to the Honour of God also inviting all occasional Comers to buy and offer liberal Sacrifices as an Exchange tempts Customers it also making provision for Proselites and strangers of such Money as was current at Jerusalem which only was to be offered to the Lord and for the poor that they might borrow tho not on Usury yet on Pawn so as they might not comeempty handed before the Lord the place of this Traffick being only the outer Court of the Temple into which were admitted even the Gentiles and Uncircumcised why was our Masters Zeal so Fervent With great Reason doubtless was this done for all that Jesus did was by the guidance of the Infallible Spirit nor was it without reason that this Action was called the greatest of our Saviour's Miracles and one of the most solemn Declarations that he was the Son of God VVas it not a great Affront to the Divine Majesty to make a Butchers stall or a Bankers shop of his House To alienate it from its right use and instead of a house of Prayer to make it a den of Thieves of Publicans and Extortioners and of the Practicers of the Arts of Fraud and the Methods of Cheating VVas it not Irreligious to serve the Ends of Covetousness more than the designs of Piety For these Markets were at first held only near the Temple but at last through the greediness of the Priests were brought into the first Court of it to their no little gain while they managed the Markets either by their own servants or by exacting a Tribute of all those who there erected stalls and perhaps selling one and the same sacrifice over and again to several Persons Now what could create in mens minds mean thoughts of Religion and depreciate the service of the Almighty if such Actions did not And how could men chuse but abhor the Offerings of the Lord This therefore incited the Zeal of our dearest Lord and it was a sad Omen that the Priests themselves should in a little time be banisht from the House of God and turn'd out of his service because they had corrupted and huxter'd the VVord of God and handled it deceitfully And now O my soul and my body are not you the Temple of God And ought not the same measure of Zeal to be in me that was in my Redeemer Ought I not to cleanse this Temple and to expel thence all brutish Affections all covetous thoughts all self love and love of the VVorld all pride and vain glory and to keep my self undefiled in the VVorld fit for the residence of God and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit for if a man defile the Temple of God shall not God destroy that sinner I will therefore devote my self intirely to my Maker what he loves shall be my delight and I will honour him here in his Person in his Will in his Ordinances in his Habitation in his Revenue and in every thing else that appertains to him that I may hereafter enjoy him and live with him for ever Amen The Collect. ALmighty and most Merciful Saviour who in the heighth of thy Glories wast mindful of thy Humiliation and thy sufferings as thou wert contented to be made the Son of man tho by an ineffable generation thou wert the Son of God so new make me thy most unworthy because thy most disobedient Servant create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me that my soul whom thou hast redeemed may always sing thy Praises and celebrate thy bounty that all my faculties and all my members being consecrated to thee and thy service my Zeal may be flaming and unquenchable my love to thee victorious over all self love or love of the world my love to my neighbours generous and disinterested and my constancy and resolutions to be thine unalterable that I may preserve thy living Temple free from all Pollation till I come to the New Jerusalem where the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it through the Merits und Mediation of thee my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen The Anthem for Palm-Sunday ETERNITY I. MY Eager Soul 's upon the wing To view th' Court of th' Heavenly King So passionate 't is those Joys to taste and know That it disdains all pleasures here below For what can this sad world impart To ease the longings of my Heart Which Heavenly Love hath wounded with its Dart II. The Palace Glorious was where God Made his perpetual abode E're his Omnipotent Word bad all Things be The Mighty Undivided Trinity Resided in Eternal Light Before the Sun appear'd in sight Or Time was impt to make his earliest flight III. With Joy the Father then look't on The Beauties of his only Son Miraculous Child whose great Sire cannot be Above his Son in Age or Dignity From both these did proceed the Dove Which gently up and down did move And fill'd the place with Harmony and Love IV. In this vast space the Equal THREE With mutual Sentiments did agree That God the Father should the World create The Son redeem the Spirit regenerate Transcendent Fountain whence did flow What infinite Pity could bestow To make men Gods and bring down Heav'n below V. No longer can my Soul forbear It Sighs and Wishes to be there That it may celebrate the Father's power Love Jesus and the Holy Spirit adore For tho my Saviour's Presence here My Soul to Scepters does prefer On Earth she dreads to lose him there 's no fear Monday before EASTER THE Monday before Easter was called the Holy and Great Monday or the second day of the Paschal-week and the whole week was called the Great week ‖ Chrys To. 5. p 541 c. not because the days were longer than ordinary but the blessings were greater because of the great and stupendious Blessings not to be comprehended or utter'd which God this Week conferred upon the World in the Death and Resurrection of our blessed Saviour and because it immediately preceded the great Festival as Easter is called Joh. 19.31 or * Bern. Ser. 3. in domin Palmar because of the four great Days in it viz. The Procession of Talm-Sunday the Institution of the blessed Sacrament on Maundy-Thursday the Passion on Good-Friday and the continuance in the Grave on Saturday which was the Eve to our blessed Masters Resurrection The Week also was stiled the Passion-week the Week of Fastings dry Diet and Penances in which the Devouter sort did eat nothing but Bread and Salt and drank nothing but Water from which strictness no day was exempt except the Lords Day on which it was a great Crime to Fast ‡ Constit App. l. 5. c. 17. alii Every day of this Week was a day of business the whole time from the days of the Apostles being spent in Prayers Watchings and Mortifications ⸫ Chrys ub Sup. p. 586. Tribunals and Courts of Justice were now shut up no Pleadings no Suits of Law no publick Business no
agreed to abolish that Custom To conclude the famous Huniades is as great in Story for his Humility as for his Victories and as much celebrated that he would not tho on his Death-bed receive the blessed Sacrament but on his knees as for the many Overthrows that he gave the Mahometans Since therefore these and the like Excuses are but Engines to entrap and betray me And since the same Authority that forbids me to kill or to steal bids me do this in remembrance of my Saviour I do from henceforth resolve to communicate upon every Occasion as I love my life and my salvation The Collect. GRacious God the instructor of the ignorant and the guide of them who are out of the way convince me of my folly remove my prejudices and arm me with thy Grace against the assaults of Satan that I may not consult with Flesh and Blood but with thy lively Oracles that I may long for all occasions to communicate with thee and may stifle all Excuses that would hinder that holy Converse that above all things I may love thee here and live with thee for ever hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. III. Of the danger of unworthy Receiving BUT do not thou imagine O my deceitful heart that there is nothing required of thee but only to approach this holy place and taste of the Dainties it affords They never relish well but to the Palat that is seasoned This Bread turns to a Stone and the Wine into Gall and Wormwood to the sinner whose soul is vitiated Our Saviour does not vouchsafe to eat this Christian Passeover but with his Disciples with the penitent and the devout He is the Carkass and here the Eagles are expected but Dogs are prohibited * Revel 22.15 without are dogs and all that work iniquity And whatever wretch should dare break through these Fences and commit a Rape on this blessed Sacrament he will be deceived of the benefit expected for this spiritual food to him hath no extraordinary relish nor does it differ from that which ministers to his Lust and his Wantonness and he runs the greatest hazard of eternal damnation He had better have swallowed the deadliest Poison I dare not therefore magnifie constant Communion so as to depretiate the Vertues that must qualifie the Communicant and make him worthy It is an insufferable affront to Religion and an intrusion not to be pardoned when the crafty Usurer shall come from his yesterdays grinding the face of the poor to eat to day the Body of his Saviour the Shop-keeper from his little arts and methods of fraud the Glutton from his cramm'd dishes the Intemperate from his last nights debauch and the lustful from the arms and embraces of his Mistrisses to force themselves a way to Gods House and Table that man unavoidably * 1 Cor. 11.27 29. eats and drinks damnation to himself and is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And tho perhaps the word in the Original which our Translators render Damnation be sometimes taken in a softer sense and only signifies Temporal Judgments And it be a Quaere whether he who thinks himself unworthy be for that Reason unfit because the most humble is the best prepared or whether every actual unworthiness makes a man liable to so severe a sentence Yet doubtless every prophane and impenitent Wretch is in the high-road to Ruin And hardly can salvation it self save such a man * Heb. 6.6 c. who after he hath been inlightned from above and tasted of the good gift of God falls away For he hath anew crucified to himself the Lord of life I therefore as a private person charge thee O my soul look to thy self and examine severely thy state Thy happiness and eternal welfare depend on thy due preparation And as God's servant in the Function of the Priesthood I charge the Drunkard and Adulterer and I do it in the Name of our adorable Saviour I charge the Covetous and the Extortioner the Proud and the Revengeful the Prophane Man and the Hypâ—crite the practical Infidel and Debauchee not to presume to tread this holy ground Fire will break from this Altar and consume them Here is an angry Cherub with his Flaming Sword turning every way to secure the Tree of Life that it may not be tasted of by the wicked and profligate but I also charge the same Atheistical and vicious liver to alter his evil habits to wash his soul clean in the waters of true penitence and then let him visit the Temple It is equally damnable not to come at all and to come unprepared The Collect. In imitation of St. Chrysostome HOly Saviour who hast been in all places who didst not disdain to visit the Grave with thy Body and