made use of the Element of Water in the greatest Mysteries hear favourably our humble Prayers and pour forth thy Blessings upon this Element prepared for several Purifications to the end that thy Creature made use of in thy Mysteries may receive the effect of thy Divine Grace to drive away Devils and cure Infirmities to the end all thy Faithful which shall be sprinkled within or without doors may be thereby preserved from all impurity and evil and that no pestilential spirit or corruption remain in them let all snares of our secret Enemy depart thence and whatever is obnoxious to the health and repose of any that inhabit there may be expelled by the sprinkling of this Water that the health implored by the invocation of thy holy Name may be preserved from all sorts of assaults Through our Lord c. Then the Priest saying these following words puts Salt three times into the Water making the sign of the Cross to signifie that to be purified from sin which is figured by the Water and to persevere in purity figured by the Salt we ought to implore the assistance of the Holy Trinity by the Merits of the Cross LEt this commixtion of Salt and Water be made in the Name of the Father ✚ and of the Son ✚ and of the Holy Ghost ✚ Amen V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray O God the Author of invincible Power King of irresistable Empire and for ever magnificently triumphant who dissipatest the strength of the adverse party who suppressest the fury of the raging Enemy and powerfully vanquishest his Malice We O Lord trembling humbly beseech and pray thee to regard favourably this creature Salt and Water to enlighten it with thy Grace and to sanctifie it with the Dew of thy Bounty that wherever it shall be sprinkled through the invocation of thy Holy Name it may chase away all suggestions of the unclean Spirit that there be no fear of the venomous Serpent and that the presence of the Holy Spirit will vouchsafe every where to accompany us imploring thy Mercy Through our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost one God World without end Amen The Benediction being ended the Priest who is to celebrate Mass putting on his Coap again kneeling at the foot of the Altar accompanied with his Ministers and sprinkling it thrice with Holy Water he sprinkles himself and arising besprinkles them intoning these first words of the Antiphon taken out of the 50 Psalm Thou shalt sprinkle me and then the Quire sings the rest O Lord with Hyssop and I shall be cleansed thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow He sprinkles the Clergy and People saying with a low voice the 50 Psalm begging of the Holy Trinity by this penitential Psalm both that he may worthily celebrate this adorable Sacrifice and that others of the Faithful may participate thereof as they were purified first in Baptism by Water and the Holy Ghost and now that he will please to grant them a second time repentance in tears and acknowledgment of their sins that preserving them from all temptations of the Devil they may be acceptable to the Divine Majesty and freed from the corruption of sin as Water cleanseth the body and as Salt gives a savory tast to meat and preserves it from corruption HAve mercy on me O God according to thy great mercy And according to the multitude of thy commiserations blot out my iniquities Wash me more amply from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Because I do know my iniquity and my sin is before me always To thee only have I sinned and have done evil before thee that thou mayest be justified in thy words and when thou art judged For behold I was conceived in iniquities and my mother conceived me in sins For behold thou hast loved truth the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me Thou shalt sprinkle me with Hysop and I shall be cleansed thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness and the bones humbled shall rejoyce Turn away thy face from my sins and wipe away all my iniquities Create a clean heart in me O God and renew a right spirit in my bowels Cast me not away from thy face and thy holy spirit take not from me Render unto me the joy of thy salvation and confirm me with thy principal spirit I will teach the unjust thy ways and the impious shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from Blood O God the God of my salvation and my tongue shall exalt thy justice Lord thou wilt open my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Because if thou wouldest have had sacrifice I had verily given it with holocausts thou wilt not be delighted A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit a contrite and humble heart O God thou wilt not despise Deal favourably O Lord in thy good will with Sion that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up Then shalt thou accept Sacrifice of Justice Oblations and Holocausts then shall they lay calves upon thine altar Gloria Patri Filio c. is not used because during these days the Church represents unto us the Indignities and Affronts offered by the Jews to our blessed Saviour After this Antiphon Thou shalt sprinkle me c. is repeated the Priest having sprinkled the Holy Water returns to the foot of the Altar where standing upright and there joyning his hands he beseeches God that the Angel of his Great Council our Saviour JESUS CHRIST who is ready to descend from Heaven by the consecration of these Divine Mysteries will assist with his saving Grace all those that are in the Church that they being purified may worthily present themselves before his Majesty Let us Pray V. Shew us O Lord Mercy R. And give us thy Salvation V. O Lord hear my Prayer R. And let my cry come unto thee V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray O Holy Lord Omnipotent Father Eternal God graciously hear us and vouchsafe to send thy Holy Angel from Heaven to keep protect cherish visit and defend all that dwell in this habitation Through Christ our Lord c. Amen THE BENEDICTION OF THE PALMS After sprinkling Holy Water in the usual manner the Priest accompanied with his Ministers in their Ornaments goes to bless the Palms This Ceremony is very ancient for it is not only in the Roman Institute and in the Book of the Divine Offices which Alcuinus composed in the Ninth Age and in St. Adelmus his Treatise of Virginity in the Eighth Age but also St. Maximus Bishop of Turin in the Fifth Age preaching upon this Subject which you may read in St. Ambros tells us it was an ancient custom in the Church to teach us that it was in memory of Christ's
