IMPRIMATUR Jan. 21. 1673 4 C. Smith R. P. D. Episc Lond. à sacris domesticis A COMPANION TO THE ALTAR Or an HELP To the worthy receiving of the LORDS SVPPER By Discourses and Meditations upon the whole COMMUNION OFFICE To which is added An ESSAY upon the OFFICES OF Baptism and Confirmation By THO. COMBER M. A. LONDON Printed by J. Macock for John Martyn at the Bell in St Pauls Church-Yard and Richard Lambert at York MDCLXXV TO THE MOST REVEREND Father in GOD RICHARD By the Divine Providence Lord ARCHBISHOP OF YORK Primate of ENGLAND and METROPOLITAN May it please your Grace I Have often with much pleasure and admiration observed how rarely every part of Divine Service is suited to its proper Subject whereof there needs no better instance than that which is under our present Consideration The Communion is the most sublime Duty of Christianity the Compendium of Religion the best opportunity for Repentance the highest exercise of Faith and the strongest engagement to our Charity and accordingly it is fitted with an Office agreeable to its usefulness and grandeur wherein the Directions are full and perspicuous the Exhortations vigorous and importunate the Devotions fervent and expressive of more than ordinary affections an Office wherein equal regard is had to the Majesty of the Ordinance and the advantage of the Receivers to the Custom of the Antient and the benefit of the present times So that the illustration of this one Part of Liturgy will contain Arguments to convince the Negligent Instructions to teach the Ignorant and be the properest method to prepare us for this Sacrament to assist us in Receiving and to confirm us in all Holiness and Vertue afterwards yea I dare affirm that he who will conscientiously practise by these measures can neither be an Ill Man an Vnworthy Receiver or an Enemy to that Church which affords him such excellent means of Salvation Wherefore that these endeavours may be made publick with more Advantage I have been bold to recommend them to your Graces Patronage and that with great reason For their subject being of the highest Mystery and their design to adorn the most eminent Office of the Church could no where be more justly presented than to your Grace who beside the Dignity of your Primacy and the honour of so High a Station in this Church are so known a Lover and Patron of all its Primitive Administrations Besides your Grace hath a peculiar title to the Author as well as a Right in the subject of this Discourse for he first received the Holy Order of Priesthood and the Power of Dispensing this Sacrament a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ep ad Smyr Apost Can. 39. Concil Laodic Can. 57. from your Graces Hands to whom therefore he will ever pay the Reverence and Observance due to a Spiritual Father b Esto subjectus Pontifici tuo quasi animae parentem suscipe Hieron ad Nepot Ep. 2. In fine I am obliged to make this Tender by my Condition and my Duty by Gratitude and Affection And your Graces fair Approbation of my first Essay encourageth this to hope for a Candid acceptance both as it is a Testimony of my Respect and as it may minister to the Devotion of those who approach to Gods Altar My Lord There is nothing more useful to the friends of this Church nor more convincing to the dissenters from it than to present her pure and Primitive Order of Worship in its natural and lovely splendor whereof by the Divine mercy I have seen some Experiments from my former attempt and if this may prevail also to undeceive the seduced to amend the prophane and to elevate the devotion of Pious Men I shall have all I aimed at in this Work only I most gladly comply with this Opportunity to testifie my self Your Graces Most dutiful Son and most humble Servant Tho. Comber THE INTRODVCTION Of the Communion Service in general with the reason and use of this Vndertaking § 1. WHatsoever benefits we now enjoy or hope hereafter to receive from Almighty God are all purchased by the Death and must be obtained through the Intercession of the Holy Jesus And for a perpetual memorial hereof we are not only taught to mention his name in our daily Prayers John 14.13 15.16 but are also commanded by visible signs to Commemorate and set forth his Passion in the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11.26 wherein by a more forcible rite of Intercession a Fideles etiam inter orandum Christum afferunt Deo Patri victimam dum scilicet mente affectuque ad sacrificium ejus unicum feruntur ut Deum sibi habeant faciantque propitium Anon. apud Med. Chris Sacrif Sect. 3. we beg the Divine Acceptance That which is more compendiously expressed in the Conclusion of our Prayers through Iesus Christ our Lord is more fully and more vigorously set out in this most holy Sacrament Wherein we Interceed on Earth in Imitation of and Conjunction with the great Intercession of our High Priest in Heaven Pleading here in the Vertue and Merits of the same Sacrifice which he doth urge there for us And because of this Sympathy and near Alliance between these two Offices of Praying and Communicating we find the Eucharist in the purest Ages of the Church was a daily b Act. 2.42 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Companion of their Common-Prayer So that there is no Ancient Liturgy but doth suppose and direct the Celebration of this Sacrament as constantly as the use of Publick Prayers they being never separated but in the Case of Novices or offending secluded Christians who only had the benefit of the Petitions but were shut out before the Mysteries were begun And though the iniquity of our Age hath made the Imitation of this sublime Example rather to be wished for than expected Yet the Consideration thereof may both humble us for the sad decay of Christian Devotion and also shew us what Excellent reason our Church had to annex so much of this Communion Office to the usual Prayers of all our more solemn Assemblies § 2. As to the particular Form of this part of the Divine Service Our Church hath taken the same liberty therein which others had done before them For since our great Master who did Institute this Sacrament haâ—h not prescribed any particular Form for the Administration thereof in holy Writ there have been in all the first Ages many Liturgies composed suitable to the places and times for which they were designed Such are those which now bear the names of St. Peter and St. Barnabas but especially the Liturgy of Hierusalem called from St. James and that of Alexandria named St. Marks and that of the famous Clemens Most of which though with some Corruptions are still extant And yet notwithstanding St. Basil St. Chrysostom and St. Ambrose did every one of them compile a several Liturgy for their several Churches and yet all different from the Roman Missal
only with the Priest but with Angels and with Archangels and all the Company of Heaven c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 18. in 2. ad Cor. for Jesus by his Death hath united Heaven and Earth and designed all his redeemed ones to sing Hallelujahs with the blessed spirits above for ever Wherefore it is fit that in this Commemoration of his Passion we should begin to unite our Voices to them with whom we hope to praise God to all Eternity Only as we sing with them let us sing like them and not spoil their blessed harmony by mingling flat and discordant notes O with what delight and pleasure sincerity and joy do they sing this Hymn while they are ravished with the prospect of the divine perfections Could we but see their felicity and hear their Musick it would transport us above our selves and make us forget and despise all other pleasures to join with them It may be we fear that we cannot sing in so high a note yet if we do it with like sincerity our lower key may grace the harmony and compleat the Concord Behold those blessed Spirits who had no need of any Saviour and who never did offend do praise God with incessant Voices for his mercy and love to us and seem to invite us saying O ye Sons of men praise the Lord with us and let us magnifie his name together How then can we be silent especially when our glorified Brethren Prophets and Apostles Saints and Martyrs do also bear a part in this admirable Hymn How justly do we stile the object of these praises a glorious Name since all the World resounds its praise To it Cherubin and Seraphin Angels and Archangels continually do cry Holy Holy Holy and all the Saints in Heaven and Earth do join to set forth the glory thereof § 7. Evermore praising thee and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high This primitive and triumphant Hymn was first taught unto the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 6.3 when he was admitted to hear it sung in the Quire of Heaven But as Procopias well observes the Triple Holy could not fit the Jewish Synagogue and so was designed at first for the Christian Church who confess the Holy Trinity wherefore it was again revealed to St. John Revel 4.8 and afterwards constantly used by all Churches in the Celebration of these Mysteries for it is found in all the Liturgies of St. James St. Mark St. Basil and fully in St. Chrysostoms thus Before thee stand thousands of Archangels and many thousands of Angels Cherubins and Seraphins singing the triumphant Hymn chanting forth crying and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God c. and the like appears in the Apostolick Constitutions lib. 8. cap. 16. so that though some affirm that Sixtus the eight Bishop of Rome brought it first in use with the Latine Church about 130. years after Christ yet Nicephorus doubts not to say it was derived from an Apostolical Tradition hist lib. 18. c. 51. The Grecians call it the Trisagium because the word Holy is thrice repeated and of latter times do express it thus Holy God Holy Strong Holy Immortal d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sixt. Sene◠Bib. Sanct. l. 5. annot 58. Have mercy on us And they have a Tradition that they were commanded thus to repeat it by a Child which for some time was rapt up into Heaven in the time of a great Earthquake in the days of Theodosius junior and Proclus the Patriarch and by so repeating it the City was delivered However it is certainly an Act of Praise wherein we worship and adore the whole Trinity and Galatinus d Pet. Galatinus lib. 2. c. 1. de Jesai 6.3 saith it was antiently read in Jonathans Chaldee Paraphrase Holy Father Holy Son Holy Spirit but as it is nothing is more plain e Non semel dicunt ne singularitatem credas