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
unto you absolution and remission of all your sins space of true penance and amendment of life Amen Then the Bishop gives his solemn Benediction saying V. Blessed be the Name of our Lord. R. Now and for evermore V. Our help is in the Name of our Lord. R. Who made Heaven and Earth Almighty God Father Son and Holy Ghost bless you all Amen After the solemn Benediction is given the Deacon in his Dalmatique kneeling down to the Bishop asks his Blessing for the reading of the Gospel and having received it sings the Gospel out of that day's Mass Ante diem festum c. The Bishop setting aside his Mitre stands upright holding the Crosier in both his hands till the end of the Gospel to teach us to listen with respect to God's Holy Word and testifie our Faith of the Resurrection After the Deacon hath read the Gospel he presents the Book to the Bishop to kiss to testifie the Union and Charity which all Christians ought to have in the observation of the Word of God to obtain pardon for their sins and reconcile themselves to God The King washes the feet of thirteen poor people and attends on them at the Table in great ceremony in imitation of Christ's Humility who washed his Apostles feet who were thirteen comprehending St. Paul At Paris the Archbishop gives the same general Absolution on Wednesday-afternoon at our Lady's Church and on Thursday-morning at the Church-yard of the Holy Innocents For the Washing of the Feet The Church imitating the Example and Command which our blessed Saviour gave us celebrates this day the Ceremony of Washing Feet and teacheth us that he thereby hath recommended Humility and Charity among us and to be careful that we cleanse our selves from the least sins figured unto us by the filth that sticks to our feet 'T is that which the Church presents unto us by Antiphons by the Verses of the Psalms and by the Prayers sung in this Ceremony blessing God for the Graces bestowed on us through our Lord Jesus Christ where we must observe that he calls it a New Command wherein he obliged us to love one another for that the Old Command given unto Moses and engraven upon the Tables of the Law was to love ones Neighbour as ones self but Jesus Christ had made it a New Command by the extent he gave it requiring us to love our Neighbour more than our selves even as to this temporal life that is to say as Christ gave his life for us so we ought to offer up ours for our Neighbour upon certain occasions as if his salvation were in danger we ought to expose our life to preferve him The practice of this Day 's Ceremony is very ancient for St. Augustin in his Epistle and the Seventeenth Council of Toledo held in the Seventh Age in the Third Canon and St. Eligius Bishop of Noyon in the same Age in his Fourth and Eighth Homily of our Lord's Supper makes mention of it The Prelate or Superior in his Albe Amice Stole and Coap of a Violet colour with his Deacon and Subdeacon goes to the place prepared to wash the Feet the Deacon holding the Book of the Gospel between his Arms kneels to the Prelate or Superior and asks his Blessing to read the Gospel saying Sir Vouchsafe to Bless me and having received his Benediction puts the Book into the Subdeacons hands to testifie he declares nothing to the People but what he was ordered to do by the Prelate The Acolyts hold the Candles to signifie the joy which the people ought to have in that they are enlightened with the Gift of Faith Before the Deacon begins to read the Gospel he begs God's Grace for the Assembly to hear his Word worthily saying Our Lord be with you He Incenseth the Book to signifie that we adore Jesus Christ who redeemed us and freed us from our sins by faith in the Gospel acknowledging him to be God and the second Person of the Holy Trinity And then he reads the Gospel Ante diem Festum as before The Gospel being ended the Subdeacon presents the Book to the Prelate or Superior to kiss who thereby testifies the Unity and Charity which the Faithful ought to have in the observance of God's Word to the end to obtain pardon for their sins The Deacon incenseth after the usual manner Then the Prelate or Superior laying aside his Coap the Deacon and Subdeacon putting a Towel about him washeth the feet of those chosen for this Ceremony dries and kisses them whilest they sing I Give you a New Commandment that you love one another as I loved you saith our Lord. PSALM 118. BLessed are the immaculate in the way which walk in the law of our Lord. The Antiphon Mandatum novum c. and the other Antiphons out of the Psalms are repeated and onely the first Verse of each Psalm is said Ant. After our Lord was risen from Supper he put Water into a Bason and began to wash his Disciples feet to whom he left this example Psalm 47. Great is our Lord and to be praised exceedingly in the city of our God in his holy mount Ant. After our Lord Jesus had supt with his Disciples he washed their feet and said unto them Do you see what I your Lord and Master have done unto you I have given you an example that you also may do the like Psalm 84. O Lord thou hast blest thy land thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob Ant. Wilt thou O Lord wash my feet Jesus answered and said unto him If I wash not thy feet thou shalt have no part with me V. Jesus came unto Simon Peter and Peter said to him Here the Antiphon is repeated Wilt thou O Lord wash my feet Jesus answered and said unto him If I wash not thy feet thou shalt have no part with me V. What I do thou knowest not now but shalt know hereafter Then is repeated this Antiphon the third time O Lord dost thou wash my feet Jesus answered and said unto him If I wash not thy feet thou shalt have no part with me V. If I your Lord and Master have washt your feet how much more ought you to wash one anothers feet Psalm 116. All nations hear these things and all people understand them Ant. All men shall know you to be my disciples in that you love one another V. Said Jesus to his disciples Ant. Let faith hope and charity abide in you these three but the greatest of them is charity V. But now remain faith hope and charity these three but the greatest of them is charity Ant. Blessed be the Holy Trinity and Undivided Unity we will confess unto him because he hath dealt with us according to his mercy V. Let us bless the Father and Son with the Holy Ghost Psalm 83. How beloved are thy tabernacles O Lord of Hosts my soul coveteth and fainteth unto the courts of our Lord. Ant. Where charity and love is there
