Pageantry dressing up a representative Saviour and carying Palms before him as if they welcomed him into Jerusalem and in the Greek Church they make up Branches of Olives and Palms into divers forms by which they keep up the memory of the Feast the Emperor and the Patriarch when that Empire was in its Glory using to give at this time great Largesses to the common People which from the day were called Palms and now in Muscovy the Patriarch rides in state like our Saviour and is met by the Grand Duke and all the People who represent the Jews entertaining him but in a To. 5. p. 541. St. Chrisostome's time ' the Greeks were better taught for then the whole Christian Church had their Processions and went out to meet their Saviour not deckt with Palms but adorn'd with Alms and Mercifulness and other Virtues with Fastings and Tears and Prayers and Watchings and all sort of holy deference to their Redeemer ‖ Aug. Ser. 46. de Verb. Dom. Ambr. Epist 33. c. On this day anciently did the Persons who were to be baptized at Easter give in their Names to the Bishop from which time till their Baptism they were distinguisht from the other Catechumens and called Competentes and to them the Bishop himself if present as he was seldom absent from his See at all this Solemnity but if absent the Presbyters in the Baptistery expounded the Creed * Aug. Scr. 115. Id. de fide Symb. c. p. 1. for the Creed was not in those Ages read in the first Service at which the Catechumens were present which Creed they were to learn the Week following and to give an account of it solemly on ‖ Conc. Laod. Can. 46. Easter-Eve in the Latin-Church but in the Greek-Church on Maundy-Thursday and now probably were they also taught the Lord's prayer which no unbaptized Person was allowed to repeat for how says St. Austin can he call God Father who was never regenerate And lest the Persons to be baptized should come to the Laver of Regeneration filthy sordid and sullied with their fastings and Lentpenances at which time they used to cast Ashes on their Heads and lie on the bare Ground on this day they washt the Heads of the Competentes and from hence the day was called ⸫ Isidor Etymol li. 6. c. 18. c. Capito-Lavium So careful were the Ancients that at the time of our blessed Saviour's Resurrection all things should be gay and all Persons joyful The Epistle Isa 62.10 11 12. GO thro go thro the Gates prepare ye the way of the People cast up cast up the Highway gather out the Stones lift up a Standard for the People Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the World say ye to the Daughter of Zion Behold thy Salvation cometh behold his Reward is with him and his work before him and they shall call them the Holy People the Redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called Sought out a City not forsaken The Gospel Matth. 21.5 c. TELL ye the Daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an Ass and a Colt the fole of an Ass and the Disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them and brought the Ass and the Colt and put on them their Cloaths and they set him thereon and a very great multitude spread their Garments in the way others cut down Branches from the Trees and strawed them in the way and the Multitudes that went before and that followed cryed saying Hosannah to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosannah in the highest And when he was come into Jerusalem all the City was moved saying Who is this And the Multitude said This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee and Jesus went into the Temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple and overthrew the Tables of the Money changers and the seats of them that sold Doves and said unto them It is written My house shall be called the House of Prayer but ye have made it a Den of Theives The MEDITATION WHen our blessed Saviour made his publick appearance in the World every thing in him was excellent and extraordinary the Lineaments of his Face so beautiful that he was justly stiled the fairest of ten thousand but the Qualifications of his Soul were so miraculous that whatever of great or good could be observed either in Men or Angels was but a faint Representation of his more stupendious Accomplishments the charms of his Countenance were most taking the Eloquence and Reason of his Discourses most persuasive but the Holiness of his Conversation was transcendent insomuch that his Friends loved and his very Enemies tho they hated him could not but admire him his converse was freeand obliging his pity generous and noble he accounted that day lost wherein he had not done some kindness and was grieved to send any man away from him sorrowful He often neglected to mind himself but he never omitted his care of the Poor and he who had no house to reside in no maintenance but the Alms of well-inclined People had yet a Bag and a Treasury for the indigent he frequently forgot to eat but he never forgot to Pray so wonderful was his Devotion so universal his Charity and so incomparable his Obedience His Soul was the Temple of Chastity and Temperance the seat of Prudence the fortress of Courage the Throne of Justice the storehouse of Humanity the Sanctuary of Meekness in a word it was the residence of all Virtues and who could converse with such a Saviour and refuse to Love and Adore him But never were his Accomplishments so Illustrious as when he took his last journey to Jerusalem when all the Scenes of Treachery and Cruelty were to end in the unparallel'd Murther of the Son of God then he exerted all his Vigor for then the Son of God was to be glorified and to be