Hell with thy Soul while thy Divinity was with the penitent Thief in Paradise and with thy Father on his Throne Thou Spirit of Truth thou Heavenly King and Comforter who art present every where and fillest all things Thou Treasure of Goodness and Guide unto Eternal Life where wilt thou that I shall provide the Passeover O! come and pitch thy Tents in my Soul and purge me from all pollution cleath me with thy Righteousness give me Faith and Knowledg Love and Obedience that I may always be fit to enjoy thy company and to share in thy Merits Pardon my sins and save my soul O thou Author of all Goodness Amen CHAP. IV. Of Examination in general THere is an indispensible necessity of Examination preparative to worthy receiving For tho Charity inclines me to judg Favourably of others yet I dare not flatter my self And if severity be at any time lawful it is in the Offices of Repentance I ought to suspect my best actions and censure my very devotions I ought to fly the very appearances of evil as I dread the shadows of the Grave and to tremble at a temptation when first in View For nothing can be so terrible as the state of a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reprobate For if the Sacrifice must be without blemish if it must not only not want any Essential or Integral part not an Ear or an Eye but also must not so much as have a Scab or an Ulcer the blood must not be tainted nor the Lungs scirrous how much more ought the Priest to be perfect throughly furnisht unto every good work It is the Apostle's advice 1 Cor. 11.28 Let every man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a word of a very large and comprehensive signification I ought to examine my self as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. S. Chrysost Hom. 20. in Ep. ad Rom. to 3. p. 174. the Ancient Priests did their Sacrifices For both the Jews and Gentiles when an Oblation was brought to the Temple did not only inspect its Out-side but cut it down by the back
they who sow in tears shall reap in joy and be made partakers of the Anthems of Angels and glorified Spirits through Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Advocate Amen The Anthem for Monday The CREATION I. THE Mighty God long in his Palace dwelt Blest without want of other Things E're Time had plum'd his Silver Wings Or Heaven and Earth the powerful Voice had felt For ever happy in themselves alone Were th' undivided Three and One E're sensual Transports or voluptuous Arts were known II. But when the great Prolifick Word went forth Then every Thing began to be The Light broke from Obscurity Light which we use but do not know its worth The spacious Tent of Heaven was smoothly spread Like Curtains to the Earths Green Bed With most Illustrious Torches richly furnished III. The Waters which before made one great Deep And like a deluge did appear Floating confusedly every where Aw'd by th' Almighty Word their distance keep Part into th' Earth's vast hollows did retreat While the rest in Heaven fix their seat But when the Showers fall these distant Brethren meet IV. In Heaven was plac't the Prince of Day the Sun Adorn'd with Beams of strongest Light While over the dull shades of Night The Stars bear rule and over them the Moon Who does not only o're the night preside But guards the motion of the Tide In which the turbulent Whale and all the lesser Fry do glide V. The Earth was in her loveliest Verdure clad Her Fruits and Blossoms kindly grew VVater'd with soft and balmy dew The Forrests smil'd and every Field was glad Anumerous Herd cover'd this Fertile Space The Beasts of a more generous race And those that were for burthens made here found a place VI. In the expanded Air upon the VVing The Fowls did range of which some flew For shelter others did pursue Some hoarsly sereecht others did sweetly sing In that vast Region Lightnings first take Fire There VVinds and Thunders do conspire And Comets do forebode when Princes shall expire VII When all things thus were order'd God made man Whose Ornaments of Soul and meen To Heaven declar'd him to be kin At first view all the Creatures round him ran Lord of the World was Adam at his birth His Territory the whole Earth And nought was in his Kingdom heard but innocent mirth VIII In Eden did this mighty Prince keep house Eden where every thing was gay And all the Year did look like May. There did he fall in love with Eve his spouse But Heavens first blessing straight became a curse Of all his Evils she the source Enticing him to fall who could not fall by Force IX Thus shorter was deluded Adam's Reign Than Persian Kings their Slaves allow Whose three days Royalty's a show Which ended the mock Monarch must be slain The difference lies in this the Persian slave Unwillingly goes to his Grave But man refus'd to live when Mercy would him save Tuesday before EASTER THis Day was called the Holy and great Tuesday or the third Day of the great Week for the more solemn Festivals of the Christian Church never wanted their Appendages they had their Antecedent Fasts as Advent was to Christmas and the Lent to Easter and perhaps this was the Reason why the Rogation week preceeded Whitsuntide whereas else the whole fifty Days ought to have been days of Exultation and rejoicing as also after the great Festivals succeeded the Octaves which were eight days of Gladness attendant on the extraordinary Solemnity when by the Laws of the * Constit Ap. li. 8. c. 33. Church and by the Authority of the ‖ V. Scalig de Emend Temp. p. 730. Epiph. Haer. 70. Empire servants were exempted from Work and all People kept Holyday according to a very Ancient Practice Now as the whole forty days of Lent were a preparation to the Paschal Festival so the Offices suited to that time of self-denial were doubled on this last week that put a period to that Fast and that all such devout and mortified Penitents might not want the ghostly comfort which was requisite on such an occasion on this week * Cypr. Ep. 56. the absent Bishops returned to their Churches whatever had caused their absence that they might give the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist to their People and that now * Conc. Nic. c. 5. also they might hold their yearly Synods at the time appointed that all disputes might be quieted all quarrels reconciled all abuses rectified and all hinderances removed that might obstruct a general receipt of the Holy Communion And because this Week was called the Passion Week therefore in the Ancient Church as in ours the History of our Blessed Redeemers sufferings as it is recorded by the Four Evangelists was read to the People that nothing relating to that performance on our behalf might be omitted and that the Congregation might be continually put in mind of their obligations to their Saviour The Epistle Rom. 8.1 THere is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit The Gospel John 14 15. IF ye love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not neither knows him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you yet a little while and the world sees me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also The MEDITATION IT is the great Honour as well as the Happiness of the Christian World that the good things which our Religion promises its Proselites stoop not to our senses but gratifie our Reasons for were Pleasure all the Felicity of a pious Man how much better were it to be a Bruit since the greatest Epicure never lived so voluptuously as the Beasts that perish they eat they sleep with an uncontroulable freedom and whenever their inclinations lead them to it they live above the restraint of Laws and whatever they desire they pursue without the fear of being countermanded in the Attempt by reason or scourged afterwards by the lashes of Conscience they are under no necessity of Building Planting or Sowing the liberal Provisions which Nature makes them are both their Palace and their Feast they do not foresee dangers nor make their lives uneasie by studying to prevent them nor do they
That my past sins may be intirely forgiven and the rest of my life spent in the works of repentance I beseech thee c. That the end of my life may be Christian without pain and without shame if thou seest fit and that I may be able to render a good account when I shall stand before thy dreadful Tribunal I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. From mine enemies defend me O Christ Graciously look upon my afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart Favourably with mercy hear my Prayers Mercifully forgive the sins of thy Servant O Son of David have mercy upon me Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear me O Christ Graciously hear me O Christ graciously hear me O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon me As I do put my trust in thee Pardon O Lord the guilt of my sins remove the punishment and wash out the pollutions keep me from the shame and the suffering due to them and rescue me from the dominion of Satan the tyranny of my own Lusts and from everlasting destruction Amen Bp. Andrews BLessed Jesu Interpose between God and my Soul thy Priesthood and Sacrifice between my self and Satan thy Kingdom and Conquest between my Soul and my Sins thy Innocency between my Soul and my Concupiscence thy Charity between my Soul and the punishments due to a Sinner thy Passion and the satisfaction of thy Blood between my Soul and my Conscience and God's Tribunal thy Advocateship between my Soul and its want of Righteousness thy absolute and complete Obedience between my Soul and its want of desert thy alsufficient Merits between my Soul and its want of fervour in Devotion thy Intercession between my Soul and its want of sâ—rrow and repentance thy Agony and bloody Sweat for what thou did'st and what thou suffered'st O my dearest Saviour O my best of Masters was done and suffered in my stead and for my benefit Amen Id. LET the Soul of Christ sanctify me the Body of Christ strengthen me the Blood of Christ redeem me the Water that came out of his side cleanse me the Stripes of Christ heal me the Sweat of Christ refresh me the Wounds of Christ save me the Poverty of Christ enrich me and the Sufferings of Christ preserve me from eternal damnation Amen Bp. Taylor GIve me the beauties of Wisdom the brightness of Chastity the health of Temperance the peace of Meek persons and the reputation and joy of the Charitable Amen A Collect for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit O God who knowest that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers that the Temptations of Satan are very prevalent the vanities of the World very deceitful and our own corruptions very strong help and assist me and all thy servants with the succours of thy holy spirit Give me the spirit of Truth of Wisdome and Understanding to keep me from all error and infidelity the spirit of Counsel to guide me in all difficulties the spirit of Might and Power to preserve me from all Apostacy the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord to keep me from all sin and wickedness Let the Holy-Ghost be my comforter in my distresses