it may conduce toward the Expiation of All my Sins known and unknown and what other Obliquities are hourly occasion'd by my frail and Infirm Nature And since I cannot be totally exempt from These unless by death which is the only sure-End of all Offending Grant that to Cancel their account as fast as It grows upon me I may offer up and Consecrate to Thee sincerely All the short Remainder of this Life and then pass so much the more Joyfully into the next as where I shall be secur'd from discontenting Thee any longer Of the Mixture of Water and Wine THis puts me in mind of the Union of the Divinty and Humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ and then of the Unity of all the Faithful well denoted by Water a Symbol of Weakness which Jesus Christ well typify'd by Wine an Emblem of strength And as the Priest Offer'd up The Bread before so now he makes 1. Oblation of the Wine and Water and in Them again of the People to God The Suscipiamur 2. And lastly Oblation Generalis â— He makes the First General Oblation of All Bread Wine Himself and People altogether jointly with Humility and Contrition into the Hands of God and thereby Sanctifies and Prepares the whole matter of this Sacrifice DEVOTION O Strengthen my Weakness represented by this Water with a new Force and Virtue of Thy Spirit which is the Muste or New Wine of the Law of Grace Make me depend on Nothing nor cleave to any Thing but Thee since Thou alone art the Power of God and Vigorous Life of the Soul in whose Absence the strongest Activity in Man is but miserable Infirmity And as now The Priest presents to Thee the Chalice thereby to Sanctifie It before He proceed to Its Consecration so help Me O Lord to Offer up my Self to Thee Fortified and Heighten'd by Thy Blessing and Grace by which I may be Encourag'd and Enflam'd and so make my self every time more and more capable to be Offer'd up in Sacrifice to Thee and even to Die for Thee Which is really the Greatest Favour that thou canst do any Mau during His Abode here Washing of the Priest's Hands THis meaneth Repentance for the daily Pollutions we incurr by our Frailty For there 's no approaching This Holy Sacrifice without renouncing and quitting as much as is possible such Impurities by a sincere Grief for and loathing of them though but Sins of Infirmity Hence It is that the Priest Washeth only the Tops of his Fingers To signifie that when one comes to Offer this Sacrifice 't is no time then to set about Repentance for Mortal Sins such one should have been freed and purg'd from before but all that is to be done is only to Wash off yet by unfeigned Grief and true Compunction those lesser Impurities and Defilements which in the course of this Life and by Conversation with things of this World we cannot avoid but that they will be sticking at least to the Outward parts as it were of our Souls and to the Works of our Hands But those that willingly neglect to Purify themselves from these though never so small Imperfections are unworthy of this Sacrament saith St. Denis as on the contrary The greatest Sins and Abominations that be cannot render those unworthy of approaching to It who have dis-engag'd their Wills from them and truly detest them in their Hearts DEVOTION SVffer not O my God the Pollutions of this World so to Defile My Hands that is My Actions as that they should contract any store of Filth from It but since 't is impossible to Converse here in this Earthly Habitation cleanly without All Sullying Grant that at most The Spots may but arrive to the outmost and lesser parts of Them as It were to the very Tops of the Fingers only A Petition suggested to me by the Priests Washing His. First Possess my Heart intirely and at all times and then let my Actions regard Thee too as their Principal Object and if secondarily in their Out-sides and parts farthest off They touch the fouling Earth Let me never cease Washing them with Tears of True Repentance and in the Water and Grace of Thy Holy Spirit till They be again Purify'd Especially as often as I come before Thee to partake of the Communion of Thy Blessed Body and to assist at That most Holy Sacrifice to which it would become Vs to approach in the greatest Purity Man in this Life can be capable of Because It is a darker Vision of God and some Representation of our Imployment in Heaven whither no Unclean Thing can Enter Vpon the Suscipe Sancta Trinitas The Kissing the Alar and Orate Fratres and the Secreta Suscipe Sancta Trinitas THe Priest having put himself into This Purity of Body and Mind with most profound Humility makes a Second General Oblation of all Oblation Generalis 2 1. Directing it to the proper Object of Worship The Holy and Blessed Trinity And 2. Applying it to the right End Of Commemoration of the Passion Resurrection and Ascention of Jesus Christ Of Honour to all the Glorify'd Saints in the Church Triumphant and of Salvation to all yet in the Militant by their Intercession implor'd 3. Kisses the Altar Orate Fratres THe Priest having already implor'd the Intercession of the Glorious Saints above for the things specify'd and particularly for that Acceptance of This Oblation and Sacrifice Now turns himself to the People desiring them to Joyn their Prayers to the same End DEVOTION DErive into me O Lord That Grace which the Priest Receives upon the Kissing of the Altar that stands in stead of Thee that assisted by It I may bear a part in That Common Prayer which He now Exhorts all the Faithful to joyn in with Him To Supplicate Thee favourably to Receive The Sacrifice He is here going to Offer unto Thee in the Behalf of the whole Church And do it the rather for the Honour of those Great Mysteries and Those Holy Saints which he hath just now made particular Commemoration of on purpose to teach us the Value of this Extraordinary Act of Grace by the Greatness of the Means imploy'd to obtain It. Agitate now in the Strictest Closet of my Soul by the means of this other Prayer which the Church calls Secret and produce therein the proper Effects of those good Thoughts which Thou hast been pleas'd to form in Me to Prepare me the better for this Sacrifice The Preface SO call'd because 't is the Entry to the Canon of the Mass and the last Immediate Preparation-general to the Sacrifice For here the Priest endeavours to prepare the People by putting them in mind 1. Of raising up their Heart in Devotion to God and taking It off from all Thoughts or Inclinations to any thing here below That they begin this Sacrifice of Offering up Christ to His Father by first Offering up their own Hearts which must be still the Anti-Sacrifice to all others or else they
of God Suffer'd for Us from the first Moment of his Conception to the very last of his Death All which space was one continual Suffering for the Redemption of the World By these Three methinks the Church in this Sacrament which she calls Mysterium Fidei would represent unto our Thoughts the very principal and most necessary Objects of our Faith without which we cannot be sav'd Which are in St. Augustin's Judgement the Passion and Resurrection of which the Ascension is the accomplishment of Jesus Christ And for this very Reason perhaps is the number of Three so often observ'd in the Benedictions Crosses and Oraisons to intimate to Us the Holy Trinity the Capital Object of our Faith and withall this Blessed Sacrament which is Offer'd up to all Three Persons therein though attributed more particularly to the Father This may here be Noted by way that the Crosses made by the Priest on the Hoste after Consecration are not as others Benedictions but only marks of Crucifying of the Hoste intimating the particular manner of its Immolation DEVOTION BLess me O my God by frequent Impressions made upon my Soul of Thy Death and Passion as the Priest makes Tokens thereof by so often Signing the Cross ✚ upon Thy Body and Blood after he hath Offer'd them up unto Thy Father Multiply upon Me Thy Graces in abundance Now that thou hast vouchsafed to Consecrate and make Me Thy Son by Baptism and to Feed me in the Fucharist with thine own Substance the same with That of the Son of God That my