Abraham returned to his young men and they went to Bersabee together and he dwelt there The Church considering that all descended from Abraham according to the Flesh are not true Israelites but only those who in Holy Scriptures are called his Seed that is those who imitate his Faith begs Gods Grace for all the Gentils to imitate the Faith of this great Patriarch so as to reap the effect of the Promises made to him and his Posterity Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves O God the sovereign Father of the Faithful who by the grace of adoption through the whole world multipliest the children of thy promise and by this Paschal Sacrament viz. by the sacrifice of thy Son whereof the Paschal Lamb and the sacrifice of Isaac was a figure makest thy servant Abraham in his stead the Father of all Nations according to thy promise grant that thy people may worthily enter into the grace of their vocation Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. The FOURTH PROPHECY out of the 14th Chapter of Exodus The Church tells the excellency of Baptism and its effects by the wonderful things done for the Israelites the Pillar of Fire which shined before them in the Night and the Cloud which sheltered them from the heat of the Sun in the Day represented the Holy Ghost and the graces which he poureth out upon us The passage through the Red Sea under Moses his Conduct was a figure of Baptism which we receive by the Priest in the Sacramental Water sanctified by Christ's Bloud Pharao represented the Devil and the Egyptians our sins The sudden return of the Waters drowning the Egyptians signifie that our sins are ingulfed in the Waters of Baptism and that coming out of the Font we ought to look upon them as the Children of Israel after they had passed the Red Sea did upon the Egyptians dead on all sides upon the Sands and as they sate upon their Chariots sunk to the Ground IN those days when the morning-watch was come behold our Lord looking upon the Egyptians camp through the pillar of the fire and the cloud slew their army and overthrew the wheels of their chariots and they were born in the depth The Egyptians therefore said Let us fly from Israel for the Lord fighteth for them against us And our Lord said to Moses Stretch forth thy hand upon the sea that the waters may return to the Egyptians upon their chariots and horsemen And when Moses had stretched forth his hand against the sea it returned in the first break of day to the former place and the Egyptians flying away the waters came upon them and our Lord enwrapt them in the midst of the waves And the waters returned and overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of all Pharo's army who following were entred into the sea neither did there so much as one of them remain But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the dry sea and the waters were unto them as instead of a wall on the right hand and on the left And our Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hand of the Egyptians And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore and the mighty hand that our Lord had exercised against them And the people feared our Lord and they believed our Lord and Moses his servant Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to our Lord and said The TRACT taken out of the Eighteenth Chapter of Exodus The Church representing to the Catechumens the Obligation they have being by Baptism freed from the Tyranny of the Devil and Slavery of Sin to sing Canticles of Praise and Thanksgiving to our Lord with much more joy than the Israelites did when they were led out of the Egyptian Servitude and from the Persecution of their Enemies LEt us sing unto the Lord for he triumphed gloriously The horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea He is made a helper and protector to me for salvation V. He is my God and I will honour him my fathers God and I will exalt him V. The Lord is a destroyer of war the Lord is his Name Let us Pray The Church considering that the People of Israel's delivery from the Egyptians Bondage and the promises which God made them was a figure of those Graces which they shall receive who imitating the Faith of Abraham shall become his Children or true Israelites by the Regeneration of Baptism beseeches God that all People may be Regenerated and have the grace of Faith that so they may receive the effects of his Promises Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves O God who makest us see even in our days the miracles wrought by thee in past ages that what thou didst in the delivery of one people from the power of Egypt thou wroughtest for the salvation of the Gentiles through the water of regeneration grant that all the nations of this world may become true children of Abraham and enter into the dignity of being children of Israel Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. The FIFTH PROPHECY taken out of the 54th and 55th Chapter of Isay Wherein the Church presents to us the Promise God made to the Gentiles through his gracious Mercy of the Health-giving Waters of his Word and grace of obtaining for them the heavenly Inheritance and eternal Felicity And first it tells us that if the Eternal Word did not pour forth these Divine Waters into our Souls they would not be able to produce the least Fruit of Justice but would be altogether barren Secondly it teaches us that the Word which issues from Gods mouth when it dilates it self in humane hearts makes no unprofitable return to him that sent it but that it breeds and fructifies abundantly in their hearts that receive it THis is the inheritance of the servants of our Lord and their justice with me saith our Lord. All ye that thirst come to the waters and you that have no silver make hast buy and eat come buy without silver and without any exchange wine and milk Why bestow your silver not for bread and your labour not for satiety Hearing hear ye me and eat that which is good and your soul shall be delighted in fatness Incline your ear and come to me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you the faithful mercies of David Behold I have given him for a witness unto the people for a prince and master to the Gentiles Behold thou shalt call the nation which thou knowest not and the nations that knew not thee shall return to thee because of the Lord thy God and the holy one of Israel because he hath glorified thee Seek ye the Lord whiles he may be found invocate him whiles he is near Let the impious forsake his way and the unjust man his cognitations and return to our Lord and he will have mercy on him And to our God because