manifested to be the only begotten of the Father with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead for his sufferings were his own crown and the cause of the worlds Salvation Perillous was the attempt but the combatant was invincible His first Essay towards the compleating of our redemption was on Palm-Sunday on this day of the week he made his entry into Jerusalem like a Conqueror or rather like the King of the World from hence I date the Epocha of his Crucifixion because on this day among the Jews the Paschal Lamb was separated from the rest of the Flock and with much solemnity brought up to Jerusalem in order to its being Sacrificed and on this day of the week also he made a more pompous entry into the Holy City when attended by many Saints returning from their Graves to accompany his Resurrection he made it appear that he had spoiled Hell and saved mankind both which entries were
to others against those sins which his own Conscience testifies himself hath been guilty of 'T is an exemplary story if it be true that Epiphanius relates of Origen * Haeres 64. p. 228. that after his fall returning to Jerusalem he was defired to preach which Office he addressing himself to occasionally lights upon that passage of the * Ps 50.16 17. Psalmist Unto the ungodly saith God why dost thou preach my Law and take my covenant into thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee Which passage as soon as he had read he could not but call to mind his former Apostacy whereupon he sate down and wept and the whole Congregation wept with him and that was all the Sermon they had for that day Who O my Soul dares speak evil of that Priest who spends all his Time and Strength in the service of that God whom he acknowledges and who will not reverence that Clergy-man who busies himself in visiting the sick in instructing the ignorant in reclaiming the profligate in comforting the disconsolate in diligent Preaching and Catechizing and in a reverent Administration of the Sacraments There is a natural Veneration and Respect that all men pay to that which is truly Religious but when he who instructs others never preaches to himself this casts an odium on Christianity that is not easily defac't for a wicked Priest at the Altar is worse than Judas for when Judas kist and then betrayed our Blessed Saviour tho the action was as he intended it abominable yet as God applied it it became the Instrument of the World's Happiness but when the vicious Priest approaches God's Table and puts the Body of Jesus into his own Lips and the hands of his people he prophanes the tremendous Sacrament he affronts the Majesty of God he does no good to himself or others but much harm he eats and drinks Damnation to himself and gives a very evil Example to his Neighbours and what Power can bring any good out of so much Wickedness And yet to sin like Judas is to be a vile and notorious Transgressor and the case of that Traytor is an affrighting Example our Holy Redeemer had given him his Body and Blood tho he knew he would betray him that he might attempt all methods to reclaim him to soften his hard Heart by Kindness and Condescention and to secure him from the Temptations of Satan by arming him with the power of God and the Grace that is conveyed with those Mysteries but Judas was the first Instance that the Holy Sacrament which the Son of God instituted for the Consolation and Welfare of his Servants may become the occasion of Condemnation to those who receive it unworthily and that the Devil may enter into that Man's mind whose Body hath received the Lord Jesus and how impudently wicked doth such a Wretch grow of a sudden for when our Master had declared that one of his Family would be that Traytor who should deliver him into the Hand of the High-priest * Luk. 22.21 When the rest of the Innocent Apostles were struck dumb with Astonishment Judas took the hardiness to ask him the Question Thus he who is not better'd by the means of Grace insensibly grows worse and hardly can a Miracle save such a resolute sinner And what dismal Lamentations what complication of Woes are sufficient to mourn the state of such a Priest for * Vid Hieron Ep. ad Heliodor to 1. p. 4. m. who shall make attonement for him whose Office it is to intercede for others ' The Soul of a Priest says * Lib. 6. de Sacerdot p. 44 46 c. St. Chrysostome should be bright and more untainted than the Rays of the Sun lest the Spirit of God be forc't to desert him and that he may be able to say Now it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me for like that great Light that rules the day he should enlighten the World and warm it with the Ardors of Divine Love for when the Priest stands at the Altar the Angels attend him and all the Heavenly Powers mix their Voices with his and all the Space round the Altar is filled with the Blessed Spirits who honour him that is there represented and incircle his Body as Guards do a Prince Nay so great is the Honour that is done to a good Priest when he administers in Holy Things that he stands in Gods stead for as God offer'd up his only Begotten Son for the Redemption of the World So doth the Priest at the Altar make a Commemoration of that one perfect and intire Sacrifice and Oblation of our Holy Saviour for the sins of Mankind and was it ever known that any man durst play the Devil in the likeness of God To meet Satan in the Habit of an Angel is not unusual but to see an Angel of God as Priests are called and truly are to be a real Fiend is abominable When therefore thou considerest this dost not thou tremble O my Soul when thou consecratest this Tremendous