non bis dicunt ne spiritum excludas non sanctos ne pluralitatem aestimes sed ter repentant idem dicunt ut etiam in hymno distinctionem Trinitatis divinitatis intelligas unitatem Ambr. de sp sanc l 3. c. 18. ita Epiphan in Ancorat Procop. Gazaeus in Jesaiam than that every Person is acknowledged to be Holy and all to be one Lord God of Hosts who commands the Armies of Heaven and all the Creatures of the World whose Glory fills both Heaven and Earth Which way can we look or what can we think upon that doth not declare how great and gracious their Creator and Preserver is and how can we then refrain from giving glory also unto the Lord most High In his nature he is holy in all his works glorious let us praise him therefore with pure hearts for he is thrice Holy let us bless him with a mighty vigour that as the Angels make the Upper so we may make the lower Region Eccho with his praise It was long since ordained that this Hymn should be used every day supposing the faithful would never be weary of so sweet and desirable an imployment f Quia tam dulcis desiderabilis vox etiam si die noctuque possit dici fastidium generare non possit Concil Vasens can 6. An. 450. But surely it is most proper for this blessed Sacrament that as every person in the Trinity concurred to our Redemption so every one may be adored in the memorial thereof The Father is Holy who gave us such a Saviour the Son is Holy who effected this Salvation and the Spirit is Holy who sanctifies us by the vertue thereof and yet these three are one Lord to whom we must now with most fervent gratitude offer up the Sacrifice of Eucharist and Thanksgiving O ye Heavenly powers that rejoice for the sake of us poor Sinners we join with you and with joyful hearts over our Propitiation do sing Holy Holy Holy Lord God c. Glory be to thee O Lord most high Amen An Appendix of the particular Prefaces § 8. It is long since the daily and weekly Communions have been generally laid aside by the people for St. Chrysostome himself takes notice that ordinary Christians in his time had appropriated their communicating to the greater Festivals of the Church g Chrys orat de B. Philogono and some affirm that Fabian the Martyr did order those seasons especially for all the faithful to receive h Sabellicus Volatteranus ad An. Christi 236. And truly a solemn time of joy seems the most proper for the Celebration of this Heavenly Feast Now hereupon it came to pass that as the Church was wont at this Holy Table to give thanks for all mercies so they did peculiarly praise God for the mercy commemorated on that Festival upon which they did Communicate which doubtless was the Original of these particular Prefaces In the Roman Church there were formerly nine of them to which Vrban added
Essens d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. ut supr l. 4. c. 12. and the Christians e Tert. Ap. c. 39. Nec cibi sumantur nisi oratione praemissâ Hieron ep 22. ad Eustach began their common meals with a solemn Prayer for a blessing The Jews would not eat of the Sacrifice till Samuel came to bless it 1 Sam. 9.13 How much more then ought we to expect the Prayers of the Priest over this mysterious food of our Souls before we eat thereof especially since Jesus himself did not deliver this Bread and Wine until he had Consecrated it by giving thanks There are some other parts of this Office which may upon some occasions be omitted * Non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad Deum praegustetur but this must never be left out it being the most antient and Essential part of all some learned Men do believe that the Apostles themselves in their daily Communions did ever use the latter part of this form from who in the same night c. Alcuin de divin off and it is most certain that no Liturgy in the World hath altered that particular For in every Church the Priest repeats the words of our Saviours Institution and by those words the Consecration is made f Quomodo potest qui panis est esse corpus Christi Consecratione consecratio igitur quibus verbis est Domini Jesu paulò post ubi venitur ut conficiatur venerabile sacramentum jam non suis sermonibus sacerdos utitur sed Christi Ambr. de sacr l. 4. c. 4. ita D. Chrys serm de Judâ prodit Vbi Christi verba deprompta fuerunt jam non panis dicitur sed Corpus appellatur Aug. de verb. dom ser 28. ita Author de Card. op Christi ap Cypr. for it is not the power of the Priest but the efficacy of the Author which makes the Elements to become sacramentally the body and blood of Christ S. Chrys hom 2. in 2. ep ad Cor. versùs fin The Roman Church indeed hath made large additions to this Primitive Form so that it is not above a tenth part of the Canon of their Mass much of the rest being the names of Saints and commemorations of the dead But these corruptions and innovations being removed our excellent Reformers have given us the Apostolical and Catholick Form alone only with a short Prayer to introduce it and because all the Communicants ought to join with the Minister therein we will proceed so to explain it as may assist every ones understanding and devotion The Analysis of the Prayer of Consecration § 2. The Prayer of Consecration hath Three Parts 1. An Introduction shewing the Reasons of this Duty because 1. We have a dying Saviour given for us Almighty God our heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy onely Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption 2. That Death is so perfect and meritorious who made there by his own oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World 3. We are commanded to remember it and did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again 2. A Petition for a Blessing on it intimating 1. The Author of this Blessing Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant 2. The occasion of desiring it considering 1. The Act which we are about to do that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine 2. The Manner we intend to do it in according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs most holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion 3. The Blessing desired may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood 3. The Consecration it self reciting 1. The time when it was instituted Who in the same night that he was betrayed 2. The Manner how it was Instituted 1. As to the Bread 1. The Preparation I. Took Bread II. And when he had given thanks III. He brake it 2. The Administration and gave it to his Disciples saying Take eat This is my Body which is given for you 3. The Direction Do this in remembrance of me 2. As to the Wine also 1. The Preparation Likewise also after Supper I. He took the Cup II. And when he had given thanks 2. The Administration He gave it to them saâ—â—ng Drink ye all of this â—or This is my Blood of the New-Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins 3. The Direction Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer of Consecration § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy only Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption Our blessed Lord hath taught us to whom we should direct this Prayer even to God the Father of whom he himself did first beg this blessing and since the foundation of this Ordinance was the Death of Jesus Christ we do most fitly begin this Prayer with a Commemoration of that Mercy for how can we more effectually move Almighty God to give his blessing to us in this Sacrament than by acknowledging his infinite love in granting so glorious a Redemption to us And he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up to death for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 He that made him a Sacrifice for us will certainly make these Symbols to communicate him to us if we be desirous and prepared to receive him It is the method of the divine bounty to give his second mercies meerly because he had freely given the first g Cui initio ratio non fuisset praestandi aliquid ei praestamus ob hoc quia praestitimus Sen. de benef l. 4. c. 15. especially when he finds the former thankfully accepted so that we cannot have a better introduction to this Petition than the acknowledgment of Gods goodness in first giving his own Son for us especially if we make it with an humble and graâ—eful heart Besides it must need be a mighty strengthening to our Faith and a great encouragement to our hope of prevailing in this request when we have first remembred so rare an experiment of Gods mercy already received Let us therefore most thankfully confess the incomparable bounty of our Heavenly Father in giving his only Son to suffer for our Redemption and then we may with more confidence beseech him to sanctifie these Elements that they may be his body and blood to us because the divine appointment hath made them to be the means whereby we may become partakers of the benefits of that Holy Passion § 4. Who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice
