they who sow in tears shall reap in joy and be made partakers of the Anthems of Angels and glorified Spirits through Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem for Monday The CREATION I. THE Mighty God long in his Palace dwelt Blest without want of other Things E're Time had plum'd his Silver Wings Or Heaven and Earth the powerful Voice had felt For ever happy in themselves alone Were th' undivided Three and One E're sensual Transports or voluptuous Arts were known II. But when the great Prolifick Word went forth Then every Thing began to be The Light broke from Obscurity Light which we use but do not know its worth The spacious Tent of Heaven was smoothly spread Like Curtains to the Earths Green Bed With most Illustrious Torches richly furnished III. The Waters which before made one great Deep And like a deluge did appear Floating confusedly every where Aw'd by th' Almighty Word their distance keep Part into th' Earth's vast hollows did retreat While the rest in Heaven fix their seat But when the Showers fall these distant Brethren meet IV. In Heaven was plac't the Prince of Day the Sun Adorn'd with Beams of strongest Light While over the dull shades of Night The Stars bear rule and over them the Moon Who does not only o're the night preside But guards the motion of the Tide In which the turbulent Whale and all the lesser Fry do glide V. The Earth was in her loveliest Verdure clad Her Fruits and Blossoms kindly grew VVater'd with soft and balmy dew The Forrests smil'd and every Field was glad Anumerous Herd cover'd this Fertile Space The Beasts of a more generous race And those that were for burthens made here found a place VI. In the expanded Air upon the VVing The Fowls did range of which some flew For shelter others did pursue Some hoarsly sereecht others did sweetly sing In that vast Region Lightnings first take Fire There VVinds and Thunders do conspire And Comets do forebode when Princes shall expire VII When all things thus were order'd God made man Whose Ornaments of Soul and meen To Heaven declar'd him to be kin At first view all the Creatures round him ran Lord of the World was Adam at his birth His Territory the whole Earth And nought was in his Kingdom heard but innocent mirth VIII In Eden did this mighty Prince keep house Eden where every thing was gay And all the Year did look like May. There did he fall in love with Eve his spouse But Heavens first blessing straight became a curse Of all his Evils she the source Enticing him to fall who could not fall by Force IX Thus shorter was deluded Adam's Reign Than Persian Kings their Slaves allow Whose three days Royalty's a show Which ended the mock Monarch must be slain The difference lies in this the Persian slave Unwillingly goes to his Grave But man refus'd to live when Mercy would him save Tuesday before EASTER THis Day was called the Holy and great Tuesday or the third Day of the great Week for the more solemn Festivals of the Christian Church never wanted their Appendages they had their Antecedent Fasts as Advent was to Christmas and the Lent to Easter and perhaps this was the Reason why the Rogation week preceeded Whitsuntide whereas else the whole fifty Days ought to have been days of Exultation and rejoicing as also after the great Festivals succeeded the Octaves which were eight days of Gladness attendant on the extraordinary Solemnity when by the Laws of the * Constit Ap. li. 8. c. 33. Church and by the Authority of the ‖ V. Scalig de Emend Temp. p. 730. Epiph. Haer. 70. Empire servants were exempted from Work and all People kept Holyday according to a very Ancient Practice Now as the whole forty days of Lent were a preparation to the Paschal Festival so the Offices suited to that time of self-denial were doubled on this last week that put a period to that Fast and that all such devout and mortified Penitents might not want the ghostly comfort which was requisite on such an occasion on this week * Cypr. Ep. 56. the absent Bishops returned to their Churches whatever had caused their absence that they might give the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist to their People and that now * Conc. Nic. c. 5. also they might hold their yearly Synods at the time appointed that all disputes might be quieted all quarrels reconciled all abuses rectified and all hinderances removed that might obstruct a general receipt of the Holy Communion And because this Week was called the Passion Week therefore in the Ancient Church as in ours the History of our Blessed Redeemers sufferings as it is recorded by the Four Evangelists was read to the People that nothing relating to that performance on our behalf might be omitted and that the Congregation might be continually put in mind of their obligations to their Saviour The Epistle Rom. 8.1 THere is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The Gospel John 14 15. IF ye love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not neither knows him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you yet a little while and the world sees me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also The MEDITATION IT is the great Honour as well as the Happiness of the Christian World that the good things which our Religion promises its Proselites stoop not to our senses but gratifie our Reasons for were Pleasure all the Felicity of a pious Man how much better were it to be a Bruit since the greatest Epicure never lived so voluptuously as the Beasts that perish they eat they sleep with an uncontroulable freedom and whenever their inclinations lead them to it they live above the restraint of Laws and whatever they desire they pursue without the fear of being countermanded in the Attempt by reason or scourged afterwards by the lashes of Conscience they are under no necessity of Building Planting or Sowing the liberal Provisions which Nature makes them are both their Palace and their Feast they do not foresee dangers nor make their lives uneasie by studying to prevent them nor do they
Institution of the Blessed Sacrament The Crucifixion And the Descent into Hell On this Week the Church abstain'd from all Sensualities and Worldly Pleasures lived upon a dry Diet their Sorrow was deep their Prayers intense their Fastings strict and their Watchings frequent and for this Reason I have after the pattern of V. To. 5. p. 524. c. St. Chrysostome in his Homilies prefac'd every days Devotion with an account of the time and the Primitive practices on that day that the Ignorant and Unlearned might know the reason why such days are set apart by the Church of God as being well assured that the Lents and Festivals of the Greek Church are one of the most succesful means next the Blessing of God of maintaining the Christian Religion among them in despite of all the Mahometan Artifices and cruelty to ruin it I have also besides an account of the Ancient Usages relating to the Holy Sacrament subjoyned an Epistle and Gospel Meditation Prayer and Anthem suited to the time tho not so fitted to every particular day of the Great Week but that they may be more or less made use of according to the Capacities and Discretion of the Devout Christian on any day of that Week or on any other Week of the Year and for Friday I have annex'd a method of Self-Examination together with a Litany and other Collects which also may be used on Wednesday or on any other or every day of the Week because that day is a fasting-day through the whole Church of God and the time when our Holy Redeemer was Crucified upon whose Death depends all the Honour and Happiness of the Christian World Nor have I inserted a Litany of my own as if I were so vain to prefer it to that incomparable Litany which our Church enjoyns but because there seems to be a need of a more particular Deprecation of Sins in the Closet than in the publick Congregation And here I solemnly protest That none of these private Offices can attone for the neglect of the Publick Service which the Church enjoyns every day of this Week but that every good man ought to frequent the House of God and to be present at all the Hours of Prayer which if he neglects I cannot see how he can expect the Divine Blessing on his private Devotion In the Circumstantials of which private Worship I have instanc'd in those particulars which many good Christians to whom this Book may be serviceable cannot enjoy but every mans prudence must be his guide in such Cases and he who hath not a Closet so furnish'd as is advised ought to take care that he do not altogether want a place to pray in and God will accept of him not