Sacrament And oughtest thou not to practice the deepest Reverence and to demean thy self humbly and decently because of the Angels who attend thee and because of God whom thou representest Great is the Honour which God gives his Priests and great is their Charge and who is sufficient for these Things A prayer for the Priest before he goes to consecrate out of St. Chrys Liturgy 'TO minister to Thee O thou King of Glory in Holy Offices is a great and terrible undertaking and such as is dreadful to the powers of Heaven but thou acted by thine unspeakeable and Infinite Love becamest our High-priest and being Lord of all things deputed'st men to the Ministry of this Sacrifice Look down upon me a sinful and unfruitful servant of thine cleanse me from an evil Conscience and prepare me by the Powers of thy Holy Spirit to stand before thy Holy Table and to minister thy sacred and uncorrupted body and thy precious Blood turn not thy Face away from me nor reprobate me from the number of thy Children Lord remember me when thou art in thy Kingdom Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under the polluted roof of my Soul but as thou wert pleased to lye down in the Manger among the Beasts and to sit at Meat in the House of Simon the Leper and to receive the Harlot a like sinner to my self when she came unto thee so vouchsafe to make thy entrance into my unreasonable Mind and into my defiled Body which is dead as well as Leprous and as thou didst not abominate the mouth of the Harlot when she kist thy unpolluted Feet so O Lord my God do not despise and abominate me a sinner Pardon blot out and forgive all my sins which I have committed either willingly or unwillingly whether they are sins of Knowledg or Ignorance whether in Deed or in Word or in
to the Honour of God also inviting all occasional Comers to buy and offer liberal Sacrifices as an Exchange tempts Customers it also making provision for Proselites and strangers of such Money as was current at Jerusalem which only was to be offered to the Lord and for the poor that they might borrow tho not on Usury yet on Pawn so as they might not comeempty handed before the Lord the place of this Traffick being only the outer Court of the Temple into which were admitted even the Gentiles and Uncircumcised why was our Masters Zeal so Fervent With great Reason doubtless was this done for all that Jesus did was by the guidance of the Infallible Spirit nor was it without reason that this Action was called the greatest of our Saviour's Miracles and one of the most solemn Declarations that he was the Son of God VVas it not a great Affront to the Divine Majesty to make a Butchers stall or a Bankers shop of his House To alienate it from its right use and instead of a house of Prayer to make it a den of Thieves of Publicans and Extortioners and of the Practicers of the Arts of Fraud and the Methods of Cheating VVas it not Irreligious to serve the Ends of Covetousness more than the designs of Piety For these Markets were at first held only near the Temple but at last through the greediness of the Priests were brought into the first Court of it to their no little gain while they managed the Markets either by their own servants or by exacting a Tribute of all those who there erected stalls and perhaps selling one and the same sacrifice over and again to several Persons Now what could create in mens minds mean thoughts of Religion and depreciate the service of the Almighty if such Actions did not And how could men chuse but abhor the Offerings of the Lord This therefore incited the Zeal of our dearest Lord and it was a sad Omen that the Priests themselves should in a little time be banisht from the House of God and turn'd out of his service because they had corrupted and huxter'd the VVord of God and handled it deceitfully And now O my soul and my body are not you the Temple of God And ought not the same measure of Zeal to be in me that was in my Redeemer Ought I not to cleanse this Temple and to expel thence all brutish Affections all covetous thoughts all self love and love of the VVorld all pride and vain glory and to keep my self undefiled in the VVorld fit for the residence of God and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit for if a man defile the Temple of God shall not God destroy that sinner I will therefore devote my self intirely to my Maker what he loves shall be my delight and I will honour him here in his Person in his Will in his Ordinances in his Habitation in his Revenue and in every thing else that appertains to him that I may hereafter enjoy him and live with him for ever Amen The Collect. ALmighty and most Merciful Saviour who in the heighth of thy Glories wast mindful of thy Humiliation and thy sufferings as thou wert contented to be made the Son of man tho by an ineffable generation thou wert the Son of God so new make me thy most unworthy because thy most disobedient Servant create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me that my soul whom thou hast redeemed may always sing thy Praises and celebrate thy bounty that all my faculties and all my members being consecrated to thee and thy service my Zeal may be flaming and unquenchable my love to thee victorious over all self love or love of the world my love to my neighbours generous and disinterested and my constancy and resolutions to be thine unalterable that I may preserve thy living Temple free from all Pollation till I come to the New Jerusalem where the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it through the Merits und Mediation of thee my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen The Anthem for Palm-Sunday ETERNITY I. MY Eager Soul 's upon the wing To view th' Court of th' Heavenly King So passionate 't is those Joys to taste and know That it disdains all pleasures here below For what can this sad world impart To ease the longings of my Heart Which Heavenly Love hath wounded with its Dart II. The Palace Glorious was where God Made his perpetual abode E're his Omnipotent Word bad all Things be The Mighty Undivided Trinity Resided in Eternal Light Before the Sun appear'd in sight Or Time was impt to make his earliest flight III. With Joy the Father then look't on The Beauties of his only Son Miraculous Child whose great Sire cannot be Above his Son in Age or Dignity From both these did proceed the Dove Which gently up and down did move And fill'd the place with Harmony and Love IV. In this vast space the Equal THREE With mutual Sentiments did agree That God the Father should the World create The Son redeem the Spirit regenerate Transcendent Fountain whence did flow What infinite Pity could bestow To make men Gods and bring down Heav'n below V. No longer can my Soul forbear It Sighs and Wishes to be there That it may celebrate the Father's power Love Jesus and the Holy Spirit adore For tho my Saviour's Presence here My Soul to Scepters does prefer On Earth she dreads to lose him there 's no fear Monday before EASTER THE Monday before Easter was called the Holy and Great Monday or the second day of the Paschal-week and the whole week was called the Great week ‖ Chrys To. 5. p 541 c. not because the days were longer than ordinary but the blessings were greater because of the great and stupendious Blessings not to be comprehended or utter'd which God this Week conferred upon the World in the Death and Resurrection of our blessed Saviour and because it immediately preceded the great Festival as Easter is called Joh. 19.31 or * Bern. Ser. 3. in domin Palmar because of the four great Days in it viz. The Procession of Talm-Sunday the Institution of the blessed Sacrament on Maundy-Thursday the Passion on Good-Friday and the continuance in the Grave on Saturday which was the Eve to our blessed Masters Resurrection The Week also was stiled the Passion-week the Week of Fastings dry Diet and Penances in which the Devouter sort did eat nothing but Bread and Salt and drank nothing but Water from which strictness no day was exempt except the Lords Day on which it was a great Crime to Fast ‡ Constit App. l. 5. c. 17. alii Every day of this Week was a day of business the whole time from the days of the Apostles being spent in Prayers Watchings and Mortifications ⸫ Chrys ub Sup. p. 586. Tribunals and Courts of Justice were now shut up no Pleadings no Suits of Law no publick Business no
they who sow in tears shall reap in joy and be made partakers of the Anthems of Angels and glorified Spirits through Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem for Monday The CREATION I. THE Mighty God long in his Palace dwelt Blest without want of other Things E're Time had plum'd his Silver Wings Or Heaven and Earth the powerful Voice had felt For ever happy in themselves alone Were th' undivided Three and One E're sensual Transports or voluptuous Arts were known II. But when the great Prolifick Word went forth Then every Thing began to be The Light broke from Obscurity Light which we use but do not know its worth The spacious Tent of Heaven was smoothly spread Like Curtains to the Earths Green Bed With most Illustrious Torches richly furnished III. The Waters which before made one great Deep And like a deluge did appear Floating confusedly every where Aw'd by th' Almighty Word their distance keep Part into th' Earth's vast hollows did retreat While the rest in Heaven fix their seat But when the Showers fall these distant Brethren meet IV. In Heaven was plac't the Prince of Day the Sun Adorn'd with Beams of strongest Light While over the dull shades of Night The Stars bear rule and over them the Moon Who does not only o're the night preside But guards the motion of the Tide In which the turbulent Whale and all the lesser Fry do glide V. The Earth was in her loveliest Verdure clad Her Fruits and Blossoms kindly grew VVater'd with soft and balmy dew The Forrests smil'd and every Field was glad Anumerous Herd cover'd this Fertile Space The Beasts of a more generous race And those that were for burthens made here found a place VI. In the expanded Air upon the VVing The Fowls did range of which some flew For shelter others did pursue Some hoarsly sereecht others did sweetly sing In that vast Region Lightnings first take Fire There VVinds and Thunders do conspire And Comets do forebode when Princes shall expire VII When all things thus were order'd God made man Whose Ornaments of Soul and meen To Heaven declar'd him to be kin At first view all the Creatures round him ran Lord of the World was Adam at his birth His Territory the whole Earth And nought was in his Kingdom heard but innocent mirth VIII In Eden did this mighty Prince keep house Eden where every thing was gay And all the Year did look like May. There did he fall in love with Eve his spouse But Heavens first blessing straight became a curse Of all his Evils she the source Enticing him to fall who could not fall by Force IX Thus shorter was deluded Adam's Reign Than Persian Kings their Slaves allow Whose three days Royalty's a show Which ended the mock Monarch must be slain The difference lies in this the Persian slave Unwillingly goes to his Grave But man refus'd to live when Mercy would him save Tuesday before EASTER THis Day was called the Holy and great Tuesday or