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
they pierced Before the reading of the rest of the Gospel the Deacon says the Prayer Munda cor meum as before but asks not the Priest's Blessing to note unto us that the Author of all Blessings is dead Nor are the Candles lighted whereby to signifie that as the Eclipse of the Sun and Moon so likewise in the heavens all light was extinguished at the death of our Lord. Nor is the Book incensed to tell us that the fervour of the Disciples Prayers was also cool'd ANd after these things Joseph of Arimathea because he was a disciple of Jesus but secret for fear of the the Jews desired Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus And Pilate permitted He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus Nicodemus also came he that at the first came to Jesus by night bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about an hundred pounds They took therefore the body of Jesus and bound it in linnen clothes with spices as the manner is with the Jews to bury And there was in the place where he was crucified a garden and in the garden a new monument wherein no man yet had been laid There therefore because of the Parasceve of the Jews they laid Jesus because the monument was hard by The Passion being ended Publick and Solemn Prayers are said not onely for the whole Church and all its Members but also for Infidels and all sorts of people in imitation of our Saviour who upon the Cross prayed even for his enemies and executioners to shew that he shed his blood for the whole world You are to observe that before each Prayer the Church minds the people to joyn in prayer with her wishing them to bow their knees to represent the respect and the humility wherewith we are to address unto God For the whole Church LEt us pray my beloved Brethren for the whole Church of God that our Lord God will vouchsafe to give it Peace maintain it in Union and preserve it through the whole Earth subjecting the Princes and Powers of this World unto it and that granting us the grace to lead this life in peace and tranquillity we may glorisie God the Father Almighty Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God who hast revealed thy glory in Jesus Christ to all Nations preserve the works of thy mercy that thy Church spred through the whole world may firmly persevere in the confession of thy Name Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Or for the Pope LEt us pray also for our Holy Father the Pope that our Lord God who hath elected and seated him in the Order of Episcopacy will give him health for the good of his Church and the benefit of his People Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God upon whose judgment all things are founded hear graciously our Prayers and in thy goodness preserve our Bishop whom thou hast appointed to guide us that the Christian people be governed by thy Authority may more and more encrease in faith under so great a Prelate Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen For the Orders of the Church LEt us pray also for Bishops Priests Deacons Subdeacons Acolyts Exorcists Readers Porters Confessors Virgins Widows and for all God's holy people Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God whose Spirit sanctifies and governs the whole Church hear the Prayers we address unto thee for all Orders that by the assistance of thy grace they may all serve thee faithfully Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen For the King LEt us pray also for our King Defender of the Faith that God will please to reduce all barbarous Nations to his command and grant us perpetual peace Let us Pray Let us bend our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God in whose hands all Powers and Rights of Kingdoms are graciously look upon this Kingdom that those Nations who put confidence in their brutish fierceness may be supprest by the power of thy right hand Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen For the Catechumens LEt us pray also for the Catechumens that our Lord God will open the ears of their hearts and the gate of his mercy that having received remission of all their sins and being regenerated by Baptism they may be incorporated with us in our Lord Jesus Christ Let us Pray Let us bend our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God who daily encreasest thy Church with new children encrease in our Catechumens faith and understanding that being regenerated in the waters of Baptism they may be entred into the society of thy adopted children Through c. Amen For all sorts of Necessities LEt us pray my beloved unto God the Father Almighty that he will please to cleanse the world from all sorts of Errors cure our Diseases divert Famine open Prisons dissolve the bonds of Captives grant a safe return to Pilgrims restore health to the sick and to sea-faring men a secure arrival to their haven Let us Pray Let us bend our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God who art a comfort to the afflicted and a strength to those that labour grant that the Prayers of all those who shall call upon thee in affliction may be heard by thee that they may be sensible with gladness of the assistance of thy mercy in their necessities Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen For Hereticks and Schismaticks LEt us pray also for Hereticks and Schismaticks that our Lord God will deliver them from all error and vouchsafe to recall them into the bosom of our Holy Mother the Catholick Apostolick Church Let us pray Let us bend our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God who savest the whole world and desirest not the death of a sinner regard those souls in mercy seduced by the deceit of the devil that all Hereticks and others going