if he happen to enjoy it he may afterward lose it or the very fruition may cloy and nauseate which was expected to please and satisfie But no man ever yet fell in love with Jesus and lost his aim no man ever yet converst with him but he experimented the pleasure of such amiable society and could be content to dwell with him for ever And so shall the good man For what shall separate him from the love of Christ Tribulations Afflictions and Death it self cannot and what then can When therefore I say I love God I vow and endeavour to keep his Commandments Dare I call my self the Disciple of an humble Jesus and be a slave to my Pride the servant of a chast and temperate Saviour and wallow in the puddles of Lust and Luxury Dare I give the Reins to my Anger and profess my self a follower of the pattern of Meekness How can I call my self a Christian who deserve not the title of a Man that am as gluttonous as a Wolf as intemperate as a Swine and as lustful as a Goat The death of my Saviour was design'd to redeem me from the power and practice as well as from the punishments of Vice For the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil And how can I say I love him if my heart be not with him The Collect. For the 6th Sund after Trin. O God who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass man's understanding pour into my heart such love towards thee that I loving thee above all things may obtain thy promises which exceed all that I can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XI Of the Remembrance of my Blessed Saviour NOW one solemn act of my love to God and one great duty of the Gospel is to remember my best friend my Saviour And it is a particular advantage of the Christian Religion that as all holy signs in general are given for the confirmation of the divine promises so the most sacred Offices of the Gospel are proper and genuine Representations of the Death and Resurrection of that Saviour who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith and Institutor of our Religion Thus in the Sacrament of Baptism the Ancients in those warm Countries dipt all who came to that Ordinance except those who were baptized on their death-beds * Rom. 6.4 burying the Proselyte with his Saviour in Baptism They used also to dip them three several times under water to exhibit a Memorial of our Saviour's being three days buried and the Mystery unless in case of Necessity was at first celebrated but once in the year the Catechumens being baptized * Tertul. de Bapt. cap. 19. at Easter only which was the day of our Saviour's Resurrection But more especially was the Eucharist designed evidently to set before our eyes Jesus Christ crucified among us by bringing to our remembrance the shame and sufferings of a dying Saviour our merciful God applying himself to the most ductile and easie of all our Faculties For our Understandings require much teaching and we must proceed from lower methods till we come to be capable of demonstration And what man is there among the wisest of Adam's sons that can expound the Riddles of Providence or the Mysteries of the written Law of God The Will follows the guidance of the Understanding and yet when it is so directed it is a blind bold and daring faculty and for the most part stubbornly neglects to do its duty But the Memory needs nothing but sensible Objects to inform it and is the strongest and most retentive of all our Faculties and such as few men want And in truth every act of Obedience is but a remembrance of my duty and every Transgression an act of forgetfulness For as often as I sin I cease to mind a dying Saviour * Psal 9.17 and the wicked who shall be turn'd into Hell are the same with the people that forget God The Sacrament therefore of the Eucharist is a Commemoration of Jesus and his Passion without which all his other performances could not save us For all the Rhetorick Eloquence and demonstration of his Sermons all his divine and beneficial Miracles together with the unblamable and unspotted Holiness of his Life and Conversation could never have been sufficient to have redeem'd us without his Crucifixion 'T was his death only that was the Original of our life and salvation What need then hath my dull and unaffected soul of such encouragements to give my Saviour a place in my thoughts The very performance of the duty is its own Recompence and properly agrees to those Notions of Vertue that all Mankind bring with them into the world it being natural to every one to be thankful and to remember his Benefactors * Athen. Deipnos l. 5. c. 1. The Heathens had their Annual Festivals to commemorate their wise men and Philosophers to call to mind their wise sayings and their prudent just and vertuous carriage The Jews also had their set-times wherein they honoured the Memories of their Prophets and good men as the Christian Church appointed Anniversaries which they called the Birth-days of their Martyrs it being a solemn act of Justice to have the Righteous in everlasting Remembrance And if the Church were so careful to commemorate the Atchievements of her Members is it credible that she should forget the miraculous performances of her Head In nothing was her care so conspicuous as in constituting a Memorial of the Prince of the Martyrs and giving the day of our Saviour's Passion a place in the Church-Kalendar in the times of the Apostles if we may believe Antiquity For the Remembrance of Jesus ought at all times to be sweet as honey in all mouths and as musick at a banquet of wine For what can be so rude and disingenuous as to slight so obliging a friend so great and so good a person especially when he hath left me such illustrious testimonies of his love which put me in mind of his humiliation for my sins For if the Picture or the Garment of an absent Friend puts me in mind of the person whose they were and inclines me to grateful Reflections on my Benefactor how much more should I be obliged when such lively Representations of a Saviour executed bleeding and dying for me are exhibited to me as the Sacrament affords me A Sermon may give me a passionate character of my crucified Redeemer but nothing can represent his Passion so to the life as the Holy Eucharist that is the most affecting preaching For in that ministration his sufferings are acted over again in the View of his Disciples Hence the Primitive Christians celebrated the Holy Communion at first every day and afterwards every Sunday and Holy day throughout the year adapting all their additional Circumstances and Ceremonies to this end and purpose that they might represent the Passion Hence was it that they built their
thought what they had seen Only had a Vision been Till the Seraphick Herald silence broke And in these taking words his message spoke IV. ' From you Palace am I sent ' Built beyond the Firmament ' Where th' Almighty keeps his Court ' And the indigent resort ' Thence the obliging Jesus full of Loves ' Full of Attractives down to th' dull Earth moves V. ' Cease your Tremblings and your Fears ' Ill news Gabriel never bears ' Haste to Bethlehem there behold ' Him the Prophets have foretold ' What greater Instance can than this be given ' How dear the ruin'd world hath been to Heaven VI. 