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 Deacon saying Sequentia sancti Evangelii c. The sequence of the Gospel c. makes the sign of the Cross upon his Forehead his Mouth and Breast to signifie he publishes the Word of God with a good heart and will not be ashamed to confess it before men and taking the Thurible he incenseth the Book thrice in honour of the Blessed Trinity in whom we are taught to believe by the Gospel Whilest the Deacon reads the Gospel with an audible Voice the Priest stands on the Epistle side which represents the Jewish People to tell us that Christ preached the Gospel amongst them and that from Judea it should be carried to other Nations He stands upright uncovered as do the rest of the People to teach us that the Word of God is to be feared with reverence and to testifie our Faith in the Resurrection The sequence of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew Chap. 21. In this Gospel the Church minds us of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem foretold by the Prophet Zacharias Chap. 9. where we are to observe that Eve and the Synagogue are figured by the She-Ass And by the Ass-Colt never yet used the Gentils are represented for before the coming of Christ none had ever called the Gentils to the true Faith The Village where these creatures were tied is a figure of the servitude of this World and the command which Christ gave to his Disciples to untye them is a presentation of that power which God hath given his Ministers to absolve men from their sins AT that time when Jesus drew nigh to Jerusalem and was come to Bethphage at the foot of Mount Olivet then he sent two of his Disciples saying to them 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 forthwith he will let them go And this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet saying Say ye to the Daughter of Sion Behold thy King cometh to thee meek and sitting upon an Ass and a Colt the Foal of her that is used to the Yoke And the Disciples going did as Jesus commanded them And they brought the Ass and the Colt and laid their Garments upon them and made him to sit thereon and a very great multitude spread their Garments in the way and others did cut their Boughs from the Trees and strewed them in the way and the multitudes that went before and that followed cried saying Hosanna to the Son of David Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of our Lord. Hosanna in the highest After the Deacon hath read the Gospel he presents the Book to the Priest to kiss to signifie thereby the Union and Charity which the Faithful ought to have in the observance of God that so they may obtain pardon for their sins and thereupon he says May our Sins be forgiven by the vertue of the Holy Gospel The Deacon incenseth the Priest thrice thereby expressing our honour to Christ who hath freed us from our sins by our faith in the Gospel acknowledging him to be God and the Second Person of the Trinity Then the Palms are blest by which Ceremony the Church commemorating Christ's triumph applies her Prayers for us to obtain of God through the Merits of this Divine Saviour unless we render our selves uncapable the grace to reap the fruit of that Victory which he has obtained over the World and the Devil Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray O God increase the Faith of those that hope in thee and clemently hear the Prayers of thy Supplicants Let thy manifold Mercies come upon us bless these Boughs of Palms or Olives and as in the figure of the Church thou didst multiply Noah going forth of the Ark and Moses going out of Egypt with the Children of Israel so grant that we carrying these Branches of Palm and Olive may with the Fruits of our Good Works appear before Jesus Christ and by his Merits enjoy the Delights of Eternal Happiness who one God liveth and reigneth with thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen The PREFACE The Priest prepares the Faithful minding them to lift up their hearts to God to disengage their affections from worldly creatures to acknowledge the excess of the divine benefits Our Lord be with you And with thy Spirit Lift up your hearts R. We raise them up to our Lord. Then the Priest admonisheth the Faithful to reflect that 't is God who puts their hearts into that state and therefore that they give him publick thanks Let us give thanks to our Lord God The Faithful answer that it is just and reasonable and according do concur in publick with the Priest giving thanks and so in particular each man by his particular private resentments accompanies the Priest saying It is Just and becoming our Duty The Church representing unto us the Obedience which all created nature oweth unto God the Zeal wherewith the Saints and particularly the Martyrs have offered themselves to his Majesty as a Holocaust for the faith of Jesus Christ his Son the Homage which the Angels render him in Heaven and the Canticle of Praise which the Children sung in honour of our Saviour when he made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem exhorts us in imitation of them to give God thanks for so many benefits received of his bounty through the Merits of his Son acknowledging that in duty we are bound to endeavour the Zeal of Martyrs the Purity of Angels and Innocence of Children IT is truly meet and just right and necessary that we always and in all places give thanks to thee Holy Lord Omnipotent Father and Eternal God who art glorified in the Council of thy Saints For thy Creatures serve thee acknowledging thee their sole Author and God and all thy handy-works joyntly praise and thy holy ones bless thee freely confessing the Sacred Name of thy Son before the Kings and Princes of this World The Angels Archangels Thrones and Dominations observe thee with a Profound Reverence and with the whole Celestial Host sing a Hymn of thy Glory for ever saying Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God of Hosts the Heavens and Earth are filled with thy Glory Hosanna in the Highest Blessed is he that comes in the Name of our Lord Hosanna in the Highest V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray The Faithful giving God thanks that besides the interiour and exteriour Graces wherewith he prevents and assists us and besides what he confers by his Sacraments upon us he yet further fortifies us by the Vertue of Sacred Things they joyn in Prayers with the Church which are applied unto them by this Benediction to the end they may obtain particular Benefits from God for the good