sleep and rest Because thou Lord hast singularly setled me in hope Glory be to the Father c. PSALM 30. This Psalm represents unto us how we ought to put all our Trust and Confidence in God's Justice and not in our own and that we must acknowledge we can neither be just or merit any thing of our selves or have any hope but through Gods holy Grace who hath given it unto us through the Merits of our Redeemer which also he hath declared to us by his Example And in this Confidence we must commit our Soul into the hands of God IN thee O Lord have I hoped let me not be confounded for ever in thy justice deliver me Incline thine ear to me make haste to deliver me Be unto me for a God protector and for a house of refuge that thou mayst save me Because thou art my strength and my refuge and for thy name thou wilt conduct me and wilt nourish me Thou wilt bring me out of the snare which they have hid for me because thou art my protector Into thy hands I commend my spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth Glory be to the Father c. PSALM 90. or 91. This Psalm represents unto us the Temptations Dangers and Evils whereto we are subject in this Life whereof the least are compared to the Fear that surprises in the Night and to the Arrows flying in the Day And the most outragious and hazardous resemble those Enterprises which are undertaken in Darkness and in open invasion and in the Mid-day Devil Or they are like the infectious Air which spreads it self in darkness and like the Plague which rages at Mid-day We are environed with wicked Spirits which the Scripture terms fierce and venemous Beasts to represent unto us the several Employments they maliciously exercise over Men. By the Aspick who with all his force presses one of his Ears against the Ground and stops his other with his Tail to hinder his hearing the Enchantments of the Hunters she signifies such as are obstinate persisting in Evil and in the Love of earthly things By the Basilisk who carries his Venom in his Eyes is signified Envy and Vain-glory. By the Lion whose Roaring terrifies the other Beasts is signified Menaces and Persecutions By the Dragon who kills whatever he toucheth with his burning Breath is signified Anger Then the Royal Prophet shews us in this Psalm that in the Perils and Dangers we find our selves we must ever stand upon our guard God being ever ready and his Angels to protect and conduct us But to be worthy his Protection 't is necessary we confide wholly in him and give unto his Name the whole Glory of our Salvation HE that dwelleth in the help of the Highest shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven He shall say to our Lord Thou art my Protector and my refuge my God I will hope in him Because he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters and from the sharp word With his shoulders shall he overshadow thee and under his wings thou shalt hope With shield shall his truth compass thee thou shalt not be afraid of the fear in the night Of the Arrow flying in the day of business walking in darkness of invasion and the mid-day devil A thousand shall fall on thy side and ten thousand on thy right hand but to thee it shall not approach But thou shalt consider with thine eyes and shalt see the retribution of sinners Because thou O Lord art my hope thou hast made the Highest thy refuge There shall no evil come to thee and scourge shall not approach to thy tabernacle Because he hath given his Angels charge of thee that they keep thee in all thy ways In their hands they shall bear thee lest perhaps thou knock thy foot against a stone Upon the Asp and the Basilisk thou shalt walk and thou shalt tread upon the Lion and the Dragon Because he hath hoped in me I will deliver him I will protect him because he hath known my name He shall cry to me and I will hear him with him I am in tribulation I will deliver him and I will glorifie him With length of days I will replenish him and I will shew him my salvation Glory be to the Father c. PSALM 132. or 133. The Psalmist exhorts the Clergy to sing Praises to God whilst the People are asleep BEhold now bless our Lord all ye servants of our Lord. Which stand in the house of our Lord in the courts of the house of our God In the nights lift up your hands unto the holy places and bless ye our Lord. Our Lord out of Sion bless thee who made Heaven and earth Glory be to the Father c. Ant. Have mercy on me O Lord and hear my Prayer The HYMN for EVENING BEfore the closing of the Day Creator thee we humbly pray That for thy wonted Mercies sake Thou us into protection take May nothing in our Minds excite Vain Dreams and Fantomes of the Night Our Enemy repress that so Our Bodies no Uncleanness know To JESUS from a Virgin sprung Be Glory given and Praises sung The like to God the Father be And Holy Ghost eternally Amen CHAPTER taken out of the Fourteenth Chapter of the Prophet Jeremy BUt thou O Lord art in us and thy holy name is invocated upon us forsake us not O Lord our God R. Thanks be to God Pettit R. Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit V. Thou hast redeemed us O Lord God of truth R. Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit V. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost R. Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit V. Keep us O Lord as the apple of thy eye R. Protect us under the shadow of thy wings Ant. Save us THE SONG OF SIMEON Luke 1. NOw thou dost dismiss thy servant O Lord according to thy word in peace Because my eyes have seen thy Salvation Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel Ant. Save us O Lord waking and keep us sleeping that we may watch in Christ and rest in peace THE PRAYERS LOrd have mercy on us Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy on us Pater noster c. V. And lead us not into temptation R. But deliver us from evil I believe in God c. V. The Resurrection of the Flesh R. And Life everlasting Amen V. Thou art blessed Lord God of our Fathers R. And laudable and glorious for ever V. Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Ghost R. Let us praise and super-exalt him for ever V. Blessed art thou Lord in the Firmament of Heaven R. And laudable and glorious and superexalted for ever V. The Almighty and Merciful Lord bless and keep us R. Amen V.