'To the Sacred Stable go ' And before the Manger bow ' The Infant-God adore and praise ' Wrapt in Swath-bands there he lies ' These are the marks to know your Savionrby ' He came from Heav'n t' illustrate Poverty VII Lovely Gabriel scarce had done Charming their attention When the humble shepherds view'd The Seraphick multitude Who did themselves round the Arch-Angel post Th' Arch-Angel Captain of that Heav'nly Host VIII Eyes they had that shot loves Darts Meen and Garb to captive Hearts Faces smooth as infant Light Ere the blustring winds durst fight Or Clouds durst interpose their obscure Skreen To keep the useful Rays from being seen IX Their wings impt with Plumes so gay Gold such Lustre can't display Nothing could with them compare But the bright Curls of their Hair VVhich when the sportive blasts of Air did move Nothing could view but what must be in love X. In the Air they gently hung There they danc'd and there they sung ' Glory be to God on High ' Let Peace this sad Earth beautifie ' That men of the Divine Good Will may taste ' And relish here below Heavens Antepast XI Thus they danc'd and thus they sung And the Sky with th' Musick rung Till the Day-star did appear Till the morning beams drew near The watchful Cock preclaim'd the Prince of Light Then they soar'd upward and flew out of sight XII Happy Angels your employ Brings you Honour brings you joy While on Earth I sigh and grean Vastly distant from that Throne Grant Jesu tho my voice be not so sweet My Notes in consort mixt with theirs may meet Wednesday before EASTER THE Ancients called this day the holy and great Wednesday or the fourth day of the Passion Week and among our Forefathers it was called Tenable Wednesday on which Day the Consultation was held for our Blessed Saviour's Apprehension * Constit Ap. li. 5. c. 10. which being begun on Monday was continued on Tuesday but compleated on Wednesday when they agreed with Judas to betray him from which Treason of the Son of Perdition it hath its Name in the Latin Church feria quarta in proditione Judae Now because on this Day the Sanhedrim were consulting how to take the Messiah the Ancients on the same Day were more than ordinarily employed how to receive him the Jews how to treat him unworthily but the Church how to give him due Entertainment And for this cause by the order of the Apostles the †Clem. Alex. Strom. 7. Tertul. de jejun c. 2. Epiph compend c. 21. c. Catholick Bishops bound all Christians to a weekly observation of We dnesday Friday on the first of which days our Saviour was sold as he was on the last Grucified as Days of Fasting which they called their Station days because as a Centinel dares not leave his Post till he be relieved which is seldom done till after a Watch of Twelve or Twenty four Hours so the Primitive Christians would never at such times move from Church till all the Service were over which was not finish'd till about Three a Clock in the Afternoon which Service was compleated with the Reception of the Blessed Eucharist in all Churches except at ‡ Socrat. l. 5. c. 22. p. 287. Alexandria where they had Prayers and a Sermon but no Sacrament and probably in this Week of extraordinary Mortifications the Fast ended not till Night In the present Greek Church on this day as on all the other days of Lent except the Saturdays Sundays and the Feast of the Annunciation which are Festivals they do still receive the Sacrament about Three Afternoon but they receive it of those Elements that had been * V. Bals Zon. in Can. 52. Trullan consecrated before on the precedent Holy-day and which are reserv'd for that purpose they at the same time observing our Blessed Saviours Institution of imploring the Divine Blessing every day by the Oblation and Merit of this Christian Sacrifice and yet preserving the Severity and Solemnity of this Christian Fast The Epistle 2 Pet. 1.16 WE have not followed cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the Power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of his Majesty for he received from God the Father Honour and Glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and this Voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount we have also a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed The Gospel Luke 9.28 JESUS took Peter and James and John and went up into a Mountain to pray and as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was alter'd and his Rayment was white and glistering and behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias who appear'd in Glory and spake of his Decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem and there came a voice out of a Cloud saying This is my Beloved Son hear him The MEDITATION IT was a lovely sight and to be long'd for with Transports to see the Blessed Jesus in his meanest and most contemptible dress for even then when he was covered with out sins and his own sorrows he was the fairest among men but how Glorious O my Soul was his Appearance when he was cloathed with the Robes of Immortality in the Holy Mount How transcendent were those lively Representations of the Joys of Heaven and that foretaste of the Pleasures of Eternity Tabor was of it self a delightful place on the Top of the Mountain there was a spacious plain whose fruits were breath'd upon and cherished by a most wholsome Air and moistned with a perpetual Dew the Vines and Olives and other Herbs and Trees cloathd it with a perpetual Verdure affording a Prospect that at once gratified both the sight and the smell and by them affected the mind but never was the Hill so fertile as when the Son of God watered it with his Tears and warmed it with his Rays To the Mountain our Blessed Master retired when he offered his Sacrifices of Suplications and Praise from a Mountain did he preach the glad Tidings of the Gospel and on a Mountain was he Transsigured there he prayed not that the highest Hill is nearer
our great Master at that season first gave Being to the Sacrament dispensing with Peoples eating before they received which at other times was not allowed And ⸪ Aug. Ep. 118. in some of the African Churches they celebrated the Eucharist twice on this day in the morning for the sake of those who intended to dine and in the evening for the sake of those who fasted and in the * Ludolph li. 3. c. 6. alii Aethiopick Churches to comply the more exactly with the practice at the Institution they use unleavened Bread whereas all the rest of the Year they celebrate in Leaven And the ‖ Prateol de Haer. p. 202 Guid. Car. Alph. a Castro c. Greeks are perswaded that the Sacrament consecrated on Maundy-Thursday is of more Virtue and Efficacy than when it is consecrated at any other time and therefore they and the Moscovites in imitation of them reserve some of the Sacramental Bread consecrated on this day to be administred to the sick the whole Year following and it is not a little remarkable that among the Roman-Catholicks in Holland and as ‖ Ep. Vossio init Ep. Ecclesiast Theolog. Ep. 557. p. 807. Grotius thinks elsewhere time out of mind until now on this day after Supper the Father or Master of the Family in imitation I suppose of the Jewish Custom after the eating of the Passover having read the History of the Sacrament out of the Gospel gives to every one of his Family a piece of bread dipt in Wine This day is also called among the High-Germans Green Thursday among the Low-Germans White Thursaday and among our Forefathers Sheer Thursday as it was generally and among all the Western Christians Lavipedium and Maundy-Thursday either because of the Maundy or Alms that were given this day to the Poor by Princes Bishops and religious Persons or rather because of the Mandate or Command John 13.34 A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another which Passage is the Antiphona for this day in the Wâ—stern Churches an Instance of which Love and Condescention our Blessed Saviour then gave when-he wash'd his Disciples Feet which in the East was the Office of Servants toward their Masters and this Custom also is not only continued in the ‡ Smith p. 40 41. Greek Church and among the other Oriental Christians but in the Latin Church also the Bishop performing this Office to his inferior Clergy and the Governour of every Religious House to those of his Fraternity the custom being Ancient and Apostolical ‡ V Conc. Aquisgr c. 20. Aug. Ep. 119. c. 18. tho the practice as to circumstances were not uniform in all Churches and on this day the King of England anciently in his own Person now by Proxy the Grand Almoner supplying the place does wash the feet of as many poor men as he is Years old to whom also he gives an Alms as the Bishops do on the same occasion which was wont to be called the * Anastas in Adrian P.P. p. 112. Paschal Alms or the Easter Charity The Lessons on this day if I mistake not the Fathers were the Book of ‡ Ambr. ub supr Jonas a very proper Portion of Scripture to set forth the Divine Pity and inclinations to forgive and the ‡ Chrys ub supr History of Judas's Treason together with the Account of the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament The Epistle 1 Cor. 10.16 THE Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ for we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all Partakers of that one Bread The Gospel out of the Evangelists and St. Paul THE Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betray'd after his Disciples had eaten the Paschal Lamb took Bread and when he had given Thanks and Blessed it be brake it and gave it to them and said Take Eat This is my Body which is broken and given for you This do in remembrance of me after the same manner also when he had supped he took the Cup and when he had given Thanks he gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins This do as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Verily verily I will no more drink of the Fruit of the Vine until I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom and they all drank of it And having sung an Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives The MEDITATION THE Condition of Mankind in this Life is relative and made up of dependancies upon Heaven nor could Adam in his best Estate subsist without the Benediction of his Maker Communion with God is the End of Religion and was the Employment of Paradise nor can any thing else make the World happy But because God who is a pure Spirit cannot converse with men without condescending to treat us according to our Capacities therefore Truth when it visits us is content to be drest in our Habits when God speaks to us he entertains us not with his own Losty and Majestick Expressions but with modes of Speech and Representations of Things that we are acquainted with It is true had we been made without Flesh and Blood our Graces had come to us like themselves not wrapt up in Emblems and Figures but because we cannot live without our senses and are most affected with what we hear and see theresore God speaks to our outward man in visible ministrations the Almighty Wisdom treating the World with sensible Objects the better to lead them to the Contemplation of those things that are invisible and this was the cause why Rites and Ceremonies were instituted in the Church as marks of Communion and incentives of Devotion Angels we know who are not clogg'd with a load of Flesh and Blood and whose dwelling is above have no need of Sacraments they who have the Honour of a clear Vision of the Almighty and the freedom of a more immediate Converse with him need not these remoter Encouragements to Piety and such also shall be the Happiness of God's Servants after they dye but man in his best and most innocent Estate wanted them and therefore God planted and by a particular sanction constituted the two Trees in Eden to be two Sacraments outward and visible sings of the Favour which Adam should partake of if he perform'd the conditions of obedience which God required from him they representing to him the state of Wisdom and Felicity which was reserved for him in Heaven and serving to inform him that to attempt the knowledg of the highest Mysteries to the prejudice of the Divine Commands is not the way to Life and Immortality To maintain this Union with God Adam was endued with Original Righteousness he had no
the Bishop in person if present was obliged to Catechise those who were Candidates for Baptism and on this day was the Nicene Creed solemnly recited in defiance to all Hereticks which Creed till the time of Timotheus Patriarch of Constantinople was never used as a part of the Eastern Liturgy but on this one day only in the year In which Church also according to an Ancient Constitution ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 563 Pallad vid. Chrys p. 82. they were wont on Good-Friday to celebrate all the holy Offices in some particular Church and that commonly in some Oratory erected over the Grave of some eminent Martyr without the Walls of the City because our blessed Saviour suffered without the Gates In some of the Churches ⸫ Sozom. l. 7. c. 19. p. 100. of Palestine they used to read the Apocryphal Book called the Revelation of St. Peter but in other Churches of the East they read out of the Old-Testament the History of Job the liveliest Type of Christ's Sufferings and Triumphs and out of the New in the * Rupert de Divin offic l. 6. c. 6. Western Churches the Gospel of St. John because St. John was an eye-witness of our blessed Master's Sufferings but in the African ‡ Aug. Ser. 141. de temp Church they read St. Matthew's Gospel Thus did the good men of old spend this day calling themselves to an account for their offences and humbling themselves in the sight of God and is it not even in this Age very requisite that every Christian should call himself to an account for those sins which brought the Son of God to so much shame and torture and should mourn and fast and pray earnestly for that forgiveness which was purchas'd thereby I take it therefore for granted that on this day it is requisite to use more than ordinary severity because on this day our Plessed Saviour was murther'd and to this purpose besides the usual Prayers reading and Meditations which are parts of the preparation for other days on Good-Friday it will be necessary to subjoin some acts of the deepest Humiliation and Sorrow for sin To which purpose every good man ought strictly to examine himself of which sort of Examen I have subjoined a Specimen after which the use of the Penitential Psalms is very proper particularly Ps 38. or 51. with this Caution That I understand by my Enemies not my worldly adversaries for they are my Brethren and them I must bless and pray for but the Devil and my own Lusts and by blood-guiltiness c. my new crucifying my Saviour my murthering of my own Soul and being accessary to the destruction of what ever good and vertuous thoughts the Spirit of God hath put in my mind To which Penitentials the 22d Ps will very fitly be added because it is an intire Prophecy of the sufferings of the Son of God and cannot but raise in me a deep sense of his Sorrows and the cause of them when I remember they are some of the last words which our Blessed Saviour spoke before his Death when we are infallibly assured that he begun and probably convinc'd that he went through the whole Psalm The most proper posture to repeat these Psalms in is Kneeling or prostration because they are solemn and humble acknowledgments of my hainous Offences which have undone my self and Crucified my Redeemer The Examen I Am this day to examine my self and to adjust the Accounts between God and my own Soul it is easie to be another mans flatterer but it is natural to be my own and therefore I am resolved impartially to state my affairs and to rejoice or mourn proportionable to the condition in which I find my self And tho the enquiry be terrible and affrighting yet I had rather pass this private scrutiny than have my Offences exposed to the view of Men and Angels It is the greatest of happiness to be innocent and never to offend but the next instance of Felicity is to be penitent I am conscious to my self that I have been a Criminal but I am resolved not to continue in my Crimes I will call my Transgressions to remembrance that God may blot them out of his Memory and I will judg my self in this World that I may escape in the day of the Lord To this End therefore that I may put my self into a capacity to obtain God's Pardon for my sins whose number is unaccountable whose burthen is intolerable and whose remembrance is very grievous to me and that I may not approach the tremendous Feast without the Wedding Garment I thus interrogate my self with all severity and exactness ' Say O my Soul art thou in God's Favour or hast thou merited thy Saviours Frowns What Proficiency hast thou made in thy Christian Calling since thy last accounting with thy Master VVhat Temptations hast thou conquer'd What Passions mortified What holy Opportunities improved What Virtues gotten or increased How conformable hast thou been to Jesus and what progress hast thou made in the way to Heaven If I find any of these beautiful Lineaments in my mind I will rejoice with joy unspeakable and be exceeding glad as men rejoice when they divide the spoil But if I have been an Apostate from my vows and broken the Covenant of my Youth If I have prostituted my Soul to Satan defacing the Image of God and defiling his Holy