according to what he hath not but according to what he hath Here also I cannot but remark and censure a most unbecoming practise of our Dissenting Brethren who in despite of our Saviour's command that we should pray in secret chuse their Closets commonly next the Street and when they are in it Pray aloud tho alone that all who pass by at least that are in the house may hear them which what it can mean but a design to be heard of men I cannot understand for if they heartily confess their sins and as I think it ought to be in private Prayers by name and with all the Aggravating Circumstances that have attended their Transgressions What Temptations are such People under either to hide their sins from God that the World may not know them or else so to acknowledg them as not to be ashamed to continue in them because those whose Vices are notoriously known generally take shelter in impudence But how unhappily such men do disserve the interests of Religion is not the Subject of this Preface only I cannot forbear remembring some few things that relate to this Sacrament such as their total neglect of the Eucharist in so palpable a manner that one of their most Eminent Preachers confesses that he never gave it in 18 Years their admitting none to the Participation of the Mysteries but those who were in Church-covenant with themselves as if there were any other Church-covenant besides that of Baptism or any other Church-membership but that of the Holy Catholick Church which is the Communion of Saints their undecent and rude distribution of it not by the hands of the Priest but from one to another as if they were at a merry meeting rather than at Gods Table their slovenly Receiving of it sitting to the scandal of their Brethren and to the Encouragement of the Socinian and other Hereticks with many other such Usages which I shall not mention I have nothing more to account for in this Preface but that I have freely made use of several passages Prayers especially of the Ancients and of some few Modern Writers without any scruple and I here profess so much by way of acknowledgment to all those good men by whom I have profited for if God have the Glory and the World the Benefit it matters not who is the Instrument And now may the God of Peace and Truth enlighten the Vnderstandings of all Mankind that they may know and love and practice their Duty that every one that is called by the Name of Christ may depart from Iniquity and may delight to Communicate with his Saviour that we all in Gods time may pass from the Festivals of the Church on Earth to the Everlasting Feast that is held in Heaven Amen The CONTENTS PART I. THE Introduction Of the Circumstances of Religious Worship in private Chap. 1. Of the Obligations of the Sacraments to Holiness Chap. 2. Of the common excuses for not coming to the Blessed Sacrament Chap. 3. Of the danger of unworthy Receiving Chap. 4. Of Examination in General Chap. 5. Examination of past sins Chap. 6. Examination of present Virtues Chap. 7. Examination of the Communicants Knowledg Chap. 8. Of the Study of the Holy Scriptures Chap. 9. Of Christian Love Chap. 10. Of the Love of God Chap. 11. Of the Remembrance of our Blessed Saviour Chap. 12. Of the Love of our Neighbour Chap. 13. Of the Duties of Unity Chap. 14. Of the Duties of Charity Chap. 15. Of the Love of Enemies Chap. 16. Of Love to the Holy Sacrament Chap. 17. Of Resignation and Self-denial Chap. 18. Of Humiliation before the Reception Chap. 19. Of joy and resolution after the Reception Chap. 20. Of the Qualities of the Priest who Consecrates Chap. 21. The Methods of the Ancients at the Reception Chap. 22. The Honour done to the Sacrament by the Ancients Chap. 23. The abuse of the Sacrament to evil ends PART II. The Introduction The Office for Palmsunday For Monday before Easter For Tuesday before Easter For Wednesday before Easter For Maundy Thursday For Good-Friday The Examen The Litany For Easter-Eve For Easter-day Rules of Conduct for Easter-day and the Sacrament THe Reader is desired to pardon the Faults of the Press in Mispointing the English and
this his Piety than that act of intire Resignation in the Garden ' For as * Chillingw Serm. 5. p. 71. an acute man observes he in the manner of expressing this act of his Humility in the Three Evangelists supercedes all scruple and clears all evasion for in St. Luke 22.42 it is Not my will but thine be done In which words he resigns the faculty of his will the whole power of it into his Father's hands In St. Mark 14.36 it is not what I will but what thou wilt wherein he resigns the act and exercise of his will But in St. Matth. 26.39 it is Not as I will but as thou wilt wherein he submits his will not only as to the act and power of it to do what God shall command him but is willing to do it God's way and after what manner God shall please Nor can any man conceive a degree of Obedience beyond this This was his Glory Nor did it lessen his Excellencies or his Happiness For notwithstanding this his Humiliation he was always glorious and always blest as the Angels when they leave the Throne of God and come down on Earth carry their Heaven with them or rather find a new one in their Obedience And ought not I to learn of this our great High Priest not to remove mountains or to curb the winds not to feed five thousand by Miracle or to raise the dead but to be humble and meek to deny my self and to depend on God How should this Love of Christ constrain me For can there be any room for pride or covetousness for lust or ambition for wantonness or intemperance when I have given my self intirely to my Saviour Since * Gal. 5.24 they who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof and must resolve to love nothing but their Saviour to hate nothing but disobedience to dread his power only and to grieve at nothing but his displeasure To such persons all things else are insignificant and cannot cheer the heart unless he vouchsafe his Favours and the light of his countenance And tho perhaps my portion may be severe and my province difficult yet I cannot expect to be better treated when my Master's Cup was so imbitter'd It could not be expected that our Redeemer should love his Disciples better than his Father loved him who was his only begotten and beloved Son But when God loved thee most ardently O my Saviour he inured thee to labours and sufferings to great conflicts and struglings And thus he * Heb. 2.10 consecrated thee to be our High Priest and gave thee perfection by thy adversities For such a sacrifice became us and his sufferings were a great testimony of his Innocence For not only the Blood of the Oblation was first let out at the foot of the Altar to emblem the mortification of our passions before we approach our Maker but it was also observable that every beast was not thought fit to make a Sacrifice Sheep and Doves Creatures famous for their harmlesness and their purity for their innocence and their tenderness were destin'd to the Altar while Dogs and Swine and other creatures that delight in Rapine or Pollution were banisht from God's House And can I expect to communicate with my Jesus in his Kingdom who refuse to share with him in his sufferings How unreasonable is it to expect how impossible to be conform'd to his Ascention and Triumphs without a conformity to his Indignities and Passion to his Agonies and Crucifixion For that Text If any man will come after me let him deny himself is a Prophecy as well as a Precept and so must be fulfill'd in the Church as long as it hath a being and every good man must do what St. Francis and others are only feign'd to do he must bear about in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus Nay it is one of the conditions on our part of the Covenant which we make with God in the Sacrament To be ready if need be to die with and for that Saviour of ours who hath given us his own most precious Body and Blood to represent his dying for our sins For if the love of St. Thomas was so great to Lazarus that he was content * John 11.16 to die with him how much more should I be ready to lay all my concerns at the feet of my Redeemer For of him * Ap. Theophyl in loc p 721. Origen understands St. Thomas to speak How acceptable therefore would Martyrdom be to me for such a friend And how prescrable to the Ease and Honours the Pomps and Voluptuousness of this sensual and giddy world Poor St. Romanus when he was Repriev'd from Execution exprest himself with much grief * Theodorit Eccl. Hist l. 3. c. 17. Romanus is not worthy the Honour of Martyrdom And when the holy ‡ Basil Orat. in