THe saying of the Creed is a Protestation of our Faith and Obedience to the Gospel coming to Us from God through the Lips of the Priest DEVOTION BVt let me not Content my Self only with this Inward Preparation of Heart To Believe and Serve Thee so but give me Courage to profess before all the World the Sincerity of an Unfeigned Faith in Thee and Constant Love to Thee by which I pretend to Honour and Observe Thee in all things without ever being asham'd of the Truths and Maximes of Thy Gospel Of every one of which as well the least as the greatest let me still have an equal undispensable esteem and be ready to maintain all in General nay each one in particular though with the certain loss of whatever belongs to me beside even of my Life it Self and Salvation too if That were possible in All the Occasions and Encounters that the Conduct of Thy Providence for Tryal shall engage Me In. In special O my Saviour I Believe that Thou art the Son of the Eternal Father That You both Produce the Holy Spirit from everlasting and that You all Three Reside after a most signal manner in The Church which is so the House of the Faithful as that out of It There is no Faith at all to be found or at most none such as shall any thing avail towards Salvation I am resolv'd to Believe as Truth all that is deliver'd to Me as from You and to confirm and justifie my Belief by my Words and my Words by good Works of all sorts and my Works by all the Variety of Sufferings that You shall think fit to send me The Second Dominus Vobiscum AFter this Profession of Faith or if that be omitted immediately after the Gospel the Priest having first Kiss'd the Altar turns to the people to Bless them in Christ's Name for so Respectful a Reception of the Gospel and publick profession thereof DEVOTION HElp me O Lord to receive with Pious Affections This Blessing which Thy Priest now Dispenseth in turning Himself toward Thy Faithful as from Thee Now that we have Assented to Try Word and thereof made a publick Profession And Bless me thereby more Internally Thy Self that this Thy Grace may cleave to and continue in my Heart enabling It to Persevere in Thriving and Growing up thereby to a Holy Life and constant practice of Obedience to all Thy Commandments The Offering and Offertory HEre was brought in Antienly Immediately after The Benediction the peoples Offerings as an Effect as it were of that Benediction Then before these Offerings laid on the Altar Sung both Priest and People certain Praises to God which were call'd the Offertorium or That with which They presented their Offerings to terstifie the Sincerity and Joy of Heart wherewith they brought their Gifts and appear'd before Him Antiently before Things came to be set in better Order by the Church These Offerings were Numerous and had their good Use and Edification too For every particular Christian presented Bread to the Priest both for Materials to be Consecrated for the Sacrifice and withall for a Token of his Union to the Body of Christ Jesus and Communion with the Church The whole Congregation uniting it self by This means and putting It self as it were between the Hands of the Priest to be Offerred up with the Body of Christ Consecrated and made in that Bread which they Contributed The Priest indeed Consecrated not all that was brought but took only One or Two as occasion was in the lieu of all that so as the many Breads offer'd severally by each of the Faithful Ones represented the divers Members of the Church the Paucity of the Breads chosen out of all for Consecration might likewise Typifie the Unity of those Members amongst themselves and with the One Body of Christ where all by Participation were United together DEVOTION I Here Offer up unto Thee my God All that I have oram in Acknowledgement and Return for That Light of Truth which Thou hast imparted to Me by Thy Gospel at this Time being convinc'd that in respect of It All other things are but as dross or nothing and that Thy Merciful Favour and Love is incomparably more worth than this Life it self Nay than the Lives of all the Persons now in the World put together and Offer'd up to Thee all in one Great Sacrifice I strip my self of all that can any ways be call'd mine before Thee and here put it into Thy Hands that there may be nothing about me to hinder me from entring into that close and perfect Union that ought to be between Thee and me and Me and every Member belonging to the Body of Thy Church being well assur'd that nothing causes a Division between Thee and those Members or amongst Our selves between one anoother nor slackens the Bond of Charity more than an Adhaesion to the Things of this World The Oblation or Suscipe The Priest having receiv'd the Offerings presents them to God by heaving them up towards Heaven upon the Paten For that Bread which He offers up on the Paten is instead of all that was brought to Him by the people either effectually and really or Spiritually and Intentionally only and so represents the whole people to be Incorporated and Offer'd up with the Body of Jesns Christ in that Holy Sacrisice Hence It is that the Pâ—iest declares that He makes this Obiation for and in the Name of All the Faithful Living and Dead and particularly for All Circumstantibus there present For the present brought their Offerings not only for themselves but for the Dead also as Owning their Communion with the Body of Jesus Christ and with His Church and this is still the Intention Comprehensive and secret meaning of the Charity of every Faithful Christian though It be not then Actually in his Mind or Thought And it is to be Noted that the Priest professeth He makes this Oblation for the Numberless Sins not only of Others but of His Own Meis Because the sins committed every day by the best amongst Us are in every deed innumerable and 't is impossible to know their Multitude and variety our Infirmity and Concupiscence vitiating those Actions in some degree which seem to be most Holy to let pass others DEVOTION I Beseech Thee that As the Priest presents to Thee upon the Paten That Offering which He is to Consecrate for all the People so This Oblation that I have Now made of all that I have and am may likewise be received and accepted by our Lord Jesus Christ as tender'd together with It That the same Priest may Offer and Consecrate it also to Thee for Me that so it may please Thy Divine Majesty who hast set such Order to things as not to receive any thing from us but by Him And may this Oblation dispose Me by little and little to Immolate and Sacrifice my self wholly to Thy Glory in what manner It shall best please Thee to require It. That
doing ever hereafter Things pleasing to Thee An Impregnable Defence both of Soul and Body against all Assaults or Treacheries of mine Enemies A Token of present Grace and a sure Pledge and Earnest of future Glory Amen Another ALmighty and Immortal Father Behold I come to this Sacrament of Thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ I come As an Infirm and Languishing Person to the Physitian that gives Life and Health As one Defil'd and Unclean to the pure Spring of Grace and Mercy As the Blind to a Light of never failing Clearness As a Poor and Indigent Creature to the Lord of Heaven and Earth I humbly supplicate and beseech Thee therefore in such Abundance and so copious overflowing of Plenty of Favours To daign me A Cure of mine Infirmity A Cleansing from my Defilements A Recovery from Blindness An Enriching of my Poverty A Nuptial Garment for hiding my Shame and Nakedness That being admitted a Guest at Thy Table and Feeding on the Bread of Angels the King of Kings and Lord of Lords I may demean my self with So great Reverence and Humility So true Contrition and Devotion So much Purity and Faith That purpose and Intention As may most conduce to the Salvation of my Soul Grant me now I pray Thee to Receive not only the Sacrament of our Lords Body and Blood but the Virtue also and real Effect of the Sacrament O most Merciful God Grant me in such manner to Receive This Body of Thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ which he took from the Virgin Mary that I may thereby become Incorporated into His Mystical Body and be one of its Living and Sound Members O most Indulgent Father Vouchsafe that this Thy Beloved Son whom now I intend to Receive as here He comes Masqu'd and under these Veils So I may hereafter be admitted to Enjoy with open Face in full Vision as with Thee and the Holy Spirit he Lives and and Reigns one God World without End Amen Prayers after Communion I Give Thee Infinite Thanks from the very bottom of my Heart and with all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Body Holy Lord Omnipotent Father Eternal God! Who hast now Vouchsafed Me a Sinner a most unworthy Servant upon no account of any Merit in me but in meer condescention of Thy Mercy to have an Interest in this Inestimable Sacrifice and Holy Communion of the Precious Body