Whole Life may be suitable to so Divine a Birth and Aliment Accord me the Grace I Pray Thee that in all Occurences of This Life Good or Bad I may still draw Comfort from Thy Cross to support me that I may Ever and anon renew in my mind the Memory thereof so effectually as thereby to sweeten to my self my Sufferings and to learn Moderation in Happier Success and throughout the whole course of my Time to find still in That History seasonable Applications to all my Necessities At the Supra Quae. NExt He Prays God Graciously to accept from Us This Sacrifice remembring how well he was pleas'd with That of Abel that of Abraham and that of Melchizedech that so having so kindly taken from those Holy Men the most Famous Sacrificers in all Antiquities such remarkable Types and Figures of This he would not less favourably receive from Us The Substance it Self but endue us with some of that Grace and Purity wherewith They accompanied the Offering up of what was indeed but the shaddow of This. DEVOTION I Beseech Thee O my God That as This Sacrifice is altogether Spiritual and Divine having nothing in It of Sensible or Earthly but only the Outward Appearance and Shell as it were so I may Offer it up to Thee together with the Priest by a Motive and Inspiration wholly Spiritual and Divine in such manner as That the very External Actions themselves flowing from and govern'd by it may have Nothing of Flesh or Corporealness in them except the bare Appearance and Outside only And that all the Works and Services which I pay to Thee during my whole Life may be One Continual Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving Internal and from the Heart That being according to the Scriptures the Chief Sacrifice that thou likest and Callest for Thus let me Imitate the Devotion of those Holy Patriarchs Abel Melchizedech and Abraham who Sacrific'd to Thee after the same manner long before the Evangelical Law of Grace by Voluntary Affection and not by Command in the Spirit not Letter and became thereby the most Notable Figures of the Sacrificing that Thou performd'st afterward more perfectly to Thy Father and that all Thy Faithful are oblig'd to perform together with Thee all their Life long Let me not Rest in or Content my self with the bare Outward Actions and Ceremonies how Solemn and Pompous and truly Great soever they are themselves but Worship Thee chiefly by a Movement that comes into my Heart like that Fire of Old from Thee thy self in that Spirit and in That Truth which alone Soveraignly Ingratiate to Thee whatever is Offer'd Even this very Oblation of Thy Self Supplices te Rogamus HE proceeds higher and Prays that this Sacrifice may now be Offer'd rather upon that High-Altar of Gods in Heaven by his most Holy Angel For touch'd with a Consciousness of his own great unfitness to Offer a Sacrifice so transcendently Holy he falls back to Re-substitute Jesus Christ in his own room that He himself who is The Angel of the Great Councel would Offer It up to the Divine Majesty By this imploying that as Jesus Christ is the only High-Priest for this Sacrifice so He alone is fit to be the Presenter of It to His Father and to hear the Name of Angel however it be in some sense Communicated to other Priests also and that no man is worthy to be in this no not so much as His Deputy DEVOTION YEt after all 't is not Me O my God 't is not Me nor any one else here Offering Sacrifice to Thee that I desire Thee to Regard in this Action Regard Jesus Christ who is That Angel That Mediator between God and Men That Sacrificer for the whole Church Regard Him Be He the Person that now Presents to Thee this most Holy Host and be We meerly and barely His Instruments not stirring in this Heavenly Operation in the least guise as we are Animated and Mov'd by His Spirit And whatsoever we have about us Impure and Unclean let It all sall off aad be quite remov'd from us by the Cleansing power of Thy Grace That As in very deed It is not We that Live but He that Lives in Us so It may truly be said It is not We now that Offer up to Thee this Sacrifice but It is He that Offers it in Us as who alone hath the Faculty and Power to do It. But keep Vs all the while This is doing in a Trembling Posture looking at this Sacrifice and Mystery as that which the Church hath thought and styl'd Terrible that all our Confidence in a Business of this High Nature so infinitely beyond the Port of our low and despicable Condition may be rais'd and support It self solely upon Jesus Christ and we be no more than the visible Hands of that other Inviâ—sible one by which he presents It to Thee above upon that Caelestial Altar The Second Memento THis Sacrifice now fully perfected He designes it First for the Dead Offering It up for Them in a particular Commemoration following here in the custom ever practic'd in the Church 2. And then for the Living and more earnestly and intimated by a Thump on the Breast and a more Audible Tone for such as are Present that we may all be joyn'd to the Society of Those in Glory not for our Merits but for those of Jesus Christ since we have none of our own but what He pleases to
of this Sacrament which is a Sacrament of Vnion and Love And therefore as this Sacrament is the most Powerful means to work it in them who partake thereof Worthily so doth It prae-require It in Them as far as they by other means can procure It that they may Worthily pertake thereof by express Precept of the Son of God so often repeated and especially in that famous Text which Commands us to go 5 Mat. 24. and be Reconcil'd to our Brother before we Offer up our Gift at God's Altar DEVOTION I Now supplicate Thee O Lord for this First Preparatory Peace which is the necessary and best Disposition toward the receiving of that other which Thou desir'st to confer on Vs by this Holy Sacrament and Sacrifice for in the Gospel we learn Luc. 10.6 that Thy Peace cannot rest upon any but such as are First the Sons of Peace This Peace then not finding how to Repose It self upon me here in a perfect Aboliton of All Passions as It shall do hereafter in Heaven may It at least Possess me in a perfect Absolution from all my past Sins which let me Hate and Abolish perfectly by a True and Vnintermitted Penitence That so I may begin to receive now in the Communion of this Sacrament That Peace which consists in a total Ruine and Extirpation of Passions which are Calm'd and Cur'd more effectually by the Blessed Eucharist than by any other Remedy whatsoever Vpon the Fraction of the Host IT is worth the Noting here That after the Priest hath made Supplication for This Peace of God before He derive It by way of Blessing to the Church He first divides the Host into three parts representing the 3 several Estates and Portions of the Church for which He hath implor'd Peace And the part representing this Portion of the Church Now Militant here on Earth He laye down upon the Altar that which is for That other Portion Now Expectant in Purgatory He holds still in his Hand after he hath sever'd from It a third Part which he puts into the Chalice to signify both that third Portion of the Church Now Regnant and Triumphant and as it were imbib'd and absorpt into the Deity in Heaven And also Jesus Christ Himself as the First Born from the Dead and Re-uniting His Body and Blood and so entring into the Glory of God as the Head and Elder Brother of all the Saints Pax Domini ANd hence in the very joyning of this third part of the Hoste to the Chalice he wisheth the Peace to the People informing Us thereby that Jesus Christ rais'd again and Enter'd into Glory gives Peace to his Church and that This Peace is nothing else but an over-flowing of that Complaisant Tranquility which in His Glory himself infinitely abounds with and fully satisfies the Blessed in Heaven DEVOTION INcrease in me O my Father Faith and Charity That I may Believe as this Sacrament now lying upon the Altar is but one Bread only that came down from Heaven so That the whole Church together with Jesus Christ make but one Body and that the distinction and separation of Persons in It by distant places do no more hinder Its Unity than if