the assistant of my devotion the quieter of my conscience and let it bear witness with my spirit that I am one of the Sons of God that neither the wiles nor frowns of the Devil the fears of suffering or the hopes of wealth and honour may sway me to neglect my duty but that I may continue thine for ever and that thou mayst be my protector and guide my friend and advocate now and in the agonies of death and at the day of judgement Amen OUR Father which art in Heaven c. MAY the Power of God the Father protect me the Wisdom of God the Son inlighten me the operations and assistances of the holy Spirit quicken me and may the holy Trinity keep me under the shadow of their wings till I come to the palace of Glory Amen Amen The Epistle Heb. 12.1 WHerefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds The Gospel Luke 22.41 AND being withdrawn from them about a stones cast he kneeled down and prayed saying Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be dene And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground The MEDITATION THO every thing that is good and virtuous hath its attractives yet when virtue is attended with power it is in its exaltation and makes as many Votaries as it hath spectators and every one looks on it with admiration and surprize and addresses to it with resolutions either to become good or to beg its protection from evil because Piety so assisted proves a great exemplar and a puissant shelter And such was the holy Jesus who was wonderful in all his atchievements for nothing less than unspotted Innocence and Omnipotence conjoin'd could furnish the World with a Saviour The whole Life of Jesus was a miracle of Love and Compassion and the attempts of the Patriarchs appear mean and inconsiderable when compared with the transcendent performances of the Son of God for if to consult the wants of mankind and to relieve them if curing their Bodies and instructing their Souls if feeding them with temporal food and giving them the Bread of Heaven be demonstrations of a large and a divine Soul then that title is peculiarly to be ascribed to the Redeemer of the world whose actions were one continued series of benefits and mercies I will therefore love the examples of good men but I will admire and adore Jesus I will make reflections on their excellent lives but I must fix my thoughts on the conversation of my Saviour who when he requires my adverting to his Pattern and his Laws enjoins me to look off from all other objects and to settle my eyes on him who loved me and bought me with his own most precious blood for they are but a cloud of witnesses but Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness and as when the Sun arises the little handful of Clouds and dusky vapours dwindle and vanish so when the glorious God appears in competition he eclipses all humane perfections For that which sustained the great Apostle when he was ready to be poured out as a drink-offering for the truth of the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 and what excited
for the Laws of our Religion oblige me to die for thee And by so doing I make a noble change I barter a few transitory trifles for eternity I give a small pittance of my wealth and with it I purchase the prayers of the poor and indigent who generally pray heartiest and are heard soonest and I gain Heaven by it For it * Acts 20.35 is much more blessed to give than to receive Nor will a narrow and necessitous Fortune make an excuse For tho a man cannot build an Hospital or redeem a number of Captives yet he may deal his bread to the hungry and cover the naked with a Garment Or if this be above his Circumstances and Estate yet he can give good advice and a good example and he can pray for all mankind to that God who gives liberally and without grudging and this is a noble peice of Charity The Collect. O God whose Nature and Property is ever to have Mercy and to do good send down thy Holy Spirit into my Heart that I may love my Neighbour as my self and do unto all men as I would they should do unto me endeavouring as much as lies in me to promote the welfare and salvation of all the world and by earnest Prayers pious Advices and a good Example to advance thi Kingdom of our Holy Saviour till the Number of his Elect be accomplished through the Merits and Mediation of our only Mediator and Advocate Amen CHAP. XIII Of Vnity MY Love to my Neighbour is discovered 1. by my union and peaceableness 2. By my Alms. 1. By my Union for this is one great end of the Sacrament to unite all Christians in the bond of peace For * 1 Cor. 10.17 we are one body says St. Paul because we are partakers of one bread and therefore the primitive Christians had their publick Love-Feasts joyn'd as an Appendix to the Holy Sacrament in which persons of all Sexes Characters and Degrees did promiscuously partake of Gods blessings and made the meeting properly an Eucharist and some old * Glos MS. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glossaries say that the Lord's Supper in S. Paul is this Love-Feast and to testifie the sincerity of their Love they gave the Holy Kiss each to other before they approacht the Holy Table which they called the sign of Reconciliation * Cyril Catech. Mystag 5. and the ‡ Act. Pass Perpet Faelicit p. 35. solemnities of peace and some learned men affirm that they gave it also a second time just before their departure out of Churh and then they called it * Tert. de Orat. cap. 14. the seal or close of their Devotion tho ‡ Legat. pro. Christ p 41. Athenagoras expresly affirms that it was forbidden by the Canons of the Church that any person should give this Kiss a second time as the * Act. Mart. ubi supr Martyrs also saluted one another before their deaths as a token that they went out of the world in perfect Charity and in the Communion of the Church of God And to this time on Easter-day and a fort-night after the * Olear Itin. l. 2. p. 53. Moscovites wherever they meet use this custom Nor may any person of what condition sex or quality soever dare to refuse this Kiss And in the * Sandy 's Trav. l. 1. p. 62. Greek Church now tho it be an insufferable wrong to kiss a Greek woman at any other time yet between the Feasts of the Resurrection and Ascension it is allowed when they greet one another with these words Christ is risen For it is this Sacrament that does unite us in our holy brotherhood by Vertue of which we are impowered to acknowledg one Father which is God to be made partakers of one and the same spirit of Holiness and to be set free from the powers of darkness and admitted into the only true light For every man who is a believer is a brother and no one else for * Vid. Chrys Hom. 25. in Ep. ad Hebr. the terms are reciprocally used by the Apostle it being also anciently given to those who were called The Faithful * Just M. Apol. 2. as they were distinguisht from the persons under catechizing or penance And therefore in those best days as no man durst travel to any Foreign Church in expectation of admission into their Communion or receiving their Assistance and Relief without Letters Testimonial from the Church which he left so they who were so recommended were acknowledged as Good Catholick and Orthodox Christians by their admission to the participation of the Lords Supper And among the Clergy it was an ancient custom to send pieces of the consecrated bread of the Eucharist * Iren. apud Euseb l. 5. cap. 24. from one Bishop to another as a Symbol and Mark of Communion till the Council of * Can. 14. Laodicea out of reverence to the Sacrament forbad it the Prelates afterwards instead of the consecrated bread sending some parcels of the bread destin'd to and prepared for the Holy Sacrament Now this mutual participation of Sacraments and other Offices of Religion is not unfitly thought by some men to be meant by that Article of the Apostle's Creed The Communion of Saints the Holy Catholick Church being so denominate from those sacred Rites which are in common to all Christians whereby they are not only united to God their Saviour but have fellowship one with another And to this purpose the ancient Church thought fit in the beginning of the Communion-service when none were present but those who were compleat Christians and in intire Communion with the Church in all Ordinances to recite out of the Diptychs which were never read but at the Altar not only the Names of the famous Princes and Bishops who were alive as a testimony that they held communion with them but also of all the Saints departed of the Mother of God the Apostles Martys Confessors and others that they might give a publick testimony to the world that they lived in the profession of the same Orthodoxy for which some of those Saints were martyred and in which they all died magnifying the Name of Christ for his goodness to his Church in calling it out of darkness into marvellous light and making them children of God And whosoever was left out of those Tables was by that Omission excommunicate as is famously known in the case of St. Chrysostom Since therefore all these holy usages are so many lessons of Peace and Union I will avoid all Schism as carefully as I shun the paths of death and I will conscientiously keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace I will honour my superiors and obey their Laws I will reverence my Holy Mother the Church and value her Communion and will study to be quiet and to do my own business The Collect. KEep O Lord thy Universal Church with thy perpetual Mercy in thy true Religion and