Deacons Secondly To provide all necessaries for divine Administrations Thirdly To feed and sustain Orphans Widows and all the Christian poor yea some of the Heathen also sometimes I might add to the reproof of our slackness that in those days it was esteemed a great punishment fit to be inflicted on Murderers Prostitutes Oppressors Excommunicate a Concil Elliberit can 28. and malicious persons b Concil 4. Carthag can 93 94. to deny them the liberty of giving Alms at the Holy Table by which they thought themselves deprived of the Communion of Saints though many now so lightly inflict this upon themselves § 3. But if neither the desire of the present nor the Example of the Primitive Church will open your hearts we shall in the next place set before you those choice and most pertinent Sentences in which God himself doth by Precept and Argument Threatnings and Promises stir you up to this necessary Duty but because they are here set down for the most part as they stand in the Order of Scripture let the following Scheme shew you the natural method of these rare Collections The Analysis or Method of the Sentences These Sentences of Scripture are either 1. Instructions shewing us 1. The end of this duty viz. the glory of God Math. 5.16 2. The objects 1. Ministers which is proved 1. By Similitudes 1 Corinth 9.7 2. By Reason 1 Cor. 9.11 3. By Example 1 Cor. 9.13 14. 4. By Precept Galat. 6.6 7. 2. Poor especially Christians Galat. 6.10 3. The manner of giving 1. As to the quantity of the gift 2 Corinth 9.6 Tobias 4.8 9. 2. As to the disposition of the giver Corinth 9.7 2. Injunctions taken from 1. A positive and strict command 1 Tim. 6.17 8 9. 2. A plain and cogent Example S. Luke 19.8 3. Exhortations as well in the 1. Affirmative because it is 1. So reasonable in it self S. Math. 7.12 1 Tim. 6.6 7. 2. So acceptable to God Hebrews 13.16 3. So profitable to us 1. Here Tobias 4.7 Psalm 41.1 2 Hereafter Mat. 6.19 20. Hebrews 6.10 Proverbs 19.17 2. As Negative declaring 1. The present sin of omitting 1 JOhn 3.9 2. The future danger S. Math. 7.21 Sect. 4. The Sentences Explained and Paraphrased § 1. Math. 5.16 Our Saviour exhorts all his Disciples to do Acts of publick Charity not to gain applause to themselves but for these two ends First to make men in love with goodness 2. To engage them to give God the glory Paraphrase All you my Disciples are like stars high useful and observed wherefore Let your Charity and goods works like light so clearly and amiably shine before men and set them so good an Example that they seeing the freeness and feeling the comfort of those your good worksi may not so much admire you for them as that Spirit of Grace by which you are acted and so may glorifie and give all praise to your Father which giveth you power to do good and that by the visible effects of his goodness they may be attracted to know and love him who ever is in Heaven and invisible otherwise to mortal Eyes § 2. Math. 6.19 20. As an encouragement hereunto we should consider that to give Alms is the wisest way of providing for our selves as appears first by the uncertainty of that which we keep and lay up here on Earth Secondly By the safety and certainty of that which by giving we lay up in Gods hands Paraphrase ver 19. Let not your care of providing for the future hinder your Charity for if you would be well provided for Lay not up the wealth which you intend for your selves nor store up those treasures upon Earth where you have not long to stay but must leave them to be enjoyed by others and where if you stay and keep them they decay for the Moth doth eat the Furniture and rust doth corrupt the Silver and Gold c S. James 5 ver 2 3. and where you will be likely to lose them sooner because Thieves may easily and do often d Callidus effractâ nummos fur auferet arcâ Quae dederis solas semper habebis opes Martial break though ssrongest Walls and closest repositories and steal away that which you had so carefully provided and on which you relyed for your future subsistence Ver. 20. Therefore do not thus think to keep your wealth But lay up that which you would preserve for your selves and your own use in a safer place namely by giving to the Poor deposite your treasures in the hands of your Father who dwells in Heaven where they will be most sure where neither Moth nor Rust from within do corrupt your gift before you come to enjoy it and where Thieves from without do not nay Satan himself cannot break through the Walls of Heaven and steal away the charitable Mans Crown of Glory How then can you dispose of your money better § 3. Math. 7.12 This Sentence was by the Jews Tobi. 4.15 and Gentiles d Quod non vis tibi fieri alteri ne facias Vid. Pub. Min. Sen. c. used to prevent injustice in the negative viz. not to do that to others which we would not have done to us But our Saviour hath improved it into the positive What you would have done do c. And thus it becomes the foundation of Charity As before he exhorted us to Alms-deeds because they were profitable so now he presses them further First As most agreeable to Reason Secondly As being the summary of Religion Paraphrase When I advise you to give I require no more than what your selves must needs think most reasonable Do but consider whatsoever that is which if you were Hungry and Sick poor and naked Captives or Oppressed you would expect or desire that Men of power and ability should do unto you for your relief namely to visit and feed relieve and cloth redeem and rescue you And Do ye if you have power and opportunity but the same things in the same manner even so unto them which are in such distress and this will be accepted and rewarded as Religious also for this is the sum of all e Math. 22.40 Rom. 13.8 Rab. Hillel cuidam petenti ut fieret Prosel dixit Quod tiib odiosum proximo ne facias Hoc enim est totum legis caetera Commentaria Talm. tract Sabbat that you are commanded to do to your Neighbour both in the Law and the Prophets even to love him as your self § 4. Math. 7.21 Lastly he that only keeps the Keys of Heaven urgeth us from the danger of resting in Prayers profession of the right Faith and receiving the Sacraments without doing act of Mercy shewing they shall be shut out from thence for all their pretences who have not been Charitable Paraphrase In the last judgment Day many will challenge my favour upon the account of their Profession but I tell you Not every one that believes the right Faith and because he
sociis pro aegrotis pro afflictis in summo pro omnibus iis qui egent Auxilio Cyril Catech. 5. exactly agreeing with this of our Church St. Chrysostome also saith That the Priest standing at the Altar did offer Prayers and Praises for all the World for those that are absent and those that are present for those that were before us and those that shall be after us while that Sacrifice is set forth Hom. 26. in Math. For which cause our Communion Office in the Rubrick before this Prayer appoints the Bread and Wine to be set upon the Table first and then stirs us all up with that solemn Let us pray for the whole Estate of Christs Church c. And if as we are worshipping without we remember him that is praying within the Vail and by imitating his general Charity do unite our supplications to his all-poweriul Intercession we may no doubt obtain the Iargest and the choicest blessings in the Treasures of Heaven §. 2. The Analysis of the Prayer for the Whole Church § 2. This Prayer as the beginning intimateth consisteth of Three main Parts with a Preface and Conclusion 1. The Preface shewing 1. To whom it is made Almighty and Everliving God 2. On what ground we make it Who by thy Holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give Thanks for all Men 2. Prayers for the Acceptance of 1. Our Alms We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our Alms and Oblations 2. Our Petitions and to receive these our Prayers which we offer to thy Divine Majesty 3. Supplications and Intercessions made 1. Generally for 1. The whole Church together Beseeching thee to inspire continually the Vniversal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord 2. All its Members And grant that all they that do confess thy Holy Name may agree in the truth of thy Holy Word and live in Vnity and godly Love 3. Especially its Temporal Governours We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours 2. Particularly for this Church viz. 1. The Governours of it 1. Temporal 1. The King Especially thy servant CHARLES our King that under him we may be godly and quietly governed 2. The Magistrates And grant unto his whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under him that c. 2. Spiritual Give grace O heavenly Father to all Bishops 2. Ministers and Curates that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth c. 3. The People 1. For the spiritual good of all 1. In these Duties And to all thy People give thy heavenly grace especially to this Congregation c. 2. In the rest of their lives truly serving thee in Righteousness and true c. 2. For the Afflicted Temporal Relief And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness O Lord to comfort and succour c. 4. Giving Thanks by 1. Praising God for the Saints departed And we also bless thy Holy Name for all thy Servants departed thâ—s Life in thy faith and fear 2. Applying it to our selves Beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that with them we may be Partakers of thy Heavenly Kingdom 5. The Conclusion of the Whole Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ his sake our onely Mediator and Advocate Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer for the whole Church Sect. 3. Almighty and Everliving God who by thy Holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give thanks for all men These two glorious Attributes of Omnipotence and Eternity so clearly distinguish God from all Creatures and are so properly the Character of an infinite Majesty that he is sometimes called the Almighty Psal 91.1 Job 21.15 and sometimes He that liveth for ever Dan. 4.34 Rev. 4.9 without any other denomination wherefore they are placed here to strike a Religious reverence into us because of his infinite perfections to whom we make this Address and yet also to confirm our Faith and excite our hope that though we petition for so many persons and so great Blessings we shall be heard by him who is mod mighty in Power and who hath through all times preserved his Church and though one Generation goeth and another cometh yet he ever liveth and is always the same But that which may still encrease our hope is that this Almighty and Everliving God is not only able to grant these Prayers but hath expresly commanded us by his Apostle St. Paul to make them 1 Ep. Timothy 2.1 I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all Men Now had he not intended to grant them he would not have enjoined us to make them shall Esther fear to speak or to speed when the King commands her to ask Chap. 5.3 or will the Lord reject that Petition which is drawn up by his own Direction Behold how closely the Church hath followed the Apostles Directory for here in this form we have as the Analysis doth manifest first Prayers that is Petitions for Good d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophil in 1 Tim. 2. then Supplications or deprecations of evil in which are comprehended Intercessions and so not named here that is desiring some good or some deliverance from evil for others and lastly giving of thanks for mercies already received And surely all the Liturgies in the World ought to be composed by this Rule as ours most plainly is for the Morning and Evening offices do chiefly consist of Prayer The Letany is in the first part Supplication in the second Intercession and this Communion office may well be accounted Eucharistical being full of Hymns of Thanksgiving This for the kinds of our Requests now the Persons for whom we are to pray are all men which surely God commands in pursuance of those Precepts of Universal Charity of which this universal intercession is an excellent indication For no man can pray for all the World if he hates any one person he that prays for all must be in Charity with all and it is also an effectual means to oblige all people to us and tame the furies of our Enemies it being barbarous and highly infamous to prosecute those that heartily pray for our good And now if our hearts be filled with true Christian Charity such as is necessary for this holy Communion we cannot but rejoice to meet so excellent an opportunity to express our desire of the welfare of all Mankind Let us then with all possible Devotion offer up this Sacrifice Love this pious and prudent intercession which is enjoined by him that purposes to grant it and printed by Charitable Souls who will infinitely rejoice in the success thereof viz. the prosperity of the whole Church § 4. We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our Alms and Oblations and to receive these our Prayers which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty It seems to have been