Temple let my heart within me mourn and refuse to be comforted let it make lamentation as one that is grieved for his only Son and is in bitterness for his First-born let my head be waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I may weep day and night over my sin and my shame that I may wash my bed and water my Couch with my tears because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God For who can dwell with everlasting burnings and a consuming Fire Now to help forward and make easie this work that I may diligently inspect all my offences with all their aggravating circumstances since my last renewal of my vows on the day of my last solemn Humiliation a memorial of all my actions in Writing is very useful that what is there recorded may be a help to my Memory which is most apt to forget my offences Upon the inspection of which the most regular Examination will be made according to the method of our Church Catechism wherein are included the Principles and fundamentals of Faith and Manners which I have engaged to observe and from which if I have swerv'd I cannot without a true Repentance expect God's Pardon and Mercy Now the Catechism being an Explanation of the Doctrine of Repentance Faith Obedience Prayer and of the due receiving of the Holy Sacraments the Examination must be proportionate and the inquiries strict What wandrings from the rule of Repentance What sins against the Creed Commandments Lords Prayer or the Sacraments have I been guilty of since my last Account An
my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
Sinner gives the Angels joy how much more eminent must the exultations needs be when the whole World is rescued from the tyranny of the Devil At this news doubtless the Angels and the Arch-angels leapt for joy the Cherubim and Seraphim kept a Festival and the Son of God himself was infinitely pleased that our Redemption was compleated Nay the dull Earth it self rejoices for the ‖ Ambr. de myst Pasch c. 2. Chrys to 5. p. 585. Christian Passover is the beginning of the year to us vvhen Flovvers and Fruits do bud and blossom vvhen the Clouds and cold of Winter are driven avvay and the Spring introduces the vvarm Sun to emblem to us that vve also should be merry and joyful that vve should be no longer barren but bring forth fruits vvorthy of our Saviour's Resurrection that only the beams of the Sun of Righteousness gives true life and heat and that vve must not date our happiness from the day of our natural birth but of our Regeneration This * Chrys to 5. p. 587. is the beloved and saving Festival the foundation of our Peace the end of our Differences the destruction of Death the ruine of the Devil this day men were admitted to the Society and Anthems of Angels for this day was a period put to the tyranny of Satan the bonds of Death were loosed and the powers of Hell routed and now the Church was able to say O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Now that this day might be duly observed the o Leo M. Ep. 64. ad Martian Aug. Holy Fathers of the venerable Nicene Council in pursuance of an ancient custom took care that the Patriarch of Alexandria which City was famous for its University especially the Study of Astronomy the Sky being perpetually clear and the Country fit for such observations should in his Circular Letters commonly called Paschal Epistles which ‡ Cassian 10.2 were at first sent about Christmas afterwards sooner ‖ Conc. Carthag 4.7 by the one and twentieth of August every year give an account to all other Christian Churches on what day Easter fell upon the receipt of which Letters * Conc. Aurel. 4. 1. Braccar 2. 9. the Bishop of every Church was obliged to give notice of the Festival to his Clergy and every Priest in his Parish Church as the Bishops and Metropolitans were bound to do in their Cathedrals on Christmas-day after the reading of the Gospel was to inform the people that no one might plead ignorance of the holy time and when the day came the persons who had been baptized the night before were cloathed in white garments which for eight days after they were obliged to wear and with many Torches brought into the Church to take their place among the Fideles or compleat Christians and hence perhaps Baptisme was called Illumination and hence doubtless the Festival was called ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 939. Theophan orat 26. p. 187. the Splendor of the Virgin Torch-light and the day of White Garments the newly baptized being obliged to be at Church every day of the Paschal Week to learn their duties for which end through the Octaves of Easter were read ‖ Chrys to 5. p. 586. every day and every day there was a Sermon and a Sacrament For in truth every day was as it were a Sunday but of most especial observance were the Munday and Tuesday of the Week as they are in our Church from whence the Feast is sometimes called * Nyss 〈…〉 de Pasc◠〈◊〉 del D. 22 〈◊〉 the Three days Solemnity and at this time at Christmas the Epiphany and other greater Festivals the Clergy on pain of Excommunication were bound to be present on their Cures The new-made Christians ‡ Microlog c. 56. Honor. 3. 137. alii were also particularly bound to come that day Twelvemonth on which they had been baptized to the Church and to bring with them their Sponsors and to celebrate the day of their Regeneration their spiritual birth-day and to offer to God their oblations for that great favour and blessing And by a ‖ Synod Exon. an 1287. Canon of one of our old Synods every person was obliged to make an oblation to his Church four times a year whereof Easter was one and to this day it is not only a Collar-day at Court but an Offeringday and a Houshold-day too when the Bezant is given by the Lord Steward or some other White-staff Officer and this is done in imitation of an ancient Custome for the great Constantine on Easter-day studying to imitate the Charity and Compassion of our Holy Saviour distributed many large alms and gave rich gifts to all the people and to all the Provinces of the Empire And as our Princes imitate the ancient Christian Emperors in their Charity so they imitated them in their Pity Anciently at this time Malefactors were pardoned and by the Laws of the Confessor Easter and eight days after were exempted from Executions In * Smyth ub sup p. 44. the Greek Church at three afternoon of the Saturday devout people go to Church most of whom continue there all night Toward break of day they sing the Hymn Glory in the highest after which the Patriarch begins and is followed by the Quire singing this excellent Hymn Christ is risen from the dead having by his death trampled on death and given life to them that were in their graves which they repeat Twelve times together And if on Easter morning or within three days after a ‡ Ryc Present State of the Gr. Ch. p. 140. Greek meets any of his acquaintance he salutes him with these comfortable words Christ is risen to which the other answers He is risen indeed and then they kiss three times once on the Mouth and once on each Cheek and so depart which custom is also observed among * Olear l. 2. p. 53. the Muscovites and no person of whatever sex condition or quality soever he be dares refuse this Ceremony At ‖ Sozom. li. 7. c. 19. p. 734. Rome the Hallelujah was anciently never sung but on Easter-day it being a usual Asseveration among the Romans So may I live to hear and sing the Hallelujah at Easter and on this day at * Id. p. 735. Constantinople the Patriarchs read the Gospel in which Church probably ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 587. the Hundred and sixth Psalm as we reckon it was a part of the Service as in our own Church the Paschal Homily of Abbot Aelfrick was by a Synod commanded to be read to the people before the celebration of the Holy Communion To all which Observations we may subjoin St. Austin's Mystical Remark That the Fathers ordain'd that Easter should not be kept till the Lord's day after the Full-moon because the Moon is then return'd to her conjunction with the Sun to intimate to us that Man who was in a state of opposition and enmity to God
