it by the Faith of the Church which asks it O Lord Jesus Christ who didst say to thy Apostles Peace I leave unto you my Peace I give unto you regard not my sins but rather look upon the Faith of thy Church and grant it that Peace and Union which may be according to thy will who livest and reignest God for ever and ever Amen The Priest having prayed for the Faithful prays for himself to obtain a disposition requisite to receive the Eucharist worthily O Lord Jesus Christ Son of the living God who by thy Fathers Will and by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost by thy death hast given life to the whole World deliver me by this thy Holy Body and Bloud from all my sins and from all evil make me a true observer of thy Commandments and that I be never separated from thee who being God livest and reignest for ever Amen O Lord Jesus Christ let not this participation of thy Body which I though unworthy now presume to receive be to my Judgment and Damnation but through thy Mercy a wholesom Medicine to my Infirmities who being God livest and reignest with God the Father in the Unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen After he hath kneeled to adore the Blessed Sacrament taking the Host into his hands and considering that he is to receive his God he puts all his confidence in his Mercy saying I Will take the Bread of Heaven and will call upon the name of our Lord. And representing to himself how acceptable the Centurion's Humility was to the Son of God when he would have honoured him with a Visit in imitation of him he protests himself unworthy of so great a favour and striking his breast repeats the same words thrice LOrd I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof only say the word and my Soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof only say the word and my Soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof only say the word and my Soul shall be healed In receiving the Body of our Lord he makes the sign of the Cross with the Hoast calling to his memory that it is the Body which Jesus Christ exposed to death to save us THE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my Soul to Life Everlasting Amen In taking the Chalice he gives God thanks for the advantages he receives by the Communion of the Bloud of Christ by those words of the 117 and 118 Psalm WHat shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits to me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of our Lord. In singing his praises I will call upon our Lord and I shall be safe from mine enemies When he receives the Bloud of our Lord making on himself the sign of the Cross with the Chalice and meditating that it is the Bloud which Jesus Christ would shed to save us he says THe Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my Soul to Life Everlasting Amen Whilst he takes Wine in the Chalice to wash his mouth and fingers that so the least particle of the Sacrament may not remain there and to shew the care he must take to preserve himself in Purity he says this Prayer GRant O Lord that we may receive that with a pure heart which we have taken by our mouths and that of a Temporal Gift it may become an Eternal Remedy unto us In taking the second Absolution he says LEt thy Body O Lord which I have received and thy Bloud which I have drunk cleave unto my bowels and grant that the least spot of sin may not remain in me who have been satiated with thy pure and holy Sacraments who livest and reignest world without end Amen Neither Communion nor Post-Communion is said because the Neophytes did not receive at this Mass But the Priest to give God Thanks for the Benefits we have received by the Incarnation Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ uses that Thanksgiving which the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of our Saviour did for the whole Body of the Church Secondly to testifie that we ought not to be less sensible of the Benefits received from God by the Merits of his Son than the Saints of the Old Testament to whom God had revealed them the Church says the 116 Psalm Thirdly the Church teaches us that in commemorating the Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ we ought to present unto our Saviour the perfumes of our Prayers and Good works in imitation of the Charity and Zeal of those good Women who came to his Sepulcher at Day-break with their Persumes to pay him the Duty of their Piety And therefore the Antiphon is taken out of the 28th Chapter of St. Matthew Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia PSALM CXVI PRaise our Lord all ye Gentiles praise him all ye people Because his mercy is confirmed on us and his truth remains for ever Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning and now and ever and world without end Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Another ANTIPHON out of the 28th Chapter of St. Matthew IN the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn in the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to the Sepulcher Alleluia The Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary Luke 2. The Church in this Canticle represents us with an Abridgment of the Promises and Mysteries of the Salvation and teaches us that as the Son of God became Man to repair by his Humility what Adam had lost by his Pride he was pleased to chuse the Blessed Virgin to be his Mother for the accomplishing this great work in regard of her Humility MY soul doth magnifie our Lord. And my spirit hath rejoyced in God my saviour Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me and holy is his Name And his mercy from generation unto generations to them that fear him He hath shewed might in his arm he hath dispersed the proud in the conceit of their heart He hath deposed the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble The hungry he hath filled with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away He hath received Israel his child being mindful of his mercy As he spake to our fathers to Abraham and his seed for ever Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning and now and ever world without end ANTIPHON In the end of the Sabbath as before pag. 304. The Incense puts us in mind of the Piety of these Holy Women who carried Perfumes to our Saviours Sepulcher And the Church beseeches God that our Prayers may ascend as this Incense unto him Our Lord be with you R. And
THE Compleat Office OF THE Holy Week WITH NOTES and EXPLICATIONS Translated out of Latin and French Published with Allowance IHS LONDON Printed for Matthew Turner at the Lamb in High-Holborn 1687. TO THE QUEEN MADAM WITH all possible Respect and some Hopes it will not prove absolutely unwelcom I Humbly lay at Your Majesty's Feet a very good Book but a very ill-suited Present For Devout Ink and Paper to Your Majesty whose Life is it self a Book of Devotion is but a Link of Silver to a Chain of Gold And then a Translation is such a kind of Present to Your Majesty as a bad Copy to one who has an excellent Original 'T is true you are an absolute Mistress of our Language as well as Hearts but you would never Pray in an Vnknown Tongue though there were neither English nor Italian in the World and Translating is but telling you a Story for News which you know already and hear when you please much better told But since what is useless to Your Majesty may be beneficial to your Subjects and a Queen is neither the Greatest nor the most Glorious of your Titles I promise my self that your Charity will condescend to make an Alms of your Name and Patronage and by your countenance to Devotion allure a People fond of making their Court to you to make it in the way most pleasing to Your Majesty straining to follow afar off and be as Devout as they can since few can hope to be as Devout as you 'T is to be hoped this will be the Courtship in fashion now the Times are returned in which the Queens of England are Saints again and the Fruit infinitely great when People find the way to Heaven is the way to be well at Court I was Ambitious to make my Court this way but to my shame so poor a Courtier that I was forc'd to borrow a Present and to make it mine dress'd in a new Language as we alter the property of Plate by a new Fashion I know I have expos'd my unskilfulness in this Trade to the Eye in all England which will the soonest discern it But Your Majesty will have the goodness to reflect that no Translation can express the beauty and force of the Original to suffer the Argument to attone for all Faults and to have some Indulgence for the Passionate Zeal and Profound Respect with which I shall always be MADAM Your MAJESTY'S Most Humble most Faithful and most Dutiful Subject Walter Kirkham Blount THE OFFICE UPON Palm-Sunday Of Holy Water IT has been an Ancient Practice in the Church even among the Primitive Christians for the Priest before Mass at Easter and Whitsontide to sprinkle the People with Water out of the Font blest with the Prayers and Exorcisms the Eve of those Holy Days and there reserved till Holy Oyl was poured therein And to the end the Faithful should not esteem this sprinkling a second Baptism the Church has instituted particular Blessings and Exorcisms of Water and Salt for each Sunday through the Year to instruct us That by this sprinkling she gives us no second Baptism but that she applies her Prayers to obtain of God through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST if we our selves are not the obstacle the grace of true repentance for our sins and a guard from the assaults of the Devil that so we may preserve our selves in that state of innocence we received by Baptism By the Water the Church tells us she prays to God and that we are therein to concur with her to beseech him to purifie our Souls by his Grace as the Water cleanseth our Bodies And by the Salt she represents her Prayer to God wherein we ought also to joyn for obtaining his Grace to preserve our Souls from spiritual corruption as Salt preserves the Body from corporal And as Salt gives an agreeable tast to our Meat so his Grace renders our actions acceptable to his Majesty preserving us from falling into those sins wherewith the Devil might otherwise infect us whereby we may more worthily be assistant at the Holy Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of CHRIST and reap the benefit thereof Every Sunday Water and Salt is prepared in the Sacristy which the Priest blesseth being vested in his Albe or Surplice and with a Stoale The Exorcism and Benediction of the Salt OUr help is in the Name of the Lord. R. Who made Heaven and Earth V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Whereas by the Fall of Adam the Devil has usurpt an Empire over creatures so as to make use of them to the disadvantage of men he is deprived of them again by the Merits of our Redeemer who sanctifies them for our benefit I Exorcise thee O creature Salt by the living God the true God by the holy God by that God who commanded thee to be cast into the Water by the Prophet Elizaeus to cure its barrenness that by this Exorcism thou mayest be made beneficial to the Faithful healthful both to the Bodies and Souls of all that shall use thee and where ever thou art sprinkled thou mayest chase away all Illusions Malice Crafts and Surprises of the Devil and that all unclean Spirits be cast out of him who will come to judge the living and the dead and the World by fire Amen The PRAYER Let us Pray The Priest by signing with the Cross instructs us that the sanctifying of creatures and the graces which we receive thereby are only derived unto us from the merits of the death of Christ He makes the sign of the Cross twice upon the Salt to signifie unto us that the Church prays unto God to preserve us from corruption both of Soul and Body ALmighty and Everlasting God we humbly implore thy infinite clemency that thou wilt vouchsafe out of thy Piety to bless ✚ and sanctifie ✚ this thy creature Salt to the end that all such as make use of it may be sensible of health in Soul and Body and that what shall be either touch'd or sprinkled with it may be preserved from all uncleanness and assaults of the Devil Through our Lord c. The Exorcism and Benediction of the Water The Priest makes the sign of the Cross thrice in this Exorcism and once in the following Prayer to teach us that the Graces we receive by the Merits of Christ's Death are bestowed upon us by the three Divine Persons who are one only God I Exorcise thee O creature Water in the Name of God ✚ the Father Almighty in the Name of Jesus Christ ✚ our Lord his Son and in the Vertue of the Holy Ghost ✚ That by this Exorcism thou mayest dissipate all the Assaults of the Enemy and put the Enemy himself to flight with all his apostate Angels by the power of the same our Lord Jesus Christ who will come to judge the living and the dead and the World by fire Amen The PRAYER Let us Pray O God who for the health of Mankind hast
Mediator for the whole Church for the Pope for our Bishop for our King and for all faithful Catholicks WE therefore most merciful Father humbly beseech thee through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord to accept and bless these ✚ Gifts these ✚ Presents these ✚ Immaculate Sacrifices which in the first we offer unto thee for thy Holy Catholick Church to which thou wilt please to grant peace and preserve and maintain in unity through the whole World with the Pope N. thy servant and our Prelate N. and our King N. with all Orthodox Believers of the Catholick Apostolick Faith Then the Priest makes a particular Commemoration of the living for whom he intends to offer his Sacrifice REmember O Lord all thy servants Men and Women Here he makes mention of those for whom he prays in particular And all such especially as are here present whose Faith and Devotion is known unto thee for whom we offer and who offer to thee for themselves or friends this Sacrifice of Praise for the Benefit of their Souls in hope of health and salvation and pay their vows unto thee the Eternal Living and True God The Priest by the vertue of the union of the Church militant with the triumphant in Jesus Christ beseeches God that he will please to supply the defect of his present Prayers imploring protection by the Merits and Suffrages of the most blessed Virgin of the Apostles Martyrs and all Saints PArticipating in the same Communion and Commemorating chiefly the ever glorious Virgin Mary Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ the blessed Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul Andrew James John Thomas James Philip Bartholomew Matthew Simon and Thadeus Linus Cletus Clement Xistus Cornelius Cyprian Laurence Chrysoganus John and Paul Cosmas and Damianus and of all Saints by whose Merits and Prayers be pleased to grant that in all things we may be protected by thee Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen The Priest spreads his hands over the Host and Chalice in testimony that he offers up himself to God together with this Sacrifice begging four things 1. That he will please to accept of this Offering 2. That he will grant us Peace 3. That he will deliver us from Everlasting Death 4. That he will place us amongst the blessed WE beseech thee O Lord therefore graciously to accept this oblation of our servitude as likewise of thy whole Family granting us Peace in our days and preserving us from Eternal Death place among thy Elect. Through Christ our Lord. Amen The Priest beseecheth God to receive