the third Day of the great Week for the more solemn Festivals of the Christian Church never wanted their Appendages they had their Antecedent Fasts as Advent was to Christmas and the Lent to Easter and perhaps this was the Reason why the Rogation week preceeded Whitsuntide whereas else the whole fifty Days ought to have been days of Exultation and rejoicing as also after the great Festivals succeeded the Octaves which were eight days of Gladness attendant on the extraordinary Solemnity when by the Laws of the * Constit Ap. li. 8. c. 33. Church and by the Authority of the ‖ V. Scalig de Emend Temp. p. 730. Epiph. Haer. 70. Empire servants were exempted from Work and all People kept Holyday according to a very Ancient Practice Now as the whole forty days of Lent were a preparation to the Paschal Festival so the Offices suited to that time of self-denial were doubled on this last week that put a period to that Fast and that all such devout and mortified Penitents might not want the ghostly comfort which was requisite on such an occasion on this week * Cypr. Ep. 56. the absent Bishops returned to their Churches whatever had caused their absence that they might give the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist to their People and that now * Conc. Nic. c. 5. also they might hold their yearly Synods at the time appointed that all disputes might be quieted all quarrels reconciled all abuses rectified and all hinderances removed that might obstruct a general receipt of the Holy Communion And because this Week was called the Passion Week therefore in the Ancient Church as in ours the History of our Blessed Redeemers sufferings as it is recorded by the Four Evangelists was read to the People that nothing relating to that performance on our behalf might be omitted and that the Congregation might be continually put in mind of their obligations to their Saviour The Epistle Rom. 8.1 THere is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The Gospel John 14 15. IF ye love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not neither knows him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you yet a little while and the world sees me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also The MEDITATION IT is the great Honour as well as the Happiness of the Christian World that the good things which our Religion promises its Proselites stoop not to our senses but gratifie our Reasons for were Pleasure all the Felicity of a pious Man how much better were it to be a Bruit since the greatest Epicure never lived so voluptuously as the Beasts that perish they eat they sleep with an uncontroulable freedom and whenever their inclinations lead them to it they live above the restraint of Laws and whatever they desire they pursue without the fear of being countermanded in the Attempt by reason or scourged afterwards by the lashes of Conscience they are under no necessity of Building Planting or Sowing the liberal Provisions which Nature makes them are both their Palace and their Feast they do not foresee dangers nor make their lives uneasie by studying to prevent them nor do they
the Bishop in person if present was obliged to Catechise those who were Candidates for Baptism and on this day was the Nicene Creed solemnly recited in defiance to all Hereticks which Creed till the time of Timotheus Patriarch of Constantinople was never used as a part of the Eastern Liturgy but on this one day only in the year In which Church also according to an Ancient Constitution ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 563 Pallad vid. Chrys p. 82. they were wont on Good-Friday to celebrate all the holy Offices in some particular Church and that commonly in some Oratory erected over the Grave of some eminent Martyr without the Walls of the City because our blessed Saviour suffered without the Gates In some of the Churches ⸫ Sozom. l. 7. c. 19. p. 100. of Palestine they used to read the Apocryphal Book called the Revelation of St. Peter but in other Churches of the East they read out of the Old-Testament the History of Job the liveliest Type of Christ's Sufferings and Triumphs and out of the New in the * Rupert de Divin offic l. 6. c. 6. Western Churches the Gospel of St. John because St. John was an eye-witness of our blessed Master's Sufferings but in the African ‡ Aug. Ser. 141. de temp Church they read St. Matthew's Gospel Thus did the good men of old spend this day calling themselves to an account for their offences and humbling themselves in the sight of God and is it not even in this Age very requisite that every Christian should call himself to an account for those sins which brought the Son of God to so much shame and torture and should mourn and fast and pray earnestly for that forgiveness which was purchas'd thereby I take it therefore for granted that on this day it is requisite to use more than ordinary severity because on this day our Plessed Saviour was murther'd and to this purpose besides the usual Prayers reading and Meditations which are parts of the preparation for other days on Good-Friday it will be necessary to subjoin some acts of the deepest Humiliation and Sorrow for sin To which purpose every good man ought strictly to examine himself of which sort of Examen I have subjoined a Specimen after which the use of the Penitential Psalms is very proper particularly Ps 38. or 51. with this Caution That I understand by my Enemies not my worldly adversaries for they are my Brethren and them I must bless and pray for but the Devil and my own Lusts and by blood-guiltiness c. my new crucifying my Saviour my murthering of