Eternal God this immaculate Host which I thy unworthy servant offer to thee my living and true God for my innumerable sins offences and negligences for all here present and for all faithful Christians living and dead that it may avail me and them to life everlasting Amen Then the Priest puts the Wine and Water into the Chalice saying O God who as a wonderful effect of thy power hast created humane nature and restored it by a greater Miracle Grant us by the Mystery of this Wine and Water to partake of his Divinity who did vouchsafe upon him our humanity namely Jesus Christ our Lord thy Son who being God liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen The Priest offering the Chalice in the midst of the Altar says WE offer unto thee O Lord this Chalice of salvation beseeching thy clemency that it may ascend before thy Divine Majesty as a sweet perfume for our souls health and for the whole worlds Amen WE present our selves before thee with an humble and contrite spirit O Lord accept of us and grant that this sacrifice may be made agreeable this day unto thee O Lord God Blessing the Bread and Wine he offers then says COme Omnipotent Sanctifier and Eternal God and bless this sacrifice prepared for the glory of thy Holy Name Washing his hands and by that Ceremony testifying his care to cleanse his soul he says these following Versicles out of the 28th Psalm I Will wash my hands amongst Innocents And I will compass thy Altar O Lord. That I may hear the voice of praise and shew forth all thy marvellous works Lord I have loved the beauty of thy house and the place of the habitation of thy glory Destroy not O God my soul with the impious and my life with bloody men In whose hands are iniquities their right hand is replenished with gifts But I have walked in my innocency redeem me and have mercy on me My foot hath stood in the direct way In the Churches I will bless thee O Lord. Glory be to the Father c. The Priest having washt his hands bowing at the midst of the Altar silently makes an oblation of the Sacrifice which he is now about to present to the Holy Trinity in memory of the principal mysteries of Christ and in the honour of the chief Saints REceive O Holy Trinity this Oblation which we make unto thee in memory of the Passion Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ And in the honour of the ever blessed Virgin Mary St. John Baptist the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and of all Saints to their honour and our benefit that they whom we commemorate on earth will vouchsafe to make intercession for us in Heaven Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen The Priest turning towards the Faithful admonisheth them to joyn in Prayer with him that this their common Sacrifice which he is now about may be acceptable to God Pray Brethren that mine and your Sacrifice may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty The People answer O Lord receive this Sacrifice from thy hands to the honour and glory of his Name to our particular benefit and for the good of the whole Church The Priest says in a low voice Amen The SECRET The Faithful beg of God a solid piety and true sence of the Pains and Sufferings of his Son Jesus Christ whereby to be made capable of the benefit thereby obtained for us of life everlasting GRant we beseech thee O Lord that this Oblation made before thy Divine Majesty may obtain us the Grace of Piety and procure us Eternal Happiness Through our Lord c. THE PREFACE That is to say The Beginning of the Canon of the Mass and the General Preparation for the Sacrifice The Priest disposes the Faithful advising them to elevate their hearts to God to disengage them from all the solicitudes of Creatures to begin the Sacrifice with their hearts acknowledging the greatness of God's benefits and in particular those of his Incarnation and Passion of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit V. Lift up your hearts R. We have them lifted up to our Lord. The Priest bids them consider that 't is God alone who puts their hearts into that condition and that therefore they ought to give him publick thanks Let us give thanks to our Lord God The Faithful answer that 't is just and reasonable and according that they do give publick thanks by the Priest and particularly by their inward resentments heartily concurring in what the Priest says It is meet and just The Priest in the name of the Faithful acknowledges the obligation of giving God thanks always and every where for his goodness in vouchsafing that his Son should by the wood of the Cross save Mankind and destroy the Devil As this enemy of Mankind had made use of the Fruit of a Tree to establish his tyranny and ruine man and because we are not capable to make worthy acknowledgments for so inestimable a benefit the Priest joyns with this our Saviour through whom he gives praise to God as also with the Angels Cherubins and Seraphins who praise and adore God with an awful regard through Jesus Christ and unites himself to them in Christ as the common Father and Head of Men and Angels singing that Hymn which the blessed Spirits use in Heaven in honour of God Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Holy Holy Holy and the Canticle which the Children sung at Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem Benedictus qui venit c. Blessed is he that comes c. to testifie the spiritual unity between Angels and Men in praising the Divine Majesty and to express that we ought to be as pure as Angels and innocent as Children to give God Almighty worthy and due praises IT is truly meet and just right and healthful that we always and in all places give thanks to thee O holy Lord Father Almighty Everlasting God who didst ordain the Salvation of Mankind in the Wood of the Cross that Life might be there restored whence Death arose and that he might be conquered by a Tree who had been conquered thereby through Christ our Lord. By whom the Angels praise thy Majesty the Dominations adore thee the Powers tremble the Heavens and the Heavenly Vertues and the blessed Seraphins in one common joy celebrate thy Name amongst whom we beseech thee that our humble Addresses may be admitted saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth The Heavens and Earth are full of thy glory Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he that comes in the Name of our Lord Hosanna in the highest C. Stella â—â—◠〈◊〉 sâ—â—â—â— THE CANON OF THE MASS OR The RULE and ORDER which the CHURCH observes in celebrating the Sacrifice The Priest in the name of the Faithful makes his address to God the Father and presents this Sacrifice by Jesus Christ his Son as by our
