my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
Churches commonly in the form of a Cross and for this cause they cover'd the * Bed in 16. S. Matth. Damas P. Epist Altar with a white linnen cloath not so much to denote the purity of the Mysteries or the innocence of the Communicants as our Saviour's being wrap'd in fine linnen at his Funeral On the * Chrys To. 6. p. 360. Altar also they plac'd the Cross and that without superstition that they might direct their eyes and minds toward Heaven where the crucified Jesus sits on his Father's Right Hand They enjoined their Communicants when they pray'd * Tertul. de Orat cap. 11. to stretch out their hands in the form of a Cross and when they received the consecrated Elements * Concil Trull Can. 101. they put themselves into the same posture The elevation of the Elements when taken into the hands of the Priest emblems the lifting up of Christ upon his Cross the breaking of the Bread implies not only that he died but that he was slain that he died a violent death and when the Wine is poured out nothing can more pertinently and plainly represent the shedding of his sacred Blood In the Liturgy of * p. 984 985. Edit Savil. St. Chrysostome which is now used in the Greek Church the Priest is expresly injoin'd to make upon the Bread which is to be consecrated the sign of the Cross with the Holy Launce for so they call the Knife which is then used alluding to the weapon with which our Saviour's side was pierc'd and to say three times In remembrance of our Lord our God and Saviour Jesus Christ after which he is to strike the Launce four times into the extremities of the Cross and to say when he strikes it into the right side He was led as a sheep to the slaughter when into the left side As a lamb without blemish is dumb before the shearer so he opened not his mouth Then he is to strike it into the top of the Cross saying In his humiliation his judgment was taken from him then into the bottom saying And who shall declare his Generation After which the Priest elevates the Bread saying For his life was taken away from the Earth now and for evermore Amen And then lays it in the Patin saying The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is sacrificed for the sins and salvation of the world During every one of which several actions the Deacon says We beseech thee to hear us O Lord. And when the Wine and Water is poured into the Chalice the Deacon says And one of the soldiers pienc'd his side with a launce and there issued out water and blood which mixture they always make the better to represent that part of the Passion And the whole Church hath thought fit to consecrate Red Wine that the colour might mind us of our Saviour's Blood as the Jews in the Passeover used the same coloured Wine in remembrance of the Blood of their predecessors which was spilt in Aegypt The Greeks consecrate no Bread but what is mark'd as above-said and stampt with these Letters IC XC NK i. e. Jesus Christ overcomes which was the Motto of the Cross shown to Constantine the Great And in the Gethick Church in Spain as the Mosarabick Missal mentions they divided the Holy Bread into Nine parts to which they affixt the Names of Incarnation Nativity Circumcision Transfiguration Passion Death Resurrection Glory and Kingdom under which Names they comprehended our Saviour's whole History intimating unto all who were spectators of their proceedings that the design and intention of the Sacrament was only to imprint on their minds the Memorial of our Saviour and his performances for our salvation Thus the whole Church thought themselves obliged to do in remembrance of their dearest Master and Patron who had he been corporeally present under the Accidents had had no need to have bidden us to remember him for we only remember things and persons that are absent And is there any Reason that I should be so often put in mind of that which alone can make me happy Thou hast bid me O my God that as often as this Sacrament is celebrated and what a Reproof is this of my seldom coming to that Ordinance that I should call to mind thy Death Lord how can I forget thee I should sooner forget to eat or to sleep How violent and acute were thy pains and yet how couragiously endured Did not my iniquities cause thy sufferings and are not all the benefits purchas'd thereby transferr'd and made over to me And can I forget such a Friend What therefore shall I do to fit my self to receive the advantages of thy Passion sealed and conveyed to me in this Sacrament I will deface all the Records of Vanity and Folly of sin and iniquity that have found a place in my memory and there will I treasure up the History of my dearest Jesus his Undertakings of his Sufferings and his Victories and thence will I transcribe the Copies of Obedience into my life and conversation till I am perfectly conform'd to his Image The Collect. GRant I beseech thee O my crucified Saviour that I may this day and every day remember thy shame and thy sufferings that I may magnifie thy goodness and imitate thy patience and be conform'd to the pattern of thy Vertues that I may love thy Laws and depend upon thy Merits that after frequent acts of remembring thee and communicating with thee I may be remembred by thee in the Agonies of death and after my death may have a place in my Master's Kingdom Amen CHAP. XII Of Love to my Neighbour NExt to my love to my Maker ought my love to my Neighbur to take place whose welfare is to be as dear to me as my own and to whom I must do good as much as lies in me as I hope to see the Face of God for I must love my Neighbour as my self and every one is my Neighbour who wants my assistance This love therefore engages me to submit to my superiors to walk in peace to prefer others before my self to instruct the ignorant to soften the passionate to reprehend the vicious to reclaim the profligate to counsel the unadvised to speak peace to distrest Consciences to visit the Prisons and to administer to them who are appointed to die to relieve the opprest to clothe the naked and to feed the hungry For these were the employments of our charitable Master who was our great Almoner and who hath commanded us if need be * 1 John 3.16 that we also should lay down our lives for the brethren And this Doctrine was so well understood by Johannes Elecmosynarius that when he met with a modest necessitous person to whom he had been formerly charitable but at last found him inclinable to refuse his Alms he plainly told him That he had not yet arrived to that height of Christian Love to which he was obliged
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
That my past sins may be intirely forgiven and the rest of my life spent in the works of repentance I beseech thee c. That the end of my life may be Christian without pain and without shame if thou seest fit and that I may be able to render a good account when I shall stand before thy dreadful Tribunal I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. From mine enemies defend me O Christ Graciously look upon my afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart Favourably with mercy hear my Prayers Mercifully forgive the sins of thy Servant O Son of David have mercy upon me Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear me O Christ Graciously hear me O Christ graciously hear me O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon me As I do put my trust in thee Pardon O Lord the guilt of my sins remove the punishment and wash out the pollutions keep me from the shame and the suffering due to them and rescue me from the dominion of Satan the tyranny of my own Lusts and from everlasting destruction Amen Bp. Andrews BLessed Jesu Interpose between God and my Soul thy Priesthood and Sacrifice between my self and Satan thy Kingdom and Conquest between my Soul and my Sins thy Innocency between my Soul and my Concupiscence thy Charity between my Soul and the punishments due to a Sinner thy Passion and the satisfaction of thy Blood between my Soul and my Conscience and God's Tribunal thy Advocateship between my Soul and its want of Righteousness thy absolute and complete