depriving my self of the means to make me a true and perfect Christian For it is an excellent Maxim in Religion He who is not fit to receive to day will be less fit to morrow and he who is not fit to communicate every day will be fit to communicate no day and in a small time will throw off all fear of God For if the end of the institution be to renew our Covenant made with our Saviour of taking him for our Master which is the true Notion of Religion then the withdrawing our selves from this Sacrament can be accounted nothing else but a Virtual slighting of Christianity and renouncing our Obedience to our Saviour For do I not put an Affront upon God when I say the Table of the Lord is contemptible For not communicating says a devout person is the next sin to apostatizing for it is an actual disowning our communion with our Head and his Members and a cutting off of our selves from the body of Christ And if unworthiness may hinder me from receiving the Eucharist am I not as unworthy to pray or to hear as to communicate And does not this plea tend to supercede all duty May I not hear to my prejudice and pray to my ruin May not the word that I have heard rise in Judgment against me and my prayer be turned into sin And is it not as expresly required of me to do as my * Luke 22.19 1 Cor. 11.24 Redeemer did in remembrance of his Passion as it is to frequent any other of his Ordinances But what if God should make that my fate which is now my choice and deprive me by his Judgments of the liberty of enjoying those Ordinances which I now contemn Wouldst not thou O my soul look on it as an astonishing Judgment and such a Decree as thou wouldest give part of thy blood to reverse And must I be my own Executioner And have I not enemies enough in the World and Hell that I must be my own most imbitter'd Adversary 3. Another hinderance is that the preparation required is very difficult and that it is no easie thing to be a Christian But this also is an unreasonable suggestion For tho the severities of Mortification and Self-denial appear in a formidable dress yet in themselves they are true satisfactions For nothing can equal the Joy of that soul that is rescued from eternal horrors And I should rejoice to be pull'd out of a Dungeon where else I must inevitably perish tho it were by the hair and to be saved tho so as by fire Men are possest before-hand with needless fears and take characters of the ways of godliness from the sensual and debauch'd as if we should put a deaf man to give an account of harmony But to those who have enter'd seriously upon the profession of holiness and made themselves proselites to Wisdom her ways appear to be ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Besides the sinner draws himself a Scheme of Vertue that is not correspondent to the dictates of Reason or Holy Scriptures For Vertue is a Borderer upon our Natural Habits and our evil inclinations may be made subservient to piety either 1. by correcting the Excesses of Nature and altering the degree of our Passions So Grace turns Choler into a well-regulated Zeal Melancholly into inclinations to Devotion Abstinence and Mortification it makes the Flegmatick cautious and fearful to offend his God and ready to be a penitent whenever he hath offended and it makes the Sanguine apt to rejoice in God and in the light of his countenance to be easie to forgive and willing to be reconciled it warms the cold and careless into a religious and devout temper it abates the eagerness of Covetousness till it become frugality and easily changes the prodigal into a man of a liberal and generous mind 2. Our evil Passions are without difficulty devoted to God by altering the Object of our pursuits For would the Voluptuous person pursue after Eternity as he hath done after the gratifications of his sensual Appetites would the Miser transfer his love from his unrighteous Mammon to the living and true God and were the revengeful thoughts of the angry man no longer fixt upon his offending brother but employed against his own Vices how smooth would the path of Vertue appear and how free from Thorns and Incumbrances 4. Another Excuse is I am deterr'd from approaching to this Feast of fat things because I am not in Charity But what should hinder why I should not love all Mankind Did not my blessed Saviour pray for his enemies at his Death And is not the Sacrament a commemoration of that his Death Now as I cannot call that man a Mariner that never learnt his Compass nor that man a Souldier that never fought how much less can I call my self a Christian who never conform to my Master's pattern What man but one of an impudent forehead and most obdurate heart can dare to pray his heavenly Lord to forgive him ten thousand Talents who will not forgive his fellow-servant an hundred pence And perhaps at last I think many actions uncharitable which are not so * Vid. Injunct 21. of Qu. Eliz. For I do not believe that if my Neighbour causelesly quarrels with me the day before I am to communicate or I am without design engaged in the heat of talk which is not sinful or a man forces me to go to Law with him to recover my just right that these things shall deprive me of the benefits of the Sacrament For these things are my Afflictions and I suffer them patiently and still am in Charity As I do not think that if I am bidden to a Feast sometime before or have allowed my self any innocent Recreation that this shall unfit me for the Christian Passeover But withal I must say that were it put to my choice I would rather omit those Civilities and deny my self those Pleasures at that time than lose my spiritual Advantages And I would avoid all occasions of being angry or doing any thing that might but give suspicion that I were not thorowly reconciled to all the world rather than at such a critical time to make my self an Offender For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God And when I pray as I always do when I communicate I am enjoin'd to lift up pure hands without wrath or doubting No worldly care therefore nor the entertainment of friends nor a small fit of sickness that does not confine me to my bed or chamber shall ever hinder my approaches to God's Altar nor every little quarrel which against my will I am engaged in when I am ready to make satisfaction if I have given Offence and to forgive if I have taken any For shall I rob my self of Gods be ssing because another man is froward stubborn and untractable The case therefore of * Pallad vit Chrysost p. 126 127 128. St. Chrysostome did deserve
them for whom thou wert pleased to shed thy Blood and we supplicate for those for whose welfare thou didst sacrifice thy Body They also believed that as long as they did Communicate they did enjoy the company of those blessed Spirits and that when they were kept from the Lord's Table they were under the power of Satan for Excommunication was a terrible sentence to them and the worst of punishments so great an affliction did they account that which is now our choice being fully perswaded that he who was shut out of the Church here without a deep Repentance and Absolution must necessarily be kept out of the Kingdom of Heaven And May God of his great Mercy and Goodness give his Holy Spirit to all that are called Christians that they may put a just value on the Priviledges of the Church of God that they may Honour Reverence and Frequent the Holy Sacrament which is the Communion of Saints and may dread the being justy deprived of those advantages that we may neither excommunicate our selves from thy Table nor deserve the censures of the Church to drive us from it but that thy fear may be upon us all the days of our Life through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen CHAP. XXIII Of the abuse of the Sacrament to evil ends IT is an Observation confirm'd by sad Experience That the best of things or persons when they degenerate prove the worst of their kind and it is also as sadly confirm'd That the best of enjoyments when employed to bad ends and purposes prove the causes of the greatest mischiefs and this is demonstrated as by many other instances so by the abuse of the Divine Institution of the Holy and most Advantageous Sacrament of the Eucharist to serve the designs of sensual ambitious and covetous men very great alterations