astray quitting all malice may rectifie their hearts and return to the unity of the truth Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen For the Jews LEt us pray also for the perfidious Jews that our Lord God will withdraw the vail from their hearts that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ We say not here Flectamus genua to signifie the horrour of the outrages committed upon our Saviour at his Passion kneeling unto him in derision but the following Prayer is said Let us Pray ALmighty and Everlasting God who refusest not thy mercy even to the perfidious Jews hear the Prayers we pour forth for the blindness of this people that they arriving to the light of thy truth which is Jesus Christ may be cleared from their darkness Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ Amen For the Pagans LEt us pray also for the Pagans that Almighty God will take away all wickedness from their hearts that quitting their Idolatry they may convert themselves
THE Compleat Office OF THE Holy Week WITH NOTES and EXPLICATIONS Translated out of Latin and French Published with Allowance IHS LONDON Printed for Matthew Turner at the Lamb in High-Holborn 1687. TO THE QUEEN MADAM WITH all possible Respect and some Hopes it will not prove absolutely unwelcom I Humbly lay at Your Majesty's Feet a very good Book but a very ill-suited Present For Devout Ink and Paper to Your Majesty whose Life is it self a Book of Devotion is but a Link of Silver to a Chain of Gold And then a Translation is such a kind of Present to Your Majesty as a bad Copy to one who has an excellent Original 'T is true you are an absolute Mistress of our Language as well as Hearts but you would never Pray in an Vnknown Tongue though there were neither English nor Italian in the World and Translating is but telling you a Story for News which you know already and hear when you please much better told But since what is useless to Your Majesty may be beneficial to your Subjects and a Queen is neither the Greatest nor the most Glorious of your Titles I promise my self that your Charity will condescend to make an Alms of your Name and Patronage and by your countenance to Devotion allure a People fond of making their Court to you to make it in the way most pleasing to Your Majesty straining to follow afar off and be as Devout as they can since few can hope to be as Devout as you 'T is to be hoped this will be the Courtship in fashion now the Times are returned in which the Queens of England are Saints again and the Fruit infinitely great when People find the way to Heaven is the way to be well at Court I was Ambitious to make my Court this way but to my shame so poor a Courtier that I was forc'd to borrow a Present and to make it mine dress'd in a new Language as we alter the property of Plate by a new Fashion I know I have expos'd my unskilfulness in this Trade to the Eye in all England which will the soonest discern it But Your Majesty will have the goodness to reflect that no Translation can express the beauty and force of the Original to suffer the Argument to attone for all Faults and to have some Indulgence for the Passionate Zeal and Profound Respect with which I shall always be MADAM Your MAJESTY'S Most Humble most Faithful and most Dutiful Subject Walter Kirkham Blount THE OFFICE UPON Palm-Sunday Of Holy Water IT has been an Ancient Practice in the Church even among the Primitive Christians for the Priest before Mass at Easter and Whitsontide to sprinkle the People with Water out of the Font blest with the Prayers and Exorcisms the Eve of those Holy Days and there reserved till Holy Oyl was poured therein And to the end the Faithful should not esteem this sprinkling a second Baptism the Church has instituted particular Blessings and Exorcisms of Water and Salt for each Sunday through the Year to instruct us That by this sprinkling she gives us no second Baptism but that she applies her Prayers to obtain of God through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST if we our selves are not the obstacle the grace of true repentance for our sins and a guard from the assaults of the Devil that so we may preserve our selves in that state of innocence we received by Baptism By the Water the Church tells us she prays to God and that we are therein to concur with her to beseech him to purifie our Souls by his Grace as the Water cleanseth our Bodies And by the Salt she represents her Prayer to God wherein we ought also to joyn for obtaining his Grace to preserve our Souls from spiritual corruption as Salt preserves the Body from corporal And as Salt gives an agreeable tast to our Meat so his Grace renders our actions acceptable to his Majesty preserving us from falling into those sins wherewith the Devil might otherwise infect us whereby we may more worthily be assistant at the Holy Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of CHRIST and reap the benefit thereof Every Sunday Water and Salt is prepared in the Sacristy which the Priest blesseth being vested in his Albe or Surplice and with a Stoale The Exorcism and Benediction of the Salt OUr help is in the Name of the Lord. R. Who made Heaven and Earth V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Whereas by the Fall of Adam the Devil has usurpt an Empire over creatures so as to make use of them to the disadvantage of men he is deprived of them again by the Merits of our Redeemer who sanctifies them for our benefit I Exorcise thee O creature Salt by the living God the true God by the holy God by that God who commanded thee to be cast into the Water by the Prophet Elizaeus to cure its barrenness that by this Exorcism thou mayest be made beneficial to the Faithful healthful both to the Bodies and Souls of all that shall use thee and where ever