my own Soul and being accessary to the destruction of what ever good and vertuous thoughts the Spirit of God hath put in my mind To which Penitentials the 22d Ps will very fitly be added because it is an intire Prophecy of the sufferings of the Son of God and cannot but raise in me a deep sense of his Sorrows and the cause of them when I remember they are some of the last words which our Blessed Saviour spoke before his Death when we are infallibly assured that he begun and probably convinc'd that he went through the whole Psalm The most proper posture to repeat these Psalms in is Kneeling or prostration because they are solemn and humble acknowledgments of my hainous Offences which have undone my self and Crucified my Redeemer The Examen I Am this day to examine my self and to adjust the Accounts between God and my own Soul it is easie to be another mans flatterer but it is natural to be my own and therefore I am resolved impartially to state my affairs and to rejoice or mourn proportionable to the condition in which I find my self And tho the enquiry be terrible and affrighting yet I had rather pass this private scrutiny than have my Offences exposed to the view of Men and Angels It is the greatest of happiness to be innocent and never to offend but the next instance of Felicity is to be penitent I am conscious to my self that I have been a Criminal but I am resolved not to continue in my Crimes I will call my Transgressions to remembrance that God may blot them out of his Memory and I will judg my self in this World that I may escape in the day of the Lord To this End therefore that I may put my self into a capacity to obtain God's Pardon for my sins whose number is unaccountable whose burthen is intolerable and whose remembrance is very grievous to me and that I may not approach the tremendous Feast without the Wedding Garment I thus interrogate my self with all severity and exactness ' Say O my Soul art thou in God's Favour or hast thou merited thy Saviours Frowns What Proficiency hast thou made in thy Christian Calling since thy last accounting with thy Master VVhat Temptations hast thou conquer'd What Passions mortified What holy Opportunities improved What Virtues gotten or increased How conformable hast thou been to Jesus and what progress hast thou made in the way to Heaven If I find any of these beautiful Lineaments in my mind I will rejoice with joy unspeakable and be exceeding glad as men rejoice when they divide the spoil But if I have been an Apostate from my vows and broken the Covenant of my Youth If I have prostituted my Soul to Satan defacing the Image of God and defiling his Holy Temple let my heart within me mourn and refuse to be comforted let it make lamentation as one that is grieved for his only Son and is in bitterness for his First-born let my head be waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I may weep day and night over my sin and my shame that I may wash my bed and water my Couch with my tears because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God For who can dwell with everlasting burnings and a consuming Fire Now to help forward and make easie this work that I may diligently inspect all my offences with all their aggravating circumstances since my last renewal of my vows on the day of my last solemn Humiliation a memorial of all my actions in Writing is very useful that what is there recorded may be a help to my Memory which is most apt to forget my offences Upon the inspection of which the most regular Examination will be made according to the method of our Church Catechism wherein are included the Principles and fundamentals of Faith and Manners which I have engaged to observe and from which if I have swerv'd I cannot without a true Repentance expect God's Pardon and Mercy Now the Catechism being an Explanation of the Doctrine of Repentance Faith Obedience Prayer and of the due receiving of the Holy Sacraments the Examination must be proportionate and the inquiries strict What wandrings from the rule of Repentance What sins against the Creed Commandments Lords Prayer or the Sacraments have I been guilty of since my last Account An
my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
That my past sins may be intirely forgiven and the rest of my life spent in the works of repentance I beseech thee c. That the end of my life may be Christian without pain and without shame if thou seest fit and that I may be able to render a good account when I shall stand before thy dreadful Tribunal I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. From mine enemies defend me O Christ Graciously look upon my afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart Favourably with mercy hear my Prayers Mercifully forgive the sins of thy Servant O Son of David have mercy upon me Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear me O Christ Graciously hear me O Christ graciously hear me O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon me As I do put my trust in thee Pardon O Lord the guilt of my sins remove the punishment and wash out the pollutions keep me from the shame and the suffering due to them and rescue me from the dominion of Satan the tyranny of my own Lusts and from everlasting destruction Amen Bp. Andrews BLessed Jesu Interpose between God and my Soul thy Priesthood and Sacrifice between my self and Satan thy Kingdom and Conquest between my Soul and my Sins thy Innocency between my Soul and my Concupiscence thy Charity between my Soul and the punishments due to a Sinner thy Passion and the satisfaction of thy Blood between my Soul and my Conscience and God's