and Blood of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ Which I have now Offer'd and fed upon In Honourable memory of His Death and Passion In Gratitude for all Benefits Receiv'd c. For Reconcilement and Remission of my Sins c. For increase of Grace to c. In Memory and Veneration of such and such Servant or Saint of Thine c. And I humbly beseech Thee that these Acts of Devotion and Worship of Thee may not be to me any new Guilt of Sin to be Punish'd but an Effectual Intercession rather and Procurement of Pardon An Armory of Faith and Shield of Good Will A clean riddance of all Vices in me A total quenching of Lust and Concupiscence An Increase of Divine Love and Patience of Humility Obedience and all other Virtues A Fortress against all the Machinations of my Enemies Visible and Invisible A perfect Calming of all Commotions from Flesh or Spirit A close adhaesion to Thee the only True God and the Happy Conclusion of my Life And after this Viaticum Conduct I beseech Thee Thy Servant to that inexpressible never-ending Feast where Thou together with Thy Son and Holy Spirit Indivisible Trinity art to Thy Saints Their true Light Their full Satisfaction Their everlasting Joy Their compleat Delight and Their Every perfect Happiness Through Jesus Christ Amen Another O My Lord Jesu Sweet above all Sweets Infuse into my Heart my Bowels and inmost Entrails of my Spirit such a strong Passion for Thee so True Clear Apostolick and most Sanctify'd Affection to Thee that my Soul may languish and be always melting with a Love of Thee only Long for Thee pant after Thy presence in these Thy Courts the places of Thy particular Residence and Worship wish to be quite dissolv'd to be with Thee yet nearer Make my Soul Hunger after Thee The Food of Angels The Refreshment of Sanctify'd Spirits Or daily Super-substantial Bread full of all Delightful Relishes and Suavities Savouring of the Varieties of all-pleasing Tasts and Gusts After Thee whom the Angels so much Covet to pry into let my Heart always have an Appetite and feed on Thee Let it ever Thirst for Thee The Spring of Life The Fountain of Wisdom and Knowledge The Source of Eternal Light The Torrent of Pleasures The Plenty of God's House Court Thee seek Thee find Thee run after Thee over-take Thee Muse on Thee Talk of Thee do all things to the Praise and Glory of Thy Name With Humility With Discretion With Delight With Felicity With Affection With Perseverance And be Thou only at all times my Hope my Confidence my Riches my Pleasure my Divertisement my Joy my Rest my Peace my Delight my sweet Perfume my Meat my Sauce my Meal my Retirement my Aid my Wisdom my Portion my Possession my Treasure on which my Mind may still run my Heart be ever set fix'd and unchangeably Establish'd Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for Nathaniel Thompson at the Entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charing-Cross A Brief Discourse of Confession to a Lawful Priest wherein is treated of the last Judgement By P Manby Dean of London-Dery A Manual of Controversies clearly proving the Truth of Catholick Faith by Texts of Holy Scripture Councels of all Ages Fathers of the first 500 years Common Sense and Reason and fully Ansering all the Principal Objections of Protestants and all manner of Sectaries By H. T. A most Excellent way of Hearing Mass with Profit and Devotion Containing the whole Mase in Latine and English with divers Select Prayers before and after Confession and Communion and an Examen of Conscience c. A Manual of Devout Prayers fitted for all persons and all occasions To which is added the Rosary in Latine and English Prayers to the B. V. The Prayers of St. Bridget c. with the Vespers or Even-Song
it may conduce toward the Expiation of All my Sins known and unknown and what other Obliquities are hourly occasion'd by my frail and Infirm Nature And since I cannot be totally exempt from These unless by death which is the only sure-End of all Offending Grant that to Cancel their account as fast as It grows upon me I may offer up and Consecrate to Thee sincerely All the short Remainder of this Life and then pass so much the more Joyfully into the next as where I shall be secur'd from discontenting Thee any longer Of the Mixture of Water and Wine THis puts me in mind of the Union of the Divinty and Humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ and then of the Unity of all the Faithful well denoted by Water a Symbol of Weakness which Jesus Christ well typify'd by Wine an Emblem of strength And as the Priest Offer'd up The Bread before so now he makes 1. Oblation of the Wine and Water and in Them again of the People to God The Suscipiamur 2. And lastly Oblation Generalis â— He makes the First General Oblation of All Bread Wine Himself and People altogether jointly with Humility and Contrition into the Hands of God and thereby Sanctifies and Prepares the whole matter of this Sacrifice DEVOTION O Strengthen my Weakness represented by this Water with a new Force and Virtue of Thy Spirit which is the Muste or New Wine of the Law of Grace Make me depend on Nothing nor cleave to any Thing but Thee since Thou alone art the Power of God and Vigorous Life of the Soul in whose Absence the strongest Activity in Man is but miserable Infirmity And as now The Priest presents to Thee the Chalice thereby to Sanctifie It before He proceed to Its Consecration so help Me O Lord to Offer up my Self to Thee Fortified and Heighten'd by Thy Blessing and Grace by which I may be Encourag'd and Enflam'd and so make my self every time more and more capable to be Offer'd up in Sacrifice to Thee and even to Die for Thee Which is really the Greatest Favour that thou canst do any Mau during His Abode here Washing of the Priest's Hands THis meaneth Repentance for the daily Pollutions we incurr by our Frailty For there 's no approaching This Holy Sacrifice without renouncing and quitting as much as is possible such Impurities by a sincere Grief for and loathing of them though but Sins of Infirmity Hence It is that the Priest Washeth only the Tops of his Fingers To signifie that when one comes to Offer this Sacrifice 't is no time then to set about Repentance for Mortal Sins such one should have been freed and purg'd from before but all that is to be done is only to Wash off yet by unfeigned Grief and true Compunction those lesser Impurities and Defilements which in the course of this Life and by Conversation with things of this World we cannot avoid but that they will be sticking at least to the Outward parts as it were of our Souls and to the Works of our Hands But those that willingly neglect to Purify themselves from these though never so small Imperfections are unworthy of this Sacrament saith St. Denis as on the contrary The greatest Sins and Abominations that be cannot render those unworthy of approaching to It who have dis-engag'd their Wills from them and truly detest them in their Hearts DEVOTION SVffer not O my God the Pollutions of this World so to Defile My Hands that is My Actions as that they should contract any store of Filth from It but since 't is impossible to Converse here in this Earthly Habitation cleanly without All Sullying Grant that at most The Spots may but arrive to the outmost and lesser parts of Them as It were to the very Tops of the Fingers only A Petition suggested to me by the Priests Washing His. First Possess my Heart intirely and at all times and then let my Actions regard Thee too as their Principal Object and if secondarily in their Out-sides and parts farthest off They touch the fouling Earth Let me never cease Washing them with Tears of True Repentance and in the Water and Grace of Thy Holy Spirit till They be again Purify'd Especially as often as I come before Thee to partake of the Communion of Thy Blessed Body and to assist at That most Holy Sacrifice to which it would become Vs to approach in the greatest Purity Man in this Life can be capable of Because It is a darker Vision of God and some Representation of our Imployment in Heaven whither no Unclean Thing can Enter Vpon the Suscipe Sancta Trinitas The Kissing the Alar and Orate Fratres and the Secreta Suscipe Sancta Trinitas THe Priest having put himself into This Purity of Body and Mind with most profound Humility makes a Second General Oblation of all Oblation Generalis 2 1. Directing it to the proper Object of Worship The Holy and Blessed Trinity And 2. Applying it to the right End Of Commemoration of the Passion Resurrection and Ascention of Jesus Christ Of Honour to all the Glorify'd Saints in the Church Triumphant and of Salvation to all yet in the Militant by their Intercession implor'd 3. Kisses the Altar Orate Fratres THe Priest having already implor'd the Intercession of the Glorious Saints above for the things specify'd and particularly for that Acceptance of This Oblation and Sacrifice Now turns himself to the People desiring them to Joyn their Prayers