thou art sprinkled thou mayest chase away all Illusions Malice Crafts and Surprises of the Devil and that all unclean Spirits be cast out of him who will come to judge the living and the dead and the World by fire Amen The PRAYER Let us Pray The Priest by signing with the Cross instructs us that the sanctifying of creatures and the graces which we receive thereby are only derived unto us from the merits of the death of Christ He makes the sign of the Cross twice upon the Salt to signifie unto us that the Church prays unto God to preserve us from corruption both of Soul and Body ALmighty and Everlasting God we humbly implore thy infinite clemency that thou wilt vouchsafe out of thy Piety to bless ✚ and sanctifie ✚ this thy creature Salt to the end that all such as make use of it may be sensible of health in Soul and Body and that what shall be either touch'd or sprinkled with it may be preserved from all uncleanness and assaults of the Devil Through our Lord c. The Exorcism and Benediction of the Water The Priest makes the sign of the Cross thrice in this Exorcism and once in the following Prayer to teach us that the Graces we receive by the Merits of Christ's Death are bestowed upon us by the three Divine Persons who are one only God I Exorcise thee O creature Water in the Name of God ✚ the Father Almighty in the Name of Jesus Christ ✚ our Lord his Son and in the Vertue of the Holy Ghost ✚ That by this Exorcism thou mayest dissipate all the Assaults of the Enemy and put the Enemy himself to flight with all his apostate Angels by the power of the same our Lord Jesus Christ who will come to judge the living and the dead and the World by fire Amen The PRAYER Let us Pray O God who for the health of Mankind hast
to his Church And that this Peace is a reflection of that which he possesses infinitely in the Glory and Bosom of the Holy Trinity and which is fully communicated to the blessed The Priest begs this Peace for the Faithful and prays God that they may never fail of it THe Peace of our Lord abide always with you The People crave the same for him And with thy Spirit Haec Commixtio c. Then the Priest puts this part of the Host into the Chalice to signifie the happy state of the Church in our Saviour's Resurrection and glory after the union of his Body with his Blood and beseeches God to make us partakers of that happiness by vertue of this Sacrament LEt this Commixtion and Consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be unto me and to all that receive effectual to life everlasting Amen Agnus Dei c. As Sin is the onely Obstacle of this Divine Peace and our Bliss the Priest confessing in the name of the Faithful that we never are without sins in this life and that it is onely Christ who blots them out having been pleased to be sacrificed as an innocent Lamb for our attonement with God his Father and to settle this Peace between Heaven and Earth which sin had divided he implores mercy by this act of Adoration taught us by Saint John the fore-runner of our Saviour Behold the Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world LAmb of God who takest away the sins of the World have mercy on us Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the World have mercy on us Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the World grant us peace In Masses for the Dead instead of saying Have Mercy on us Or Grant us Peace We say Grant them Rest Grant them Eternal Rest Because the dead being no longer in this World amongst us we have no occasion to beg peace with them and they being in a state of Grace where they are in peace and assurance of their salvation it would be in vain to ask God's grace to free them from sin and give them peace assuring them of their salvation we beseech God to deliver them from the pains they endure at present and grant them eternal rest which they expect Domine Jesu Christe qui dixisti c. Peace being the chief disposition of this Sacrament it being the Sacrament of Union and Charity the Priest begs it for the Faithful who are to receive this Holy Communion and acknowledging that he being a sinner deserves not that his Prayers should be heard he humbly beseeches his Majesty to have regard unto his own goodness who has vouchsafed to offer this Peace and to the Faith of the Church which demands it of him O Lord Jesus Christ who didst say unto thy Apostles Peace I leave unto you regard not my Sins but look upon the Faith of thy Church and according to thy pleasure give us Peace and Union Who livest and reignest God for ever and ever Amen At Solemn Mass the Priest having kissed the Altar to signifie that he receives peace from Jesus Christ gives it to the Deacon by a kiss to transmit it to the Faithful Peace be with you The Deacon receiving this Peace testifies his concurrence by his words And with thy Spirit At Masses for the Dead the Pax is not given to the Faithful nor is the foregoing Prayer said because the Faithful do not receive the Communion at those Masses and for other reasons before mentioned The Priest after he has prayed for the Faithful he prays for himself to obtain all requisite dispositions to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily O Lord Jesus Christ Son of the living God who according to thy Father's will the Holy Ghost co-operating by thy death didst give life to the World deliver me by this thy most holy Body and Blood from all my sins and from all evil and making me always obedient to thy commands grant that I be never separated from thee Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest c. GRant O Lord Jesus Christ that this participation of thy Body which I now however unworthy presume to receive be not to my Judgment and Condemnation but through thy mercy may avail to the safeguard of my Soul