fixed in a triangle which he lights one after another to instruct us that the Light of the Gospel which Jesus Christ hath brought unto us is the work of the blessed Trinity to whom we are to render thanks And therefore advancing towards the Altar he thrice repeats Behold the light of Christ The Faithful answer R. Thanks be to God The Deacon disposing himself to receive Commission from the Priest to give God thanks for the favour done us in freeing us from the Tyranny of the Devil and the Slavery of Sin by the Death and Resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ whereof the Jewish Pasch was a figure asks his blessing Vouchsafe Father to bless The Priest blessing him saith OUr Lord be in thy lips that thou mayest worthily and competently declare the praises of his Pasch In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen Then the Deacon taking the Censor out of the Acolyts hands incenseth the Book thrice in honour of the Holy Trinity which the light of the Gospel revealed unto us as we are taught by Jesus Christ And inviting the Faithful to give God thanks for the Victory which his Son Christ Jesus gained over the Devil and for the favour done unto them by drawing them from darkness and servitude of sin by the light of the Gospel represents unto them that their joy ought to be common to them and to the Angels who rejoyce to see that their number lessened by the fall of Lucifer and his complices is filled up again by humane nature renewed and repaired by Jesus Christ Then the Deacon acknowledging his own unworthiness joyns in Prayer with the Church MAy the angelical troops now rejoyce may the divine mysteries be celebrated with a holy joy may the sound of a comfortable trumpet publish the victory of so great a King and may the whole earth be sensible of the blessing it had by the splendour of the the Eternal King who freed it from that darkness which overspread the whole World May our Mother the Church rejoyce also at the glympse of so resplendent light and may this place resound with the voices of this Congregation And therefore I beseech ye my beloved Brethren here present who enlightened with the admirable splendour of this holy light joyn with me and call upon our Merciful and Almighty God to the end that as he hath been pleased not through my merits to advance me to the number of his Levites so shedding the beams of his light upon me he will give me grace to perfect the praise of this Paschal Candle Through c. Amen The Benediction and Praise of the Paschal Candle is very ancient for this Ceremony is mentioned in Prudentius his Hymn who lived in the fourth Age and St. Gregory Nazianzenus and St. Ambrose Then the Deacon prepares the Faithful to celebrate this Ceremony worthily with him advising them to lift up their hearts to God and to quit all affections to Creatures acknowledging the grace they have received of God by the Light of his Gospel which is represented by the Candle Our Lord be with you R. And with thy spirit R. Lift up your hearts The Faithful being in the disposition he requires answers We have raised them towards our Lord. Then the Deacon bids the Faithful consider that God so disposed their hearts therefore that they should give publick thanks Let us give thanks to our Lord. The Faithful answer that it is just and reasonable and according they give publick thanks by the Deacon and particular resentments of their hearts by following in their minds the words which the Deacon uses R. It is meet and just The Deacon exhorts the Faithful to give God thanks for that in this Night by the glorious Resurrection of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Merits of his Death he had freed us from the Tyranny of the Devil and from the Bondage of Sin wherein our first Parent by his sin had involved us and for that by the light of his Gospel he had conducted us to the Kingdom of Heaven which he had promised to his faithful Servant as he delivered the Israelites out of the Captivity of Egypt causing a Pillar of Fire to lead them into the Land of Promise IT is truly meet and just that with all affections of our heart and soul and with the ministry of our voice we glorifie the invisible God Father Almighty and his onely Son our Lord Jesus Christ who hath paid Adam's death for us to his Eternal Father and by shedding his innocent blood hath blotted out the hand-writing of our old sins whereby we are subjected to death For these are the Paschal Feasts wherein the true Lamb is immolated and the gates of the Faithful consecrated by his blood This is that night wherein first thou madest our forefathers the Children of Israel to pass the Red Sea dry-foot This is that night which dissipated the darkness of sins by the light of a pillar of fire This is that night which separating through the whole World those that believe in Jesus Christ from the vices of this age and from the darkness wherein sinners are ingaged restores them to grace and associates them to sanctity This is that night wherein the chains of death being broken Christ ascended Conquerour from Hell For it would not have availed us to have been born unless Christ had been pleased to redeem us O God how admirable is thy bounty towards us how inestimable thy charity who didst deliver up thy Son to redeem thy slave O certain necessary sin of Adam to make us sensible of the excess of God's love towards us since it hath been effaced by the death of Jesus Christ O happy fault that merited to have such and so great a Redeemer O truly happy night which alone deserved'st to observe the time and moment of Christ his rising from the dead This is that night of which it is written in the 178th Psalm The night shall shine as the day and the night is my illumination in my delights therefore the sanctification of this night banisheth all crimes washeth away all offences restores to innocence those that had been lost makes glad the afflicted reconciles hatred and enmities restores peace and union and humbles empires Here the Deacon puts the five grains of blest Incense in form of a Cross into the Candle not yet lighted which signifies the dead Body of our Saviour teaching us how adorable the wounds were which he received on the Cross where he offered up himself a Sacrifice for us to God his Father whereof the Evening Sacrifice was a figure in the Old Law and the Sacrifice of the Altar is a representation of it in the Evangelical Law Then the Deacon lighting the Candle which then becomes a figure of Christs Body risen again acknowledges the advantage we have received by his Resurrection REceive then O Holy Father from us on this happy night the Evening-Sacrifice of