will deliver him RESP. The Church shews us That the Miracles done at the Death of our Lord JESUS CHRIST and which the Prophets foretold of him were most evident Testimonies to the Jews to have acknowledg'd him to be the Son of God and Saviour of the World who had power to render up his Soul to his Eternal Father and to take it again so as none could bereave him of her 'T is therefore that being nailed on the Cross he pronounced the Twenty first Psalm which describes his Passion and gives the Reason of it to wit That by his Sufferings and Death he might satisfie God's Justice for the Sins of Mankind wherewith he was charged and that by his Example he might instruct us that we are not to become Christians only to enjoy this temporal Life but that the Name Christian must make us Pretenders to Life everlasting R. Whilst the Jews crucified Jesus darkness covered the earth and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice My God why hast thou forsaken me And bowing his head gave up the ghost V. And Jesus crying with a loud voice said Father into thy hands I commend my spirit And bowing down his head c. VI. LESSON In this Lesson the Church shews us how the Jews put JESUS CHRIST to death THey have sharpned their Tongues as a Sword Let not the Jews say We have not killed Christ for certainly 't was therefore they delivered him into the Hands of Pilate the Judge that so they might seem guiltless of his Death For when Pilate said unto them Do ye your selves put him to death they answered 'T is not lawful for us to kill any one Thus they would retort on the Judge the Injustice of their own Crime But how could they deceive God who is the true Judge 'T is certain that what Pilate did made him partake of their Guilt but in comparison of the Jews he is far more innocent for he did what he could to deliver him out of their Hands And therefore having first caused him to be scourged he shewed him unto them not that he scourged our Lord out of design to persecute him but thereby a little to appease their Rage that by their beholding him so cruelly whipped they might be satisfied and desist from demanding his Death And this he did But when they still persisted ye all know he washed his Hands before them and said That he had nothing to do with it and was cleansed from the guilt of his Death yet he put him to death and if he be guilty for having condemn'd him against his will are they innocent who forced him to it By no means Because Pilate pronounced Sentence against him and commanded him to be crucified he is guilty of his Death And ye O Jews have put him to death and how have ye put him to death With the Sword of your Tongues For ye have sharpned your Tongues and soaked them in his Blood when ye exclaimed against him saying Crucifie Crucifie RESP. The Church shews unto us That the Prophet Jeremy in his twelfth Chapter did foretel this Insolence of the Jews against the Saviour of the World who was willing to suffer this Outrage that thereby he might obey the Decree of God's Providence R. I have delivered my beloved Soul into the Hands of the Wicked and my Inheritance became unto me as a Lion in the Wood The Enemy cried out against me saying Let us assemble and make haste to devour him They have set me in the remotest of the Wilderness and all the earth wailed over me because he was not found that would acknowledge me or do me good V. Men without mercy have risen up against me and they have not spared my Soul Because he was not found that would acknowledge me or do me good R. I have delivered my beloved Soul c. THIRD NOCTVRN PSALM 58. or 59. In the Person of David the Church represents unto us CHRIST persecuted by the Jews and by them put to death yet that he begged from his Father that he would not suffer these wicked People who like mad Dogs were enraged against him to triumph in his Death but that by a quick Resurrection he would deliver him from their Hands shewing thereby what we are to contemn in the Course of this Life and what to hope for in all Eternity and making us acknowledge that all our Merits and all the Good we do is the pure effect of God's Mercy towards us and that when he crowns our Deserts he in reality crowns but his own Gifts 2. The Church shews us the Chastisements God inflicted on the Persecutors of his Son by banishing them out of their own Country depriving them of all Honors Power and Authority and by dispersing them over the whole World like Slaves Vagabonds and the Out-cast of all People Ant. From them that rise up against me defend me O Lord because they have taken my soul DEliver me from mine enemies O my God and from them that rise up against me defend me Deliver me from them that work iniquity and from bloody men save me Because loe they have taken my soul the strong have fallen violently upon me Neither is it mine iniquity nor my sin O Lord without inquity have I run and gone directly Rise up to meet me and see and thou O Lord the God of powers God of Israel attend to visit all nations have no mercy on all that work iniquity They will return at evening and they shall suffer famin as dogs and shall compass the city Behold they will speak in their mouth and a sword in their lips because who hath heard And thou O Lord wilt scorn them thou wilt bring to naught all nations I will keep my strength to thee because thou art my receiver my God thy mercy shall prevent God will shew unto me concerning mine enemies kill them not lest sometimes my peoples forget Disperse them in thy strength and depose them my protector O Lord. The sin of their mouth the word of their lips and let them be taken in their pride And for cursing and lying they shall be talked of in consummation in wrath of consummation and they shall not be And they shall know that God will rule over Jacob and over the ends of the earth They shall be turned at evening and shall suffer famine as dogs and shall compass the city They shall be dispersed to eat and if they be not filled they will murmur also But I will sing thy strength and will exalt thy mercy in the morning Because thou art become my receiver and my refuge in the day of my tribulation My helper I will sing to thee because thou art God my receiver my God my mercy Ant. From them that rise up against me defend me O Lord because they have taken my soul PSALM 87. This Psalm is a Prophecy of the Passion Burial and Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST wherein the Royal Prophet represents unto us the