S. Gord. Gordius was to be beheaded he was troubled at nothing but that he had but one life to lose for his dearest Redeemer and would have been contented to have shed his blood for his Saviour as often as he had shed his tears for his sins had God given him Powers adaequate to his Will and Resolutions For what can check the Sallies of a Seraphick Passion or daunt that man who lives above the world And what should hinder but that I also should exert as great Courage and as much Resolution and love my blessed Master as much and as heartily as they I am sure my Obligations are a great and therefore my Gratitude should be as eminent and illustrious The Collect. SEnd down O Lord the Spirit of Power into my heart to triumph over the degenerate and fearful Spirit that resides there Enable me to subdue all my Passions to the Laws of Reason and Religion to mortifie my Lusts and to deny my self that what thou determinest may be my choice and I may devoutly and humbly resolve to make thy will the Rule of all my actions through the merits and mediation of the great High Priest and Bishop of Souls Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen CHAP. XVIII Of Humiliation before the Reception AMong the many duties preparative to Worthy Receiving Fasting humiliation and intense devotion are not of the least use and advantage tho the world is so much a slave to sloth and ease and hates any thing that is laborious and painful most men being like * Cicer Tuscul 2. Dionysius of Heraclea who finding the pains of the Gout too strong for his principle of Apathy deserted the Stoicks and turn'd Epicurean an undeniable evidence how much more we are guided by our Senses than our Reason But notwithstanding all our prejudices these methods of severity are very requisite to compleat our preparations for the Lord's Table The Fathers generally observe that Adam undid himself and was the cause of our Ruin by transgressing the Rules of Abstinence which his Maker had prescribed him in Paradise That when the Old
attended with all other virtuous performances The Patriarch of Constantinople called John the Faster lost the Reward of his abstaining from all sorts of Delicacies while he could not abstain from Pride and Vain-glory but disturb'd the world with his pretences to the Title of Universal Bishop Nor did the men * Socrat. Eccle. Hist l. 7 c. 15. of Alexanandria fast to any purpose but to smite with the fist of wickedness when during this solemnity they murder'd the most excellent Philosopher Hypatia This is truly Superstition to seek to bribe God with little Observances and to trample on his more obliging Precepts So the Pharisees dreaded being defiled should they but enter into a Court of Judicature during the Paschal Solemnity but were nothing affrighted at the contriving and compassing the Death of the Innocent Jesus When therefore I oblige my self to fast I propose to my self the pattern of one of those venerable Sages who had gotten an absolute conquest over their Lusts and had so kept under their bodies and brought them into subjection that they were no longer apt to rebel against the Precepts of Reason and Religion And to my Abstinences I joyn my Tears remembring that excellent advice of * Apud Leon. Allat de Symeon p. 23. Symeon Stylita Never to communicate but with the deepest compunction and heartiest sorrow for my sins till I have moistened the holy bread with my tears And when I weep I will pray with the greatest ardors of love and the strongest bent of my mind but with the least outward motion imaginable lest that should seem to savour of the Theatre and not of the House of God It was the mistake of the Old * Philostrat vit Apollonii Tyan Gymnosophists That the higher they leapt in their sacred dances wherein they praised their Deities they came so much the nearer to Heaven and rendred themselves and their actions thereby the more acceptable to their Gods Nor do I think that Ignatius Loyola and other of the Romish Saints were ever the more in God's favour because they are said to be lifted up above the ground in their prayers as if Angels carried them so much the nearer to the Throne of Grace This also is a priviledg the Heathens have pretended to and perhaps with as much Right as our Modern Votaries For * Eunap vit Jamblich Init. Jamblichus is reported when he pray'd to have been raised up Ten Cubits above the ground and his Face and Garments to have been chang'd into a bright Gold-colour but when the Devotions were done he return'd to his former colour and station Nay greater things than these may be done and yet a man be no Favourite to the Almighty But if I pray fervently and devoutly if my heart breathe out its complaints and longs to be delivered from the burthen of its sins if my soul hunger after Righteousness and be athirst for the living God longing to come into his presence and to partake of his gracious dispensations then tho my tongue be silent and my lips stand still I may safely presume that I shall have profit when I pray unto him And by this means shall my soul mount upward when to my fasting and tears I joyn my supplications and my alms For they are the wings of the mind Nor will I doubt when I am so prepared but my God will hear me and accept of me and send me away with a blessing The Collect. O Lord Jesu Christ who in the days of thy Humiliation didst offer up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save thee from death and wert heard for that thy Piety melt I beseech thee my obdurate heart till it become soft and fit to receive thy impressions Represent to me my sins and thy sufferings to make me sorrowful and set before my eyes the vanity of the world to wean me from depending on it Enable me to beg earnestly and never to desist till I receive thy benediction that I may trample upon all the pomps and pleasures of this life and settle my Affections upon that which is to come that I may love and desire all opportunities of Communion with thee on Earth till thy Merits procure for me a place at thy Table in Heaven Amen CHAP. XIX Of Joy and Resolution after the Reception IF it be just and reasonable that our Thanksgivings should be proportion'd to the Excellency of our Enjoyments and our gratitude be adequate to the beneficence of our Patron how eminent and exceeding should my joy be when I have been honoured with the society of my God endowed with the purchase of my Saviour's Blood and admitted to the Communion of Angels and the Priviledges of the Saints If * Luke 1.41 the Baptist when the unborn Infant Jesus came to his Father's House leapt in his Mothers womb and gave such early Testimonies of his Veneration to the Messiah as the Legend tells us That * Vid. Card. Bona de Divin Psalmod cap. 18. Sect. 3. p. 893. St. Benedict before he was born sung distinctly with his Sister Scholastica to the praise and glory of God how much more solemn should my Exultations be who have been admitted to entertain an adult Saviour and to be a sharer in his Triumphs So true and so hearty should my joy be as that which a new Convert experiments who hath been lately rescued from a state of folly and fear and admitted into the number of the Sons of God Or rather it should match the mirth of Nuptials For in this Sacrament is my Soul married to my Holy Redeemer Nay my inward satisfactions should express themselves as a victorious Army glories in its Conquests every noise should be a shout and every sentence a part of a triumphant song For my dearest Saviour by his Death conquer'd his Enemies and by the Symbols of that Death enables me his meanest and weakest Servant to rout the scattered Forces of the Kingdom of Darkness Such a demeanor agrees to the practise of the Jews who injoyed but a shadow of this blessed Sacrament It agrees to our blessed Master's actions at the Celebration to the Nature of the Ordinance and to the Customs of the Primitive Christians The Jews whose Passeover was only a commemoration of their deliverance out of Aegypt while our Paschal Lamb hath set us free from spiritual and eternal Thraldom never did eat the Lamb but they sung the great Hallel which begun with the 113th and ended with the 118th Psalm And because to have but such ablessing in view is an happiness they begun and ended the Ceremony with the expressions of their thankfulness * Buxtorf Hist Sacr. Caenae for they sung the 113th and 114th Psalms before they did eat the Passeover and the other four Psalms after they had fed upon that Sacrifice And accordingly did our Saviour For we have the strongest probability that he who did in other Ceremonies comply with the injunctions