The Faithful in the name of the rest beseech God to make them constant and stable in Faith as the three Hebrews in the midst of Persecutions and Traverses of this Life and that he will give them the grace to remain humble as not depending on their own Justice or Merits but hoping only in his Mercy ALmighty and Everlasting God the onely hope of the world who by the mouths of thy Prophets hast manifested the mysteries of these times increase through thy goodness the fervour of the Vows and Prayers of thy people that they may obtain that perfection in Faith and Piety which they beg since none can advance in vertue but by thy holy inspirations Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen Then the Priest goes to the Font and the following Tract is sung taken out of the one and fortieth Psalm to inform the Catechumens how fervently they ought to desire Baptism AS the heart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God V. My soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God V. My tears have been my meat day and night while continually they say unto me Where is thy God Before the blessing of the Font the Priest says this Prayer Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Let us Pray The Priest prays for the Catechumens that God would please to give them the Faith necessary for their Sanctification in this Sacrament of Baptism ALmighty and Everlasting God look graciously upon the devotion of thy people now to be regenerate who as the Hart thirst after the waters of thy fountain and grant that the faith which they thirst may sanctifie their Soul and Body by the Sacrament of Baptism Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen The Church blessing the Fonts upon Easter-Eve does instruct us that Baptism is a figure of the death of Jesus Christ and that he Spiritually does that in our souls which was truly done in his Body upon Mount Calvary For as Jesus Christ by dying hath destroyed the flesh which was in appearance sinful as he blotted out sin which was not in him but because he was pleas'd to charge himself with it to satisfie Divine Justice so Baptism destroys the Old Man who is truly the sinner to invest us with the New and to destroy sin which is truly ours to give us his Grace The Water wherein we are plunged represents our Saviours Burial advertising us that all our sins are there buried and when we come forth of it it is a figure of his Resurrection which was for the glory of his Father and signified that by his Example we ought to live a new Life full of Sanctity and that after this life of Grace we shall enjoy one of Glory if we are truly united to Jesus Christ It is to be observed that though these Ceremonies are not absolutely necessary yet they are not to be altered but upon extream necessity In that they are very ancient and comprehend great Mysteries the knowledge whereof brings us to see the admirable changes wrought in a Soul by Baptism The Priest implores Gods assistance to bless the Font. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Let us Pray ALmighty and Everlasting God bless these great Mysteries and Sacraments of thine infinite bounty and to regenerate this new people which this water of Baptism brings thee pour forth upon them the Spirit of Adoption so that what is to be done by the ministry of our weakness may be accomplished by the effect of thy power Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen The Priest raising his voice to a higher Tone protests himself unworthy to administer so great a Sacrament and declares that all the efficacy of the Waters of Baptism come from the Holy Ghost who pours forth upon those that are Baptized the graces they are capable of through the Merits of Jesus Christ For ever and ever Amen Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Raise up your hearts R. We have them to our Lord. Let us give thanks to our Lord God R. It is meet and just IT is truly meet and just right and wholsom that we always and in all places give thee thanks O Lord Holy Father Almighty and Everlasting God who by thy invisible power dost wonderfully bring to pass the effect of thy Sacraments and though we are unworthy to administer so great Mysteries yet thou not withdrawing the gifts of thy grace art graciously pleased to hear our Prayers God whose spirit in the world beginning was carried upon the waters that then its nature might conceive the vertue of sanctification God who by the waters washing away the sins of the guilty world didst note the figure of regeneration by the overflowing of the deluge to the end that the same element by a prodigious mystery should be both the destruction of vices and the source of vertues cast down thine eyes upon the face of thy Church and multiply in her thy regenerations Thou who satiatest thy holy city with joy by the abundant affluence of thy graces and openest the Fonts of Baptism to the whole world to renew the nations inhabiting it that under the Empire of thy Majesty she may receive the grace of thy only Son by the vertue of the Holy Ghost The Priest divides the Water in form of the Cross to teach us that Grace and Sanctification are given us through the Merits of Christs Cross and Passion and that by the same Merits the Waters created for the generation of the Body are Sanctified and joyned with the grace of the Holy Ghost to a Spiritual Regeneration of Men on whom our Lord bestows his gifts without respect either to Nation Sex or Quality making them his Members that so they may live the same life with him And as by Adam's sin the Devil usurpt a Dominion over the Creatures which he makes use of to prejudice Man so he is deprived of it by our Redeemer's Merits who Sanctifies them for our good WHom we beseech by a secret mixture of his Divine Grace to make this water fruitful designed for the regeneration of men to the end that those who are conceived and sanctified in the immaculate womb of this Font may become a heavenly progeny being regenerated to a new creature and that all who are distinguished either by sex in the body or age in time may be brought forth to the same in fancy by grace which is their spiritual mother Command therefore O Lord that all unclean spirits may withdraw hence that all malice and deceit of the devil be banished that no power of the enemy may lurk here to prepare his ambushes to surprise by secret artifices to corrupt with his infection The Priest touches the Water with his hand to beg of God by the following words that it be not profaned MAY this holy and innocent creature O Lord be free from enterprises of the devil and all malice being set apart may be
preserved in its purity May it be a fountain of life a regenerating water a purifying stream that all those who shall be washed in this wholsom bath may obtain the grace to be perfectly purified by operation and assistance of the Holy Ghost The Priest signs the Font thrice with the sign of the Cross to shew us that as the Holy Trinity was by visible Tokens present at Christs Baptism So these Three Persons by an invisible Presence are so assisting when the People are Baptized ANd therefore I bless thee O creature water by the living ✚ God by the true ✚ God by the holy ✚ God by that God who at the beginning of the world separated thee from the dry land by his word and whose spirit was carried upon thee The Priest divides the Water with his Hand and casts it towards the four parts of the World instructing us thereby that the grace of Baptism is poured forth through the whole Earth And the Church setting before our Eyes the Wonders wrought by God upon the Waters both in the Old and New Testament teacheth us that we are not to think it strange that this Element is made use of to make a Sacrament for our Regeneration and Sanctification GOD who made thee spring in Paradise and dividing thee into four rivers commanded thee to water the whole earth who changed thy bitterness in the desart and made the potable by an imprinted suavity and to issue out of a rock to quench his peoples thirst I bless thee also through our Lord Jesus Christ his only Son who in Cana Galilee changed thee into wine by a