Obedience between my Soul and its want of desert thy alsufficient Merits between my Soul and its want of fervour in Devotion thy Intercession between my Soul and its want of sâ—rrow and repentance thy Agony and bloody Sweat for what thou did'st and what thou suffered'st O my dearest Saviour O my best of Masters was done and suffered in my stead and for my benefit Amen Id. LET the Soul of Christ sanctify me the Body of Christ strengthen me the Blood of Christ redeem me the Water that came out of his side cleanse me the Stripes of Christ heal me the Sweat of Christ refresh me the Wounds of Christ save me the Poverty of Christ enrich me and the Sufferings of Christ preserve me from eternal damnation Amen Bp. Taylor GIve me the beauties of Wisdom the brightness of Chastity the health of Temperance the peace of Meek persons and the reputation and joy of the Charitable Amen A Collect for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit O God who knowest that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers that the Temptations of Satan are very prevalent the vanities of the World very deceitful and our own corruptions very strong help and assist me and all thy servants with the succours of thy holy spirit Give me the spirit of Truth of Wisdome and Understanding to keep me from all error and infidelity the spirit of Counsel to guide me in all difficulties the spirit of Might and Power to preserve me from all Apostacy the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord to keep me from all sin and wickedness Let the Holy-Ghost be my comforter in my distresses the assistant of my devotion the quieter of my conscience and let it bear witness with my spirit that I am one of the Sons of God that neither the wiles nor frowns of the Devil the fears of suffering or the hopes of wealth and honour may sway me to neglect my duty but that I may continue thine for ever and that thou mayst be my protector and guide my friend and advocate now and in the agonies of death and at the day of judgement Amen OUR Father which art in Heaven c. MAY the Power of God the Father protect me the Wisdom of God the Son inlighten me the operations and assistances of the holy Spirit quicken me and may the holy Trinity keep me under the shadow of their wings till I come to the palace of Glory Amen Amen The Epistle Heb. 12.1 WHerefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds The Gospel Luke 22.41 AND being withdrawn from them about a stones cast he kneeled down and prayed saying Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be dene And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground The MEDITATION THO every thing that is good and virtuous hath its attractives yet when virtue is attended with power it is in its exaltation and makes as many Votaries as it hath spectators and every one looks on it with admiration and surprize and addresses to it with resolutions either to become good or to beg its protection from evil because Piety so assisted proves a great exemplar and a puissant shelter And such was the holy Jesus who was wonderful in all his atchievements for nothing less than unspotted Innocence and Omnipotence conjoin'd could furnish the World with a Saviour The whole Life of Jesus was a miracle of Love and Compassion and the attempts of the Patriarchs appear mean and inconsiderable when compared with the transcendent performances of the Son of God for if to consult the wants of mankind and to relieve them if curing their Bodies and instructing their Souls if feeding them with temporal food and giving them the Bread of Heaven be demonstrations of a large and a divine Soul then that title is peculiarly to be ascribed to the Redeemer of the world whose actions were one continued series of benefits and mercies I will therefore love the examples of good men but I will admire and adore Jesus I will make reflections on their excellent lives but I must fix my thoughts on the conversation of my Saviour who when he requires my adverting to his Pattern and his Laws enjoins me to look off from all other objects and to settle my eyes on him who loved me and bought me with his own most precious blood for they are but a cloud of witnesses but Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness and as when the Sun arises the little handful of Clouds and dusky vapours dwindle and vanish so when the glorious God appears in competition he eclipses all humane perfections For that which sustained the great Apostle when he was ready to be poured out as a drink-offering for the truth of the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 and what excited
to others against those sins which his own Conscience testifies himself hath been guilty of 'T is an exemplary story if it be true that Epiphanius relates of Origen * Haeres 64. p. 228. that after his fall returning to Jerusalem he was defired to preach which Office he addressing himself to occasionally lights upon that passage of the * Ps 50.16 17. Psalmist Unto the ungodly saith God why dost thou preach my Law and take my covenant into thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee Which passage as soon as he had read he could not but call to mind his former Apostacy whereupon he sate down and wept and the whole Congregation wept with him and that was all the Sermon they had for that day Who O my Soul dares speak evil of that Priest who spends all his Time and Strength in the service of that God whom he acknowledges and who will not reverence that Clergy-man who busies himself in visiting the sick in instructing the ignorant in reclaiming the profligate in comforting the disconsolate in diligent Preaching and Catechizing and in a reverent Administration of the Sacraments There is a natural Veneration and Respect that all men pay to that which is truly Religious but when he who instructs others never preaches to himself this casts an odium on Christianity that is not easily defac't for a wicked Priest at the Altar is worse than Judas for when Judas kist and then betrayed our Blessed Saviour tho the action was as he intended it abominable yet as God applied it it became the Instrument of the World's Happiness but when the vicious Priest approaches God's Table and puts the Body of Jesus into his own Lips and the hands of his people he prophanes the tremendous Sacrament he affronts the Majesty of God he does no good to himself or others but much harm he eats and drinks Damnation to himself and gives a very evil Example to his Neighbours and what Power can bring any good out of so much Wickedness And yet to sin like Judas is to be a vile and notorious Transgressor and the case of that Traytor is an affrighting Example our Holy Redeemer had given him his Body and Blood tho he knew he would betray him that he might attempt all methods to reclaim him to soften his hard Heart by Kindness and Condescention and to secure him from the Temptations of Satan by arming him with the power of God and the Grace that is conveyed with those Mysteries but Judas was the first Instance that the Holy Sacrament which the Son of God instituted for the Consolation and Welfare of his Servants may become the occasion of Condemnation to those who receive it unworthily and that the Devil may enter into that Man's mind whose Body hath received the Lord Jesus and how impudently wicked doth such a Wretch grow of a sudden for when our Master had declared that one of his Family would be that Traytor who should deliver him into the Hand of the High-priest * Luk. 22.21 When the rest of the Innocent Apostles were struck dumb with Astonishment Judas took the hardiness to ask him the Question Thus he who is not better'd by the means of Grace insensibly grows worse and hardly can a Miracle save such a resolute sinner And what dismal Lamentations what complication of Woes are sufficient to mourn the state of such a Priest for * Vid Hieron Ep. ad Heliodor to 1. p. 4. m. who shall make attonement for him whose Office it is to intercede for others ' The Soul of a Priest says * Lib. 6. de Sacerdot p. 44 46 c. St. Chrysostome should be bright and more untainted than the Rays of the Sun lest the