of the Synagogue would not in this particular be singular and therefore are apt to believe * Mat. 14 26. that the Hymn which he sung before he went out to the Mount of Olives was the great Hallel But if it were not the same it was doubtless some Laud to the Almighty as for all his Benefits so particularly for his Sacraments And this is highly worth consideration that when Jesus sung this Hymn it was the Eve to his cruel and unparallel'd Tragedy that the Man of Sorrows who all his life long did eat the bread of affliction and quench his thirst with his tears having the Cross in view sung an Hymn 'T was a dismal and affrighting Evening But God gives the good man songs in the night while the sinner is astonish'd with the Terrors of a disturb'd Conscience And as this Joy agrees to the Custom of the Synagogue and our Master's practice so it properly corresponds with the intention of the Institution For tho Thanksgiving be but a part of the Office yet because the denomination is given from that which is most eminent the whole Service is called the Eucharist by the ‡ 1 Cor. 10.16 Apostle because ‖ Cabasil Expos Liturg. cap. 52. when we communicate we have greater cause to rejoice than to supplicate For when we are made partakers of these Mysteries we have received many more favours than we want For of the things that we want some we cannot yet attain unto as the incorruptibility of our bodies and our translation to Heaven Some we have forfeited by our frequent Relapses as the Gifts of the Holy Ghost our Health and our Riches So that were we as pious as we ought there would be even in this world no need of supplications all our Offerings would be Eucharists and Praises But our sloth and our negligence are the causes of our needs Do we beg Remission of our sins Was not that given us in Baptism And how came we but by our own fault to need it again Do we want Heaven Does not the Scripture tell us the Kingdom of Heaven is within us And were we not made Sons of God in the Laver of Regeneration And if Sons then Heirs Why then do we so pray Because we have forfeited that Estate and deserve to be disinherited and to be made of Sons Servants And do we want Temporal Blessings We should first seek the Kingdom of God and all these Things would be added When we are fit to communicate with God our Wants are inconsiderable and our greatest Employment in the duties of Religion is to celebrate his Condescention to admire his Goodness and Patience and to adore his Majesty and therefore the Hymn which the Ancients sung at the Celebration of these Mysteries was by some called ‖ Dionys Ar. Eccl Hier. c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy Eucharist because it comprehended in it self the commemoration of those holy Gifts that descend from God and seemed to include all the particulars of that Office nor did the Primitive * Constit Ap. li. 5. c. 13. Just M. apol 2. c. Church ever receive this Blessed Sacrament but they had their Psalms and Forms of Thanksgiving for if every worldly Blessing deserved its Remembrance and an acknowledgment how much more were they bound to praise God for spiritual Blessings in heavenly places and to this day the ‡ Olear Itiner li. 5. p. 279. Armenian Church think they cannot communicate aright unless they have not only vocal but Instrumental Musick and they plead for the usage that while our Blessed Saviour prayed in the Mountain the Angels came down and entertain'd him with such sort of Musick and tho this be an ungrounded Tradition yet Antiquity was agreed that the Angels were present at the Celebration of this Sacrifice and that when the o Gr. Nyss To. 1. p. 957. Church sung Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth the Seraphim sung with them and that they attended on these Representations of our Saviour as they did upon his Person For it was also an ‖ Hippolyt in Ps 42. apud Theodorit dialog 2. Euseb Epist ad Constant Imp. in act Conc. Nic. 2. act 6. Col. 493. Jul. Firmic p. 48. Ambros de his qui initiant c. 7. c. undisputed tradition among them That when the great Conqueror of Death and Hell was ascending to His Father's Right Hand the Holy Angels which attended him on Earth followed him with Songs of Praise and Triumph and spake to their Brethren the Angels in Heaven in the Words of the inspired Psalmist Ps 24.7 c. according to the Translation of the Septuagint then in use Lift up your gates O ye Princes and be ye life up ye everlasting Doors and the King of Glory shall come in To which the Heavenly Angels sollicitous to enquire who it was that came with so much Authority to demand the opening of the Gates of that Palace because no man to that day had ever entered into the Holy of Holies answered Who is this King of Glory To whom the return was presently made It is the Lord strong and mighty even the Lord mighty in Battel and after that all the Heavenly Host joined Consort and did sing with one Voice Lift up your heads O ye Princes and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in And if those bright Spirits were so transported at the sight of the victorious Jesus should not my Soul be much more engaged to break out into Exclamations and Rejoicings and to imitate the Harmony of the admiring Angels And for this Reason when the Church at Easter had remembred the Resurrection of Christ and strengthned themselves with the Sacrament that they might be able to walk in his steps every day between that Festival and VVhitsuntide was a day of rejoicing every day of the fifty was a Sunday say ‖ Tert. de coron c. 3. Ambr. in Luc. li. 8. c. 17. Marx. Taurin Homil. 61. the Fathers nor did they on any of those days so much as stoop to kneel at their Prayers nor do we in our Church ever fast the Eves of the Feasts that then happen * Except before Ascention day only in this interval we humble our selves in the Rogation Week which was introduc't upon extraordinary occasion and necessity or rather as I think was transferred to this season from some other time of the Year And so sensible was the Church of the infinite Benificence of God that in the fourth and fifth Centuries several Monasteries were erected societies of devout Persons whom they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men who never slept because some or other of the Fraternity was always in the House of God singing his Praises and celebrating his Bounty But why should I want the Encouragements to adore my Redeemer which Angels and Saints afford me The Heathens guided only by the Dictates of Nature entertained every little secular
thought what they had seen Only had a Vision been Till the Seraphick Herald silence broke And in these taking words his message spoke IV. ' From you Palace am I sent ' Built beyond the Firmament ' Where th' Almighty keeps his Court ' And the indigent resort ' Thence the obliging Jesus full of Loves ' Full of Attractives down to th' dull Earth moves V. ' Cease your Tremblings and your Fears ' Ill news Gabriel never bears ' Haste to Bethlehem there behold ' Him the Prophets have foretold ' What greater Instance can than this be given ' How dear the ruin'd world hath been to Heaven VI. 'To the Sacred Stable go ' And before the Manger bow ' The Infant-God adore and praise ' Wrapt in Swath-bands there he lies ' These are the marks to know your Savionrby ' He came from Heav'n t' illustrate Poverty VII Lovely Gabriel scarce had done Charming their attention When the humble shepherds view'd The Seraphick multitude Who did themselves round the Arch-Angel post Th' Arch-Angel Captain of that Heav'nly Host VIII Eyes they had that shot loves Darts Meen and Garb to captive Hearts Faces smooth as infant Light Ere the blustring winds durst fight Or Clouds durst interpose their obscure Skreen To keep the useful Rays from being seen IX Their wings impt with Plumes so gay Gold such Lustre can't display Nothing could with them compare But the bright Curls of their Hair VVhich when the sportive blasts of Air did move Nothing could view but what must be in love X. In the Air they gently hung There they danc'd and there they sung ' Glory be to God on High ' Let Peace this sad Earth beautifie ' That men of the Divine Good Will may taste ' And relish here below Heavens Antepast XI Thus they danc'd and thus they sung And the Sky with th' Musick rung Till the Day-star did appear Till the morning beams drew near The watchful Cock preclaim'd the Prince of Light Then they soar'd upward and flew out of sight XII Happy Angels your employ Brings you Honour brings you joy While on Earth I sigh and grean Vastly distant from that Throne Grant Jesu tho my voice be not so sweet My Notes in consort mixt with theirs may meet Wednesday before EASTER THE Ancients called this day the holy and great Wednesday or the fourth day of the Passion Week and among our Forefathers it was called Tenable Wednesday on which Day the Consultation was held for our Blessed Saviour's Apprehension * Constit Ap. li. 5. c. 10. which being begun on Monday was continued on Tuesday but compleated on Wednesday when they agreed with Judas to betray him from which Treason of the Son of Perdition it hath its Name in the Latin Church feria quarta in proditione Judae Now because on this Day the Sanhedrim were consulting how to take the Messiah the Ancients on the same Day were more than ordinarily employed how to receive him the Jews how to treat him unworthily but the Church how to give him due Entertainment And for this cause by the order of the Apostles the †Clem. Alex. Strom. 