singular miracle of his omnipotency who walked dry-foot upon thee and was baptized in thee by St. John in Jordan who caused thee together with blood to issue out of his side and who commanded his disciples to baptize all those in thee who should believe in him saying Go ye and teach all nations and baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The Priest invocates Gods assistance with a profound respect OMnipotent God mercifully assist us observing thy commandments and of thy goodness infuse thy spirit into us Then the Priest breaths upon the Waters in form of a Cross to teach us that Jesus Christ by the Merits of his Cross and Passion communicates his Holy Spirit to those that are Baptized as he communicated it to his Disciples by the breath of his Mouth BLess these simple waters with thy mouth that besides their natural quality of cleansing the body they may receive yet further vertue to purifie our souls The Priest dippeth the hallowed Candle into the Water to shew us that the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ represented by this Virgin-wax sanctified the Waters when he was Baptized in Jordan and that he gave them the virtue to regenerate and that as the Holy Ghost descended then upon Jesus Christ he also descends upon those that are new Baptized MAy the vertue of the Holy Ghost descend upon this water The Priest breaths three times upon the Water to instruct us that not only the Holy Ghost but the Father and Son also descend upon the Baptized as these three Persons visibly appear'd at our Saviours Baptism we are also taught by it that in this Sacrament of Regeneration we receive Faith Hope and Charity ANd make the whole substance of this water fruitful and capable to regenerate The Priest takes the Taper out of the Water to instruct us that by Baptism we are dis-engaged from sin re-established in grace admitted into a new life which entitles us by our good works to Eternal Glory MAy here all the stains of sin be blotted out may here nature created unto thy image being restored to its original dignity to the honour of its Authour be purified from all filth of the old man that all who receive this Sacrament of Regeneration may be born in true innocency of a new birth Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who shall come to judge the living and the dead and world by fire After this the Priest pours the Oyl for the Catechumens into the Water cross-wise to represent unto us the strength we receive by this Sacrament as Champions of Jesus Christ to persevere generously in the encounters of this World that so we may wear the Crown prepared for us in Everlasting Life And as the Oyl is drawn from Olives bruised in a Press this Liquor denotes unto us that grace and strength figured thereby is given us by the Passion of Jesus Christ MAy this Font be sanctified and made fruitful by this health-giving oyl for those who shall be regenerated therein unto life everlasting Amen Then the Priest pours into the Water Oyl of Chrism to teach us that Baptism is a Spiritual and Mystical Consecration by which being invisibly anointed with the grace of the Holy Ghost we partake of the Regality and Priesthood of Jesus Christ and thence we are called Christians that is anointed MAy this infusion of the Chrism of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost the comforter be done in the Name of the Holy Trinity Amen Lastly the Priest pours Oyl and Chrism together into the Water to put before us the advantages we reap by this Sacrament of Baptism and the Sollicitude we ought to use to conserve them The Water signifies that we are cleansed from all our sins The Oyl that we are anointed with the Holy Ghost as Champions of Christ to be guarded and fortified in all Encounters and Assaults that befal us in this Life as in all sorts of Temptations interior and exterior in Afflictions Persecutions and generally in all occasions which may hazard our loss of Faith and of the grace of God The Chrism represents unto us that we are consecrated unto God by the participation of the Regality and Priesthood of Jesus Christ MAy this commixture of the Chrism of Sanctification and the Oyl of Unction and of the Water of Baptism be made in the Name of the Father ✚ and of the Son ✚ and of the Holy Ghost ✚ Amen The blessing of the Font being ended the Priest accompanied with his Ministers goes before the Altar and upon his knees sings the Litanies to implore the Intercession of the Saints But in Churches where no Fonts are after the Sixth Prophecy is read and the Prayer following it Litanies are sung to implore the Intercession of the Saints LOrd have mercy on us Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy on us Christ hear us Christ graciously hear us God the Father of heaven have mercy on us God the Son Redeemer of the world have mercy on us God the Holy Ghost have mercy on us Holy Trinity one God have mercy on us Holy Mary pray for us Holy Mother of God pray for us Holy Virgin of Virgins pray for us St. Michael pray St. Gabriel pray St. Raphael pray All ye Holy Angels and Archangels pray for us All ye Holy Orders
triumphant entry into Jerusalem which was a figure of his glorious Ascension to Heaven having vanquished the Devil and therefore the Church begins this Ceremony with the Canticle which the Hebrew Children sung on this day in honour of our Saviour where we are to observe that the Priest reads it with a low Voice without making the sign of the Cross to mind us that this Action preceded the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ HOsanna to the Son of David or save us we beseech thee O Son of David blessed is he who comes in the Name of our Lord O King of Israel Hosanna in the highest V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray The Faithful considering how God had opened the mouths of the Hebrew Children to sing a Canticle of Praise to the Honour of his Son Saviour of the World and how he had inspired the People of Jerusalem to go before him with Olive and Palm branches as a sign of those Graces he intended us by his Victory and Triumph over the World and the Devil beseech his Majesty to render us worthy of those Graces and that Salvation which he hath purchased for us by his victorious Death to the end we may reap the accomplishment thereof in eternal bliss by the vertue of his Resurrection O God whom it is justice to love multiply in us the Gists of thy ineffable Grace and as through the Death of thy Son thou hast made us hope for what we believe grant that we may arrive to Eternal Glory according to our desires through the resurrection of thy only Son who liveth and reigneth one God with thee in unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen The Lesson taken out of the 15th and 16th Chapter of Exodus The Church minds us that as the Israelites found refreshment in the desert under the shade of Palm-trees and in the Fountain of fresh Waters they murmured presently after against Moses their leader and notwithstanding God was pleased to surmount their ingratitude with his benefits by showring down Manna In like maner the Jews who would have found their salvation in the honour which they rendred this day to Jesus Christ if they had accompanied it with a lively faith did yet presently after conspire against him who nevertheless was pleased in his bounty to