happy this day so vouchsafe me the same measures of Grace the same ardors of Mind and the same holy opportunities all the days of my Life fix my thoughts upon the things of Heaven strengthen and inflame my love to my dying Saviour increase and support my Faith confirm and secure my Hopes and give me frequent occasions to exercise all the other Virtues of my Christian Calling and as thou hast filled my soul with the most ravishing and transporting pleasures so make me for ever careful that I neither quench thy Blessed Spirit nor stifle its Motions but that I may improve all the seasons of Mercy and all the tendries of Grace to the best ends and purposes to the advancement of thy Glory and my own Salvation through thy Merits and Mediation who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen § 32. After this the devout man is all Rapture and all Joy and cannot forbear praising God afresh for all his spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in this or the like Hymn O God my heart is ready my heart is ready I will sing and give praise with the best Member that I have I will give thanks unto thee O Lord among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the Nations For thy mercy is greater than the Heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the Clouds Through God shall we do great acts and it is he that shall tread down our enemies Truly God is loving unto Israel even unto such as are of a clean heart Oh how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts my soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh rejoice in
pity who being just ready to celebrate these Venerable Mysteries was so unnessarily and unseasonably and uncharitably angred by Eusebius Bishop of Valentinople that he was forc'd to desist from the Office and to desire Pansophius Bishop of Pisida to consecrate for him being perswaded that that occasional anger was an invalidating of his preparation And in truth the * Conc. Carth. 4. Can. 93. Church was so much an enemy to all quarrels that it forbad the admittance of the Oblations of those who were not in perfect Charity either at the Altar or into the Church-Treasury 5. But if I sin after so solemn a Renewal of my Vows in this Sacrament will it not increase my guilt So among the Ancients some deferr'd their Baptism till the time of their death that they might not be impeacht of defiling the White Robes which they then put on And does not this Argument equally hinder the performance of all other Offices of Christianity May I not as well defer to repent since a relapse into evil habits after such an ab-renunciation of them is an heavy aggravation of my Crime And is not this to do as it is reported of the Circassians who follow their Thievery till they are Sixty and then spend the remainder of their days in Prayers devoting their Youth and Strength to the Devil and their Vices their Old Age Impotence and Diseases to God and Repentance But what if death should seize me while I thus defer making up my accounts with my Master What if a dull Lethargy which perhaps is but the effect and punishment of my irregularities should seize my brain and stifle the spirits and disable me from thinking So that by reason thereof I am dead while I live What if a Fever should captivate my Reason and put me into a Frenzy so as I can only name God in my Oaths and Curses will not this hinder all commerce with God or my own Soul And how deplorable must my estate then be For Heaven was never design'd a Bedlam a Receptacle for the Distracted and Vicious How can I promise my self to repent or communicate to morrow who put off hearkening to my Saviour to day since all his injunctions relate to the present time And if that that must save me be a work of Grace of time and perseverance what folly is it to neglect it And will not the slighting these passionate and earnest invitations of my God be a great increase of my guilt 6. But does not Satan sometimes tempt me to think it unlawful to communicate with sinners or as it is worded with a mixt company And am not I my self the greatest sinner And who can come there who is not so And does not our Church as well as all other the Reformed debar all gross and notorious transgressors from the Sacrament Can I call this any thing but Cunning in my ghostly Enemy who first tempts me to mean thoughts of my self and would keep me from God's Table because my self am unworthy and now tempts me to pride and contempt of my Christian brother I am sure Charity thinks no evil and obliges us in honour to prefer others to our selves Besides why do I pray or hear with sinners if I must not communicate with them And how do I know but he who offended deeply yesterday is as deep a penitent to day And how dare I to judg anothers servant It is not in the diseases of the soul as of those of the body Nothing makes the spiritual Plague infectious but my consent A man may if he will live chast in a school of debauchery and keep himself temperate in the house of an Epicure If my brother comes unworthily he eats and drinks damnation to himself and not to me And I am sure I have employment enough to examine my self to keep me from being busied about other mens matters Lastly But is not the posture of receiving apt to give scandal and to be mistaken for an act of worship perform'd not to God but to the Elements I am sure Humility is a necessary Attendant on the worthy Communicant a Vertue which is peculiarly Christian which the Philosophers do not so much as name in their Catalogues I know also that when I communicate the Priest prays that the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ may preserve my body and soul unto eternal life and with him I pray when I say Amen and the posture of prayer is kneeling and therefore I fall down and worship before the Lord our Maker Perhaps our Saviour gave the blessed Eucharist to his Apostles in another posture for we are not sure because the Scripture is silent and so also did he give it only to men when there were many Female Disciples and in an upper room and after a Feast as it was also in St. Paul's time celebrated after the Love-Feast or Agape But hath not the Church as much power as the Synagogue And did not the Jewish Church alter the posture of the Passeover which was at first to be eaten standing with the shoes on to a Table posture which also our Saviour seems to have observed For can we think that our Saviour's practice binds more than God's express command Or does it bind more in one circumstance than in others Besides I am convinc'd that the practice of the Ancients and the commands of my superiors should much sway me in doubtful cases But they tell me * Aug. in Ps 98. Chrys To. 3. p. 778. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. to 5. p. 518. c. That it is a sin not to adore when I receive And when I so adore I no more worship the Altar or the Elements that I bow before than when I kneel in the Pew I worship the Desk or the Book that lies on it Nor hath the one been more abused to Idolatry than the other For the Heathen do worship Wood and stone as much as the Papists the Host And is not this adoration a part of that honour which is fixt on Christ the Institutor of this Sacrament who also is the thing signified under those Visible Figures for he hath sworn by himself that every knee shall bow to him which honour he purchas'd by his blood For because he humbled himself to the death of the Cross therefore God hath given him a Name above all Names that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow And is not this Sacrament a Representation of that Passion Nor was it ever heard that Superstition could abolish the duty of a Text. And if when I kneel I give countenance to the Papists who in this case err by attributing such honour to the Son of God which he allows not of I am sure in sitting at this Table I countenance the Socinians and other Anti-Trinitarians who debase our Saviour and degrade him from his Godhead for which Reason * Altare Damascen p. 752. in Four several Synods in Poland the Protestants both Lutherans and Calvinists
World indulg'd to the gratifying their extravagant Appetites then their destruction was at the door they were drown'd first in their full Bowls and then in the Deluge And that Job's children while they were in the height of their mirth and feasting were upon the brink of their graves with many other such Instances And therefore the Christian Church in imitation of the Jews who fasted twice in the week kept also their solemn Meetings on every Wednesday and Friday on which they pray'd heartily and heard the Word of God gladly and at Three in the Afternoon first received the holy Sacrament and then went to their ordinary meals On these days they humbled their souls and sent up strong cries to God for the pardon of their sins and the diverting of the divine Judgments from themselves and all the world But as if those days of Mortification would not be sufficient they appointed the Lent-Fast to be in an especial manner a time of preparation to the blessed Eucharist At that time they inured themselves to all sorts of hardship they abstained * Constit Apost l. 5. c 17 Chrys To. 5 p. 581 c. from their Baths they drunk nothing but water and did eat no thing but Bread and Herbs not changing dull and heavy Flesh for Fish and Wine the Dainties of the Old Epicures as the Romanists do * Nay the present Greeks during Lent will not so much as mention the word Butter Cheese Flesh Fish withour the following Parenthesis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is with reverence to the holy Lent be it spoken Grelot 's Voyage p. 143. they frequently watcht all night and when they slept lay on the bare ground And lest people thorow the weakness that cannot but succeed such severities might fall asleep in the Church they had among the Eastern Christians * Typic Sabae cap. 5. p. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Officer to awaken all drowsie persons and to bid them be intent on the duties of the season Then also they made their frequent Confessions heard Sermons every day and practis'd all the Rules of Self-denial and took care not only that their Diet should be mean but their * Tertul. de Penit. c. 9. de Jejun Habit coarse Their Penitents were covered with rough sackcloath and sprinkled with ashes till their faces were lean and dis-figured with their abstinences For he who pamper'd himself while the Church fasted was look'd on as an Atheist or an Epicure says Tertullian ' That his Belly was his God his Lungs his Church his Paunch his Altar and the Cook his Priest That the steams of his cramm'd Dishes past with him for the blessed Spirit and his poynant Sauces were look'd on by him as the influences of the Holy Ghost and his Belchings as Prophecy that all his Charity was warm'd in the pot wherein his Dinner was boyled his Faith kept alive in the Kitchen and his Hope preserv'd from starving by his divers Dishes They were not to be perswaded that a small degree of penitence would attone for a great Crime and take off the Ecclesiastical Censures Those who were reconciled were not admitted to the Holy Communion till they had addrest to the i◠spiritual Guide and had his benediction and the Prayers of the Church But many Criminals were never admitted to the priviledges of the Altar till the day of their death and some were left wholly to the mercy of God especially if the man had relaps'd * Ambrose de Paenit l. 2. c. 10. For as they never baptiz'd any man twice so they never admitted any man twice to publick Penance For should they have done so the Compassion of the Church would have brought her Laws into contempt And tho the Church hath since thought fit to give Transgressors better hopes by an easier Remission of her Censures to let the Novatians know who thought the ancient Discipline indispensible and for that Reason denied the first Paragraph of the Eighth Chapter of St. John's Gospel to be Canonical because it afforded an Example of such Lenity in the Remission of gross sins that she had such a power yet it were to be wish'd that the ancient Discipline could be retrieved to curb the Extravagancies of a loose sensual and Atheistical Age whereby notorious vile and profligate sinners were bound to Ten Twenty or Thirty years Penance and sometimes longer proportionate to their Crimes and the heinous Circumstances that attended them This would repair the Ruins of Religion and restore the lost Reputation of despised Christianity In those best days their holiest men inured themselves to the greatest strictnesses And what extraordinary performances must we think were then required to fit a gross Offender for the Holy Communion For they had learnt that such severities are the proper method to subdue the body and deliver the soul from the drudgeries and impositions of its sensual Appetites That to fatten the body is but to make the Prison of the soul the stronger that the mind is then best enlightned when it is free from the burthen of meat and the cares of the world and that the longer a man fasts while he prays the fatter and more acceptable will be the sacrifice of his Devotion and that when * Acts 10. Cornelius did so then came the Vision that brought salvation to his house But above all they remembred our Holy Redeemer's * Mark 2.19 20. Injunction and that this was the time in which the Bridegroom was taken away from the earth and that therefore the children of the bride-chamber ought to fast Nor will every slight degree of sorrow serve to express the Resentments of such a loss and the sins that caused it For when I look on him whom my Transgressions have pierc'd I ought to mourn as one mourns for his only son and be in bitterness as one that is in bitterness for his first-born And is it not a shame to the Christians of this Age not to follow such an excellent pattern But why do I call my self and others to the imitation of the Vertues of the Disciples of Christ * Simon Coriar Ep. 12. inter Epist Socrat Socratic p. 28. The very Heathens will make us blush at the Day of Judgment who advise their Friends to inure themselves to Hunger and Thirst because those things do wonderfully advance a man in the study and practice of the Laws of Wisdom But here I must observe That every Abstinence is not a Fast For I may be kept from meat either by poverty or business by the Rigor of my Enemies by the Violence of a Disease or the injunction of my Physician But that which makes a Fast in the Ecclesiastical sense of the word is when it answers the ends of Religion and the performance is directed to the good of my soul Nor does every Fast which is voluntarily undertook for the ends aforesaid presently commence an acceptable Sacrifice to God unless it be
in my mouth but in St. Austins time at * August Retractat lib 2. cap. 11. Carthage they used to sing the Psalms of David not only during the distribution of the Sacrament but also before the Oblation I suppose he means only those which were suitable to the occasion and mystery In †Just M. Apo. log 2. Palestine and in many other places the Bishop or Priest brake the bread and gave it into the hands of the Deacons and they gave it to the People as they also distributed the Cup. At ‡ Tertul. de Coron cap. 3. Carthage and else where especially in Africa the people received both the Elements from the hands of the Bishop while at ‡ Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. Alexandria the people were allowed themselves to take the consecrated Bread from the Patin tho I think this was a peculiar custom of that Church and lasted but a little while but generally he who consecrated gave the Bread and the Deacon the Cup. ' In the ‖ Cyril Cat. myst 5. Church of Jerusalem when the Communicants received the bread they took care not to spread their hands abroad or to widen their fingers but placing their hands in the form of a Cross they supported the Right Hand with the Left and in the hollow of the Hand received the Body of Christ This o Vid. Chrys to 5. p. 519. holy bread they first put to their Eyes and then did eat it being extreamly careful that no part of it should fall to the ground thus they received the bread and when the cup was to be received the * Cyr. ubi supr Const Ap. li. 8. c. 3. Prosper in Sentent Communicant was forbid to stretch out his Hand and only advised to bow himself and being in the posture of Worship and Adoration the Wine was poured into his Mouth and before he swallowed it he was obliged to moisten his Fingers in it and then to touch his Eyes his forehead and the rest of the Organs of his senses thereby sanctifying them and securing them from the assaults of Satan He who Ministred the blessed Sacrament ‖ Chrys l. 3 de Sacerd. Aug. Ep. 259. carried it in his right hand and when he gave the Bread he said * Ap. Const l. 8. c. 13. The Body of Christ or ⸫ Liturg. S. Marc. the Holy Body and the Communicant said Amen And when he gave the Cup he said The Blood of Christ the Cup of Life or the precious Blood of our Lord God and Saviour and then also the Communicant answered o Vid. Aug. contr Faust Manich lib. 12. cap 10. Amen But afterward the form ‖ Liturg. Greg. Dialog was enlarged as I conjecture by Gregory the Great The Priest saying The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thee unto Eeernal Life Amen To which the Communicant replyed I will receive the heavenly Bread and will call upon the Name of the Lord and when the Priest delivered the Cup he used this Form The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thee unto Eternal Life Amen and the Communicant rejoin'd I will receive the Cup of Salvation After the Distribution was ended * Const Ap. ub Supr the Deacon spoke to the Congregation in these words Let us who have received the precious Body and Blood of Christ give him our Thanks and Praises to which end he did bid them put themselves into an erect posture and to stand upright that both Soul and Body might be intent on the Office that in the Prayer which compleated the Sacrifice they might praise God heartily and with a good courage for the Honour and Priviledg of partaking of those Mysteries and then they were dismist The remainder of the Consecrated Elements was ⸫ Just M. Apolog 2. some of it sent to those who were absent especially to the Confessors in Prison who were every day in expectation of Death the rest the faithful who had communicated carried home with them and o Naz. Or. 11. Or. 19. that in both kinds and ‖ Tert. ad Vxor l. 2. they commonly did eat of this Bread before their ordinary meals especially at their entertainments of Friends and Bishops usually sent pieces of it one to another as a token of mutual Communion In after times in some Churches the Communicants did eat what was left in some they buried in others they burnt the remainders and in other places they gave them to the School-boys and other Children who had not communicated What was left of the Oblations unconsecrated found the Ancients the materials of their Love-seasts tho the Apostolical * L. 8. c. 31. Constitutions give it to the Clergy afterward the Bread was given to the Catechumens or Penitents who were speedily to be reconciled or it was sent instead of the Sacramental Present abovementioned by one Bishop to another These were the Ancient Methods and may our good God give this present Age his Grace and fill our Hearts with a holy Fear of his Majesty and a due Reverence and respect to all his Ordinances that the Examples of the devout Christians of the Primitive Ages may incline us to an Imitation of their Piety Humility and other Virtues till we come to the general Assembly of the first-born in Heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXII Of the honour done to the Sacrament by the Ancients THE Holy Eucharist being the highest Office of Religion and the greatest Priviledg of Christians on Earth the Church hath thought fit on all occasions to testifie what a Reverence ought to be paid it and what honour is justly due to it And therefore took all care to sence and secure it from any attempts that might lessen its esteem or profane its usages of which I shall mention the most materal For 1. None was permitted to be present at the Celebration but those who had right to receive the Mysteries for tho the Governours of the Church prohibited no Persons to be present at the Sermon ‖ Conc. Carth. 4. c. 84. were they Infidels Jews or Hereticks yet as soon as the Sermon was done * Const Ap. lib. 1. cap. 5 6. the Deacon made a Proclamation Let no Infidel tarry here and lest that warning should not secure the Mysteries from being prostituted the faithful People were bid to ⸫ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys adv Jud. examine and take Cognisance one of another and to look distinctly that there were no Stranger among them the Church having pray'd for them already That God would convert them to the Truth When they were dismist and Silence made o Id. hom 2. in 2 Ep. ad Corinth the People were bid to stand decently and to pray for the Catechumens who were all the while Kneeling or Prostrate that God would bring them to Baptism ‖ Const App. ub Sup. the People in the mean while praying silently to themselves and saying Lord have mercy after