the Custom when any Persons brought their Offerings to the Altar for the Priest and the Pious By-standers to say The Lord accept thee Psal 20.3 4. 2 Sam. 24.23 in imitation whereof we do here beg the Divine acceptance both of our Charity and Devotion And that we may do it heartily let us consider how much they need to be accepted with favourable allowances for first If Alms and Prayers both be offered as it is pitty they should ever be parted though they do assist and recommend each other yet we do not think our gift hath obliged God to hear our Petitions nor our Petitions given such priviledge to our gift as that we may boldly challenge God upon the account of either wherefore we desire him with favourable and gracious acceptance to entertain them both Secondly If we respect the Alms alone which we have given though it be owned by Gods goodness to be offered to himself Prov. 19.17 and Math. 25.40 yet it were an arrogance not to be endured to think so Universal and excellent blessings were the purchase of our contemptible oblation which hath no proportion in its own value to them only if we present it humbly our gracious father will accept it as our acknowledgment of his goodness and a testimony of our Love Thus therefore we pray that he would accept our Alms viz. in mercy esteeming them not by their own worth but by the affection of the Givers Thirdly If we do only regard our Prayers we may soon discover how little they will avail unless the Lord accept them with grace As to those we have hitherto made if we look back upon the many wandrings and interruptions the coldness and indifferency the sin and infirmity that did mingle with them all we shall see we had need heartily to beseech God to accept them with benign interpretations and to excuse the imperfections of them But if these our Prayers be meant of those Petitions which we are now about to make in this Form let us remember how great a presumption it seems for us to ask for others nay for all people when as we are not worthy to pray for our selves yet let us humbly beg a candid acceptance of these Petitions which we offer not as if we were fit Advocates for all the World but in obedience to his Command who hath bid us thus to express our Charity § 5. Beseeching thee to inspire continually the Vniversal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord Among the several Prayers which were made at the Holy Table it was particularly enjoined that they should pray for The Holy Catholick Church extended from one end of the Earth to the other which the Lord had redeemed veith the precious blood of Christ saith the Author of the Apostolical Constitutions for the Sacrifice here commemorated was offered for the Church Acts 20.28 which is called the body of Christ Ephes 5.23 Colos 1.24 but because the body without the spirit is dead we therefore beg that as he once quickened the lump of Earth into a living Spirit by breathing into it the breath of Life so he will please to inspire his Holy Spirit into his mystical body according as he hath promised John 14.16 and that not only once John 20.22 but that it may continually be supplyed with vital influences by its Union with its Divine Head the Lord Jesus the blessed success whereof is noted in the three happy effects of this Heavenly Inspiration First That the Church will be directed into all Truth by the Spirit of Truth John 14.17 and 16.13 1 Epist 2.27 and so be preserved from Heresie Secondly That all the Members thereof shall agree in the same judgment and combine in the Unity of the Spirit Ephes 4.3 and so be secured from Schism 1 Cor. 1.10 Thirdly That the affections of all persons in this body shall be joined in perfect Concord and tied in the Bonds of Love and Peace Ephes 4.3 for the prevention of hatred wrath and emulation How passionately therefore is this blessed Spirit to be prayed for and how necessary are all and every one of these Truth without Unity is weak and troublesome Unity without Truth is dangerous and mischievous e Vnitas sine veritate proditio est D. Cypr. and both without Charity are insignifcant and cannot last long Let us consider the mischiefs which the Church hath endured by false Principles divided Judgments and opposite affections that in the apprehension of our want of this comprehensive Blessing we may most vigorously beg this continual inspiration which may make the Church happy by Unity in its Doctrine Harmony in its Discipline and Charity in the affections of all the parts and members thereof § 6. And grant that all they that do confess thy Holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word and live in Vnity and godly Love This Petition is but a further confirmation of the former for when the several Members of the Church live in Unity Peace and Love it is the best demonstration that the whole body is acted by the Divine Spirit John 13.35 Josh 22.31 for these universal mercies are to be obtained by induction of particulars and rhe internal inspiration ought to be manifested by Acts of a visible Charity Now if we want affections wherewith to make this request let us but view the miferable effects which differences in opinions and affections have produced in the Christian World consider how thereby Religion hath been disgraced and God dishonoured and all outrages have been committed the Heathens are scandalized and kept out and the Christians who are within are hindred in their Piety and our differences are made wider by arguing the more we dispute f Disputando de sacris accenditur tantùm contentio Sisin in Eccl. Hist the less we agree and while we contend for the Faith we lose our Charity But this is the fault of the men and not of the Religion for Jesus hath left us an impartial judge which is his holy Word and is Truth it self John 17.17 by which if we would without prejudice or interest suffer our Opinions to be tryed g Expellentes igitur hostile certamen ex verbis divinitùs inspiratis solutionem quaestionum mente percipiamus Constan Mag. ad Patres Nicaenos Hist trip l. 2. c. 5. it would happily compose all our controversies or where a determination is needless teach several Churches to dissent with more moderation and direct particular persons to submit in such things to their proper spiritual guides and to live in godly and Religious love with their fellow Christians h Maneat moralis benevolentia inter discordes sententiâ Lemma Cardin. Rachel If any say that there is little hope that this still voice of Gods word should be heard in the hurry of our contentions or no likelyhood of so sweet a composure I answer That however it is highly desirable and therefore ought to be prayed for and which is considerable
sees that this Plea is often feigned because few men are so intangled in the World as not to be able upon a Weeks notice to gain a day or two of leisure do not these very men contrive to have some portions of their time for Recreations and Visits for Feasts and discourse with their Friends but if their Prince or their Patron should send notice of their coming they would throw all away to prepare for them or if they received intelligence of a cheap purchase or a good Bargain a few days were easily spared to accomplish those concerns and why have they no time nor leisure for this Sacrament They could not be always so busie at the Sacrament but that instead of contriving their occasions so that they may come God knows that many chuse and design to make appointments just then that so they may have this poor Apology And for the Company that is with us if they be good they will attend us to the Holy Table if but civil they will not hinder us if they perceive we are resolved to receive but if they do keep us back they are neither our Friends nor Servants of God and so no matter for their anger nor shall we lose by their going away it is not therefore our Company that hinders us only we use it to palliate our sloth and wicked aversation Secondly It is always frivolous for if we be now so busie I wonder when we shall be at leisure the World saith not yet the flesh saith the next Sacrament but the Devil saith never and both the former come to this at last for if we will not receive till we are so at leisure as that we have no real business nor can pretend any we shall never receive at all will not Satan find us imployment or excuses think you against the next Communion if he can so keep us off we may be sure to be deprived of this Holy Feast for ever We do more easily allow an excuse now because we hope to come to the next y Qui non meretur quotidiè accipere non meretur post annum accipere Aug. in Math. 6. but how can we expect to live to another opportunity who have so lightly contemned this May not Death seize us before the next Sacrament and then we shall in vain bewail our neglect and curse that business that prevented the minding the Salvation of our Souls Thirdly It is sometimes Impious To say we will not come because we are busie is to cast a great contempt upon this Divine Mystery and is as if we said we will come when we have nothing else to do for if we know but of a Market or an Entertainment an opportunity of merriment or recreation we cannot attend at this Heavenly Feâ—st Do we not witness to all the World that we love our Body better than our Souls our Friends more than God and Earth more than Heaven If we had a due esteem for spiritual things is there any business so necessary as to repent so profitable as to make our peace with God so pleasant as to receive the pledges of his love Or do we think when we chuse the World