and bless this Offering so as that he will please to accept of it and that it may become the Body and Blood of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ to expiate our sins and reconcile us to his Majesty WE beseech thee O God that thou wilt be pleased to make this Oblation blessed approved effectual reasonable and acceptable that it may be made unto us the Body and Blood of thy most beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ The Consecration After this Prayer the Priest comes to the principal action of the Sacrifice and commemorates all that Christ did or said when he instituted this Holy Sacrament and therefore after his example he blesseth and consecrateth the Bread in the same manner WHo the day before his Passion took the Bread into his holy and venerable hands and lifting his eyes towards heaven to thee his God and omnipotent Father to thee giving thanks he blessed broke and gave to his Disciples saying Take and eat ye all of this FOR THIS IS MY BODY The Elevation of the Host. Here the Priest after he hath upon his knees adored the Body of Jesus Christ he lifts it up to be seen and adored by the Faithful and to mind them that Christ's Body was elevated upon the Cross The Consecration of the Blood of Jesus Christ. He blesseth and consecrateth the Wine as Christ consecrated it turning the Wine into his Blood whereby he established and ratified his New Testament and signed the New Alliance he contracted with us to continue for ever IN like manner after he had supt taking this excellent Chalice into his holy and venerable hands giving thee also thanks he blessed it and gave it to his Disciples saying Take and drink ye all of this FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD OF THE NEW AND EVERLASTING TESTAMENT a Mystery of Faith WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS This as often as you shall do you shall do in memory of me The Elevation of the Chalice And then adoring the Blood of our Saviour he elevates it for the same reason as he did the Body And as he offers this Holy Sacrifice in the Person of Christ in whose stead he hath celebrated this mysterious Consecration so is it done in the Name of the Church in honour of the three Mysteries of the Son of God viz. Of his Passion which we account from the Hour of his Conception till his Death of his Resurrection and Ascension The Signs of the Cross which the Priest makes over the Host after Consecration design unto us the particular manner of his immolation WHerefore O Lord we thy servants and the sanctified people also being mindful both of the blessed Passion of the same Christ thy Son our Lord and of his Resurrection as also of his glorious Ascension into Heaven we offer unto thy most excellent Majesty of thy Gifts bestowed upon us A pure Host a holy Host an immaculate Host the Holy Bread of Eternal Life and Chalice of Perpetual Salvation The Priest beseeches God to accept of this Sacrifice in memory of Abel's Sacrifice of Abraham's and Melchisedeck's which were only Figures of this WHich we beseech thee propitiously to regard and to receive this Holy Sacrifice and Immaculate Host as thou wert pleased to receive the Gifts of thy just Child Abel and the Sacrifice of our Patriarch Abraham as likewise that which thy High Priest Melchisedeck offered unto thee Supplices te rogamus Jesus Christ communicates his Substance to the blessed in Heaven without Veil or Sacraments though he communicates himself sacramentally to men on earth and as the wicked are indifferently mixt with the just upon Earth it happens that the wicked receive the Communion in distinctly with the just but it is otherwise in Heaven where the Son of God communicates himself only to the Saints And hereupon the Priest on the behalf of the Faithful asks God's grace that Jesus Christ who in the Holy Scriptures is called the Angel of the Great Council and of the New Testament will give himself unto them under the shadow of this Holy Sacrament as he gives himself to the blessed without veil on the sublime and celestial Altar in the bosom of his Divinity that is to say that as all those are worthy who receive Christ in Heaven as being Saints so he would please to furnish all these with such his blessings and celestial gifts as may enable
them to receive him worthily WE therefore Almighty God most humbly beseech thee to command these things to be represented to thy High Altar in presence of thy Divine Majesty by the hands of thy Holy Angel that all who participating of this Altar shall receive the Body and Blood of Christ may be replenished with thy Heavenly Grace and Blessing Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen The Commemoration for the Dead Memento c. As our Redeemer by his descent into Hell after his death by the Merits of his Sacrifice freed the Faithful from Limbus and Purgatory who there expected his coming and were in a condition of relief the Priest begs of God by the Merits of this Sacrifice which he offers in memory of his Son's death and descent into Hell that he will please to grant relief and rest to the Souls of the Faithful which they expect in Purgatory being there as in a dream of Peace either for that they are to come one day thence as out of a dream to enjoy a peaceable and happy life no longer subjected to the necessity of sleep or because the anguish of their pains troubles not the peace of their conscience in obedience and conformity to our Saviour's will being full of hope and confidence insomuch that we may say these transitory pains are but as a dream in comparison of those which are damned suffer in Hell for ever REmember also O Lord thy servants Men and Women N. and N. who have gone before us with the sign of Faith and now rest in Peace Here remember such particular persons as you best please WE humbly beseech O Lord to grant to these and to all those who rest in Christ a Place of Refreshment Light and Peace Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen The Priest striking his breast says Nobis quoque peccatoribus The Priest after he hath prayed to God for the Faithful both living and dead prays for himself and all other Priests that it may please his Divine Majesty by his mercy to supply their defects and grant him the grace to partake of the company of the Saints through the Merits of Jesus Christ VOuchsafe also to grant unto us sinners thy servants hoping from the multitude of thy mercies a part and society with thy Apostles and Martyrs John Stephen Matthias Barnaby Ignatius Alexander Marcellinus Peter Felicitas Perpetua Agatha Lucy Agnes Cecily Anastasia and with all Saints among whom we humbly beseech thee to admit us not esteeming our merit but mercifully granting thy pardon Through Christ our Lord. Amen Per quem haec omnia c. The Priest protests before God the Father that the Sacraments now upon the Altar with all the Benefits it contains proceeds from him through Jesus Christ by whom as by the Chief Priest he daily produces it by a kind of Creation and Consecration and life-giving Satisfaction replenished with all sorts of Blessings bestowing it upon us as a nourishment fit for our Souls that being enlivened by his Spirit we may render him all due Honour and Glory confessing that God the Father receives nothing by us but by with and in Jesus Christ By Jesus Christ as Mediator and Fountain of all good works with Jesus Christ for being but one and the same Divinity and Nature he communicates his Glory with him and the Holy Ghost in the bottom of his Divinity In Jesus Christ in the Unity of his Body and Members who make one person with him and it is in his Person incarnate that God is perfectly adored BY whom O Lord thou dost always create all these goods thou dost sanctifie quicken bless and bestow them on us by him and with him and in him O God the Father Almighty all Honour and Glory is due to thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost Per omnia saecula c. The Priest in a loud voice concludes his protestation That he comes to praise and adore God eternally and invites the Faithful to a consent saying World without end The Faithful consenting answer Amen Let us Pray Praeceptis c. After the Priest has declared that the Glory which we give to God the celestial nourishment of this Sacrament and all other Benefits are derived unto us from God the Father through Jesus Christ we beseech him in the same words which Christ commanded us to use wherein he encourageth us to call him our Father as he was pleased to become our Brother to make us worthy to acknowledge that we can want Nothing since we have a Father so omnipotent BEing taught by our Saviour's Commands and lead by Divine Institution we are bold to say Our Father which art in Heaven where thy glory appears in more splendour and whether thou wouldst have us raise up our thoughts Hallowed be thy Name Acknowledged and adored Thy Kingdom come The Empire of thy Grace in this world and of thy Bliss in the other Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread The precious Body and Blood of thy Son which is to day consecrated thy holy Grace and all things necessary unto us for the sustentation of this life And forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation The Faithful testifying that they pray with the Priest answer R. But deliver us from Evil. The Priest to shew that he said this Prayer in all our Names says Amen Libera c. The Priest considering there can be nothing more prejudicial to us nor which is more contrary to the communion of this Holy Sacrifice than that which disorders and troubles the Christian Peace and Union he beseeches God to deliver us from it by the Merits of Christ by the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin the Apostles and all Saints and to give us that Peace and Union which we ought to have with our Saviour and the Three Members of his Church which he signifies by dividing the Host into three parts That part which he puts on the Patine signifies the Faithful living that which he holds in his hands those in Purgatory that which he breaks off them from that the blessed in Heaven DEliver us from all Evil past present and to come and by the Intercession of the blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary Mother of God of thy holy Apostles Peter and Paul St. Andrew and all Saints Grant propitiously unto us Peace in our days that through the assistance of thy mercy we may both be freed from sin and secured from all trouble Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who liveth and reigneth with thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost world without end Whereunto the Faithful joyn their Prayers and answer Amen Pax Domini c. The Priest makes thrice the sign of the Cross over the Chalice with that part of the Host which represents the Blessed to testifie that Christ rising again and ascending into Heaven hath left the Legacy of Peace
to his Church And that this Peace is a reflection of that which he possesses infinitely in the Glory and Bosom of the Holy Trinity and which is fully communicated to the blessed The Priest begs this Peace for the Faithful and prays God that they may never fail of it THe Peace of our Lord abide always with you The People crave the same for him And with thy Spirit Haec Commixtio c. Then the Priest puts this part of the Host into the Chalice to signifie the happy state of the Church in our Saviour's Resurrection and glory after the union of his Body with his Blood and beseeches God to make us partakers of that happiness by vertue of this Sacrament LEt this Commixtion and Consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be unto me and to all that receive effectual to life everlasting Amen Agnus Dei c. As Sin is the onely Obstacle of this Divine Peace and our Bliss the Priest confessing in the name of the Faithful that we never are without sins in this life and that it is onely Christ who blots them out having been pleased to be sacrificed as an innocent Lamb for our attonement with God his Father and to settle this Peace between Heaven and Earth which sin had divided he implores mercy by this act of Adoration taught us by Saint John the fore-runner of our Saviour Behold the Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world LAmb of God who takest away the sins of the World have mercy on us Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the World have mercy on us Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the World grant us peace In Masses for the Dead instead of saying Have Mercy on us Or Grant us Peace We say Grant them Rest Grant them Eternal Rest Because the dead being no longer in this World amongst us we have no occasion to beg peace with them and they being in a state of Grace where they are in peace and assurance of their salvation it would be in vain to ask God's grace to free them from sin and give them peace assuring them of their salvation we beseech God to deliver them from the pains they endure at present and grant them eternal rest which they expect Domine Jesu Christe qui dixisti c. Peace being the chief disposition of this Sacrament it being the Sacrament of Union and Charity the Priest begs it for the Faithful who are to receive this Holy Communion and acknowledging that he being a sinner deserves not that his Prayers should be heard he humbly beseeches his Majesty to have regard unto his own goodness who has vouchsafed to offer this Peace and to the Faith of the Church which demands it of him O Lord Jesus Christ who didst say unto thy Apostles Peace I leave unto you regard not my Sins but look upon the Faith of thy Church and according to thy pleasure give us Peace and Union Who livest and reignest God for ever and ever Amen At Solemn Mass the Priest having kissed the Altar to signifie that he receives peace from Jesus Christ gives it to the Deacon by a kiss to transmit it to the Faithful Peace be with you The Deacon receiving this Peace testifies his concurrence by his words And with thy Spirit At Masses for the Dead the Pax is not given to the Faithful nor is the foregoing Prayer said because the Faithful do not receive the Communion at those Masses and for other reasons before mentioned The Priest after he has prayed for the Faithful he prays for himself to obtain all requisite dispositions to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily O Lord Jesus Christ Son of the living God who according to thy Father's will the Holy Ghost co-operating by thy death didst give life to the World deliver me by this thy most holy Body and Blood from all my sins and from all evil and making me always obedient to thy commands grant that I be never separated from thee Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest c. GRant O Lord Jesus Christ that this participation of thy Body which I now however unworthy presume to receive be not to my Judgment and Condemnation but through thy mercy may avail to the safeguard of my Soul and Body and likewise as a wholsome remedy Who livest and reignest with God the Father c. Then with bending knee having adored the blessed Sacrament taking the Host in his hands and considering that he is to receive his Creator he puts his trust in his mercy saying I Will take this Heavenly Bread and call upon the Name of our Lord. And representing how acceptable the Centurians humility was to the Son of God where he was pleased to honour his house in imitation of him he professeth himself unworthy of so great a favour and striking his breast he repeats the same words thrice LOrd I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter into my house say but the word and my soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter into my house say but the word and my soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter into my house say but the word and my soul shall be healed In receiving the Body of our Saviour he makes the sign of the Cross with the Host to mind us that 't is the Body of Jesus Christ which hath been exposed to death for our salvation THe Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting Amen In taking the Chalice he gives God thanks for the Benefits he receives by the Communion of the Blood of Christ using these following words out of the 15th and 17th Psalm WHat shall I render to our Lord for all things that he hath given to me I will take the Chalice of Salvation and will Invocate the Name of our Lord. Praising I will Invocate our Lord and I shall be saved from my enemies In receiving the Blood of our Saviour he makes the sign of the Cross with the Chalice representing thereby that it is Christ's Blood which he shed to save us and says THe Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting Amen Then taking Wine into the Chalice to wash his mouth and fingers to the end that the least particle of the Sacrament may not remain thereon and to instruct us of the care we ought to have to preserve our selves in purity he says GRant O Lord what we have taken with our mouth we may receive with a pure mind and that of a temporal gift it may become to us an everlasting remedy In taking the second Lotion he says LEt thy Body which I have received O Lord and thy Blood which I have drank cleave unto my bowels and grant that no stain of sin may remain in me whom thy pure and holy Sacrament hath satiated Who livest and reignest for ever and ever Amen Then the Priest
