there by any such thing as regeneration by the Ministery of the word and begetting in Christ and Fathers and Sons after the common faith as the expressions of the Apostle make us to beleeve certain it is the blessings of Religion doe descend most properly from our spiritual Fathers and with most plentiful emanation And this hath been the Religion of all the world to derive very much of their blessings by the Priests particular and signal ministration Melchisedech blessed Abraham Isaac blessed Jacob and Moses and Aaron blessed the people So that here is benediction from a Prince from a Father from the Aaronical Priest from Melchisedech of whose order is the Christian in whose Law it is a sanction that in grea◠needs especially the Elders of the Church be sent for and let them pray over him that is distressed That is the great remedy for the great necessity And it was ever much valued in the Church insomuch that Nectarius would by no means take investiture of his Patriarchal Sea until he had obtained the benediction of Diodorus the Bishop of Cilicia Eudoxia the Empress brought her son Theodosius to S. Chrysostome for his blessing and S. Austin and all his company received it of Innocentius Bishop of Carthage It was so solemne in all marriages that the marrying of persons was called Benediction So it was in the fourth Councel of Carthage Sponsus sponsa cùm benedicendi sunt à Sacerdote c. benedicendi for married ... And in all Church Offices it was so solemne that by a Decree of the Councel of Agatho A. D. 380. it was decreed ante benedictionem Sacerdotis populus egredi non praesumat By the way onely here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for two parts of the English Liturgy For the benediction in the Office of marriage by the authority of the Councel of Carthage and for concluding the Office of Communion with the Priests or Bishops benediction by warrant of the Councel of Agatho which Decrees having been derived into the practice of the universal Church for very many ages is in no hand to be undervalued lest we become like Esau and we miss it when we most need it For my own particular I shall still press on to receive the benediction of holy Church till at last I shall hear a Venite benedicti and that I be reckoned amongst those blessed souls who come to God by the ministeries of his own appointment and will not venture upon that neglect against which the piety and wisdome of all Religions in the world infinitely doe prescribe 44. Now the advantages of confidence which I have upon the forms of benediction in the Common Prayer-book are therefore considerable because God himself prescribed a set form of blessing the people appointing it to be done not in the Priests extempore but in an established form of words and because as the authority of a prescript form is from God so that this form may be also highly warranted the solemne blessing at the end of the Communion is in the very words of S. Paul 45. For the forms of Absolution in the Liturgy though I shall not enter into consideration of the Question concerning the quality of the Priests power which is certainly a very great ministery yet I shall observe the rare temper and proportion which the Church of England uses in commensurating the forms of Absolution to the degrees of preparation and necessity At the beginning of the Morning and Evening Prayer after a general Confession usually recited before the devotion is high and pregnant whose parts like fire enkindle one another there is a form of Absolution in general declarative and by way of proposition In the Office of the Communion because there are more acts of piety and repentance previous and presupposed there the Churches form of Absolution is optative and by way of intercession But in the Visitation of the sick when it is supposed and enjoyned that the penitent shall disburthen himself of all the clamorous loads upon his conscience the Church prescribes a medicinal form by way of delegate authority that the parts of justification may answer to the parts of good life For as the penitent proceeds so does the Church pardon and repentance being terms of relation they grow up together till they be compleat this the Church with greatest wisdom supposes to be at the end of our life grace by that time having all its growth that it will have here therefore then also the pardon of sins is of another nature then it ever was before if being now more actual and compleat whereas before it was in fieri in the beginnings and smaller increases and upon more accidents apt to be made imperfect and revocable So