to pray as heartily for my most malicious enemies as for my own salvation And I cannot but remark the folly of the Romanists who tho they say all the rest of their prayers on Good-Friday kneeling do alter that posture when they pray for the Jews as they also omit saying the Amen and that for these poor Reasons * Durand Ration lib. 6 cap. 77. 1. because the Jews mock'd our Saviour with bowing the Knee and saying Hail King 2. Pecause all their prayers cannot alter the Divine Decrees nor shorten the time their conversion not being to commence till the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in But the Arguments are vain and frivolous and the usage savours of a narrow and a contracted soul For to ingross salvation to my self or party is Christian Judaism it is impropriating the Messiah and depriving all others of the capacity of being happy So that if I consider my Relation to the rest of the world either as a Man or a Christian I cannot but account my Adversaries whether they be so to my person or principles in the number of my Friends and such as do me good For by envious exclaiming against my Irregularities they engage me to more circumspection and greater care in performing my duty to my God the world and my self And they give me occasion to manifest my Patience my Humility and Self-denial with many other Vertues And were the Malice of my Enemies never so causeless and inveterate and the Injuries done me never so great yet they have not crucified me But so did my Saviour's Enemies deal with him while he forgave them and interceded for them And hath not that my Saviour * Matth. 5.24 injoin'd me rather to leave his service undone than that my duty to my Neighbour rather to leave my Gift at the Altar unoffer'd than to make the Oblation without being in perfect charity for * Tert. de Orat. c. 10. Optat. lib. 6. Chrysost in loc c. the Fathers generally understand that passage of the Holy Sacrament ‖ Chrysost To. 6. p. 622. If I cannot forgive ten days fasting will not fit me for this Altar For where Envy and Malice dwell neither the Fast nor the Festival do any good Where Envy abides thence the Spirit of God is banisht And what hopes can that man have of salvation who is destitute of the Holy Ghost There is nothing therefore that can excuse me from the practice of this so amiable a Vertue which intitles me to a conquest of my Passions and makes me Master of my self Revenge is not my Province God will repay And tho it may make me for a while uneasie not to pursue it yet I am sure it is much more uneasie to be damn'd and to be confin'd to eternal torments The Collect. BLessed Jesu who when thy Sacred Body suffer'd its acutest pains and when thy Innocent Soul felt its most afflicting Agonies wert ready to implore thy Father's Forgiveness on thy most imbitter'd Adversaries be thou pleas'd to forgive my Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and to turn their hearts and so enable me by thy Holy Spirit to walk in thy steps that I may bless them who curse me and do good to them who hate me and pray for them who despightfully use me whether they are my Enemies justly or without a cause willfully or unwillingly by what means or way soever they have done me Injury Father forgive them as I desire thou wouldest forgive me For no man can use me worse than I have deserved at thy hands and when they curse then do then bless And be thou pleas'd to remove from me and all Mankind all Bitterness Wrath Anger Clamor Evil speaking and Malice and whatever grieves thy Holy Spirit that we may be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for thy sake hath forgiven us that the Spirit of Love may subdue all desires of Revenge that we may be Followers of those Rules which be first pure then peaceable and at last may be admitted into the Habitations of Eternal Concord and Unity through thy Merits and Mediation who art the great Reconciler the Angel of the Covenant Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen CHAP. XVI Of Love to the Holy Sacrament WHen I love any man sincerely every thing that hath a Relation to my Friend is dear to me and of a particular value I look upon a Ring given me by a living Friend as a Remembrancer of the Donor and his Affection but if it be given to me at his death and that death a Martyrdom and the Ring be dipt in the sacred blood * Act. Passion ss Perpet Faelic p. 34. which was sometimes practis'd by the Martyrs it upon that very account becomes venerable in my eyes and I reflect on it with a deep respect intermixt with love and such is the blessed Sacrament to me When Jesus was crucified his Passion for the time was very terrible the Earth shook the Rocks rent and the Sun was Eclips'd but such things easily die in our memories unless reqresented by something visible by some outward sign The sight of Calvary must needs engage a modern Traveller to remember a bleeding Saviour who died there sixteen hundred years agon And as the marks of our Redeemer's Foot steps when he ascended which made their impression in the ground and continued visible * Paulin. Ep 11. ad Severum till the Fifth Century could not but presently recall into the thoughts of but a transient considerer the History of the Triumphs of Jesus which were the Reward of his sufferings and such sights without doubt wrought wonderfully in the primitive Martyrs when the Blood of a dying Redeemer was yet warm and those Memorials not defac'd who lookt upon the places with Respect and there built Churches to perpetuate the Memory of the Mercy It is true afterwards those places administred to superstition and I am sorry to say so did the Sacrament too and to Idolatry also tho it owes its Original to divine Institution When therefore I contemplate these symbols I not only remember my Master as he hath obliged me till his second coming but I also put an Estimate on his Institution I account it an Honour to be admitted to his Table and I long for frequent opportunities of going thither and nothing can satisfie me but such an Entertainment For the highest degree of Holiness is most acceptable And I am no Christian if I love not my God with all my heart And nothing less than a vigorous passion and the desires of a necessitous person deserve to be called love to the Eucharist Nor dare I desire it to gratifie any by-end but to save my soul For if I long for it only out of wantonness the Bread may feed my body but it will never supply the wants of my soul the Wine may cheer my spirits but never refresh my mind Nothing less than transports can express the sense of the
Blessing with joyful Acknowledgments ⸪ Jul. Firmic p. 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they never saw a Candle brought into the Room but they saluted the Light and bid it welcome but at Gods Altar I am blest with the light that lightens every man that comes into the world And when the men of o Id. p. 6 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aegypt found their Mock-Deities they excliamed We have found him let us rejoice together And am not I much more obliged to do so when I have found the Messiah to whom Moses and the prophets bear witness when I have found the way of Salvation the means to attain to the favour of God To this end the Book of Psalms should be alway in my hands and the Jubilees of it in my mouth for nothing like that Book fits a man for the giving or receiving these Mysteries * Dion Areop Eccl. Hier. c. 3. p. 288. ' In the Psalms we praise God for all his Works and we praise all good men for their holy Speeches and excellent Actions they quiet our Affections and subdue our unruly minds as Davids Harp did drive the evil Spirit out of Saul And they call to our Remembrance that Saviour of ours who is almost in every one of them described to the World With these Songs of Praise did those devout men deceive the tediousness of a Journey and of worldly Business the Husbandman sung the Hallelujahs while he followed his Plough and the Shopkeeper while he managed his Trade and with them they begun and ender their Meals they were the Companions of their Employments the entertainment of their leisure Hours and the solace of their Cares And are not these things written for Examples Nothing therefore shall hinder but that I will treat my Saviour with Cheerfulness and a glad Heart who treats me with a Feast above the desert of Angels Angels cannot make him more happy than he is they can only sing his Praises and to their Hallelujahs will I joyn mine nor shall my joy make it self visible only in my Anthems but it shall be more illustrious in my Conversation for this Blessing which I receive is a Sacrament 't is an Oath that obliges me as it did my Forefathers in the Faith * Vid. Plin. lib. 10. Ep. 97. the Primitive Christians to a Holy Life to Justice and Temperance and the practice of every other Virtue it binds me to avoid Theft and Adultery and every other Crime as I am willing to avoid Damnation I do resolve therefore as I live by the Mercies of God so I will live to his Glory and nothing shall make me weary of loving and serving him but I will as far as I can imitate the Adorations and Obedience of the Seraphim till they carry me to Heaven where I shall bow down to and exult in my Saviour for ever The Collect. IT deserves my best Praises O most merciful Lord the Benefactor of my Soul that thou hast thought me worthy to be a partaker of thy holy and immortal Mysteries guide me uprightly in my ways and confirm me in thy fear and because all that I have is derived from thee O Lord I devote all unto thee I give thee my Body my Soul my Fame my Friends my Liberty and my self dispose of me and all that is mine as it seemeth hest to thee and may most advance the glory of thy blessed Name who livest and reignest with the Father and the holy Spirit world without end Amen CHAP. XX. Of the Priest who consecrates BUT above all men I hope my Brethren of the Clergy will not take it amiss that I have inserted this Chapter I did not design it to instruct them they are the Angels of God but to direct and guide my self in the discharge of the Priestly Office Gods Minister who consecrates ought to be careful that he be duly qualified in the purity of his intention and the Holiness of his conversation in self-examination and self-denial in Humility and true joy for Jesus who instituted the Mysteries was a holy and innocent High-priest and separate from sinners And tho it be no wonder that Judas may communicate yet it is monster when Judas consecrates to see dogs and swine and other unclean beasts wallow and delight in filth and pollution is common and ordinary but to see Ermins defiled is prodigy To behold one of the Sons of Belial making haste to be damned is an usual tho deplorable sight but to see an Angel fall into the condemnation of Satan to behold one of the Sons of God turn Apostate and to make a League with the Powers of Darkness is a reversing of the methods of Nature and Providence and a defiance to the constitutions of Holy Religion Shall I take the immaculate Body of my Saviour into a polluted Mouth and think to consecrate his Blood with profane Lips Ought I not to wash my hands in innocency before I compass the Altar of God before I receive Jesus for my self and give him in to the hands of others It was given in charge to the Priests of the Old Law Be ye holy for I the Lord your God am holy Nor can that Commandment be antiquated under the Gospel Nay the Mosaical Constitutions required that the Priest should not only be free from any inward Pollution but also that he should have no * Levit. 21.18 c. outward Blemish not so much as a flat Nose nor a broken Hand or Foot not a crook back or the Scurf no nor so much as a Blemish in his Eye nay so careful were they of the Priest who sacrificed that they not only surveyed the shape and make of his limbs but as †De sacrific Init. Philo observes they also curiously made inspection into his Skill whether he were able to discern a Sacrifice and every part of it from the Head to the Foot Tert. Apol. c. 30. p. 223. cur praecordia victimarum potius quam ipsorum sacrificantium examinantur that nothing tainted or defective might be offer'd for an Oblation to God and is there not the same skill and diligence required from an Evangelical Priest who must advise others and above all things should not neglect his own soul For if a Physician of the body gives no encouragement to his Patient to depend on his skill unless himself be of a vigorous constitution and a healthy look since all his Discourse of keeping others alive for ever will appear but empty talk and vain boast if his own livid Countenance and decayed Limbs are a contradiction to his confidence how much more ought those who take on them the Cure of Souls to mind the conforming of their Conversations to the Preceps which they give to others lest while they make their boast of the Law through breach of the Law they dishonour God For how necessarily sad and affrighting must be the reflections of that man who reads the threatnings of Heaven