by a strict examen of our consciences that treating our selves with rigour and severity we may avoid it from God BRethren when you come therefore together in one it is not now to eat our Lord's Supper For every one taketh his own Supper before to eat And one certes is an hungred and another is drunk Why have you not houses to eat and drink in or contemn ye the Church of God and confound them that have not What shall I say to you Praise I you in this I do not praise you For I received of the Lord that which also I have delivered unto you that our Lord Jesus in the night he was betrayed took bread and giving thanks brake and said Take ye and eat this is my body which shall be delivered for you This do ye for the commemoration of me In like manner the chalice also after he had supped saying This chalice is the New Testament in my blood This do ye as often as ye shall drink for the commemoration of me For as often as ye shall eat this bread and drink this chalice you shall shew the death of our Lord until he come Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread or drink this chalice of our Lord unworthily he shall be guilty of the body and blood of our Lord. But let a man prove himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself not discerning the body of our Lord Therefore are there among you many weak and feeble and many sleep But if we did judge our selves we should not be judged But whiles we are judged of our Lord we are chastised that with this world we be not damned The GRADUAL taken out of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians Chap. 2. The Church hereby teacheth us that as Christ entred into glory by his suffering to which he voluntarily for the love of us exposed himself so by incorporating himself in us by this Sacrament which he left us on the Eve of his death to preserve the memory of it he would also that we partake in his Sufferings that so we may at length have share in his glorious Resurrection CHrist was made for us obedient unto death even the death of the cross V. For which thing God also hath exalted him and given him a name which is above all names MUNDA COR MEUM c. as before pag. 14. The sequence of the Holy Gospel according to St. John Chap. 13. The Church represents unto us how our Saviour before he instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist washt his Apostles feet first to give us an example of Humility and Charity which we ought to shew to one another secondly to instruct us that to receive the Body and Blood of Christ worthily we must not onely be free and pure from sin but cleansed from the least sins which are figured by the filth upon our feet ANd before the festival-day of Pasche Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should pass out of this world to his Father whereas he had loved his that were in the world unto the end he loved them And when supper was done whereas the devil now had put into the heart of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon to betray him knowing that his Father gave him all things into his hands and that he came from God and goeth to God he riseth from supper and layeth aside his garments and having taken a towel girded himself After that he put water into a bason and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded He cometh therefore to Simon Peter And Peter faith to him Lord dost thou wash my feet Jesus answered and said to him That which I do thou knowest not now hereafter thou shalt know Peter saith to him Thou shalt not wash my feet for ever Jesus answered him If I wash thee not thou shalt not have part with me Simon Peter saith to him Lord not onely my feet but also hands and head Jesus saith to him He that is washed needeth not but to wash his feet but is clean wholly And you are clean but not all For he knew who he was that would betray him therefore he said You are not clean all Therefore after he had washed their feet and taken his garments being set down again he said to them Know you what I have done to you You call me Master and Lord and you say well for I am so if then I have washed your feet Lord and Master you also ought to wash one anothers feet For I have given you an example that as I have done to you so you do also Laus tibi Christe CREDO as before pag. 54 55. The OFFERTORY taken out of the 117th Psalm Wherein the Church minds us of the excess of God's bounty and the marvellous effect of his omnipotence in that it was his will that his Son should become man die for us and give himself for our food whereby to unite and incorporate himself with us And though in justice he might have obliged us to have suffered the same torments as he did since he had not undergone them had not we deserved them yet he lays not any obligation upon us thereunto but is pleased to bestow eternal life through the merit of his sufferings upon those who tast not the bitterness provided they do works of Penance exercise Charity and keep his Commandments THe right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord. SUSCIPE SANCTE PATER c. until the Secret as before pag. 56 57 58. The SECRET The Priest teacheth us that it is not by any power of man which works upon the things offered on the Altar but that Jesus Christ who wrought them at his last Supper with his Apostles doth now the self-same here We are constituted his Officers and Ministers but it is he sanctifies the Offerings and changing them into his Body and Blood offers them to God his Father And thereupon the Priest beseeches God that his sins and ours may not hinder this Sacrifice from being acceptable as that whereat the Apostles assisted since there is no less in this than in that For it is not a man that doth this instead of Jesus Christ who offered that but it is truly Jesus Christ who does this as he did that GRant we beseech thee O Lord Holy Father Almighty Everlasting God that he may make this Sacrifice acceptable unto thee who commanded his disciples at this day to celebrate it in memory of him Who liveth and reigneth c. The PREFACE as before pag. 60 61 62. The CANON till Communicantes as before pag. 63 c. COMMVNICANTES By vertue of the Union of the Church-Militant with the Triumphant in Jesus Christ and in memory
of this day wherein the Son of God was betrayed into the hands of the Jews to expiate our sins the Priest beseeches God that he will be pleased to supply the defect of the Prayers he makes to implore his protection by the merits and suffrages of the blessed Virgin the Apostles Martyrs and of all Saints PArticipating in the same Communion and Celebrating the Solemnity of this Blessed Day wherein our Saviour Jesus Christ was betrayed for us and in the first place honouring the memory of the ever glorious Virgin Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul Andrew James John Thomas James Philip Bartholomew Matthew Simon and Thaddaeus Linus Cletus Clement Xistus Cornelius Cyprian Laurence Chrysogonus John and Paul Cosme and Damian and all the other Saints Through whose Prayers and Merits vouchsafe to grant us in all things the help of thy protection by the same Christ our Lord. Amen The Priest executing the Command which Christ this day gave his Disciples and their Successours to celebrate these Holy Mysteries in memory of him spreads his hands over the Host and Chalice to testifie to God that he offers and sacrifices himself joyntly therewith begging four things 1. That he will please to accept of this Offering 2. To grant us Peace 3. To deliver us from Eternal Damnation 4. To place us amongst the Elect. WE beseech thee therefore graciously to accept this Oblation of our and of thy whole families Duty which we present unto thee in solemnizing this present day whereon our Lord Jesus Christ ordained his Disciples to celebrate the Mysteries of his Body and Blood beseeching thee to grant us Peace in these our days and preserving us from Eternal Damnation to seat us among thy Elect Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen The Priest begs of God that he will accept and so bless this Oblation that it may be found good reasonable and agreeable that it may become the Body and Blood of his Son our Lord to expiate our sins and reconcile us to his Majesty WHich Oblation O God we beseech thee to make in all things blessed allowed approved reasonable and acceptable that it may be made to us the Body and Blood of thy beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ The CONSECRATION After this Prayer the Priest comes to the principal Action of the Sacrifice and commemorates all that Christ did or said when he instituted this Holy Sacrament and following his example he blesseth and consecrateth in this manner WHo the day before his Passion for us and for the whole world that is this day took bread into his holy and venerable hands and lifting up his eyes towards heaven to the God his Father Almighty giving thee thanks he blessed brake and gave it unto his disciples saying Take eat ye all of this FOR THIS IS MY BODY All the rest till the Communion as before pag. 66 c. Thou must observe that the Kiss of Peace is not given at this time at this Day 's Mass to mind us of the horrid traiterous Kiss of Judas This Day the Priest consecrates two Hosts reserving one for the morrow when there is no consecration He reserves also some Particles for the sick in case of necessity and drinks up all the Blood and before the Ablution of his Fingers he puts the reserved Host into another Chalice which the Deacon covers with the Patten and Pall. Then he spreads the Veil over it placing it in the midst of the Altar and having given the Communion he finishes the rest of the Mast The COMMUNION taken out of the 13th Chapter of St. John The Church teacheth by the Example and Command of Jesus Christ to become humble and charitable to be pure and free from the least sins figured by the filth of our feet that so we may worthily receive the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ OUr Lord Jesus after he had supped with his Disciples washt their feet and said unto them Know ye what I have done unto you bring your Lord and Master I have given you an example That you should do as I have done unto you The POST-COMMUNION As the participation of the Body and Blood of Christ is a kind of figure of our Eternal Bliss in that we are fed under the Veil of the Sacrament with the same Food which the blessed without Veil or Sacrament enjoy in Heaven we beg of God the grace to receive in Heaven that wholesom effect the mystery whereof we celebrate on Earth GRant we beseech thee O Lord our God that being refresht with thee life-giving food we may receive by thy grace in Everlasting Bliss that which we celebrate in this mortal life Through Christ our Lord. Amen All the rest as before pag. 175 c. except that Ita Missa est is said instead of Benedicamus Domino because that Gloria in Excelsis was said in this Mass This day a proper place is prepared in some Chappel or Altar of the Church to expose the Chalice and reserved Host as we said before pag. 175. Then Mass being ended the Tapers are lighted and Procession begun The Subdeacon vested carries the Cross The Priest that did celebrate putting off his Vestment puts on a white Coap and standing upright before the Altar he puts Incense into the two Thuribles without a Blessing Afterwards kneeling he incenseth the blessed Sacrament thrice and taking the Chalice with the blessed Sacrament from the hands of the Deacon which he covers with the ends of the Veil that hangs upon his shoulders he goes under the Canopy with the Deacon and Subdeacon The two Acolyts incense the blessed Sacrament till they come to the place provided singing this following Hymn during the Procession SIng O my Tongue devoutly sing The glorious Bodies mystery And of that precious Blood the King Of Nations poured forth to free The World from a disastrous doom O blessed fruit of noblest womb On us bestow'd for us thy birth He from a Virgin did proceed And be conversant on earth Till he had sowed the Gospel-seed The time of his prolonged stay He clos'd in an admirable way He on the final supper night Among his brethren taking seat And well observing the ancient rite Touching the laws prescribed mete Gave to the twelve his chosen band Himself for food with 's proper hand The Incarnate Word by words he said Turned into flesh substantial bread And wine the blood of Christ was made Though sense found nothing altered This to confirm in hearts sincere There needs no more if faith be there To this great Sacrament therefore Let 's give the prostrate Worship due And may the ancient Rite no more Take place but yield it to the new Let faith in Jesus Christ supply The senses insufficiency To Father and the Son let 's bring Triumphant praises let 's aspire Their honour power and bliss to sing While benedictions fill the Quire To him that from both is sprung Let equal