to the same End DEVOTION DErive into me O Lord That Grace which the Priest Receives upon the Kissing of the Altar that stands in stead of Thee that assisted by It I may bear a part in That Common Prayer which He now Exhorts all the Faithful to joyn in with Him To Supplicate Thee favourably to Receive The Sacrifice He is here going to Offer unto Thee in the Behalf of the whole Church And do it the rather for the Honour of those Great Mysteries and Those Holy Saints which he hath just now made particular Commemoration of on purpose to teach us the Value of this Extraordinary Act of Grace by the Greatness of the Means imploy'd to obtain It. Agitate now in the Strictest Closet of my Soul by the means of this other Prayer which the Church calls Secret and produce therein the proper Effects of those good Thoughts which Thou hast been pleas'd to form in Me to Prepare me the better for this Sacrifice The Preface SO call'd because 't is the Entry to the Canon of the Mass and the last Immediate Preparation-general to the Sacrifice For here the Priest endeavours to prepare the People by putting them in mind 1. Of raising up their Heart in Devotion to God and taking It off from all Thoughts or Inclinations to any thing here below That they begin this Sacrifice of Offering up Christ to His Father by first Offering up their own Hearts which must be still the Anti-Sacrifice to all others or else they
Impart to Us and account Ours DEVOTION DO not forget O Lord Those Souls whom though gone out of this World Thou hast yet a Favour for because they are better dispos'd for the receiving the Effects of Thy Mercy in That Condition than those who are still joyn'd to this Body of Clay Haste so much the more to help Them as They do more Humbly and more Patiently wait for Thy help desiring no other Happiness than to fulfill thy Will and good Pleasure and therefore finding so far as That is done upon them even in Purgatory and in the midst of extream pains which they suffer a kind of Paradice I would I had as much Purity as They to be the more capable of Interceding for Them But since I come far short of That I interpose and present Thee with that of those Saints who now reign with Thee which is the best that can be found among Creatures but especially with that of the King of Saints Thy Son from whom as from the Fountain and Head flow all those Graces and Merits which Thou hast Communicated to Thy Servants and to whom thou canst not deny the farther Perfecting and Final Accomplishment of Thine Elect since Thou hast already begun to work Righteousness and Holiness in Them Add then and Finish the Rest of what is to be done in Them and Unite both the Living and the Dead to Thy Son as to the proper Head of Their Body and only Source of their Virtue and Victory that together with Him they may Sing to Thee Triumphant Lauds to all Eternity after they have Labour'd and Suffer'd as He and in Him to Thy Glory in this World At the Nobis quoque Peccatoribus DEVOTION O That these Words now spoken out by the Priest might Humble me Effectually to make me Cry to Thee for Mercy for my self and all Thy Faithfull upon Earth who all with me now appear before Thee but as One and the same sinner and one and the same Penitent Work in me the Flexibleness and Humble dejection of that Publican whom Thou hast Justify'd in the Temple and under the Law that smiting my Breast like Him I may obtain the same Grace which Thou accorded'st to Him at the same time that Thou didst blast the Pride of the Pharisee Per quem Haec Omnia c. ANd from this Acknowledgment of our own Worthlessness the Priest goes on to another much Greater Confessing to God the Father that also This Sacrifice now upon the Altar and all its worth and Virtue or what ever else contain'd in it comes only from Him by Jesus Christ by whom He Creates It to be a Source of Sanctity and Life and all Blessings and so Gives It to Vs Not but that Jesus Christ was all this before But because by the same Act by which He produceth Him in this Sacrament He likewise Communicates to Him all those Graces and Virtues which he hath as by that Act by which He begot Him from all Eternity He also endow'd Him with all those Excellencies and Perfections proper to the Son of God and so is the production of this Sacrament a lively Image of that Eternal Generation Nor is this yet all that is acknowledg'd but farther That the same God the Father thus producing qualifying this Sacrament also Gives it to Vs Praestas Nobis and by it derives into Us a Participation of all the Excellencies it contains so that this Sacrament becomes not only an Image of that Eternal Generation of Jesus Christ before all time but also of that Incarnation of Him by which in time the Father gives Him to Us and with Him all His Perfections by a New Production as in many Places Holy Scripture testifies DEVOTION THee O God the Father Thee I Adore as the Prime and Original Author of this Sacrifice and wonderful Mystery The Holy Ghost makes It by the Priest Jesus Christ makes It by the Holy Ghost but Thou makest It by Jesus Christ and 't is from Thee as from its Fountain that all the Graces all the Perfections all the Great things contain'd in this Sacrament are deriv'd and It again becomes another Fountain of them to Vs I Admire and Celebrate from the bottom of my Heart this Miracle and more yet that Bounty which after it hath wrought it so Applies it to Men thereby to Feed them thereby to Save them just as for Thy Works have no Parallels but Thy works just as Thou gavest Thy only Son to Men by another Miracle of Incarnation in the fulness of time after Thou hadst first begotten Him in Thy bosom before all Time by which transcends all Miracles an Eternal Generation O let this account of Thy goodness debase and cast me down as low as doth mine own Illness since in the midst of all these Fountains and Sluces of Graces so super-abundantly deluging from forth this Mystery wretched I shall still remain parch'd and barren and dry and Wither'd I unless thou stream into me from thence and that uncessantly another new Grace by which I may suck in the Benefit of all the rest Per Ipsum cum Ipso in Ipso c. NExt to these Two Acknowledgements the Priest here makes a Third That That Honour and Glory that ariseth to God the Father from this His Infinite Bounty comes not to Him but By and With and In Jesus Christ By Jesus Christ as through the Hands of a Mediator for God receives nothing from Us immediately nor we from Him but Jesus Christ standing in the middle between Hands all things from the Father to Us and so back again from Us to the Father With Jesus Christ Because the Son being in all things equal to the Father receives too equally with Him the Glory that men render unto Him and all in the Union of the Holy Spirit In Jesus Christ Because He is the Vine and all men but the Branches in Him and only by being in Him can they bear any Fruit to His Father the Husbandman DEVOTION EStrange me O my God from from all Humane Inventions and ways of Worshipping Thee of what sort soever though never so specious and Holy in Appearance In things of Thy Service let me never be Acted by my own private Spring by my own proper Spirit nor upon any Motive tending to give my self Satisfaction That I may do nothing but at the Call and in submission to the Conduct and by the Spirit of Thy Son since Thou Receivest not any thing from Us but what we Offer unto Thee by Him as being the Mediator nay as being the First Mover and Author of all the Good we do nor received'st it so neither but in the same Act by which He receives It together with Him because both are one and the same Nature One and the same God and therefore are both equally concern'd and Honour'd by the Homages we pay Lastly Thou receivedest nothing but in Him also that is but from Those who are so in Him as that He