to the Honour of God also inviting all occasional Comers to buy and offer liberal Sacrifices as an Exchange tempts Customers it also making provision for Proselites and strangers of such Money as was current at Jerusalem which only was to be offered to the Lord and for the poor that they might borrow tho not on Usury yet on Pawn so as they might not comeempty handed before the Lord the place of this Traffick being only the outer Court of the Temple into which were admitted even the Gentiles and Uncircumcised why was our Masters Zeal so Fervent With great Reason doubtless was this done for all that Jesus did was by the guidance of the Infallible Spirit nor was it without reason that this Action was called the greatest of our Saviour's Miracles and one of the most solemn Declarations that he was the Son of God VVas it not a great Affront to the Divine Majesty to make a Butchers stall or a Bankers shop of his House To alienate it from its right use and instead of a house of Prayer to make it a den of Thieves of Publicans and Extortioners and of the Practicers of the Arts of Fraud and the Methods of Cheating VVas it not Irreligious to serve the Ends of Covetousness more than the designs of Piety For these Markets were at first held only near the Temple but at last through the greediness of the Priests were brought into the first Court of it to their no little gain while they managed the Markets either by their own servants or by exacting a Tribute of all those who there erected stalls and perhaps selling one and the same sacrifice over and again to several Persons Now what could create in mens minds mean thoughts of Religion and depreciate the service of the Almighty if such Actions did not And how could men chuse but abhor the Offerings of the Lord This therefore incited the Zeal of our dearest Lord and it was a sad Omen that the Priests themselves should in a little time be banisht from the House of God and turn'd out of his service because they had corrupted and huxter'd the VVord of God and handled it deceitfully And now O my soul and my body are not you the Temple of God And ought not the same measure of Zeal to be in me that was in my Redeemer Ought I not to cleanse this Temple and to expel thence all brutish Affections all covetous thoughts all self love and love of the VVorld all pride and vain glory and to keep my self undefiled in the VVorld fit for the residence of God and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit for if a man defile the Temple of God shall not God destroy that sinner I will therefore devote my self intirely to my Maker what he loves shall be my delight and I will honour him here in his Person in his Will in his Ordinances in his Habitation in his Revenue and in every thing else that appertains to him that I may hereafter enjoy him and live with him for ever Amen The Collect. ALmighty and most Merciful Saviour who in the heighth of thy Glories wast mindful of thy Humiliation and thy sufferings as thou wert contented to be made the Son of man tho by an ineffable generation thou wert the Son of God so new make me thy most unworthy because thy most disobedient Servant create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me that my soul whom thou hast redeemed may always sing thy Praises and celebrate thy bounty that all my faculties and all my members being consecrated to thee and thy service my Zeal may be flaming and unquenchable my love to thee victorious over all self love or love of the world my love to my neighbours generous and disinterested and my constancy and resolutions to be thine unalterable that I may preserve thy living Temple free from all Pollation till I come to the New Jerusalem where the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it through the Merits und Mediation of thee my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen The Anthem for Palm-Sunday ETERNITY I. MY Eager Soul 's upon the wing To view th' Court of th' Heavenly King So passionate 't is those Joys to taste and know That it disdains all pleasures here below For what can this sad world impart To ease the longings of my Heart Which Heavenly Love hath wounded with its Dart II. The Palace Glorious was where God Made his perpetual abode E're his Omnipotent Word bad all Things be The Mighty Undivided Trinity Resided in Eternal Light Before the Sun appear'd in sight Or Time was impt to make his earliest flight III. With Joy the Father then look't on The Beauties of his only Son Miraculous Child whose great Sire cannot be Above his Son in Age or Dignity From both these did proceed the Dove Which gently up and down did move And fill'd the place with Harmony and Love IV. In this vast space the Equal THREE With mutual Sentiments did agree That God the Father should the World create The Son redeem the Spirit regenerate Transcendent Fountain whence did flow What infinite Pity could bestow To make men Gods and bring down Heav'n below V. No longer can my Soul forbear It Sighs and Wishes to be there That it may celebrate the Father's power Love Jesus and the Holy Spirit adore For tho my Saviour's Presence here My Soul to Scepters does prefer On Earth she dreads to lose him there 's no fear Monday before EASTER THE Monday before Easter was called the Holy and Great Monday or the second day of the Paschal-week and the whole week was called the Great week ‖ Chrys To. 5. p 541 c. not because the days were longer than ordinary but the blessings were greater because of the great and stupendious Blessings not to be comprehended or utter'd which God this Week conferred upon the World in the Death and Resurrection of our blessed Saviour and because it immediately preceded the great Festival as Easter is called Joh. 19.31 or * Bern. Ser. 3. in domin Palmar because of the four great Days in it viz. The Procession of Talm-Sunday the Institution of the blessed Sacrament on Maundy-Thursday the Passion on Good-Friday and the continuance in the Grave on Saturday which was the Eve to our blessed Masters Resurrection The Week also was stiled the Passion-week the Week of Fastings dry Diet and Penances in which the Devouter sort did eat nothing but Bread and Salt and drank nothing but Water from which strictness no day was exempt except the Lords Day on which it was a great Crime to Fast ‡ Constit App. l. 5. c. 17. alii Every day of this Week was a day of business the whole time from the days of the Apostles being spent in Prayers Watchings and Mortifications ⸫ Chrys ub Sup. p. 586. Tribunals and Courts of Justice were now shut up no Pleadings no Suits of Law no publick Business no
destroy themselves first with their Fears before they actually fall into a Mischief that cannot be avoided and what man can pretend to such a state of ease and indolency When therefore the Son of God makes a Disciple he calls him to the practice of self-denyal to the contempt of the World and all its vanities to the mortifying of his Passions and the abjuration of Pleasures that is he bids him live no longer like a Beast but like a man and a Christian and in lieu of these impertinencies he promises him all that is great and good in a better life and this was the method he made use of when he comforted the first-born of his Family his Apostles upon his departure And what could be more eloquent rational or pâ—rswasive than such a discourse about patience from him who had his sufferings in inmediate prospect For the thoughts of such persons being fixt on Heaven they talk of the place as if they were there already their stile is more brisk and vigorous than ordinary and their words make a deeper impression such was our Saviours last Sermon and such the Epistles of the Apostles which they wrote in their bonds Jesus having discovered Judas forewarned Peter and bound the rest of his Disciples to mutual Love and Charity at length tells them that it was the greatest Argument of the heighth of passion and shortness of reasoning to be troubled at the adversities of this present life that he who is strong in Faith is above the assault of secular dangers and whoever is called to embrace the Gospel is out of the reach and beyond the Fears of temporal afflictions that when you imprison him you do not rob him of his Liberty and when you kill him you cannot hurt him for he that depends on the Crucified Jesus for Salvation is secure that if he suffer with his Master he shall reign with him Such a man is assured that there is so large a provision made for him in Heaven that it baffles all carnal objections and stifles the very sense or remembrance of pain for his Master is ascended to his Father's Right Hand not so much to glorifie his own Body as to intercede for us that we may be glorified there he is now our Advocate and from thence he shall come again at the last day to be our guide that where he is we may be forever with him nor can any thing hinder our Union with him to Eternity who have been united to him here in the Offices of Piety our natural corruptions cannot obstruct the Union our Saviour is the way nor can our ignorance do us injuries he is the Truth and the Attempts of death it self are vain and of no force he is the Life For as long as the Father and he are one and so they shall be to Eternity all the Power and Wisdom of the Godhead must dwell in him bodily and who can resist Omnipotence or outwit the only Wise God Especially when it is considered that his Goodness is commensurate to his Power and his Wisdom so that the meanest of his Servants when he strengthens them shall be able to do all things and the greatest of the Miracles that Christ himself did shall be less than what his Followers shall be able to do nor is it to be doubted how this can be Since the Prayers of a good man recommended in the Name and upon the account of the Merits of his Saviour answer all devout ends and purposes and for this end probably the afflictions of this life were made the Portion of Christianity that if our Duty did not our needs might bring us often on our Knees for God denies nothing where the love of the Supplicant is bright and ardent and makes it self illustrious in a life of Obedience for upon such a man the Holy Dove descends and becomes his Comforter his Companion and his Friend it instructs him when ignorant it relieves him if opprest it encourages and defends him when timerous it bestows all that is good and protects from all that is evil this Spirit is the Vicar unto the Bishop of Souls it was primarily designed to lead the Church into all Truth and to secure it from perishing under the persecutions of its Enemies and to supply the want of the bodily Presence of the Redeemer of Mankind this Spirit was to unriddle all the Mysteries of Religion and to reveal what was hid from the cognizance of Ages to make those on whom it should descend the darlings of God and to give them Heaven upon Earth in the Enjoyment of Holy Thoughts and a quiet Mind which none of the disturbances of this Life shall be able to ruffle or discompose When the Soul is fixt on this Foundation being put out of the Synagogue signifies nothing nor can Death drest in its most formidable shape create any terrors for our Master hath told us that as in the deepest of his sufferings the blest