and when thy years shall be accomplished thou wilt make thy self known when the time shall come thou wilt be manifested V. And when my soul shall be troubled thou wilt remember thy mercy even in thy wrath V. God will come from Libanus and the Holy One from the shady and dark mountain V. His glory overspread the heavens and the earth was filled with his praise Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves The PRAYER The people considering on the one side that Judas having received so many testimonies of favour from Jesus Christ after he had been admitted to his Table was yet so blinded with covetousness that he betrayed his Master and God into the hands of the Jews who put him to death upon the Cross and transported with despair fell headlong into Hell on the other side the good thief made sensible by his pains repented himself of his sins and acknowledged our dying Saviour's divinity and put his whole hopes and confidence in him deserved to receive the fruit of his Death and Resurrection they beseech God that they may not approach his Table as Judas did but may obtain the same grace with the penitent thief that so they may reap the advantage of the Death and Resurrection of our Saviour O God who hast punished the sin of Judas and rewarded the confession of the repenting thief grant unto us the effect of thy mercy to the end that as our Lord Jesus Christ hath dispensed to each of them at his Passion according to their merit so having destroyed the old man in us the grace to have part with him in his glorious resurrection Who liveth and reigneth one God world without end The LESSON taken out of the twelfth Chapter of Exodus The Church proposes to us in this Lesson the Ceremony of the Jewish Passover thereby teaching us that Jesus Christ having accomplisht the Solemnity of the ancient Pasche celebrated in memory of the deliverance of the people of Israel out of the Egyptian servitude passed to a new Passover which he is pleased the Church should solemnize in memory of the Redemption which he brought unto the world by giving his body and blood instead of the flesh and blood of the Paschal Lamb. The entire and unspotted Paschal Lamb signified that he who as a sacrifice was one day to be immolated for us should be pure and free from all spot or sin The blood of this Lamb wherewith the Gates of the Israelites were sprinkled to prevent the destroying Angel from involving them in the same slaughter with the first-born of Egypt was a sign that the blood of Christ should be shed for the remission of the sins of God's people The injunction of not breaking a bone of the Paschal Lamb signified that not a bone of Christ should be broken upon the Cross to shew the force and power of his divinity As God instituted the Pasche and commanded the Israelites to eat the Paschal Lamb in memory of the Miracles he had done for them in Egypt so his Son Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of his body and blood in memory of what he had done for us in his Passion The Jews in eating the Paschal Lamb were in a posture of travellers to mind them that they were upon the point of flying out of Egypt into the land of Palestine and therefore they were standing upright having their shooes on with a staff in their hands and to eat it hastily With how much more diligence and activity ought we to eat the Divine Lamb of the New Law since we are to make a longer Voyage viz. from Earth to Heaven The Jews were not to eat the Paschal Lamb but with unleavened bread to teach us that we cannot eat as we ought our Paschal Lamb whereof theirs was but onely a figure unless we purisie our hearts from all filth becoming as a new paste without leaven that is without sin The Jews did eat the Paschal Lamb with wild Lettice to signifie the grief we ought to have for our sins and the bitterness we must conceive to expiate them whereby to pass hence to heaven The number of persons which the Jews were to call together to eat the Paschal Lamb was a figure of that charity we ought to bear to each other to the end we may worthily partake in this Sacrament of the body and blood of Jesus Christ It was commanded not to eat any thing of this Lamb that was raw to teach us that we are not to eat the body of our Lord without the due preparation which God requires of us It was prohibited to be eaten boiled in water and onely to be eaten roasted to instruct us that our love of God ought to be pure in our hearts whereby to make us worthy to eat the flesh of this Divine Lamb without engaging our affections upon the transient pleasures of this life figured by water in the Holy Scripture The Jews did eat the head feet and entrails of the Paschal Lamb to tell us that we must sincerely and firmly believe not only the divinity of Christ figured by the head but his humanity figured by the feet and all the more hidden mysteries of our faith represented by the entrails The blood of this Paschal Lamb was sprinkled on the two side-posts and upon the upper door-post of the house in form of a cross to signifie that by the cross and blood of Christ we are delivered from the tyranny of the devil and servitude of sin And it was further to signifie that to receive worthily this Sacrament of the Passion of our Saviour we must not onely take it with our mouths but with our hearts designing to imitate him by the practice of good works In fine All that remained of this Paschal Lamb was cast into the fire and burnt to observe unto us that when we find our selves incapable of eating this Sacrifice entirely through weakness of spirit or doubting whether that which we see be the body of our Saviour which the Angels themselves are not able to behold we are not then to continue longer in that doubt but cast it into the fire of the holy spirit that it may be there consumed since our weakness is not able to overcome it If not then when we consider that the things that seem impossible unto us cease not to become possible by the vertue of the Holy Ghost IN those days our Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt This month shall be to you the beginning of months it shall be the first in the months of the year Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and say to them The tenth day of this month let every man eat a lamb by their families and houses But if their number be less then may suffice to eat the lamb he shall take unto him his neighbour that joyneth to his house according to the number of souls which may suffice to the eating of
our Soul the Spirit of his Grace This â—â—orable Saviour is so benign as to feed us with his own Flesh and more for the love of us he offered himself as a Victim Then that Excuse have we if though we receive such Nourishment â—e yet persist in our wicked ways or if in eating the Lamb we leave not being Wolves if in being fed with his Flesh which was as sweet as Lamb we desist not from devouring others as Lions For this Mystery must not only draw us from all Injustice and Sin but also take away all Animosities though never so small for this is a Mystery of Peace and Charity R. I was like an innocent Lamb I was led to be immolated and I did not know it My enemies made counsel against me saying Come let us put wood on his bread and let us root him out from the land of the living V. All my enemies thought evil against me they have spoken ill against me saying Come ye c. VIII LESSON The Apostle treats of the Institution of the Eucharist and shews us that it was instituted to the end that by eating that Bread and drinking that Blood we might always remember him who died and rose again for us FOr I received of our Lord that which also I have delivered unto you That our Lord Jesus in the night that he was betrayed took bread and giving thanks bâ—rake and said Take ye and eat THIS IS MY BODY which shall be delivered for you This do ye for the commemoration of me In like manner also the chalice after he had supped saying THIS CHALICE IS THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MY BLOOD This do ye as often as you shall drink for the commemoration of me For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice you shall shew the death of our Lord until he come The Church represents unto us how that if we cannot consider Judas his Treason without having great indignation against him who after he had been admitted to the spiritual Table of his Divine Majesty and to that magnificent and terrible Feast and after he had received so many Testimonies of his Friendship yet he delivered and sold his Master by a Kiss Wherefore we must always be careful of our Actions and watch with great solicitude lest we make our selves guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ by betraying him and profaning and violating that Divine Agreement which in our Baptism we contracted with him which we shall do if we receive him with a Mouth full of Impurity and Filth and with a depraved and impure Soul after we have received so great and many Benefits T was Avarice that destroyed Judas and that 's the Precipice from which we must defend our selves It behoveth him who is desirous to Communicate in memory of Jesus Christ who died and rose again for us that he be not only clean from all Impurity of Body and Mind but also that he evidently shews that what he do's is in commemoration of him that died and rose again for us by declaring that he is dead to Sin to the World and to himself and that he only lives for God in our Lord Jesus Christ R. Could you not watch one hour with me who were so resolved to die for me But Judas sleeps not behold how he is coming to betray me into the hands of the Jews V. Why do ye sleep Arise and pray that ye enter not into temptation But Judas sleeps not c. IX LESSON The Apostle shews us after what manner we ought to prepare our selves to receive the Communion and with what diligence â—e ought to examine our Conscience We ought to prepare our selves for the Participation of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through a true Repentance proportionable to our Sins In this Penance each one must be severe and rigid to himself that having condemned himself he may not be condemn'd by God Each one must seat himself in the Tribunal of his own Conscience there to act against himself This Judgment being so established in the Heart of Man his Thoughts must be imagin'd to be Accusers his Conscience tho Witness and his Fear the Executioner After which Tears must appear as a kind of Blood trickling from the Soul that confesses her self culpable Also the Image of the last dreadful Day of Judgment must be represented before the Eyes to the end that with dread and Horror we may apprehend the Danger of being cast into eternal Death We must likewise observe according to the Admonition St. Augustin gives us in the 118. Epistle to Januarius That those words of the Apostle For the other Rules I shall establish them when I shall be amongst you by which are understood the Order of the Office of the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrifice of the Altar such as is now celebrated in the Universal Church THerefore whosoever shall eat this bread or drink the chalice of our Lord unworthily he shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of our Lord. But let a man prove himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that chalice For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself not discerning the body of our Lord. Therefore are there among you many weak and feeble and many sleep But if we did judge our selves we should not be judged But whiles we are judged of our Lord we are chastised that with this world we be not damned Therefore my brethren when you come together to eat expect one another If any man be an hungred let him eat at home that you come not together unto judgment And the rest I will dispose when I come The Church having entertained us with that Divine Banquet which Jesus Christ made on the Vigil of his Passion to his Disciples of his own Body and Blood and having shewed us that this sacred Banquet in which we assist is of the same nature as that wherein his Apostles assisted and that there is nothing less in This than there was in That because it was truly Christ himself who made This as well as it was he who made the other and having instructed us in the due Preparation to receive him worthily She as soon minds us of the Conspiracy of the Jews against Jesus Christ thereby to teach us That there is nothing makes us more firm and vigorous that animates us that encourages and fortifies us more against the Violence of Temptations and Persecutions than the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and that nothing renders us so capable of drinking of the Cup of Sorrow than to drink of the Chalice of our Saviour R. The Elders of the People consulted together how they might by some wile apprehend Jesus and kill him with swords and clubs they came out as it were to a thief V. The Priests and Pharisees consulted together how they might by some wile apprehend Jesus R. The Elders of the People
holy one merveilous our Lord will hear me when I shall cry to him Be ye angry and sin not the things that you say in your hearts in your chambers be you sorry for Sacrifice ye the sacrifice of justice and hope in our Lord. Many say Who sheweth us good things The light of thy countenance O Lord is signed upon us thou hast given gladness in my heart By the fruit of their corn and wine and oyl they are multiplied In peace in the self-same I will sleep and rest Because thou Lord hast singularly setled my hope Ant. In peace in the self-same I will sleep and rest PSALM 14. In this Psalm the Prophet teacheth us how the life of a Religious Christian that pretends to the Kingdom of Heaven consists in a strict observance of Gods Commandments and in keeping the Laws of Fraternal Charity Ant. He shall dwell in thy tabernacle and shall rest in thy holy hill LOrd who shall dwell in thy tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy hill He that walketh without spot and worketh justice He that speaketh truth in his heart that hath not done guile in his tongue Nor hath done evil to his neighbor and hath not taken reproach against his neighbor The malignant is brought to nothing in his sight but them that fear our Lord he glorifieth He that sweareth to his neighbor and deceiveth not that hath not given his money to usury and hath not taken gifts upon the innocent He that doth these things shall not be moved for ever Ant. He shall dwell in thy tabernacle and shall rest in thy holy hill PSALM 15. According as the Apostles have explicated this Psalm in the Second Chapter of their Acts it contains the Prayer which JESUS CHRIST made unto God his Father for the establishment and preservation of his Church as being our Head and according to his Humanity giving him thanks for the wonderful work of our Redemption which was to be effected by his Incarnation Preaching Passion Resurrection and Ascension It also makes us acknowledge that there could be no Creature so perfect as in any manner to be able to make a suitable return either by Deeds or Services for the favors they received from their Creator for he being Omnipotent and Infinite fully satisfies in himself And that 't is sufficient for a Creature loaded with such infinite benefits to promise to give unto God all Testimonies of a profound acknowledgment in all the instancesof this life Ant. My flesh shall rest in hope PReserve me O Lord because I have hoped in thee I have said to our Lord Thou art my God because thou needest not my goods To the saints that are in his land he hath made all my wills merveilous in them Their infirmities were multiplied afterward they made haste I will not assemble their conventicles of blood neither will I be mindful of their names by my lips Our Lord the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup thou art he that will restore mine inheritance unto me Cords are fallen to me in goodly places for mine inheritance is goodly unto me I will bless our Lord who hath given me understanding moreover also even till night my veins have rebuked me I soresaw our Lord in my sight always because he is at my right hand that I be not moved For this thing my heart hath been glad and my tongue