Spirit of God be forc't to desert him and that he may be able to say Now it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me for like that great Light that rules the day he should enlighten the World and warm it with the Ardors of Divine Love for when the Priest stands at the Altar the Angels attend him and all the Heavenly Powers mix their Voices with his and all the Space round the Altar is filled with the Blessed Spirits who honour him that is there represented and incircle his Body as Guards do a Prince Nay so great is the Honour that is done to a good Priest when he administers in Holy Things that he stands in Gods stead for as God offer'd up his only Begotten Son for the Redemption of the World So doth the Priest at the Altar make a Commemoration of that one perfect and intire Sacrifice and Oblation of our Holy Saviour for the sins of Mankind and was it ever known that any man durst play the Devil in the likeness of God To meet Satan in the Habit of an Angel is not unusual but to see an Angel of God as Priests are called and truly are to be a real Fiend is abominable When therefore thou considerest this dost not thou tremble O my Soul when thou consecratest this Tremendous Sacrament And oughtest thou not to practice the deepest Reverence and to demean thy self humbly and decently because of the Angels who attend thee and because of God whom thou representest Great is the Honour which God gives his Priests and great is their Charge and who is sufficient for these Things A prayer for the Priest before he goes to consecrate out of St. Chrys Liturgy 'TO minister to Thee O thou King of Glory in Holy Offices is a great and terrible undertaking and such as is dreadful to the powers of Heaven but thou acted by thine unspeakeable and Infinite Love becamest our High-priest and being Lord of all things deputed'st men to the Ministry of this Sacrifice Look down upon me a sinful and unfruitful servant of thine cleanse me from an evil Conscience and prepare me by the Powers of thy Holy Spirit to stand before thy Holy Table and to minister thy sacred and uncorrupted body and thy precious Blood turn not thy Face away from me nor reprobate me from the number of thy Children Lord remember me when thou art in thy Kingdom Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under the polluted roof of my Soul but as thou wert pleased to lye down in the Manger among the Beasts and to sit at Meat in the House of Simon the Leper and to receive the Harlot a like sinner to my self when she came unto thee so vouchsafe to make thy entrance into my unreasonable Mind and into my defiled Body which is dead as well as Leprous and as thou didst not abominate the mouth of the Harlot when she kist thy unpolluted Feet so O Lord my God do not despise and abominate me a sinner Pardon blot out and forgive all my sins which I have committed either willingly or unwillingly whether they are sins of Knowledg or Ignorance whether in Deed or in Word or in
Ground without Accomplishment Did the Truth ever entertain the world with a Lye 'T was a denunciation of the greatest Veracity as well as of the deepest Horror That the present Generation should not pass away till all should be fulfilled and that even in similar circumstances At the Passover they murdered the Messiah and at the same time of the Year when all the people of Judea were come up to Jerusalem to worship did the Roman Armies beleaguer the City From the Mount of Olives did the compassionate Jesus exhort them to know and consider in the day of their visitation the things belonging to their peace And on the same Mountain the first Tents of the Roman Army were pitcht the miseries of the siege when Famine and the Sword raged in every street were very terrible the Sack of the Town more affrighting when the Flames spread themselves over all the beautiful Palaces the publick Buildings and the Glorious Temple of God and blended their ruins with the common rubbish but the most astonishing Judgment is That to this day that infatuated people have lost the priviledges of going up to the House of God have never since had the face or show of a Kingdom among them and are scattered over all the world and this probably was a wise Providence that the Gentiles might dread the like Ingratitude towards God which hath made the Jews a visible spectacle of the Divine Vengeance to all Nations and to all ages Israel of old was Gods First-born and his Darling they were a Holy Nation a Kingdom of Priests separated from the rest of the world the seed of Abraham the Children of the Promise and by natural Birth the kindred of the Messiah but now they are the off-scowring of the Earth and a proverb and by-word to all Nations For who can contemn the Son of God and be innocent VVho can disobey his word neglect to be better'd by his Sacraments grieve his Spirit and refuse to be convinc'd by his Miracles and hope to escape the Anger of God With what greater reason then shouldst thou tremble O my soul and be in a great Agony when my conscience is examined My fears are not of the loss of temporal priviledges of being disfranchis'd of losing my Liberty my Estate or my Life but of being cast into Hell and ruin'd for ever The loss of a worldly Kingdom is no way comparable to the loss of the Kingdom of God Crowns and Scepters are but Trifles when put into the Ballance with the Favour of the Almighty and how much more dreadful are the inflictions reserved for those who have been blest with greater priviledges and yet have requited their Saviour with more gross Offences and more notorious Ingratitude How shall they escape who have neglected so great Salvation And is it not a greater Crime to affront despise and reject a Saviour now he is glorified than it was when he was a man of sorrow and acquainted with Grief And is it not an addition to the offence to continue in the ways of disobedience when so many examples of God's indignation are visible to the world how sharply he resents the contempt of his long suffering And am I not convinc'd that the same Anger hath already seized many Churches of the Gentiles that fell so heavy upon Jerusalem In what a sad and deplorable condition are the once famous Churches of Carthage and the rest of Africa How is the once religious Aegypt overrun with Mahometanism And where are the anciently venerable Seven Churches of Asia If Antichrist hath fixt his Seat in the Temple of God who can hear and does not tremble And what should hinder O my stubborn heart but that thou shouldst at last relent Do not these Examples unriddle thy Doom and can there be more mercy reserv'd in store for thee than hath been shown to those others who were as much in Covenant with their Maker and more justly intituled to his Tuition If no Church dare presume on its priviledges no single person ought to think himself secure of thy Favour O my God any longer than he obeys thy Commandments Teach me therefore O my Saviour not to be high minded but to fear lest if God spared not the natural Branches he may be much less inclined to spare me whose Title is worse and whose Enormities have been more notorious The Collect. O Most Gracious Lord God who hast caused all the Divine Oracles to be written for thy Churches Learning and hast recorded thy former punishments to affright the sinners of the present Age from committing the like Offences bring to my remembrance all the sins of my Youth and enable me to mourn over them with a sorrow never to be repented of let thy Mercies and long-suffering lead me to amendment of Life and thy denunciations and judgments affright me from continuing a proselyte to vice and folly that I may live in awe of thy Power and Justice and secure my spiritual Interests with fear and trembling that nothing may separate me from the Love and Compassion of my God through Jesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen Another ALmighty and incomprehensible Being who tho the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain the Glory of thy Majesty art pleased to stoop thy self to the meanest of condescentions to bespeak the contrite and humble Spirit for thy Habitation soften my obdurate