They were all and always visibly to the Eye closely compact and joyn'd together even as this Hoste upon the Altar is still after its division into parts here representing the divers Members in the Church as truly and precisely one as it was before I beseech Thee Enable me to Love and Embrace Jesus Christ in Heaven and his Members where-ever dispers'd throughout the World with an Affection as True and with an Enamouredness as Great and Constant as if they were perpetually by me and I enjoyed their Personal Corporal Presence Thy Grace Vniting Me to those from whom I am absent and severing me in a Holy Abstraction even from those to whom I am most Present my very self and all to whom Thou hast any way joyn'd me in this World The Agnus Dei. TO Jesus Christ therefore in particular is this Address made for that Peace Praying Him three several times to vouchsafe It. Now to that part of his Church here yet remaining as at His Ascention he gave it there to them he left behind and as He Himself now enjoys It. and makes others enjoy It too His Fellow-Citizens in that Jerusalem above that City of Peace And all this enforc'd not only by an Ardent Affection imply'd in the Repetition but also by a Choice and most pertinent Compellation of of Him as of the Lamb of God just now lying upon the Altar to take away our Sins the Impediments and so making our full Reconciliation and Peace with the Father DEVOTION I Presume O God to Petition Thee for Thy Peace though it be indeed The greatest of all Thy Gifts since but the day before Thy Death thou left'st to Vs this Legacy in the Persons of Thy Apostles as the Close and Accomplishment of all the Rest and wert pleas'd to stile Vs Children of Peace But let It be Thy Peace not that of the World The Inward Peace of Thy Holy Spirit to at subsists un-impair'd in the midst of all pains and outward Conflicts to be sustain'd by Vs for Thy Service Let it be a Peace wholly proceeding from Thy Mercy The Result of a Conscience undefil'd and of Remission of all Sins The Crown of a Perfect Righteousness obtainable only by Thee who art That Lamb of God Sacrific'd to Reconcile Us unto Thy Father and to make Peace between Heaven and Earth which the Sin and Rebellion of Men and Angels had set at so great an Enmity I beg of Thee then That Peace which is settled upon the Full Forgiveness of Sin which caus'd that division between Thy Father and Vs that the Peace which I ought to have with Men may be the Natural Issue of what I have with God First and so be no Humane but a Divine Peace For as the Wisdom of men with Thee is but Folly so neither is Humane Peace any thing else than a War displeasing to Thee in so much that Thou hast profess'd to Persecute all those and disperse their Bones who so Combine together I am transported with a particular Joy and Consolation to hear it now Thrice Asserted that Thou art He who takest away Our Sins I were undone but for That Mercy and but for that farther Assurance which Faith gives me that Thou in bearing our Sins in Thy Body dost also Extinguish them The Lost Sheep upon Thy Shoulders being both Carry'd and Cur'd The Pax Tecum THen he gives the Pax to all present immediately after he hath ask'd It of Jesus Christ by the peculiar Prayer to Him for that purpose Domine Jesu Christe And after he hath as it were taken It from the Altar submissively by a Holy Kiss a Symbole of Peace But in the Mass for the Dead all this is omitted and only Their Rest Pray'd for because the Giving of the Pax among the Faithful
A Brief EXPLANATION Of several Mysteries of the HOLY MASS And of the Actions of the PRIEST Celebrating Very Necessary for all Roman CATHOLICS For the better Understanding thereof Together with Certain Reflections upon the APOSTLES CREED Touching the Blessed SACRAMENT AND ALSO Divers Meditations and Prayers both before and after Communion By T.G. Heretofore Fellow of New-Colledge in Oxon deceas'd LONDON Printed by Nat. Thompson For the Brother of the said T.G. 1686. THE THOUGHTS Wherewith Generally I use to Hear and to Assist AT MASS ✚ THe true end of the Mass is that which Christ set For his Remembrance And methinks the whole Body of Ceremonies consisting in several Actions Words Postures and Ornaments which make up the External Parts of the Mass do Represent to me as in a kind of Perspective not only the Several Things which Jesus Christ did and Suffer'd whilst he was here upon Earth * Durand's l. 4. c. 1. * 20 Acts 27. but also The whole Councel of God touching mans Salvation by him All what he hath already done or shall yet farther do to that purpose even from the beginning of the World to the very last day of Judgement is here set before me in Short-hand Whereby I am put in mind in the very entrance to my Devotions that That One great propitiatory Sacrifice made Once upon the Altar of the Cross was offer'd up as for all Mankind in general so particularly for every single Person that has been is or shall be from the Worlds beginning to its end according to that Expression in the Revelation 13 Revel 8.1 Pet. 1.19 20. Of the Lambs being slain from the beginning of the World And consequently that this Sacrifice in the Mass is the Commemorative one of that Perpetual Sacrifice which never hath nor ever shall cease to be Offer'd in some kind since the Fall of Adam For the Virtue of that Sacrifice on the Cross is diffâ—s'd throughout All Times both preceding and following the … on of Jesus Christ And by Iâ— are sav'd all that have or shall be sav'd In which sense it is call'd the General Perpetual Sacrifice of the whole Church ✚ Vpon the Priest 's Recess from the Altar and standing at a distvnce on the lowest degree thereof BEing thus Dispos'd and Figur'd by this Fundamental Notion I no sooner see the Priest in his Sacerdotal Habit or Vestment Ascending up to the Altar first and suddenly Descending again to the very lowest degree But it remembers me instantly of Man's Propinquity to God in Adam whilst he stood Innocent and then of his being thrust out of his Presence again quickly upon Adam's sin of which by being deriv'd from him we are every one Guilty and so not only driven out of Paradice but even debas'd down to the lowest degree that such a Creature could fall DEVOTION O My God! I am sensible of my present Condition that during This Life I am in a Banishment from Paradice caus'd by that sin which I committed in my first Parent Adam and that by That Original and many more Personal Transgressions whereof I stand Guilty before Thee I am fallen into the Lowest State that a poor Creature can likely be brought unto And I feel that by thy Grace which Thou art pleas'd to Afford me even in this miserable Condition of mine I do thereof Repent me and therefore Ought to range my self as I do among the Lowest of any that can pretend to be Thy Servants that is among the Penitents 'T is also by the same Grace that Thou put'st me in the Humble Posture of a Stranger and Wayfaring-man only in This World by causing me to Turn again by Little and Little as the Motions and Conduct of Thy Holy Spirit Guide me toward That Paradice out of which for my sins I was driven O keep me Thus Humbled I beseech Thee and never suffer me to forget either of these Low Conditions which are so proper to the state of a Sinner and so proper to the state of a Convert too Nor let me swell higher by the least proud Conceit That being It that ruin'd me at First Take out of my Spirit all Inclinations to Things of Greatness or Port and give Me a Holy Affection to Meanness as being most suitable to what indeed I am to the Example of my Saviour Jesus Christ as He liv'd here and especially to this present Cendescention of His in the Sacrament Humbling himself to be in such Ordinary and Despicable Elements and this at the Word of a poor frail Man The Confiteor THe Priest standing Thus at a distance yet still between Hope and Despair bethinking himself what to do 1. Bowing 2. Advancing the Cross of Christ 3. Calling on the Trinity In Nomine c. * Vt supra and encouraging himself towards God 4. By a Psalm of David's Judica c. 5. At last in an Humble Posture he acknowledgeth and Confesseth That he