give them his own Body as Bread from Heaven for Food to their Souls which he soon after offered as a Sacrifice to God his Father to expiate the sins of men and heap upon them his Grace IN those days the Children of Israel came into Elim where there were twelve Fountains of Water and seventy Palm-trees and they camped beside the Waters And they set forward from Elim and all the multitude of the Children of Israel came into the desert Sin which is between Elim and Sinai the fifteenth day of the second Month after they came forth out of the land of Egypt And all the Assembly of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the Wilderness and the Children of Israel said to them Would to God we had died by the hand of our Lord in the land of Egypt when we sate over the Flesh-pots and did eat Bread our fill Why have you brought us into this desert that you may kill all the multitude with famine And our Lord said to Moses Behold I will rain you Bread from Heaven let the People go forth and gather that sufficeth for every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my Law or no. But the sixth day let them provide for to bring in and let it be double to that they were wont to gather every day And Moses and Aaron said to all the Children of Israel At Even you shall know that our Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of Egypt and in the Morning you shall see the glory of our Lord. The following Responsory is sung instead of the Gradual taken out of the Eleventh Chapter of St. John THe chief Priests therefore and Pharisees gathered a Council and said What do we for this Man doth many signs If we let him alone so all will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away our Place and Nation Vr. But one of them named Caiphas being the high Priest of that year said to them It is expedient for us that one man die for the people and the whole Nation perish not Therefore from that day they devised to kill him saying And the Romans c. Another Responsory taken out of the second Chaper of St. Matthew JEsus prayed unto his Father on Mount Olivet My Father if it be possible let this Chalice pass from me The spirit indeed is prompt but the flesh weak thy will be done Watch ye and pray that ye enter not tentation The spirit indeed is c. In the mean time the Deacon carries the Book of Gospels to the Altar to testifie that it contains the Word of God and presents Incense to the Priest to bless saying Reverend Father bless this Incense The Priest takes the Incense and putting into the Thurible blesseth it â—avowing by this Benediction that the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered to God alone humbly beseeching his Grace that his Prayers may ascend as this Incense towards him Be thou bless'd by him to whose honour thou shalt be burnt Then the Deacon upon his knees at the foot of the Altar prepares himself to receive commission from the Priest to publish the Gospel by this Prayer CLeanse O Almighty God my heart and lips who didst purifie with a fiery coal the lips of the Prophet Isaiah and vouchsafe so to purifie me for thy mercies sake that I may worthily declare thy holy Gospel Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. Amen Then taking the Book from the Altar he asks the Priest's Blessing Reverend Father bless me The Priest blesseth him OUr Lord be in thy heart and lips that thou mayest worthily publish his Gospel in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen The Deacon kisseth the Priest's hand to testifie that as in the Old Law a Seraphin did purifie the lips of the Prophet Isaiah with a coal of fire so in the New Law it is Jesus Christ represented by the Priest who purifies his mouth He goes to the place appointed for reading the Gospel with the Subdeacon Thurifer and two Acolyts who carry two Tapers lighted before him to signifie the Joy which the Faithful ought to have for this Great Blessing of the Light of Faith He turns towards the People that they may hear the Gospel the Subdeacon holding the Book before him to testifie that what he reads to the People is only what the Priest ordered him Before he reads the Gospel he beseeches God's blessing upon the Assembly to hear his Word worthily saying Our Lord be with you The Assembly reciprocally beseeching God to assist him with his Grace and that
Abraham returned to his young men and they went to Bersabee together and he dwelt there The Church considering that all descended from Abraham according to the Flesh are not true Israelites but only those who in Holy Scriptures are called his Seed that is those who imitate his Faith begs Gods Grace for all the Gentils to imitate the Faith of this great Patriarch so as to reap the effect of the Promises made to him and his Posterity Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves O God the sovereign Father of the Faithful who by the grace of adoption through the whole world multipliest the children of thy promise and by this Paschal Sacrament viz. by the sacrifice of thy Son whereof the Paschal Lamb and the sacrifice of Isaac was a figure makest thy servant Abraham in his stead the Father of all Nations according to thy promise grant that thy people may worthily enter into the grace of their vocation Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. The FOURTH PROPHECY out of the 14th Chapter of Exodus The Church tells the excellency of Baptism and its effects by the wonderful things done for the Israelites the Pillar of Fire which shined before them in the Night and the Cloud which sheltered them from the heat of the Sun in the Day represented the Holy Ghost and the graces which he poureth out upon us The passage through the Red Sea under Moses his Conduct was a figure of Baptism which we receive by the Priest in the Sacramental Water sanctified by Christ's Bloud Pharao represented the Devil and the Egyptians our sins The sudden return of the Waters drowning the Egyptians signifie that our sins are ingulfed in the Waters of Baptism and that coming out of the Font we ought to look upon them as the Children of Israel after they had passed the Red Sea did upon the Egyptians dead on all sides upon the Sands and as they sate upon their Chariots sunk to the Ground IN those days when the morning-watch was come behold our Lord looking upon the Egyptians camp through the pillar of the fire and the cloud slew their army and overthrew the wheels of their chariots and they were born in the depth The Egyptians therefore said Let us fly from Israel for the Lord fighteth for them against us And our Lord said to Moses Stretch forth thy hand upon the sea that the waters may return to the Egyptians upon their chariots and horsemen And when Moses had stretched forth his hand against the sea it returned in the first break of day to the former place and the Egyptians flying away the waters came upon them and our Lord enwrapt them in the midst of the waves And the waters returned and overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of all Pharo's army who following were entred into the sea neither did there so much as one of them remain But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the dry sea and the waters were unto them as instead of a wall on the right hand and on the left And our Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hand of the Egyptians