those two Sublime Points of Our Faith the Trinity and the Incarnation are Insisted on to shew that Our Eternal Happiness shall consist in the Clear Vision of That which here we have humbly acknowledg'd and embrac'd though but in the obscure and Imperfect Light of Faith and that We shall Live Eternally By Contemplation of the Essence and Trinity of the Persons in the God-head as Thou Thy self livest in it by Comprehension Remove O Lord out of my mind any other Thought and out of my Heart all other Delight or Pleasure Let me now in Time take full Contentment in This Object which and no other must make me Happy in Eternity NOw by what hath been Intimated throughout this short Reflection of my Thoughts it may be inferr'd perhaps not Impertinently what was said in the beginning That the Whole Mass is a Re-view and Commemoration of the being Driven out of Paradice for the Sin of Adam and of Our Return again into Paradice By the Blood and Grace of Jesus Christ Certain Reflections upon the CREED thereby to prepare the Heart the better for being more Confirm'd in another Article of the Catholick Faith touching the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ PREFACE I Believe O My Saviour and my God! When I consider that this Heavenly Manna thy most Holy Body so miraculously contriv'd to be our Nourishment as we pass through the Desart of this World is affirmed to be truly and Substantially present upon the Altar immediately after the Words of Consecration I am struck with wonder and amazement and have not a word left me to say but this which is a plain confession of my ignorance and all that those Israelites could reply upon the first view of that other Manna * Man hu Man hu What 's this What 's this Lord have pity on me My best natural understanding my Judgement as rational and humane all my Senses set themselves in opposition to it and frame a thousand objections to the contrary to deterr me away say they How can it possibly be that Christ should give us his very Flesh to eat This is the hardest saying of all never to be conceiv'd never to be Believ'd But it is by thy Grace O my God that these Seducers in my own Bosom have not yet prevailed upon me I have done still as those two great Servants of thine Councel'd me St. Ambrose and St. Austin I have fled presently to my Creed and opposed to all their contradictions that Symbol that short Lesson which thy Apostles took care to teach thy servants heretofore In the first place I Arm my self with that as with a sure Cart of thy protection with It I close and shut up my Heart as with a Signet that none of all these suggestions can find the way in and like a well-stor'd Quiver it hath afforded me a thousand and a thousand good Shafts by which I am enabled to keep them off and ruin them all What say I if all other Arguments were nothing doth not this one word alone that stands in the very Front of my Creed I Believe suffice to defeat the forces of all such Rebellious Thoughts and make them fall backward I Believe 'T is the word that was given me at my first entrance and Enrolment in this sacred Militia and was pronounc'd by me then at my Baptism by the mouth of those who there undertook for me and I must still make it good I am therefore not one that pretends to be an understander of the Mysteries of my Salvation not a Disputer not one of the Intelligent but my Profession is to be one of the Faithful a Believer And therefore by how much hard and incomprehensible this Sacrament is made appear to me by so much the more is it likely to be one of the Articles I am to believe and so rendred by its proposal more venerably credible For Faith There comes to its true Lustre and is seated as it were on its Throne where the Understanding is most humbled by Obscurities ARTICLE I. In God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth c. God is God in all his works God but his Deity appears to us most in his Greatest And because this Sacrament is confess'd to be one of them if not the very Greatest of all what surer Testimony can it bring with it to make me believe it to be so the work of the Almighty than its being wonderful and un-intelligible Are there not Three distinct Persons Father Son and Holy Spirit in one and the same single Essence A compleat Trinity in a most simple Vnity That Faith which hath swallowed and digested this transcendent difficulty how comes it now to stick and make scruple of Believing One and the same Body to be in divers places at once God defend me from the temper of those Rebellious Children The Father that came to question his Omnipotent Arm and say can he prepare a Table for us in the Wilderness And could all their projecting thoughts ever have pitcht upon such a way as that of Manna Well whatever part of this Paschal Lamb I cannot Chew by my Reason I will cast it into as it were the Fire of the unlimited power of this Father Almighty whom I believe to be Almighty These little Clouds of Difficulties that so intercept and put this Sacrament out of the sight of our Natural Eye how easily do they vanish in the clear Sun-shine of Gods Omnipotency What so hard that this Fire consumes not The bare Word God hath had such Virtue Maker of Heaven c. as to give a Being to such things as were not at all How much more is it able to give a different Being to what already is and how and in as many places as he pleaseth He hath made that which was Not at all any where to be Some-where why can he not as well make That which is but Some where to be every where And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord. Whilst I am assured O my Saviour His Son that thy Father so loved the World as to give Thee his only Son to be its Feeder and Physician What wonder is it say I within my self if this Son of equal Love and Bounty with his Father do further give himself to be its very Food and Physick too thereby to make himself more intrinsecally a Saviour and King Our Lord. and Lord over All and through All. Which was conceived of the Holy Ghost Born of the Virgin Mary So wert thou Conceiv'd O my God in the Womb of a Virgin without any use of Man And why then do we look for Natural Conditions and Properties in That Body Conceiv'd which was made at first not according to the Order of Nature and Born of a Virgin Since thy Body took up no place then when it came forth thro' the un-open'd and Virginal Womb of thy Mother for otherwise Born it had forced the
Will too as I do still by the Tendencies of my Nature which rests only and un-interruptedly upon Thee as Its Author and support 4. Let me account it a Happiness that I can Perish for Thee and not Be as well as I have receiv'd from Thee to be And that in some forward Disposition to This I may now present my self to Thee at this Sacrifice of Thy Son To be Offer'd up with Him and to die every day Thus before-hand to make my self readier to be Sacrificed to Thee Once really and indeed To yield up this Life for Thee which Thou hast given me in any such Occurrences as it shall please Thee to fit for Me and Me for it 5. Lastly I Worship Thee in the Fore-sight of that Last Sacrifice which at the End of the World Thy Son shall make to Thee of all other Creatures before He Offer up his Elect to Thee as a Sacrifice too but after a far more Admirable manner For He shall first Consume by Fire all visible Things to make men see by the Light thereof That Thou alone art a fit Object for their Love as Thou alone art He that hast a Being firm and Incorruptible The first Memento COnsequently the Priest descends to some Particulars in the Church yet living Commemorating First Those for whom especially he Intends the Offering of this Sacrifice And being thus United to the Living here in Charity in Honour and Reverence growing too from the same Charity he next aspires to joyn with the principal Saints Living in Paradice as the Glorious and Blessed Virgin The Apostles and chief Prelates of the See Apostolick together with other Great Saints in several Conditions Imploring Gods protection to be granted through their Prayers Thereby in this Mystical Bond of Mutual Love testifying the Communion and inseparable Conjunction of the Church-Militant and Triumphant DEVOTION I Offer unto Thee O my Lord Thy whole Church all Thy Chosen and especially Those whom thou in a manner hast given me uniting them to Me by a particular tye that in This little number I may represent to my self Those few which Thy Father hath Chosen out of all the World and Given to Thee from all Eternity that I may Love Them and Serve Them as Thou dost uncessantly Love and Assist all Thine Have in mind O Lord Them and Me by the Intercession of All Thy Saints and particularly of the Blessed Virgin of the Apostles and Bishops of the Apostolick See who are now made by Thee the chief in Heaven as They were First the Chief in Thy Church here on Earth I desire to make one among These in the Offering up my Self together with them This Sacrifice Vpon the Priest's holding over his Hands and saying Hanc Oblationem Hanc igitur Oblationem AFter all the Priest makes the Third General Oblation of the whole matter of the Sacrifice Oblatio Generalis 3 putting his Hands over both the Host and Chalice together By this putting His Hands over them He joyns Himself and the whole Congregation Church to this matter of the Sacrifice protesting then to God That He Offers and Sacrificeth all this to him and substitutes in the place this to be Sacrific'd for Himself and Them since it is not permitted that they should Sacrifice so as to destroy themselves Such a thing just did God Ordain in the Old Testament where he commanded the Jews to lay their Hands upon the Head of the Sacrifice which they Offer'd to Him to shew that they were One with It and that in their stead it was Sacrific'd DEVOTION STretch forth Thy Divine Power Over me as now the Priest Extends his Hands over That Bread and Wine which He is about to Consecrate that I also with those Elements may in some sense be Converted into the Body and Blood of Thy Son and consequently in Him be Offer'd up as an Acceptable