hath rejoyced moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou give thy holy One to see corruption Tho hast made the ways of life known to me thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance delectations on thy right hand even to the end Ant. My flesh shall rest in hope The Church represents unto us that maugre all the Power of the Jews Yet JESUS CHRIST triumphed over that Death they had inflicted on him and raised himself from that Sepulcher wherein they had inclosed him confirming us in the Resurrection of our Bodies by the Example and Power of his own Resurrection V. In peace in the self-same R. I will sleep and rest LESSON I. Out of the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremy Chap. 3. The Prophet Jeremy shews us That in all our Miseries and Afflictions we must ever have recourse unto God with a true and hearty Repentance We must also support those Persecutions that befal us with all patience and submission to the Divine Will setting all our confidence and trust in his Mercy TETH THe mercies of our Lord that we are not consumed because his commiserations have not failed HETH New in the morning great is thy fidelity HETH Our Lord is my portion said my soul therefore will I expect him HETH Our Lord is good to them that hope in him to the soul that seeketh him TETH It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God TETH It is good for a man when he beareth the yoke from his youth JOD He shall sit solitary and hold his peace because he hath lifted himself above himself JOD He shall put his mouth in the dust if perhaps there be hope JOD He shall give the cheek to him that striketh him he shall be filled with reproaches Jerusalem Jerusalem Convert unto the Lord thy God RESP. The Church shews us That JESUS CHRIST has himself undergon out of his meer Love towards us whatever hath been taught us by his Prophet As a sheep he was led to slaughter and whilst they ill treated him he opened not his mouth he was delivered to death that he might give life to his people V. He delivered up his soul to death and was reputed among the wicked that he might give life to his people LESSON II. Taken out of the Fourth Chapter The Prophet describes unto us the destruction of the Temple and City of Jerusalem foretelling the Jews that the enormities of their Crimes should bring a Desolation on them ALEPH. HOw is the gold darkned the best colour changed the stones of the Sanctuary dispersed in the head of all streets BETH The noble children of Sion and they that were clothed with the principal gold how are they reputed as earthen vessels the work of the potters hands GHIMEL Yea even the Lamiaes have opened their breast they have given suck to their young the daughter of my people is cruel as the Ostrich in the desert DALETH The tongue of the suckling hath cloven to the roof of his mouth for thirst the little ones have asked bread and there was none that brake it unto them HE. They that fed voluptuously have died in the ways they that were brought up in scarlet have embraced the dung VAU And the iniquity of the daughter of my people is become greater than the sin of Sodom which was overthrown in a moment and hands took nothing in her Jerusalem Jerusalem Convert unto the Lord thy God RESP. The Church represents to the Jews That the miseries which befel them was occasioned by their
made use of the Element of Water in the greatest Mysteries hear favourably our humble Prayers and pour forth thy Blessings upon this Element prepared for several Purifications to the end that thy Creature made use of in thy Mysteries may receive the effect of thy Divine Grace to drive away Devils and cure Infirmities to the end all thy Faithful which shall be sprinkled within or without doors may be thereby preserved from all impurity and evil and that no pestilential spirit or corruption remain in them let all snares of our secret Enemy depart thence and whatever is obnoxious to the health and repose of any that inhabit there may be expelled by the sprinkling of this Water that the health implored by the invocation of thy holy Name may be preserved from all sorts of assaults Through our Lord c. Then the Priest saying these following words puts Salt three times into the Water making the sign of the Cross to signifie that to be purified from sin which is figured by the Water and to persevere in purity figured by the Salt we ought to implore the assistance of the Holy Trinity by the Merits of the Cross LEt this commixtion of Salt and Water be made in the Name of the Father ✚ and of the Son ✚ and of the Holy Ghost ✚ Amen V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray O God the Author of invincible Power King of irresistable Empire and for ever magnificently triumphant who dissipatest the strength of the adverse party who suppressest the fury of the raging Enemy and powerfully vanquishest his Malice We O Lord trembling humbly beseech and pray thee to regard favourably this creature Salt and Water to enlighten it with thy Grace and to sanctifie it with the Dew of thy Bounty that wherever it shall be sprinkled through the invocation of thy Holy Name it may chase away all suggestions of the unclean Spirit that there be no fear of the venomous Serpent and that the presence of the Holy Spirit will vouchsafe every where to accompany us imploring thy Mercy Through our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost one God World without end Amen The Benediction being ended the Priest who is to celebrate Mass putting on his Coap again kneeling at the foot of the Altar accompanied with his Ministers and sprinkling it thrice with Holy Water he sprinkles himself and arising besprinkles them intoning these first words of the Antiphon taken out of the 50 Psalm Thou shalt sprinkle me and then the Quire sings the rest O Lord with Hyssop and I shall be cleansed thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow He sprinkles the Clergy and People saying with a low voice the 50 Psalm begging of the Holy Trinity by this penitential Psalm both that he may worthily celebrate this adorable Sacrifice and that others of the Faithful may participate thereof as they were purified first in Baptism by Water and the Holy Ghost and now that he will please to grant them a second time repentance in tears and acknowledgment of their sins that preserving them from all temptations of the Devil they may be acceptable to the Divine Majesty and freed from the corruption of sin as Water cleanseth the body and as Salt gives a savory tast to meat and preserves it from corruption HAve mercy on me O God according to thy great mercy And according to the multitude of thy commiserations blot out my iniquities Wash me more amply from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Because I do know my iniquity and my sin is before me always To thee only have I sinned and have done evil before thee that thou mayest be justified in thy words and when thou art judged For behold I was conceived in iniquities and my mother conceived me in sins For behold thou hast loved truth the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me Thou shalt sprinkle me with Hysop and I shall be cleansed thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness and the bones humbled shall rejoyce Turn away thy face from my sins and wipe away all my iniquities Create a clean heart in me O God and renew a right spirit in my bowels Cast me not away from thy face and thy holy spirit take not from me Render unto me the joy of thy salvation and confirm me with thy principal spirit I will teach the unjust thy ways and the impious shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from Blood O God the God of my salvation and my tongue shall exalt thy justice Lord thou wilt open my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Because if thou wouldest have had sacrifice I had verily given it with holocausts thou wilt not be delighted A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit a contrite and humble heart O God thou wilt not despise Deal favourably O Lord in thy good will with Sion that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up Then shalt thou accept Sacrifice of Justice Oblations and Holocausts then shall they lay calves upon thine altar Gloria Patri Filio c. is not used because during these days the Church represents unto us the Indignities and Affronts offered by the Jews to our blessed Saviour After this Antiphon Thou shalt sprinkle me c. is repeated the Priest having sprinkled the Holy Water returns to the foot of the Altar where standing upright and there joyning his hands he beseeches God that the Angel of his Great Council our Saviour JESUS CHRIST who is ready to descend from Heaven by the consecration of these Divine Mysteries will assist with his saving Grace all those that are in the Church that they being purified may worthily present themselves before his Majesty Let us Pray V. Shew us O Lord Mercy R. And give us thy Salvation V. O Lord hear my Prayer R. And let my cry come unto thee V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray O Holy Lord Omnipotent Father Eternal God graciously hear us and vouchsafe to send thy Holy Angel from Heaven to keep protect cherish visit and defend all that dwell in this habitation Through Christ our Lord c. Amen THE BENEDICTION OF THE PALMS After sprinkling Holy Water in the usual manner the Priest accompanied with his Ministers in their Ornaments goes to bless the Palms This Ceremony is very ancient for it is not only in the Roman Institute and in the Book of the Divine Offices which Alcuinus composed in the Ninth Age and in St. Adelmus his Treatise of Virginity in the Eighth Age but also St. Maximus Bishop of Turin in the Fifth Age preaching upon this Subject which you may read in St. Ambros tells us it was an ancient custom in the Church to teach us that it was in memory of Christ's
the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners Rise let us go behold he approacheth that shall betray me As he yet spake behold Judas one of the twelve came and with him a great multitude with Swords and Clubs sent from the Chief Priests and the Ancients of the People And he that betrayed him gave them a sign saying Whomsoever I shall kiss that is he hold him And forthwith coming to Jesus he said Hail Rabbi and he kissed him And Jesus said to him Friend whereto art thou come Then they drew neer and laid hands on Jesus and held him and behold one of them that were with Jesus stretching forth his hand drew out his sword and striking the servant of the High Priest cut off his ear Then Jesus said to him Return thy sword into his place for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword Thinkest thou that I cannot ask my Father and he will give me presently more than twelve legions of Angels How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that so it must be done In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes You are come out as it were to a thief with Swords and Clubs to apprehend me I sate daily with you teaching in the Temple and you laid no hands on me And this was done that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled Then the Disciples all leaving him fled But they taking hold of Jesus led him to Caiphas the High Priest where the Scribes and Ancients were assembled And Peter followed him afar off even to the Court of the High Priest and going in he sate with the servants that he might see the end And the Chief Priests and whole Council sought false witness against Jesus that they might put him to death and they found not whereas many false witnesses had come in And last of all there came two false witnesses and they said This man said I am able to destroy the Temple of God and after three days to re-edifie it And the High Priest rising up said to him Answerest thou nothing to the things which these do testifie against thee But Jesus held his peace And the High Priest said to him I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us if thou be Christ the Son of God Jesus said to him Thou hast said Nevertheless I say to you Hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God and coming in the clouds of Heaven Then the High Priest rent his garments saying He hath blasphemed what need we witnesses any further Behold now ye have heard the blasphemy how think you But they answering said He is guilty of death Then did they spit on his face and buffeted him and others smote his face with the palms of their hands saying Prophesie unto us O Christ who is he that struck thee But Peter sate without the court and there came to him one wench saying Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean but he denied before them all saying I wot not what thou sayest And as he went out of the gate another wench saw him and she said to them that were there And this fellow also was with Jesus the Nazarite and again he denied with an Oath that he knew not the man And after a while they came that stood by and said to Peter Surely thou also art of them for even thy speech doth betray thee Then he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man And incontinent the Cock crew And Peter remembred the word of Jesus which he had said Before the Cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice And going forth he wept bitterly And when morning was come all the Chief Priests and Ancients of the people consulted together against Jesus that they might put him to death And they brought him bound and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the president Then Judas that betrayed him seeing that he was condemned repenting him returned the thirty silver pieces to the Chief Priests and Ancients saying I have sinned betraying just blood But they said What is that to us Look thou to it And casting down the silver pieces in the Temple he departed and went and hanged himself with an halter And the Chief Priests having taken the silver pieces said It is not lawful to cast them into the Corbana because it is the price of blood And after they had consulted together they bought with them the potters field to be a burying place for strangers For this cause that field was called Haceldama that is the field of blood even to this present day Then was filled that which was spoken by Jeremy the Prophet saying And they took the thirty pieces of silver the price of the prized whom they did prize of the Children of Israel and they gave them into the potters field as the Lord did appoint to me And Jesus stood before the President and the President asked him saying Art thou the King of the Jews Jesus saith to him Thou sayest And when he was accused of the Chief Priests and Ancients he answered nothing Then Pilate saith to him Doest thou not hear how great testimonies they alledge against thee And he answered him not to any word so that the President did marvel exceedingly And upon the solemn day the President had accustomed to release unto the people one prisoner whom they would And he had then a notorious prisoner that was called Barabbas they therefore being gathered together Pilate said Whom will you that I release to you Barabbas or Jesus that is called Christ For he knew that for envy they had delivered him And as he was sitting in place of judgment his wife sent unto him saying Have thou nothing to do with that just man for I have suffered many things this day in my sleep for him But the Chief Priests and Ancients perswaded the people that they should ask Barabbas and make Jesus away And the President answering said to them Whether will you of the two to be released unto you But they said Barabbas Pilate said to them What shall I do then with Jesus that is called Christ They said all Let him be crucified The President said to them Why what evil hath he done But they cried the more saying Let him be crucified And Pilate seeing that he nothing prevailed but rather a tumult was toward taking water he washed his hands before the people saying I am innocent of the blood of this just man look you to it And the whole people answering said His blood be upon us and upon our children Then he released to them Barabbas and having scourged Jesus delivered him unto them to be crucified Then the President 's souldiers taking Jesus into the palace gathered together unto him the whole band and stripping him put a scarlet cloak about him and platting a crown of thorns put it upon his head and a reed in his right hand and bowing the knee before him