and Body and likewise as a wholsome remedy Who livest and reignest with God the Father c. Then with bending knee having adored the blessed Sacrament taking the Host in his hands and considering that he is to receive his Creator he puts his trust in his mercy saying I Will take this Heavenly Bread and call upon the Name of our Lord. And representing how acceptable the Centurians humility was to the Son of God where he was pleased to honour his house in imitation of him he professeth himself unworthy of so great a favour and striking his breast he repeats the same words thrice LOrd I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter into my house say but the word and my soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter into my house say but the word and my soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter into my house say but the word and my soul shall be healed In receiving the Body of our Saviour he makes the sign of the Cross with the Host to mind us that 't is the Body of Jesus Christ which hath been exposed to death for our salvation THe Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting Amen In taking the Chalice he gives God thanks for the Benefits he receives by the Communion of the Blood of Christ using these following words out of the 15th and 17th Psalm WHat shall I render to our Lord for all things that he hath given to me I will take the Chalice of Salvation and will Invocate the Name of our Lord. Praising I will Invocate our Lord and I shall be saved from my enemies In receiving the Blood of our Saviour he makes the sign of the Cross with the Chalice representing thereby that it is Christ's Blood which he shed to save us and says THe Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting Amen Then taking Wine into the Chalice to wash his mouth and fingers to the end that the least particle of the Sacrament may not remain thereon and to instruct us of the care we ought to have to preserve our selves in purity he says GRant O Lord what we have taken with our mouth we may receive with a pure mind and that of a temporal gift it may become to us an everlasting remedy In taking the second Lotion he says LEt thy Body which I have received O Lord and thy Blood which I have drank cleave unto my bowels and grant that no stain of sin may remain in me whom thy pure and holy Sacrament hath satiated Who livest and reignest for ever and ever Amen Then the Priest
the greatness of this Benefit and to preserve the memory of it God hath commanded that whereas before we reckoned the years from the Creation of the World from henceforth we should compute them from this deliverance to make us understand thereby that the delivery of Man from the Tyranny of the Devil and Slavery of Sin which the bringing of the Children of Israel out of the Egyptian Bondage was a figure of is not less considerable yea is more advantageous to us than our Creation IN those days our Lord said unto Moses and Aaron in the Land of Egypt this month shall be to you the beginning of months it shall be the first in the months of the year Speak ye to the whole assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them the tenth day of this month let every man take a Lamb by their Families and Houses But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the Lamb he shall take unto him his Neighbour that joyneth to his House according to the number of souls which may suffice to the eating of the Lamb. And it shall be a Lamb without spot a Male of a year old according also to which rite you shall take a Kid. And you shall keep him till the fourteenth day of this month and the whole multitude of the Children of Israel shall Sacrifice him at even And they shall take of the bloud thereof and put upon both the Posts of the Houses wherein they shall eat him And they shall eat the flesh that night rosted at the fire and unleavened bread with wild lettice You shall not eat thereof any thing raw nor boyled in water but only roasted at the fire the head with the feet and entrails thereof you shall devour and you shall not break one bone of him Neither shall there remain any thing of him until morning If there be any thing left you shall burn it with fire And thus you shall eat him You shall gird your reins and you shall have shooes on your feet holding staves in your hands and you shall eat speedily For it is the Phase that is the passage of our Lord. The Church begs of God the grace for us to reap the benefit of our Redemption and to concur with it in such sort that we may acknowledge it to crown all the other works of his Bounty either in creating or adding conveniences to our better Being or advantages for our conservation Let us Pray Let us bow our knees R. Lift up your selves ALmighty and Everlasting God who arâ— wonderful in the dispensation of all thy Works grant that those whom thou hast Redeemed may be sensible that the Creation of the World in the beginning of time was not a greater marvel than that which happened of later days in the immolation of Jesus Christ our true Pasch who being God liveth and reigneth for ever Amen The TENTH PROPHECY taken out of the 3d. Chapter of Jonas The Church by the example of the Ninivites instructs the Catechumens to fear God so soon as they have the happiness to know him and to reverence him as soon as they begin to contemplate him through Faith and that it avails them not to have known him if they continue the same affections they had before they knew him That the Catechumens and those who are baptized have the same Hopes the same Recompences the same fear of Judgment and the same necessity of Repentance For though it be certain that those who present themselves to be Baptized shall receive all the benefits of Gods Mercy that is an entire Absolution