having been made both in the Doctrine and Rites of that Sacrament from the Primitive Institution and Original Practise Of this Nature I must confess there are some things that seem to me not so fairly defensible in the Centuries that preceded the Establishment of Popery such as * Aug. op imperf adv Julian l. 3. c. 164. the making Plaisters of the Eucharist to Cure Blindness or other Diseases ‡ Id. de C. D. l. 22. c. 8. the Celebrating of this Sacrament in a private house to expel the Evil Spirits that haunted it * Nicet Paphl Vit. Ignat. Theop. an 20. Heracl the dipping Pens in the Consecrated Wine when they either Sealed Covenants or condemn'd a notorious Heretick †Ambr. in ob Satyr Fratr the tying it about the neck as an Amulet in the time of Imminent danger ‡ Hesyc in Levit. l. 2. c. 8. the burning or burying the remainders of the Consecrated Elements or ‡ Evagr. l. 4. c. 35. giving them to School-boys and such like persons who were not present at the Consecration with other such usages but I remember that those were the days of Miracles and Extraordinary men might make use of uncommon methods and that it becomes not me to uncover the Nakedness of the Fathers especially because at this distance of time few men are capable of understanding the reasons why they did many things at which we now wonder And it were to be wisht the same Apology were so made for the succeeding Ages wherein strange Opinions and as Novel Customs had their Original for then the reverence due to the mysteries degenerated into Superstition and Idolatry and the Mysteries themselves were many times applyed to unbecoming usages and on trifling occasions For men would not be content to believe that God was really present in the Sacrament but they were resolved to study a way how to make him so by a Method that baffles sense and contradicts reason and to this purpose men begun not to be satisfied with the common Bread in which the Eucharist was Anciently Celebrated the bread that was usually eaten at ordinary meals was thought unfit for this sacred use and therefore unleavened bread and wasers were introduc'd and this perhaps was the practise of the eighth Century and in two or three Hundered Years after the notion of Transubstantiation began to be owned but in such an Age which Baronius and other Historians say was the shame of the Papacy when there was neither Learning nor Vertue at Rome but the greatest ignorance and the greatest debauchery imaginable and with this Doctrine the half communion was introduc'd the people being Sacrilegiously rob'd of the Cup for sear they should in Receiving spill the Blood of Christ after which the Schoolmen first amus'd themselves and then their neighbors with impertinent inquiries relating to these Mysteries which made neither themselves nor others wiser or better and what number of Miracles were then coyned to uphold the new Doctrines that when reason would not perswade men to believe they might be convinc'd by wonder and extraordinary apparitions People being told that the Bread by the Prayers ‖ Jo. Diac. vit Greg. l. 2. c. 41. of St. Gregory the Great was turn'd into a piece of Flesh in view of all the people that our ‡ Paschas c. 14. de Corp. Dom. Saviour frequently appear'd on the Altar in the shape of a beautiful Boy ‡ Vid. Pinelli meditat 4. p. 126. ad p. 146. That St. Antony of Padua's Mule worshipt the Host and that Bees in their Hive built a Chappel to an Host which was by the owner put there to increase his stock And thus by degrees it grew to be a God till at last it had a Festival appointed called Corpus Christi day on which it is solemnly prayed to as at other times it is bow'd down to and Adored And as the Ark of the Govenant was carried before the Camp of the Israelites so the ‡ Hey l. Hist of Reform p. 70. Cornish Rebels in Edw. 6 time carried the Consecrated Host under a Canopy with Crosses Banners and other such solemn appendages before them in hopes thereby to get a certain Victory and as the Kings of Persia had their Immortal Fire carried before them to is this Sacrament carried before the Pope on solemn days and as Anciently men swore by the Name of God so they now swear by the Sacrament and did not Pope Hildebrand confult this Sacrament as as an Oracle to know what success he should have against the Emperor of Germany and when it did not answer expectation threw it into the Fire if we may believe Cardinal Benno and if he be doubted there are other ‡ Vid Orland in Hist Soc. Jes l 12. ss 48. p. 394. li. 16 ss 22. p 544. Instances out of more Authentiek and uncontroverted Authors to prove the usage and how often hath the Pix been brought out to quench Fires As was lately done at ‡ V. Daille de obj Cult Relig. li. 1. c 10 p. 138 Con Saligunst c 6. Avenion by the Popes own Legal Governor of that City when the
my advice or allurements or by neglect of reproof and correction 5. Com. Have I not broken the fifth Commandment in thought word or deed by refusing to give due honour maintenance and other rights to my superiours in Church or State have I murmured against their authority scrupled their just commands or exposed their jurisdiction Have I contemn'd the person age or injunctions of my natural Parents not praying for them not relieving their wants not valuing their blessing not hearkening to their counsels Have I embrac'd any Heresy or Schism in the Church or been of any party or faction in the State Have I been unthankful to my Benefactors or of a morose and rugged demeanor towards those amongst whom I converse 6. Com. Have I not broken the sixth Commandment in thought word or deed by not loving my enemies by not living peaceably by harbouring malice and anger in my heart by using my tongue to speak evil or by hurting the body of my neighbour either openly or secretly either by my own hand or anothers by quarrelling my self or inciting others to do so 7. Com. Have I not broken the seventh Commandment in Thought Word or Deed by unclean desires obscene discourses or filthy Songs by lascivious glances or impure Dreams the result of my waking Thoughts or by any act of corporal uncleanness Have I indulged to Luxury or Excess that I might pamper my body or provoke my Lusts Have I been fond of a loose and immodest Garb or wanton Company 8. Com. Have I not broken the Eighth Commandment in thought word or deed by violence or fraud by covetousness or extortion by not paying my debts or spoiling the goods of my neighbour by not being just in my dealings faithful to my trust or Charitable to the poor and indigent 9. Com. Have I not been guilty of the breach of the Ninth Commandment in thought word and deed by lessening or blasting any Man's reputation either by my self or my encouraging others to slander him by harbouring and countenancing tale-bearers or spreading false news Have I not past rash judgement and contemn'd the weak and ignorant and rejoyc'd at my Neighbours hurt Have I ever refused to testifie the truth or ever given false witness have I neglected my own and busied my self in other mens affairs 10. Com. Have I not broken the Tenth Commandment in thought word or deed by being discontent with the station in which God hath placed me by envying the prosperity of others by entertaining ambitious thoughts and being greedy of honour and preferment Have I sought to be great by unlawful means to the prejudice of my Neighbour pursuing either my profit or my pleasure And have I not been guilty of sinning against my own Soul have I not been possest with pride and vain-glory and a high conceit of my self of the gifts of nature or the acquisitions of study or industry Have I not sought my self and the praise of men more than the praise of God Have I not been rash and inconsiderate or negligent of my best interests have I not resisted the holy Spirit and defiled the Temple of God and spent my time ill Have I not indulged to too much sleep or been irregular in my dyet apparel or recreations or averse to peace and reconciliation To which may be subjoyn'd if the Examinant be in such a state Have I ever broken the bonds of Matrimony in point of honour love maintenance and advice Have I neglected my Children in their Education or making provisions for them have I ever given