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
the Red Sea and beheld the Egyptians on all sides stretcht out upon the Sands and their Chariots drowned in the bottom of the Sea The PROSE BRing all ye dear-bought Nations bring Your richest Praises to your King That spotless Lamb who more than due Paid for his Sheep and those Sheep you That Innocent Son who wrought your peace And made his Father's anger cease Life and Death together fought Each to a strange extream were brought Life died but soon revived again And even by death's self has slain Say happy Magdalen O say What didst thou see these by the way I saw the Tomb of my dear Lord I saw himself and him ador'd I saw the Napkin and the Sheet That bound his Head and wrapt his Feet I heard the Angels witness bear Jesus is risen he 's not here Go tell his followers they shall see Thine and their hope in Galilee They Lord with faithful heart and chearful voice We on thy glorious rising day rejoyce O thou whose conquering pow'r o'recame the grave By thy victorious grace us sinners save Amen Alleluia Munda cor meum as before pag. 14. The Sequence of the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark Chap. 16. MUNDA COR MEUM c. as before pag. 14. Wherein the Church relating what happened at our Saviours Sepulcher at his Resurrection teacheth us what we ought to do to prepare our selves for the celebrating worthily this Solemnity and then proposes to us the advantages we reap 1. This Gospel teacheth us that the three Maries went early in the Morning with Perfumes to seck Jesus Christ in his Sepulcher The Example of these Holy Women tell us our obligation of going to seek for Christ in his Sepulcher as soon as we are enlightned with his grace That is in the Sacrament of Penance which is the figure of it there to bury our sins making a stock of Good Works signified by the Perfumes 2. These Holy Women had the happiness to see the Angels to teach us that the Souls which seek Christ with Holy desires and the Odour of Vertues have a particular assistance from the Blessed Spirits 3. The Angel appeared to these Holy Women in white as a token of Innocence and Joy to tell us with what purity and joy we are to solemnize the Resurrection of our Lord. This Joy is common to us with the Angels who rejoyce because the void places of their Hierarchies are replenished and we ought to rejoyce for that by its vertue we are raised in this World from the death of sin to a life of grace and we receive a pledge of happy Immortality whereunto we aspire 4. The Angel appeared sitting on the right hand which signifies that by Christs Resurrection we are called to possess Spiritual Blessings expressed in Holy Scripture by the right hand 5. These Holy Women were surprised with fear at their arrival but afterwards were emboldned by the Angel To teach us that Souls which seek God carefully and are toucht with a Holy fear which is the first gift of the Holy Ghost are confirmed with Celestial consolations 6. The Angel recommended to these Holy Women to publish our Saviours Resurrection namely to St. Peter to shew us the Providence which God hath for true Penitents and the hope he gives them to partake of the Glory of his Sons Resurrection AT that time Mary Magdalene and Mary of James and Salome brought spices that coming they might anoint Jesus And very early the first of the Sabboths they came to the monument the sun being now risen And they said one to another Who shall roul us back the stone from the door of the monument And looking they saw the stone rouled back for it was very great And entring into the monument they saw a young man sitting on the right hand covered with a white robe And they were astonished who said to them Be not dismayed You seek Jesus of Nazareth that was crucified he is risen he is not here behold the place where they laid him But go tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee there you shall see him as he told you CREDO as before pag. 54 55. The OFFERTORY taken out of the 75th Psalm The Church represents unto us that if the Earth trembled at Christs Resurrection and that all present were astonished at his going forth of his Tomb when he came in Mercy to men how much more cause have we to fear and tremble when we consider the severity of his Justice at his coming to examine us a Judge whose Judgments are so piercing that he sees into the most secret corner of our hearts yea what our selves cannot discover when at the general Resurrection he shall come to Judge the living and the dead in such Majesty and Power that the Heavens and all the Elements will be reduced to a condition of Horror and Terror This fear of Gods Judgment when it is joyned to the hope we have through his Mercy to reap the Fruit of our Saviours Resurrection makes our hopes the more beneficial THe earth trembled and was still when God arose in judgment Alleluia Suscipe Sancte Pater c. till the Secret as before pag. 56. The SECRET The Priest begs of God on the behalf of the Faithful to give them the grace to celebrate worthily the Mysteries of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ so that they may reap its wholsom effects ACcept O Lord we beseech thee the Prayers of thy People with the Oblation of these Hosts that these Paschal Mysteries which we celebrate may be wholesom and by thy assistance availing us to obtain Life Everlasting Through our Lord Jesus Christ c. The Preface till Vere dignum justum est c. as before pag. 60 c. The Priest in the name of the Faithful acknowledges the Obligation we have of giving continual thanks to God for Christs Resurrection whereby to raise us again to Life Everlasting and confessing that of himself he cannot worthily acquit this Duty he joyns with the Angels Thrones and Dominations and the rest of the Celestial Spirits who in Heaven sing incessantly Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus and the Canticle which the Children sung at Christ's Triumphant entry into Jerusalem Benedictus qui venit c. as a testimony of the Spiritual Union between Men and Angels in praising his Divine Majesty and to confess that the Purity of Angels and Innocence of Infants is required to praise God worthily IT is truly meet and just right and wholesom O Lord that at all times we set forth thy praises But more especially in this Night wherein Jesus Christ our Paschal Lamb was immolated who hath taken away the sins of the World who by dying hath destroyed our death and by rising again hath restored life And therefore with Angels and Archangels with the Thrones and Dominations together with the Celestial Host we sing this Hymn of thy Glory without end saying Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God of Sabbath The