heart and give me that broken and penitent frame of mind which thou wilt not despise Nothing is impossible to my Almighty Saviour for he can raise up children to Abraham of the stones give me therefore a thorough sight of my sins a true fear of thy Judgments and a repentance unto life Teach me to comply with the great exemplar for if he who knew no sin was yet a man of Sorrows how much more should such a wretch as I who am nothing but Pollution refuse to be comforted till I have sorrowed to repentance and then let me partake of the merits of his Tears and Agonies of his Shame and Sufferings Let thy Love and Condescentions prevail upon me to make me penitent but if they prevail not awaken me by thy Thunders wound and affright me rather than let me continue in this spiritual Lethargy that tho my present state be afflicted my soul may be saved in the day of the Lord that I may serve thee with Humility and a true Grief and offer up my supplications with strong Crys and wash thy Altar with my Tears Every where do I meet with Encouragements to this Compunction within me a deplorable Frame of mind cover'd with shame and the Fears of thy Judgments without me a giddy world making haste to Hell before me an angry Judg and behind me a dismal Prison Sanctifie these Considerations unto me that they may deter me from being vicious that I may no longer dare to continue in my Rebellions against my Maker that my present confusions may end in eternal Confidence and I may see that day with comfort when
for Confirmation or have I slighted the Prayers and Benediction of God's Priest Have I wholly forsaken Satan or rather am I not still under his power by being a slave to the habits of folly and disobedience Have I ever at any time used Charms or Amulets or consulted Witches or Conjurers Am I not yet in love with the pomps and vanities of the World a great frequenter of sports to the hindrance of Religious Duties and do I delight in profane and lascivious representations and are not my Lusts yet unmortified and have I not derogated from the honour of the Captain of our Salvation by cowardise and negligence Eucharist Have I not profan'd the holy Supper of the Lord by not acquainting my self with the nature of the Mystery and the necessity of preparation or by coming to it without Faith and Repentance without an universal charity and a thorow reconciliation to God and my enemies without examination without a due sorrow and amendment of Life Have I not often received that Sacrament without those ardors of devotion which I am obliged to or without that bodily reverence which the most Sacred and Heavenly Mysteries require Have I not made rash promises when I have received and never minded them afterwards Have I not suffered the House to lye idle when it hath been so swept and garnish'd to encourage Satan to take with him seven other Spirits worse than himself and to come and dwell in my Soul till its later estate be more deplorable than its first To which I subjoyn Lord be merciful to me a sinner and so strengthen me by thy Grace that I may perform my Vows and keep the robes of my Baptism unspotted and tho I have approach'd thy Table without the Wedding Garment yet cast me not into outer darkness whence there is no deliverance Now these and all other Transgressions are either heightned or lessened by their circumstances the Examinant therefore ought to consider 1. The Time when he offended Was it on the Lord's day Here additions and alterations may be made by the devout penitent according to his own state or any other publick Festival on a publick Fasting day or the days of my own private humiliation during the hours of Prayer either at the Temple or in my Closet either at or immediately before or after the receipt of the holy Sacrament and have I often committed one and the same sin for these circumstances argue a perverse frame of mind and that it is not infirmity but wilfulness that makes the offender 2. The place where the sin was committed Was it in the Church at the holy Table or in my Closet or in any publick place where the offence became scandalous incouraging the vicious and offending my weaker brethren 3. The state and condition of the Offender Am I not in Holy Orders one of God's Priests that Minister at his Altar have I not more knowledge and a better acquaintance with my duty hath not God afforded me more convictions greater light and frequenter opportunities of doing good was the sin committed when I was under some affliction of mind body or estate or after some sudden deliverance out of some severe judgement on me for my former failings hath not God by his holy Spirit laid many hinderances in my way to ruine and have I not overcome all difficulties and often been my own tempter have I not continued to be wicked after many checks of Conscience and many solemn Vows to the contrary after the experience of much mercy many deliverances and great tenderness compassion and long-suffering in my Saviour towards me 4. The persons injured Are not my sins committed against my God my Master my Saviour my best and only Friend have I rob'd the House of God of its ho nour or revenue have I ground the face of the Poor or rob'd the Fatherless and Widows have I given evil counsel to the ignorant or those that cannot discern the fallacy have I been unjust to my Children or Relatives who are nearest to me and as it were parts of my self Among all which sins I must particularly mourn over and detest those to which I have been most inclined by natural temper or custome and resolve to avoid all provocations and temptations and whatever hath or may promote such evil habits and to practice the contrary virtues To which I subjoyn Lord I have caused thy Name to be blasphemed among the enemies of Religion and Piety but be thou pleased to pity and pardon me the greatest of sinners and give me thy Grace that I may do so no more Besides all which I am bound to reflect on my many secret sins and forgotten offences and to subjoin Lord who can understand how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults and keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins lest they get the dominion over my Soul so shall I be innocent from the great offence The Collect. ALmighty Lord and everlasting God Grant I most humbly beseech thee to thy distressed Servant Pardon and Peace and vouchsafe to direct sanctify and govern both my heart and body in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever I may be preserv'd in body and soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen To this I add the 38 Psalm or the 51. or some other penitential and after that the 22 Psalm Then follows the Litany much agreeable to the former method LORD let thy Ear be attentive to the Prayer of thy Servant who desires to fear thy name O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him the Father of Mercies have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Son the Redeemer of the World and the lover of Souls have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Holy Spirit of Peace and Love the giver of every Grace and every good Gift have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Holy Powerful and Compassionate Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace Lord hear Lord forgive hearken O Lord and do and defer not for thine own sake O Lord our God From polluting the robes of my Baptisme and making new leagues with Satan from a feigned sorrow and an outside repentance Good Lord deliver me From sin and shame from the paths of folly and destruction from great boasting and little performance and from a vain and empty frame of mind from stoath and idleness and the neglect of my best concerns Good Lord deliver me From Self-Love and love of the World from being busy about nothing and slighting the thoughts of Eternity from deferring my repentance and putting off my accounts to the day of