is unworthy to approach nearer to Him or so much as to His Altar And that Thus 't is with him most deservedly as for that Original sin wherein he was Conceiv'd and to which he Implicitly Assented so likewise for many other committed by him with a more express Will throughout the whole course of his Life And here I conceive that surely he maketh not this Confession for Himself only but for Every one Present yea for the whole Church for in Her Name he comes now to Offer the Sacrifice And hence it is that the Minister who represents the People makes a Confession with him in the same Words By It is the whole Assembly and every one of us in particular for whom he therefore speaks in the Singular Number Invited to put himself together with him in the Posture and State of a Penitent and to acknowledge before God our own unworthy Condition DEVOTION VOuchsafe me O my God! The Grace of Tenderness of Heart Seriously and deeply to resent my own vile and dangerous Condition so far at least that Presently without any longer delay I may lay open the worst of my Self and Confess to Thee together with the Priest and Own in Thy sight All my Faults by a Repentance so True and Real as may last and make it self ever hereafter appear to be so more and more in All the Actions of my Life to come Imprint in my Soul a Restless desire of Returning to Thee for Good and All Eternally to serve Thee Beginning this Service now in this World as I mean to continue it hereafter in the next without Interruption or Relaxation at least carrying it on so Evenly from this my last Penitence that so I may make Reparation in some sort for my Failings and Recidivations and Breaches of Faith and Promise since my First Conversion which I should have taken care not to have prov'd so false unto nor ever once to have violated Upon the Priest's Re-ascending to the Altar and Kissing It. Deus tu Conversus c. AFter this
take up All my Thoughts All my Life long To weigh the Greatness and Variety of Thy Mercies And may Nothing in the World have such Power as to make me pass by inconsiderately much less to forget the least The Tractus DEVOTION I Fall down before Thee O dear Father with Shame and great Confusion of Face calling to Mind Those Sins which I have committed particularly against the Precepts of thy Gospel which Gospel I though I refus'd not with the Jews but entertain'd it with Protestation to Live according to it and if need were to Die for It yet have violated frequently by Great and Enormous Crimes being so much less excusable than They into how much stricter an Oblation I enter'd into I have Cause enough to fear O my God that Thou shouldst Abandon Me too at last as Thou hast for saken Them because having contracted a deeper Guilt than They 't is but Reason I should be more severely punish'd To provide against such a mischief in Time I now beg of Thee The Spirit of Repentance which I beseech Thee to Give and continue to Me to my last gasp whereby to Expiate my grievous Faults and to put me again into the Quality of a True Christian For the Spirit of Repentance It is which is the very Beginning of Christianity and most Proper Condition of the New Law delivering us from the Sins and consequently from the sad Effects of the Old which is according to the Apostle the Law of Wrath and Death and working out of us by degrees still more what yet it finds in us as Relicks of the Flests of Judaism or of base Earthliness Vpon the removing the Book UPon this Action my Consideration is That The Jews refusing to Hear and understand aright the Prophets and Apostles were at length Neglected and the Apostles turn'd unto the Gentiles bringing The Gospel and the News of a Saviour to Them which is now represented by changing the place of the Book from the Right Hand of the Priest to the Left denoting that Christ had now left the Jews who before were the people of His Right-Hand and that in their stead The Heathens at His Left that is abandon'd heretofore to the Curse of God and not His people were now made his people and dearly Belov'd and That among Us it is that Jesus Christ now keeps Residence and Establishes His Church Here is made indeed No intimation at all that the Gospel was ever Preach'd to the Jews though to them it was Preach'd first and here is something betokening as if Christ had Preach'd It to the Gentiles which yet he never did But the Reason of Both is First That That is omitted because that Preaching of it to the Jews was so In-effectual and Fruitless as not considerable especially in respect what Glorious Entertainment It had afterward among the Gentiles in the full Explication and vigour of It as of a New Law And Secondly That This is solely insisted on Because though Christ Preach'd not Himself in person to the Gentiles but only by his Apostles Ministers yet was It in so wonderful Success and Communication of Grace and Benediction and Reformation of Manners the True Fruits of the Gospel that Now only among these seems He to have fully Exercis'd his Office of an Evangelical Preacher now only indeed to have promulgated the Law of Grace in the quickening Spirit as oppos'd to That of the Jews in the Killing Letter DEVOTION NEver O Lord take away The Grace thou hast Given from Me to Confer It on Another as in thy Justice Thou hast remov'd Thy Gospel from the Jew to the Gentile Let Thy Gifts in me be without Repentance as Thy Scripture speaks Make me ever Remember That saying of St. John * 3 Apoc. 11 a Figure of Thy Elect Take heed Hold fast That which Thou hast that no man take Thy Crown Let me not be Tempted to prize my self as more Worthy than such Offenders whom thou hast not favour'd as Thou hast done Me least I come under that Curse and Malediction wherewith Thy Apostle Threatens the Gentiles 11 Rom. 20 21 22. if they arrogantly insult over the Jews whom Thou hast rejected Transplant Me Out of those Countries of the World where Thou art not duly Worshipped into some Holy Land Exempt from its Malignity and Corruption where I may serve Thee more freely and more Faithfully Make me comprehend the force of those words of the Apostle Exhorting Vs to follow Thee On the Right-hand and on the Left that at all turns Of Adversity and Prosperity Health and Sickness Life and Death I may cleave to Thee unseparably The Gospel THe Book being remov'd to the Left-hand of the Priest To shew as I have said the publication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ now to those on his Left-hand That were his Enemies the Gentiles After some preparation by 1. Particular Prayers for Assistance 2. And Benediction 3. He Crosses the Book and Himself 4. And Names the part he intends to Read 5. The People stand up and Answer Gloria tibi Domine and in that posture continue during the Reading 6. Testify not only their readiness to Hear but also to put in Execution whatever is therein propos'd 7. The Gospel being read the people give again their Approbation 8. With Laus tibi Christe and the Priest saying 9. Per Evangelica Dicta c. Kisseth It. All testifying a high respect to the Gospel The Book continues in that same place almost to the end of the Mass Intimating thereby the continuation of the Gospel among the Gentiles only to almost the end of the World DEVOTION GIve me the Grace to understand and take the Words of Thy H. Gospel as one of thy Faithful Ones that is As a Man ready to do as It says and to practice suitably to what he Professes to Believe Make Me Stand always firm and Erected above All that otherwise might be Impediments to my Ready Obedience Hearing thy Voice as a Friend of the Bridegrooms and joying in nothing so much as rightly to Understand Thy Will and fully to Accomplish It. Let My Spirit Kiss Thee as at the End of the Gospel the Priest does the Book thereby in all Holy Reverence to Adore Thee after I have gotten a glimpse of Thee by that Light which thou hast Now been pleas'd to dart into Me from Thy Words Make me always keep thus Close unto Thee and continue in this Union with Thee which certainly I Owe unto Thee as to One that hath the Words of Eternal Life and Art the very Soul of the Gospel O whither should I go from Thee Never let any Occurrence in this Life never any danger that any Enemy of mine may engage me in be able to separate Me from my Obedience to Thee It is in This preparation of Heart for whatsoever Thou shalt Command Me be the Consequencce what It will that I desire to lay the Foundation of all my Piety and Devotion At the Credo