and leave the Sacrament that the concern which we pretend can make us amends for the loss of our Souls It is plain such persons think Months and Years too little for their affairs and pleasures but as many hours are too much â—o spare to remember Christs love and that they will despise the greatest benefits to their Souls rather than lose the least earthly advantage or delight So that these excuses are so far from being accepted by God that they make the fault worse and discover the Person that useth them to be ordinarily an Hypocrite and despiser of holy things a stupid Worldly wretch and therefore either let us bring a better excuse than this or not dare to stay away for this is nothing before God who knows we might contrive our affairs so as to come if we had a desire to partake hereof § 7. If any man say I am a grievous Sinner and therefore am afraid to come Wherefore then do ye not Râ—pâ—nt and amend The ground of both these objections is an undeniable Truth viz. that unless we have leisure and time to prepare and are in some degrees penitent it is not fit to come to the Holy Sacrament but when we draw false Conclusions from these premises meerly to hide our negligence the consequence is only the more taking and more mischievous because it seems to be deduced from a Truth And if we be wise and careful of our own Salvation we must not rely upon them how specious soever they seem till we have duly examined them As for this second pretence of staying away because of our sinfulness it is alledged by three sorts of Persons First By the scrupulous who think it is humility and a high esteem of this Ordinance that makes them stay away they pretend they are unworthy of it and shew more fear of God and Reverence to the Sacrament because they do not or dare not come to it But sure as St. Ambrose notes z Sed aiunt se Domino deferre reverentiam Quis est qui magis honorat qui mandatis obtemperat an qui resistit Ambr. de poen l. 1. c. 2. it is an odd way to express their Reverence to God by flying from his embraces and living in the neglect of his plain Commands Our Saviour saith Do this Luke 22.19 and if they did honour him as the Centurions Servant did his Master they would do it Math. 8 9. Can any that truly fears Gods displeasure be so confident while they disobey a plain Precept if they were rightly informâ—d they should be as much afraid to stay from the Communion so carelesly as to come unworthily I confess these are dreadful mysteries but it is to the Impenitent and Persevering Sinner whose condition is fearful in it self and every Page in Scripture is terrible to such but why then saith the Church do ye not Repent and turn your scrupulous abstaining into a penitent address and then hâ—re is nothing dismal in this Holy Feast for there are none condemned for unworthy receiving but such as deserve it for other Iniquities and continuing in them had been sentenced if they had never come hither Bullinger complains of the Anabaptists in his time that they had made so many scruples about the Lords Supper and represented this lovely and comfortable Ordinance so horrible as to scare many good and tender Persons from the use of it a Hâc ratione Coenam domini amabilem gaudio plenam horribilem tristem faciunt ac aditum ad eam adeo coarctanâ— ut pii quoque homines ab eâ abhorreant adv Anabap lib. 6. cap. 9. But let our reverence to this holy Communion be shewed rather by diligent preparation than captious scruples for God will never cast any man into Eternal Flames for striving to
do his duty so well as he can nor did Jesus institute this Ordinance to be a snare to intangle Souls Secondly The truly humble Christian also pleads this and wishes with all his heart he durst come but he is kept off by a deep sense of his own guilt and great unworthiness To such I shall observe that this Feast was not made for Angels and glorified Saints but for lowly and Repentant Sinners it being a Seal of their Pardon or at least a most refreshing Declaration of Gods willingness to forgive for Jesus sake If their fear did only make them examine more strictly repent more heartily and come more humbly to their Saviour it were filial fear b Sapiente diffidentiâ non alia res utilior est mortalibus Eurip. Prov. 28.14 and the best disposition in the World for the Eucharist but when it drives them from Jesus c Stultus est timor reverentia minus prudens qui ad Dominum se vocantem invitantem non accedit sed procrastinat Gerson in Magnif who invites and calls all that are heavy laden Math. 11.28 it is foolish and unreasonable and is mixed with some infidelity Many of these Persons have already the first part of preparation viz. a true sorrow for sin let them therefore endeavour to add the second that is a lively Faith If they say they are so sinful they cannot believe there is any mercy for them I ask why is God so hard to Sinners whom he doth court and wooe to turn to him protesting he desires not their ruine but longs for their restauration hath he not given his Son for Sinners and sent his Ministers to them and offered his grace and glory also to engage them to return and live to be afraid to live in sin is something but to be afraid to come in when our heart is humbled for it and desirous to be quit of it is most unreasonable but let them entertain better thoughts of God and in all humility venture to approach if they stay in their sin they die and if God should reject them they can but die but oh blessed venture to commit their Souls to that infinite mercy which never did cast off any in this Case they that are Sinners and are sensible thereof either at present or quickly may be fit to come to this Celestial Banquet therefore let not the pretence of former sins keep any back who are now humbled for them Thirdly Those who live in open and notorious sins do also make this excuse that they dare not receive the Sacrament because they are so grievous Sinners But to these we cannot give so gentle an answer For though they must not come so long as they are Drunkards and Adulterers Swearers or malicious yet because they are thus by their wilful wickedness it doth not extenuate but aggravate the Crime of absenting themselves because they have made themselves unfit Were it not a strange excuse in a Jewish Priest daily to touch dead bodies and so plead he was excused from attending on the Sacrifice would he not deserve a double punishment both for wilful defiling himself and then for making that a pretence to neglect his Duty It seems these men know they are Sinners but thâ—y make a mischiâ—vous use of their sight of their sins viz. not to excite them to Repentance but to shelter them in omissions oâ— Gods commands and spend the time which God gives them for Repentance in making vain Apologies And yet some of these known Sinners do perswade thâ—mselves that they reverence these mysteries and dare not prophane them by coming to them but nothing is more false for if they fear to offend God why are they not afraid to live in abominable sins which he hates Is there more danger in receiving the Sacrament than in being drunk and adulterous violent or revengeful or do they imagine nothing will damn them but this Holy Food Alas it is not staying from the Communion that will keep off Damnation but a sincere and speedy Repentance Hence the Church hearing them confess they are Sinners asks them sharply why then do they not Repent for then they might come hither without danger and truly if they repent not they shall perish although they stay away so that if they could consider God hath brought them into a happy necessity of repenting for without that if they come to the Altar they die as coming unworthily if they forbear and continue in sin they die also so that there is but one way left We do not exhort men therefore to come in their sins but to cast away their sins that they may come worthily and therefore we give them notice so long before If they say a week is too little time to do this great work of Repentance in let them ask themselves why they put it off till Death when perhaps they may not have an hour and can such Persons be sure that their Death is not nearer than this next Sacrament If they think it be too sudden to resolve to leave their Sins let them blush to say they are not yet resolved and beware that the time do not come when they shall wish they had done it sooner It is possible that scandalous and habitual Sinners cannot be fit against the next Communion but then they must lament their unfitness and spend all the time they can to be prepared for the next after and only forbear for once that they may come with more Comfort ever after And to plead they are sinful and never strive to amend but to neglect Receiving from time to time is a Declaration that men have sinned and will sin and intend not to be troubled with Repentance or tyed to a religious course of life and therefore they avoid this Sacrament as a thing which is inconsistent with their purposes of going on in sin Wherefore neither is this excuse sufficient to hold us back § 8. When God calleth you are ye not ashamed to say you will not come when ye should return to God will ye excuse your selves and say ye are not ready Consider earnestly with your selves how little such feigned excuses will avail before God There are two sorts of those who absent themselves from the Eucharist those that are so bold as wholly to deny to come at all and those who more modestly put it off till another time the first are arrogant and the second trifling but neither the confidence of those nor yet the policy of these can excuse them to Almighty God First Those who say plainly they will not must consider it is intolerable insolence thus to Answer their supream King and Master our Lord Jesus doth expresly bid us to do this Luke 22.19 1 Cor. 11.25 and under the name of Wisdom earnestly invites us to this Feast Prov. 9.2 3 4 5 c. he intreats us to accept his love Revel 3.20 the Spirit saith come and the Church saith come Revel 22.17 The Primitive Councils