And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore and the mighty hand that our Lord had exercised against them And the people feared our Lord and they believed our Lord and Moses his servant Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to our Lord and said The TRACT taken out of the Eighteenth Chapter of Exodus The Church representing to the Catechumens the Obligation they have being by Baptism freed from the Tyranny of the Devil and Slavery of Sin to sing Canticles of Praise and Thanksgiving to our Lord with much more joy than the Israelites did when they were led out of the Egyptian Servitude and from the Persecution of their Enemies LEt us sing unto the Lord for he triumphed gloriously The horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea He is made a helper and protector to me for salvation V. He is my God and I will honour him my fathers God and I will exalt him V. The Lord is a destroyer of war the Lord is his Name Let us Pray The Church considering that the People of Israel's delivery from the Egyptians Bondage and the promises which God made them was a figure of those Graces which they shall receive who imitating the Faith of Abraham shall become his Children or true Israelites by the Regeneration of Baptism beseeches God that all People may be Regenerated and have the grace of Faith that so they may receive the effects of his Promises Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves O God who makest us see even in our days the miracles wrought by thee in past ages that what thou didst in the delivery of one people from the power of Egypt thou wroughtest for the salvation of the Gentiles through the water of regeneration grant that all the nations of this world may become true children of Abraham and enter into the dignity of being children of Israel Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. The FIFTH PROPHECY taken out of the 54th and 55th Chapter of Isay Wherein the Church presents to us the Promise God made to the Gentiles through his gracious Mercy of the Health-giving Waters of his Word and grace of obtaining for them the heavenly Inheritance and eternal Felicity And first it tells us that if the Eternal Word did not pour forth these Divine Waters into our Souls they would not be able to produce the least Fruit of Justice but would be altogether barren Secondly it teaches us that the Word which issues from Gods mouth when it dilates it self in humane hearts makes no unprofitable return to him that sent it but that it breeds and fructifies abundantly in their hearts that receive it THis is the inheritance of the servants of our Lord and their justice with me saith our Lord. All ye that thirst come to the waters and you that have no silver make hast buy and eat come buy without silver and without any exchange wine and milk Why bestow your silver not for bread and your labour not for satiety Hearing hear ye me and eat that which is good and your soul shall be delighted in fatness Incline your ear and come to me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you the faithful mercies of David Behold I have given him for a witness unto the people for a prince and master to the Gentiles Behold thou shalt call the nation which thou knowest not and the nations that knew not thee shall return to thee because of the Lord thy God and the holy one of Israel because he hath glorified thee Seek ye the Lord whiles he may be found invocate him whiles he is near Let the impious forsake his way and the unjust man his cognitations and return to our Lord and he will have mercy on him And to our God because
with thy spirit Let us Pray The Church begs of God the wholsom effect of the Passion and Resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ POur forth upon us O Lord the Spirit of thy Charity that those who are satiated with thy Paschal Sacraments through thy goodness may have but one heart and one will Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen The Priest coming to the end of the Mass turns to the Faithful exhorting them not to render themselves unworthy of Gods Assistance saying Our Lord be with you The Faithful answer wishing him the like R. And with thy spirit Then the Priest tells the People that Mass being ended they may retire saying You may withdraw Mass is ended Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia The Faithful answer Thanks be to God Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia All the rest as before pag. 80 81 82. At EVEN-SONG Pater noster c. Ave Maria c. Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia The Antiphon as before pag. 304. out of the 28th Chapter of St. Matthew The Canticle of the blessed Virgin out of the 2d Chapter of St. Luke As also the Antiphon in the end of the Sabbath c. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Let us Pray Spiritum nobis Domine c. as before p. 305. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Let us bless our Lord. Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Thanks be to God Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Pray for the Writer UPON THE SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR Lord Jesus Christ AT PRIME Pater noster c. Ave Maria Credo c. INcline unto my aid O God R. O Lord make hast to help me Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning be now and ever world without end Amen Alleluia Deus in Nomine tuo as before 132. Beati immaculi c. as before 133. Retribue te as before 135. Then the following Antiphon is said This is the day which our Lord hath made let us rejoyce and be glad in it Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Let us Pray O Lord God Almighty who hath caused us to come to the beginning of this day save us this day by thy power to the end that this day we fall into no sin but that our words may ever proceed and our thoughts and works may be directed to execute thy justice Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost world without end Amen Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit R. Let us bless our Lord. R. Thanks be to God In the Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches the Martyrology is read and then the Priest says V. Precious in the sight of our Lord. R. Is the death of his Saints The blessed Virgin Mary and all Saints make intercssion for us to our Lord that we may obtain to be assisted and saved by him who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever Amen V. Incline unto my aid O God R. O Lord make hast to help me Which is repeated three times and then is said Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. V. Lord have mercy on us R. Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy on us V. Pater noster c. In a low voice until V. And lead us not into tempation R. But deliver us from evil V. O Lord look upon thy servants and upon thy works and guide their children R. And let the splendour of the Lord our God shine upon us and direct the works of our hands upon us and direct the work of our hands Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. Let us Pray VOuchsafe O Lord God King of Heaven and Earth this day to direct and sanctifie rule and govern our hearts and bodies our senses speeches and deeds in thy Law and in the works of thy Commandments that here and ever we may deserve to be safe and free by thy assistance O Saviour of the world Who livest and reignest world without end Amen V. Vouchsafe Father to bless R. Almighty God dispose our days and actions in thy holy peace This short Lesson is taken out of the Third Chapter of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians IF then ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God set your affections on things above not in things on earth But O Lord have mercy on us R. Thanks be to God V. Our help is in the Name of our Lord. R. Who made Heaven and Earth V. God bless us R. God bless us The BENEDICTION O Lord bless and defend us from all evil and bring us to Life Everlasting and make the Souls of the Faithful departed rest in peace At the Third Hour Pater noster c. Ave Maria c. Deus in adjutorium as before pag. 348. Alleluia Legem pone c. as before pag. 136. Memor esto c. as before p. 138. Bonitatem fecisti c. as before p. 140. Then this following Antiphon is said Ant. This day which our Lord hath made let us rejoyce and be glad in it V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit Let us Pray O God who this day opened unto us by thy only begotten Son the entrance to Eternity through his victory over death vouchsafe by thy mercy to grant those Petitions which thy prevenient grace inspires Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who with thee livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Ghost one God world without end Amen At sprinkling Holy Water As formerly the Church was accustomed to Baptize the Catechumens upon the Eves of Easter and Whit-Sunday The Priest being to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar on Easter-day and Whit-Sunday did consider them ready to approach the Altar pure and holy all their sins being effaced by the Sacrament of Baptism And therefore he besprinkleth them with Water out of the Font as hath been said to admonish them to be careful to preserve themselves in that Innocence which they received by Baptism and to teach them that they have been entirely purified from all their sins which is not to be doubted with failing in our Faith The Ant. Asperges me is not said nor the Psalm Miserere which signifie the sins wherewith we are defiled and from which we ought to be cleared But instead of Asperges me he says the following Ant. Vidi Aquam which represents the Excellency of the Waters of Baptism which Jesus Christ instituted to wash away the sins of Men by vertue of the Bloud which he shed and this was signified to us by the Water which issued with Bloud from his side which he called his Temple in the 2d Chapter of St. John and was figured in the 38th and 47th Chapters of the Prophet Ezechiel I Saw waters issuing forth of
and from the servitude of sin THis saith our Lord Tell ye the Daughters of Sion Behold thy Saviour cometh behold his reward is with him and his work before him Who is this that cometh from Edom with died garments from Bosra this beautiful one in his Robe going in the multitude of his strength I that speak justice and am a desender to save Why then is thy clothing red and thy garments as theirs that tread in the Wine-press I have trodden the Press alone and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me I have trodden them in my fury and have trodden them down in my wrath and their bloud is sprinkled on my garments and I have stained all my raiment For the day of revenge is in my heart the year of my redemption is come I looked about and there was no helper I sought and there was none to aid and my arm hath saved and my indignation it self hath helped me And I have trodden down the people in my fury and have inebriated them in my indignation and have drawn their strength down to ground I will remember the mercies of our Lord the praise of our Lord for all things that our Lord hath rendred to us The GRADUAL out of the 68th Psalm The Church having represented our Saviour in the precedent Lesson triumphing over his enemies in his glorious Resurrection presents him unto us in this Gradual in the extremity of his Passion begging of his Father to be delivered from it To instruct us that he prays not for himself to be delivered from his pains and from death for how should he beg for himself to be freed from this hour wherein he should die for us since he came voluntarily upon Earth to that end being able by his own strength to rescue himself and give up his Soul to God and take it again But his Prayer was on our behalf to teach us in afflictions to have recourse to God to deliver us if it be his will or to give us strength to bear them patiently Likewise Jesus did not pray to be freed from his pains and death because he had a will to suffer but he askt to be delivered from the corruption of the Sepulchre by a speedy and glorious Resurrection To teach us by his Passion what we ought to contemn in the course of this life and by his resurrection what we ought to hope and pray for TUrn not away thy face from thy Servant Because I am in tribulation hear me speedily V. Save me O God because waters of affliction are entred into my Soul I stuck fast in the mire of the depth and there is no sure standing Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us pray The faithful beseech God that by the merits of his Son's Passion they may partake in the glory of his Resurrection O God who wert pleased that thy Son should suffer death for us upon the Cross that so the power of the enemy of mankind might be abated grant unto us thy servants that we may partake of his glorious Resurrection Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ c. Against the Persecutors of the Church Ecclesiae tuae c. as before pag. 84. Or for the Pope Deus omnium c. as before pag. 85. The Lesson out of the Prophet Isay ch 63. The Church teacheth us that the mystery of Gods Incarnation is so full of astonishment his Sufferings so outrageous and his Death so ignominious that the Prophet Isay durst not publish them lest men should not believe them After this Prophet hath foretold many of the torments to be endured by this man of God he teacheth us first that our sins were the cause of his sufferings by which he was to satisfie for us to his Fathers justice Secondly that he offered himself to these pains as a voluntary Victim for our salvation and would suffer death thereby to purchase life for us Thirdly that in compensation of this his humility and sufferings he is raised above all Creatures in Heaven sitting on the right hand of God his Father Fourthly that God his Father hath bestowed upon him all those for his children who are predestinated to glory as the precious off-spring of his bloud which he so freely shed that even he was pleased to wash those in it that put him to death according to the Prayer as he made even when he was nailed on the Cross between the two Thieves IN those days said Isaias Who hath believed our hearing and the arm of our Lord to whom is it revealed And he shall come up as a young Spring before him and as a Root from a thirsty ground There is no beauty in him nor comliness and we have seen him and there was no sightliness and we were desirous of him Despised and most abject of men a man of sorrows and knowing infirmity and his look as it were hid and despised whereupon neither have we esteemed him He surely hath born our infirmities and our sorrows he hath