of all their sins they must nevertheless take care to dispose and make themselves worthy by a sincere Repentance Baptism is the accomplishment and seal of Faith and this Faith takes its beginning from that of Penance AND the word of the Lord was made to Jonas the Prophet the second time saying Arise and go to Ninive that I shall speak to thee And Jonas arose and went into Ninive according to the word of our Lord And Ninive was a great City of three days journey And Jonas began to enter into the City one days journey and he cryed and said as yet fourty days and Ninive shall be subverted And the men of Ninive believed in God and they proclaimed a Fast and were clothed with sackcloth from the greater to the lesser And the word came to the King of Ninive and he rose up out of his Throne and cast away his garment from him and was clothed with sackcloth and sate in ashes And he cried and said in Ninive from the mouth of the King and of his Princes saying Men and Beasts and Oxen and Cattel let them not tast any thing nor feed and let them not drink water And let Men and Beasts be covered with sackclothes and cry to our Lord in strength and let every man convert from his evil way and from the iniquity that is in their hands Who knoweth if God will convert and forgive and will return from the fury of his wrath and we shall not perish And God saw their works that they were converted from their evil way and our Lord had mercy on his people The Church beseeches God to give his grace to all her Members to have the same Faith and Piety as they have all the same Hope and the same Recompence in proportion to their Merits Let us Pray Let us kneel R. Lift up your selves O God who hast united several Nations in confession of thy Name give us both the will and power to do what thou commandest that thy People who are called to partake of thy Eternity may have the same faith of Spirit and Piety in their actions Through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen The ELEVENTH PROPHECY taken out of the 13th Chapter of Deuteronomy The Church exhorts the People to keep the Law of God so to avoid the evils threatned to those that break it IN those days Moses wrote the Canticle and taught it the Children of Israel And our Lord commanded Josue the son of Nun and said take courage and be strong for thou shalt bring the Children of Israel into the land which I have promised and I will be with thee Therefore after that Moses wrote the words of this law in a volume and finished it he commanded the Levites that carried the ark of the covenant of our Lord saying take this book and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of our Lord your God that it may be for a testimony against thee For I know thy contention and thy most stiff neck Whiles I yet live and go in with you you have done always contentiously against our Lord how much more when I shall be dead Gather to me all your ancients by your tribes and your doctors and I will speak these words in their hearing and will invocate against them heaven and earth For I know that after my death you will do wickedly and will decline quickly
both of Soul and Body WE beseech thee O Lord Holy Father Almighty and Everlasting God to bless and sanctifie this Olive thy creature which thou hast commanded to spring from Wood and which the Dove brought in his mouth returning to the Ark that whoever shall take of it may receive protection both for Soul and Body thou O Lord making it a Remedy for Health and a Sacrament of thy Grace Through our Lord c. Amen Let us Pray The Faithful considering that those blest Palms represent our Union with Christ being delivered from the Tyranny of the Devil and the intercession of the Church which is applied unto us by this Blessing joyn in Prayer with the Church and beg God's protection O God who gatherest together such things as are disperst and preservest what is so gathered together who didst bless the People going forth with Boughs to meet Jesus bless also these Palms and Olive-branches which thy People take in honour of thy Name that where-ever they shall be brought the Inhabitants may be sensible of thy Blessing and freed from all Adversity and thy Right-hand protect those whom Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord redeemed Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen Let us Pray As by the sin of Adam the Devil hath usurpt an empire over creatures which he makes use of to the prejudice of men so is he deprived thereof through the Merits of Jesus Christ who sanctifies them for our benefit And therefore the Faithful considering that by these Branches which the Church blesseth and distributeth this day she represents the Victory which Christ gained over the Devil and our Divine Redeemer's triumph in his glorious Resurrection beseech God to make them able to vanquish the Devil and overcome all Obstacles of their Salvation through the Merits and Grace of our Redeemer with whom we are incorporated so that at last we may partake of his glory O God who through the wonderful order of thy Providence art pleased to make use of insensible creatures to instruct us in the way of our salvation Grant we beseech thee that the devout hearts of thy Faithful may healthfully understand what is mystically designed in the action of this day in which the multitude of Jews being illustrated with a heavenly light went to meet our Redeemer with Boughs of Palms and Olives which they cast under his feet The Palm-branches put us in mind of the Victory he gained over the Prince of Death and the Olive-boughs do in a sort proclaim that the Spiritual Unction is come to us For all that blessed Company understood that Ceremony to signifie that our Redeemer taking compassion of man's misery was to encounter the Prince