into Jerusalem and the Priest says Let us go on in peace The Quire answers In the Name of Christ Amen The Antiphon taken out of the 21st Chapter of St. Matthew WHen Jesus drew nigh unto Jerusalem he sent two of his Disciples saying Go ye into the Town that is against you and immediately you shall find an Ass tied and a Colt with her loose them and bring them to me and if any man shall say ought unto you say ye that our Lord hath need of them And they brought the Ass and the Colt and laid their Garments upon them and made him to sit thereon Others spread their Garments in the way others cut Boughs from the Trees and strewed them in the way and those that followed cryed Hosanna blessed is he who cometh in the Name of our Lord and blessed be the Kingdom of David our Father Hosanna in the highest O Son of David have mercy on us Another ANTIPHON THE People hearing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem they took Palm-branches and went forth to meet him the Children crying aloud This is he who comes to save his People This is our Salvation and Redemption of Israel How great is he whom the Thrones and Dominations meet Fear not Daughter of Sion behold thy King comes unto thee sitting upon an Ass-Colt as it is written Hail King Maker of the World who art come to redeem us ANOTHER SIX Days before the Solemn Pasch our Lord coming to Jerusalem the Children went forth to meet him carrying Boughs of Palms and crying with a loud voice Hosanna in the highest Blessed art thou that comest in the multitude of thy Mercies Hosanna in the highest ANOTHER THE Multitude went with Flowers and Palms to meet the Redeemer and render him triumphant and victorious due honour The Gentils publish the greatness of the Son of God their voices thundring through the clouds the praise of Christ Hosanna in the highest ANOTHER GRant that we may be found faithful with the Angels and Children singing to the triumpher over death Hosanna in the highest ANOTHER A Great Multitude assembled to the Festival cryed out to our Lord saying Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of our Lord. Hosanna in the highest The Procession being come to the Church-Porch the following Hymn is sung in memory of Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem GLory to thee Eternal King On this great triumphant day Lo we a loud Hosanna sing And with our Garments strew the way Thou art the King of Israel Sprung from the Royal David 's stem Thou cam'st from Heaven with us to dwell Thy captive Subjects to redeem Glory to thee c. The holy Quires of Angels bow And in their Hymns thy Praise proclaim While we and all our world below Kneel and adore the same blest Name Glory to thee c. Thy Sion once with holy Palms Thee their Messias went to meet Behold we now with Prayers and Psalms Prostrate our glad hearts at thy feet Glory to thee c. They by their Songs prepar'd the way Vp to thy humble Throne the Cross While we a happier Ditty pray And in thy Victory rejoyce Glory to thee c. Great King of sweetest clemency Whom all sincere endeavours please As they accepted were may we Thy Favour gain thy Wrath appease Glory to thee c. Then the Priest with the foot of the Cross knocks at the Church-door which is shut to signifie that Jesus Christ through the merit of his Passion hath opened Heaven for us which besore was shut upon the account of our first Parents transgression And to express the sentiments of Joy and Admiration which the Angels had at our Saviour's entry into Heaven represented in the 23d Psalm the Church uses the same words with the Royal Prophet LIft up your Gates ye Princes and be ye lifted up O Eternal Gates and the King of glory shall enter in Those who are within the Church representing the Angels answer Who is this King of glory To whom the Priest knocking again replies 'T is our strong and mighty Lord 't is our Lord mighty in Battel Lift up your Gates ye Princes and be you lifted up O Eternal Gates and the King of glory shall enter in Those within the Church replies again Who is this King of glory The Priest knocking again says The Lord of Powers he is the King of Glory lift up your Gates c. Whereupon those within the Church representing the Angel open the doors saying Who is this King of glory And the Procession goes into the Church singing the following Antiphon to signifie that Christ's solemn entry into Jerusalem was a figure of his triumphant entry into Heaven OUr Lord entering into the Holy City the Hebrew Children foretelling the Resurrection unto Life with Olive-boughs cryed out Hosanna in the highest When the People heard that Christ was coming into Jerusalem they went to meet him with Palms THE MASS FOR Palm-Sunday The Priest coming to the foot of the Altar kneels and bowing makes the sign of the Cross saying Introibo ad altare Dei c. Psal 42. he acknowledgeth with humble respect in the name of the Faithful the Grace received of God through the Merits of Christ's Passion whereof the Sacrifice of the Mass is a representation and by the assistance of the Holy Ghost spiritually to regenerate them and establish them in the Rights of their Heavenly Inheritance which they had forfeited by Sin He seems to be renewed in spirit and in that takes confidence to approach the Altar which in as much as it stands Eastward according to the ancient Order of the Church is a figure of Paradise where God had placed Adam in the state of his Innocency In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen I Will enter unto the Altar of God The Church using the Psalm Judica me Deus c. in their Names who have received Baptism and preserved themselves in the state of Grace thereby received in testimony of the joy they apprehend in that they are become Children of God forbears it now in the beginning of Mass till Holy Saturday this being a time of Sorrow representing the Sufferings of Christ her Spouse and Head Our help is in the Name of our Lord. R. Who made Heaven and Earth Then the Priest confesses himself unworthy of so great a Benefit as well through Original as his Actual Sin and therefore admonisheth the Faithful on whose behalf he prays to joyn with him in repentance and acknowledge their own unworthiness before God I Confess unto Almighty God to the blessed Virgin S. Mary to the blessed S. Michael the Arch-angel to the blessed S. John Baptist to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul to all the Saints and you my Brethren that I have very much sinned in Thought Word and Deed through my Fault through my Fault through my most grievous Fault Therefore I beseech the blessed Virgin S. Mary the blessed S. Michael the
earth is broken out upon the earth Our bones are dissipated near to hell for to thee our Lord Lord are mine eyes in thee have I hoped take not away my soul Keep me from the snare which they have set for me and from the scandals of them that work iniquity Sinners fall in his net I am alone until I pass Ant. Keep me from the snare which they have set for me and from the scandals of them than work iniquity PSALM CXLI In this Psalm the Prophet teacheth us to pray incessantly to God that if he will not please absolutely to grant our Petitions at least to give us sufficient assistance for our conservation that we may have an assured foundation of hopes to enjoy blessings prepared for us hereafter Ant. I looked towards the right hand and saw and there was none that knew me WIth my voice I have cried to our Lord with my voice I have prayed to our Lord. I pour out my prayer in his sight and I pronounce my tribulation before him When my spirit faileth of my self and thou hast known my paths In this way which I walked they hid a snare for me I looked towards the right hand and saw and there was none that would know me Flight hath failed me and there is none to require my soul I have cried to thee O Lord I have said thou art my hope my portion in the land of the living Attend to my petition because I am humbled exceedingly Deliver me from them that persecute me because they are made strong over me Bring forth my soul out of prison to confess unto thy Name the just expect me till thou rewardest me Ant. I looked toward the right hand and saw and there was none