carried and we thought him as it were a Leper and strucken of God and humbled But he was wounded for our iniquities he was broken for our sins the discipline of our peace was upon him and with the wait of his stripes we are healed All we have strayed as Sheep every one hath declined into his own way and our Lord hath put upon him the iniquity of all us He was offered because himself would and opened not his mouth As a Sheep to slaughter was he led and as a Lamb before his Shearer he shall be dumb and shall not open his mouth From distress and from judgment he was taken up Who shall declare his Generation because he is cut out of the Land of the living For the wickedness of my people have I strucken him And he shall give the impious for his burial and the rich for his death Because he hath not done iniquity neither was their guile in his mouth And our Lord would break him in infirmity If he shall put away his Soul for sin he shall see seed of long age and the will of our Lord shall be directed in his hand for that his Soul hath laboured he shall see and be filled In his knowledge the same my just servant shall justifie many and he shall bear their iniquities Therefore will I distribute unto him very many and he shall divide the spoils of the strong for that he hath delivered his Soul unto death and was reputed with the wicked and he hath born the sin of many and hath prayed for the transgressiors The TRACT taken out of the 101st Psalm The Church tells us that Jesus Christ in the time of his Passion offered to God his Father most fervent Prayers with tears and groans beseeching him not to leave him under the power of death which he suffered onely for his love and for the salvation of the faithful signified by Sion His dignity his innocence this very act of
years and the more of them labor and sorrow Because mildness is come upon us and we shall be chastised Who knoweth the power of thy wrath and for fear to number thy wrath So make thy right hand known and men learned in heart in wisdom Turn O Lord how long and be entreated for thy servants We are replenished in the morning with thy mercy and we have rejoyced and are delighted all our days We have rejoyced for the days wherein thou hast humbled us the years wherein we have seen evils Look upon thy servants and upon thy works and direct their children And let the brightness of our Lord God be upon us and direct thou the works of our hands over us and the work of our hands do thou direct Ant. Our Lord was led like an innocent lamb to the slaughter and he opened not his mouth â—â—ALM 62. In one part the Church represents unto us in the Person of King David the Happiness of those who esteem this World but as a Wilderness and 〈◊〉 extreme Grief because they yet enjoy not God but who make their hopes of possessing and enjoying him their sole Joy and Comfort preferring the Delights they find in the Mercies of God before all the perishable Goods and transitory Pleasures of this World and who in their Afflictions and Persecutions put all their Confidence in God who makes them in the end victorious over their Persecutors On the other part the Church represents unto us the Misery and Unhappiness of the Wicked and such as are Enemies to the Just ANTHYMN The Church having in the precedent Psalm shewed unto us how terrible and irresistible Gods Anger is She now shews us in this Antiphon taken out of the Twenty third Chapter of the Prophet Jeremy that his Wrath is so terrible that the very Prophets themselves were not able to express and declare his Threats without trembling for fear Ant. My heart is broken in the midst of me all my bones have trembled O God my God to thee I watch from the morning light My soul hath thirsted to thee my flesh to thee very many ways In a desert land and inaccessible and without water so in the holy have I appeared to thee that I might see thy strength and thy glory Because thy mercy is better than lives my lips shall praise thee So will I bless thee in my life and in thy name I will lift up my hands As with marrow and fatness let my soul be filled and my mouth shall praise with lips of exultation I have been mindful of thee upon my bed in the morning I will meditate on thee because thou hast been my helper And in the covert of thy wings I will rejoyce my soul hath cleaved after thee thy right hand hath received me But they in vain have sought my soul they shall enter into the interior parts of the earth they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword they shall be the portion of foxes But the king shall rejoyce in God all shall be praised that swear by him because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things PSALM 66. The Church represents unto us First With what Fervor and Ardency the Royal Prophet and the Saints of the Old Testament expected and covered the Coming of the Messias as being the Author of their Sanctification and Salvation Secondly With what a fervent Charity they desired the Conversion of Insidels to the end that God might be acknowledged and adored by all the Nations of the Earth O God have mercy upon us and bless us illuminate his countenance upon us and have mercy on us That we may know thy way on earth in all nations thy salvation Let peoples O God confess to thee let all peoples confess to thee Let nations be glad and rejoyce because thou judgest peoples in equity and the nations in the earth thou dost direct Let peoples O God confess to thee let all peoples confess to thee the earth hath yielded her fruit God our God bless us God bless us and let all the ends of the earth fear him Ant. My heart is broken in the midst of me all my bones have trembled THE CANTICLE OF MOYSES Taken out of the Fifteenth Chapter of Exodus The Church shewing the Faithful that the Deliverance of the People of Israel from the Captivity of Egypt is but a Figure of God's Goodness in delivering them by his Son Jesus Christ from the Tyranny of the Devil and Slavery of Sin She also shews them how much they are obliged to sing Canticles of Praise to the Glory of our Lord with much greater joy than did the Israelites when they were delivered from the Tyranny of Pharao and the Persecution of their Enemies ANTIPHON taken out of the Fourth Chapter of the Prophet Barach Lord thou hast exhorted thy people to put their trust in thee and thou hast comforted them with thy holy grace LEt us sing to our Lord for he is glorious gloriously magnified the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea My strength and my praise is our Lord and he is made unto me a salvation This is my God and I will glorifie him the God of my father and I will exalt him Our Lord is a man of war Omnipotent is his name Pharaos chariots and his army he hath cast into the sea His chosen princes are drowned in the red sea the depths have overwhelmed them they are sunk into the bottom like a stone Thy right hand O Lord is magnified in strength thy right hand O Lord hath stricken the enemy and in the multitude of thy glory thou hast put down thy adversaries Thou hast sent thy wrath which hath devoured them like stubble and in the spirit of thy fury were the waters gathered together The flowing water stood the depths were gathered together in the midst of the sea The enemy said I will pursue and overtake I will divide the spoils my soul shall have his fill I will draw forth my sword my hand shall kill them The Spirit blew and the sea overwhelmed them they sank as lead in the vehement waters Who is like to thee among the strong O Lord who is like to thee Glorious in sanctity terrible and laudable doing merveils Thou didst stretch forth thy hand and the earth devoured them thou hast in thy mercy been a guide to the people which thou hast redeemed And in thy strength thou hast carried them unto thy holy habitation Nations rose up and were angry sorrows possessed the inhabiters of Philisthiim Then were the princes of Edom troubled trembling seised on the sturdy of Moab all the inhabiters of Canaam were confounded Let fear and dread fall upon them in the greatness of thy arm Let them become unmovable as a stone until thy people O Lord shall pass until thy people shall pass this which thou hast possessed Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thy inheritance in thy most firm