disowned him from being a Christian who did not receive at least three times a year d Inter Catholicos non est annumerandus qui temporibus Paschae Pentecostes Nativitatis Domini non Communicaverit Concil Ellib and of old they Excommunicated those who coming to the Sermon went out before the Communion e Laici fideles Ecclesiam ingredientes scripturas audientes si non permaneant in Precatione sacrâ Communione sâ—gregantur Can. Apost 9. And our own Church doth by her Canons strictly enjoin this Duty and by her Ministâ—rs frequently exhort us to it The practice of the best Christians of our own and elder times also do all declare it is a duty imposed by God and are we not Ashamed to tell God and Men to their Faces we will not after so many Mâ—ssâ—ges and Calls and Commands from Christ and his Church do we dare give impudent denials take heed and consider and with the stubborn Son in the Gospel though you have said obstinately you would not yet now repent and come and wipe off your evil words by better Deeds hereafter Secondly They who defer their coming upon pretence they are not ready must consider this excuse can never serve but once and must not be used by any man that hath not begun to prepare himself for otherwise they may put it off thus for ever till the Bridegroom comes and then they shall have the fate of the foolish Virgins Math. 25.6 7. c. If they are not ready for the Sacrament much less are they ready to dye and yet they do not live in safety till they are prepared for Death and so had need immediately to begin have they not reason to set upon their work who have much to do and little time Our being ready is a good Argument why we should speedily and diligently prepare but no Apology for our staying away and truly he that will not labour to fit himself for this Sacrament will scarce repent upon any other occasion and he that often says he is not ready thus to meet Christ at his first Coming will be strangely surprized at his second and doubtless be as unready then Besides are we not told of these holy times long enough before had we any love for Jesus we should begin early to adorn our selves as that Jewish Doctor who put on his best habit on Friday in the Afternoon and sat longing for the Sun-setting the time when the Jewish Sabbath begins and said Veni Sponsa Come my Spouse for so he called that Sacred Day The Church History relates that St. Catherine was wont to long for the Communion as the Child for its Mothers Breasts but we are glad of an excuse to shift it off and neither desire it nor prepare for it on purpose that we may say we are not ready These are fine pretences to stop the mouths and blind the Eyes of Men and serve us to cozen our selves with but they are vain and insignificant before him that looks through these thin Veils and sees other Causes which keep us away from the Altar which we would gladly conceal for God perceives that many which make these excuses do really forbear the Communion either because 1. They love sin and hate Virtue and resolve not to be engaged against the one nor obliged too strongly to the other or Secondly They are unwilling to take that pains which a serious Repentance and a due preparation do require or Thirdly They harbour some secret malice and either are too proud to ask forgiveness or too revengeful to forgive And therefore let no man think these or the like empty Apologies will excuse him at Gods Tribunal § 9. They that refused the Feast in the Gospel because they had bought a Farm or would try their Yokes of Oxen or because they were Married were not so excused but were counted unworthy of the Heavenly Feast If all this do not effectually enough represent the danger of relying upon such pretences here is added a plain Example in a Parable spoken by Christ himself Luke 14.18 19 c. which admirably sutes this very Case I doubt not but those Guests thought their excuses as fair as we can do ours And when they had alledged such weighty and important impediments they did as little fear the Lords anger as we are wont to do Yet we see he was very wroth Luke 14.21 Math. 22.7 and because some preferred their profit others their pleasure before his noble Feast he blotted them out of the list of his Friends and resolved never to invite them any more Let us beware by so fair a warning and not dare upon the like accounts to reject this Heavenly Feast for in so doing we reject the memorial of Christs Death the Symbols of his Body and blood and the pledges of his grace and love and do as directly refuse Christ himself as we can do upon Earth because there is no Ordinance wherein he is so really present and by which he is so surely conveyed to the believing Soul how fair soever our Plea is we seem to judge our selves unworthy of Eternal Life Acts 13.46 and God may not only sentence us as unworthy of this Holy Feast but resolve we that value the enjoyment of him so little on Earth are unfit to partake of the f Nec sibi posthà c de eo honore blandiantur quo seipsos indignos judicaverunt Cod. de dign Celestial Banquet or to enter into the Mansions of Bliss for they that will not remember his sufferings ought not to share in his glories It seems we think it a small punishment to be counted unworthy of the Sacrament for we inflict this upon our selves in our abstaining from it but if God do esteem us unworthy ever to have the grace of this Sacrament offered to us again for our slight refusals the doom is very sad and without a speedy repentance is the Harbinger of a final rejection from which God deliver us § 10. I for my part shall be ready and according to mine Office I bid you in the Name of God I call you in Christs behalf I exhort you as you love your own Salvation tâ—at ye will be partakers of this holy Communion Our Lord appointed two of his Apostles to prepare the Passover Luke 22.8 as an Emblem of their Duty in after Ages to provide for this Holy Supper For to them and their Successors he hath enjoined the care of its Administration wherefore it concerns the Ministers to take heed least by too seldom and too few Communions or too short notice they be not the occasion of the peoples abstinence for then they cannot justly reprove them g Serò advenis inquit Pomponius ad Ciceronem Minimè seró respondit ille nihil enim hîc paratum video Plutar. Apotheg and they bring the guilt of this neglect upon themselves Our Lord hath made them Stewards of his Houshold and they must take care to give them
their meat in due season Math. 24.45 For this Cause the Antient Church appointed the Priests in great Cities to have a Communion every Day so that devout people might always find the Table spread whensoever they hungred after this Bread of Life and in such places our own Church still makes monthly preparations and also sends the Minister to the Altar upon every great Festival on purpose to mind the people that he is ready if they were so also But when the Table is actually spread methinks we should need no other Oratory than those holy Symbols to invite us did we know our need of that food and were we acquainted with the pleasures of that Celestial Banquet we should be attracted with the very sight of the Elements and long yea languish to participate of them and sure they upbraid those wretches who go away and turn their backs upon them but there are some who cannot or will not hear this still voice and therefore the Minister doth once again ex officio invite us in the Name of God who is the great Master of this Feast and in the behalf of Christ who is the precious food there provided beseeching us that we will not by neglecting affront the great God and slight his dear Son and further exhorting us by the most cogent Argument viz. for our own sakes as we love our Souls as we fear to be Condemned and wish for Salvation that we will come Cicero thought a man might as soon run away from himself as lose the desire after those things which conduced to his own happiness h Prius à se poterit quispiam discedere quam appetitum earum rerum quae sibi conducunt amittere lib. de fin 5. But we have some so wretched who know there is no Salvation but by the Sacrifice of Christs Death and no so proper and ready way to get an interest in that Sacrifice as to eat of the remainders thereof in Faith and yet are hardly perswaded by the most pressing invitations But let us Consider that by frequent and long omissions our devotion grows flat our purposes wavering our Faith weak and our Corruptions strong the Enemy gets ground of us and the Spirit begins to withdraw from us i Mens deficit quamnon recepta Eucharistia erigit ac accendit Cypr. Ep. 54. ad Cor. so that if we would go safely to Heaven we must not too long neglect this holy Sacrament § 11. And as the Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his Soul by Death upon the Cross for your Salvation so it is your duty to receive the Communion in remembrance of the Sacrifice of his Death as he himself hath Commanded Although we be by Gods Embassadors strongly intreated to come to this Holy Feast yet we must not think it left to our choice to hearken or to disobey for if they should not invite us we are obliged to come hither by the strongest Bonds of reason and duty For if Jesus thought our Salvation worth his Death do we think it too dear of a little preparation is he willing to bleed for our sins and are we not willing to weep for them shall he yield up his Soul in the midst of the most dolorous agonies and will not we yield up our Lusts and come to remember his love in this Holy Sacrament Our Saviour hath satisfied the divine Justice obtained a Pardon and done his part towards our Salvation but our part is still behind viz. to sue out this pardon in the Commemoration of his Death and in this Communion of his Body and blood to apply his merits by Faith to our own Souls And that we should Do this was one of his last and dying Commands Luke 22.19 1 Cor. 11.25 and is it not our duty to obey it How wretched then are we if we refuse to kneel and extend our hand for this Pardon which was purchased at so vast a price How unworthy are we to have any part in this Redemption if we disobey so small a Command and deny so easie a Request of so dear a Master His last Precept was to keep the memorial of the last Act he did for us on the Earth and sure it is our duty never to let that be forgotten § 12. Which if ye shall neglect to do Consider with your selves how great injury ye do to God and how sore punishment hangeth over your Heads for the same If we be resolved in spite of all this still to neglect this divine Ordinance the Minister can do no more than sadly tell us First the grievousness of our sin Secondly The greatness of our danger First We are desired to consider the sin which is called a great injury to God even as we esteem it to our selves when our Guests slight our invitation § 4. 