that the Church of England in these manners of dispensing the power of the Keys does cut off all disputings and impertinent wranglings whether the Priests power were Judicial or declarative for possibly it is both and it is optative too and something else yet for it is an emanation from all the parts of his Ministery and he never absolves but he preaches or prays or administers a Sacrament for this power of remission is a transcendent passing through all the parts of the Priestly Offices For the keys of the Kingdome of heaven are the promises the threatnings of the Scripture and the prayers of the Church and the Word and the Sacraments and all these are to be dispensed by the Priest and these keys are committed to his Ministery and by the operation of them all he opens and shuts heaven gates ministerially and therefore S. Paul calls it verbum reconciliationis and says it is dispensed by Ministers as by Embassadors or Delegates and therefore it is an excellent temper of the Church so to prescribe her forms of Absolution as to shew them to be results of the whole Priestly Office of Preaching of dispensing Sacraments of spiritual Cure and authoritative deprecation And the benefit which pious and well disposed persons receive by these publick Ministeries as it lies ready formed in our blessed Saviours promise erit solutum in coelis so men will then truly understand when they are taught to value every instrument of grace or comfort by the exigence of a present need as in a sadness of spirit in an unquiet conscience in the arrest of death 46. I shall not need to procure advantages to the reputation of the Common Prayer by considering the imperfections of whatsoever hath been offered in its stead but yet a 1 form of worship composed to the dishonour of the Reformation accusing it of darkness and intolerable inconvenience 2 a direction without a rule 3 a rule without restraint 4 a prescription leaving an indifferency to a possibility of licentiousness 5 an office without any injunction of external acts of worship not prescribing so much as kneeling 6 an office that onely once names reverence but forbids it in the ordinary instance and enjoyns it in
fires of devotion then the straw and the stubble which some men did suddenly or weakly rake together when ever they were to dress their Sacrifice Now although these prayers have no authority to give them power yet they are humbly and charitably intended and that may get them love and they have been as to the matter of them approved by persons of great learning and great piety and that may sufficiently recommend them to the use of those who have no other or no better and they no way doe violence to Authority and therefore the use of them cannot be insecure and they contain in them no matter of question or dispute and therefore cannot be justly suspected of interest or partiality and they are especially in the chiefest offices collected out of the devotions of the Greek Church with some mixture of the Mozarabick and AEthiopick and other Liturgies and perfected out of the fountains of Scripture and therefore for the material part have great warrant and great authority and therefore if they be used with submission to Authority it is hop'd they may doe good and if they be not used no man will be offended 49. I hope there will be no need of an apology or an excuse for doing an act of charity If no man will confess that he needs any of these they can be let alone for they are intended onely for them that doe but if there be a need these prayers may help to obtain of God to take that need away and to supply it in the mean while But there is nothing else intended in this design but that we may see what excellent forms of prayer were used in the ancient Church what a rare repository of Devotion the Scripture is how it was the same spirit of prayer that assisted the Church of England and other Churches of God how much better the Curates of souls may help themselves with these or the like offices then with their own extempore how their present needs may be supplied and their devotion enlarged and a day of Religion intirely spent and a provision made for some necessities in which our calamities and our experience of late have too well instructed us For which and for other great reasons all Churches have admitted variety of Offices In the Greek Church it is notorious they have three publick Books and very many added afterwards by their Patriarchs their Bishops and their Priests some are said often and others sometimes and in Spain the Mozarabick office was used until the time of Alfonsus the 