to others against those sins which his own Conscience testifies himself hath been guilty of 'T is an exemplary story if it be true that Epiphanius relates of Origen * Haeres 64. p. 228. that after his fall returning to Jerusalem he was defired to preach which Office he addressing himself to occasionally lights upon that passage of the * Ps 50.16 17. Psalmist Unto the ungodly saith God why dost thou preach my Law and take my covenant into thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee Which passage as soon as he had read he could not but call to mind his former Apostacy whereupon he sate down and wept and the whole Congregation wept with him and that was all the Sermon they had for that day Who O my Soul dares speak evil of that Priest who spends all his Time and Strength in the service of that God whom he acknowledges and who will not reverence that Clergy-man who busies himself in visiting the sick in instructing the ignorant in reclaiming the profligate in comforting the disconsolate in diligent Preaching and Catechizing and in a reverent Administration of the Sacraments There is a natural Veneration and Respect that all men pay to that which is truly Religious but when he who instructs others never preaches to himself this casts an odium on Christianity that is not easily defac't for a wicked Priest at the Altar is worse than Judas for when Judas kist and then betrayed our Blessed Saviour tho the action was as he intended it abominable yet as God applied it it became the Instrument of the World's Happiness but when the vicious Priest approaches God's Table and puts the Body of Jesus into his own Lips and the hands of his people he prophanes the tremendous Sacrament he affronts the Majesty of God he does no good to himself or others but much harm he eats and drinks Damnation to himself and gives a very evil Example to his Neighbours and what Power can bring any good out of so much Wickedness And yet to sin like Judas is to be a vile and notorious Transgressor and the case of that Traytor is an affrighting Example our Holy Redeemer had given him his Body and Blood tho he knew he would betray him that he might attempt all methods to reclaim him to soften his hard Heart by Kindness and Condescention and to secure him from the Temptations of Satan by arming him with the power of God and the Grace that is conveyed with those Mysteries but Judas was the first Instance that the Holy Sacrament which the Son of God instituted for the Consolation and Welfare of his Servants may become the occasion of Condemnation to those who receive it unworthily and that the Devil may enter into that Man's mind whose Body hath received the Lord Jesus and how impudently wicked doth such a Wretch grow of a sudden for when our Master had declared that one of his Family would be that Traytor who should deliver him into the Hand of the High-priest * Luk. 22.21 When the rest of the Innocent Apostles were struck dumb with Astonishment Judas took the hardiness to ask him the Question Thus he who is not better'd by the means of Grace insensibly grows worse and hardly can a Miracle save such a resolute sinner And what dismal Lamentations what complication of Woes are sufficient to mourn the state of such a Priest for * Vid Hieron Ep. ad Heliodor to 1. p. 4. m. who shall make attonement for him whose Office it is to intercede for others ' The Soul of a Priest says * Lib. 6. de Sacerdot p. 44 46 c. St. Chrysostome should be bright and more untainted than the Rays of the Sun lest the Spirit of God be forc't to desert him and that he may be able to say Now it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me for like that great Light that rules the day he should enlighten the World and warm it with the Ardors of Divine Love for when the Priest stands at the Altar the Angels attend him and all the Heavenly Powers mix their Voices with his and all the Space round the Altar is filled with the Blessed Spirits who honour him that is there represented and incircle his Body as Guards do a Prince Nay so great is the Honour that is done to a good Priest when he administers in Holy Things that he stands in Gods stead for as God offer'd up his only Begotten Son for the Redemption of the World So doth the Priest at the Altar make a Commemoration of that one perfect and intire Sacrifice and Oblation of our Holy Saviour for the sins of Mankind and was it ever known that any man durst play the Devil in the likeness of God To meet Satan in the Habit of an Angel is not unusual but to see an Angel of God as Priests are called and truly are to be a real Fiend is abominable When therefore thou considerest this dost not thou tremble O my Soul when thou consecratest this Tremendous Sacrament And oughtest thou not to practice the deepest Reverence and to demean thy self humbly and decently because of the Angels who attend thee and because of God whom thou representest Great is the Honour which God gives his Priests and great is their Charge and who is sufficient for these Things A prayer for the Priest before he goes to consecrate out of St. Chrys Liturgy 'TO minister to Thee O thou King of Glory in Holy Offices is a great and terrible undertaking and such as is dreadful to the powers of Heaven but thou acted by thine unspeakeable and Infinite Love becamest our High-priest and being Lord of all things deputed'st men to the Ministry of this Sacrifice Look down upon me a sinful and unfruitful servant of thine cleanse me from an evil Conscience and prepare me by the Powers of thy Holy Spirit to stand before thy Holy Table and to minister thy sacred and uncorrupted body and thy precious Blood turn not thy Face away from me nor reprobate me from the number of thy Children Lord remember me when thou art in thy Kingdom Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under the polluted roof of my Soul but as thou wert pleased to lye down in the Manger among the Beasts and to sit at Meat in the House of Simon the Leper and to receive the Harlot a like sinner to my self when she came unto thee so vouchsafe to make thy entrance into my unreasonable Mind and into my defiled Body which is dead as well as Leprous and as thou didst not abominate the mouth of the Harlot when she kist thy unpolluted Feet so O Lord my God do not despise and abominate me a sinner Pardon blot out and forgive all my sins which I have committed either willingly or unwillingly whether they are sins of Knowledg or Ignorance whether in Deed or in Word or in
my Will and Thoughts forgive me all of them as thou art Good and Gracious and preserve me from condemnation that the Oblations of thy People may be acceptably offered unto thee by me thy unworthy and sinful servant and that I my self may receive thy Precious Body and Blood to the curing of my soul and Body and may distribute thy Mysteries to others to their benefit and salvation For thine is the Kingdom Power and Glory Thine O Father Son and Holy Spirit now and for ever Amen CHAP. XXI The Methods of the ancient Church at the Celebration of the Holy Communion THe Writings of the Fathers together with the Old Rituals and Liturgies do at large give an Account both of the deep Respect that was paid to the Sacrament and of the Zeal Reverence and Devotion of those who received it together with the several Rites and Ceremonies that beautified and compleated the performance It cannot be denied but that in several Churches there were circumstantial differences in the Performance of this Duty but withal it cannot be denied that in the main there was an exact agreement As soon as the Bishop or Priest who Preacht had ended his Sermon all persons * Dionys Areop Eccl. Hier. c. 3. who were not Baptized or were possest by Evil Spirits or were in the state of Pennance were dismist the Deacons or Sub-Deacons keeping the Doors that no unqualified person might presume to stay any longer in the Church or to see the solemnity of the Celebration who was not worthy to Communicate After which the Deacons brought the materials of the Holy Sacrament which they had before received from the Hands of the Faithful * Vid. Mendoz. in Can. 22. Concil Illiberit and had layed up in the Church Treasury a place like our Vestry and delivered them to the Bishop if present if not to the Priest who laying them on the Table tendred them to God with this short Prayer Lord we offer thy own out of what thou hast bountifully given us Then the Deacon or as in some Churches the Sub-Deacon brought Water to the * Cyril Catech. Mystag 5. Liturg. Bishop and his Presbyters in which they were obliged to wash because the Psalmist says I will wash my hands in innocency and so will I compass thine Altar O Lord for washing was an Emblem of the Purifying both of the Body and Mind the * Enseb l. 10 c. 4. Chrys to 6. p. 619. c. people having washt at the Church-door before they begun their prayers it being accounted very indecent to appear before God unless they could lift up clean hands without wrath or doubting The Bishop and his Clergy had their seats round the Altar which stood in the middle of the Quire nor was any person permitted to be there besides the Clergy except the Graecian Emperor in the Churches of the East for even the Monks themseves in those days had no place among the Clergy but stood just without the Cancelli or Rails the Episcopal Throne for so it was stiled was placed just above the Holy Table his Presbyters seats being on each side of it the Deacons standing by * Chrys to 4. p. 271. passim all cloathed in white Garments some being concern'd in the Ministration of the Sacrament which they were injoined to do * Const Ap. li. 2. c. 57. with fear and reverence others to quiet the people and * Ap. Const l. 8. c. 12. one to keep the Children in due order for they also were admitted to this Sacrament and in some Churches two of the Deacons shaded the Chalice with a Skreen that no flyes or other such insects might fall into the Consecrated Wine Now the Churches among the Ancients were so ordered that as there was a partition between the Body of the Church and the Quire so there was also a Veil or Curtain which shaded the Altar and kept it from the sight of those who had no right to the Mysteries which Curtain when it was drawn the People in a solemn manner looking upon the Holy Table as a Type of Heaven and the Priests attending as the Angels of God descending to Minister to Men did give God hearty thanks * Liturg. S. Jacobi that there was an entrance given them into the Holy of Holies * Cyril Cat. myst 4. Ambr. de his qui initiantur c. 8. and that he had prepared a Table in their sight before the face of them for they believed * Chris to 5. p. 565. that this was tipified by the rending of the Veil at our blessed Saviour's passion that the people might look into the Holy of Holies and see their