Tribunal thy Advocateship between my Soul and its want of Righteousness thy absolute and complete Obedience between my Soul and its want of desert thy alsufficient Merits between my Soul and its want of fervour in Devotion thy Intercession between my Soul and its want of sâ—rrow and repentance thy Agony and bloody Sweat for what thou did'st and what thou suffered'st O my dearest Saviour O my best of Masters was done and suffered in my stead and for my benefit Amen Id. LET the Soul of Christ sanctify me the Body of Christ strengthen me the Blood of Christ redeem me the Water that came out of his side cleanse me the Stripes of Christ heal me the Sweat of Christ refresh me the Wounds of Christ save me the Poverty of Christ enrich me and the Sufferings of Christ preserve me from eternal damnation Amen Bp. Taylor GIve me the beauties of Wisdom the brightness of Chastity the health of Temperance the peace of Meek persons and the reputation and joy of the Charitable Amen A Collect for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit O God who knowest that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers that the Temptations of Satan are very prevalent the vanities of the World very deceitful and our own corruptions very strong help and assist me and all thy servants with the succours of thy holy spirit Give me the spirit of Truth of Wisdome and Understanding to keep me from all error and infidelity the spirit of Counsel to guide me in all difficulties the spirit of Might and Power to preserve me from all Apostacy the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord to keep me from all sin and wickedness Let the Holy-Ghost be my comforter in my distresses the assistant of my devotion the quieter of my conscience and let it bear witness with my spirit that I am one of the Sons of God that neither the wiles nor frowns of the Devil the fears of suffering or the hopes of wealth and honour may sway me to neglect my duty but that I may continue thine for ever and that thou mayst be my protector and guide my friend and advocate now and in the agonies of death and at the day of judgement Amen OUR Father which art in Heaven c. MAY the Power of God the Father protect me the Wisdom of God the Son inlighten me the operations and assistances of the holy Spirit quicken me and may the holy Trinity keep me under the shadow of their wings till I come to the palace of Glory Amen Amen The Epistle Heb. 12.1 WHerefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds The Gospel Luke 22.41 AND being withdrawn from them about a stones cast he kneeled down and prayed saying Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be dene And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground The MEDITATION THO every thing that is good and virtuous hath its attractives yet when virtue is attended with power it is in its exaltation and makes as many Votaries as it hath spectators and every one looks on it with admiration and surprize and addresses to it with resolutions either to become good or to beg its protection from evil because Piety so assisted proves a great exemplar and a puissant shelter And such was the holy Jesus who was wonderful in all his atchievements for nothing less than unspotted Innocence and Omnipotence conjoin'd could furnish the World with a Saviour The whole Life of Jesus was a miracle of Love and Compassion and the attempts of the Patriarchs appear mean and inconsiderable when compared with the transcendent performances of the Son of God for if to consult the wants of mankind and to relieve them if curing their Bodies and instructing their Souls if feeding them with temporal food and giving them the Bread of Heaven be demonstrations of a large and a divine Soul then that title is peculiarly to be ascribed to the Redeemer of the world whose actions were one continued series of benefits and mercies I will therefore love the examples of good men but I will admire and adore Jesus I will make reflections on their excellent lives but I must fix my thoughts on the conversation of my Saviour who when he requires my adverting to his Pattern and his Laws enjoins me to look off from all other objects and to settle my eyes on him who loved me and bought me with his own most precious blood for they are but a cloud of witnesses but Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness and as when the Sun arises the little handful of Clouds and dusky vapours dwindle and vanish so when the glorious God appears in competition he eclipses all humane perfections For that which sustained the great Apostle when he was ready to be poured out as a drink-offering for the truth of the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 and what excited
thy sight for all mankind especially for the houshold of faith through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen May the Blessing of God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be with me and remain with me now and for evermore Amen § 28. And because the blessings of an Easter are very valuable and deserve extraordinary returns the good Christian thinks fit after the Evening Service at Church is over to return again to his Closet to converse with his holy Saviour and to exercise those acts of Love of Faith of Contrition and Hope and other Graces which for want of leisure or other conveniences could not so well be performed in the House of God to which he subjoins this or the like Meditation The MEDITATION § 30. I Am now return'd from that happy place that is preferable to Paradise where I have been treated with a Feast of fat Things and Wine well refined and what