dragg'd by the rude and incensed multitude into the City and there hurried up and down to all the Judicatories in it he was buffeted and scourg'd the Plowers plowed long furrows on his back he was Crown'd with Thorns and loaden with his Cross having been condemned by clamour and importunity by restless and unsatisfied malice when Pilate his proper Judge had confest him Innocent To his Cross both his hands and feet which by reason of their being full of Nerves are the most sensible parts of the Body were fastened being pierc'd through with sharp Nails the whole weight of his Body stretch'd out as on a Rack resting on his expanded Hands there he languished under an insufferable thirst occasioned by his being so violently transported from place to place by his cruel Agony in the Garden by his loss of so much Blood in that Sweat in his scourging in his being Crown'd with Thorns and nailed to his Cross to which both his hands and feet were fastened that he could no way relieve himself he was exposed to the Sun and the Wind which search'd his wounds and made his pains more grievous his Mother and his beloved Disciple were standing by his Cross in the posture of persons distracted by their sorrows and this increased his torment not only as they were his near Relations but as they represented his Widowed and disconsolate Church And when it might have been expected that his Soul should have received comfort while his body was on this rack this was so far from being the portion of Jesus that his Soul felt more fearful convulsions than his tortured Body when all his bones were out of joint all the anger of God was upon him at once now was the Curtain drawn between the rational faculties of his Soul and God whereas before there was only a skreen between his sensitive faculties and his Father now was the beatifical Union suspended and his God had forsaken him when he stood in most need and when he cryed aloud to his Father for help the rude Soldiers study to encrease his sorrows they give him Vinegar to drink which was proper to stop his bleeding and to lengthen his life and torments and that Vinegar mingled with the bitter juice of Hyssop to make the draught more irksome and unpalatable unless we may believe a modern ‖ Heins Arist in Jo. 19 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Critick That they gave him the Vinegar on a Spunge of the coarsest Wooll to do him the greater dishonour Almost a whole day and night was he under continued tortures from his entry into the Garden to his yielding up the ghost whereof six whole hours he was hanging on the Cross and then he died while his Spirit was whole within him and while being in the vigour of his youth his heart within him was like melting wax for in the heighth of all his acute pains he cried with a loud voice and yielded up the ghost his Body being more sensible of pain than usually malefactors are for he had a beautiful shape and was of a fine and pure make and of a delicate constitution born of a Virgin not subject to and so never harrast with diseases and the pains of his Soul bore proportion to his bodily sufferings for he well knew how grievous and insupportable the anger of God is which we are insensible of he dreaded the burthen of those sins which we delight in and the severity of those punishments which we deride his notions of things were clear his apprehension quick and the bent of his mind most strongly inclinable to pity and compassion Thus were his sorrows augmented and his sufferings made intollerable while the rigour of his enemies left no sound part in him for he suffered in his Soul in his bitter Agony in his whole Body in his Sweat his Head was crowned with Thorns his Eyes were a fountain of tears his Ears inured to mockings his Palate disgusted vvith the Vinegar and the Wine mixt vvith Myrrh his Face spit upon his Neck and Shoulders loaden vvith the burthen of a heavy Cross his Back and Sides scourged his Heart pierc'd vvith the Spear his Hands and Feet nailed to the accursed Tree his Flesh torn and his Blood spilt that he might most justly exclaim I am the man that hath seen affliction by the Rod of God's Wrath Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see was there ever sorrow like my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger Nor were these all his sufferings for the consideration and foresight that all these mercies should be bestowed on an ingrateful and rebellious World the greatest part of which would be hypocrites and unbelievers would trample on his Blood as an unholy and profane thing and would frustrate the end of his death and the designs of his mercy this doubtless made his sorrows exquisite and so transcendent as nothing could parallel but his Love and his Patience Here the devout Christian may put a stop to his Meditations for a while and subjoin this COLLECT O Lord who wert pleased in the fulness of time to send thine only begotten Son into the World made of a Woman made under the Law that he might become a curse for us and reconcile the World unto thee our Father by his bitter Agony and cruel Death and who hast assured us that thou scourgest every son whom thou receivest grant that I may be conformable to the image of thy beloved Son and our dearest Saviour that his sufferings may be the propitiation for my sins his Blood may cleanse my Soul and I may have life through him and grant that as Jesus offered up himself to thy justice so I may offer my self and all my enjoyments a Sacrifice of praise for the Mercies of God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost now and for evermore Amen After which the devout Christian at what time his strength and occasions will best permit may continue his Meditation Proportionate to the torments which Jesus endured was his shame and ignominy than which nothing is more insufferable to an ingenuous nature His birth was mean his Mother a poor Virgin he was born in a Stable and Cradled in a Manger he was brought up at the mean and laborious Trade of his reputed Father Joseph his many Journies were performed on foot he had no setled habitation and very few Friends and those poor ignorant and contemptible Galilean Fishermen whose very Country was ominous and at his last essay was he not apprehended as a vile malefactor and that not by a party of men of Honour not by the Guards of the Captain of the Temple or the Roman Governor but by the Rabble the meanest of the people tumultuously gathered together arm'd with Clubs and Swords the hasty weapons their fury could lay hold on He was treated as a publick Nusance tho as free from sin as truth and innocence could make
dastardly and low-spirited were even the very Apostles tho they lived and dayly conversed with him their courages were impaired by their sears they betrayed deserted and denied him but his Resurrection did beget in the mind of the Christian World a true generosity and fortitude able to subdue and trample on all dangers in as much as men of no breeding no natural valour of no interests or friends durst prefer the confession of their Saviour and his Gospel to their Countrey and Relations to their quiet and security and to life it self and passionately to chuse scourges and prisons and the various methods of death before all sorts of voluptuous enjoyments But what is more and more acceptable than all knowledg and all power the Resurrection of Christ gave the Holy-Ghost to the World for the blessed Spirit could not be given till Christ was risen Thus this one act of the Almighty Redeemer of mankind baffled all the fears of his servants compleated the satisfaction for their sins secured unto them the company of the Spirit of Truth Peace here till they should be carried into his Kingdom on the wings of Angels And what greater blessings canst thou wish than these O my soul Give the riches and the honours of this life O my dearest Saviour to others I will never envy their fruitions so thou give me thy Self let me partake of the benefits of thy Resurrection in the pardon of my sins in the indwelling of the Comforter in my mind and in the first fruits of obedience in frequent approaches to thy Table and other acts of devout converse with thee and leaving the manner of my death to thy disposal for on these terms in what sort or at what time soever it shall be I shall not be disturbed I shall be happy in the remembrance that when my Master comes and