comforted me For I also will confess to thee in the instruments of Psalm thy truth O God I will sing to thee on the Harp holy One of Israel My Lips shall rejoyce when I shall sing to thee and my soul which thou hast redeemed Yea and my tongue all the day shall meditate thy justice when they shall be confounded and ashamed that seek evils to me Ant. My God deliver me out of the hand of the sinner V. Let them be turned away backward and blush for shame that will me evils Pater noster c. THE BEGINNING OF THE LAMENTATIONS OF THE PROPHET JEREMY Jube Domine c. is omitted nor is the Blessing given before the reading of these Lamentations to shew that the Author of all Blessing is dead Under the Figure of the Sufferances of the Prophet Jeremy of the Ruine of Jerusalem and of the Captivity of the Israelites in Babylon for their Sins the Church represents us the Sufferings of Jesus Christ and the Evils the Jews drew on themselves by putting to death this Divine Saviour I. LESSON taken out of the First Chapter ALEPH. These Hebrew Letters of the Alphabet shew the beginning of each Verse the first Word beginning with one of these Letters And the Church proposes it to signifie unto us that these Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremy are the Alphabet of penitent Souls wherein they ought to learn how to meditate on the Sufferances of Jesus Christ and on those Pains which through their Sins they deserve HOw doth the city full of people sit solitary how is the lady of the Gentiles become as a widow the princess of provinces is made tributary BETH Weeping she hath wept in the night and her tears are on her cheeks there is none to comfort her of all her dear ones all her friends have despised her and are become her enemies GHIMEL Judas is gone into transmigration because of affliction and the multitude of bondage she hath dwelt among the Gentiles neither hath she found rest all her persecutors have apprehended her within the straits DALETH The ways of Sion mourn because there are none that come to the solemnity all her gates are destroyed her priests sighing her virgins loathsom and her self is oppressed with bitterness HE. Her adversaries are made in the head her enemies are enriched because our Lord hath spoken upon her for the multitude of her iniquities her little ones are led into captivity before the face of the afflicter Tu autem Domine c. is omitted to shew that the Jews through their own presumption are very far from the way of truth and that their cruel obstinacy has debarred them the way of Mercy because they killed him by whom Mankind was to obtain it but the following words are said By which the Church represents unto us That the Obstinacy of the Jews and their perseverance in Wickedness was the cause of those Evils which afterwards befel them And under the name of Jerusalem she exhorts us to convert our selves to God with our whole Heart lest we fall into the like Reprobation with the Jews Jerusalem Jerusalem Convert unto the Lord thy God The Church having represented unto us the Complaints the Prophet Jeremy uttered from the very bottom of his Heart in the bitterness of his Grief she proposes unto us that Prayer Jesus Christ made unto God his Father in the heighth of his Affliction being charged with the Infirmities of Humane Nature and the Counsel he gave to his Disciples when the Hour of his Passion drew nigh to teach us first That if in the Traverses of this Life we find that we do not obtain the Effect of our Prayer and that any thing should happen contrary to what we beg of God however we ought to bear it patiently and give God thanks for all things and we must no ways doubt but that Gods Will is more for our Benefit than our own Desires Secondly That if our Life be so full of Tentation it self may well be termed a Tentation we then always watch with great care and pray continually with great fervor and assiduity to protect us from falling into Tentations ON mount Olivet Jesus prayed unto his Father saying Father if it may be let this Chalice pass from me for the spirit is quick but the flesh infirm Thy Will be done V. Watch ye and pray that you enter not into tentation The spirit indeed is prompt but the flesh is weak Thy Will be done II. LESSON VAU ANd from the daughter of Sion all her beauty is departed her princes are become rams not finding pastures and they are gone without strength before the face of the pursuer ZAIN Jerusalem hath remembred the days of her affliction and prevarication of all her things worthy to be desired which she had from the days of old when her people fell in the enemies hand and there was no helper the enemies have seen her and have scorned her sabbaths HECH Jerusalem hath sinned a sin therefore is she made unstable all that did glorifie her have despised her because they have seen her ignominy but she sighing is turned backward TETH Her filthiness is on her feet neither hath she remembred her end she is pulled down exceedingly not having a comforter See O Lord mine affliction because the enemy is exalted Jerusalem Jerusalem Convert unto the Lord thy God The Church having declared unto us the Despair and Blindness of the Jews in their Afflictions She also proposes unto us the Counsel Jesus Christ gave to his Disciples when he grieved at the approaching of the Hour of his Passion to wit To watch and pray with him shewing us That it was not for him but for themselves that he commanded them to watch and pray She also teacheth us That if the Apostles shewed so much fear