Will too as I do still by the Tendencies of my Nature which rests only and un-interruptedly upon Thee as Its Author and support 4. Let me account it a Happiness that I can Perish for Thee and not Be as well as I have receiv'd from Thee to be And that in some forward Disposition to This I may now present my self to Thee at this Sacrifice of Thy Son To be Offer'd up with Him and to die every day Thus before-hand to make my self readier to be Sacrificed to Thee Once really and indeed To yield up this Life for Thee which Thou hast given me in any such Occurrences as it shall please Thee to fit for Me and Me for it 5. Lastly I Worship Thee in the Fore-sight of that Last Sacrifice which at the End of the World Thy Son shall make to Thee of all other Creatures before He Offer up his Elect to Thee as a Sacrifice too but after a far more Admirable manner For He shall first Consume by Fire all visible Things to make men see by the Light thereof That Thou alone art a fit Object for their Love as Thou alone art He that hast a Being firm and Incorruptible The first Memento COnsequently the Priest descends to some Particulars in the Church yet living Commemorating First Those for whom especially he Intends the Offering of this Sacrifice And being thus United to the Living here in Charity in Honour and Reverence growing too from the same Charity he next aspires to joyn with the principal Saints Living in Paradice as the Glorious and Blessed Virgin The Apostles and chief Prelates of the See Apostolick together with other Great Saints in several Conditions Imploring Gods protection to be granted through their Prayers Thereby in this Mystical Bond of Mutual Love testifying the Communion and inseparable Conjunction of the Church-Militant and Triumphant DEVOTION I Offer unto Thee O my Lord Thy whole Church all Thy Chosen and especially Those whom thou in a manner hast given me uniting them to Me by a particular tye that in This little number I may represent to my self Those few which Thy Father hath Chosen out of all the World and Given to Thee from all Eternity that I may Love Them and Serve Them as Thou dost uncessantly Love and Assist all Thine Have in mind O Lord Them and Me by the Intercession of All Thy Saints and particularly of the Blessed Virgin of the Apostles and Bishops of the Apostolick See who are now made by Thee the chief in Heaven as They were First the Chief in Thy Church here on Earth I desire to make one among These in the Offering up my Self together with them This Sacrifice Vpon the Priest's holding over his Hands and saying Hanc Oblationem Hanc igitur Oblationem AFter all the Priest makes the Third General Oblation of the whole matter of the Sacrifice Oblatio Generalis 3 putting his Hands over both the Host and Chalice together By this putting His Hands over them He joyns Himself and the whole Congregation Church to this matter of the Sacrifice protesting then to God That He Offers and Sacrificeth all this to him and substitutes in the place this to be Sacrific'd for Himself and Them since it is not permitted that they should Sacrifice so as to destroy themselves Such a thing just did God Ordain in the Old Testament where he commanded the Jews to lay their Hands upon the Head of the Sacrifice which they Offer'd to Him to shew that they were One with It and that in their stead it was Sacrific'd DEVOTION STretch forth Thy Divine Power Over me as now the Priest Extends his Hands over That Bread and Wine which He is about to Consecrate that I also with those Elements may in some sense be Converted into the Body and Blood of Thy Son and consequently in Him be Offer'd up as an Acceptable Sacrifice and Holocaust which thou canst not Despise The Consecration and Elevation THis Protestation made the Priest proceeds to the Prayer of Consecration including a Commemoration of what Jesus Christ did and said when He Instituted This Holy Mystery and Imitating Him Blesses and Consecrates the Bread and Wine in the same manner and with the same Words as He us'd And immediately after Consecration and profound Adoration of Each to give Example to the People in all Piety He Elevates each aloft both to shew that He Offers them up to God the Father above in Heaven and also to make the People more Visibly behold Jesus Christ and so to bow down and Worship Him DEVOTION BRing now fresh into my Memory and fill my Fancy with all that Thou didst for Vs that Night before Thy Death when Thou Institutedst the Blessed Sacrament of thy Body and Blood as the last and most incomparable Pledge of Thy Love to Vs and a Memorandum indelible of our Obligation to Thee Assist Me with Thy Grace O my Saviour and I will Imitate Thee and give my self to Thee even as thou gavest Thy Self to Me without any reserve Change my Heart as Thou Changest This Bread Create a new Heart in Me by this new Body Transubstantiate in Me that seeming Life and Strength which yet is indeed but a dying feebleness into a True and Divine Spirit as Thou changest the Wine which is but the Blood of the Grape a Terrestrial juice into the Vigour and Blood of God Grant that this present Elevation of Thy Body and Blood in mine Eye may produce another like It in my Heart and Spirit as to Crucifie my Flesh that is my Passions and to deliver me from all Affections to this World so also to enflame me with a desire of that Life above and always to keep my Conversation in Heaven with Saints with Angels and with thine Own Dear Self sweet Jesu I Adore Thee O my Saviour in all Thy Elevations Thy Elevation on the Cross the Day of Thy Passion Thy Elevation in the Air at the great Day of the Last Judgement Thy Elevation to the Right-hand of Thy Father in that never-ending Day of Eternity Immediately upon the Priest's reposing the Body and Blood upon the Altar DEVOTION SAnctify me here now by Thy Presence Renew me again by Thy Nativity Purify me by the Memory of Thy Passion by which Thou hast Obliterated in Thy Self the Memory of those Sins which lay so heavy upon Thee to the very last Gasp of Thy Life here Vnde Memores Domine c. THen immediately to express that by Words which he just now did in Action the Priest makes a Solemn and more distinct Oblation to God the Father Avowing that He Offers this now Holy Pure and Immaculate Sacrifice as for the whole Church so in the Person of Jesus Christ whose room he supply'd in the Mystery of the Consecration And he sayes he does it in the Honourable Memory of the three great Mysteries of the Son of God His Passion Resurrection and Ascension In the word Passion including whatsoever the Son
what was proper and naturally Thine And what A simple Figure and Commemoration only of That can it ever have such a Power The Blood of the Heyfer sprinkled though the true and near Figure of that Blood shed upon the Cross yet serv'd only to the Purification of the Flesh No 't is the Proper Blood of God alone that purges Our Consciences from dead works to serve the Living God The Resurrection of the Body O Gracious Jesus When shall It be that in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye at the last Trump the Dead shall arise and the same Flesh of every One now crumbled into Dust and scatter'd a thousand ways shall be re-compacted again into an Incorruptible Immortal Consistency Good God the Miracle of Miracles This And yet I am contemplating one well nigh Equal That in a Moment too in the twinkling of an Eye at the Trumpet of thy Word that very Body of Thine Seated at the right Hand of thy Father in Heaven is in a certain manner Reproduc'd in this Sacrament in all places where-ever the Mystery of It is duly Celebrated But O my wonderful Saviour If a little Leaven can Leaven a great Lump of Dough If one Spark of Fire be enough to Enflame a whole House if one Grain of Corn put into the Earth there works so as out of