that would know me During these three days no Hymn is sung as we observed before pag. 131. Nor is any Chapter read to tell us that the Jews reaped no benefit by the instructions from the Prophets The Antiphon before Magnificat The Church teacheth us that Jesus Christ was not onely pleased by his example to shew us how we are to suffer persecutions and afflictions in this life but also to incorporate us with him to strengthen us with his presence And thereupon when he was to pass out of this world to God his Father after he had celebrated the Passover with his Disciples he instituted the venerable Sacrament of his Body and Bloud as a perpetual monument of his Passion as an accomplishment of the figure of the Old Law and as the greatest of Miracles Ant. And Jesus after he had supt with his Disciples took bread and blessed it and breaking it gave it to his Disciples The Song of the blessed Virgin Which is an Abridgment of the Promises and Mysteries of our Salvation shewing us further that as the Son of God became man to repair by his humility what man had lost by his pride he was pleased to chuse the blessed Virgin for his Mother in respect of her humility to compleat this great work 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 away empty He hath received Israel his child being mindful of his mercy As he spake to our fathers to Abraham and his seed for ever Ant. And Jesus after he had supt with his Disciples took bread and blessed it and breaking it gave it to his Disciples V. Christ was made for us obedient even unto death Pater noster c. Ave Maria c. Miserere mei Deus c. as before pag. 6. The PRAYER Respice quaesumus c. as before pag. 130. At the Vncloathing of the Altars The Priest and his Ministers uncover the Altars and take away the Ornaments to represent Christ bereft by the Souldiers of his Garments which they divided among themselves according to the Prophecy of the Twenty one Psalm and thereupon the Church recites this Psalm and this Antiphon out of which it is taken Ant. And they divided my garments among them and upon my vesture they have cast lots This Psalm out of which our blessed Saviour when nailed to the Cross repeated the first words containeth the Prophecy of his Passion where after the Royal Prophet hath represented Pains and Sufferings of the Son of God after he hath spoken of his Glory and of the grandeur of his Empire and related the benefits accuring to the Faithful for which they ought to be thankful this Divine Saviour who was himself impeccable putting himself in our stead and taking our obligations upon him making our debts his own satisfying for our crimes teacheth us in this Psalm that the sins of mankind which he took upon himself did merit that his Father should abandon him to all imaginable torments whereby to make rigorous satisfaction to his justice and that in these words when he saith My God my God why hast thou forsaken me speaks not in his own person but as in the unhappy infirmity of our flesh which he hath taken upon him and on the behalf of the members of his mystical body whose groans and prayers to his Father and Himself he foresaw through a propension of humane nature desirous to be freed from sufferings and death For who can believe our Saviour should desire to avoid death and sufferings since he came into the world for that end Or who can imagine he spake in such sort as if that which happened had been against his will who had power to give up his soul to God and to take it again though no man had power to bereave him of it These words then of this One and twentieth Psalm are a figure of such Prayers as shall be addrest to God by men in their afflictions begging to be freed of them Consequently the Son of God shewing us that his Eternal Father hath not delivered him from the power of the Jews who pursued him with reproaches and outrages even to death as he preserved Noah from the deluge Lot from the fire that fell from Heaven Isaac from the sword lifted up to cut off his head Joseph from the slander of a woman and the horrour of a prison Moses from the fury of the Egyptians Raab from the destruction of the City of Jericho Susanna from the imposture of the false witnesses Daniel from the Lyon's den the three Hebrew Children from the fiery furnance instructs us thereby that we ought to desire what we are to ask by the grace of the New Testament and that
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
your selves which also in CHRIST JESUS who when he was in the form of God thought it no robbery himself to be equal to God but he exinanited himself taking the form of a servant made into the similitude of men and in shape found as a man R. Thanks be to God HYMN In remembrance of the Victory Christ obtained by his Cross A Broad the Regal Banners fly Now shines the Crosses Mystery Upon 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 mixt with Blood Fully accomplish'd are the things David in faithful Meeter sings Where he to Nations do's attest God on a Tree his Reign possest O lovely and refulgent Tree Adorn'd with purple Majesty Cull'd from a worthy Stock to bear Those Limbs which sanctified were Blest Tree whose happy Branches bore The Wealth that did the World restore The Beam that did that Body weigh Which rais'd up Hells expected Prey Hail Cross of Hopes the most sublime Now in this mournful Passion-time Improve Religious Souls in Grace The Sins of Criminals efface Blest Trinity Salvations Spring May ev'ry Soul thy Praises sing To those thou grantest Conquest by The Holy Cross Rewards apply Amen THE SONG OF THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY Luke 1. The Church briefly represents unto us in this Canticle the Promises and Mysteries of our Salvation and shews us that the Son of God became Man to repair by his Humility what Man had lost through his own Pride and that it was his will to chuse the Holy Virgin to be his Mother out of his great Humility to accomplish this grand Work 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 generations 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 away empty 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 c. Ant. For it is written I will strike the Pastor and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed but after I shall be risen again I will go before you into Galilee and there ye shall see me saith our Lord. At Paris the following Anthymn is said ALl the people which descended rejoyced and began to praise God exceedingly for the wonders they had seen saying Blessed is the King that comes in the name of our Lord Peace in heaven and glory in the highest THE PRAYER To beg God's Grace to imitate the Humility and Patience of our Saviour O Almighty Eternal God who hast caused our Saviour to take Flesh and be crucified for Mankind as an Example of Humility to be imitated Grant propitiously that we may partake both of the Instructions of his Patience and the Fellowship of his Resurrection Thro' the same our Lord c. AT COMPLINE The Reader says Vers REverend Father bless me THE BLESSING GRant us Omnipotent Lord a quiet Night and a happy End Resp Amen THE LESSON taken out of the First Epistle of the Apostle St. Peter chap. 5. BRethren be sober and watch because your adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour Whom resist ye strong in faith But