must put our chiefest Confidence in the Mercy of God and in the Truth of his Promises and not in our own Merits Sixthly We must demand his Assistance and Grace so to love Justice as that no Persecution may sever us from it Seventhly We are not to beg Punishments for the Wicked through any Motive of Hate or Revenge but through a Motive of Charity that they might mend whilst there was the least hope of their Correction and that by their Punishments others might avoid their Crimes and that Sin being thus destroyed God alone might reign in the World Eighthly We must also beg That as the force of the Evils of this Life may no way shake our Courage so the Allurements of Prosperity may not charm our Senses and Affections but that we may wholly adhere to God and glorifie him Ninthly That we may glorifie God as we ought we must offer our selves unto him in a Spirit of Destruction and Sacrifice that is in a Spirit of Penance Tenthly The Service we offer unto God must be free and not servile or constrain'd God must be served with a full and entire Affection Eleventhly We must likewise acknowledge we cannot have this Will unless the Grace and Spirit of God deliver us from our Evils therefore with our whole heart we must beg it of him Ant. Strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul O God save me in thy name and in thy strength judge me O God hear my prayer with thine ears receive the words of my mouth Because strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul and they have not set God before their eyes For behold God helpeth me and our Lord is the receiver of my soul Turn away the evils to mine enemies and in thy truth destroy them I will voluntarily sacrifice to thee and will confess to thy name O Lord because it is good Because thou hast delivered me out of all tribulation and mine eye hath looked down upon mine enemies Ant. Strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul V. False witnesses have risen up against me R. And iniquity hath lied to it self IV. LESSON Taken out of the Treatise of St. Augustin on the Sixty third Psalm In this Lesson the Church represents unto us That JESUS CHRIST being our Chief has taught us not only by his Words but also his Example how we are to surmount our present Calamities and to hope after the future Goods by shewing us that what Power soever our Persecutors have to kill this mortal Flesh yet they cannot hurt the Soul if being assisted by the Grace of God she be not overcome with their Malice and consent to do Evil. There is this difference 'twixt CHRIST's and our Sufferings that ours depends not always on our own Will It is necessary that we one day must die which being due to our Sins is of Necessity and Justice But JESUS CHRIST did not suffer Torments and Death because he would and when he would and after that manner as it pleased him and being the same God with his Eternal Father he could not die and remain always equally in his Glory Secondly By his Sufferings and Death he hath merited and acquired to us Life everlasting but by our Sufferings and Death we can neither merit nor acquire it unless it be in him and by him and with him MY God thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant from the multitude of them that work iniquity Let us now consider our Chief Many Martyrs have suffered such Torments but none with so much splendor as the Chief of Martyrs for their Sufferings received Lustre from his He was defended from the Fury of the Wicked both by God's and his own protection 'T was he defended his own Flesh and this Human Nature wherewith he was clad for he was the Son of Man and the Son of God The Son of God because of his Form God being of the same Essence with his Eternal Father The Son of Man because he took on him the Form of a Slave having power to separate his Soul from his Body and to resume it again what could his Enemies then do against him They killed his Body but his Soul they could not touch Be attentive Our Lord was not contented to exhort the Martyrs only with his Words but would also fortifie by his Example RESP. The Church confirms us by the Words of JESUS CHRIST in what St. Augustin hath taught us in the precedent Lesson That this Divine Saviour suffered neither Torments nor Death because that he would when he would or after what manner he desired R. As to a thief are you come out with swords and clubs to apprehend me I was daily with you in the temple teaching and you did not lay hands on me V. And when they had laid hands on JESUS he said to them I was daily c. V. LESSON The Church represents unto us the Ingratitude and Impiety of the Jews who after having received so many Benefits from the Saviour of the World seen him purifie the Leprous make the Lame to walk cured all Sicknesses drive Devils out of possessed Bodies multiply the Loaves of Bread appease the Tempest raised the Dead to Life after having heard his Heavenly Doctrine whereof he made them Partakers both by his Words and Actions they not only were so obstinate as to draw no Advantage or the least Acknowledgment from them but even crucified him on an infamous Cross whereon they even exulted over him with extreme Insolency persuading themselves through a stubborn blindness that he was not the Son of God or the Saviour of the World because he suffered Death and yet the Prophets shewed most evidently unto them what hapned in his Passion YOu know what was the Assembly of the wicked Jews and what the Multitude of them that work Iniquity But what was that Iniquity 'T was that they would kill our Lord Jesus Christ I have shewed you said he so many good works and for which of them will you kill me He comforted the Sick amongst them he cured their Infirmities he preached unto them the Kingdom of Heaven he shewed them the Enormities of their Crimes that they might hate them but not the Doctor that cured them But in stead of acknowledging the good he did them by these wholesom Remedies so great was their Ingratitude that as if tormented with a burning Fever they were so transported against this charitable Doctor who came only to cure them that they studied how to destroy him as if thereby they would try whether he were true Man and could die or whether he were any thing above Man and would not permit his own Death We find their Discourse on this Subject in the Book of Wisdom To a most shameful Death say they let us condemn him for there shall be respect had unto him by his words for if he be the true Son of God he