Sacrifice and Holocaust which thou canst not Despise The Consecration and Elevation THis Protestation made the Priest proceeds to the Prayer of Consecration including a Commemoration of what Jesus Christ did and said when He Instituted This Holy Mystery and Imitating Him Blesses and Consecrates the Bread and Wine in the same manner and with the same Words as He us'd And immediately after Consecration and profound Adoration of Each to give Example to the People in all Piety He Elevates each aloft both to shew that He Offers them up to God the Father above in Heaven and also to make the People more Visibly behold Jesus Christ and so to bow down and Worship Him DEVOTION BRing now fresh into my Memory and fill my Fancy with all that Thou didst for Vs that Night before Thy Death when Thou Institutedst the Blessed Sacrament of thy Body and Blood as the last and most incomparable Pledge of Thy Love to Vs and a Memorandum indelible of our Obligation to Thee Assist Me with Thy Grace O my Saviour and I will Imitate Thee and give my self to Thee even as thou gavest Thy Self to Me without any reserve Change my Heart as Thou Changest This Bread Create a new Heart in Me by this new Body Transubstantiate in Me that seeming Life and Strength which yet is indeed but a dying feebleness into a True and Divine Spirit as Thou changest the Wine which is but the Blood of the Grape a Terrestrial juice into the Vigour and Blood of God Grant that this present Elevation of Thy Body and Blood in mine Eye may produce another like It in my Heart and Spirit as to Crucifie my Flesh that is my Passions and to deliver me from all Affections to this World so also to enflame me with a desire of that Life above and always to keep my Conversation in Heaven with Saints with Angels and with thine Own Dear Self sweet Jesu I Adore Thee O my Saviour in all Thy Elevations Thy Elevation on the Cross the Day of Thy Passion Thy Elevation in the Air at the great Day of the Last Judgement Thy Elevation to the Right-hand of Thy Father in that never-ending Day of Eternity Immediately upon the Priest's reposing the Body and Blood upon the Altar DEVOTION SAnctify me here now by Thy Presence Renew me again by Thy Nativity Purify me by the Memory of Thy Passion by which Thou hast Obliterated in Thy Self the Memory of those Sins which lay so heavy upon Thee to the very last Gasp of Thy Life here Vnde Memores Domine c. THen immediately to express that by Words which he just now did in Action the Priest makes a Solemn and more distinct Oblation to God the Father Avowing that He Offers this now Holy Pure and Immaculate Sacrifice as for the whole Church so in the Person of Jesus Christ whose room he supply'd in the Mystery of the Consecration And he sayes he does it in the Honourable Memory of the three great Mysteries of the Son of God His Passion Resurrection and Ascension In the word Passion including whatsoever the Son
of God Suffer'd for Us from the first Moment of his Conception to the very last of his Death All which space was one continual Suffering for the Redemption of the World By these Three methinks the Church in this Sacrament which she calls Mysterium Fidei would represent unto our Thoughts the very principal and most necessary Objects of our Faith without which we cannot be sav'd Which are in St. Augustin's Judgement the Passion and Resurrection of which the Ascension is the accomplishment of Jesus Christ And for this very Reason perhaps is the number of Three so often observ'd in the Benedictions Crosses and Oraisons to intimate to Us the Holy Trinity the Capital Object of our Faith and withall this Blessed Sacrament which is Offer'd up to all Three Persons therein though attributed more particularly to the Father This may here be Noted by way that the Crosses made by the Priest on the Hoste after Consecration are not as others Benedictions but only marks of Crucifying of the Hoste intimating the particular manner of its Immolation DEVOTION BLess me O my God by frequent Impressions made upon my Soul of Thy Death and Passion as the Priest makes Tokens thereof by so often Signing the Cross ✚ upon Thy Body and Blood after he hath Offer'd them up unto Thy Father Multiply upon Me Thy Graces in abundance Now that thou hast vouchsafed to Consecrate and make Me Thy Son by Baptism and to Feed me in the Fucharist with thine own Substance the same with That of the Son of God That my Whole Life may be suitable to so Divine a Birth and Aliment Accord me the Grace I Pray Thee that in all Occurences of This Life Good or Bad I may still draw Comfort from Thy Cross to support me that I may Ever and anon renew in my mind the Memory thereof so effectually as thereby to sweeten to my self my Sufferings and to learn Moderation in Happier Success and throughout the whole course of my Time to find still in That History seasonable Applications to all my Necessities At the Supra Quae. NExt He Prays God Graciously to accept from Us This Sacrifice remembring how well he was pleas'd with That of Abel that of Abraham and that of Melchizedech that so having so kindly taken from those Holy Men the most Famous Sacrificers in all Antiquities such remarkable Types and Figures of This he would not less favourably receive from Us The Substance it Self but endue us with some of that Grace and Purity wherewith They accompanied the Offering up of what was indeed but the shaddow of This. DEVOTION I Beseech Thee O my God That as This Sacrifice is altogether Spiritual and Divine having nothing in It of Sensible or Earthly but only the Outward Appearance and Shell as it were so I may Offer it up to Thee together with the Priest by a Motive and Inspiration wholly Spiritual and Divine in such manner as That the very External Actions themselves flowing from and govern'd by it may have Nothing of Flesh or Corporealness in them except the bare Appearance and Outside only And that all the Works and Services which I pay to Thee during my whole Life may be One Continual Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving Internal and from the Heart That being according to the Scriptures the Chief Sacrifice that thou likest and Callest for Thus let me Imitate the Devotion of those Holy Patriarchs Abel Melchizedech and Abraham who Sacrific'd to Thee after the same manner long before the Evangelical Law of Grace by Voluntary Affection and not by Command in the Spirit not Letter and became thereby the most Notable Figures of the Sacrificing that Thou performd'st afterward more perfectly to Thy Father and that all Thy Faithful are oblig'd to perform together with Thee all their Life long Let me not Rest in or Content my self with the bare Outward Actions and Ceremonies how Solemn and Pompous and truly Great soever they are themselves but Worship Thee chiefly by a Movement that comes into my Heart like that Fire of Old from Thee thy self in that Spirit and in That Truth which alone Soveraignly Ingratiate to Thee whatever is Offer'd Even this very Oblation of Thy Self Supplices te Rogamus HE proceeds higher and Prays that this Sacrifice may now be Offer'd rather upon that High-Altar of Gods in Heaven by his most Holy Angel For touch'd with a Consciousness of his own great unfitness to Offer a Sacrifice so transcendently Holy he falls back to Re-substitute Jesus Christ in his own room that He himself who is The Angel of the Great Councel would Offer It up to the Divine Majesty By this imploying that as Jesus Christ is the only High-Priest for this Sacrifice so He alone is fit to be the Presenter of It to His Father and to hear the Name of Angel however it be in some sense Communicated to other Priests also and that no man is worthy to be in this no not so much as His Deputy DEVOTION YEt after all 't is not Me O my God 't is not Me nor any one else here Offering Sacrifice to Thee that I desire Thee to Regard in this Action Regard Jesus Christ who is That Angel That Mediator between God and Men That Sacrificer for the whole Church Regard Him Be He the Person that now Presents to Thee this most Holy Host and be We meerly and barely His Instruments not stirring in this Heavenly Operation in the least guise as we are Animated and Mov'd by His Spirit And whatsoever we have about us Impure and Unclean let It all sall off aad be quite remov'd from us by the Cleansing power of Thy Grace That As in very deed It is not We that Live but He that Lives in Us so It may truly be said It is not We now that Offer up to Thee this Sacrifice but It is He that Offers it in Us as who alone hath the Faculty and Power to do It. But keep Vs all the while This is doing in a Trembling Posture looking at this Sacrifice and Mystery as that which the Church hath thought and styl'd Terrible that all our Confidence in a Business of this High Nature so infinitely beyond the Port of our low and despicable Condition may be rais'd and support It self solely upon Jesus Christ and we be no more than the visible Hands of that other Inviâ—sible one by which he presents It to Thee above upon that Caelestial Altar The Second Memento THis Sacrifice now fully perfected He designes it First for the Dead Offering It up for Them in a particular Commemoration following here in the custom ever practic'd in the Church 2. And then for the Living and more earnestly and intimated by a Thump on the Breast and a more Audible Tone for such as are Present that we may all be joyn'd to the Society of Those in Glory not for our Merits but for those of Jesus Christ since we have none of our own but what He pleases to