that Earth to cause so many more to grow and shoot up How may I hope that Thy Blessed Body entring into mine will Greg. Nyssen cap. 37. in its due time ferment it so as to make It rise warm and heat and Enflame It so as to make It like Thy Glorious Body and cause it to come up Immortal Impassible Subtile Nimble Clear and Shineing with all the Radiant Qualities that belong to Its perfection and may be expected from so Divine a Seed This Efficacy I confess can never be in the Figures of thy Body It comes only from the true and Real Presence of thy Precious Body It Self being There The Life Everlasting And indeed what other Nourishment Blessed Saviour but thy dear Body alone can possibly give A Life Everlasting It must be Bread that Lives It Self or it cannot give Life Bread that comes down from Heaven to give a Heavenly Life Bread that is no other than Thine Own Self my Lord and my God to give an Immortal Eternal Everlasting Life The Manna which was a true Type and Figure of thy Body yet could not do That there is need of some Food to be had more Substantial and Solid and Spiritual for such a Life and what can that be but Thy Self who hast Life in Thy Self and Livest now and for evermore World without End Amen This you see if you have Read and Weigh'd it well that the Articles of Our CREED cannot be consider'd in that full heighth wherein they ought to be literally and expresly believ'd and profess'd by every good Christian but that withall they dispose the Soul to a Firm Faith of the Real Presence of the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament which Article thereby seems to carry a very Natural and congenious proportion to all the rest at least as the possibility I may add and probability of it which is enough for the first step The next step shall be to weigh the several Testimonies of the Fathers and Their various Expressions wherein they seem to Labour so to set down what they believ'd in this High Mystery as that it might not be mistaken by Others wherefore from Them it will further appear that the Faith of the greatest part of the Church in all Ages was as it is now of the Real Presence Lastly Shall the particular Exceptions Answers Limitations Distinctions Subterfuges of latter Dissenters as to those Testimonies be produc'd and brought into the Light One by One. All this if you receive not Satisfaction before and if not after I have no other way left to help you with but Prayer Jam hoc qui dicit Non meis Disputationibus Refellendus sed Sanctorum Orationibus Revocandus est Aug. Preparatory Prayers toward the due Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament Authoriz'd by the Church Ad Mensam Dulcissimi Convivii c. TO Thy Table O most Bountiful Lord Jesus Christ where with such Delicious and Heavenly Food Thou usest to Entertain and Feast Pure Souls I a sinner though not presuming on any Merit or Desert of Mine but solely on Thy Goodness and Gracious Invitation do yet Tremble and Fear to approach For I have a Heart still prone to evil and Treacherous evne to the deceiving of my Self A Mind unconstant in all good Purposes A Body enslav'd to sin and which hath been Tainted and render'd loathsome by Corruption Original and many Crimes committed in it Senses wholly depriv'd and by long Custom dispos'd to admit any sort of Temptation Members all retain'd for the Service of some Vice or other A Tongue especially an unruly Evil and under no Guard or Discipline It self a very World of Iniquity And therefore now in this Misery and great Perplexity what to do and how to carry my self in this Conjuncture of Thy Call and my own Wretchedness towards Thee a God of so much Benignity but of such a Frightning Majesty too I nevertheless am here come unto Thee But To Thee as the Fountain of Mercy To Thee as the sole Curer of all my Maladies and Distempers at Present and the best Preserver against all Ills to come And whom I dare not appear before as my Judge I humbly Sue to have for my Saviour To Thee O Lord as such I here unbind and lay open my Wounds and Sores To Thee I discover my shame I know my Sins are great and many and they cause this Fear in me but I hope in Thy Mercies which are without number or stint Look upon me Then with those tender Eyes of Thy Compassion O Merciful Jesus Eternal and most Munificent Saviour God and Man Crucify'd for Man Hail Saving Sacrifice Offer'd up on the Altar of the Cross for Me and all Mankind Hail Precious and Royal Blood pour'd forth of the Wounds of my Crucify'd Lord and Cleansing a whole World from Sin Remember Lord this Creature of Thine for whom Thou hast spilt that Blood I am sorry that I have Offended Thee I desire to Amend what is Amiss Take from me O most Indulgent Saviour all my Iniquities and Transgressions that so beset me and cleave so close to me that being Purg'd and Sanctify'd throughout in Spirit Soul and Body I may come Worthily to feed at Thy Table on the Holiest of all Things And Grant that this Sacred prae-libation and fore-taste of Thy Body and Blood which I now intend to take though most unworthy may be to me A full Remission of my sins A perfect Evacuation of all vitiated and peccant Humours A chacing out of my Mind all unseemly Cogitations A producing therein a Series of better Thoughts and Sentiments An Effectual and Active Principle of
doing ever hereafter Things pleasing to Thee An Impregnable Defence both of Soul and Body against all Assaults or Treacheries of mine Enemies A Token of present Grace and a sure Pledge and Earnest of future Glory Amen Another ALmighty and Immortal Father Behold I come to this Sacrament of Thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ I come As an Infirm and Languishing Person to the Physitian that gives Life and Health As one Defil'd and Unclean to the pure Spring of Grace and Mercy As the Blind to a Light of never failing Clearness As a Poor and Indigent Creature to the Lord of Heaven and Earth I humbly supplicate and beseech Thee therefore in such Abundance and so copious overflowing of Plenty of Favours To daign me A Cure of mine Infirmity A Cleansing from my Defilements A Recovery from Blindness An Enriching of my Poverty A Nuptial Garment for hiding my Shame and Nakedness That being admitted a Guest at Thy Table and Feeding on the Bread of Angels the King of Kings and Lord of Lords I may demean my self with So great Reverence and Humility So true Contrition and Devotion So much Purity and Faith That purpose and Intention As may most conduce to the Salvation of my Soul Grant me now I pray Thee to Receive not only the Sacrament of our Lords Body and Blood but the Virtue also and real Effect of the Sacrament O most Merciful God Grant me in such manner to Receive This Body of Thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ which he took from the Virgin Mary that I may thereby become Incorporated into His Mystical Body and be one of its Living and Sound Members O most Indulgent Father Vouchsafe that this Thy Beloved Son whom now I intend to Receive as here He comes Masqu'd and under these Veils So I may hereafter be admitted to Enjoy with open Face in full Vision as with Thee and the Holy Spirit he Lives and and Reigns one God World without End Amen Prayers after Communion I Give Thee Infinite Thanks from the very bottom of my Heart and with all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Body Holy Lord Omnipotent Father Eternal God! Who hast now Vouchsafed Me a Sinner a most unworthy Servant upon no account of any Merit in me but in meer condescention of Thy Mercy to have an Interest in this Inestimable Sacrifice and Holy Communion of the Precious Body and Blood of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ Which I have now Offer'd and fed upon In Honourable memory of His Death and Passion In Gratitude for all Benefits Receiv'd c. For Reconcilement and Remission of my Sins c. For increase of Grace to c. In Memory and Veneration of such and such Servant or Saint of Thine c. And I humbly beseech Thee that these Acts of Devotion and Worship of Thee may not be to me any new Guilt of Sin to be Punish'd but an Effectual Intercession rather and