finds me so doing he will give me a share in his joys The Collect. ALmighty God who through thine only begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome Death and apened unto us the gate of everlasting Life we humbly beseech thee that as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect through Jesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy-Ghost ever one God world without end Amen The Anthem The Resurrection and Aseension I. COme holy Spirit from above Come warm me with Seraphick love That I may the triumphant Jesus sing Whose resurrection heaven to earth did bring And put thee long'd-for peaceful Dove upon the wing II. Jesus is risen mount my mind And leave this sordid earth behind God made thy body dust but Sin a grave Let thy Soul too its Resurrection have No longer be thy Lusts the Worlds or Satan's slave III. Attend the Conqueror to his Throne Who from the lower world is flown Make tho the meanest one in that parade The bleeding Jesus did my heart in vade And none can heal the wound but he whose hand it made IV. View yonder Arch inscrib'd above Sacred to Coelestial Love There the incomparable Jesus dwells Iesus who charms thee by the strengest spells Love him with transports O my passions and none else V. See the bright Angels how they glide Up and down by 's Chariot's side See where ten thousand hover and attend To guard the Conqueror to his journies end Whose Chariot does directly to God's right hand bend VI. There Jesus fixes and from thence Sheds his benignest influence And like triumphant Victors does bestow His donatives on us who dwell below That we in time our Triumphs may accomplish too VII You Angels you who dwell above Spend all your time in songs and love While I who sadly want your light and fire Detain'd in sensual fetters would mount higher And wish to do what I can only now admire VIII You Guardians are by Heaven design'd To awe and to protect Mankind When Jesus rose you did the news relate When he ascended you did on him wait That I might triumph so give me my Saviours Fate Rules of Conduct for Easter-Day and the Sacrament § 1. It is taken for granted that the devout Person hath humbled himself in the sight of God for his sins the Week aforegoing more particularly on Good-Friday and the Holy Saturday and it is requisite he should watch a great part of if not all the Saturday night which time should be spent in more intense Supplications and more ardent Meditations the Vigils of the Ancient Church were an excellent Institution and Watching and Prayer are joined by our Saviour and we are bid to be sober and to watch unto Prayer by the Apostles that is to fast to watch and to pray it is true the Vigils at last gave offence and were for that reason almost all prohibited because such promiscuous meetings of men and women under the covert of the night did administer to many Exorbitances But the Vigils of Easter and the greater Festivals were always kept up and are so still in the Churches of the East and tho our Church doth not expresly injoin the observation yet it mentions them in her Rubricks and leaves every man to his own liberty to watch in his Closet where there can be no such temptation as gave occasion to the disuse of that practice And whenever the Christian Penitent goes to bed it is requisite to rise very early on Easter day because our Blessed Master rose ‖ Joh. 20.1 while it was yet dark § 2. After the private devotions are performed and the necessary duties of the Family if any considered and attended the good man goes to Church nor will he choose to receive any other where but at his own Parish Church if there be a Sacrament there which on this Festival is expresly enjoined to be celebrated over all Christendom * Can. 6. The Council of Gangra denounc'd a solemn Anathema against the Erecters of private Conventicles that those who dislik'd the publick Assemblies might communicate at home in private And by the old †Ludov. 1. tit 101. Lothar l. 1. tit 357 c. Capitulars every Priest was ordered to be degraded every Layman to be excommunicate who lest his own Parish to receive the Blessed Eucharist in another unless extraordinary business or a Journey called them that way or they had a dispensation so to do from their Superiours § 3. But if the devout Person be hindred by sickness or some other inevitable obstruction he bears the loss with Patience but looks on it as a great affliction and longs to go up to the House of the Lord and to communicate with his Saints and that he may not lose all the benefit of the solemnity his thoughts are present and go along with the Service and he begs God earnestly to accept of his willing mind and to send him his Blessing and his Holy Spirit as much as if he actually communicated Thus the
* Buxtorf Synag Jud. c. 13. Jew who could not possibly go up to Jerusalem at the Passover had the allowance to kill a Lamb at Home and to call upon the Name of the Lord praising him for the deliverance out of Egypt § 4. But if by any means he can go to Church he chuses to be there some time before the Holy Offices begin that he may the better compose himself recollect his Thoughts and review his Vows for he who wilfully slips the opportunity of being at the beginning of the Prayers is in the way to lose all the advantages of his coming thither for he who does not confess heartily cannot communicate worthily Early therefore the good man goes to Church and he takes care to come fasting that nothing may enter into his mouth before the Body of God for for this cause the Ancients transferr'd their Love-feasts from being eaten before the Sacrament to be eaten after it not only to prevent excess but to do Honour to this Heavenly Food by preserring it to all our temporal necessaries And yet the good man is not so scrupulous to believe that if while he washes his mouth a drop of water casually trickle down his Throat that that breaks his Fast and disables him to communicate that day § 5. The spare time before the service begins is spent in holy reflections and renewed vows of obedience such as these In the name of Jesus who loved me and was crucified for me I renounce my self and all my own desires that I may love my Saviour and do him service May his Cross and Passiion save me may his Grace keep and direct me in the paths of Peace world without end Be glad and rejoice O my soul and give Honour to the Lord God Omnipotent for the Marriage of the Lamb is come Blessed are all they who are called to the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb These are the true sayings of God Nothing in this world can be comparable to it nothing but the vision of God above it To which is subjoined this Meditation § 6 I am come into the Temple of God to receive his Injunctions and to partake of his Blessings I entertain the tidings with Joy and the Exultations of a glad heart this is the day which the Lord hath made I will tejoice and be glad in it this is the Lords day and this his Habitation where it pleaseth him to dwell O how amiable are thy dwellings O thou Lord of Hosts Here the Angels wait and worship and if they veil their faces being ravished at the Transporting and Majestick Sight how cold and negligent am I in my preparations to entertain the lover of Souls my comforter in this world and my bliss in that which is to come the guide of those vvho travel to Zion and the revvard of vvhoever attains to the Heavenly country Had I the Meekness of Moses and the Patience of Job the Zeal of Elijah and the Purities of the Man after Gods ovvn heart yet vvere I not meet to approach Gods Holy Table Could the Seraphim transfer to me their ardours or the bright Angels cloath me with their innocency yet it would be infinite Condescention in my God to admit me Lord What then shall I do If I come I am afraid of presumption but if I refuse to come I slight thy invitation I contemn thy Ordinances and affront thy Goodness I break thy Commandments and throw off my subjection I will therefore come tho I bring not with me the intire preparation which the Sanctuary requires for he who despiseth thy Table is as guilty in thy sight as he who eats and drinks