and They are but One living in the Unity of His Body consisting of such Members and Co-integrated with Him in a True though not Ordinary sense In one person May I never be perswaded to acknowledge any other manner of Honouring and Serving Thee or of Performing Acts and Exercises of Holy Religion to Thee but This wherein are compriz'd and to which tend all that be good and True so that in Effect The Eucharist and Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Thy Son may be to Me not only a Lively Representation and Continual Memorial of His Passion but also a complete and moving Model of all the Actions and good Works that belong to a Christian Life O Holy Body of my Saviour Let Virtue Issue out from Thee to Bless me Now that the Priest Lifts Thee and the Chalice a little up from the Altar into the Air and presently re-placeth you there again It is even so O Lord that thou usest to give Vs suddain and short Glympses of Thy Self in this Life by certain quick Gleams of Light which dure not like those Thou displayest in Heaven permanently and Eternally But 't is enough to make me Thine for ever that but once thou vouchsafe to pass before the Eyes of my Soul though but like a flash of Lightning as heretofore thou didst to Elias Humble my Soul lowly with the Priest still as He bowes so oft before thee at Thine Altar and Adores Thee in Silence Let the Eyes thereof shew their Modest Submission in Closing themselves to All the Objects of this World and They shall quickly discern Thee upon the Altar of my Heart within when I am Thus become Thy True Temple At the Pater Noster NOw these acknowledgements or Acts of Faith being thus Solemnly made that whatsoever Good we receive from or whatsoever Service or Worship or Glory we thereupon pay to God do all pass through Jesus Christ the Priest proceeds to desire that this devout Spiritual Commerce between Heaven and Us may be put in Execution and he begs It not only in the Name of Jesus Christ joyning himself to Him as a Brother imploring one common Father but in Those very words which Jesus Christ taught Vs to say Testifying thereby that not only the External Vocal Prayer which he recites is His but the Internal Mental one too and that It is He and His Spirit that Prayes in Vs and makes Vs Pray and say so But because in the very first words of this Lords Prayer we are to call God Our Father The Priest reflecting upon the greatness of the Honour we receive by being permitted the Use of That Title because of Gods Infinite Eminency and Grandeur above Us vile and abject Creatures Infinite unworthy to take such a Term into our Mouths He excuses this Presumption in Himself and Us declaring that if we dare to call God Our Father It is not only by the command of Jesus Christ but also by the very Express form of words so drawn by Himself for Us to do It by which we much less dare to alter or omit Wherefore he proceeds to say it as with some Considence shewn by a louder Tone so with Earnest and flagrant Desire that what is contain'd in this Prayer may be accomplish'd and stand Ratify'd for ever To which Vote the People give their most Hearty Assent by their subjoyning the last Clause as it were Subscribing and Sealing it with Et Libera nos a Malo And thus is the Canon of the Mass clos'd with the same Joynt desire of Priest and People and with the same Elevation of Hearts and Aspiration towards God as its Preface began with DEVOTION T Is most properly Now Certainly Now at the Holy Mass that Thou Obligest Vs to believe Thee to be Our Father Now that Thou here dispencest to Vs Thy Childrens Bread â—â—eding Vs with the Body and Blood of thine only Son with His very Substance Humane and Divine to make Vs Gods too and Children of the most High This Largess and Honour is so Great that though our Faith permits not to doubt of It yet an Humble Estimate of our selves and true Acknowledgement of our great vility and unworthiness makes it almost incredible at least suffers us not to receive any assurance thereof but in the single bare contemplation of thy Mercy only Imprint we beseech thee This Resentment so deep in our Souls that we growing as little in our own esteem as we are design'd to be Great in Thine may therefore be made the more certain of this Great Favour and Incomprehensible Dignity and by this means be in a better disposition and preparation to receive the precious Earnest thereof in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ which is but the Typical Pledge of that Other Infinitely Higher and more August which thou reserv'st for us in Heaven Only take such Care of Vs in the mean time that we no way degenerate from this Divine quality of being Children of Thine nor render Our Selves unworthy of having Thee for Our Father by some Ungracious deed that may argue Vs to Be no less than thy profest Enemies O if the frailty of this Present Life is not Compatible with an absolute Freedom from all sorts of Faults as we are sure the Felilicities of the Next will be yet Guard Vs at least that we incur none but such as are altogether Inseparable from this Frailty and so ruine not that Dignity which Thou hast given us of being Thy Children for all This Only take we good heed still of Explating them again as soon as ever committed and of Procuring from Thee our Own Pardon by Pardoning in like manner freely and from the Heart whosoever have Offended Us since this is that most Equitable Condition which thou hast so wisely caution'd in this Admirable Prayer and wilt surely Observe so as not to Pardon the Trespasses against Thee Our Father unless we first forgive those that our Brethren commit against Vs I cannot say that I would desire such Exact Purity or so Perfect an Absolution from all my Sins for any other reason but that I may be so able more Holily to Serve and Glorifie Thee having no desire of any one thing in this World so much as to see Thy Name Hallow'd Thy Kingdom come and Establish'd in the total Ruine of Thine Enemies Thy Will be done in the utmost Latitude as well by good Men as Bad These fulfulling It though against their Own Will but those in perfect Love and True Obedience Libera Nos quaesumus Domine Da Propitius Pacem THe Canon ended the Priest now begins to prepare Himself to the Participation and Communion of this Sacrifice Which he does First by Imploring Peace from God 2. And then wishing and deriving It to the People still shewing that he can impart to them nothing of Himself but must first receive it Himself from God Now Peace is the chiefest and prime qualification or disposition toward the Receiving
Crush and destroy the least Reliques and Remains of any Sin into whatever part it is Retir'd or under what disguise soever It lurks and hides These being indeed the True Idols and Abominations which God hath commanded to put from Vs and utterly to annihilate if we mean to Receive and Conserve His Grace Lastly It is My Saviour Himself that is in This Sacrament O that I might Love according to His Example here Retirement Re-collection Abstraction and Separation from all Creatures as He continues still unmix'd with any now no less in within me than in the whole Church always In a Profound Silence under a Wonderful Humility leading here a Life perfectly Internal and absorpt in a Contemplation and Adoration perpetual of the Greatness and Incomprehensible Majesty of God his Father Upon the Priest's gathering up the Crums and lesser particles of the Hoste and sucking in the rest in the Chalice DEVOTION THe Fragments O Lord The least Crum that jalls from Thy Table the least Drop of Thy Wine no Remainder of Thy Honey Comb is so little but is enough for me as well as for that modest Canaanite and for Thy Apostles at that miraculous Entertainment in the Desart or at That Collation upon Thy Resurrection Indeed all the Graces that we are capable of in This Life are but Crums falling from That Thy Table above but few drops of that Inexhaustible Fountain with which Thy Blessed in Heaven are so abundantly Refresh'd but on Vs here are but sprinkled a little to relieve our Necessities and sustain Vs from fainting in our Passage through the Desart of This World Yet as Thou art no less whole and Entire in the pettyest Particle and Attom of these Symbols than in the biggest Portion so I avouch that there is force enough to Nourish me and to Strengthen me too against all mine Enemies in the Lightest