them a bad example or other encouragement to be vicious or not reproved and punish'd their faults Have I been harsh cruel or unjust to my Servants not instructing them not reclaiming them when irregular Have I been unjust or false to my Friendship Have I omitted my duty in any thing to my superiors equals and inferiors If I find my self guilty after every general head I subjoyn Lord have mercy upon me pardon my violation of these Laws for the time past and for the future incline my heart to keep them to the end An Examination according to the Lord's Prayer HAve I not either wholly omitted my Prayers or not been so often at Prayers as I should have I not performed them coldly being often on my knees but seldom at my devotion have I not perform'd them irreverently without bodily humility or the compunction of my Soul without Faith and without Purity Have I not defiled my Mind which was design'd a Temple for the Spirit and a house of Prayer by making it a den of Thieves and the residence of unclean thoughts and wicked resolutions Have I been thankful for the liberal provisions of my most Merciful Father Have I fixt my affections on Heaven where my Father dwells Have I glorified the Divine Majesty as I ought or have I hindred others from so doing Have I not broken the most holy Laws by which his Kingdom is govern'd Have I with the meekness sincerity chearfulness and constancy of Angels done his will Have I not preferr'd my dayly Bread to the food of my Soul and been more concerned for the things of this life than for the honour of approaching to God's Table and have not the necessities and often my wanton appetites taken up that time which should have been bestow'd on Eternity Have I not begg'd God to forgive me those Sins which I have resolv'd to continue in and have I been so merciful to others as I have desired God to be to me When I have begg'd God either to preserve me from or to deliver me out of temptations have I not been either a tempter to my self seeking occasions of sinning or else have entertain'd the injections of my ghostly adversaries with delight and complacency Have I diligently used the grace which hath been given me to the mortifying of my Lusts and rescuing my Soul from the Divine anger Have I not made a League with Satan faln in love with Death and hasten'd towards destruction Have I not been a rebel in God's Kingdom an opposer of his Power a dishonourer of his Name and Glory and when my lips have said Amen hath not my heart contradicted my supplications And have I said this Prayer as heartily for others as I do for my own Soul To which I subjoyn Lord have mercy upon me Teach me to pray and teach me to practice that my prayers may ever be acceptable in thy sight here and my person for ever hereafter An Examination according to the Sacraments Baptism HAve I been truly thankful to God for my being called to a state of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord Have I duly considered what an honour 't is to be a Christian How often have I broken my baptismal Vow and defeated and made void the endeavours of my Godfathers and Godmothers and other my instructors in the Faith of Christ Have I not neglected to acquaint my self with the Principles of Christian Religion or the due preparations
was covered with a robe of honour purpled in his own blood And should it not be my greatest honour to be conform'd to the Image of his sufferings Hath Jesus carried with him not only our humane nature but the marks of his wounds that were given him on Earth into that Heaven which he opened unto all believers and do I not long to go to that my greatest benefactor into that Heaven which his wounds have purchas'd And am I not redeemed from my former vain conversation by the Blood of God And shall I continue in sin because Grace hath abounded or dare to damn that Soul for which Christ died No I will endure the contradiction of sinners and I will resist if God see fit unto blood Jesus shall be my darling and I will love him as I love my life and Heaven The Collect. BLessed Saviour who for our sakes wert cloathed with ignominy and dishonour and didst patiently digest all the injuries and affronts which thy malicious enemies could put upon thee enable me also to endure the Cross and to despise the shame and to rejoice when thou shalt count me worthy to suffer for thy name Let my sins no longer dishonour thy Religion and bring discredit to my dear Master but enable me to live to thy glory O my crucified Redeemer that when I come to dye I may share in thy triumphs world without end Amen The Anthem An ALTAR GReat and good Saviour could my frozen heart Melt into tears equal to thy desert Nature and all its mournful sons I 'd call T' attend and grieve at th'wondrous funeral So when dear Jesu thou didst dye The Earth groan'd sadly Heav'n did cry The Sun retir'd as one agast To see th' Almighty breathe his last And the fam'd Temple's basis shook When God who dwelt there it forsook While men more hardned and more rude Than those Pillars sensless stood As they unconcern'd had been At the cruel frightful scene Astonish'd at their scorn I raise This Altar to my Saviour's praise Cever'd with wounded Loves and bleeding Hearts For who can live i' th' World when God departs Accept the Votary and th' Inscription hallow And teach the Priest the great Exemplar still to follow EASTER-EVE AS the solemn Festival of Easter drew nearer the Antients bound themselves to stricter observances enlarging their Fasts encreasing their Devotions and doubling their preparations for the approaching Christian Passover because nothing but perseverance gives a title to a Crown of Glory and the end of all labour and industry Prayers and Fastings Alms and Discipline is only to enable the devout Christian to bring a pure Conscience and void of offence to the participation of the benefits of the Lord's-Table and for this reason Easter-eve even in those Churches where the Saturday was admitted to an equal honour with the Lord's-day always celebrated as a Festival was made a day of the strictest abstinence and mortification It is called the Great Saturday in the account of * P. 19. V Const App. l. 8. c. 33. S. Pelycarp's Martyrdom and it could not but be a great encouragement to that good Bishop to dye cheerfully at the same time when his Master did that he might from the place of Execution go to Heaven to keep the Feast of Easter for ever it is also called the holy Saturday the Paschal Vigil the Holy Night whose obscurity is illuminated with a glorious light the devout people watching and praying all night and singing Hymns unto God nay those who seldom else came to Church * Eus devit Const l. 4. c. 22. p. 536. Chrys to 5. p. 541. to 7. p. 156. Gr. Naz. Orat. 42 p. 676. now were compelled by shame and interest to Fast and Pray the House of God being filled with Torches and lights and sometimes the Streets of the City so adorn'd in expectation of the joyful morning of Christ's Resurrection it was also stiled the ‡ Pallad vit Chrys p. 85. Angelical night in which the Evil Angels tremble their kingdom being destroyed and the Good Angels rejoice that the World is redeemed for now were the holy Quire busy to attend the Sepulchre and to give the Disciples the blessed news of their Saviour's Resurrection This day some Fathers assure us Christ went down into Hell dismantled its fortifications and by his presence made that miserable dungeon Heaven for whereever Jesus is there is Heaven All the day was a strict Fast and all the night a Vigil at least till midnight †Hier. in Matt. c. 25. the Congregation not being dismist till then it being the Tradition of the Church That our Saviour rose a little after midnight but in the East till the * Const App. l. 5. c. 14 17 18. Dionys Alex. Ep. Basil Cock-crowing the time being spent say the Apostolical Constitutions in watching prayers and supplications in reading the Law and the Prophets in expounding the Holy Scriptures and in Baptizing the Catechumens and therefore it ‡ Euseb Hist l. 2. c. 17. l. 6. c. 9. is called the All-night Vigil of the great Feast and the great watching before the Christian Passover In the Latin Church ‖ Rupert de divin offic c. 35. alii on this day the Water