7. Tertul. de jejun c. 2. Epiph compend c. 21. c. Catholick Bishops bound all Christians to a weekly observation of We dnesday Friday on the first of which days our Saviour was sold as he was on the last Grucified as Days of Fasting which they called their Station days because as a Centinel dares not leave his Post till he be relieved which is seldom done till after a Watch of Twelve or Twenty four Hours so the Primitive Christians would never at such times move from Church till all the Service were over which was not finish'd till about Three a Clock in the Afternoon which Service was compleated with the Reception of the Blessed Eucharist in all Churches except at ‡ Socrat. l. 5. c. 22. p. 287. Alexandria where they had Prayers and a Sermon but no Sacrament and probably in this Week of extraordinary Mortifications the Fast ended not till Night In the present Greek Church on this day as on all the other days of Lent except the Saturdays Sundays and the Feast of the Annunciation which are Festivals they do still receive the Sacrament about Three Afternoon but they receive it of those Elements that had been * V. Bals Zon. in Can. 52. Trullan consecrated before on the precedent Holy-day and which are reserv'd for that purpose they at the same time observing our Blessed Saviours Institution of imploring the Divine Blessing every day by the Oblation and Merit of this Christian Sacrifice and yet preserving the Severity and Solemnity of this Christian Fast The Epistle 2 Pet. 1.16 WE have not followed cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the Power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of his Majesty for he received from God the Father Honour and Glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and this Voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount we have also a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed The Gospel Luke 9.28 JESUS took Peter and James and John and went up into a Mountain to pray and as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was alter'd and his Rayment was white and glistering and behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias who appear'd in Glory and spake of his Decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem and there came a voice out of a Cloud saying This is my Beloved Son hear him The MEDITATION IT was a lovely sight and to be long'd for with Transports to see the Blessed Jesus in his meanest and most contemptible dress for even then when he was covered with out sins and his own sorrows he was the fairest among men but how Glorious O my Soul was his Appearance when he was cloathed with the Robes of Immortality in the Holy Mount How transcendent were those lively Representations of the Joys of Heaven and that foretaste of the Pleasures of Eternity Tabor was of it self a delightful place on the Top of the Mountain there was a spacious plain whose fruits were breath'd upon and cherished by a most wholsome Air and moistned with a perpetual Dew the Vines and Olives and other Herbs and Trees cloathd it with a perpetual Verdure affording a Prospect that at once gratified both the sight and the smell and by them affected the mind but never was the Hill so fertile as when the Son of God watered it with his Tears and warmed it with his Rays To the Mountain our Blessed Master retired when he offered his Sacrifices of Suplications and Praise from a Mountain did he preach the glad Tidings of the Gospel and on a Mountain was he Transsigured there he prayed not that the highest Hill is nearer
was covered with a robe of honour purpled in his own blood And should it not be my greatest honour to be conform'd to the Image of his sufferings Hath Jesus carried with him not only our humane nature but the marks of his wounds that were given him on Earth into that Heaven which he opened unto all believers and do I not long to go to that my greatest benefactor into that Heaven which his wounds have purchas'd And am I not redeemed from my former vain conversation by the Blood of God And shall I continue in sin because Grace hath abounded or dare to damn that Soul for which Christ died No I will endure the contradiction of sinners and I will resist if God see fit unto blood Jesus shall be my darling and I will love him as I love my life and Heaven The Collect. BLessed Saviour who for our sakes wert cloathed with ignominy and dishonour and didst patiently digest all the injuries and affronts which thy malicious enemies could put upon thee enable me also to endure the Cross and to despise the shame and to rejoice when thou shalt count me worthy to suffer for thy name Let my sins no longer dishonour thy Religion and bring discredit to my dear Master but enable me to live to thy glory O my crucified Redeemer that when I come to dye I may share in thy triumphs world without end Amen The Anthem An ALTAR GReat and good Saviour could my frozen heart Melt into tears equal to thy desert Nature and all its mournful sons I 'd call T' attend and grieve at th'wondrous funeral So when dear Jesu thou didst dye The Earth groan'd sadly Heav'n did cry The Sun retir'd as one agast To see th' Almighty breathe his last And the fam'd Temple's basis shook When God who dwelt there it forsook While men more hardned and more rude Than those Pillars sensless stood As they unconcern'd had been At the cruel frightful scene Astonish'd at their scorn I raise This Altar to my Saviour's praise Cever'd with wounded Loves and bleeding Hearts For who can live i' th' World when God departs Accept the Votary and th' Inscription hallow And teach the Priest the great Exemplar still to follow EASTER-EVE AS the solemn Festival of Easter drew nearer the Antients bound themselves to stricter observances enlarging their Fasts encreasing their Devotions and doubling their preparations for the approaching Christian Passover because nothing but perseverance gives a title to a Crown of Glory and the end of all labour and industry Prayers and Fastings Alms and Discipline is only to enable the devout Christian to bring a pure Conscience and void of offence to the participation of the benefits of the Lord's-Table and for this reason Easter-eve even in those Churches where the Saturday was admitted to an equal honour with the Lord's-day always celebrated as a Festival was made a day of the strictest abstinence and mortification It is called the Great Saturday in the account of * P. 19. V Const App. l. 8. c. 33. S. Pelycarp's Martyrdom and it could not but be a great encouragement to that good Bishop to dye cheerfully at the same time when his Master did that he might from the place of Execution go to Heaven to keep the Feast of Easter for ever it is also called the holy Saturday the Paschal Vigil the Holy Night whose obscurity is illuminated with a glorious light the devout people watching and praying all night and singing Hymns unto God nay those who seldom else came to Church * Eus devit Const l. 4. c. 22. p. 536. Chrys to 5. p. 541. to 7. p. 156. Gr. Naz. Orat. 42 p. 676. now were compelled by shame and interest to Fast and Pray the House of God being filled with Torches and lights and sometimes the Streets of the City so adorn'd in expectation of the joyful morning of Christ's Resurrection it was also stiled the ‡ Pallad vit Chrys p. 85. Angelical night in which the Evil Angels tremble their kingdom being destroyed and the Good Angels rejoice that the World is redeemed for now were the holy Quire busy to attend the Sepulchre and to give the Disciples the blessed news of their Saviour's Resurrection This day some Fathers assure us Christ went down into Hell dismantled