to the Precepts of his Gospel with the fidelity of a sincere Heart and consider that that Infinite Wisdom cannot be deceived which penetrates the most hidden Secrets of our Soul LEt us hasten therefore to enter into that rest that no man fall into the same example of incredulity For the word of God is lively and forcible and more piercing than any two-edged sword reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit of the joynts also and the marrows and a discerner of the cogitations and intents of the heart And there is no creature invisible in his sight but all things are naked and open to his eyes To whom our speech is Having therefore a great high-priest that hath entred the heaven Jesus the Son of God let us hold the confession For we have not a high-priest that cannot have compassion on our infirmities but tempted in all things by similitude except sin RESP. The Church represents unto us That this Sovereign Priest felt the Temptations and Infirmities of Humane Nature by offering himself unto God for us as a Sacrifice and Victim R. They have delivered me into the hands of the wicked and have cast me among the impious and have not spared my soul The strong are gathered together against me and like giants have stood against me V. Strangers have rose up against me and the strong have sought my soul And like giants c. VIII LESSON The Church describes to us a holy Bishop in general and a Pattern of one very particularly in JESUS CHRIST LEt us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid For every high-priest taken from among men is appointed for men in those things that pertain to God that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins that can have compassion on them that be ignorant and do err because himself also is compassed with infirmity and therefore he ought as for the people so also for himself to offer for sins RESP. The Church in the precedent Lesson having proposed unto us the Description of a Holy Bishop in this she presents us in the Person of Caiphas with a Wicked one R. The wicked delivered Jesus to the chief princes of the priests and to the elders of the people But Peter followed him afar off that he might see the end V. But they led him to Caiphas the prince of the priests where the Scribes and Pharisees were met together But Peter followed c. IX LESSON The Apostle teacheth us That as in the Old Law none could intrude himself to exercise the Function of Priesthood without a successive Vocation so JESUS CHRIST intruded not himself into the Pontifical Dignity but received it from God his Father Then he treats of the Prayers accompanied with the Sighs and Tears JESUS CHRIST offered on the Cross and which God accepted in regard of his Dignity and the Love he bare towards him as his Son 2. The Apostle declares unto us the Excellency of CHRIST's Priesthood above that of Aaron's 1. Because being Immortal he was an Eternal Priest 2. Because he was the Son of God and one and the same God with his Father 3. In being the Beginning of our Salvation 4. In that he offered up himself 5. Because he needed not to have been offered up a Sacrifice for his own Sins he having none nor being able to commit any because he was the Source and Fountain of all Goodness NEither doth any man take the honor to himself but he that is called of God as Aaron So Christ also did not glorifie himself that he might be made a high priest But he that spake to him My Son art thou I this day have begotten thee As also in another place he saith Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedeck Who in the days of his flesh with a strong cry and tears offering prayers and supplications to him that could save him from death was heard for his reverence And truly whereas he was the Son he learned by those things which he suffered obedience And being consummate was made to all that obey him cause of eternal salvation called of God a high-priest according to the order of Melchisedeck RESP. The Church presents unto us the extremity of Christs sufferings and that by his Passion he has given us an example of perfect Patience and Obedience R. My eyes are darkned with my tears for he is far from me that did comfort me See all people if there be any sorrow like to my grief V. O all ye that pass by this way behold and see if there be any grief like to my grief My eyes are darkned with my tears because he is far from me who did comfort me See all ye people if there be any grief like mine AT LAUDS Ant. GOod spared not his own Son but delivered him for us Miserere mei Deus c. as before p. 65. PSALM 142. The Church shews us that in all our afflictions we must have recourse to Gods Mercy with an humble confidence and faithful submission to his Will and we must acknowledge that our Sins brought on us our Miseries and we must pray his Divine Majesty to conduct us with his Holy Spirit lest the extremity of our sufferings transport us to do unlawful Actions Ant. My spirit is in anguish upon me within me my heart is troubled LOrd hear my prayer with thine ears receive my petition in thy truth hear me in thy justice And enter not into judgment with thy servant because no man living shall be justified in thy sight Because the enemy hath persecuted my soul he hath humbled my life in the earth He hath set me in obscure places as the dead of the world and my spirit is in anguish upon me within me my heart is troubled I was mindful of old days I have meditated in all thy works in the facts of thy hands did I meditate I have stretched forth my hands to thee my soul is as earth without water unto thee Hear me quickly O Lord my spirit hath fainted Turn not away thy face from me and I shall be like to them that descend into the lake Make me hear thy mercy in the morning because I have hoped in thee Make the way known to me wherein I may walk because I have lifted up my soul to thee Deliver me from mine enemies O Lord to thee I have fled teach me to do thy will because thou art my God Thy good spirit will conduct me into the right way for thy name sake O Lord thou wilt quicken me in thine equity Thou wilt bring forth my soul out of tribulation and in thy mercy thou wilt destroy mine enemies And thou wilt destroy all that afflict my soul because I am thy servant Ant. My spirit is in anguish upon me within me my heart is troubled ANOTHER ANTHYMN The Church shews us the difference 'twixt Christ's and our Sufferings Ours