does my Lord require of me in point of Gratitude for these his inestimable benefits but to do Justice to love Mercy and to walk humbly with my God For every thing in this Sacrament obliges me to holiness of Life the Institutor of it was the undefiled High Priest of our Profession who did bear all sins but committed none the end of its Celebration is to show forth his Death which when we receive unworthily we act over again we new crucifie the Lord of Life who hath bought us and bring on our selves the most horrid and affrighting guilt that we can incur the preparation is nothing less than a strict examination of our Consciences than strong Prayers and Cries ardent resolutions of being better and a constant course of pious and charitable Actions This Sacrament actually enters us into Covenant with God and what agreement can there be between Light and Darkness It is an Emblem of our holy Profession which calls us to an exemplary Conversation it is a bond of Christian Communion and obliges to Charity 't is a representation of our Saviour's Crucifixion and so calls to the practice of Patience Forgiveness and Holy Resolution and it is a solemn Sacrifice of Praise and so obliges to practical Gratitude How wide are thy Wounds O my dying Saviour and how sorrowful thy Countenance Oh thy bitter Agony Oh thy shameful Cross And all occasioned by my sins and shall I continue in the same Transgressions out of despite to my Saviour Lord let me never be in any capacity to do so any more for how shall I dare to eat with thee and to lift up my heel against thee In this Sacrament I renew the Vow which I made in my Baptism and have so often shamefully broken and thereby forfeited the blessings which were promis'd me upon the performance of my duty Now this Covenant as on Gods part it entitles me to his Protection and his love to the Merits of his Son and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit so on my part it engages me to accept of that Son of his in all his Offices obliging me to receive him as my Sovereign and to obey his Commands and to depend upon him to receive him as my High Priest and to believe that his Sacrifice of himself if I repent and amend shall cleanse me from all sin but if I continue in my disobedience shall avail me nothing and to give my self up to his Instruction as a Prophet learning from him all the particulars of the Divine Will that are necessary to make me wise to Salvation and perfect unto every good Work But how often have I broken that Covenant rebell'd against this my Sovereign made my self unworthy of the blessing of this my High Priest and cast all his Laws behind my back Before my Repentance my bosom was a Den of Thieves and a Cage of unclean Birds but now it is cleansed and I am become a new Creature now know I that I am the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in me but if any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple I am There is a particular Veneration paid to the places where Princes usually entertain themselves and every House where any of the Blood-Royal of Persia is born is afterward converted to a Sanctuary and whereever any of their Princes lodges in a Journey the place is reputed for the future sacred and ought not the place where my God takes up his Habitation to be for the same reason separate from profane and common uses And if some of the School-Doctors who assert Transubstantiation tell us that as soon as the consecrated Host grows mouldy the Body of God retires from it and it is again changed into its old substance of bread can I think that God will pitch his Tents in a polluted Soul infected with the Leprosie of Vice I do therefore resolve and it shall from henceforward be the employment of my time and my strength so to live in thy fear and to thy service that I may dye in thy favour and rest in thy Peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. § 31. At the end of this Meditation this Collect is fitly subjoined BLessed and most bountiful Saviour as thou hast honoured me and made me happy this day so vouchsafe me the same measures of Grace the same ardors of Mind and the same holy opportunities all the days of my Life fix my thoughts upon the things of Heaven strengthen and inflame my love to my dying Saviour increase and support my Faith confirm and secure my Hopes and give me frequent occasions to exercise all the other Virtues of my Christian Calling and as thou hast filled my soul with the most ravishing and transporting pleasures so make me for ever careful that I neither quench thy Blessed Spirit nor stifle its Motions but that I may improve all the seasons of Mercy and all the tendries of Grace to the best ends and purposes to the advancement of thy Glory and my own Salvation through thy Merits and Mediation who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen § 32. After this the devout man is all Rapture and all Joy and cannot forbear praising God afresh for all his spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in this or the like Hymn O God my heart is ready my heart is ready I will sing and give praise with the best Member that I have I will give thanks unto thee O Lord among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the Nations For thy mercy is greater than the Heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the Clouds Through God shall we do great acts and it is he that shall tread down our enemies Truly God is loving unto Israel even unto such as are of a clean heart Oh how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts my soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh rejoice in