whilst our Saviour suffered how far greater reason have we to fear since we our selves are the cause of his Sufferings R. My soul is sorrowful even unto death stay here and watch with me ye shall now behold a multitude that will environ me Ye shall fly and I will go to be immolated for you V. Behold the hour approacheth and the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of sinners Ye shall fly away and I will go to be immolated for ye III. LESSON JOD THe enemy hath thrust his hand to all her things worthy to be desired because she hath seen the Gentiles enter into her sanctuary of whom thou gavest commandment that they should not enter into thy church CAPH All her people sighing and seeking bread they have given all precious things for meat to refresh the soul See O Lord and consider because I am become vile LAMED O all ye that pass by the way attend and see if there be sorrow like to my sorrow because he hath made vintage of me as our Lord hath spoken in the day of the wrath of his fury MEM. From on high he hath cast a sire into my bones
must put our chiefest Confidence in the Mercy of God and in the Truth of his Promises and not in our own Merits Sixthly We must demand his Assistance and Grace so to love Justice as that no Persecution may sever us from it Seventhly We are not to beg Punishments for the Wicked through any Motive of Hate or Revenge but through a Motive of Charity that they might mend whilst there was the least hope of their Correction and that by their Punishments others might avoid their Crimes and that Sin being thus destroyed God alone might reign in the World Eighthly We must also beg That as the force of the Evils of this Life may no way shake our Courage so the Allurements of Prosperity may not charm our Senses and Affections but that we may wholly adhere to God and glorifie him Ninthly That we may glorifie God as we ought we must offer our selves unto him in a Spirit of Destruction and Sacrifice that is in a Spirit of Penance Tenthly The Service we offer unto God must be free and not servile or constrain'd God must be served with a full and entire Affection Eleventhly We must likewise acknowledge we cannot have this Will unless the Grace and Spirit of God deliver us from our Evils therefore with our whole heart we must beg it of him Ant. Strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul O God save me in thy name and in thy strength judge me O God hear my prayer with thine ears receive the words of my mouth Because strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul and they have not set God before their eyes For behold God helpeth me and our Lord is the receiver of my soul Turn away the evils to mine enemies and in thy truth destroy them I will voluntarily sacrifice to thee and will confess to thy name O Lord because it is good Because thou hast delivered me out of all tribulation and mine eye hath looked down upon mine enemies Ant. Strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul V. False witnesses have risen up against me R. And iniquity hath lied to it self IV. LESSON Taken out of the Treatise of St. Augustin on the Sixty third Psalm In this Lesson the Church represents unto us That JESUS CHRIST being our Chief has taught us not only by his Words but also his Example how we are to surmount our present Calamities and to hope after the future Goods by shewing us that what Power soever our Persecutors have to kill this mortal Flesh yet they cannot hurt the Soul if being assisted by the Grace of God she be not overcome with their Malice and consent to do Evil. There is this difference 'twixt CHRIST's and our Sufferings that ours depends not always on our own Will It is necessary that we one day must die which being due to our Sins is of Necessity and Justice But JESUS CHRIST did not suffer Torments and Death because he would and when he would and after that manner as it pleased him and being the same God with his Eternal Father he could not die and remain always equally in his Glory Secondly By his Sufferings and Death he hath merited and acquired to us Life everlasting but by our Sufferings and Death we can neither merit nor acquire it unless it be in him and by him and with him MY God thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant from the multitude of them that work iniquity Let us now consider our Chief Many Martyrs have suffered such Torments but none with so much splendor as the Chief of Martyrs for their Sufferings received Lustre from his He was defended from the Fury of the Wicked both by God's and his own protection 'T was he defended his own Flesh and this Human Nature wherewith he was clad for he was the Son of Man and the Son of God The Son of God because of his Form God being of the same Essence with his Eternal Father The Son of Man because he took on him the Form of a Slave having power to separate his Soul from his Body and to resume it again what could his Enemies then do against him They killed his Body but his Soul they could not touch Be attentive Our Lord was not contented to exhort the Martyrs only with his Words but would also fortifie by his Example RESP. The Church confirms us by the Words of JESUS CHRIST in what St. Augustin hath taught us in the precedent Lesson That this Divine Saviour suffered neither Torments nor Death because that he would when he would or after what manner he desired R. As to a thief are you come out with swords and clubs to apprehend me I was daily with you in the temple teaching and you did not lay hands on me V. And when they had laid hands on JESUS he said to them I was daily c. V. LESSON The Church represents unto us the Ingratitude and Impiety of the Jews who after having received so many Benefits from the Saviour of the World seen him purifie the Leprous make the Lame to walk cured all Sicknesses drive Devils out of possessed Bodies multiply the Loaves of Bread appease the Tempest raised the Dead to Life after having heard his Heavenly Doctrine whereof he made them Partakers both by his Words and Actions they not only were so obstinate as to draw no Advantage or the least Acknowledgment from them but even crucified him on an infamous Cross whereon they even exulted over him with extreme Insolency persuading themselves through a stubborn blindness that he was not the Son of God or the Saviour of the World because he suffered Death and yet the Prophets shewed most evidently unto