unworthily Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof and yet thon biddest thy self to be my Guest and intreatest to be admitted into my Bosom the greatest Prince condescends to visit his meanest subject and the Holiest God to dwell with the most sinful Wretch Lord I have sinned and done exceeding wickedly And can my God look savourably on such an abominable Transgressor as I am Can thy Mercy incline thee to take the Childrens Bread and to give it to such a Dog I acknowledg I am an Intruder but Mary Magdalene whom thou lovedst and to whom thon forgavest much when she made her first Addresses to thee O Blessed Jesu came unbidden to the house of a supercilious Pharisee when the Meat was on the Table and without taking notice of any body else laid hold of thee whom she earnestly sought at thy feet she throws her self and washes them with her penitential Tears she was ashamed of her sins but not of her approaches to her Saviour and so am I Oh! how am I grieved that I am yet so far from the power of Godliness so intangled with the love of vanity so fond of the world and so negligent of Heaven so prodigal of my time and such a niggard of my Charity so vain in my imagination so inconsiderate in my discourses so indevotional in the most solemn acts of Religion but so intent to things of no moment so concern'd about my daily Bread but so careless of getting the Bread of Angels so inclinable to be angry with others while I want that indignation that becomes me against my own transgressions May the good Lord be merciful to me and to every one who prepareth his heart to seek the Lord God the God of our Fathers altho he be not cleansed according to the Purification of the Sanctuary § 7. After this it is taken for granted that the good Man who is Gods Minister and the Peoples Priest is come to Church and hath begun the Divine Service at which the devout Christian earnestly attends praying with all fervency o Receiving the Absolution with all Contrition and Humility praising God with all heartiness repeating the Creed with his utmost vigour because it is a confirmation of the truth of his profession and tho he takes all occasions when there is any pause as frequently there is in the Celebration of the Eucharist to put up his own private Prayers to God yet he never dares suffer them to interfere with the publick worship for ¶ 1 Cor. 14.26 when the Apostle reproves the men of Corinth that at their solemn Meetings every man had his Psalm and every one his Doctrine i.e. one was preaching while another was praying and a third singing and tells them that this could not edifie he looks upon that reproof as a lesson of advice and duty to the whole Church and a general Rule of demeanour in the House of God § 8. When the devout Christian observes the Holy Man of God for such is every Priest or such he ought to be standing at the Altar he looks on him with Reverence because he ministers in Holy Things and represents Jesus consecrating at the first Institution And for him thus he prays Lord let thy Priests be cloath'd with righteousness and let thy Saints sing with joyfulness Hosannah
to 2. p. 1022. Chrys to 5. p. 539. Cabasil c. 53. and kist his hand that used to hold and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ Every person also who approacht this Table washt and put on their best Apparel on purpose to testify the purity of their minds the joy of their hearâ—s and their respect to the holy Sacrament 4. The Ancients lookt on the celebration of this Sacrament as what did compleat all other sacred Offices and therefore in those best of times they received every day because they thought they could not serve God as they ought without performing that necessary duty for they believ'd that because our Blessed Saviour having bid his Church do so in remembrance of him had yet fixt no time when it should do so that therefore he intended it for that reason as a part of the Religions Worship which ought to be perform'd as often as Christians meet to serve God for the remembrance of a dying Saviour and his last desires made a strong impression upon their minds And therefore this Office was added to all the other Offices of Religion for they never Baptiz'd any person but they immediately gave him this other Sacrament also and when any were Maried this Ordinance consummated the Union when they ordain'd a Clerk they carried him up to God's Table and caused him to eat of his Masters Bread they gave it to dying persons when they visited the sick and they gave it to them who were alive when a Funeral happened 5. They approacht this Table with the deepest Reverence and an awful Dread they came to Church fasting thinking it a Presumption to eat any thing before they had tasted of the Dainties their Saviour had provided for them they received the Sacred Elements in their right hands and with a Solemn care looking on them as a pledg of Gods Love and an assurance of Salvation ‖ Cyril Catech. mystag 5. and they would as willingly have lost a Limb as let a crum of it fall to the ground But above all they took care to receive in a posture of Adoration of Reverence and Humility it is true we do not read that they received Kneeling for on Sunday and all the time between Easter and Whitsuntide and probably on other Festivals for the same reason the Laws of the Church prohibited Kneeling so much as at their Prayers because they were times of rejoycing they stood then as those who were risen with Christ and who were in expectance of the joys of Heaven and they remembred that this was a Eucharist a solemn Thanksgiving and for that reason they always ended their Fasts before they Communicated and an erect posture best fits these ends And yet notwithstanding a Aug. in Ps 98. Châ—ys To. 3. p. 778. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To. 5. p. 518. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He also mentions the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Communicants Theodorit dial 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all this they adored when ever they received they stoopt and bow'd with Reverence and Godly fear and sometimes fell down and then received and this is plain not only from the passages in the Fathers cited in the Margin but also from the known Story of the Female Macedonian Heretick who receiving the Body of our Saviour from the hands of St. Chrysostom is ‖ Sozom. l. 8. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said to stoop down as if she would pray 6. They anciently carryed home some of the Consecrated Elements with them * Tert. ad Ux. l. 2. which they did eat before their common Meals Sanctifying their Meat and Drink thereby nay every common meal was to them a sort of Communion ⸪ Vid. Jo. Frontonis Familia Christiana p. 8 9 10. for they never durst eat till they had prayed to God for a Blessing and at their Tables they refused to admit any excommunicate person or any Heretick much more the prophane and profligate nay not so much as a Catechumen unless upon extraordinary occasion The Bread and Wine when so blest was lookt on as holy and they were troubled if casually either of them fell to the ground and as they began their meals with the Sacramental Elements so they mutually reconciled themselves to each other before they sat down and said the Lord's Prayer in which the Petitions Give us this Day our dayly Bread and forgive us our Trespasses were very proper to the usage after which they gave the kiss of Charity and sign'd themselves with the sign of the Cross and then begun their meal and in most Families some one was deputed to read the holy Scriptures the hard places of which the Master of the House interpreted and when they had done they thank'd God for all his Blessings in some holy Hymn and the Master of the Family gave the remainders to the poor for he acted the part of a Priest in his own House and thus they turn'd the House into a Church the Table into an Altar and the Feast into a Sacrifice and if at any time a Stranger came among them as they durst not shut their doors against any such they gave him the preference especially if a Priest to begin and end the prayers 