its fortifications and by his presence made that miserable dungeon Heaven for whereever Jesus is there is Heaven All the day was a strict Fast and all the night a Vigil at least till midnight †Hier. in Matt. c. 25. the Congregation not being dismist till then it being the Tradition of the Church That our Saviour rose a little after midnight but in the East till the * Const App. l. 5. c. 14 17 18. Dionys Alex. Ep. Basil Cock-crowing the time being spent say the Apostolical Constitutions in watching prayers and supplications in reading the Law and the Prophets in expounding the Holy Scriptures and in Baptizing the Catechumens and therefore it ‡ Euseb Hist l. 2. c. 17. l. 6. c. 9. is called the All-night Vigil of the great Feast and the great watching before the Christian Passover In the Latin Church ‖ Rupert de divin offic c. 35. alii on this day the Water for the Font is blest and reserved for the use of the persons to be Baptized the year following which Custom is a shadow of the Ancient usage for on Easter-Eve were the Catechumens Baptized ⸫ Chrys to 5. p. 585. by the Bishop himself if present and able to do the Office for no Presbyter or Deacon without his leave durst do it for the Church had select times for the Baptizing of adult Converts Children being baptized at all times of which Easter was the chiefest for which reason the number of the Candidates for that initiatory Sacrament in the greater Churches was very large * Pallad vit Chrys p. 86 Three Thousand being made Christians at Constantinople on this day * Ambros de Sacramen li 3. cap. 1. the Bishop in some Churches of the West at Millian I conjecture for at Rome the practise was otherwise immediately after his conferring the Sacrament of Baptism using to wash the feet of those whom he had newly made Christians * Smith of the Gr. Ch. p. 124 125. In the Greek Church through the Sundays of Lent they use the Liturgy of St Basil and on Thursday and Saturday in the Holy Week which being longer than St Chrysostom's is esteemed fitter for the times of Fasting but on the other days of Lent ‡ Conc. Trul. can 52. except Saturdays and the Feast of the Annunciation they use the Liturgy of the Presanctificata So mindful are they to suit all their Offices to the designs of Religion and the promoting of Mortification and true Contrition The Epistle Eccles 7.3 SOrrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better the heart of the wise is in the
Saviour So when the Sons of Zebedee coveted places of Trust and Honour in an imaginary Monarchy Mat. 20.21 our Blessed Redeemer told them that the preferments of his Court old not consist in fitting at his Right and left Hand but in drinking of his Cup and being baptized with his Baptism And when St. Paul was called to an Apostleship Acts 9.16 the Lord told Ananias in a Vision that his Mission was not design'd to Triumph over the Gentile World nor should his Revelations discover to him what Kingdoms he should convert tho that he did but I will show him says God what great things he must suffer for my Names sake And this that Apostle well understood 2 Cor. 12.12 for when he reckons up the signs of an Apostle he begins with his Patience under affliction as if that generosity of mind that slighted the Tribulations attendant on the Gospel was a more eminent and surer sign of his Apostleship than all his power of working Signs and Wonders and mighty deeds for to be afflicted was to be clad in the best Livery of the great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls I will therefore resolve to imitate those admirable guides of the Church in their sorrow I will lament the death of my Saviour and hate my sins that crucified him I will as they did retire from the World and love it no longer because it despised my dear Redeemer And I will also imitate them in their Patience and their Courage I will endure all things for the sake of my friend who died for me and nothing shall fright me from following the pattern and treading in the steps of his first and best servants The Collect. ALmighty and Immortal Saviour who wert victorious in thy sufferings and triumphant upon the Cross and wert always present with thy Church either in thy Person or by thy substitute the Holy Ghost keep and defend thy flock from all Heresie and Schism from mistakes in matters of Faith and all irregularities in practice from desponding under afflictions and from carelesness in prosperity Arm all thy servants with an invincible courage and resolution to live and dye thine let the consideration of thy Passion engage us to bewail our Transgressions but let the consideration of thy Resurrection defend us that we may not sorrow as men without hope but that we may pass the time of our sojourning here on Earth in fear and finish it with joy through thy Merits and Intercession O our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem The Descent into Hell A Dialogue between Mary Magdalen at the Sepulcher and an Angel I. Magd. APpear dear Jesus unto me I love I long for none but thee Whither is my Beloved gone And left me here sad and alone My soul breaths nothing else but sigh Since Jesus fell a Sacrifice Ang. Down to the Prison of the Fiends The dying Conqueror descends And o're those rebel spirits his Victories extends II. VVith courage and resistless might Alone he undertakes the fight Meets whole Legions and defies Hells Guards and her Auxiliaries Scales the VValls and storms the Gates Razes the Towers revers'th mens Fates And into the Dungeon Lucifer precipitates III. Magd. But tell me Angel cloath'd with light Did not my Jesus show his might VVhen upon the Cross he stood Like a Rock that brav'd a flood Did not his Patience and his Cries His VVounds his Thirst and Agonies Compleat his glorious Conquest and our Sacrifice IV. Ang. 'T was done when Jesus bow'd his head And told the world 't was finished Then Satan was discomfited And all his baffled forces fled But he lest men might doubt his love Or Victories did the scene remove Pull'd Satan from his Throne and from his Kingdom drove V. Magd. If so what keeps my Jesus there What stops th' Almighty Conqueror Thy Pupils do thy presence want T' instruct the blind and ignorant To charm the froward and defend The weak who on thy Strength depend And guide poor wandring me unto my journeys end Appear dear Jesu unto me I love I long for none but thee EASTER DAY THO the Christian Church had many Festivals yet some of them were days of greater Eminency than others Christmas Easter and Whitsuntide being frequently called in the Writings of the Fathers by way of excellency * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Christian Solemnities because as the Jews were obliged three times a year on their three great Festivals of the Passover Pentecost and of the Tabernacles to go up to Jerusalem to worship So anciently the body of the people of every Diocess met at those times at the Mother Church where the Bishop Preach'd to them in person and gave them the Holy Sacrament And on those days if the Church could not hold all the Communicants at once the Offices were repeated the Prayers renewed and the Eucharist ‡ Leo. M. Epist 71. p. 149. a second time consecrated and given Now among these great days Easter-day was the day on which the Son of God return'd from Hell rose from the Grave and being attended with his holy Angels and the bodies of many just persons who left their Tombs to accompany their Saviour brought Life and Immortality to light This was the day which the Lord made in which all wise and devout persons do rejoice and therefore without all doubt the Ancients after their long Fasting till near day-break * Const Ap. li. 5. c. 18. retired home laid aside their Sackcloth and Ashes and other habits of mortification and having washed and cloathed themselves in their best apparel came again early to Church and sang the praises of the Lord. And for this reason this Feast is called ‡ Cypr. Laetitia Paschalis The Paschal joy or the Paschal solemnity of the Resurrection ‖ Chrys to 5. p. 587. the bright and glorious day of Christ's rising from the dead the noblest of the Christian solemnities o Euseb vit Const l. 4. c. 22. p. 536 c. the holy and venerable day that brought Life into the World the holy Convention and Festival the Queen of Feasts the Festival of Festivals the great and holy Sunday the day in which the hopes of Eternity were confirm'd to us and the Great day in which Salvation was given to the World The * Constit Ap. l. 7. c. 37. Apostles injoining the Observation of it to all Christians and probably when we are bid to keep the Feast 1 Cor. 5.8 it belongs rather to the Annual than to the Weekly Feast of the Resurrection As some Wise and Learned men think that the Lords-day mentioned Rev. 1.10 does not so much mean a Sunday at large as Easter-day for * Procop. de bell Perfic l. 1. c. 18. this day was honoured by the Christian World above all other days ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 583. this day is a day of rejoycing on Earth and it is a Holy-day in Heaven too for if the conversion of one