'T is true we cannot properly injure God Job 35.6 by taking away any of his essential happiness Yet because we owe Obedience to him as our Soveraign Lord we are said to wrong him of his due k Debitum contrahitur quoties delinquitur quod debitum solvi in gehennâ quandoque necesse est Aug. Serm. 126. de Temp. Creditor est qui minus quam quod suum est habet vel voluntario ut in mutuatione vel involuntariò ut in Criminibus Vide Grot. de sat Chris c. 2. when we refuse to observe his Commands And in this Case let us consider before we resolve not to come that hereby we shall rob our God of this solemn part of his worship reject a plain and loving command despise the Passion of his dear Son slight his provision refuse his invitation grieve his Servants by such rash and obstinate denials and perhaps bring an evil report upon the Ordinance it self when men see we must be dragged to it The Sacrifices of the Erecynian Venus came of their own accord to the Altar saith Aelian hist anim l. 10. c. 1. But we are forced hither as to a slaughter house is not this a great injury to the Master of this divine Feast But secondly The mischief in fine lights upon our own heads for no man provoketh this King but in so doing he sinneth against his own Soul Prov. 20.2 God is just as well as merciful and severe to revenge the abuses of his love He will not always pass by this scorn nor put up these affronts but punish us perhaps temporally with losses and crosses sickness or an evil Death which careless neglecters deserve as well as unworthy receivers 1 Cor. 11.30 for so those Israelites who laughed at Hezekiahs invitation to the Passover 2 Chron. 30.10 were carryed into a sad Captivity within two years after 2 Kings 18.9 And we must not think presently we are safe because as yet none of these Judgments have seized on us for they may hover over our heads as the Arrow over Julians and at last pierce us to the heart but if we do escape a while l Si nunc omne
1. ALthough it be a great satisfaction to him that Ministers to see Gods Table well furnished yet because he seeks the profit of the Communicants as well as his own pleasure he not only endeavours by the former Exhortation to encrease their numbers but by this to rectifie their dispositions that they may be not only many but good And howsoever this hath been done before they came to the Feast it will seem necessary to do it again now they are come if we consider either the danger of unworthy receiving or the dignity of this Ordinance which is made more reverend by being veiled with many Coverings The Aegyptians admitted none to converse with their Priests and to know the secrets of their mysteries till they had been initiated by abstinence patience and many labours a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porphyr de abst l. 4. supposing they would learn to value them by the difficulty of access And so those who entred into the Persian Rites of Mithra b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Naz. Orat. 1. in Jul. were to be first approved by 80. degrees of Tryal to be unpassionate and holy Persons c Nonnus Synag hist c. 5. The like difficulty of acceptance was practised in the entertainment of Scholars into Pythagoras his School d Jamblic l. 1. c. 17. and in the admission of Novices into the Monastical Societies of old e Cassian instit l. 4. c. 3. And can we then think it too much to pass one Exhortation more before we eat of this Celestial Banquet We derive this necessary part of the Office from the Greek Church where the Guests being placed the Priest standing on the steps to be seen of all stretched out his hand and lifted up his voice in the midst of that profound silence inviting the worthy and warning the unworthy to forbear f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost hom in 9. ad Heb. Ethic. Which if it were necessary in those blessed days how much more requisite is it in our looser Age wherein men have learnt to trample upon Church Discipline and to come out of Custom at set times whether they be prepared or no Every one hopes to pass in the Croud but knowing the terror of the Lord we do again and again beseech our people diligently to prepare themselves before he come to try them And that this Exhortation may be effectual to this purpose this following Account may assist our devout improvement thereof The Analysis of the Exhortation at the Communion § 2. In this Exhortation we are incited to Two general Duties 1. Self-examination by 1. Propounding it more largely and shewing 1. The Persons enjoyned Dearly beloved in the Lord ye that mind to come c. 2. The Authority enjoyning it must consider how S. Paul c. 3. The Duty to be done diligently to try and examine themselves 4. The Time of doing it before they presume to eat c. 2. Pressing it with reasons taken from 1. The Benefits â—f worthy Receiving viz. 1. Participation of Christ For as the benefit is great if- c for then we spiritually eat the flâ—sh of Christ c. 2. Union with him then we dwell in Christ we are one with Christ and c. 2. The danger of unworthy Receiving as to 1. The Sin of it so is the danger great if we for then we are guilty of the body and c. 2. The Punishment following upon it we eat and drink our own damnation we kindle Gods wrath against us c. 3. Parting it by an Exhortation unto the special Duties of 1. Repentance Iudge therefore your selves Brethren Repent you truly for your sins c. 2. Faith Have a lively and stedfast faith c. 3. Reformation Amend your lives 4. Charity and be in perfect charity with all men So shall ye be meet c. 2. Giving of Thanks assisting us 1. By way of Consideration declaring 1. The Necessity of it And above all things ye must give most humble and hearty thanks 2. The Object of it to God the Father the Son c. 3. The Subject of it for the Redemption of the world by c. 4. The Particular Reasons as well 1. Why for this Redemption because of 1. The difficulty of the Work who did humble himself even unto the death c. 2. The Persons for whom for us miserable sinners who lay in darkness c. 3. The Ends for which it was wrought that he might make us the children of God and exalt us c. 2. Why in this Sacrament because of 1. The Reasons of its Institution And to the end that we should always remember 1. the exceeding great Love c. 2. and the innumerable Benefits which c. 2. The Author He hath instituted c. 3. His Design therein as pledges of his Love and for to our great and endless comfort 2. By way of Practice in a Form shewing 1. The Object of our Praise To him therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost 2. The Manner how to offer it both 1. In Word let us give as we are most bounden continual thanks 2. In Deed by 1. Resignation submitting our selves wholly to his holy Will c. 2. Obedience and studying to serve him in true holiness all the days of our life Amen A Practical Discourse upon this Exhortation § 3. Dearly beloved in the Lord ye that mind to come to the holy Communion of the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour Christ must consider how St. Paul exhorteth all persons diligently to try and examine themselves before they presume to eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. When the Guests of this blessed Feast are now drawing near and the King of Heaven is approaching to survey them The Minister out of a peculiar affection to those who have obeyed his Masters invitation salutes them in St. Pauls phrase Rom. 16.8 with Dearly beloved in the Lord and in the stile of the same Apostle minds them of the greatness of that work which they go about even to share in the Communion of Christs body and blood 1 Cor. 10.16 Their intentions are commendable and it is pitty but such pious purposes should have their desired success Wherefore he doth once more warn them to examine themselves before they eat a duty enjoined not by humane Authority nor prescribed meerly as the advice of a Friend but bound upon all by St. Paul himself and by the Spirit of God in him 1 Cor. 11.28 Let a man c. saith he that is every man examine himself and so let him eat c. intimating that none might eat without this renewed Examination and because the Discipline of the Corinthian Church was much impaired by the Schisms then within it the Apostle obligeth every man to do it to himself and that not with a slight inquiry but so throughly to search his own heart that he might be able to judge g Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
so afterwards that we may retain the benefits which we have received as the more particular consideration thereof will shew The Analysis of the First Prayer in the Post-Communion § 2. This First Prayer consisteth of Three Parts 1. A Supplication to the Father 1. For the Acceptance of our Sacrifice of Praise O Lord our heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly Goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving 2. For the Benefits of the Oblation made by Jesus Christ Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the Merits and Death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may receive remission of our Sins and all other benefits of his Passion 2. An Oblation of our selves by 1. A solemn Dedication 1. The thing dedicated And here we offer and present unto thee O Lord our selves our souls and bodies 2. The end of the Dedication to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto thee 2. A Petition for Grace to make good this Vow Humbly beseeching thee that all we who are Partakers of this Holy Communion may be full filled with thy Grace and heavenly Benediction 3. An Act of Humility expressed in 1. Acknowledging our unworthiness And although we be unworthy through our manifold Sins to offer unto thee any Sacrifice 2. Petitioning to be mercifully accepted yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden Duty and Service not weighing our Merits but pardoning our Offences 3. A Doxology to the whole Blessed Trinity Through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost all Honour and Glory be unto thee O Father Almighty world without end Amen A Practical Discourse upon the first Prayer with Meditations after the Communion § 3. O Lord our Heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving The devout Soul being newly refreshed with these Heavenly Comforts and even ravished with joy to find him whom she loved and longed after desires now an opportunity to express her gratitude But alas what have we to return we can make no requital only we must acknowledge the favour and offer up a Sacrifice of Praise for it and since this is all we can do we had need do this very well but if we reflect upon the manner even of this Oblation we shall easily perceive