Angels ministred unto him so they shall to his obedient followers and that their resurrection shall succeed his for the greatest instances of mutual love are beneath the indearments that are berween Jesus and a good man the Branches are not so firmly joyned to the Vine as the devout Soul is to its Saviour it is a Member of his Body and as dear to him as his own Honour This Union neither distance of Place nor alteration of Circumstances can dissolve 't is a Union cemented by the Blood of God and is built on a Foundation that stands most sure it is built upon God's Knowledg who are his and upon his Servants departing from all iniquity but it is a Union that is better felt than described and no one knows the happiness of it but he who hath experimented it As long as this Friendship lasts the Christian is impowered to do every thing that may glorifie his Master and benefit himself and what himself cannot do by his own Abilities shall be supplied by the Interests of his Saviour and procured by his own intense Supplications but if any man wilfully dissolve this Concord like a Branch cut off from the stock he withers and dies and becomes fit for nothing but to be cast into Eternal Flames Now nothing can break this Union but Vice and Iniquity for that which makes the Holy Jesus the only Beloved of his Father is his Obedience to the Divine Laws and his Passionate love to the world that engaged him to dye for it and whoever loves God and his Neighbour shall be made Partaker of all his Favour and his Heart shall be filled with Joy and can there be a more cogent Argument than this to endear Religion to a well inclined mind To be made the Friends of God the Elect and Beloved of the Saviour of the World the Pupils of the Spirit of Truth and Peace to have one Comforter to redeem them and another to sanctifie them and to have the Honour of being God's Ambassadors and the Witnesses
the Bishop in person if present was obliged to Catechise those who were Candidates for Baptism and on this day was the Nicene Creed solemnly recited in defiance to all Hereticks which Creed till the time of Timotheus Patriarch of Constantinople was never used as a part of the Eastern Liturgy but on this one day only in the year In which Church also according to an Ancient Constitution ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 563 Pallad vid. Chrys p. 82. they were wont on Good-Friday to celebrate all the holy Offices in some particular Church and that commonly in some Oratory erected over the Grave of some eminent Martyr without the Walls of the City because our blessed Saviour suffered without the Gates In some of the Churches ⸫ Sozom. l. 7. c. 19. p. 100. of Palestine they used to read the Apocryphal Book called the Revelation of St. Peter but in other Churches of the East they read out of the Old-Testament the History of Job the liveliest Type of Christ's Sufferings and Triumphs and out of the New in the * Rupert de Divin offic l. 6. c. 6. Western Churches the Gospel of St. John because St. John was an eye-witness of our blessed Master's Sufferings but in the African ‡ Aug. Ser. 141. de temp Church they read St. Matthew's Gospel Thus did the good men of old spend this day calling themselves to an account for their offences and humbling themselves in the sight of God and is it not even in this Age very requisite that every Christian should call himself to an account for those sins which brought the Son of God to so much shame and torture and should mourn and fast and pray earnestly for that forgiveness which was purchas'd thereby I take it therefore for granted that on this day it is requisite to use more than ordinary severity because on this day our Plessed Saviour was murther'd and to this purpose besides the usual Prayers reading and Meditations which are parts of the preparation for other days on Good-Friday it will be necessary to subjoin some acts of the deepest Humiliation and Sorrow for sin To which purpose every good man ought strictly to examine himself of which sort of Examen I have subjoined a Specimen after which the use of the Penitential Psalms is very proper particularly Ps 38. or 51. with this Caution That I understand by my Enemies not my worldly adversaries for they are my Brethren and them I must bless and pray for but the Devil and my own Lusts and by blood-guiltiness c. my new crucifying my Saviour my murthering of my own Soul and being accessary to the destruction of what ever good and vertuous thoughts the Spirit of God hath put in my mind To which Penitentials the 22d Ps will very fitly be added because it is an intire Prophecy of the sufferings of the Son of God and cannot but raise in me a deep sense of his Sorrows and the cause of them when I remember they are some of the last words which our Blessed Saviour spoke before his Death when we are infallibly assured that he begun and probably convinc'd that he went through the whole Psalm The most proper posture to repeat these Psalms in is Kneeling or prostration because they are solemn and humble acknowledgments of my hainous Offences which have undone my self and Crucified my Redeemer The Examen I Am this day to examine my self and to adjust the Accounts between God and my own Soul it is easie to be another mans flatterer but it is natural to be my own and therefore I am resolved impartially to state my affairs and to rejoice or mourn proportionable to the condition in which I find my self And tho the enquiry be terrible and affrighting yet I had rather pass this private scrutiny than have my Offences exposed to the view of Men and Angels It is the greatest of happiness to be innocent and never to offend but the next instance of Felicity is to be penitent I am conscious to my self that I have been a Criminal but I am resolved not to continue in my Crimes I will call my Transgressions to remembrance that God may blot them out of his Memory and I will judg my self in this World that I may escape in the day of the Lord To this End therefore that I may put my self into a capacity to obtain God's Pardon for my sins whose number is unaccountable whose burthen is intolerable and whose remembrance is very grievous to me and that I may not approach the tremendous Feast without the Wedding Garment I thus interrogate my self with all severity and exactness ' Say O my Soul art thou in God's Favour or hast thou merited thy Saviours Frowns What Proficiency hast thou made in thy Christian Calling since thy last accounting with thy Master VVhat Temptations hast thou conquer'd What Passions mortified What holy Opportunities improved What Virtues gotten or increased How conformable hast thou been to Jesus and what progress hast thou made in the way to Heaven If I find any of these beautiful Lineaments in my mind I will rejoice with joy unspeakable and be exceeding glad as men rejoice when they divide the spoil But if I have been an Apostate from my vows and broken the Covenant of my Youth If I have prostituted my Soul to Satan defacing the Image of God and defiling his Holy Temple let my heart within me mourn and refuse to be comforted let it make lamentation as one that is grieved for his only Son and is in bitterness for his First-born let my head be waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I may weep day and night over my sin and my shame that I may wash my bed and water my Couch with my tears because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God For who can dwell with everlasting burnings and a consuming Fire Now to help forward and make easie this work that I may diligently inspect all my offences with all their aggravating circumstances since my last renewal of my vows on the day of my last solemn Humiliation a memorial of all my actions in Writing is very useful that what is there recorded may be a help to my Memory which is most apt to forget my offences Upon the inspection of which the most regular Examination will be made according to the method of our Church Catechism wherein are included the Principles and fundamentals of Faith and Manners which I have engaged to observe and from which if I have swerv'd I cannot without a true Repentance expect God's Pardon and Mercy Now the Catechism being an Explanation of the Doctrine of Repentance Faith Obedience Prayer and of the due receiving of the Holy Sacraments the Examination must be proportionate and the inquiries strict What wandrings from the rule of Repentance What sins against the Creed Commandments Lords Prayer or the Sacraments have I been guilty of since my last Account An
my advice or allurements or by neglect of reproof and correction 5. Com. Have I not broken the fifth Commandment in thought word or deed by refusing to give due honour maintenance and other rights to my superiours in Church or State have I murmured against their authority scrupled their just commands or exposed their jurisdiction Have I contemn'd the person age or injunctions of my natural Parents not praying for them not relieving their wants not valuing their blessing not hearkening to their counsels Have I embrac'd any Heresy or Schism in the Church or been of any party or faction in the State Have I been unthankful to my Benefactors or of a morose and rugged demeanor towards those amongst whom I converse 6. Com. Have I not broken the sixth Commandment in thought word or deed by not loving my enemies by not living peaceably by harbouring malice and anger in my heart by using my tongue to speak evil or by hurting the body of my neighbour either openly or secretly either by my own hand or anothers by quarrelling my self or inciting others to do so 7. Com. Have I not broken the seventh Commandment in Thought Word or Deed by unclean desires obscene discourses or filthy Songs by lascivious glances or impure Dreams the result of my waking Thoughts or by any act of corporal uncleanness Have I indulged to Luxury or Excess that I might pamper my body or provoke my Lusts Have I been fond of a loose and immodest Garb or wanton Company 8. Com. Have I not broken the Eighth Commandment in thought word or deed by violence or fraud by covetousness or extortion by not paying my debts or spoiling the goods of my neighbour by not being just in my dealings faithful to my trust or Charitable to the poor and indigent 9. Com. Have I not been guilty of the breach of the Ninth Commandment in thought word and deed by lessening or blasting any Man's reputation either by my self or my encouraging others to slander him by harbouring and countenancing tale-bearers or spreading false news Have I not past rash judgement and contemn'd the weak and ignorant and rejoyc'd at my Neighbours hurt Have I ever refused to testifie the truth or ever given false witness have I neglected my own and busied my self in other mens affairs 10. Com. Have I not broken the Tenth Commandment