them what hapned in his Passion YOu know what was the Assembly of the wicked Jews and what the Multitude of them that work Iniquity But what was that Iniquity 'T was that they would kill our Lord Jesus Christ I have shewed you said he so many good works and for which of them will you kill me He comforted the Sick amongst them he cured their Infirmities he preached unto them the Kingdom of Heaven he shewed them the Enormities of their Crimes that they might hate them but not the Doctor that cured them But in stead of acknowledging the good he did them by these wholesom Remedies so great was their Ingratitude that as if tormented with a burning Fever they were so transported against this charitable Doctor who came only to cure them that they studied how to destroy him as if thereby they would try whether he were true Man and could die or whether he were any thing above Man and would not permit his own Death We find their Discourse on this Subject in the Book of Wisdom To a most shameful Death say they let us condemn him for there shall be respect had unto him by his words for if he be the true Son of God he
to the Precepts of his Gospel with the fidelity of a sincere Heart and consider that that Infinite Wisdom cannot be deceived which penetrates the most hidden Secrets of our Soul LEt us hasten therefore to enter into that rest that no man fall into the same example of incredulity For the word of God is lively and forcible and more piercing than any two-edged sword reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit of the joynts also and the marrows and a discerner of the cogitations and intents of the heart And there is no creature invisible in his sight but all things are naked and open to his eyes To whom our speech is Having therefore a great high-priest that hath entred the heaven Jesus the Son of God let us hold the confession For we have not a high-priest that cannot have compassion on our infirmities but tempted in all things by similitude except sin RESP. The Church represents unto us That this Sovereign Priest felt the Temptations and Infirmities of Humane Nature by offering himself unto God for us as a Sacrifice and Victim R. They have delivered me into the hands of the wicked and have cast me among the impious and have not spared my soul The strong are gathered together against me and like giants have stood against me V. Strangers have rose up against me and the strong have sought my soul And like giants c. VIII LESSON The Church describes to us a holy Bishop in general and a Pattern of one very particularly in JESUS CHRIST LEt us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid For every high-priest taken from among men is appointed for men in those things that pertain to God that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins that can have compassion on them that be ignorant and do err because himself also is compassed with infirmity and therefore he ought as for the people so also for himself to offer for sins RESP. The Church in the precedent Lesson having proposed unto us the Description of a Holy Bishop in this she presents us in the Person of Caiphas with a Wicked one R. The wicked delivered Jesus to the chief princes of the priests and to the elders of the people But Peter followed him afar off that he might see the end V. But they led him to Caiphas the prince of the priests where the Scribes and Pharisees were met together But Peter followed c. IX LESSON The Apostle teacheth us That as in the Old Law none could intrude himself to exercise the Function of Priesthood without a successive Vocation so JESUS CHRIST intruded not himself into the Pontifical Dignity but received it from God his Father Then he treats of the Prayers accompanied with the Sighs and Tears JESUS CHRIST offered on the Cross and which God accepted in regard of his Dignity and the Love he bare towards him as his Son 2. The Apostle declares unto us the Excellency of CHRIST's Priesthood above that of Aaron's 1. Because being Immortal he was an Eternal Priest 2. Because he was the Son of God and one and the same God with his Father 3. In being the Beginning of our Salvation 4. In that he offered up himself 5. Because he needed not to have been offered up a Sacrifice for his own Sins he having none nor being able to commit any because he was the Source and Fountain of all Goodness NEither doth any man take the honor to himself but he that is called of God as Aaron So Christ also did not glorifie himself that he might be made a high priest But he that spake to him My Son art thou I this day have begotten thee As also in another place he saith Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedeck Who in the days of his flesh with a strong cry and tears offering prayers and supplications to him that could save him from death was heard for his reverence And truly whereas he was the Son he learned by those things which he suffered obedience And being consummate was made to all that obey him cause of eternal salvation called of God a high-priest according to the order of Melchisedeck RESP. The Church presents unto us the extremity of Christs sufferings and that by his Passion he has given us an example of perfect Patience and Obedience R. My eyes are darkned with my tears for he is far from me that did comfort me See all people if there be any sorrow like to my grief V. O all ye that pass by this way behold and see if there be any grief like to my grief My eyes are darkned with my tears because he is far from me who did comfort me See all ye people if there be any grief like mine AT LAUDS Ant. GOod spared not his own Son but delivered him for us Miserere mei Deus c. as before p. 65. PSALM 142. The Church shews us that in all our afflictions we must have recourse to Gods Mercy with an humble confidence and faithful submission to his Will and we must acknowledge that our Sins brought on us our Miseries and we must pray his Divine Majesty to conduct us with his Holy Spirit lest the extremity of our sufferings transport us to do unlawful Actions Ant. My spirit is in anguish upon me within me my heart is troubled LOrd hear my prayer with thine ears receive my petition in thy truth hear me in thy justice And enter not into judgment with thy servant because no man living shall be justified in thy sight Because the enemy hath persecuted my soul he hath humbled my life in the earth He hath set me in obscure places