of Death for the Life of the World and that he was to triumph by dying Therefore he fulfilling the Will of God performed all those things that we might thereby arrive to the knowledge of his Triumphs and unctuous plenitude of Mercy We also firmly believe Lord Holy Father Omnipotent and Eternal God that all hath been fulfilled that was signified And therefore most humbly beseech thee through the same our Lord Jesus Christ that in and by him we whom thou hast vouchsafed to become his members having obtained the victory over Death may also partake in his glorious Resurrection Who liveth and reigneth c. Let us Pray The Faithful beseech God that these hallowed Boughs representing the Happy Reconciliation obtained for us by Jesus Christ with his Divine Majesty may induce them to dispose themselves as worthily to receive the wholsome effects O God who by an Olive-branch didst command a Dove to publish Peace to the Earth vouchsafe we beseech thee to sanctifie with thy Celestial Benediction the salvation of all Through Christ our Lord c. Let us Pray The Faithful considering that by these Palm-boughs the Church represents the conquest we ought to endeavour to obtain over the Devil and by the Olive-branches the Works of Charity we are obliged to practice demand of God his Grace to accomplish what the Church teaches by this Ceremony BLess we beseech thee O Lord these Boughs of Palms or Olives and grant that thy People may testifie the zeal of their Piety by a pious performance of what this day they outwardly profess and triumphing over their Enemies may apply themselves zealously to the Works of Mercy Through our Lord c. Then the Priest sprinkles the Boughs with Holy Water to teach us that we ought to purisie our selves in receiving a Blessing from God and to practice what the Church designs by these Boughs Thou shalt sprinkle me with Hyssop and I shall be cleansed thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow The Priest then incenseth the Boughs to instruct us that all the Blessing comes from God and that we ought to beg that our Prayers may ascend as Incense towards him The PRAYER Whereby we ask God's Grace to prepare our Ways to our Saviour by a lively Faith and good Works V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us pray O God who for our salvation didst send into this World thy only begotten Son that he humbling himself for us might regain us unto thee before whom at his entry into Jerusalem that the Scriptures might be fulfilled a multitude of People spread their Garments with a pious zeal and cast Palms in the way Grant we beseech thee that we may so prepare the way of Faith to him that the stone of offence and rock of scandal being removed our good works may flourish as the branches of a beautiful tree and therein imitate him Who with thee liveth and reigneth c. The Priest gives Palms to the Clergy and People whilst the Quire sing the following Antiphons and Canticle sung by the Children at Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem ANTIPHON THE Hebrew Children spread their Garments in the way and cryed out saying Hosanna to the Son of David Blessed is he who comes in the Name of our Lord. ANOTHER THE Hebrew Children spread their Garments in the way and cryed out saying Hosanna to the Son of David Blessed is he who comes in the Name of our Lord. The Antiphons are repeated till all the Palms are distributed then the Priest in the name of the Faithful beseeches God for his grace that in this Commemoration of his Son JESUS CHRIST'S triumphant entry into Jerusalem they may arrive to the Innocence and Piety of those who pay him all due honour V. Our Lord be with you R. And with thy Spirit Let us Pray ALmighty Everlasting God who wast pleased that our Lord Jesus Christ should sit upon an Asses Colt and directedst the multitude to spread their Garments and Boughs in the way singing Hosanna in his honour Grant us the grace to imitate their Innocence and to partake of their Merit Through the same our Lord c. Then they go in Procession to represent JESUS CHRIST'S triumphant entry
our Spirit we may truly understand his Law and observe his Instructions and Commands Secondly He bids us consider that God would not that his Holy Law should be written and delivered to us in vain but to be as a sure Guide to our Actions Therefore we beg that our Consciences reproach not our Deeds for being uncomfortable to our knowledge Thirdly He shews us how deplorable their condition is who follow other Rules and lead their Lives by other Maximes than what the Law of God prescribes Fourthly The Prophet tells us with what purity we ought to meditate upon the Holy Scriptures which contain the Law of God forbearing either in Thought or Word all sort of Error or Lying that so we may neither deceive nor be deceived Fifthly He minds us of our Frailty and Misery which yet must not discourage us since God Almighties Grace gives us strength and power to perform his Commandments THy testimonies are marvellous therefore hath my soul searched them The declaration of thy words doth illuminate and giveth understanding to little ones I opened my mouth and drew breath because I desired thy Commandments Look upon and have mercy on me according to the judgment of them that love thy Name Direct my steps according to thy Word and let not any injustice have domination over me Redeem me from the calumnies of men that I may keep thy Commandments Illuminate thy face upon thy servant and teach me thy justifications Mine eyes have gushed forth issues of waters because they have not kept thy law Thou art just O Lord and thy judgment is right Thou hast commanded justice thy testimonies and thy verity exceedingly My zeal hath made me to pine away because my enemies have forgotten thy words Thy word is