7. And so much respect did the devouter Christians pay to this Sacrament * Naz. orat 10. or 19. that they would not spit on the pavement of the holy place while they were at Church nor turn their backs on the Altar when they lest it As now among the Aethiopians no Man spits the whole day after he hath received this Sacrament And in the Church of Constantinople by the advice and example ‖ Phot. Cod. 59. of St. Chrysostom they swallowed a little Cake or Wafer to prevent spitting or vomiting after the reception But that which made them tremble when they approach'd the Holy place was an opinion * S. Maxim mystag Eccles c. 24. which they entertain'd That the Angels being present did Write down the names of all the worthy Communicants whose behaviour they inspected and whose names they brought into remembrance before God for they were fully convinc'd ‖ Ambr. de Sacram li. 1. c. 2. Aug. Ser. 3. in Ps 33 c. that the Angels stood round the Altar and assisted at the Sacrifice For at that time says St. * To. 7. p. 892. Chrysostom the Angels fall down before the Lord and the Archangels pray they lay hold on the occasion and the Sacrifice that is on God's Altar gives them assistance for as men pluck the branches of Olives and tender them to Princes thereby putting them in mind of that mercifulness and compassion that becomes them So do the Angels instead of Branches of Olives holding up the Lords Body befeech God for all mankind as if they said We implore thee for those whom thou didst love so dearly as to give thy Lise for them and we pour out our Prayers for
them for whom thou wert pleased to shed thy Blood and we supplicate for those for whose welfare thou didst sacrifice thy Body They also believed that as long as they did Communicate they did enjoy the company of those blessed Spirits and that when they were kept from the Lord's Table they were under the power of Satan for Excommunication was a terrible sentence to them and the worst of punishments so great an affliction did they account that which is now our choice being fully perswaded that he who was shut out of the Church here without a deep Repentance and Absolution must necessarily be kept out of the Kingdom of Heaven And May God of his great Mercy and Goodness give his Holy Spirit to all that are called Christians that they may put a just value on the Priviledges of the Church of God that they may Honour Reverence and Frequent the Holy Sacrament which is the Communion of Saints and may dread the being justy deprived of those advantages that we may neither excommunicate our selves from thy Table nor deserve the censures of the Church to drive us from it but that thy fear may be upon us all the days of our Life through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen CHAP. XXIII Of the abuse of the Sacrament to evil ends IT is an Observation confirm'd by sad Experience That the best of things or persons when they degenerate prove the worst of their kind and it is also as sadly confirm'd That the best of enjoyments when employed to bad ends and purposes prove the causes of the greatest mischiefs and this is demonstrated as by many other instances so by the abuse of the Divine Institution of the Holy and most Advantageous Sacrament of the Eucharist to serve the designs of sensual ambitious and covetous men very great alterations having been made both in the Doctrine and Rites of that Sacrament from the Primitive Institution and Original Practise Of this Nature I must confess there are some things that seem to me not so fairly defensible in the Centuries that preceded the Establishment of Popery such as * Aug. op imperf adv Julian l. 3. c. 164. the making Plaisters of the Eucharist to Cure Blindness or other Diseases ‡ Id. de C. D. l. 22. c. 8. the Celebrating of this Sacrament in a private house to expel the Evil Spirits that haunted it * Nicet Paphl Vit. Ignat. Theop. an 20. Heracl the dipping Pens in the Consecrated Wine when they either Sealed Covenants or condemn'd a notorious Heretick †Ambr. in ob Satyr Fratr the tying it about the neck as an Amulet in the time of Imminent danger ‡ Hesyc in Levit. l. 2. c. 8. the burning or burying the remainders of the Consecrated Elements or ‡ Evagr. l. 4. c. 35. giving them to School-boys and such like persons who were not present at the Consecration with other such usages but I remember that those were the days of Miracles and Extraordinary men might make use of uncommon methods and that it becomes not me to uncover the Nakedness of the Fathers especially because at this distance of time few men are capable of understanding the reasons why they did many things at which we now wonder And it were to be wisht the same Apology were so made for the succeeding Ages wherein strange Opinions and as Novel Customs had their Original for then the reverence due to the mysteries degenerated into Superstition and Idolatry and the Mysteries themselves were many times applyed to unbecoming usages and on trifling occasions For men would not be content to believe that God was really present in the Sacrament but they were resolved to study a way how to make him so by a Method that baffles sense and contradicts reason and to this purpose men begun not to be satisfied with the common Bread in which the Eucharist was Anciently Celebrated the bread that was usually eaten at ordinary meals was thought unfit for this sacred use and therefore unleavened bread and wasers were introduc'd and this perhaps was the practise of the eighth Century and in two or three Hundered Years after the notion of Transubstantiation began to be owned but in such an Age which Baronius and other Historians say was the shame of the Papacy when there was neither Learning nor Vertue at Rome but the greatest ignorance and the greatest debauchery imaginable and with this Doctrine the half communion was introduc'd the people being Sacrilegiously rob'd of the Cup for sear they should in Receiving spill the Blood of Christ after which the Schoolmen first amus'd themselves and then their neighbors with impertinent inquiries relating to these Mysteries which made neither themselves nor others wiser or better and what number of Miracles were then coyned to uphold the new Doctrines that when reason would not perswade men to believe they might be convinc'd by wonder and extraordinary apparitions People being told that the Bread by the Prayers ‖ Jo. Diac. vit Greg. l. 2. c. 41. of St. Gregory the Great was turn'd into a piece of Flesh in view of all the people that our ‡ Paschas c. 14. de Corp. Dom. Saviour frequently appear'd on the Altar in the shape of a beautiful Boy ‡ Vid. Pinelli meditat 4. p. 126. ad p. 146. That St. Antony of Padua's Mule worshipt the Host and that Bees in their Hive built a Chappel to an Host which was by the owner put there to increase his stock And thus by degrees it grew to be a God till at last it had a Festival appointed called Corpus Christi day on which it is solemnly prayed to as at other times it is bow'd down to and Adored And as the Ark of the Govenant was carried before the Camp of the Israelites so the ‡ Hey l. Hist of Reform p. 70. Cornish Rebels in Edw. 6 time carried the Consecrated Host under a Canopy with Crosses Banners and other such solemn appendages before them in hopes thereby to get a certain Victory and as the Kings of Persia had their Immortal Fire carried before them to is this Sacrament carried before the Pope on solemn days and as Anciently men swore by the Name of God so they now swear by the Sacrament and did not Pope Hildebrand confult this Sacrament as as an Oracle to know what success he should have against the Emperor of Germany and when it did not answer expectation threw it into the Fire if we may believe Cardinal Benno and if he be doubted there are other ‡ Vid Orland in Hist Soc. Jes l 12. ss 48. p. 394. li. 16 ss 22. p 544. Instances out of more Authentiek and uncontroverted Authors to prove the usage and how often hath the Pix been brought out to quench Fires As was lately done at ‡ V. Daille de obj Cult Relig. li. 1. c 10 p. 138 Con Saligunst c 6. Avenion by the Popes own Legal Governor of that City when the