in thought word or deed by being discontent with the station in which God hath placed me by envying the prosperity of others by entertaining ambitious thoughts and being greedy of honour and preferment Have I sought to be great by unlawful means to the prejudice of my Neighbour pursuing either my profit or my pleasure And have I not been guilty of sinning against my own Soul have I not been possest with pride and vain-glory and a high conceit of my self of the gifts of nature or the acquisitions of study or industry Have I not sought my self and the praise of men more than the praise of God Have I not been rash and inconsiderate or negligent of my best interests have I not resisted the holy Spirit and defiled the Temple of God and spent my time ill Have I not indulged to too much sleep or been irregular in my dyet apparel or recreations or averse to peace and reconciliation To which may be subjoyn'd if the Examinant be in such a state Have I ever broken the bonds of Matrimony in point of honour love maintenance and advice Have I neglected my Children in their Education or making provisions for them have I ever given them a bad example or other encouragement to be vicious or not reproved and punish'd their faults Have I been harsh cruel or unjust to my Servants not instructing them not reclaiming them when irregular Have I been unjust or false to my Friendship Have I omitted my duty in any thing to my superiors equals and inferiors If I find my self guilty after every general head I subjoyn Lord have mercy upon me pardon my violation of these Laws for the time past and for the future incline my heart to keep them to the end An Examination according to the Lord's Prayer HAve I not either wholly omitted my Prayers or not been so often at Prayers as I should have I not performed them coldly being often on my knees but seldom at my devotion have I not perform'd them irreverently without bodily humility or the compunction of my Soul without Faith and without Purity Have I not defiled my Mind which was design'd a Temple for the Spirit and a house of Prayer by making it a den of Thieves and the residence of unclean thoughts and wicked resolutions Have I been thankful for the liberal provisions of my most Merciful Father Have I fixt my affections on Heaven where my Father dwells Have I glorified the Divine Majesty as I ought or have I hindred others from so doing Have I not broken the most holy Laws by which his Kingdom is govern'd Have I with the meekness sincerity chearfulness and constancy of Angels done his will Have I not preferr'd my dayly Bread to the food of my Soul and been more concerned for the things of this life than for the honour of approaching to God's Table and have not the necessities and often my wanton appetites taken up that time which should have been bestow'd on Eternity Have I not begg'd God to forgive me those Sins which I have resolv'd to continue in and have I been so merciful to others as I have desired God to be to me When I have begg'd God either to preserve me from or to deliver me out of temptations have I not been either a tempter to my self seeking occasions of sinning or else have entertain'd the injections of my ghostly adversaries with delight and complacency Have I diligently used the grace which hath been given me to the mortifying of my Lusts and rescuing my Soul from the Divine anger Have I not made a League with Satan faln in love with Death and hasten'd towards destruction Have I not been a rebel in God's Kingdom an opposer of his Power a dishonourer of his Name and Glory and when my lips have said Amen hath not my heart contradicted my supplications And have I said this Prayer as heartily for others as I do for my own Soul To which I subjoyn Lord have mercy upon me Teach me to pray and teach me to practice that my prayers may ever be acceptable in thy sight here and my person for ever hereafter An Examination according to the Sacraments Baptism HAve I been truly thankful to God for my being called to a state of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord Have I duly considered what an honour 't is to be a Christian How often have I broken my baptismal Vow and defeated and made void the endeavours of my Godfathers and Godmothers and other my instructors in the Faith of Christ Have I not neglected to acquaint my self with the Principles of Christian Religion or the due preparations
my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
That my past sins may be intirely forgiven and the rest of my life spent in the works of repentance I beseech thee c. That the end of my life may be Christian without pain and without shame if thou seest fit and that I may be able to render a good account when I shall stand before thy dreadful Tribunal I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. From mine enemies defend me O Christ Graciously look upon my afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart Favourably with mercy hear my Prayers Mercifully forgive the sins of thy Servant O Son of David have mercy upon me Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear me O Christ Graciously hear me O Christ graciously hear me O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon me As I do put my trust in thee Pardon O Lord the guilt of my sins remove the punishment and wash out the pollutions keep me from the shame and the suffering due to them and rescue me from the dominion of Satan the tyranny of my own Lusts and from everlasting destruction Amen Bp. Andrews BLessed Jesu Interpose between God and my Soul thy Priesthood and Sacrifice between my self and Satan thy Kingdom and Conquest between my Soul and my Sins thy Innocency between my Soul and my Concupiscence thy Charity between my Soul and the punishments due to a Sinner thy Passion and the satisfaction of thy Blood between my Soul and my Conscience and God's Tribunal thy Advocateship between my Soul and its want of Righteousness thy absolute and complete Obedience between my Soul and its want of desert thy alsufficient Merits between my Soul and its want of fervour in Devotion thy Intercession between my Soul and its want of sâ—rrow and repentance thy Agony and bloody Sweat for what thou did'st and what thou suffered'st O my dearest Saviour O my best of Masters was done and suffered in my stead and for my benefit Amen Id. LET the Soul of Christ sanctify me the Body of Christ strengthen me the Blood of Christ redeem me the Water that came out of his side cleanse me the Stripes of Christ heal me the Sweat of Christ refresh me the Wounds of Christ save me the Poverty of Christ enrich me and the Sufferings of Christ preserve me from eternal damnation Amen Bp. Taylor GIve me the beauties of Wisdom the brightness of Chastity the health of Temperance the peace of Meek persons and the reputation and joy of the Charitable Amen A Collect for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit O God who knowest that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers that the Temptations of Satan are very prevalent the vanities of the World very deceitful and our own corruptions very strong help and assist me and all thy servants with the succours of thy holy spirit Give me the spirit of Truth of Wisdome and Understanding to keep me from all error and infidelity the spirit of Counsel to guide me in all difficulties the spirit of Might and Power to preserve me from all Apostacy the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord to keep me from all sin and wickedness Let the Holy-Ghost be my comforter in my distresses the assistant of my devotion the quieter of my conscience and let it bear witness with my spirit that I am one of the Sons of God that neither the wiles nor frowns of the Devil the fears of suffering or the hopes of wealth and honour may sway me to neglect my duty but that I may continue thine for ever and that thou mayst be my protector and guide my friend and advocate now and in the agonies of death and at the day of judgement Amen OUR Father which art in Heaven c. MAY the Power of God the Father protect me the Wisdom of God the Son inlighten me the operations and assistances of the holy Spirit quicken me and may the holy Trinity keep me under the shadow of their wings till I come to the palace of Glory Amen Amen The Epistle Heb. 12.1 WHerefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds The Gospel Luke 22.41 AND being withdrawn from them about a stones cast he kneeled down and prayed saying Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be dene And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground The MEDITATION THO every thing that is good and virtuous hath its attractives yet when virtue is attended with power it is in its exaltation and makes as many Votaries as it hath spectators and every one looks on it with admiration and surprize and addresses to it with resolutions either to become good or to beg its protection from evil because Piety so assisted proves a great exemplar and a puissant shelter And such was the holy Jesus who was wonderful in all his atchievements for nothing less than unspotted Innocence and Omnipotence conjoin'd could furnish the World with a Saviour The whole Life of Jesus was a miracle of Love and Compassion and the attempts of the Patriarchs appear mean and inconsiderable when compared with the transcendent performances of the Son of God for if to consult the wants of mankind and to relieve them if curing their Bodies and instructing their Souls if feeding them with temporal food and giving them the Bread of Heaven be demonstrations of a large and a divine Soul then that title is peculiarly to be ascribed to the Redeemer of the world whose actions were one continued series of benefits and mercies I will therefore love the examples of good men but I will admire and adore Jesus I will make reflections on their excellent lives but I must fix my thoughts on the conversation of my Saviour who when he requires my adverting to his Pattern and his Laws enjoins me to look off from all other objects and to settle my eyes on him who loved me and bought me with his own most precious blood for they are but a cloud of witnesses but Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness and as when the Sun arises the little handful of Clouds and dusky vapours dwindle and vanish so when the glorious God appears in competition he eclipses all humane perfections For that which sustained the great Apostle when he was ready to be poured out as a drink-offering for the truth of the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 and what excited