fired exceedingly and thy servant hath loved it I am a young man and contemned I have not forgotten thy justifications Thy justice is justice for ever and thy law is verity Tribulation and distress have found me thy Commandments are my meditation The Royal Prophet in the Tenth Part of this Psalm adviseth us first continually to advance in fervour and piety and how by his example we must thirst after justice Secondly That we must overcome all obstacles that may impede our progress Thirdly That we must consider that as in the beginning of a spiritual course of life we are to enter upon it by the spirit of God so in the progress that we especially beware lest there slide into our hearts any secret motions that may hinder our advancement in piety And as we are to begin courageously so to go on with more vigour not regarding what the Flesh can but what the Spirit will do according to what the Word of God ordains putting all our confidence in his divine assistance Fourthly That the dislike which we ought to have of sinners with drawing themselves from God and consequently from their Salvation in not obeying his Commandments should move us to walk with more vigilance and fervour towards perfection Since not to go forward is to go backwardly Fifthly Since God's decrees are true from the Beginning to all Eternity so if we conform to his will and observe the order of his decrees we shall not fail to make daily advancement in present and for the time to come where the light of our knowledge shall find a new encrease I Have cried in my whole heart hear me O Lord I will seek after thy justifications I have cried to thee save me that I may keep thy Commandments I have prevented in maturity and have cried because I hoped much in thy words Mine eyes have prevented early unto thee that I might meditate thy words Hear my voice according to thy mercy O Lord and according to thy judgment quicken me They that persecute me have approached to iniquity but from thy law they are made far off Thou art nigh O Lord and all thy ways are truth From the beginning I knew of thy testimonies that thou hast founded them for ever See my humiliation and deliver me because I have not forgotten thy law Judge my judgment and redeem me for thy word quicken thou me Salvation is far from sinners because they have not sought after thy justifications Thy mercies are many O Lord according to thy judgment quicken me There are many that persecute me and afflict me I have not declined from thy testimonies I saw the prevaricators and pined away because they kept not thy words See that I have loved thy Commandments O Lord in thy mercy quicken me The beginning of thy words is truth all the judgments of thy justice are for ever In the last part of this Psalm the Royal Prophet tells us their Duties who endeavour to advance in piety First The spirit of the fear of our Lord ought so much to possess them that all other fear must find no place in their hearts Secondly God's holy words ought to be their chief delight as the hatred of sin must be their chief aversion Thirdly They must frequent Prayer with much solicitude especially at hours appointed by the Church Fourthly Their souls must be so tranquil as not to be discomposed with any traverses of this world Fifthly We ought to groan after their salvation Sixthly They must consider God is present in all their actions Seventhly They must have a hearty sorrow for their past sins and give God thanks that he hath freed them from them They ought likewise to consider that God sought them when as yet they sought not him and that he sought them to the end they might seek him in the way of his Commandments They must vigilantly regard all their faults and deeds considering that they are as sheep gone astray if God of his goodness had not sought them himself and relieved them from all the dangers they were in placing them in the security they desire They must place their hopes in him whatever hazards befal them reposing themselves in the faithfulness of his promises and the abundance of his mercy and that in this confidence they behold him as their Chief Director and Eternal Pastor PRinces have persecuted me without cause and my heart hath been afraid of thy words I will rejoyce at thy words as he that findeth many spoils I have hated iniquity and abhorred it but thy law I have loved Seven times in the day I have said praise to thee for the judgments of thy justice There is much peace to them that love thy law and there is no scandal to them I expected thy salvation O Lord and have loved thy Commandments My soul hath kept thy testimonies and hath loved them exceedingly I have kept thy Commandments and thy Testimonies because all thy ways are in thy sight Let my petition approach in thy sight O Lord according to thy word give me understanding Let my request enter in thy sight according to thy word deliver me My lips shall utter an hymn when thou shalt teach me thy justifications My tongue shall