Procurement of Pardon An Armory of Faith and Shield of Good Will A clean riddance of all Vices in me A total quenching of Lust and Concupiscence An Increase of Divine Love and Patience of Humility Obedience and all other Virtues A Fortress against all the Machinations of my Enemies Visible and Invisible A perfect Calming of all Commotions from Flesh or Spirit A close adhaesion to Thee the only True God and the Happy Conclusion of my Life And after this Viaticum Conduct I beseech Thee Thy Servant to that inexpressible never-ending Feast where Thou together with Thy Son and Holy Spirit Indivisible Trinity art to Thy Saints Their true Light Their full Satisfaction Their everlasting Joy Their compleat Delight and Their Every perfect Happiness Through Jesus Christ Amen Another O My Lord Jesu Sweet above all Sweets Infuse into my Heart my Bowels and inmost Entrails of my Spirit such a strong Passion for Thee so True Clear Apostolick and most Sanctify'd Affection to Thee that my Soul may languish and be always melting with a Love of Thee only Long for Thee pant after Thy presence in these Thy Courts the places of Thy particular Residence and Worship wish to be quite dissolv'd to be with Thee yet nearer Make my Soul Hunger after Thee The Food of Angels The Refreshment of Sanctify'd Spirits Or daily Super-substantial Bread full of all Delightful Relishes and Suavities Savouring of the Varieties of all-pleasing Tasts and Gusts After Thee whom the Angels so much Covet to pry into let my Heart always have an Appetite and feed on Thee Let it ever Thirst for Thee The Spring of Life The Fountain of Wisdom and Knowledge The Source of Eternal Light The Torrent of Pleasures The Plenty of God's House Court Thee seek Thee find Thee run after Thee over-take Thee Muse on Thee Talk of Thee do all things to the Praise and Glory of Thy Name With Humility With Discretion With Delight With Felicity With Affection With Perseverance And be Thou only at all times my Hope my Confidence my Riches my Pleasure my Divertisement my Joy my Rest my Peace my Delight my sweet Perfume my Meat my Sauce my Meal my Retirement my Aid my Wisdom my Portion my Possession my Treasure on which my Mind may still run my Heart be ever set fix'd and unchangeably Establish'd Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for Nathaniel Thompson at the Entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charing-Cross A Brief Discourse of Confession to a Lawful Priest wherein is treated of the last Judgement By P Manby Dean of London-Dery A Manual of Controversies clearly proving the Truth of Catholick Faith by Texts of Holy Scripture Councels of all Ages Fathers of the first 500 years Common Sense and Reason and fully Ansering all the Principal Objections of Protestants and all manner of Sectaries By H. T. A most Excellent way of Hearing Mass with Profit and Devotion Containing the whole Mase in Latine and English with divers Select Prayers before and after Confession and Communion and an Examen of Conscience c. A Manual of Devout Prayers fitted for all persons and all occasions To which is added the Rosary in Latine and English Prayers to the B. V. The Prayers of St. Bridget c. with the Vespers or Even-Song
Assembled together which was Antiently by a Kiss Oral as now by Kissing an Instrument as a Crucifix c. for that use was held as a Pledge of the Joy and Tranquility in Paradice and so thought less proper for the days of Sadness and Mourning for those who yet by their Sins were detain'd from Entrance into That Joy DEVOTION SO Cur'd I will take and Kiss the Pax which is given to Me on the Priest's part or rather in truth on Thine since He himself before He derives It to the People takes It from Thee in That Kiss given to the Altar which is in stead of Thee O make me keep always This Peace this Sacred Peace and let me never care for other as I am not taken with any thing call'd good unless it come from Thee And in this Preparation let me Approach to the Communion of Thy Blessed Body which as is said is the Earnest and beginning of That more Perfect Peace that we Hope to enjoy in Heaven intimated by Thy Prophet promising on Thy part A Peace that transcends all other Peace The Communion NExt the Priest having dispos'd Himself to Communicate by those two Prayers Domine Jesu Christi Fili Dei c. and Preceptio Corporis and protested His own great Unworthiness in those Words of the Centurion Domine non sum dignus c. thrice re-doubled after a little pause or Humble Examination Eates the Body and then Drinks the Blood in the Chalice After each adding a short Rapture or Meditation Then he proceeds to Communicate the Others that are dispos'd thereunto SHewing hereby that both Priest and People do partake of the same Sacrifice are fed with the same Spiritual Food from the same Table admitted to the same Pasture all in quality of being the Sheep of the same Shepheard And in this the Priest seems to Acknowledge First In Humility that in that Respect of being a Sheep of Christ's and to be fed by Him He is nothing at all different from the People Secondly In Charity that the dispensing the things of God to the People ought to proceed from the fulness which He hath received from God Himself and that He is to feed the Faithful out of his Store and that which remains over and above DEVOTION LOrd I am not worthy of the least of all Thy Mercies much less of the Greatest as is this Communion of Thine own Body and Blood by which Thou enterest into Me and in a most ineffable manner minglest Thy self with my very Substance transplanting into Me Thy Humanity Thy Divinity Thy Person nay together with It The whole Trinity so that I am not only their Temple as before but in some kind even one with Thee and It. This is a Favour so great and so incomprehensible that I may well look on my self as most unworthy of it not only because I no way deserve It but because I can no way Understand It since it surpasses all thoughts of Men or Angels Grant me that after a Communion and Union so Miraculous I be never any thing but Thine never any thing but Thee And that nothing be ever able to separate me in the least kind from Thee But that I may see all Creatures far remov'd from and Infinitely below Me who am in Thee and that as I am not to Live but In Thee so I may have no Affection neither No sense but for Thee Not coucern'd in any thing but so far as thou wilt have Me or as thou esteemest Thy self concern'd in It. Let this Food be my Everlasting Nourishment and let me so Relish It that it may make me loose the Taste of all things else and the gust of My self especially That remaining un-alter'd and Incorruptible in my Heart it may Consume all the Corruption in my Body and Soul and Sublimate them to a Being totally Spiritual and Incorruptible too partly Now but Perfectly at the Great Resurrection May it be within me a Head and Fountain of Life perpetually running into Actions and Increasing toward that Life wholly Divine and Immortal and retarding and putting off farther and farther the Encroachments of a Death which I still carry about Me In like manner as the Corporal Food which I take respites me from the Assaults of Death and helps to lengthen and prolong this Mortal Life of my Body let it be always at Hand since It ought always to be in my Heart And let the Remembrance and Respect wherewith I shall every Moment in a kind of Mastication and Chewing Honour and Adore It Innure me to Taste and Comprehend the Excellency thereof as far surpassing All Manna or what-ever other most Delicate Dainties which can never free Vs quite from Perishing but Perish themselves whereas This on the contrary hath an undecayable Life in It self and makes Vs to live everlastingly Let It be to me instead of all other Affecting me with all the Pleasures and Gusts that any Spiritual Refection is capable of as That Manna is said to give the Jews all the Delicious Relishes that were to be sound in any other repast of the Body Let is fully satisfy me and make me so Reflect upon this great Happiness of being fed now in this Life with the same Bread which so abundantly blesseth with all Felicities Men and