Lord had left the shadows of the Grave and would meet that disconsolate Family of his on one of the Mountains of Galilee And tho she faithfully discharged that Embassy yet such is the power of prejudice that they knew not how to believe her They were amused at what they saw and heard but they did not understand the mystery the wonderful transactions of that day took up all their thoughts and wherever they went this part of the sacred History was the subject of their discourses Two of the followers of Jesus probably two of the seventy Disciples of which one was Cleophas who perhaps was the same with Alpheus and the other is conjectured to be either Simeon his son or Nathanael or St. Luke himself or some other of our Lord's Disciples being unhappily defeated of their expectations of worldly pomp and overwhelm'd with sorrow for the ignominious death of their Lord and full of fears lest the power of the Sanhedrim that had crucified their Master might also extirpate his whole family for by this time the Soldiers having revealed the miracle had been bribed by the High-Priests to say that his Disciples came by night and stole him away while they slept resolved to divert their griefs and secure their persons by a short journey to Emmaus whence probably having given up all their hopes of ever seeing the Messiah again they resolved to retire into Galilee if Emmaus were not the birth-place of Cleophas as is affirmed for they trusted that he had been the Redeemer of Israel and that under him they who were his kindred according to the flesh should have met with places of honour trust and profit and under the shadow of such a Prince grown great and glorious all which hopes vanishing they resolved to retire to their old abodes and employment And yet they had not so put off their respects and affection to their heavenly Instructor but that they entertain themselves with his History their resentments of his sufferings being quick and passionate the death of Jesus was the discourse of Jerusalem for such a Prophet so mighty in word and deed could not fall silently and in the dark but his widowed Family talked of it feelingly and every circumstance of his shame and of his tortures pierc'd the heart of the Relator and filled it full of grief and astonishment before it reach'd the ears and moved the pity of the Auditors Nor does Piety ever want its reward he who meditates or discourses of heavenly things is seldome without an Angel to be his assistant and companion but here the Prince of the Angels condescends to be a fellow traveller and instructor And now the good men may cease their dispute there is no longer any need of arguing whether the Redeemer be risen or not when himself demonstrates the necessity both of his sufferings and his triumphs out of the unerring Oracles when both Moses and all the other Prophets testify that the Son of Man ought to have suffered these things and then to enter into his glory And canst thou doubt O my Soul of the truth of any of the sublimer mysteries of Religion when thy Saviour reveals them How easily may my shallow reason be impos'd upon but the Wisdom of God can neither deceive nor be deceived Chearing and Comfortable were those discourses to Cleophas and his companion and as pleasant and acceptable as the Perfume that is made by the art of the Apothecary they were sweet as Honey in the mouth and as Musick at a banquet of Wine The conversation was so charming and advantageous that it lessen'd the way and brought them easily to the Gates of Emmaus And when Jesus made show as if he would have gone farther they knowing themselves to be obliged in gratitude to treat him who had so plentifully fed their minds with heavenly dainties constrain him by their civilities to tarry with them and as Abraham's hospitality gave him an opportunity of entertaining the Son of God and his Angels so the friendly invitation of the two Disciples was the occasion of their being longer blest with their Saviour's company With them he sate at Table and when he had taken Bread and blest it when he had broken and distributed it to them then their eyes were opened then they knew the Lord of Life Perhaps this blessing and breaking of Bread did only relate to the common meal which they were then making and yet it no way interferes with the Laws of Religion nor does it indeed maintain the Sacrilege of the half-communion if it be understood of the blessed Eucharist which is a lively representation of the Crucifixion and most likely it is that this being one of the great mysteries of Christianity his Disciples easily distinguish'd him from other men by the use of this Rite And where can I expect to meet my Saviour with comfort but at his Table That Sacrament gives light and grace that Sacrament will better my knowledg and strengthen my faith and secure my hopes I will therefore covet all opportunities of conversing with my Saviour at his own Table 'T was the highest honour that could be given to St. John on earth to lye in his Saviour's bosom the most valued and best beloved person in the company being allowed a place next to the Master of the Feast and the priviledges of Heaven are described by a place in Abraham's bosom But is it not a greater honour when Christ shall descend to lye in my bosom to enter into my mouth and to become the food of my soul This was such ravishing and unexpected news that tho Jesus presently on this manifestation of himself disappear'd out of their sight miraculously withdrawing himself from the Table they immediately return'd to Jerusalem to communicate this news to their sorrowful brethren and there they met with new confirmations for Peter had also seen his Lord and while they were thus discoursing of this miraculous return from the Grave lo their Master conveys himself unseen into the Room and standing in the midst of them by his seasonable consolations scatters the clouds that eclips'd their joys raised their dejected spirits invigorates them with new courage promises them his own presence for forty days and after his Ascension the continual presence and assistances of the blessed Spirit For all these were the Largesses which the Conqueror bestowed on his followers these were the products of his Resurrection How ignorant were the Apostles before this time of the Person and Kingdom of the Messiah and the other mysteries of Religion But when Jesus visited them in his return from the gloomy shades how were they filled with all wisdom and knowledg and joy in the Holy-Ghost Wisdom not only to understand the state of Christianity but to confront the Philosophers at Rome and Athens to baffle the Scribes and Pharisees at Jerusalem and to convert the whole World from sin and wickedness to be Proselytes to the Laws of Christ Before their Master's Crucifixion how
of it to dine with him treating them with all affability and humble carriage relieving their bodily wants and instructing their minds and by this means earning their Prayers And this he does over and above what he hath given at the Offertory where he hath liberally according to his ability offered unto God and the Poor remembring that a thinking Heathen never came in sight of an Altar tho but occasionally but he tendred something thereon if it were but a little Salt or a handful of Flower and thought himself also obliged to provide for the indigent as for his brethren § 23. At his return he does not think fit to go immediately to his own dinner but retires to his Closet * Scalig. de Emendat temp l. 6. the Jews were obliged that night on which they did eat the Passover to taste nothing after it for the whole night that the relish of the Paschal Lamb might continue in their mouths a long time and the reason holds good in the Christian Church for our Blessed Saviour after he had eaten of this Supper resolved never to eat more till he had accomplish'd our redemption for says he I will drink no more of the fruit of the Vine till I drink it new in my Father's kingdom In the Closet the good man recollects the proceedings of the day and in his thoughts acts over again the solemnities