and then returning up to the Altar he kneels to the blessed Sacrament after that bowing himself with his hands joyned before the Altar he says WE present our selves O Lord before thee in the spirit of humility and repentance and therefore we beseech thee that this Sacrifice may be agreeably accomplisht by us this day The Priest kisseth the Altar and kneels down then turning to the People he desires them to joyn in Prayers with him to God that he will please to accept this Offering of Wine and Water in memory of the Bloud and Water which ran out of our Saviours side And this Offering is a kind of Sacrifice in that it is joyned with the Consecrated Hoast which represents the bloudy Sacrifice of Jesus Christ PRay Brethren that this my Sacrifice which is also yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty And to observe unto us that this Oblation is only a representation of the bloudy Sacrifice of Jesus Christ and that no unbloudy Sacrifice is celebrated this day Suscipiat Dominus is not answered And thereupon also there is no Consecration this day because the memory of Christs Passion is only celebrated as it actually had past Nevertheless that we may not be deprived of participating the fruit of his Passion being incorporated anew with him the Body of this our Divine Saviour is reserved the day before but not the Bloud for fear of Accidents Let us Pray PRAECEPTIS c. The faithful beg of God that they may be made worthy to reap the benefit of the Passion of his Son Jesus Christ in receiving his Body in the same Prayer which Christ himself taught us giving them confidence to call him our Father as he made himself our Brother to teach us that we cannot fail of any thing having an Omnipotent Father BEing taught by our Saviour's Commands and led by Divine Institution we are bold to say Our Father which art in Heaven where you shine in greater glory and whereunto thou art pleased that we should raise our thoughts Hallowed be thy Name Acknowledged and Adored Thy Kingdom come The Empire of thy Grace in this World and of the next Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread The precious Body and Blood of thy Son which is daily consecrated thy Grace and all things necessary for us in the course of this life And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors And lead us not into temptation The People to testifie their concurrence with the Priest in this Prayer answer But deliver us from evil From sin from the snares of this world the flesh and the devil And to shew that this Prayer is pronounc'd in the name of all it is answered Amen LIBERA c. The Priest considering that there is no greater evil nor more contrary to the Holy Communion than that which may trouble and destroy the Peace and Union of Christians beseeches God to deliver us by the Merits of Jesus Christ by the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin of the Apostles and all the Saints and to grant us that Peace and Union which we ought to have with our Saviour and with the other Members of his Church which he signifies by breaking the Hoast and dividing it into three parts That part which he puts upon the Patten signifies the faithful in this life that which he retains in his Hand the faithful that are in Purgatory and that which he breaks the blessed DEliver us O Lord we beseech thee from all evils past present and to come and grant us peace in these our Duties by the intercession of the ever-glorious Virgin Mary Mother of God of thy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul of St. Andrew and all the Saints that being assisted by thy gracious mercy we may be free from all sin and secure from all dangers Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth God with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost for ever and ever The faithful concurring with the Priest answer Amen No Incense is used at this Elevation to signifie that on this day the Jews refused all honour due to God nor are the Bells rung to mind us of the Disciples silence and astonishment After the Deacon hath uncovered the Chalice and the Priest divided the Hoast into three parts over the Chalice he puts the least particle into the Chalice which represents the Estate of the blessed and the other two parts upon the Patten without saying any thing or making the sign of the Cross omitting Pax Domini c. Haec commixtio c. Agnus Dei c. Domine Jesu Christe qui dixisti c. Domine Jesu Christe Pili Dei vivi c. to express unto us that the wholesom effect of Christs Passion and the reconciliation of Men with God was not compleated till after his Resurrection Nor is the Pax given about for the same reason as also to shew our aversion to Judas his traiterous kiss The Priest says the Prayer following to beg of God a disposition requisite for the worthy receiving of the Eucharist GRant O Lord Jesus Christ that this participation of thy body which now though unworthy I intend to receive may not turn to my judgment and condemnation but through thy mercy may be a protection and and a wholsom medicine to my soul and body Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost world without end Amen And having kneeled to adore the Sacrament taking the Hoast between his hands considering he is to receive his God he puts all his confidence in his mercy saying I Will take the Celestial Bread and will call upon the Name of our Lord. And calling to mind how acceptable the Centurion's humility was to the Son of God when he would have honoured him with a visit in imitation of him he protests himself unworthy so great a favour and knocking his breast useth the same words LOrd I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof only say the word and my soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof only say the word and my soul shall be healed Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof only say the word and my soul shall be healed When he receives the Body of our Lord he makes the sign of the Cross with the Hoast calling to his mind that 't is that Body which Christ exposed to death to save us THe Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my Soul to Life Everlasting Amen The Priest having taken the Body of Christ the Deacon uncovering the Chalice drinks that piece of the Hoast put into the Chalice together with the Wine therein without saying any thing or making the sign of the Cross to signifie the Wine is not consecrated The Sub-deacon pours wine and water into the Chalice to wash his singers that so the least piece of the
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