pronounce thy word because all thy Commandments are equity Let thy hand be to save me because I have chosen thy Commandments I have coveted thy salvation O Lord and thy law is my meditation My soul shall live and shall praise thee and thy judgments shall help me I have strayed as a sheep that is lost seek thy servant because I have not forgotten thy Commandments The Church teacheth us that it is by Jesus Christ God sought us even then when as yet we sought him not in following Jesus Christ his Son whom he hath established a Mediatour between himself and us we must therefore run in such manner as that we may attain to him we must observe the end of our progress and course where he hath fixed his which is to be obedient even unto death V. Christ become obedient for us even unto death Pater noster c. Ave Maria c. Miserere mei Deus c. as before p. 6. THE PRAYER Respice quaesumus c. as before pag. 130. The General Absolution Upon Holy Thursday in the Morning according to the good and laudable custom of France the General Absolution is given in the great Hall at the King's Court where his most Christian Majesty with many Princes and his whole Court are present First begins a Sermon the Bishop in his Robes accompanied with his Clergy gives the Absolution and all upon their knees sing the Miserere mei Deus with the Verses and Prayers following This Ceremony is a sign of the Sacramental Absolution which heretofore was given to those sinners who had done Penance in the Lent And this day is also called Absolution Thursday because Penitents are then absolved and admitted to participate of the Eucharist it being that day on which Jesus Christ instituted it and thereby the Church shews us that at present she inflicts not so severe Penances now as formerly yet she teaches them to do fruits worthy of Penance that they may be admitted to participate of this Holy Sacrament on this day whereon Christ our Saviour began by his Passion the Work of our Redemption to God his Father LOrd have mercy on us Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy on us Pater noster c. And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil Amen V. O Lord deal not with us according to our sins R. Nor yet reward us according to our iniquities V. O Lord remember not our past offences R. But let thy mercies soon prevent us V. Turn thy face towards us though a little R. And graciously hear thy servants V. O Lord save thy servants and thy handmaids R. Trusting in thee O my God V. Be unto them O Lord a Tower of strength R. Against the assaults of the enemy V. Send them O Lord thy help from thy holy place R. And out of Sion protect them V. O Lord hear my Prayer R. And let my cry come unto thee V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray HEar O Lord our Supplications and graciously regard me who in the first place have need of thy mercy and as thou hast been pleased to chuse me by thy grace not for my merit to be thy Minister in this action Grant that I may faithfully acquit my self of the Charge comitted to me and co-operate by our ministring the effect of thy bounty Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son who liveth and reigneth with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost one God for ever Amen Let us Pray WE beseech thee O Lord grant thy servants grace to do fruits worthy of penance that having obtained pardon for their sins they may be resetled pure and clean in thy Church from the integrity of which they have gone astray Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. Amen Let us Pray O Lord I beseech thy Majesty that out of thy bounty thou wilt be pleased to give thy pardon to these thy servants confessing their sins and offences and to loosen the bonds of their past crimes who didst carry upon thy shoulders the strayed sheep back to thy fold and hast graciously heard the prayers of the publican look down also favourably upon these penitents and incline unto their petitions that by their perseverance in confessing and tears they may obtain what they desire and being readmitted to a participation of thy holy Altar they may have fresh hopes of Eternal Glory Who livest and reignest c. Let us Pray O God who of thy goodness hast created and of thy mercy repaired mankind and by the blood of thine onely Son hast redeemed man deprived of eternal life through the malice of the Devil Grant a new life to these penitents thy servants whose death thou desirest not And as thou forsakest not even those who go astray receive those who return to repentance O Lord mercifully regard the tears and sighs of thy servants heal their wounds stretch forth thy helping hand to them cast down before thee to the end thy Church may not lose any part of its body lest thy flock be lessened lest the enemy insult over the loss of thy family lest those who have been regenerated by the wholsome water of baptism fall into a second death We therefore O Lord offer up unto thee our most humble Prayers we shed the tears of our hearts before thee in testimony of our regret Pardon those that confess unto thee to the end that through thy mercy they may escape condemnation at the last judgment Let them be ignorant of that which terrifies in darkness of torments in flames and grant that returning from their errours to the path of justice they may not hereafter receive new wounds but that they may remain entire and perpetual in that which thy Grace has conferred and thy Mercy restored By the same our Lord Jesus Christ c. Amen The Bishop then takes the Crosier and stretching his right hand over the People says Let us Pray OUr Lord Jesus Christ who by giving up himself and shedding his immaculate blood did vouchsafe to take away the sins of the whole world and who said to his Disciples and in them to their successours among whom thou art pleased to make me one though unworthy Whatsoever you shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven may he vouchsafe through this my Ministry by the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary his Mother of St. Michael the Archangel of the Apostle St. Peter to whom the power of binding and loosing was given and of all Saints by vertue of his sacred blood shed for the remission of sins to grant you absolution of all your offences negligently committed in thought word or deed and that after you are quit from the bonds of sin he will please to restore you to the Kingdom of Heaven Who with God the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for ever and ever Amen ALmighty God grant
praise come from our tongue Amen And when they are come to the place provided for the blessed Sacrament the Deacon upon his knees receives it from the Priests and puts it upon the Altar The Priest being upon his knees incenseth and placeth it in the Tabernacle and returning saith Evensong in the Quire The original of this Custome comes from the ancient reserving some part of the Sacrifice of the Body of Christ for the next day's Communion no Consecration being then made as St. Gregory teacheth in his Book of the Sacrament ON THURSDAY IN Holy Week At EVEN-SONG Pater noster c. Ave Maria c. PSALM CXV The Church presents unto us the confidence we must have in God in Afflictions and Persecutions patiently bearing what he shall please to lay upon us beseeching his Majesty that we may die the death of the just that death which is precious in his eyes that death which may secure us from a second death that death which renders the dead happy because they died in our Lord. And if he shall please to deliver us from evil and dangers the Church proposes some sentiments of gratitude and fidelity we ought to conceive in our hearts and the obligation which nevertheless we have not to be less careful and sollicitous that we be not oppressed by God's benefits in not making a right use of them as we are by our sins in not quitting and leaving them as we are bound to do Ant. I will drink the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I Believed for which I spake but I was humbled exceedingly I said in my excess every man is a lier What shall I render to our Lord for all things that he hath rendred to me I will take the chalice of salvation and will invocate the Name of our Lord. I will render my vows to our Lord before all people precious in the fight of our Lord is the death of his saints O Lord because I am thy servant I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid Thou hast broken my bonds I will sacrifice to thee the host of praise and I will invocate the Name of our Lord. I will render my vows to our Lord in the sight of all his people in the courts of the house of our Lord in the midst of thee O Jerusalem Ant. I will drink the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of our Lord. PSALM CXIX The Church exhorts the Faithful to consider how insupportable the labours are we suffer in this life and how horrible the troubles are which accompany that repose wherewith the world would have us contented to the end that we may acknowledge true content to be found onely in God the sole centre of repose and reaâ— good and that we likewise stir up in our selves a fervent desire to enjoy him speedily bewailing our so long detention in the pilgrimage of this life Ant. With those who did hate peace I was peaceable when I speak to them they impugned me without cause WHen I was in tribulation I cried to our Lord and he heard me Our Lord deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue What may be given thee or what may be added unto thee to a deceitful tongue The sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of desolation Wo is to me that my sojourning is prolonged I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar My soul hath been long a sojourner With them that hated peace I was peaceable when I spake to them they impugned me without cause Ant. With those who did hate peace I was peaceable when I spake to them they impugned me without cause PSALM CXXXIX The Royal Prophets shews us how to have recourse to God in Afflictions and Persecutions by considering his Justice and Mercy neither permitting any sin to pass unpunishable nor good works unrewarded that he can either divert sweeten give strength to support or absolutely free from the burden of the miseries of this liâ—â— and that after this he can raise men to the fruition of that bliss where no ill can interrupt nor the sovereign good be lost Ant. Deliver me our Lord from evil men DEliver me our Lord from the evil man from the unjust man rescue me Which have devised iniquity in their heart all the day they did appoint battles They have whet their tongues as that of a serpent the venome of asps is under their lips Keep me O Lord from the hand of the sinner and from unjust men deliver me Who have devised to supplant my steps the proud have had a snare for me And they have stretched out ropes for a snare they have laid a stumbling block for me near the way Our Lord Lord the strength of my salvation thou hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle Yield me not our Lord from my desire to the sinner they have devised against me forsake me not lest they perhaps be proud The head of their compass the labour of their lips shall cover them Coals shall fall upon them thou shalt cast them down into fire the miseries they shall not stand up A man full of tongue shall not be directed in the earth evils shall take the unjust man into destruction I have known that the Lord will do the judgments of the needy and the revenge of the poor But as for the just they shall confess unto thy Name and the righteous shall dwell with thy countenance Ant. Deliver me our Lord from evil men PSALM CXL In this Psalm the Holy Prophet teacheth us to acknowledge and confess our sins sincerely that so we may obtain the comforts and blessings of God in the traverses of this life we must examine and put a bridle upon our tongue we must order our words with prudence and discretion we must be sincere in our hearts and discourse hating the vain praises and compliances of flatterers and sinners and taking in good part the meek reprehensions of the just in short we must stir up in our souls an aversion and horror against sin practising patience in afflictions and putting our trust in God Ant. Keep me from the snare which they have set for me and from the scandals of those that work iniquity LOrd I have cried to thee hear me attend to my voice when I shall cry to thee Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight the elevation of my hands as evening sacrifice Set our Lord a watch to my mouth and a door round about my lips Decline not my heart into words of malice to make excuse in sins With men that work iniquity and I will not communicate with the chief of them The just shall rebuke me in mercy and shall reprehend me but let not the oyl of a sinner fat my head Because yet also my prayer is in their good pleasures their judges are swallowed up joyned to the rock They shall hear my words because they have prevailed as the grosness of the