dragg'd by the rude and incensed multitude into the City and there hurried up and down to all the Judicatories in it he was buffeted and scourg'd the Plowers plowed long furrows on his back he was Crown'd with Thorns and loaden with his Cross having been condemned by clamour and importunity by restless and unsatisfied malice when Pilate his proper Judge had confest him Innocent To his Cross both his hands and feet which by reason of their being full of Nerves are the most sensible parts of the Body were fastened being pierc'd through with sharp Nails the whole weight of his Body stretch'd out as on a Rack resting on his expanded Hands there he languished under an insufferable thirst occasioned by his being so violently transported from place to place by his cruel Agony in the Garden by his loss of so much Blood in that Sweat in his scourging in his being Crown'd with Thorns and nailed to his Cross to which both his hands and feet were fastened that he could no way relieve himself he was exposed to the Sun and the Wind which search'd his wounds and made his pains more grievous his Mother and his beloved Disciple were standing by his Cross in the posture of persons distracted by their sorrows and this increased his torment not only as they were his near Relations but as they represented his Widowed and disconsolate Church And when it might have been expected that his Soul should have received comfort while his body was on this rack this was so far from being the portion of Jesus that his Soul felt more fearful convulsions than his tortured Body when all his bones were out of joint all the anger of God was upon him at once now was the Curtain drawn between the rational faculties of his Soul and God whereas before there was only a skreen between his sensitive faculties and his Father now was the beatifical Union suspended and his God had forsaken him when he stood in most need and when he cryed aloud to his Father for help the rude Soldiers study to encrease his sorrows they give him Vinegar to drink which was proper to stop his bleeding and to lengthen his life and torments and that Vinegar mingled with the bitter juice of Hyssop to make the draught more irksome and unpalatable unless we may believe a modern ‖ Heins Arist in Jo. 19 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Critick That they gave him the Vinegar on a Spunge of the coarsest Wooll to do him the greater dishonour Almost a whole day and night was he under continued tortures from his entry into the Garden to his yielding up the ghost whereof six whole hours he was hanging on the Cross and then he died while his Spirit was whole within him and while being in the vigour of his youth his heart within him was like melting wax for in the heighth of all his acute pains he cried with a loud voice and yielded up the ghost his Body being more sensible of pain than usually malefactors are for he had a beautiful shape and was of a fine and pure make and of a delicate constitution born of a Virgin not subject to and so never harrast with diseases and the pains of his Soul bore proportion to his bodily sufferings for he well knew how grievous and insupportable the anger of God is which we are insensible of he dreaded the burthen of those sins which we delight in and the severity of those punishments which we deride his notions of things were clear his apprehension quick and the bent of his mind most strongly inclinable to pity and compassion Thus were his sorrows augmented and his sufferings made intollerable while the rigour of his enemies left no sound part in him for he suffered in his Soul in his bitter Agony in his whole Body in his Sweat his Head was crowned with Thorns his Eyes were a fountain of tears his Ears inured to mockings his Palate disgusted vvith the Vinegar and the Wine mixt vvith Myrrh his Face spit upon his Neck and Shoulders loaden vvith the burthen of a heavy Cross his Back and Sides scourged his Heart pierc'd vvith the Spear his Hands and Feet nailed to the accursed Tree his Flesh torn and his Blood spilt that he might most justly exclaim I am the man that hath seen affliction by the Rod of God's Wrath Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see was there ever sorrow like my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger Nor were these all his sufferings for the consideration and foresight that all these mercies should be bestowed on an ingrateful and rebellious World the greatest part of which would be hypocrites and unbelievers would trample on his Blood as an unholy and profane thing and would frustrate the end of his death and the designs of his mercy this doubtless made his sorrows exquisite and so transcendent as nothing could parallel but his Love and his Patience Here the devout Christian may put a stop to his Meditations for a while and subjoin this COLLECT O Lord who wert pleased in the fulness of time to send thine only begotten Son into the World made of a Woman made under the Law that he might become a curse for us and reconcile the World unto thee our Father by his bitter Agony and cruel Death and who hast assured us that thou scourgest every son whom thou receivest grant that I may be conformable to the image of thy beloved Son and our dearest Saviour that his sufferings may be the propitiation for my sins his Blood may cleanse my Soul and I may have life through him and grant that as Jesus offered up himself to thy justice so I may offer my self and all my enjoyments a Sacrifice of praise for the Mercies of God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost now and for evermore Amen After which the devout Christian at what time his strength and occasions will best permit may continue his Meditation Proportionate to the torments which Jesus endured was his shame and ignominy than which nothing is more insufferable to an ingenuous nature His birth was mean his Mother a poor Virgin he was born in a Stable and Cradled in a Manger he was brought up at the mean and laborious Trade of his reputed Father Joseph his many Journies were performed on foot he had no setled habitation and very few Friends and those poor ignorant and contemptible Galilean Fishermen whose very Country was ominous and at his last essay was he not apprehended as a vile malefactor and that not by a party of men of Honour not by the Guards of the Captain of the Temple or the Roman Governor but by the Rabble the meanest of the people tumultuously gathered together arm'd with Clubs and Swords the hasty weapons their fury could lay hold on He was treated as a publick Nusance tho as free from sin as truth and innocence could make
house of mourning but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools for as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is the laughter of the fool The Gospel Mat. 9.14 THen came to him the Disciples of John saying why do we and the Pharisees fast often but thy Disciples fast not And Jesus said unto them can the children of the Bride-chamber mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them but the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast No man puts a piece of new cloath into an old garment for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment and the rent is made worse Neither do men put new wine into old bottles else the bottles break and the wine runs out and the bottles perish but they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved The MEDITATION SAD and disconsolate must needs have been the state of the Infant Church when its Tutor and Guardian was taken from it nor could the Disciples but sit in darkness and in the shadow of death who were deprived of the light and warmth of the Sun of Righteousness they had lost one Comforter and had only the remote expectations of another their Master had establish'd a Kingdom which they knew not what to make of they could not apprehend how a Prince could make himself Glorious and yet trample upon the Pomps and Vanities the Crowns and Purple which this world adorns its Monarchs with nor how he who had not so much as a House which he could call his own could be Lord of the whole Earth nor did they understand how this could be the Messiah who should redeem all Israel who could not rescue himself from the Torture and Ignominy of the Cross these were amazing Considerations and such as filled their hearts full of sorrow these thoughts confin'd the Apostles during the time that their Master lay in the Grave to retirement and privacy they sighed and bewailed the loss of their hopes which they imagined were buried in the same Sepulcher with their Lord past any possibility of a Resurrection As long as they expected to share in the Grandeur of the Messiah and under him to govern Principalities how willingly did they follow him but when they saw all those satisfactions which they promis'd themselves vanish like the Idea's of a dream sorrow could not but fill their hearts And is not this O my soul the general practise of Mankind how fond are we of the Glories of Christ's Kingdom but how weary of his Cross how ready to follow him to Mount Tabor but how unwilling to accompany him to Mount Calvary We run eagerly to the Plain to eat Bread multiplied by Miracle but we dread the way that leads to the Mountain where by day he preach'd his Excellent Sermons and spent the whole Night in Prayers But is there not also O my Soul much to be said in the behalf of these Apostles which we can never plead to excuse our own negligence Their Master was now in the Grave the work of their Redemption not yet perfected and the Holy Spirit was not yet given which alone could fill them with Knowledg and Fortitude in such a distrest condition who can blame their fears and their cowardise but as soon as ever they had seen the Lord return from the dead and the Blessed Spirit had descended on them at Pentecost their hearts were filled with joy and resolution they then courted the dangers which before they studiously shun'd and with assurance accosted the Sanhedrim from whom before they hid themselves then they lookt upon the Chains which they wore for the sake of the Blessed Jesus as Ornaments of their Hands and Legs a Prison was a Palace to them the Blood that followed their scourgings the Purple which they wore and the place of Execution a Room of State the Cross was a Throne and the Flames a Royal Chariot to convey them to Heaven Arm'd with those assistances not only Peter and Paul smiled on Martyrdom and were in love with dying but even Women and Children Persons of strong sears and weak powers of violent Passions and shallow Reasons went in such multitudes to the Tribunals to acknowledg themselves Christians that they tired their Judges with pronouncing Sentences of Death and their Executioners with inflicting them and what is it O my Soul that hinders thee from exerting the same Gallantry and Resolution who besides all the assistances which they enjoyed hast also the advantage of their Examples Often have I wondred how those Excellent Persons became such admirable Proficients