thou O Lord have mercy on us R. Thanks be to God V. Our help is in the name of our Lord. R. Who made Heaven and Earth OUr Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from all evil Amen HAil Mary full of Grace our Lord is with thee Blessed art thou amongst Women and blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb JESUS Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us Sinners now and in the hour of our death Amen I Confess unto Almighty God to Blessed Mary ever Virgin to Blessed Michael the Archangel to Blessed John Baptist to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul to all Saints and to Thee Father That I have sinned exceedingly in Thought Word and Deed by my fault by my fault by my most grievous fault Therefore I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin Blessed Michael the Archangel Blessed John Baptist the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul all Saints and Thee O Father to pray for me to our Lord God Almighty God have mercy on us and all our Sins being forgiven bring us unto everlasting Life R. Amen The Almighty and merciful Lord give unto us Pardon Absolution and Remission of all our Sins R. Amen Convert us O God our Saviour R. And avert thine Anger from us V. Incline unto my aid O God R. O Lord make haste to help me Glory be to the Father c. Ant. Have mercy on me PSALM 4. This Psalm shews us That 't is impossible to raise up our Thoughts to the Love of the true Goods whilst our Hearts are overcharged with the Cares of Worldly Affairs but that once being purified with the Grace of God we then in the secret of our Souls begin to contemn our selves and being touched with a true Compunction of Heart we offer to his Majesty a Sacrifice all our past Life with an intention by his assistance entirely to change it And from thence-forth our Lord begins to make us rellish his Sweets and Delights and to heap Joys upon us Then we find in that Sovereign Good another Grain another Wine and another Oyl than what here below so as we neither envy the Prosperity of the Wicked nor fear their Persecutions having placed all our Confidence in God WHen I invocated the God of my justice heard me in tribulation thou hast enlarged to me Have mercy on me and hear my prayer Ye sons of men how long are you of heavy heart why love you vanity and seek lying And know ye that our Lord hath made his Holy One marveilous 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 ye 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
last we must put all our Hope and Trust in the Bounty and Goodness of God Ant. And they did violence which sought my soul LOrd rebuke me not in thy fury nor chastise me in thy wrath Because thy arrows are fast sticked in me and thou hast fastned thy hand upon me There is no health in my flesh at the face of my wrath my bones have no peace at the face of my sins Because mine iniquities are gone over my head and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me My scars are putrified and corrupted because of my foolishness I am become miserable and am made crooked even to the end I went sorrowful all the day Because my loins are filled with illusions and there is no health in my flesh I am afflicted and am humbled exceedingly I roared for the groaning of my heart Lord before thee is all my desire and my groaning is not hid from thee My heart is troubled my strength hath forsaken me and the light of mine eyes and the same is not with me My friends and my neighbors have approached and stood against me And they that were neer me stood far off and they did violence which sought my soul And they that sought me evils spake vanities and meditated guiles all the day But I as one deaf did not hear and as one dumb not opening his mouth And I became as a man not hearing and not having reproofs in his mouth Because in thee O Lord have I hoped thou wilt hear me O Lord my God Because I said Lest sometimes my enemies rejoyce over me and whilst my feet are moved they speak great things upon me Because I am ready for scourges and my sorrow is in my sight always Because I will declare my iniquity and I will think for my sin But mine enemies live and are confirmed over me and they are multiplied that hate me unjustly They that repay evil things for good detracted from me because I followed goodness Forsake me not O Lord my God depart not from me Attend unto my help O Lord the God of my salvation Ant. And they did violence which sought my soul PSALM 39. The Church according to the Explication of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews chap. 10. do's represent to us in this Psalm with what Fervor and Confidence we ought to expect the Effects of God's Mercy considering that as he would render himself our Benefactor by all ways imaginable so he was not only contented to give us our Being and all things requisite to our Preservation but he would shew us how infinite his Goodness was by the Mystery of our Redemption whereof he made us Partakers by the Torments and Death of our Saviour our Lord JESUS CHRIST who fulfilled the Will of his Eternal Father came into the World and offered himself upon the Cross to satisfie for us to his Divine Justice and to clear us the way to our Justification and that we might give God the Honor of a Sacrifice which is due to him from every Creature as being the most perfect manner of Adoration and Acknowledgment of the Sovereignty of his Being and that which could not always be given him by Victim and other Legal Offerings too distant from his Dignity and that he only permitted them heretofore as Representatives of this Divine Victim of his dear Son who has abolish'd the first Sacrifice to establish this second And thereby we see First How much we are obliged to a Return for that Benefit both by Praises and Thanksgiving Secondly That JESUS CHRIST shews us that in resuming that Figure for us he acted not his own Will but that of his Father How much more then are we obliged to a just neglect of our own Will and to do the Will of God that we may be freed from that Confusion wherein the Wicked must be buried Thirdly By the Prayers which Christ made in his Sufferings he teacheth us That 't is needful to keep our selves always with wonderful vigilancy on our guard and to follow our Prayers with a fervent assiduity to prevent us from falling into Temptations during our Conflict in the continual Dangers of this Life Ant. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul to take it away Expecting I expected our Lord and he hath attended to me And he heard my prayers and brought me out of the lake of misery and from the mire of drags And hath set my feet upon a rock and hath directed my steps And he hath put a new canticle into my mouth a song to our God Many shall see and shall fear and they shall hope in our Lord. Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of our Lord and hath not had regard to vanities and false madness Thou hast done many merveilous things O Lord my God and in thy cogitations there is none that may be like to thee I have declared and have spoken they multiplied above number Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not but ears thou hast perfected to me Holocaust and for sin thou didst not require then said I Behold I come In the head of the book it is written of me that I should do thy will my God I would and thy law in the midst of my heart I have declared thy justice in the great church lo I will not stay my lips Lord thou hast known it Thy justice I have not hid in my heart thy truth and thy salvation I have spoken I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great council But thou O Lord make not thy commiserations far from me thy mercy and thy truth have always received me Because evils have compassed me which have no number mine iniquities have overtaken me and I was not able to see They are multiplied above the hairs of my head and my heart hath forsaken me It may please thee O Lord to deliver me Lord have respect to help me Let them be confounded and ashamed together that seek my soul to take it away Let them be turned backward and be ashamed that will me evils Let them forthwith receive their confusion that say to me Well well Let all that seek thee rejoyce and be glad upon thee and let them that love thy salvation say always Our Lord be magnified But I am a begger and poor our Lord is careful of me Thou art my helper and my protector my God be not slack Ant. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul to take it away PSALM 53. The Church proposes unto us a Model of a most perfect Prayer First We must beg nothing of God but what tends to our Salvation Secondly We must beg of him in the Name of our Saviour JESUS CHRIST for there is no other Name given to Man whereby he can be saved Thirdly We must have a firm Faith not mistrusting the Omnipotency of God Fourthly We must regard God as our Judge who renders to every one according to his Actions Fifthly We
putting to death the Redeemer of the World She also admonisheth them to acknowledge their Sins and to beg Gods pardon for them Jerusalem arise and put off thy garments of mirth cover thy self with ashes and haircloth For in thee is slain the Saviour of Israel V. Draw forth tears as a torrent day and night and let not the apple of thine eye besilent Because in thee was slain the Saviour of Israel LESSON III. Taken out of the Fifth Chapter The beginning of the Prayer of the Prophet JEREMY The Prophet prays unto God to have mercy on his People REmember O Lord what is fallen to us behold and regard our reproach Our inheritance is turned to aliens our houses to strangers We are made pupils without father our mothers are as it were widows Our water we have drunk for money our wood we have bought for a price We were led by our necks no rest was given to the weary We have given our hand to Egypt and to the Assyrians that we might be filled with bread Our fathers have sinned and they are not and we have born their iniquities Servants have ruled over us there was none that would redeem us out of their hand In peril of our lives did we fetch us bread at the face of the sword in the desert Our skin was burnt as an oven by reason of the tempests of famin They humbled the women in Sion and the Virgins in the cities of Juda. Jerusalem Jerusalem Convert unto the Lord thy God VERSICLE taken out of the First Chapter of the Prophet Joel The Church having represented unto us the Prayer which the Prophet Jeremy offered unto God to endeavor to avert those Miseries which threatned the City of Jerusalem she likewise shews us in the following Versicles the admonition God gave unto the Jews to do Penance by the Month of the Prophet Joel that they might avoid those Miserie 's their Sins would draw upon them Mourn as a virgin my people girded with sackcloth upon the husband of her youth Because the day of our Lord is at hand a very great and bitter day V. Gird your selves and mourn ye priests howl ye ministers of the altar lie ye in sackcloth Because the great day of our Lord is at hand Mourn as a virgin c. SECOND NOCTVRN PSALM 23. The Church yearly commemorating on this Day the Sepulcher of JESUS CHRIST represents unto us That this Sovereign Lord and Creator of all things was that amiable Saviour who out of his Love to us voluntarily suffered Death and Burial that by his Death having delivered us from the Tyranny of the Devil and Slavery of Sin might also by his Resurrection and Ascension open Heaven unto those that lead a Vertuous Humble Innocent and Chast Life Ant. Be ye lifted up O eternal gates and the king of glory shall enter in THe earth is our Lords and the fulnest thereof the round world and all that dwell therein Because he hath founded it upon the seas and upon the rivers hath prepared it Who shall ascend into the mount of our Lord or who shall stand in his holy place The innocent of hands and of clean heart that hath not taken his soul in vain nor sworn to his neighbor in guile He shall receive blessing of our Lord and mercy of God his Saviour This is the generation of them that seek him of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates ye princes and be ye lifted up O eternal gates and the king of glory shall enter in Who is this king of glory Our Lord strong and mighty our Lord mighty in battel Lift up your gates ye princes and be ye lifted up O eternal gates and the king of glory shall enter in Who is this king of glory The Lord of powers he is the king of glory Ant. Be ye lifted up O eternal gates and the king of glory shall enter in PSALM 26. The Church declares unto us That we should not fear the Accidents and Miseries of this Life since God is our Safety and Salvation and what help are we nor to expect from him whose only Son was Sacrificed for us And what should we fear since by his Death he has overcome all things that might hurt us and since he has ascended into Heaven there to give us refuge and which now is open to us in all our Miseries and Afflictions since from his Throne of Glory he pours forth upon us his Graces to purifie us conduct us and make us surmount all difficulties and obstacles to our Salvation and to convert our Patience to the shame and confusion of our Enenlies Therefore let us be careful not to render our selves unworthy his Protection and take heed lest the fear of trouble make us commit unlawful Actions We must also most strictly observe his Commandments and wholly apply our selves to his service in hopes of attaining to that Eternal Felicity he has promised us Ant. I believe to see the good things of our Lord in the land of the living OUr Lord is my illumination and my salvation whom shall I fear Our Lord is the protector of my life of whom shall I he afraid Whilst the shameful approach upon me to eat my flesh Mine enemies that trouble me themselves are weakned and are fallen If camps stand together against me my heart shall not fear If battel rise up against me in this will I hope One thing I have asked of our Lord this will I seek for that I may dwell in the house of our Lord all the days of my life That I may see the pleasantness of our Lord and visit his temple Because he hath hid me in his tabernacle in the day of evils he hath protected me in the secret of his tabernacle In a rock he hath exalted me and now he hath exalted my head over mine enemies I have gone round about and have immolated in his tabernacle an host of jubilation I will sing and say a psalm to our Lord. Hear O Lord my voice wherewith I have cried to thee have mercy on me and hear me My heart hath said to thee my face hath sought thee out thy face O Lord I will seek Turn not away thy face from me decline not in wrath from thy servant Be thou my helper forsake me not neither despise me O God my Saviour Because my father and my mother have forsaken me but our Lord hath taken me Give me a law O Lord in thy way and direct me in the right path because of mine enemies Deliver me not into the souls of them that trouble me because unjust witnesses have risen up against me and iniquity hath lied to it self I believe to see the good things of our Lord in the land of the living Expect our Lord do manfully and let thy heart take courage and expect thou our Lord. Ant. I believe to see the good things of our Lord in the land of the living PSALM 29. In this