c. V. The tender Infant as he lies In the cold manger shrinks and cries As little children use While his chast Mother binds his hands His feet his legs in swathing bands Nor does he worse refuse V. Hail Holy Cross c. V. He does not only not refuse But out of pure love freely chuse Death on this bitter Cross Where he the innocent Lamb was slain Eternal Life for us to gain And so repair our Loss V. Dear are the nails c. V. Behold the gall and vinegar The mocking reed and cruel spear Their hate his love display Behold the body cold and wan Whence streams of blood and water ran To wash our stains away V. Hail Holy Cross c. V. Bend gentle tree O quickly bend Thy softned branches and suspend Thy native stubborn heart O give at least this small relief To the God of Heaven but man of grief At least abate his smart V. Dear are the nails c. V. 'T was thou alone wert worthy thought To bear him who our ransom brought And on thee paid it down 'T was he alone and his dear blood That sav'd us from the common flood Which else the world would drown V. Hail Holy Cross c. V. All glory to the sacred Three One individed Deity All honour bliss and praise O may we still adore thy Name Thy Pow'r and Goodness still proclaim Beyond the end of days Amen V. Dear are the nails c. When the adoration of the Cross is near finished the Candles upon the Altar are lighted and the Deacon taking the corporal case carries it to the Altar spreading the corporal upon the Altar after the usual manner and puts it directly against the Purificatory And the Adoration being ended he places the Cross upon the Altar The Sub-deacon takes the Missal from the Epistle and carries it to the Gospel side Then a Procession is made to the place where the blessed Sacrament is reserved The Subdeacon goes first with the Cross between two Acolytes they carrying Candlesticks with lighted Tapers and the Clergy follows in order the Priest last with those that Officiate When they are come unto the place where the blessed Sacrament is the Tapers are lighted and not put out till after the Communion The Priest kneels and prays a while the Deacon in the mean time opens the Tabernacle wherein the blessed Sacrament is Then the Priest rising up puts Incense into the Censors without blessing it then kneeling again he takes one of the Censors and incenseth the Holy Sacrament Then the Deacon taking the Chalice wherein the blessed Sacrament is out of the Tabernacle he puts it into the Priests hands who covers it with the ends of the vail that is upon his shoulders and so they go in order as they came the Priest with the blessed Sacrament under the Canopy the two Acolytes incensing and all the people singing this Hymn A Broad the Regal Banners fly Now shines the Crosses mystery Vpon it life did death endure And yet by death did life procure Who wounded with a direful spear Did purposely to wash us clear From stain of sin pour out a flood Of precious water mixed blood Fully accomplisht are the things David in faithful Meeter sings Where he to nations does attest God on a tree his reign possest O lovely and refulgent tree Adorn'd with purpled majesty Cull'd from a worthy stock to bear Those limbs which sanctified were Blest tree whose happy branches bore The wealth that the World restore The beam that did that body weigh Which rais'd up Hell's expected prey Hail Cross of hopes the most sublime Now in this Morning Passion-time Improve religious souls in grace The sins of criminals efface Blest Trinity Salvation's spring May every soul thy praises sing To those thou grantest conquest by The Cross-Rewards apply Amen When the Priest shall come to the steps of the Altar the Deacon kneeling first shall take the blessed Sacrament and place it upon the Altar Then the Priest standing upright puts Incense into the Censor and incenseth the B. Sacrament upon his knees Then the Vail is taken off his shoulders and he goes up to the Altar where he kneels again and takes the Hoast out of the Chalice putting it upon the Patten which he takes from the Deacon After this he puts the consecrated Hoast upon the Corporal without any words or making the sign of the Cross Then he puts the Patten not under the Corporal as is usual but above to represent Jesus Christ in his Sepulcher If by chance he hath toucht the Hoast he must wash his singers in some Vessel and dry them upon the Purificatory and to do this also he must go down the steps of the Altar The Deacon takes the Chalice and without wiping it he goes to the Epistle corner and puts Wine into it the Sub-deacon also puts in a little Water without blessing it and so presents the Chalice to the Priest without either kissing his hand or the Chalice The Priest placeth the Chalice upon the Corporal without making the sign of the Cross or saying any thing The Deacon covers it with the Pall. The Priest puts Incense into the Censor without a blessing to signifie that the Author of all blessing is dead Then he incenseth the Oblation of Wine and Water to teach us thereby that Bloud and Water issued out of our Saviours side when he was pierced upon the Cross and kneels not when he incenseth the Oblation to signifie to us that this Wine and Water is not to be consecrated LEt this Incense O Lord blest by thee ascend unto thee and let thy mercy descend upon us After the Priest hath incensed the Oblation he incenseth the Altar testifying that as the Sacrifice which is offered is insinitely more Holy than the Sacrifices of the old Law so he ought to beg of God a more perfect preparation and a greater sanctity of Life than that which the Royal Prophet required in this 140 Psalm of being able to correspond by his Prayers to the sanctity of the Sacrifice which was but a Figure of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ LEt my Prayer O Lord be directed as Incense in thy sight the elevation of my hands as Evening Sacrifice Set O Lord a watch to my mouth and a door round about my lips that my heart decline not into the words of malice to make excuses for sins The Priest gives the Censor to the Deacon without being incensed himself as refusing that Honour upon this day wherein Jesus Christ was so affronted with Ignominies and he prays God to inflame his heart as well as all others with a more fervent Charity than the fire in the Censor MAy our Lord kindle in us the fire of his love and the flame of his eternal charity Amen The Priest having delivered the Censor to the Deacon goes down from the Altar on the Epistle side and being near the Credence with his Face to the People he washeth his hands silently
the new Life which the Israelites that is those who shall believe in the Messias are to receive by a Spiritual Regeneration expecting a glorious Resurrection of the Dead IN those days the hand of the Lord was made upon me and brought me forth in the spirit of our Lord and left me in the mids of a field that was full of bones And he led me about through them on every side and there were very many upon the face of the field and exceeding dry And he said to me Son of man thinkest thou these bones shall live And I said Lord God thou knowest And he said to me Prophesie of these bones and thou shalt say to them Dry bones hear ye the word of our Lord. Thus saith our Lord God to these bones Behold I will put spirit into you and you shall live And I will give sinews unto you and will make flesh to grow up over you and will stretch a skin on you And I will give you spirit and you shall live And you shall know that I am the Lord. And I prophesied as he had commanded me And there was made a sound when I prophesied and behold a commotion and bones came to bones every one to his juncture And I saw and behold upon them sinews and flesh was grown up and a skin was stretched out in them above and they had no spirit And he said to me Prophesie son of man and thou shalt say to the spirit Thus saith our Lord God Come spirit from the four winds and blow upon these slain and let them be revived And I prophesied as he had commanded me and the spirit entred into them and they lived and they stood upon their feet an army passing great And he said to me Son of man all these bones are the house of Israel They say our bones are withered our hope is perished and we are cut off Therefore prophesie and thou shalt say to them Thus saith our Lord God Behold I will open your graves and bring you out of your Sepulchers O my people and will bring you into the land of Israel And you shall know that I am the Lord when I shall have opened your Sepulchers and shall have brought you out of your graves O my people And shall have given my spirit in you and you shall live And I shall make you rest upon your ground saith our Lord God Let us pray The Church presenting unto us how Jesus Christ figured by the Paschal Lamb in the Old Testament hath taught us by his Life and Passion what we are to do during this present Life and by his Resurrection what Blessings we are to hope for in the next begs of God to make us worthy of the benefits he bestows upon us in this Life and of the Blessings we hope for in the next Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves O God who by Holy Scriptures Old and New instructest us to celebrate the Paschal Mysteries grant us to know the grandeur of thy mercy that receiving the gifts in this life we may be raised to a firm hope of thy future blessings Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen The EIGHTH PROPHECY taken out of the 4th Chapter of Isay Which in one part foretells the Ruin of Jerusalem and the extream desolation which was to befal the Jews and in the other he describes the establishment of our Saviours Reign and the abundant graces he would pour forth on those who should believe in him AND seven women shall take hold of one man in that day saying we will eat our own bread and be covered with our garments onely let thy Name be called upon us take away our reproach In that day the bud of our Lord shall be in magnificence and glory and the fruit of the Earth high and exultation to them that shall be saved of Israel And it shall be every one that shall be left in Sion and shall remain in Jerusalem shall be called Holy every one that is written in life in Jerusalem If our Lord shall cleanse the filth of the Daughters of Sion and shall wash the bloud of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof in the spirit of judgment and the spirit of heat And our Lord shall create upon every place of mount Sion and where he is invocated a cloud by the day and smoak and the brightness of flaming fire by night for upon all glory protection And there shall be a Tabernacle for a place of shadow in the day from the heat and for security and covert from the whirlwind and from rain The TRACT out of the 5th Chapter of Isay The Prophet Isay shews us that the Son of God our Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of his Church which he compares to a Vine wherein God hath established the Jews to cultivate it who not discharging their Duty are driven thence and God put in their stead faithful Servants who make the true House of Israel The Fence wherewith the Prophet says God encompassed his Vineyard that is his Church signifies the grace wherewith he replenisheth protects and guards it The Tower is a sign that he fortifies and defends it from the force of the Devils and their Ministers who continually endeavour to overcome and destroy it The Press there prepared represents Christs Cross whence the Fruit of our Salvation flows as the most precious spiritual Must MY well-beloved hath a Vineyard in a very fruitful Hill V. And he fenced it and planted it with the choicest Vine and built a Tower in the midst of it V. And made a Wine-press in it for the Vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel The Church beseeches God that the Catechumens withdrawing themselves from Sin and coming into his Fold as a Branch transplanted from Egypt cleared from Thorns and Thistles may produce by his grace the Fruits he requires of them Let us pray Let us bend our knees R. Lift up your selves O God who by the mouth of thy Holy Prophets hast declared that for the benefit of all the Children of thy Church thou sowest good Seed through the whole extent of thy Empire and improvest thy chosen Plants grant of thy bounty that having rooted up all the Briars and Thistles from among thy People whom thou art pleased shall be called Vines they may bring forth good Fruit in abundance through our Jesus Christ The NINTH PROPHECY taken out of the 12th Chapter of Exodus In this Lesson the Church proposes unto us the Ceremony of the Jewish Passover explicated before pag. 197. to instruct us that Jesus Christ having fulfilled the Solemnity of the old Pasch celebrated in memory of the delivery of the People of Israel from the Egyptian Bondage came to this new Pasch which he is pleased that his Church should solemnize in memory of the Redemption he brought to the World giving his Body and Bloud in lieu of the Flesh and Bloud of the Paschal Lamb. And for the better observance of
c. AT LAUDS PSALM 50. Ant. Be justified O Lord in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged The Church represents unto us in the Person of David the Pattern of a true Penitent and also shews us First That Sinners must never despair of Gods Mercy but always acknowledge that though their Sins are never so great yet that his Mercy is far greater David received the Sacraments of the Law and Circumcision whereby the Sins wherein he was conceived were taken away he also received Holy Unction and God promised unto him that from his Loins the Messias should be born and that he and his Son should build his Temple And in the mean time David becomes an Adulterer and Murderer but being touched afterwards with a true Penitence and Compunction of Heart he cried for Mercy unto God and obtained it Secondly The Church shews us That all Sinners must follow the Example of David and put their whole confidence in the Mercy of God that they must always acknowledge their Sins and ever have them before their Eyes For will not God vouchsafe to forgive those Sins which Man will not acknowledge They must consider that God esteems those Injuries done to their Neighbors as if done to himself and therefore we ought to render an Account only to him They must look upon themselves as Lepers and People rejected and separated from other Men as impure Men as Strangers and Profane They ought to have a pure and sincere Heart They must shake off the Old Man to be renewed in God that is they must contemn all Pleasures of the Flesh all Voluptuousness and all Popular Praise and settle their whole Love on things invisible and entirely Divine And it is not sufficient only to correct their Lives and sin no more but they must also satisfie unto God for their past Sins and Offences by a true Compunction by humble Sighs by offering up a contrite Heart and by Alms which must accompany all the Exercises of Penance They must suffer all things with Patience and invincible Courage accepting and receiving their Punishments as just Pains for their Crimes And in demanding any Favours or Graces from God they ought not to think they merit them but only propose to themselves to honor his Magnisicence and Bounty that he may be acknowledged faithful to his Promises in hearing the truly Penitents and irreproachable in his Judgment by chastising Sinners Lastly They must edifie their Neighbor by the Example of their good Lives and endeavor the Conversion of the Wicked They must beg of God that their Sins may not be the Cause that others should be deprived of the Goods God would have granted unto them by their Intercession if they had not rendred themselves unworthy of that Ministry as we see that David ask'd of God that the Promises he had made to him to employ him in the building of his Temple should not be without effect although himself was unworthy that Grace yet that he would please to grant his Son the favour of finishing that great Work Deal favourably O Lord in thy good will with Sion and let the walls of Jerusalem be built up Then shalt thou accept sacrifice of justice oblations and holocausts then shall they lay calves upon thy altar HAve mercy on me O God according to thy great mercy And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mine iniquity Wash me henceforth from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Because I know my iniquity and my sin is always against me To thee only have I sinned and have done evil before thee that thou maist be justified in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged For behold I was conceived in iniquities and my mother conceived me in sins For behold thou hast loved truth the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be cleansed thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness and the bones humbled shall rejoyce Turn away thy face from my sins and blot out my iniquities Create a clean heart in me O God and renew a right spirit in my bowels Cast me not away from