for the Font is blest and reserved for the use of the persons to be Baptized the year following which Custom is a shadow of the Ancient usage for on Easter-Eve were the Catechumens Baptized ⸫ Chrys to 5. p. 585. by the Bishop himself if present and able to do the Office for no Presbyter or Deacon without his leave durst do it for the Church had select times for the Baptizing of adult Converts Children being baptized at all times of which Easter was the chiefest for which reason the number of the Candidates for that initiatory Sacrament in the greater Churches was very large * Pallad vit Chrys p. 86 Three Thousand being made Christians at Constantinople on this day * Ambros de Sacramen li 3. cap. 1. the Bishop in some Churches of the West at Millian I conjecture for at Rome the practise was otherwise immediately after his conferring the Sacrament of Baptism using to wash the feet of those whom he had newly made Christians * Smith of the Gr. Ch. p. 124 125. In the Greek Church through the Sundays of Lent they use the Liturgy of St Basil and on Thursday and Saturday in the Holy Week which being longer than St Chrysostom's is esteemed fitter for the times of Fasting but on the other days of Lent ‡ Conc. Trul. can 52. except Saturdays and the Feast of the Annunciation they use the Liturgy of the Presanctificata So mindful are they to suit all their Offices to the designs of Religion and the promoting of Mortification and true Contrition The Epistle Eccles 7.3 SOrrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better the heart of the wise is in the
Saviour So when the Sons of Zebedee coveted places of Trust and Honour in an imaginary Monarchy Mat. 20.21 our Blessed Redeemer told them that the preferments of his Court old not consist in fitting at his Right and left Hand but in drinking of his Cup and being baptized with his Baptism And when St. Paul was called to an Apostleship Acts 9.16 the Lord told Ananias in a Vision that his Mission was not design'd to Triumph over the Gentile World nor should his Revelations discover to him what Kingdoms he should convert tho that he did but I will show him says God what great things he must suffer for my Names sake And this that Apostle well understood 2 Cor. 12.12 for when he reckons up the signs of an Apostle he begins with his Patience under affliction as if that generosity of mind that slighted the Tribulations attendant on the Gospel was a more eminent and surer sign of his Apostleship than all his power of working Signs and Wonders and mighty deeds for to be afflicted was to be clad in the best Livery of the great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls I will therefore resolve to imitate those admirable guides of the Church in their sorrow I will lament the death of my Saviour and hate my sins that crucified him I will as they did retire from the World and love it no longer because it despised my dear Redeemer And I will also imitate them in their Patience and their Courage I will endure all things for the sake of my friend who died for me and nothing shall fright me from following the pattern and treading in the steps of his first and best servants The Collect. ALmighty and Immortal Saviour who wert victorious in thy sufferings and triumphant upon the Cross and wert always present with thy Church either in thy Person or by thy substitute the Holy Ghost keep and defend thy flock from all Heresie and Schism from mistakes in matters of Faith and all irregularities in practice from desponding under afflictions and from carelesness in prosperity Arm all thy servants with an invincible courage and resolution to live and dye thine let the consideration of thy Passion engage us to bewail our Transgressions but let the consideration of thy Resurrection defend us that we may not sorrow as men without hope but that we may pass the time of our sojourning here on Earth in fear and finish it with joy through thy Merits and Intercession O our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem The Descent into Hell A Dialogue between Mary Magdalen at the Sepulcher and an Angel I. Magd. APpear dear Jesus unto me I love I long for none but thee Whither is my Beloved gone And left me here sad and alone My soul breaths nothing else but sigh Since Jesus fell a Sacrifice Ang. Down to the Prison of the Fiends The dying Conqueror descends And o're those rebel spirits his Victories extends II. VVith courage and resistless might Alone he undertakes the fight Meets whole Legions and defies Hells Guards and her Auxiliaries Scales the VValls and storms the Gates Razes the Towers revers'th mens Fates And into the Dungeon Lucifer precipitates III. Magd. But tell me Angel cloath'd with light Did not my Jesus show his might VVhen upon the Cross he stood Like a Rock that brav'd a flood Did not his Patience and his Cries His VVounds his Thirst and Agonies Compleat his glorious Conquest and our Sacrifice IV. Ang. 'T was done when Jesus bow'd his head And told the world 't was finished Then Satan was discomfited And all his baffled forces fled But he lest men might doubt his love Or Victories did the scene remove Pull'd Satan from his Throne and from his Kingdom drove V. Magd. If so what keeps my Jesus there What stops th' Almighty Conqueror Thy Pupils do thy presence want T' instruct the blind and ignorant To charm the froward and defend The weak who on thy Strength depend And guide poor wandring me unto my journeys end Appear dear Jesu unto me I love I long for none but thee EASTER DAY THO the Christian Church had many Festivals yet some of them were days of greater Eminency than others Christmas Easter and Whitsuntide being frequently called in the Writings of the Fathers by way of excellency * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Christian Solemnities because as the Jews were obliged three times a year on their three great Festivals of the Passover Pentecost and of the Tabernacles to go up to Jerusalem to worship So anciently the body of the people of every Diocess met at those times at the Mother Church where the Bishop Preach'd to them in person and gave them the Holy Sacrament And on those days if the Church could not hold all the Communicants at once the Offices were repeated the Prayers renewed and the Eucharist ‡ Leo. M. Epist 71. p. 149. a second time consecrated and given Now among these great days Easter-day was the day on which the Son of God return'd from Hell rose from the Grave and being attended with his holy Angels and the bodies of many just persons who left their Tombs to accompany their Saviour brought Life and Immortality to light This was the day which the Lord made in which all wise and devout persons do rejoice and therefore without all doubt the Ancients after their long Fasting till near day-break * Const Ap. li. 5. c. 18. retired home laid aside their Sackcloth and Ashes and other habits of mortification and having washed and cloathed themselves in their best apparel came again early to Church and sang the praises of the Lord. And for this reason this Feast is called ‡ Cypr. Laetitia Paschalis The Paschal joy or the Paschal solemnity of the Resurrection ‖ Chrys to 5. p. 587. the bright and glorious day of Christ's rising from the dead the noblest of the Christian solemnities o Euseb vit Const l. 4. c. 22. p. 536 c. the holy and venerable day that brought Life into the World the holy Convention and Festival the Queen of Feasts the Festival of Festivals the great and holy Sunday the day in which the hopes of Eternity were confirm'd to us and the Great day in which Salvation was given to the World The * Constit Ap. l. 7. c. 37. Apostles injoining the Observation of it to all Christians and probably when we are bid to keep the Feast 1 Cor. 5.8 it belongs rather to the Annual than to the Weekly Feast of the Resurrection As some Wise and Learned men think that the Lords-day mentioned Rev. 1.10 does not so much mean a Sunday at large as Easter-day for * Procop. de bell Perfic l. 1. c. 18. this day was honoured by the Christian World above all other days ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 583. this day is a day of rejoycing on Earth and it is a Holy-day in Heaven too for if the conversion of one