Grain of Thy Grace because Thou art always All in It and With and By It dost uncessantly derive Thy Spirit into Our Hearts Which well considered should Oblige Vs everyone to live Contented in This Life as we shall do in the Next be the Gifts Great or Small that we receive from Thy Mercy Vpon the bringing back again of the Book to the Right-Hand IT is to shew that the Gospel which was remov'd from the Jews at first shall return to them again and be receiv'd towards the end of the World And then the whole Church consisting both of Jew and Gentile being United together The Priest Blesseth God for all the Favours shewn to it in order thereunto and particularly for the Present Communion by which he hath re-united so many beseeching Him that this Receiving of Him at this time may tend to His everlasting Honour DEVOTION I Admire and Adore O my God Thy Goodness and Insinite Patience who having been so long Oppos'd and Vilifi'd by the Jews wilt yet at last before the end of the World receive them again for all that and restore to them the Light of the Gospel before taken from them as is signifi'd by bringing back the Book before the Mass ends to the place It had at the beginning God forbid I should ever Despair of any Sinner how Great or Wretched and Harden'd soever he be as long as He yet Lives No let me rather in all Humility wait till Thy Mercy or Thy Justice declare it self toward Him in the Season that Thou hast appointed and the mean while Pray for Him Wishing Him Thy Grace with the same Charity wherewith Thy Church still implor'd It for the Jews her Enemies and first Persecutors though receive it they should not till after many Ages and at present are Harden'd and even Abandon'd by Thee after a manner most notoriously Hideous O let me so Intercede for a Mercy and a true Repentance for the worst of mine Enemies make me carry them always in my Heart though they little deserve It and have turn'd me out of theirs as Thou lodgest and bearest me in Thine without considering my unworthiness and wert willing to receive me even when I hated Thee and ran from Thee as fast and as far as I was able Sweeten me into a Benignity that as I have receiv'd Thy Grace without all merit so I may keep it without all Envy and be an earnest Suitor unto Thee that Thou wouldst vouchsafe it also to those who I am sure cannot less deserve it than I. Nay let it be to me a particular delight and joy when ever Thou shalt be pleas'd to indulge it to them in a greater abundance than Thou hast done to me that so even their abundance may be as truly mine and the â—â—ches of them supply what is wanting in me as Thy Apostle says At the last Benediction AFter this tender of Thanks in Conclusion of all the Priest turns to the People to Bless them as was us'd to be done in the Old Law after the Sacrifice and shall be more fully done hereafter by our Saviour Himself in that General Benediction of all the Elect at the end of the World Hence is it that he reads the Gospel of St. John treating particularly of the Eternal Generation of the Word and the Highest Mysteries of that His Deity To shew that immemediately after that Last Benediction we shall pass into Heaven there to be better acquainted with and Eternally Admire and Praise these Mysteries And that Jesus Christ having gather'd together all His chosen shall lead them in and place them in the Bosom of His Father where He is from all Eternity His Only Son and where He shall admit Us as His Brethren that where He is We may be also and this without any prejudice of His being still the Only because He shall make Us One with Him Amen DEVOTION I Beseech Thee O my God to make me so partaker of Thy Body and Blood and so to Order the rest of my Life that I may receive That great Benediction which Thou shalt give to Thy Servants at the Last day The which is now Represented unto Me by This which the Priest gives to the People in the end of the Mass In the Hope of This let me live and grow Invincibly strong against the rudest Assaults of the Enemy In the expectation of so great Comfort let my Heart be so Establish'd as to Dread nothing nor can the greatest Beauties or Pleasures in This World seem any thing to the sight of That last Glory or to the perception of That Blessing accumulative of all Blessings which then shall be receiv'd in the presence of Millions of Angels and of all Men which ever were or shall be The Blessing and St. John's Gospel DEVOTION ANd after that Solemn Benediction take me O my God with Thee into Heaven that Heaven of Heavens Where I may enjoy Thee in Thy Majesty in thy Beatitude and Life so Glorious A Scantling of which seems to be Represented to Vs by that Beginning of St. John 's Gospel which is said after the Mass Wherein
Messias coming together with the Joy of Men and Angels immediatly upon It. This being the Hymne Sung at His Nativity Very properly therefore is This Angelical Hymne of Joy omitted upon days of Sadness and Penitence such as are days of Commemorations of the Dead and Ordinary Feria's which in going before Sunday the day of the Resurrection sitly shaddow out to us the Time of this Life to be a Time of Repentance and preparing our selves for that Great Lords-day at the General Resurrection And so this Hymn of Glory is Sung still on every Lords-day and the days of the Blessed Virgin and the other Saints now Regnant in the Glory of Christ their Lord. DEVOTION I Humbly Thank Thee my God! That thou hast been pleas'd to give Me my Being Now after thy Incarnation and Nativity Vnder the New-Law and In Thy Holy Church Thus separating me from so many Infidels so many Hereticks and Schismaticks as be without and if I be not Treacherous to my self from so many False Christians that Live even in the midst of It as if they had as little Faith as those I beseech Thee that As the Reflection upon this Transcendent Good is deservedly the Cause of so Great Joy and Jubilation common to All the Angels in Heaven and on Earth to All Men of good Will so It may ever Affect my Soul more sensible and more piercingly then All the Pleasures or then All the Pains that can befall It in this World Make me count it my chiefest Felicity to be One in the Number ber of those Men of Peace and Good-Will that the Angels Saluted and gave the Joy to at Thy Nativity Give me that Peace which the World cannot give and That Good Will which alone gives me back again to Thee There 's no good Good Will but in a True Love of Thee O give me That Dominus Vobiscum HEre the Priest turning about to the People and Blessing Them seems to Communicate to them the Benedictions of Christ Jesus now born in the Flesh for this very purpose to Bless Mankind And therefore his Blessing in particular is That God may continue amongst Vs Exprest in those very words which unfold That Name which the Scripture gives to Christ in order to his Incarnation that is Emanuel as much as to say A God with Vs But before he pronounceth This Blessing He Kisses the Altar as It were taking It in his Mouth first from Jesus Christ himself in whose stead stands the Altar as from whom being an in-exhaustible Spring open'd by God for our refreshment All manner of Blessings Favours and Graces are deriv'd upon Us. DEVOTION VOuchsaefe me the Grace to lead in this Blessed Time of the New-Law and in the Communion of thy Holy Church where thou art still Present with Vs after a special manner such a Life as may render me capable of all thy Blessings that thou mayst still Turn thy Face towards Me and lift up the Light of Thy Countenance upon Me to succour Me and to impart unto Me every day more and more of that Rich Treasure which thou hast provided for Me. V upon the Priest's turning back again and Praying Oratio HAving breath'd forth this Benediction over the People He turns him to Jesus Christ again 1. to the Altar to present to Him some Prayers as the time requires one or more for Confirmation of That Blessing and humbly to testifie his Dependance on him as not being any thing but his Instrument nor able to confer on others the least good but only by way of Humble Petition to his Divine Majesty DEVOTION ENable me to Pray without Ceasing as thy Scriptures Command me since in this Life thou bestowest Nothing upon Us for our good but by being Petition'd first Let me then still be putting up Requests unto Thee often Re-inforcing the Old and Multiplying as Thy Priest at the Altar does New upon every important occasion At the Reading the Epistle NExt is read The Epistle taken sometimes out of the New Testament Sometimes out of the Old This puts me in mind of that Notice which was all along given To the Jews of the Coming of their Messias first by the Prophets fore-told and then exhibited to them by St. John and the Apostles And for this reason I think 't is read on that Corner of the Altar which is on the Priest's Right-hand because the Jews were a Nation chiefly Belov'd of God and at first his chosen People to whom he entrusted his Oracles DEVOTION