thy face and thy holy Spirit take not from me Render unto me the joy of thy salvation and confirm with a principal spirit I will teach the unjust thy ways and the impious shall be converted to thee Deliver me from blood O God the God of my salvation and my tongue shall exalt thy justice Lord thou wilt open my lips and my mouth shall declare thy praise Because if thou wouldst have had sacrifice I had verily given it with whole burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit a contrite and humble heart O God thou wilt not despise Deal favourably O Lord in thy good will with Sion and let the walls of Jerusalem be built up Then thou shalt accept sacrifice of justice oblations and holocausts then shall they lay calves upon thy altar Ant. Be justified O Lord in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged PSALM 89. The Church represents unto us First That God alone is only Eternal and that he is our sole and sovereign Good She likewise shews us Secondly The Inconstancy Frailty and Miseries of Mans Life whereinto they have put themselves through their â—â—ns Thirdly She offers unto us the Means which God preâ—â—nts us to be delivered and to get us Eternal Life which consist in patiently bearing the Punishments wherewith he inflicts â—s to make us return unto him Fourthly She prays unto God to have mercy on us and to conduct us by the continual assistance of his Grace ANTHYMN The Church shews us by the Example of our Saviour Jesus Christ with what Patience we must undergo the Evils of this life which we deserve for Sins Ant. Our Lord was led like an innocent lamb to the slaughter and he opened not his mouth LOrd thou art made a refuge for us from generation unto generation Before the mountains were made or the earth and the world formed from everlasting even unto everlasting thou art God Turn not away man into humiliation thou saidst Be converted ye children of men Because a thousand years before thy eyes are as yesterday that is past And as a watch in the night things that are counted nothing shall their years be In the morning as an herb he shall pass in the morning he shall flourish and pass in the evening he shall fall be hardned and withered Because we have fainted in thy wrath and in thy fury we are troubled Thou hast put our iniquities in thy sight our age in the light of thy countenance Because all our days have failed and in thy wrath we have failed Our years shall be considered as a spider the days of our years in them are seventy years And if in strong ones eighty
Sufferings this Divine Saviour was to undergo to satisfie the Rigor of the Justice of his Father and that for the Sins of Man wherewith he had loaded himself Then having described his Burial he proposes to us the Prayer he was to offer to his Eternal Father to demand of him his Resurrection not only for himself for being equal with his Father he had no need of Prayers that he might not be left in the Power of Death who alone was free among the Dead and had power to leave his Soul and take her again but for us that he might make us Partners with him of his New Life and give us an Example of perfect Patience and Submission to the Will of God Then he shews us the Advantage we receive by the Resurrection of our Saviour making us acknowledge that our Faith had been fruitless if it had remained in the Sepulcher for then our Sins had not been taken away Death is the Effect of Sin so that if our Saviour had not conquered Death it might have been said he had not triumphed over Sin Ant. Thou hast made my familiars far from me I was delivered and came not forth O Lord the God of my salvation in the day have I cried and in the night before thee Let my prayer enter in thy sight incline thine ear to my petition Because my soul is replenished with evils and my life hath approached to hell I am accounted with them that descend into the lake I am become as a man without help free among the dead As the wounded sleeping in the sepulchers of whom thou art mindful no more and they are cast off from thy hand They have put me in the lower lake in the dark places and in the shadow of death Thy fury is confirmed upon me and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me Thou hast made my familiars far from me they have put me abomination to themselves I was delivered and came not forth mine eyes languished for poverty I cried to thee O Lord all the day I stretched out my hands to thee Wilt thou do merveils to the dead or shall physicians raise to life and they confess to thee Shall any in the sepulcher declare thy mercy and thy truth in perdition Shall thy merveilous works be known in darkness and thy justice in the land of oblivion And I O Lord have cried to thee and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee Why dost thou O Lord reject my prayer turnest away thy face from me I am poor and in labors from my youth and being exalted humbled and troubled Thy wraths have passed upon me and thy terrors have troubled me They have compassed me as water all the day they compassed me together Thou hast made friend and neighbor far from me and my familiars because of misery Ant. Thou hast made my familiars far from me I was delivered and came not forth PSALM 93. In this Psalm we are taught neither to repine at the Prosperity of the Bad nor to be troubled at the Afflictions of the Just for God being Omnipotent and Sovereignly Good being the Creator and chief Master of all things would suffer no Ill in his Works were he not sufficiently Powerful and Good to extract some Good even from Evil it self He has thought fit that 't is better to draw Good from Bad than not to permit Evil. Wherefore since we can no more doubt of his Power than Bounty we must patiently support all Ills that befal us and believe that the Will of God is more beneficial for us than our own Will or Desires can be Let us then consider the Assistance he gives his faithful Servants and the Rewards he promises unto them and let us regard the Torments he prepares for the Wicked Ant. They will hunt after the soul of the just and will condemn innocent blood OUr Lord God of revenges the God of revenges hath done freely Be exalted thou that judgest the earth render retribution to the proud How long shall sinners O Lord how long shall sinners glory Shall they utter and speak iniquity shall all they speak that work injustice Thy people O Lord they have humbled and thine inheritance they have vexed The widow and the stranger they have slain and the pupils they have killed And they have said The Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob understand Understand ye foolish in the people and ye fools be wise at sometime He that planted the ear shall he not hear or he that made the eye doth he not consider He that chastiseth nations shall he not rebuke he that teacheth man knowledge Our Lord knoweth the cogitations of men that they be vain Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct O Lord and shalt teach out of thy law That thou mayst give him quietness from the evil days till a pit be digged for the sinner Because our Lord will not reject his people and his inheritance he will not forsake Until justice be turned into judgment and they who are near it are all that are right of heart Who shall rise for me against the malignant or who shall stand with me against them that work iniquity But that our Lord hath holpen me within very little my soul had dwelt in hell If I said My foot is moved thy mercy O Lord did help me According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart thy consolations have made my soul joyful Doth the seat of iniquity cleave to thee which makest labor in precept They will hunt after the soul of the just and will condemn innocent blood And our Lord became my refuge and my God the help of my hope And he will repay them their iniquity and in their malice he will destroy them the Lord our God will destroy them Ant. They will hunt after the soul of the just and will condemn innocent blood VERSICLE taken out of Psalm 108. The Church having presented unto us in the precedent Psalm she Comfort we receive in our Sufferings by considering the Power and Goodness of God who created us preserves and assists us with his holy Protection She admonisheth us in these following Versicles to consider the great Love God had for us since he delivered his only Son to death for our Salvation So that by the Example of his Son our Saviour we might be more powerfully fortified in the Persecutions and Miseries of this Life V. They have spoken against me with deceitful tongue R. And with words of hatred they have compassed me and they have impugned me without cause VII LESSON Out of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews chap. 4. The Church teacheth us That the Reason why the Son of God would become Man and bear all our Infirmities even to die for us was that thereby he might open the Heavens to us and so enable us to enter into the Repose of eternal Tranquillity And to enjoy so great a Benefit we must live conformably
Psalm the Church tells us that altho' the Wicked think they can do much because they can kill those who love and fear God yet they cannot utterly destroy them for in spite of them they will rise again and triumph over Death and their Persecutions as JESUS CHRIST has assured them by his Resurrection who brought his Enemies to that condition as they had no reason to rejoyce in the Death they had inflicted on him Ant. Lord thou hast brought forth my soul out of hell I Will exalt thee O Lord because thou hast received me neither hast delighted mine enemies over me O Lord my God I have cried to thee and thou hast healed me Lord thou hast brought forth my soul out of hell thou hast saved me from them that go down into the lake Sing to our Lord ye his saints and confess to the memory of his holiness Because wrath is in his indignation and life in his will At evening shall weeping abide and in the morning gladness And I said in my abundance I will not be moved for ever O Lord in thy will thou hast given strength to my beauty Thou hast turned away thy face from me and I became troubled To thee O Lord I will cry and I will pray to my God What profit is in my blood whilst I descend into corruption Shall dust confess to thee or declare thy truth Our Lord hath heard and had mercy on me our Lord is become my helper Thou hast turned my mourning into joy unto me thou hast cut my sackcloth and hast compassed me with gladness That my glory may sing to thee and I be not compunct Lord my God for ever will I confess to thee Ant. Lord thou hast brought forth my soul out of hell VERSICLE taken out of Psalm 63. The Church proposes unto us 1. That altho' JESUS CHRIST had power to raise his one Body from Death to Life yet he begged that favor from God his Father thereby to give us an Example of perfect Submission and Obedience 2. That as JESUS CHRIST by his Resurrection and Ascension was made the source of all Grace and Salvation to those who rendred him a punctual obedience so was he confirm'd the Sovereign Judge to condemn those to Eternal Flames who should die in their Iniquities V. But thou O Lord have mercy on me R. And raise me that I may be thankful for them LESSON IV. Taken out of the Treatise of St. Augustin upon the Sixty third Psalm In this Lesson St. Augustin teacheth us That Jesus being both God and Man suffered only as he was Man It was necessary he should be God that he might reconcile us to God his Father being in the quality of a Mediator between God and Man It was needful he should be Man to the end he might be able to satisfie in all rigor the Justice of God his Father for the Sins of Mankind MAn shall penetrate into the depth of his heart and God shall be exalted They have said Who shall see us They are wearied in searching after wicked Councils Man has penetrated into the wicked Councils and has suffered himself to be taken like a Man for unless he had been a Man he could not have been taken seen whipp'd crucified or died Therefore it was a Man that underwent all these Passions which unless he had been Man could have had no effect upon him For had he not been Man Man had never been delivered Man then penetrated into the depth of the heart that is to say into the Secret of the Heart presenting his Humanity to their sight but concealing his Divinity from them and hiding from them his form of God wherein he was equal to his Father and only permitting to their sight the form of a Servant wherein he was less than his Father RESP. The Church represents unto us That JESUS CHRIST declared his Divinity even in his Death by those Miracles he then did and by his descent into Hell by destroying the Empire of Death and the Devil R. Our Pastor is retired the Fountain of living Water is vanished and the Sun lost its Light at his passage For he is now taken who led the First Man Captive To day our Saviour hath broke both the Locks and Gates of Hell V. He hath destroyed the prisons of Hell and overthrown the Powers of the Devil For he himself was taken who led Captive the First Man LESSON V. In this Lesson St. Augustin declares the Iniquity of the Jews who persecuted JESUS CHRIST even to his Grave TO what excess did their Search and Care transport them and how they fainted in their Searchings That our Lord being dead and buried they should set a Guard over his Sepulcher for they said unto Pilate That Seducer By that name they called our Lord Jesus Christ to the comfort of his Servants when they are called Seducers Therefore they said to Pilate That Seducer said yet living After three days I will rise again Command therefore the Sepulcher to be kept till the third day lest perhaps his Disciples come and steal him and say to the People He is risen from the dead And the last error shall be worse than the first Pilate said to them You have a Guard go guard it as you know And they departing made the Sepulcher sure sealing up the Stone with Watchmen RESP. The Church proposes unto us all the Sufferings of JESUS CHRIST O all ye that pass by this way behold and see if there be any grief like mine V. All ye people behold and see my grief if there be any grief like mine LESSON VI. St. Augustin represents unto us the malice and obstinacy of the Jews who instead of owning the truth of Christs Resurrection whereof they had such certain Testimonies yet they still persisted in their Infidelity running headlong on their own ruin and destruction THey set a Guard of Soldiers to keep the Sepulcher In the mean time the Earth trembled and our Lord arose signalizing his Resurrection by so many Miracles that the very Soldiers who guarded his Body became Witnesses and could have declared it if they had willed to have spoken truth But Avarice which had possessed that Companion-Disciple of Christ had likewise entred the Hearts of those Soldiers who kept the Sepulcher We will give you Money said they and say That whilst ye were asleep his Disciples came and stole him away Truly they failed in their vain Searches Unhappy as ye are What have ye said Where is your Subtleness and Cunning Are ye so blind Have ye so little Sense Are ye so wicked and malicious to utter such Words O unhappy Craft What hast thou said Dost thou forsake so much the Light of Counsel and Piety And art thou so much drowned in Cunning and Wickedness as to say this Do ye say That whilst ye slept his Disciples came and stole him away You produce sleeping Witnesses but rather you have slept your self since you are lost in your vain Search