6 th and to this very day in six Parishes in Toledo and in the Cathedral Church it self in the Chappel of Frier Francis Ximenez and at Salamanca upon certain days in the Chappel of Doctor Talabricensis And after all these may be admitted into the use and ministery of families for all the necessities of which here is something provided 50. He that gathered these things together intends as humbly as piously as charitably as he can doe in any action whatsoever and if any of his brethren can tell his heart better then himself I am sure he may say much more of it but if any man can think I have in it any purpose less pious or less severe or that there is any obliquity or any thing but what is here expressed I must answer for it if there be and he must answer for it if there be not January hath xxxi days The Moon xxx Sun in Aquar riseth h. 7. m. 52. sec. 34. In lat 52. setteth h. 4. m. 7. sec. 26. Jan. 10.  h. 8. m. 3. sec. 56. In lat 54.  h. 3. m. 56. sec. 4.      Morning prayer Evening prayer      1 Lesson 2 Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Less 19 1 A Calend. Circumcision * * * * 8 2 b 4 Non.  Gen. 1. Matt. 1 Gen. 2. Rom. 1.  3 c 3  3 2 4 2 16 4 d Pr. No.  5 3 6 3 5 5 e Nonae Edward K. 7 4 8 4  6 f 8 Idus Epiphany * * * * 13 7 g 7  Gen. 9. Matt. 5 Gen. 12 Rom. 5. 2 8 A 6 Lucian 13 6 14 6  9 b 5  15 7 16 7 10 10 c 4  17 8 18 8  11 d 3  19 9 20 9 18 12 e Pr. Idus  21 10 22 10 7 13 f Idus Hilary Bp. 23 11 24 11  14 g 19 Cal. of February 25 12 26 12 15 15 A 18  27 13 28 13 4 16 b 17  29 14 30 14  17 c 16 Sulpitius Bp. 31 15 32 15 12 18 d 15 Prisca Virg. 33 16 34 16 1 19 e 14 Ulstan Bp. 35 17 37 1 Cor. 1.  20 f 13 Fabian 38 18 39 2 9 21 g 12 Agnes 40 19 41 3  22 A 11 Vincent Mart. 42 20 43 4 17 23 b 10  44 21 45 5 6 24 c 9 Timothy Bp. 46 22 47 6  25 d 8 Conv. S. Paul * * * * 14 26 e 7 Polycar Mart. Gen. 48 Mat. 23 Gen. 49 1 Cor. 7. 3 27 f 6  50 24 Exod. 1 8  28 g 5  Exod. 2 25 3 9 11 29 A 4 Valerius Bp. 4 26 5 10 19 30 b 3 C. R. M. 7 27 8 11 8 31 c Pr. Cal.  9 28 10 12 February hath xxviii days The Moon xxix Sun in Pisc. riseth h. 7. m. o. sec. 28. latit 52. setteth h. 4. m. 59 sec. 32. Feb. 8.  h. 7. m. 1. sec. 40. latit 54.  h. 4. m. 58 sec. 20.      Morning prayer Evening prayer      1 Lesson 2 Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Less  1 d Calend. Fast Exo. 11 Mark 1 Exo. 12 1 Cor. 13 16 2 e 4 Non. Purific Mary * 2 * 14 5 3 f 3 Blasius Exo. 13 3 Exo. 14 15  4 g Pr. No.  15 4 16 16 13 5 A Nonae Agathe 17 5 18 2 Cor. 1 2 6 b 8 ld  19 6 20 2  7 c 7  21 7 22 3 10 8 d 6  23 8 24 4  9 e 5 Apollon Virg 32 9 33 5 18 10 f 4 Scholast Virg. 34 10 Lev. 18 6 7 11 g 3  Lev. 19 11 20 7  12 A Prid. ld  26 12 Nu. 11 8 15 13 b Idus  Nu. 12 13 13 9 4 14 c 16 Cal. Valentine 14 14 16 10  15 d 15  17 15 20 11 12 16 e 14  21 16 22 12 1 17 f 13  23 Lu. di 1 24 13  18 g 12  25 dim 1 27 Galat. 1 9 19 A 11  30 2 31 2  20 b 10  32 3 35 3 17 21 c 9  36 4 Deut. 1 4 6 22 d 8  Deut. 2 5 3 5  23 e 7 Fast 4 6 5 6 14 24 f 6 S. Matthias * 7 * Ephes. 1 3 25 g 5  6 8 7 2  26 A 4  8 9 9
the Lord in the beautie of Holinesse ¶ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters the God of glory thundreth the Lord is upon many waters * The voice of the Lord is powerfull the voice of the Lord is full of Majesty ¶ The voice of the Lord maketh the hindes to calve and discovereth the forests and in his temple doth every man speake of his glory * Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in Heart ¶ For this God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide unto death Glory be to the Father c. Then read a lesson out of one of the four Gospells or the Acts of the Holy Apostles in order or by choice upon extraordinary occasions After which recite one of these following Psalmes * THe mighty God even the Lord hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going downe thereof ¶ Out of Sion the perfection of beauty God hath shined * Our God shall come and shall not keep silence a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him ¶ He shall call to the heavens from above to the Earth that he may Judge his people * And the heavens shall declare his righteousnesse for God is Judge himselfe ¶ His Name shall endure for ever his name shall be continued as long as the Sun and men shall be blessed in him all Nations shall call him blessed * Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel who onely doth wondrous things ¶ And blessed be his Glorious Name for ever and let the whole Earth be filled with his glory Amen Amen Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Or this to be said especially