Crucified Redeemer now upon the Altar besides the Linnen and the Vessels necessary for the Consecration of which * Tet. de pudirit c. 7. and c. 10. the Chalices had the Impress of the good Shepherd bringing back the lost Sheep on his Shoulders there was nothing set besides a * Tert. apol 1.39 and Chrys to 6. p. 631. Cross and Lights and both of them very anciently to express that whatever was there done was a representation of that Sacrifice which our Blessed Saviour made of himself on the Cross for our sins and of that first Supper which he instituted and that it was a Feast of Joy to the Christian World After these preparative Actions the people were * Dion Areop ubi sup Const Ap. 2.57 Basil Liturg. c. bid 'To rise up together and to stand decently and with trembling and turning toward the East to pray to that God who ascended into the Heaven of Heavens and fitteth in the Eastern part of it toward which place stood Paradise whence the first man by the cunning of Satan was banisht And when the Congregation had put themselves into this posture the Deacon who attended the Bishop said aloud * Const ap l. 8. c. 11. Let not any man who is at enmity with his brother let not any man who is only hypocritically reconciled approach this table To which also he subjoined Let us attend after which the Bishop saluted his people with the peace of God be with you to which they answered and with thy Spirit tho o To. 3. p. 647. St. Chrysostome places the double salutation as it was called after the Kiss of Peace and immediately the * Dion Areop ub sup Cyril Cat. mystag 5. Const Ap. 2.57 Deacon aloud bad the people give each other the Holy Kiss or the Kiss of Charity which Action was managed with the greatest care and modesty imaginable for * Conc. Laodic Can. 19. first the Bishop gave the Kiss to his Presbyters and the Presbyters to the inferior Clergy and afterward among the Laâ—ty the men kist the men but the women their own Sex only for they had their different apartments and particular Officers appointed to each apartment the * Ostiarii Door-keepers at the entrance of that which belong'd to
the men and the Deaconesses to that belonging to the Women and this they were advised to do with this sober caution * Const Ap. ub supr that no one should salute his brother deceitfully and treacherously as Judas kist our Lord when he betrayed him In the Liturgy of St. Basil the people are bid to salute one another that they might unitedly confess the Father Son and Holy Spirit the consubstantial and inseparable Trinity and then they repeated the Creed and in that of St. Mark there is a prayer to be said at the performance of this Ceremony wherein ' They desire God to look down on his Church and to bestow on them his Love and his Assistances and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost that with a pure Heart and a good Conscience they may salute one another with the Holy Kiss not in Hypocrisie but in purity and innocence in one Spirit in the bond of peace and of Love that they might become one Body and one Spirit in one Faith and one hope of their calling that at last they might all be partakers of the Divine and infinite Love o-Christ Jesus Then in ⸫ Cyril ub supr the Church of Jerusalem the Priest did bid the people lift up their hearts and they answered We lift them up unto the Lord the Priest rejoined Let us give thanks unto the Lord The people answered It is meet and right so to do after which the Church calling upon the whole Creation to praise God did sing the Angelical Hymn Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath Which Hymn was usher'd in with this Preface o Liturg. S. Jacobi ' Let all Flesh keep silence and stand with fear and trembling and put off all worldly and sensual Thoughts for the King of Kings the Lord of Lords Christ our God is coming forth to be slain and given for Meat to all his Faithful Servants the Quires of Angels go before him and with them Principalities and Powers the Cherubim with many Eyes and the Seraphim with six Wings shading their Faces and singing the Hymn Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Then followed the Prayer of Consecration and with that the Prayer for all states of Men and for the peace of the World together with the recital of the Diptychs which was always closed with the Lord's Prayer But in other Churches it was otherwise * Constit li. 2. c. 57. li. 8. c. 11 12. First the general Prayer for the whole state of mankind for Peace and Prosperity and all other Blessings was said at the end of which the Names of all the Eminent Persons who either had dyed in the Communion of the Church or yet lived in it were recited out of the Ecclesiastical Tables or Dyptichs and then the people were bid to lift up their hearts unto God c. Whereupon the Bishop making the sign of the Cross blest the People saying Preserve O Lord thy people and bless thine inheritance which thou hast purchas'd by the blood of thy Christ and hast called to be a royal priesthood and an holy nation And then the Bishop standing at the Altar proceeded to the Prayer of Consecration which was agreeable to our Saviour's Form at the Institution at * Dion areop ub supr Basil de spir S. cap. 27. which time the Elements which were before cover'd with a fine Linnen Cloath in Imitation of Christ's being so wrapt when he was lay'd in his Sepulchre were uncover'd that the people might see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out After the Prayer of Consecration the ⸪ Cyril ub supr Priest first heartily said Amen And after him ‡ Just in Apol. 2. Dion Alex. apud Euseb li. 7. c. 9. c. the people praying that so it might be and protesting that they believed that that Sacrament was the true Body and Blood of Christ but in the Liturgy of St. James when the Words of the Institution were recited the Deacon first said Amen and then acknowledged That they did believe and confess that as often as they did eat that flesh and drink that blood they did show forth the Lords Death To which the people answered We do show forth thy death O Lord and we do acknowledg thy Resurrection This being done the Deacon bid the people attend to the holy oblation in peace and quietness and to bow their heads to their Saviour Jesus in honour to his name and institution Then it was said Holy things to holy persons To which the people answered There is one holy one Lord one Jesus Christ blessed for ever in the glory of God the Father Then the people were exhorted to the reception of the holy Mysteries the Priest singing with heavenly Melody the words of the Psalmist ‡ Cyril ubi sup Psal 34.8 O taste and see that the Lord is gracious to which the Congregation in some ‡ Liturg. S. Jacobi Churches answered Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. When the Consecratlon was done which probably if there were many Bishops or Priests present they all joined in the person consecrating said ‖ Liturg. S. Marc. As the Hart desireth the water-brooks so longeth my soul after thee O God And then himself received in which Action it is observable by St. Chrysostome's Liturgy he was obliged to drink three times of the Chalice bowing all the while in honour of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and afterward he gave it to the Clergy if any were present the Bishop giving it to the Priests the Priests to the Deacons and the Deacons to the people after the ⸪ Const Apost ji 8. c. 13. Clergy the Monks received for they gave them the preference because they look't on them as a sort of Ecclesiastical persons not purely Laymen tho not in Orders and after the Monks the Deaconesses Virgins and Widows then the Children then the rest of the Laity in their several Orders that is as I conjecture first the Men afterward the Women * Conc. Tolet. 4. c. 17. the Priests and Deacons communicating at the Altar the Inferior Clergy in the Quire and the people at the Rails without tho I am well perswaded that in the first Ages the Laity also came up to the Altar to which they were invited to draw near in the Fear of God and with Faith and Charity and when they approacht they were commanded by the Deacon to stand decently and reverently in the fear of God and with contrition of heart and to receive modestly and piously behaving themselves as those who approacht the presence of a King And accordingly they received in a posture of deep Reverence and Adoration for no man durst to receive but he adored and while the Mysteries were distributing the Congregation * Const Apost ubi sup Liturg. S. Jacobi S. Chrysost c. sung the 33d Psalm or as we reckon it the 34th I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall be continually
Pageantry dressing up a representative Saviour and carying Palms before him as if they welcomed him into Jerusalem and in the Greek Church they make up Branches of Olives and Palms into divers forms by which they keep up the memory of the Feast the Emperor and the Patriarch when that Empire was in its Glory using to give at this time great Largesses to the common People which from the day were called Palms and now in Muscovy the Patriarch rides in state like our Saviour and is met by the Grand Duke and all the People who represent the Jews entertaining him but in a To. 5. p. 541. St. Chrisostome's time ' the Greeks were better taught for then the whole Christian Church had their Processions and went out to meet their Saviour not deckt with Palms but adorn'd with Alms and Mercifulness and other Virtues with Fastings and Tears and Prayers and Watchings and all sort of holy deference to their Redeemer ‖ Aug. Ser. 46. de Verb. Dom. Ambr. Epist 33. c. On this day anciently did the Persons who were to be baptized at Easter give in their Names to the Bishop from which time till their Baptism they were distinguisht from the other Catechumens and called Competentes and to them the Bishop himself if present as he was seldom absent from his See at all this Solemnity but if absent the Presbyters in the Baptistery expounded the Creed * Aug. Scr. 115. Id. de fide Symb. c. p. 1. for the Creed was not in those Ages read in the first Service at which the Catechumens were present which Creed they were to learn the Week following and to give an account of it solemly on ‖ Conc. Laod. Can. 46. Easter-Eve in the Latin-Church but in the Greek-Church on Maundy-Thursday and now probably were they also taught the Lord's prayer which no unbaptized Person was allowed to repeat for how says St. Austin can he call God Father who was never regenerate And lest the Persons to be baptized should come to the Laver of Regeneration filthy sordid and sullied with their fastings and Lentpenances at which time they used to cast Ashes on their Heads and lie on the bare Ground on this day they washt the Heads of the Competentes and from hence the day was called ⸫ Isidor Etymol li. 6. c. 18. c. Capito-Lavium So careful were the Ancients that at the time of our blessed Saviour's Resurrection all things should be gay and all Persons joyful The Epistle Isa 62.10 11 12. GO thro go thro the Gates prepare ye the way of the People cast up cast up the Highway gather out the Stones lift up a Standard for the People Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the World say ye to the Daughter of Zion Behold thy Salvation cometh behold his Reward is with him and his work before him and they shall call them the Holy People the Redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called Sought out a City not forsaken The Gospel Matth. 