Angels that I never Covet more Let this Sacred Body be the Soul of my Soul as my Soul is the Soul of my Body and let all my Thoughts and Affections all Energies Motions and Actions whatever I feel or do proceed from It as all my Natural Movement and Operations come from my Soul Let it be in me A Spring of all Graces streaming them out unto me every moment suitably to my Necessities That Well of Living Waters flowing up to Everlasting Life which it hath pleas'd God to open not only in the midst of His Church as in the middle of Paradice But also in the Middle and Heart of every Faithful Soul which is to Him no less a Paradice and a Church than the whole Vniversal Let this Divine Source quench the Thirst of my Soul Allay my Heats and Irregular Desires by Nourishing another Supernatural Heat of Grace and Divine Love which Dissipates those strange Inflamations and Carnal Feavers of Concupiscence and may that Love consume in me the very Seed of Sin as it Cherishes and makes take root that other Seed of Life and Immortality Let this Admirable Spring float my Soul higher and higher above all Creatures Visible and Invisible till it bring it up into my God from whom it self is fed it being natural to all Waters to raise themselves as high as their Beginnings and to Advance thither too whatever they carry Let this Food as soon as I have taken It give Proof of its Efficacy in making me Strong and Potent against those occasions of Sinning which before abus'd my Feebleness and were too prevalent over Me. Let it give me New Spirits and Light First to discover and discern and then to
Crush and destroy the least Reliques and Remains of any Sin into whatever part it is Retir'd or under what disguise soever It lurks and hides These being indeed the True Idols and Abominations which God hath commanded to put from Vs and utterly to annihilate if we mean to Receive and Conserve His Grace Lastly It is My Saviour Himself that is in This Sacrament O that I might Love according to His Example here Retirement Re-collection Abstraction and Separation from all Creatures as He continues still unmix'd with any now no less in within me than in the whole Church always In a Profound Silence under a Wonderful Humility leading here a Life perfectly Internal and absorpt in a Contemplation and Adoration perpetual of the Greatness and Incomprehensible Majesty of God his Father Upon the Priest's gathering up the Crums and lesser particles of the Hoste and sucking in the rest in the Chalice DEVOTION THe Fragments O Lord The least Crum that jalls from Thy Table the least Drop of Thy Wine no Remainder of Thy Honey Comb is so little but is enough for me as well as for that modest Canaanite and for Thy Apostles at that miraculous Entertainment in the Desart or at That Collation upon Thy Resurrection Indeed all the Graces that we are capable of in This Life are but Crums falling from That Thy Table above but few drops of that Inexhaustible Fountain with which Thy Blessed in Heaven are so abundantly Refresh'd but on Vs here are but sprinkled a little to relieve our Necessities and sustain Vs from fainting in our Passage through the Desart of This World Yet as Thou art no less whole and Entire in the pettyest Particle and Attom of these Symbols than in the biggest Portion so I avouch that there is force enough to Nourish me and to Strengthen me too against all mine Enemies in the Lightest Grain of Thy Grace because Thou art always All in It and With and By It dost uncessantly derive Thy Spirit into Our Hearts Which well considered should Oblige Vs everyone to live Contented in This Life as we shall do in the Next be the Gifts Great or Small that we receive from Thy Mercy Vpon the bringing back again of the Book to the Right-Hand IT is to shew that the Gospel which was remov'd from the Jews at first shall return to them again and be receiv'd towards the end of the World And then the whole Church consisting both of Jew and Gentile being United together The Priest Blesseth God for all the Favours shewn to it in order thereunto and particularly for the Present Communion by which he hath re-united so many beseeching Him that this Receiving of Him at this time may tend to His everlasting Honour DEVOTION I Admire and Adore O my God Thy Goodness and Insinite Patience who having been so long Oppos'd and Vilifi'd by the Jews wilt yet at last before the end of the World receive them again for all that and restore to them the Light of the Gospel before taken from them as is signifi'd by bringing back the Book before the Mass ends to the place It had at the beginning God forbid I should ever Despair of any Sinner how Great or Wretched and Harden'd soever he be as long as He yet Lives No let me rather in all Humility wait till Thy Mercy or Thy Justice declare it self toward Him in the Season that Thou hast appointed and the mean while Pray for Him Wishing Him Thy Grace with the same Charity wherewith Thy Church still implor'd It for the Jews her Enemies and first Persecutors though receive it they should not till after many Ages and at present are Harden'd and even Abandon'd by Thee after a manner most notoriously Hideous O let me so Intercede for a Mercy and a true Repentance for the worst of mine Enemies make me carry them always in my Heart though they little deserve It and have turn'd me out of theirs as Thou lodgest and bearest me in Thine without considering my unworthiness and wert willing to receive me even when I hated Thee and ran from Thee as fast and as far as I was able Sweeten me into a Benignity that as I have receiv'd Thy Grace without all merit so I may keep it without all Envy and be an earnest Suitor unto Thee that Thou wouldst vouchsafe it also to those who I am sure cannot less deserve it than I. Nay let it be to me a particular delight and joy when ever Thou shalt be pleas'd to indulge it to them in a greater abundance than Thou hast done to me that so even their abundance may be as truly mine and the â—â—ches of them supply what is wanting in me as Thy Apostle says At the last Benediction AFter this tender of Thanks in Conclusion of all the Priest turns to the People to Bless them as was us'd to be done in the Old Law after the Sacrifice and shall be more fully done hereafter by our Saviour Himself in that General Benediction of all the Elect at the end of the World Hence is it that he reads the Gospel of St. John treating particularly of the Eternal Generation of the Word and the Highest Mysteries of that His Deity To shew that immemediately after that Last Benediction we shall pass into Heaven there to be better acquainted with and Eternally Admire and Praise these Mysteries And that Jesus Christ having gather'd together all His chosen shall lead them in and place them in the Bosom of His Father where He is from all Eternity His Only Son and where He shall admit Us as His Brethren that where He is We may be also and this without any prejudice of His being still the Only because He shall make Us One with Him Amen DEVOTION I Beseech Thee O my God to make me so partaker of Thy Body and Blood and so to Order the rest of my Life that I may receive That great Benediction which Thou shalt give to Thy Servants at the Last day The which is now Represented unto Me by This which the Priest gives to the People in the end of the Mass In the Hope of This let me live and grow Invincibly strong against the rudest Assaults of the Enemy In the expectation of so great Comfort let my Heart be so Establish'd as to Dread nothing nor can the greatest Beauties or Pleasures in This World seem any thing to the sight of That last Glory or to the perception of That Blessing accumulative of all Blessings which then shall be receiv'd in the presence of Millions of Angels and of all Men which ever were or shall be The Blessing and St. John's Gospel DEVOTION ANd after that Solemn Benediction take me O my God with Thee into Heaven that Heaven of Heavens Where I may enjoy Thee in Thy Majesty in thy Beatitude and Life so Glorious A Scantling of which seems to be Represented to Vs by that Beginning of St. John 's Gospel which is said after the Mass Wherein