of that glorious triumph for he dares not spend any part of this day but in holy Offices in Meditations and Prayers in acts of Faith and Love of Piety and Charity in Reading and Conference and in all other exercises that may serve to increase his virtues both in number and degree especially in holy praises and solemn thansgivings to God for all his benefits § 24. And after this manner he expresses himself I am thine and nothing shall separate thee from my love on the Cross every member of thy body every faculty of thy soul had its sufferings and its agonies for my sins and should I reserve any thing from thee No my most obliging Saviour I make an intire oblation of my self to thee a whole burnt-offering sacrificed in the flames of holy love and this I do with all my might and power nothing could atone for my sins but thy sufferings nor can any thing testify my gratitude but the devoting of my self to thy service Thou hast redeemed me thou God of Truth and I will be thy servant for ever My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour For I have found him whom my soul loveth Jesus the Messiah of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits I will receive the Cup of Salvation and will praise the name of the Lord. I will go into thy House with my offerings and will pay my Vows which I promis'd with my lips when I was in trouble § 25. To which he subjoins Lord my single praises make but an insignificant and low sound they are the poorest of recompences and the most disproportioned to thy Majesty and thy Merits I therefore call in the assistances of Angels and of the whole host of Heaven of Sun Moon and Stars of the Earth and Sea and all that is therein to joyn with me in the magnifying of my Redeemer Let all the World worship thee sing of thee and bless thy name let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord for great is the Glory of the Lord and let all the Earth be filled with the knowledg of his Glory for his Name alone is excellent and his Glory above Heaven and Earth Amen Amen Glory be to the Father c. Then follows the Trisagios Holy God Holy and Powerful Holy and Immortal have mercy upon us § 26. After which he thus expresses himself How unwillingly have I left the place where my blest Saviour dwells and how well pleased should I be could I live and communicate with him always How amiable is that Palace where my dear Friend fixes his residence And how do I long to be treated continually at the Supper of the Lamb Oh that I could dye this very moment if it were but pleasing in the sight of my Heavenly Father and pass immediately from this antepast of joys to the intire entertainment of that Glorious Feast And would my Redeemer affist me how readily would I be this moment his Martyr How acceptable would a Prison or the Rack the Flames or a Sword be to me so I could by any means embrace an opportunity to let my beloved Jesus know how dear he is to me how much I value him and how ready I am to offer him my Blood who hath shed his own Blood for me upon the Cross and sed me with it at his Table And if that be an Honour that I am not worthy of and perhaps not capable of yet O Lord let me always be thy Martyr in resolution and since there is so much happiness in communicating with thee let me never leave the World so suddenly but that I may have the assistance of a good Priest to give me in thy name Absolution and to strengthen me in the agonies of death with the blessed Sacrament § 27. After which Meditation the worthy Communicant uses this Prayer taken out of the * Ps 8. c. 14.15 Constitutions commonly called the Apostles How ready and willing is my soul which hath been cherish'd and fed with the most Precious Body and Blood of my Saviour to offer him the thanks which I can pay tho neither what he deserves nor what I ought since he hath vouchsaf'd me the honour to partake of his holy Mysteries Grant holy Jesu that it may be for my Health not for my Ruin for my Happiness not for my Condemnation for the Security of my Soul and Body for the increase of Piety for the remission of Sins and for the introducing me into thy Palace for thy Name is called upon me and into thy Family I am adopted among thy faithful Servants Strengthen me and them by thy Holy Spirit inlighten our ignorance and supply all our defects and confirm us in the resolutions of a holy Life rescue and defend us from Satan and all our enemies ghostly and bodily sanctifie and protect help and keep us in our going out and in our coming in and at last assemble us in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Glory Honour and Worship now and for ever Amen To which he adds this other Collect. ALmighty God who hast united the Christian World in one common Brotherhood by the Holy Sacrament that we being many might be one body because we are all partakers of that one Bread let me be partaker this day of the Prayers of all that this day have communicated whereover thy Church be dispers'd over the face of the whole earth and let my Petitions be available in
the Living God Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are thy ways Blessed are they who dwell in thy House they will alway be praising thee Glory be to the Father c. To which he subjoins this Act of Love to ' Jesus I love and admire thee my dearest Jesus I honour and adore thee above all things the most glorious and useful things in nature are contemptible in comparison of thee to know thee is beyond all notion and to love thee better than triumphs I am poor without thee comfortless and forlorn but Heaven it self didst not thou reside there would lose its amiableness Oh the dearest name of my adorable Saviour how sweet is it beyond the taste of delicacies to my pallat how pleasant beyond the Harmony of Angels to my ears how doth the sound of those syllables refresh and chear my drooping soul And when Satan urges to me the remembrance of my sins how do I affront and baffle all his attempts by the powerful Name of Jesus I can tender thee nothing O my most obliging and benign Saviour as a recompence of the infinite and miraculous testimonies of thy Compassion but a few impotent vows and verbal acknowledgments my whole stock of services were my powers as great and my life as long as that of Angels would never repay one half of the debt which I owe thee but if love and adoration will make thee satisfaction I will love and adore thee for ever I will religiously preserve thee in my memory where nothing shall efface the characters From this day I renounce all other loves and turn Apostate from the world to be a Convert to Jesus Oh that I had no necessities of nature to gratifie no distractions of the World to divert me that I might always celebrate and always love my Jesus How much time should I redeem from impertinencies and consecrate to Religion and the service of my Redeemer and what a Heaven upon Earth would this be I am content to be poor and a Pilgrim to be despised and persecuted so I may enjoy thee for where thou art there is Heaven and where thou art not there is Hell and Death and Destruction seize that man whom thou desertest Lord keep me firm to these resolutions that I may live with thee and love thee for ever Amen § 33. This Act of Love is also accompanied with the following Act of Resignation So amiable is the fairest of Ten Thousand and so beneficial are his injunctions that I should baffle my interests as well as my Reason and my Conscience should not I devote my self to his service from this day forward therefore I make Jesus my Master his Majesty will I reverence and his sanctions obey and into his hands do I resign my own will the faculty and powers the acts and exercise of it What my dearest Master loves shall be my delight and I will detest what his soul abhors and he alone shall be my guide who is my best friend my Redeemer came from Heaven to show mankind the way thither and thither after a short stay on earth he returned that he might open that Kingdom to all Believers I can never wander when he conducts me I can never hunger when I am treated with the Bread of Life nor thirst while the Fountain of Salvation is near me nor be naked while his Righteousness cloaths me how shall I doubt who am instructed by unerring Wisdom or fear who am protected by Omnipotency I will therefore live and dye in the service of Jesus that I may experiment the satisfactions and comfort of a good Conscience here and of a Crown of Glory in Heaven Amen The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with me and with all the Servants of God now and for evermore Amen Amen FINIS