21.5 c. TELL ye the Daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an Ass and a Colt the fole of an Ass and the Disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them and brought the Ass and the Colt and put on them their Cloaths and they set him thereon and a very great multitude spread their Garments in the way others cut down Branches from the Trees and strawed them in the way and the Multitudes that went before and that followed cryed saying Hosannah to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosannah in the highest And when he was come into Jerusalem all the City was moved saying Who is this And the Multitude said This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee and Jesus went into the Temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple and overthrew the Tables of the Money changers and the seats of them that sold Doves and said unto them It is written My house shall be called the House of Prayer but ye have made it a Den of Theives The MEDITATION WHen our blessed Saviour made his publick appearance in the World every thing in him was excellent and extraordinary the Lineaments of his Face so beautiful that he was justly stiled the fairest of ten thousand but the Qualifications of his Soul were so miraculous that whatever of great or good could be observed either in Men or Angels was but a faint Representation of his more stupendious Accomplishments the charms of his Countenance were most taking the Eloquence and Reason of his Discourses most persuasive but the Holiness of his Conversation was transcendent insomuch that his Friends loved and his very Enemies tho they hated him could not but admire him his converse was freeand obliging his pity generous and noble he accounted that day lost wherein he had not done some kindness and was grieved to send any man away from him sorrowful He often neglected to mind himself but he never omitted his care of the Poor and he who had no house to reside in no maintenance but the Alms of well-inclined People had yet a Bag and a Treasury for the indigent he frequently forgot to eat but he never forgot to Pray so wonderful was his Devotion so universal his Charity and so incomparable his Obedience His Soul was the Temple of Chastity and Temperance the seat of Prudence the fortress of Courage the Throne of Justice the storehouse of Humanity the Sanctuary of Meekness in a word it was the residence of all Virtues and who could converse with such a Saviour and refuse to Love and Adore him But never were his Accomplishments so Illustrious as when he took his last journey to Jerusalem when all the Scenes of Treachery and Cruelty were to end in the unparallel'd Murther of the Son of God then he exerted all his Vigor for then the Son of God was to be glorified and to be manifested to be the only begotten of the Father with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead for his sufferings were his own crown and the cause of the worlds Salvation Perillous was the attempt but the combatant was invincible His first Essay towards the compleating of our redemption was on Palm-Sunday on this day of the week he made his entry into Jerusalem like a Conqueror or rather like the King of the World from hence I date the Epocha of his Crucifixion because on this day among the Jews the Paschal Lamb was separated from the rest of the Flock and with much solemnity brought up to Jerusalem in order to its being Sacrificed and on this day of the week also he made a more pompous entry into the Holy City when attended by many Saints returning from their Graves to accompany his Resurrection he made it appear that he had spoiled Hell and saved mankind both which entries were
the Bishop in person if present was obliged to Catechise those who were Candidates for Baptism and on this day was the Nicene Creed solemnly recited in defiance to all Hereticks which Creed till the time of Timotheus Patriarch of Constantinople was never used as a part of the Eastern Liturgy but on this one day only in the year In which Church also according to an Ancient Constitution ‡ Chrys to 5. p. 563 Pallad vid. Chrys p. 82. they were wont on Good-Friday to celebrate all the holy Offices in some particular Church and that commonly in some Oratory erected over the Grave of some eminent Martyr without the Walls of the City because our blessed Saviour suffered without the Gates In some of the Churches ⸫ Sozom. l. 7. c. 19. p. 100. of Palestine they used to read the Apocryphal Book called the Revelation of St. Peter but in other Churches of the East they read out of the Old-Testament the History of Job the liveliest Type of Christ's Sufferings and Triumphs and out of the New in the * Rupert de Divin offic l. 6. c. 6. Western Churches the Gospel of St. John because St. John was an eye-witness of our blessed Master's Sufferings but in the African ‡ Aug. Ser. 141. de temp Church they read St. Matthew's Gospel Thus did the good men of old spend this day calling themselves to an account for their offences and humbling themselves in the sight of God and is it not even in this Age very requisite that every Christian should call himself to an account for those sins which brought the Son of God to so much shame and torture and should mourn and fast and pray earnestly for that forgiveness which was purchas'd thereby I take it therefore for granted that on this day it is requisite to use more than ordinary severity because on this day our Plessed Saviour was murther'd and to this purpose besides the usual Prayers reading and Meditations which are parts of the preparation for other days on Good-Friday it will be necessary to subjoin some acts of the deepest Humiliation and Sorrow for sin To which purpose every good man ought strictly to examine himself of which sort of Examen I have subjoined a Specimen after which the use of the Penitential Psalms is very proper particularly Ps 38. or 51. with this Caution That I understand by my Enemies not my worldly adversaries for they are my Brethren and them I must bless and pray for but the Devil and my own Lusts and by blood-guiltiness c. my new crucifying my Saviour my murthering of my own Soul and being accessary to the destruction of what ever good and vertuous thoughts the Spirit of God hath put in my mind To which Penitentials the 22d Ps will very fitly be added because it is an intire Prophecy of the sufferings of the Son of God and cannot but raise in me a deep sense of his Sorrows and the cause of them when I remember they are some of the last words which our Blessed Saviour spoke before his Death when we are infallibly assured that he begun and probably convinc'd that he went through the whole Psalm The most proper posture to repeat these Psalms in is Kneeling or prostration because they are solemn and humble acknowledgments of my hainous Offences which have undone my self and Crucified my Redeemer The Examen I Am this day to examine my self and to adjust the Accounts between God and my own Soul it is easie to be another mans flatterer but it is natural to be my own and therefore I am resolved impartially to state my affairs and to rejoice or mourn proportionable to the condition in which I find my self And tho the enquiry be terrible and affrighting yet I had rather pass this private scrutiny than have my Offences exposed to the view of Men and Angels It is the greatest of happiness to be innocent and never to offend but the next instance of Felicity is to be penitent I am conscious to my self that I have been a Criminal but I am resolved not to continue in my Crimes I will call my Transgressions to remembrance that God may blot them out of his Memory and I will judg my self in this World that I may escape in the day of the Lord To this End therefore that I may put my self into a capacity to obtain God's Pardon for my sins whose number is unaccountable whose burthen is intolerable and whose remembrance is very grievous to me and that I may not approach the tremendous Feast without the Wedding Garment I thus interrogate my self with all severity and exactness ' Say O my Soul art thou in God's Favour or hast thou merited thy Saviours Frowns What Proficiency hast thou made in thy Christian Calling since thy last accounting with thy Master VVhat Temptations hast thou conquer'd What Passions mortified What holy Opportunities improved What Virtues gotten or increased How conformable hast thou been to Jesus and what progress hast thou made in the way to Heaven If I find any of these beautiful Lineaments in my mind I will rejoice with joy unspeakable and be exceeding glad as men rejoice when they divide the spoil But if I have been an Apostate from my vows and broken the Covenant of my Youth If I have prostituted my Soul to Satan defacing the Image of God and defiling his Holy Temple let my heart within me mourn and refuse to be comforted let it make lamentation as one that is grieved for his only Son and is in bitterness for his First-born let my head be waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I may weep day and night over my sin and my shame that I may wash my bed and water my Couch with my tears because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God For who can dwell with everlasting burnings and a consuming Fire Now to help forward and make easie this work that I may diligently inspect all my offences with all their aggravating circumstances since my last renewal of my vows on the day of my last solemn Humiliation a memorial of all my actions in Writing is very useful that what is there recorded may be a help to my Memory which is most apt to forget my offences Upon the inspection of which the most regular Examination will be made according to the method of our Church Catechism wherein are included the Principles and fundamentals of Faith and Manners which I have engaged to observe and from which if I have swerv'd I cannot without a true Repentance expect God's Pardon and Mercy Now the Catechism being an Explanation of the Doctrine of Repentance Faith Obedience Prayer and of the due receiving of the Holy Sacraments the Examination must be proportionate and the inquiries strict What wandrings from the rule of Repentance What sins against the Creed Commandments Lords Prayer or the Sacraments have I been guilty of since my last Account An