in the school of the Son of God How their Piety their Charity their Justice and Sobriety their Love of God and love to Mankind could be so conspicuous in the eyes of their Heathen Adversaries while they contended earnestly for the Faith when nothing but Bonds Imprisonment and Death nothing but Shame and Sufferings were their Portion Whereas now when the Christian Religion is countenanc'd and cherish'd by Authority and the good things of this life are its reward as well as the joys of a better we are more profane and irreligious more unjust and uncharitable more lustful and intemperate than the vilest Heathens And perhaps this is not the worst reason that can be given of it that in those days the greater part of Christians were converted after they came to years of discretion when the Church required from them all sorts of testimonies of their vertue and their constancy before they were admitted into it bringing them up when Catechumens under a severe Discipline acquainting them with the strictness of the Laws of Religion inuring them to Fastings and Abstinencies to frequent Prayers and frequent Watchings and other such hardships to a publick and solemn renouncing of their own lusts and a generous contempt of the world for by this means Religion was indeared to them who before their admission to the priviledges of it had conquer'd all their Passions and were crucified to the World and had upon the maturest deliberation chosen Jesus and the Cross before the Honours Wealth and Voluptuousness of this life Whereas now our admission is in our Infancy when our sponsors promise of course for us what we never care to make good and we are admitted to the priviledges before we understand the duties of Christianity so that we take up our Religion as we do our Cloaths or our Customs because they were the practices of our Fore-fathers and are the garb of the present time And perhaps it is also considerable that prosperity often cheats us when we are proof against all the temptations of adversity worldly ease softens us while a state of affliction and trouble becomes a great benefit And so in truth is it a Christian not deserving his name till he be a Convert from sensuality to a crucified
Saviour So when the Sons of Zebedee coveted places of Trust and Honour in an imaginary Monarchy Mat. 20.21 our Blessed Redeemer told them that the preferments of his Court old not consist in fitting at his Right and left Hand but in drinking of his Cup and being baptized with his Baptism And when St. Paul was called to an Apostleship Acts 9.16 the Lord told Ananias in a Vision that his Mission was not design'd to Triumph over the Gentile World nor should his Revelations discover to him what Kingdoms he should convert tho that he did but I will show him says God what great things he must suffer for my Names sake And this that Apostle well understood 2 Cor. 12.12 for when he reckons up the signs of an Apostle he begins with his Patience under affliction as if that generosity of mind that slighted the Tribulations attendant on the Gospel was a more eminent and surer sign of his Apostleship than all his power of working Signs and Wonders and mighty deeds for to be afflicted was to be clad in the best Livery of the great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls I will therefore resolve to imitate those admirable guides of the Church in their sorrow I will lament the death of my Saviour and hate my sins that crucified him I will as they did retire from the World and love it no longer because it despised my dear Redeemer And I will also imitate them in their Patience and their Courage I will endure all things for the sake of my friend who died for me and nothing shall fright me from following the pattern and treading in the steps of his first and best servants The Collect. ALmighty and Immortal Saviour who wert victorious in thy sufferings and triumphant upon the Cross and wert always present with thy Church either in thy Person or by thy substitute the Holy Ghost keep and defend thy flock from all Heresie and Schism from mistakes in matters of Faith and all irregularities in practice from desponding under afflictions and from carelesness in prosperity Arm all thy servants with an invincible courage and resolution to live and dye thine let the consideration of thy Passion engage us to bewail our Transgressions but let the consideration of thy Resurrection defend us that we may not sorrow as men without hope but that we may pass the time of our sojourning here on Earth in fear and finish it with joy through thy Merits and Intercession O our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem The Descent into Hell A Dialogue between Mary Magdalen at the Sepulcher and an Angel I. Magd. APpear dear Jesus unto me I love I long for none but thee Whither is my Beloved gone And left me here sad and alone My soul breaths nothing else but sigh Since Jesus fell a Sacrifice Ang. Down to the Prison of the Fiends The dying Conqueror descends And o're those rebel spirits his Victories extends II. VVith courage and resistless might Alone he undertakes the fight Meets whole Legions and defies Hells Guards and her Auxiliaries Scales the VValls and storms the Gates Razes the Towers revers'th mens Fates And into the Dungeon Lucifer precipitates III. Magd. But tell me Angel cloath'd with light Did not my Jesus show his might VVhen upon the Cross he stood Like a Rock that brav'd a flood Did not his Patience and his Cries His VVounds his Thirst and Agonies Compleat his glorious Conquest and our Sacrifice IV. Ang. 'T was done when Jesus bow'd his head And told the world 't was finished Then Satan was discomfited And all his baffled forces fled But he lest men might doubt his love Or Victories did the scene remove Pull'd Satan from his Throne and from his Kingdom drove V. Magd. If so what keeps my Jesus there What stops th' Almighty Conqueror Thy Pupils do thy presence want T' instruct the blind and ignorant To charm the froward and defend The weak who on thy Strength depend And guide poor wandring me unto my journeys end Appear dear Jesu unto me I love I long for none but thee EASTER DAY THO the Christian Church had many Festivals yet some of them were days of greater Eminency than others Christmas Easter and Whitsuntide being frequently called in the Writings of the Fathers by way of excellency * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Christian Solemnities because as the Jews were obliged three times a year on their three great Festivals of the Passover Pentecost and of the Tabernacles to go up to Jerusalem to worship So anciently the body of the people of every Diocess met at those times at the Mother Church where the Bishop Preach'd to them in person and gave them the Holy Sacrament And on those days if the Church could not hold all the Communicants at once the Offices were repeated the Prayers renewed and the Eucharist ‡ Leo. M. Epist 71. p. 149. a second time consecrated and given Now among these great days Easter-day was the day on which the Son of God return'd from Hell rose from the Grave and being attended with his holy Angels and the bodies of many just persons who left their Tombs to accompany their Saviour brought Life and Immortality to light This was the day which the Lord made in which all wise and devout persons do rejoice and therefore without all doubt the Ancients after their long Fasting till near day-break * Const Ap. li. 5. c. 18. retired home laid aside their Sackcloth and Ashes and other habits of mortification and having washed and cloathed themselves in their best apparel came again early to Church and sang the praises of the Lord. And for this reason this Feast is called ‡ Cypr. Laetitia Paschalis The Paschal joy or the Paschal solemnity of the Resurrection ‖ Chrys to 5. p. 587. the bright and glorious day of Christ's rising from the dead the noblest of the Christian solemnities o Euseb vit Const l. 4. c. 22. p. 536 c. the holy and venerable day that brought Life into the World the holy Convention and Festival the Queen of Feasts the Festival of Festivals the great and holy Sunday the day in which the hopes of Eternity were confirm'd to us and the Great day in which Salvation was given to the World The * Constit Ap. l. 7. c. 37. Apostles injoining the Observation of it to all Christians and probably when we are bid to keep the Feast 1 Cor. 5.8 it belongs rather to the Annual than to the Weekly Feast of the Resurrection As some Wise and Learned men think that the Lords-day mentioned Rev. 1.10 does not so much mean a Sunday at large as Easter-day for * Procop. de bell Perfic l. 1. c. 18. this day was honoured by the Christian World above all other days ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 583. this day is a day of rejoycing on Earth and it is a Holy-day in Heaven too for if the conversion of one
dastardly and low-spirited were even the very Apostles tho they lived and dayly conversed with him their courages were impaired by their sears they betrayed deserted and denied him but his Resurrection did beget in the mind of the Christian World a true generosity and fortitude able to subdue and trample on all dangers in as much as men of no breeding no natural valour of no interests or friends durst prefer the confession of their Saviour and his Gospel to their Countrey and Relations to their quiet and security and to life it self and passionately to chuse scourges and prisons and the various methods of death before all sorts of voluptuous enjoyments But what is more and more acceptable than all knowledg and all power the Resurrection of Christ gave the Holy-Ghost to the World for the blessed Spirit could not be given till Christ was risen Thus this one act of the Almighty Redeemer of mankind baffled all the fears of his servants compleated the satisfaction for their sins secured unto them the company of the Spirit of Truth Peace here till they should be carried into his Kingdom on the wings of Angels And what greater blessings canst thou wish than these O my soul Give the riches and the honours of this life O my dearest Saviour to others I will never envy their fruitions so thou give me thy Self let me partake of the benefits of thy Resurrection in the pardon of my sins in the indwelling of the Comforter in my mind and in the first fruits of obedience in frequent approaches to thy Table and other acts of devout converse with thee and leaving the manner of my death to thy disposal for on these terms in what sort or at what time soever it shall be I shall not be disturbed I shall be happy in the remembrance that when my Master comes and finds me so doing he will give me a share in his joys The Collect. ALmighty God who through thine only begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome Death and apened unto us the