on Communion daies Psalme 23. * THe Lord is my Shepherd I shal not want ¶ He maketh me to lie down in Green pasture he leadeth me beside the still waters * He restoreth my soule he leadeth me in the paths of righteousnesse for his Names sake ¶ Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evill for thou art with me thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me * Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head with oyle my cup runneth over ¶ Surely goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the daies of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever Glory be to the Father c. Then say the Apostles Creed or the Nicene creed if it be a great festival of the Church I Believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and earth * And in Jesus Christ his onely son our Lord * which was conceived by the holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary * suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried * He descended into hell * The third day he rose againe from the dead * He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty * From thence he shall come to judge the quicke and the Dead * I believe in the holy Ghost * The holy Catholick Church the communion of Saints * the forgivenesse of sins * the resurrection of the body * and the life everlasting Amen The Nicene Creed to be said upon the great Solemnities of the yeare I Beleive in one God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the onely begotten Sonne of God begotten of his Father before all worlds God of God Light of light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by whom al things were made who for us men for our salvation came downe from heaven and was incarnate by the holy Ghost of the virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate He suffered and was buried and the third day he rose againe according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the Father And he shall come againe with glory to judge both the quick the dead whose kingdome shall have no end And I beleive in the holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life who proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified whospake by the Prophets And I believe one Catholique and Apostolique Church I acknowledge one Baptisme for the remission of sins And I looke for the resurrection of the Dead and the life of the world to come Amen After the Creed Minister The Lord be with you People And with thy Spirit Let us Pray OUr Father which art in heaven * hallowed be thy Name * Thy Kingdome come * Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven * Give us this day our daily bread * And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us * And lead us not into temptation * But deliver us from evill For thine is the Kingdome the power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen I. O Great King of heaven and earth the Lord and patron of all ages receive thy servants approaching to the throne of grace in the Name of Jesus Christ give unto every one of us what is best for us cast out all evill from within us work in us a fulnesse of holinesse of wisedome and spiritual understanding that we increasing in the knowledge of God may be fruitfull in every Good worke through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The collect for the morning II. O Almighty Father great God of all the world who dwellest in the light to which no man can approach in thy presence there is no night in the light of thy countenance there is perpetuall day We thy servants whom thou hast preserved this night who blesse and glorifie thee this day who live by thy power who desire to walk by thy lawes to be blessed by thy providence to be defended by thy Almighty hand humbly pray unto thee that this day and all the daies of our lives may be holy and peaceable send thy holy spirit the spirit of peace to be the guide of our waie the guard of our soules and bodies Grant that all the chances and accidents of this day may be healthfull to our bodies and profitable to our soules and that we may spend the remaining portion of our life in blessing and peace and holinesse Make thou the latter end of our daies to be Christian without shame without torment and when we shall appeare before thy dreadfull seat of Judgement grant that we may not be confounded but may stand upright in the congregation of the Saints acquitted by the death of Christ justified by his resurrection pardon'd by his sentence saved by his mercy that we may rejoyce in his salvation and sing thy praises for ever and ever