he is bountiful to forgive for my cogitations are not your cogitations nor your ways my ways saith our Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth so are my ways exalted above your ways and my cogitations above your cogitations And as the shower cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth no more thither but inebriateth the earth and watereth it and maketh it to spring and giveth seed to the sower and bread to him that eateth so shall my word be which shall proceed from my mouth It shall not return to me void but it shall do what things soever I would and shall prosper in these things for which I sent it saith our Lord God Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves The Church begs of God an absolute Conversion of all the Nations of the Earth ALmighty and Eternal God multiply for the honour of thy Name that which thou hast promised to the faith of our forefathers and encrease by an holy adoption thy Church with new children to receive the effects of thy promises that so they may see that almost accomplished which the Saints formerly doubted not but would come to pass Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen The SIXTH PROPHECY taken out of the 3d Chapter of Baruch In this Lesson the Church represents to us the excellency of Christian Religion which teaches us that Men of themselves are not able to make their Lives happy that all those who pretended themselves Authors of their own Happiness and believed they were only indebted to themselves for it who only have sought it for their own Vertue and in the fleeting Pleasures and Wealth of this Life who are persuaded that already they possess the Sovereign Good and that in fine to obtain it they sought not God nor placed their hopes in his infinite Goodness and Bounty but that they are lost in those vain and proud thoughts 'T is from God alone that hath made them and can make them blessed that can divert the evils of this Life or sweeten them or give courage to support them or absolutely free those that bow under the burthen And who can at last elevate Man to the true fruition of this Bliss where no evil is to be feared and where the sovereign goodness is not to be lost And unto this end God hath given Law unto Men wherein proposing and promising a recompence unto Pious Souls he teaches us not to spend this temporal and uncertain Life in its Vanities and Pleasures but to suffer all sorts of Afflictions and Torments rather than to violate his Commandments out of a strong confidence of the fidelity of his Promises and in hopes after death to enjoy Eternal Happiness And to enable us to observe the Law it was his Will that his Son should come into this World This Divine Saviour covering the Grandeur of his Divinity under the Weakness of our Nature hath taught us by the example of his Passion what Miseries we ought to suffer in this World and by his Resurrection what Blessings to hope for in the next giving us at the same time the grace to do and obtain that which he hath shewed us if by our sins we render not our selves unworthy HEar Israel the commandments of life hearken with your ears that you may know prudence What is the matter Israel that thou art in the land of the enemies Thou art waxed old in strange land thou art defiled with the dead thou art reputed with them that go into hell Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom For if thou hadst walked in the way of God thou hadst verily dwelt in peace everlasting Learn where wisdom is where understanding is that thou mayest know withal where is the long continuance of life and living where the light of the eyes and peace is who hath found the place thereof and who hath entred into the treasures thereof where are the princes of the Gentiles and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth that play with the birds of heaven that treasure up silver and gold wherein men have confidence and there is no end of their getting which fashion silver and are careful neither is there invention of their works They are destroyed and are gone down to hell and others are risen up in their place Young men saw the light and dwelt upon the earth but the way of discipline they knew not neither understood they the paths thereof neither have their children received it It is made far from their face It hath not been heard in the land of Canaan neither hath it been seen in Theman The children of Agar also that seek out the prudence that is of the earth merchants of Myrrh and of Theman and fablers and searchers of prudence and understanding But the way of wisdom they have not known neither have they remembred the paths thereof O Israel how great is the house of God and how great is the place of his possession It is great and hath no end high and unmeasurable There were the gyants those renowned that were from the beginning of big stature expert in war These did not our Lord chuse neither found they the way of discipline therefore did they perish And because they had not wisdom they perished through their folly Who hath ascended into heaven and taken her and brought her down from the clouds Who hath passed over the sea and found her and brought her above chosen gold There is none that can know her ways nor that can search out her paths but he that knoweth all things knoweth her and hath found her out by his prudence he that prepareth the earth in time everlasting and replenished it with cattel and four-footed beasts he that sendeth forth light and it goeth and hath called it and it obeyeth him with trembling And the stars have given light in their watches and rejoyced they were called and they said Here we are and they have shined to him with chearfulness that made them This is our God and there shall none other be esteemed against him He found out all the way of discipline and delivered it to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved After these things he was seen upon the earth and was conversant with men The Church telling us that God not being contented to have taught Men by his Prophets but further he sent his only Son to instruct them by his Word and Example and to give them a new life by the Sacrament of Baptism beseeches his Majesty to make them worthy always to maintain the Grace they have received Let us Pray Let us bend our knees R. Lift up your selves O God who dost always multiply thy Church in the call of the Gentiles vouchsafe graciously thy continual protection to all those who shall be cleansed with the waters of baptism Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. The SEVENTH PROPHECY out of the 37th Chapter of Ezechiel The Prophet Ezekiel represents to us