gate of everlasting Life we humbly beseech thee that as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect through Jesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy-Ghost ever one God world without end Amen The Anthem The Resurrection and Aseension I. COme holy Spirit from above Come warm me with Seraphick love That I may the triumphant Jesus sing Whose resurrection heaven to earth did bring And put thee long'd-for peaceful Dove upon the wing II. Jesus is risen mount my mind And leave this sordid earth behind God made thy body dust but Sin a grave Let thy Soul too its Resurrection have No longer be thy Lusts the Worlds or Satan's slave III. Attend the Conqueror to his Throne Who from the lower world is flown Make tho the meanest one in that parade The bleeding Jesus did my heart in vade And none can heal the wound but he whose hand it made IV. View yonder Arch inscrib'd above Sacred to Coelestial Love There the incomparable Jesus dwells Iesus who charms thee by the strengest spells Love him with transports O my passions and none else V. See the bright Angels how they glide Up and down by 's Chariot's side See where ten thousand hover and attend To guard the Conqueror to his journies end Whose Chariot does directly to God's right hand bend VI. There Jesus fixes and from thence Sheds his benignest influence And like triumphant Victors does bestow His donatives on us who dwell below That we in time our Triumphs may accomplish too VII You Angels you who dwell above Spend all your time in songs and love While I who sadly want your light and fire Detain'd in sensual fetters would mount higher And wish to do what I can only now admire VIII You Guardians are by Heaven design'd To awe and to protect Mankind When Jesus rose you did the news relate When he ascended you did on him wait That I might triumph so give me my Saviours Fate Rules of Conduct for Easter-Day and the Sacrament § 1. It is taken for granted that the devout Person hath humbled himself in the sight of God for his sins the Week aforegoing more particularly on Good-Friday and the Holy Saturday and it is requisite he should watch a great part of if not all the Saturday night which time should be spent in more intense Supplications and more ardent Meditations the Vigils of the Ancient Church were an excellent Institution and Watching and Prayer are joined by our Saviour and we are bid to be sober and to watch unto Prayer by the Apostles that is to fast to watch and to pray it is true the Vigils at last gave offence and were for that reason almost all prohibited because such promiscuous meetings of men and women under the covert of the night did administer to many Exorbitances But the Vigils of Easter and the greater Festivals were always kept up and are so still in the Churches of the East and tho our Church doth not expresly injoin the observation yet it mentions them in her Rubricks and leaves every man to his own liberty to watch in his Closet where there can be no such temptation as gave occasion to the disuse of that practice And whenever the Christian Penitent goes to bed it is requisite to rise very early on Easter day because our Blessed Master rose ‖ Joh. 20.1 while it was yet dark § 2. After the private devotions are performed and the necessary duties of the Family if any considered and attended the good man goes to Church nor will he choose to receive any other where but at his own Parish Church if there be a Sacrament there which on this Festival is expresly enjoined to be celebrated over all Christendom * Can. 6. The Council of Gangra denounc'd a solemn Anathema against the Erecters of private Conventicles that those who dislik'd the publick Assemblies might communicate at home in private And by the old †Ludov. 1. tit 101. Lothar l. 1. tit 357 c. Capitulars every Priest was ordered to be degraded every Layman to be excommunicate who lest his own Parish to receive the Blessed Eucharist in another unless extraordinary business or a Journey called them that way or they had a dispensation so to do from their Superiours § 3. But if the devout Person be hindred by sickness or some other inevitable obstruction he bears the loss with Patience but looks on it as a great affliction and longs to go up to the House of the Lord and to communicate with his Saints and that he may not lose all the benefit of the solemnity his thoughts are present and go along with the Service and he begs God earnestly to accept of his willing mind and to send him his Blessing and his Holy Spirit as much as if he actually communicated Thus the
to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest § 9. When the devont Christian is invited to draw near to the Holy Table he uses one or more of these Sentencs Lord I have looked for thee in Holiness that I might behold thy Power and Glory How dreadful is this Place this is no other but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven This is the Lords Mercy-Seat which the Cherubim of Glory shadow this is the Altar of Jesus round which the Angels clad in their bright Robes stand This is the Altar where Jesus is crucified let all the Angels of God and all the Sons of Men worship him I will come into thy House upon the multitude of thy Mercies and in thy fear will I hold up my hands and worship towards the Mercy-Seat of thy Holy Temple I will exalt the Lord my God and will worship at his Footstool for he is Holy I will fall down and adore for I know that God is here of a truth § 10. VVhen the good man comes up and kneels before the Altar he says Lord I most thankfully receive this gracious Invitation which thou hast afforded me to come to thy Holy Table and tho the number and weight of my Transgressions might justly deter me yet I am resolved to embrace the opportunity because thou hast bidden all who are weary and heavy laden to come unto thee Will Jesus whom the Heavens must contain till the consummation of all things be content to dwell with his poor servant Oh that I could entertain thee in my Soul with the same joy that the Holy Virgin did at thy incarnation with the same Exultations that the Infant Baptist did when he danc'd before he was Born at the approach of a Saviour with the Hosannah's of the Devout Jews before thy Passion and with the Authems of Angels at thy Ascension For who deserves my praises but my Saviour Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing My Soul therefore shall joyn consort with every Creature which is in Heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the Sea when they say Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb for evermore § 11. VVhile the Priest himself is receiving the good man prays for him The Lord hear thee the name of the God of Jacob defend thee send thee help from the Sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion Remember all thy offerings and accept thy Sacrifice Grant thee thy hearts desire and fulfil all thy mind § 12. After which if the time will permit he Exercises this or the like act of contrition but if he wants time he does it in his Closet at his return Lord I am the greatest of sinners but here is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World His Blood speaks better things than that of Abel and he is the propititation for our sins My sins dearest Jesu brought thee to all thy shame and all thy sufferings but that satisfaction was necessary for the Redemption of the World I am troubled above measure for thy sorrows and will revenge thy death on my vices which were the cause of it Melt me O God into a soft temper fit to receive thy impressions give me an intire detestation of my sins and an indignation that may engage me to forsake my transgressions and to love the paths of virtue § 13. To which he subjoins this or the like act of Faith Jesus is my God and my Saviour he is the Angel of the Covenant I will not leave him till he bless me This is Jesus whom the Jews slew and hanged on a Tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins If God hath given us his Son how shall he not with him give us all things for his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed Lord I believe that thou art present in the Sacrament but in a manner spiritual and ineffable to think that thou art here corporeally bids defiance to my senses and my reason and debases thy glorified humanity and to imagine that I receive nothing more than bare signs is to rob my self of the benefit of communicating with thee Let me feel the truth of that mystery which I admire and believe but cannot prove and let me experiment the glorious effects of this Sacrament tho I am unacquainted with the particular manner how they are derived to me Thou hast convinc'd me that the flesh profiteth nothing but thy Words are spirit and life as therefore thou hast made it so I humbly and thankfully receive it Let it be unto thy servant according to thy word and grant that the days may come shortly when Faith shall be swallowed up of Vision Amen § 14. If many others Communicate before him the good man employs that leasure in reflecting upon the Office of Consecration and because he could not without disturbance interpose his ejaculations while the Priest was saying the Prayer of Consecration he takes this occasion to say When the Priest carries the Patin As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness for the cure of the wounded Israelites so was our dearest Saviour lifted up on the Cross for the redemption of a world of sinners Lord evermore give me this bread When the Priest breaks the Bread he says So was the Body of Jesus mangled so was his flesh torn till there was no whole place in his body When the Priest pours out the Wine he says So when Jesus was in his Agony so when he was scourged crowned with Thorns and nailed to the accursed Tree did the Blood run down so Jesus loved us and wash'd us from our sins in his own blood When the Priest carries the Chalice he says It is the Blood of Jesus that makes atonement being shed for me and for many for the remission of sins I will cleave to the Cross of my bleeding Saviour and will drink his Blood Inable me O my God to overcome all my ghostly enemies by the blood of the Lamb. § 15. When the Priest takes the Elements in his hands to give them to the devout Christian he remembers that so God offers his Son to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to every believer so hath God fitted Jesus a body and indowed him with the spirit above measure that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life § 16. When the Priest delivers the Elements to the worthy Communicant he considers that there are two parts in the form of distribution a Prayer and an Advice the Prayer in these words The Body the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy Body and Soul unto everlasting Life to which with