there have been many defects so that without a merciful acceptance it could never avail us in the sight of God how apparent is it that we have not praised God so affectionately and unfeignedly as so infinite a mercy doth deserve Wherefore if we be really his humble Servants the first thought in our hearts and the first word in our mouths will be the confession of our failings even in the whole office from the beginning to the end for the Ancients called the whole Communion the Sacrifice of Praise c Ecclesia immolat in Corpore Christi sacrificium laudis Aug. l. 1. in advers legis cap. 20. as our Church here doth whereas the Romanists only call it a Sacrifice d Praesta ut hoc sacrificium quod oculis tuae Majestatis indignus obtuli Missal Rom. without any other addition but it is not the Sacrifice of Christ which we here speak of for that is always pleasing to God and was absolutely perfect but it is our own Peace-offering in Commemoration thereof in which there have bâ—en many failings and therefore we desire and beg that it may be accepted in mercy so that our infirmities may not deprive us of the benefit and the comfort thereof to which purpose let us thus Meditate When I compare thy acts with mine Holy Jesus I am exceedingly ashamed to behold so vast a disproportion thou givest me thy merits and graces thy life and thy love at present and hast promised thy Kingdom to me in reversion and I have scarce returned this with the intire devotion of one half hour Oh how little is my obdurate heart affected with the sense of my own guilt the fears of the divine wrath or the apprehensions of thy sufferings Yet Lord I do desire and did endeavour to praise thee so that I hope thou wilt consider my infirmities with much compassion and measure my services not by the exactnâ—ss of the performance but by the sincerity of my wishes so shall I be accepted before thy Heavenly Father and by the mercy of that acceptance be obliged unto thee for ever § 4. Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the merits and death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of his Passion Our Heavenly Father doth not at any time require our praises meerly for the advancement of his own glory but that we may thereby be the more fit to receive greater benefits from him e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ch. in Gen. hom 52. thus in the design of this holy Sacrament he doth not only intend it as a Sacrifice of Praise for the Death of Christ but as a means to convey the blessings thereof to us Wherefore we must in the next place petition that we may find the happy effects of our Lords Passion and then we shall have good grounds to turn this memorial thereof into Eucharist and Thanksgiving We have beheld that sacred body broken and that precious blood spilt in a mystery which is sufficient to attone our sins and the sins of the whole Church and we have now perceived our own need of mercy and we are in perfect Charity with all Christian people so that it is now most proper for us to pray that that so excellent a price may not be paid in vain so glorious an offering may not want its due effects But that by this Sacrifice as the meritorious and moving cause and by our Faith therein as the instrumental we and the whole Church may find remission at the hands of God This is the great end of our Communicating and if we would most earnestly intreat for it we may thus enlarge our selves Gracious Lord we have beheld the efficacious and all-saving Sacrifice which thy Son hath offered for us we have remembred it and blessed thy name for it as well as we were able though not so highly as we are obliged to do f Gratias agimus Deus omnipotens non quantum debemus sed quantum possumus Liturg. S. Clement For the benefits thereof are inestimable Oh let them not all be lost unto us for want of Faith to believe and receive them There is no want of merit in Jesus to deserve no want of mercy in thee to bestow remission Oh let there not want in us or in any of those for whom Christ died grace to accept this Pardon Behold Lord how we struggle under a load of guilt
attended with miraculous effects which have been ceased above twelve hundred years though it impart no gifts yet it communicates Graces which are much more desireable if hereby we gain the Defence of Gods peculiar protecting hand and the influence of his Spirit that we may understand our duty and practise it so as to go on safely to the possession of Eternal Life we shall have cause to rejoice that we came to it and be obliged to give glory to Jesus who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever one God World without end Amen §. 9. The general Collect and final Blessing Both these Parts of this Office are expounded in the end of the Communion Service The Collect is added here because the Antients believed that Confirmation was a Preservative to both Body and Soul a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Cyril Catech. mystag 3. so that after it we may fitly pray That God may direct sanctifie and govern both our Souls and Bodies so that we may not stray from his Commandments and we make it a new Prayer if we say it with a new Devotion and apply it to this Occasion The Blessing concludes all Offices and particularly ought to end this in regard it is the Epitome of the whole Administration which is only a more solemn Benediction and therefore we must most humbly receive it and most firmly believe it that it may be made good unto us Amen The Conclusion Thus we have represented a Rite in it self Primitive and Pious in its Administration pure and separate from all that Superstition had added to it in its End so excellent that it is commended by Christians of all perswasions and yet alas however it comes to pass too much neglected to the grief of all good Men the scandal of the Church and the great detriment of Religion Wherefore we cannot leave it till we have pressed the constant observation thereof The Romanists indeed pretend to prefer it before Baptism b Hoc sacramentum perfectivum esse Baptismi asserit Aquin. sum 3. p. qu. 72. art 9. majori veneratione venerandum tenendum quam Baptismus Dist 5. de consec can de his but must we give it no honour because they give it too much It is not in our Church set to vye with Baptism but as of old appointed to pursue the same design and ordered to make the Baptismal Vow more solemn and more regarded We do not absolutely deny Salvation to all that want it but we judge it a great sin to despise it or wilfully to neglect it And we think it highly concerns the Church and every particular Person to be careful it be not omitted and that for these Reasons I. Because it tends very much to advance the knowledge of Christian People who are more obliged to teach and to learn when so solemn an Account is to be given II. It conduceth to the encrease of Piety also and lays fresh engagements upon every one to avoid Evil and to do good obtaining withal the Spirit for their assistance therein III. It is an excellent means to preserve the Churches Peace and may prevent many from falling into Schism and Heresie by laying a good foundation at first and by rescuing the younger from the dire misfortune of Evil guides IV. It doth effectually confute the clamours of Anabaptists against our custom of baptizing Children before they can understand for if this be added we have the benefit of Baptism against the danger of Death and yet the same security they pretend to who defer it till riper years V. Hereby we shall agree with the Apostles with the Catholick Church in all Ages with all those wise and holy Men who have enjoined and practised this Rite and believed great benefits were received thereby Which Considerations I hope will have their due effect upon all that are concerned And I. That the Reverend Fathers of the Church will imitate the Piety of the Primitive Bishops and not esteem it a trouble to go into the Country to confirm c Non quidem abnuo hanc esse Ecclesiarum consuetudinem ut ad eos qui longe in minoribus urbibus per Presbyteros Diaconos baptizati sunt Episcopus ad invocationem Sancti Spiritûs manum impositurus excurrat Hieron since they will thereby bring so much good to the Church beget in the minds of the People a singular affection to their Persons and a great Veneration of their Office II. That Parents and Godfathers who stand obliged by the Baptismal Vow will be careful to obtain a discharge from the Bonds they have entred and when they have done their Duty in fitting their Charge for Confirmation I hope they will not repine at a little trouble and charge but rather go to the Bishop than want so great a benefit to themselves and to the Child III. I hope that Ministers will be ready to promote it considering that when they have fitted their Catechumens for this Office and brought them to it they are excellently prepared to receive the benefit of all their after labours and may well hope to give a good account to God of them Finally I wish this serious Advice may encourage all persons who want Confirmation of what Age or condition soever to desire it and wait for an opportunity of it and that it may direct those who come to it to perform their part acceptably and so as to gain the benefits of it And also that it may warn all who have been Confirmed To keep the grace thereof as St. Cyril speaks intire and without spot in their heart daily encreasing in good works and walking in all well-pleasing to the Author of their Salvation Christ Jesus to whom be glory for ever and ever d Cyril Catech. mystag 3. For nothing can more adorn this excellent Rite than the holy Conversation of those who have been partakers thereof FINIS A TABLE Of the chief Heads in the Communion Office Of the Communion Office in general the Analysis of the whole Office PART I.  SECT Parag. Page Of the more general Preparation to the Holy Communion    Of the Lords Prayer I. § 1. 1 the Paraphrase  2 2 Of the Collect for Purity II. 1 3 the Analysis  2 4 the Practical Discourse  3 c. 4 c. the Paraphrase  6 8 Of the Ten Commandments III. 1 9 the Analysis  2  the Practical Discourse containing directions and heads of Self-Examination  3 c. 11 Of the two Collects for the King IV. 1 32 the Analysis of the first  2 34 the Practical Discourse  3 c. 35 the Paraphrase  7 39 the Analysis of the second  9 42 the Paraphrase  10 ib. Of the Epistle and Gospel V. 1 43 and of the Nicene Creed  2 46 the Paraphrase of it  4 50 Of the Offertory and Sentences VI. 1 53 the Analysis of the Sentences  3 58 Discourses