as the dead of the world and my spirit is in anguish upon me within me my heart is troubled I was mindful of old days I have meditated in all thy works in the facts of thy hands did I meditate I have stretched forth my hands to thee my soul is as earth without water unto thee Hear me quickly O Lord my spirit hath fainted Turn not away thy face from me and I shall be like to them that descend into the lake Make me hear thy mercy in the morning because I have hoped in thee Make the way known to me wherein I may walk because I have lifted up my soul to thee Deliver me from mine enemies O Lord to thee I have fled teach me to do thy will because thou art my God Thy good spirit will conduct me into the right way for thy name sake O Lord thou wilt quicken me in thine equity Thou wilt bring forth my soul out of tribulation and in thy mercy thou wilt destroy mine enemies And thou wilt destroy all that afflict my soul because I am thy servant Ant. My spirit is in anguish upon me within me my heart is troubled ANOTHER ANTHYMN The Church shews us the difference 'twixt Christ's and our Sufferings Ours
RESP. By the following Versicles taken out of the Fifty seventh and Fifty third Chapter of the Prophet Isay the Church represents unto us That if the Jews were unhappy in having so ill treated and not acknowledged the Saviour of the World we who believe in him are not less faulty and unhappy unless we consider what this Divine Saviour suffered for us and thence draw some benefit to our selves Behold how the Just perisheth and there is none that considereth in his heart and men of mercy are gathered away because there is none that understandeth for at the face of malice is the Just gathered away V. As a Lamb before his shearer he shall be dumb and shall not open his mouth From distress and from judgment he was taken up And his memory shall be in peace Behold how the just perisheth c. THIRD NOCTVRN PSALM 53. This Day the Church commermorating CHRIST in his Sepulcher makes the words in the Fifty third Psalm to express the Prayer this Divine Saviour made unto his Father as being our Chief and Mediator thereby begging of him a quick Resurrection to triumph over Death and destroy the Empire of Sin Ant. God helpeth me and our Lord is the receiver of my soul O God save me in thy name and in thy strength judge me O God hear my prayers with thine ears receive the words of my mouth Because strangers have risen up against me and the strong have sought my soul and they have not set God before their eyes For behold God helpeth me and our Lord is the receiver of my soul Turn away the evils to mine enemies and in thy truth destroy them I will voluntarily sacrifice to thee and will confess to thy name O Lord because it is good Because thou hast delivered me out of all tribulation and mine eye hath looked down upon mine enemies Ant. God helpeth me and our Lord is the receiver of my soul PSALM 75. The Church represents unto the Faithful who are figured by the People of Israel how JESUS CHRIST dying for us in Jerusalem was there buried there he arose again and there he established his Church calling thither all the Nations of the Earth to the knowledge of the true God and there reconciling us to his Eternal Father and uniting us by the tie of Charity that we might not be at Variance with any but in Peace with every one It is from thence that he began to enlighten us with the Light of his Grace to make us contemn the transitory Goods of this World which the Wicked enjoy but as in a Dream and which must vanish when they die The Church represents us this Divine Saviour triumphing over the Wicked and proposes unto us the severity of his Justice in the last Judgment when he shall come to judge the living and the dead with such Majesty and irresistible Power that all the Heavens and Elements shall be filled with horror and despair to the end that the terror of the threats of that last Judgment might not only prevent the stubbornness and boldness of Sinners and secure the innocency of the Just even amongst the Wicked but also that the Wicked fearing the Torments wherewith God punisheth Offences might at the same time as they dread the punishment for their Sins be restrain'd from sinning and by an internal motion be incited to call upon the goodness of God who changes their Mind and by an admirable effect of his powerful Grace cleanses the corruption and malice of their Will and reduces them not only to fear but also to love him Ant. And his place is made in peace and his habitation in Sion GOd is known in Jewry in Israel his name is great And his place is made in peace and his habitation in Sion There he brake the powers of bows the shield the sword and the battel Thou dost illuminate merveilously from the eternal mountains all the foolish of heart were troubled They slept their sleep and all the men of riches found nothing in their hands At thy reprehension O God of Jacob they have slumbred that mounted on horses Thou art terrible and who shall resist thee from that time thy wrath From heaven thou hast made thy judgment heard the earth trembled and was quiet When God arose unto judgment that he might save all the meek of the earth Because the cogitation of man shall confess to thee and the remains of the cogitation shall keep festival day to thee Vow ye and tender to our Lord your God all ye that round about him bring gifts To the terrible and him that taketh away the spirit of princes terrible to the kings of the earth Ant. His place is made in peace and his habitation in Sion PSALM 87. This Psalm is a Prophecy of the Passion Burial and Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST wherein the Royal Prophet represents unto us the Sufferings which 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 unto us the Prayer he was to offer to his Eternal Father to demand from him his Resurrection not only for himself for being equal to 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 Moreover it shews us the advantage we receive from the Resurrection of our Saviour making us to acknowledge that our Faith had been fruitless if he had continued in his Sepulcher for then our Sins had not been taken away Death is an effect of Sin so that had not our Saviour vanquished Death it could not have been said he had triumphed over Sin Ant. I am become as a man without help free among the dead 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