I Do not a little Wonder at Thy Constant and Vntyr'd Love to the Jews who were the Only People whom Thy Prophets were sent to Save to whom Thou thy Self cam'st and Preached'st the Gospel And though not the Only yet the First to whom Thy Apostles declar'd Thy Resurrection Thy Resurrection A point of such moment that to Represent It the more Lively The Priest who sustains the Person of Thee Risen throughout the Whole Mass even in the Act of Sacrificing and Oblation Celebrates all Standing O my God Permit not Me to Slight Thy Holy Word or to Undervalue its Preachers who come to Vs in Thy Name and on thy Errand As that Stiff-necked Hard-hearted and Rebellious People have rejected the Addresses of the Prophets and Apostles Thy Servants nay of Thy Son Christ Jesus himself Let not thy Holy Commands be a New Occasion and Aggravation of Sin to Me as to Them It was but Improve them to Me into True Gospel and Words of Salvation by Inspiriting me to do That which Thy Law injoyneth and not suffering my Sinful Inclinations to Quench this Spirit and Evacuate Thy Grace Gradual and Alleluja or Tractus Immediately after the Epistle read succeeds the Gradual with either Alleluja or the Tractus IF with the Alleluja I apprehend that thereby Priest and People joyn in Acclamations of Praise and Thanks to God as It were in lieu and Supplement for the Jews Ingratitude Infidelity and great neglect of the Gospel as if therefore by way of Reparation we would shew our selves the more zealous and by certain Degrees of Versicles and Benedictions raise our selves to be more Attentive to what they slighted Or if in the place of Alleluja a Tractus be annex'd which being a Mournful Ditty therefore appointed for days of Penitence and Sorrow and to be read more Gravely and drawn out more leasurely and Sadly We are admonish'd thereby to compose our selves to ask Pardon of God for Those Sins which we also no less than the Jews have committed in our Great Neglect of the Gospel and to look on our selves as partakers of their Guilt and to be Penitent for It. DEVOTION LEt Thy Goodness prevent me from such Jewish Ingratitude and more Now I have received from thee so many more and Greater Favours than They. As particularly The Light of the Gospel the Grace of Baptism and then a greater Portion of Thy Holy Spirit Confirming Me and Even Thine Own Body and Blood for Nourishment Be It the Business to
take up All my Thoughts All my Life long To weigh the Greatness and Variety of Thy Mercies And may Nothing in the World have such Power as to make me pass by inconsiderately much less to forget the least The Tractus DEVOTION I Fall down before Thee O dear Father with Shame and great Confusion of Face calling to Mind Those Sins which I have committed particularly against the Precepts of thy Gospel which Gospel I though I refus'd not with the Jews but entertain'd it with Protestation to Live according to it and if need were to Die for It yet have violated frequently by Great and Enormous Crimes being so much less excusable than They into how much stricter an Oblation I enter'd into I have Cause enough to fear O my God that Thou shouldst Abandon Me too at last as Thou hast for saken Them because having contracted a deeper Guilt than They 't is but Reason I should be more severely punish'd To provide against such a mischief in Time I now beg of Thee The Spirit of Repentance which I beseech Thee to Give and continue to Me to my last gasp whereby to Expiate my grievous Faults and to put me again into the Quality of a True Christian For the Spirit of Repentance It is which is the very Beginning of Christianity and most Proper Condition of the New Law delivering us from the Sins and consequently from the sad Effects of the Old which is according to the Apostle the Law of Wrath and Death and working out of us by degrees still more what yet it finds in us as Relicks of the Flests of Judaism or of base Earthliness Vpon the removing the Book UPon this Action my Consideration is That The Jews refusing to Hear and understand aright the Prophets and Apostles were at length Neglected and the Apostles turn'd unto the Gentiles bringing The Gospel and the News of a Saviour to Them which is now represented by changing the place of the Book from the Right Hand of the Priest to the Left denoting that Christ had now left the Jews who before were the people of His Right-Hand and that in their stead The Heathens at His Left that is abandon'd heretofore to the Curse of God and not His people were now made his people and dearly Belov'd and That among Us it is that Jesus Christ now keeps Residence and Establishes His Church Here is made indeed No intimation at all that the Gospel was ever Preach'd to the Jews though to them it was Preach'd first and here is something betokening as if Christ had Preach'd It to the Gentiles which yet he never did But the Reason of Both is First That That is omitted because that Preaching of it to the Jews was so In-effectual and Fruitless as not considerable especially in respect what Glorious Entertainment It had afterward among the Gentiles in the full Explication and vigour of It as of a New Law And Secondly That This is solely insisted on Because though Christ Preach'd not Himself in person to the Gentiles but only by his Apostles Ministers yet was It in so wonderful Success and Communication of Grace and Benediction and Reformation of Manners the True Fruits of the Gospel that Now only among these seems He to have fully Exercis'd his Office of an Evangelical Preacher now only indeed to have promulgated the Law of Grace in the quickening Spirit as oppos'd to That of the Jews in the Killing Letter DEVOTION NEver O Lord take away The Grace thou hast Given from Me to Confer It on Another as in thy Justice Thou hast remov'd Thy Gospel from the Jew to the Gentile Let Thy Gifts in me be without Repentance as Thy Scripture speaks Make me ever Remember That saying of St. John * 3 Apoc. 11 a Figure of Thy Elect Take heed Hold fast That which Thou hast that no man take Thy Crown Let me not be Tempted to prize my self as more Worthy than such Offenders whom thou hast not favour'd as Thou hast done Me least I come under that Curse and Malediction wherewith Thy Apostle Threatens the Gentiles 11 Rom. 20 21 22. if they arrogantly insult over the Jews whom Thou hast rejected Transplant Me Out of those Countries of the World where Thou art not duly Worshipped into some Holy Land Exempt from its Malignity and Corruption where I may serve Thee more freely and more Faithfully Make me comprehend the force of those words of the Apostle Exhorting Vs to follow Thee On the Right-hand and on the Left that at all turns Of Adversity and Prosperity Health and Sickness Life and Death I may cleave to Thee unseparably The Gospel THe Book being remov'd to the Left-hand of the Priest To shew as I have said the publication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ now to those on his Left-hand That were his Enemies the Gentiles After some preparation by 1. Particular Prayers for Assistance 2. And Benediction 3. He Crosses the Book and Himself 4. And Names the part he intends to Read 5. The People stand up and Answer Gloria tibi Domine and in that posture continue during the Reading 6. Testify not only their readiness to Hear but also to put in Execution whatever is therein propos'd 7. The Gospel being read the people give again their Approbation 8. With Laus tibi Christe and the Priest saying 9. Per Evangelica Dicta c. Kisseth It. All testifying a high respect to the Gospel The Book continues in that same place almost to the end of the Mass Intimating thereby the continuation of the Gospel among the Gentiles only to almost the end of the World DEVOTION GIve me the Grace to understand and take the Words of Thy H. Gospel as one of thy Faithful Ones that is As a Man ready to do as It says and to practice suitably to what he Professes to Believe Make Me Stand always firm and Erected above All that otherwise might be Impediments to my Ready Obedience Hearing thy Voice as a Friend of the Bridegrooms and joying in nothing so much as rightly to Understand Thy Will and fully to Accomplish It. Let My Spirit Kiss Thee as at the End of the Gospel the Priest does the Book thereby in all Holy Reverence to Adore Thee after I have gotten a glimpse of Thee by that Light which thou hast Now been pleas'd to dart into Me from Thy Words Make me always keep thus Close unto Thee and continue in this Union with Thee which certainly I Owe unto Thee as to One that hath the Words of Eternal Life and Art the very Soul of the Gospel O whither should I go from Thee Never let any Occurrence in this Life never any danger that any Enemy of mine may engage me in be able to separate Me from my Obedience to Thee It is in This preparation of Heart for whatsoever Thou shalt Command Me be the Consequencce what It will that I desire to lay the Foundation of all my Piety and Devotion At the Credo