for Confirmation or have I slighted the Prayers and Benediction of God's Priest Have I wholly forsaken Satan or rather am I not still under his power by being a slave to the habits of folly and disobedience Have I ever at any time used Charms or Amulets or consulted Witches or Conjurers Am I not yet in love with the pomps and vanities of the World a great frequenter of sports to the hindrance of Religious Duties and do I delight in profane and lascivious representations and are not my Lusts yet unmortified and have I not derogated from the honour of the Captain of our Salvation by cowardise and negligence Eucharist Have I not profan'd the holy Supper of the Lord by not acquainting my self with the nature of the Mystery and the necessity of preparation or by coming to it without Faith and Repentance without an universal charity and a thorow reconciliation to God and my enemies without examination without a due sorrow and amendment of Life Have I not often received that Sacrament without those ardors of devotion which I am obliged to or without that bodily reverence which the most Sacred and Heavenly Mysteries require Have I not made rash promises when I have received and never minded them afterwards Have I not suffered the House to lye idle when it hath been so swept and garnish'd to encourage Satan to take with him seven other Spirits worse than himself and to come and dwell in my Soul till its later estate be more deplorable than its first To which I subjoyn Lord be merciful to me a sinner and so strengthen me by thy Grace that I may perform my Vows and keep the robes of my Baptism unspotted and tho I have approach'd thy Table without the Wedding Garment yet cast me not into outer darkness whence there is no deliverance Now these and all other Transgressions are either heightned or lessened by their circumstances the Examinant therefore ought to consider 1. The Time when he offended Was it on the Lord's day Here additions and alterations may be made by the devout penitent according to his own state or any other publick Festival on a publick Fasting day or the days of my own private humiliation during the hours of Prayer either at the Temple or in my Closet either at or immediately before or after the receipt of the holy Sacrament and have I often committed one and the same sin for these circumstances argue a perverse frame of mind and that it is not infirmity but wilfulness that makes the offender 2. The place where the sin was committed Was it in the Church at the holy Table or in my Closet or in any publick place where the offence became scandalous incouraging the vicious and offending my weaker brethren 3. The state and condition of the Offender Am I not in Holy Orders one of God's Priests that Minister at his Altar have I not more knowledge and a better acquaintance with my duty hath not God afforded me more convictions greater light and frequenter opportunities of doing good was the sin committed when I was under some affliction of mind body or estate or after some sudden deliverance out of some severe judgement on me for my former failings hath not God by his holy Spirit laid many hinderances in my way to ruine and have I not overcome all difficulties and often been my own tempter have I not continued to be wicked after many checks of Conscience and many solemn Vows to the contrary after the experience of much mercy many deliverances and great tenderness compassion and long-suffering in my Saviour towards me 4. The persons injured Are not my sins committed against my God my Master my Saviour my best and only Friend have I rob'd the House of God of its ho nour or revenue have I ground the face of the Poor or rob'd the Fatherless and Widows have I given evil counsel to the ignorant or those that cannot discern the fallacy have I been unjust to my Children or Relatives who are nearest to me and as it were parts of my self Among all which sins I must particularly mourn over and detest those to which I have been most inclined by natural temper or custome and resolve to avoid all provocations and temptations and whatever hath or may promote such evil habits and to practice the contrary virtues To which I subjoyn Lord I have caused thy Name to be blasphemed among the enemies of Religion and Piety but be thou pleased to pity and pardon me the greatest of sinners and give me thy Grace that I may do so no more Besides all which I am bound to reflect on my many secret sins and forgotten offences and to subjoin Lord who can understand how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults and keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins lest they get the dominion over my Soul so shall I be innocent from the great offence The Collect. ALmighty Lord and everlasting God Grant I most humbly beseech thee to thy distressed Servant Pardon and Peace and vouchsafe to direct sanctify and govern both my heart and body in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever I may be preserv'd in body and soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen To this I add the 38 Psalm or the 51. or some other penitential and after that the 22 Psalm Then follows the Litany much agreeable to the former method LORD let thy Ear be attentive to the Prayer of thy Servant who desires to fear thy name O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him the Father of Mercies have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Son the Redeemer of the World and the lover of Souls have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Holy Spirit of Peace and Love the giver of every Grace and every good Gift have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Holy Powerful and Compassionate Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace Lord hear Lord forgive hearken O Lord and do and defer not for thine own sake O Lord our God From polluting the robes of my Baptisme and making new leagues with Satan from a feigned sorrow and an outside repentance Good Lord deliver me From sin and shame from the paths of folly and destruction from great boasting and little performance and from a vain and empty frame of mind from stoath and idleness and the neglect of my best concerns Good Lord deliver me From Self-Love and love of the World from being busy about nothing and slighting the thoughts of Eternity from deferring my repentance and putting off my accounts to the day of
my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
much devotion and an audible voice he heartily says Amen as a testimony of his strongest desires that it may be so and of his firm belief that God will make it so The Advice in these words Take and eat or drink this in remembrance c. And this puts him in mind 〈◊〉 duty what faith and thankfulness he ought to exercise at the reception of this blessed Sacrament And therefore he says Lord thou hast said it behold the Son of thine handmaid let it be unto me according to thy word I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified and to learn nothing but a conformity to his death and resurrection The word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory the glory as of the only begotten Son of God full of Grace and Truth § 17. Tho the devout Communicant brings with him unsatisfied ardors yet he takes care to receive decently and reverently not to snatch at the Bread nor to drink greedily for it is a Feast of temperance and therefore the Bread is given in a little piece and the Wine was anciently mixed with Water as for other reasons so for this that it might not offend the Head He therefore eats not as one whose antecedent fastings have made him hungry but as one who is little concern'd how his Body be provided for so the longings of his Soul be satisfied with spiritual food and he drinks not with the men of Corinth to be drunk at this Feast of Charity nor so much to allay his natural thirst as to satisfie the intense desires of his mind inflamed with love to his Saviour and the Holy Sacrament For at God's Table we are to eat and drink not to the satisfaction of our sensual appetites but to the sanctification of our Souls § 18. While the mysteries are distributeing to those who receive after him the good man examines his obligations to God's bounty in giving him one opportunity more of serving him in the beauties of holiness He remembers that Jesus being made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honour and considers that now he is crucified with Christ that he might live to God and that the life that he now leads in the flesh he lives by the faith of the Son of God who loved him and gave himself for him He offers himself a sacrifice to God and for the future looks on himself as something consecrated and that can no longer without most prodigious Sacriledg be put to any profane use For how shall he dare to defile that which God hath sanctified For if Belshazzar were punish'd for quaffing in the Vessels of the Temple how much more shall that man be plagued that pollutes the residence of the Son of God And how shall that man presume to appear again before God that sins against him after the receipt of such blessings § 19. After this considering that this Sacrament is called the Cup of blessing and a holy Eucharist he expresses his gratitude in solemn Thanksgivings saying either * Constit Ap. l. 8. c. 13. Psal 34. which the Ancient Church used at this solemnity or Psal 111. rendring verse 6. thus He hath showed his people the power of his works and given us the bread of Angels Or this that follows Give thanks O my Soul unto God the Lord in the Congregation from the ground of the heart Say unto God how wonderful art thou in thy works How glorious are the things which thou in thy goodness hast prepared for the poor Thou hast prepared a Table for me my Cup did overflow and I have tasted and seen how good the Lord is I have eaten the Bread of God with joy and drunk his Wine with a merry heart for God hath accepted me My Soul is filled as it were with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips Blessed is he whom thou chusest and receivest unto thy self he shall dwell in thy Courts and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thy House even of thy holy Temple As long as I live will I magnify thee in this manner and lift up my hands in thy name for thy loving kindness is better than life it self An offering of a free heart will I give thee and praise thy name because it is so comfortable I will love the Lord as do all his Saints I will bless him and magnify him for ever For this God is our God for ever and ever He shall be our guide unto death Glory be to the Father c. § 20. To this he subjoins an act of love and resignation I will love thee O Lord my God for the Lord is my defence and my refuge I will devote unto thee my body soul and spirit which are thine for thou hast redeemed them thou God of Truth Jesus hath loved me and laid down his life for me therefore will I adore him He is the Priest the Sacrifice and the Altar on him will I depend for salvation He hath given me the Sacrament as a confirmation of his former love and as a pledge of future favours therefore will I reverence and worship him world without end Lord I give my self to thee and I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him against that day Write in my heart the laws of love and thankfulness that I may no longer dare to sin against thee For how shall I now escape if I neglect so great salvation § 21. To which may be added this prayer out of the Liturgy of St. Clemens GRant Blessed God that we and all thy Servants who have been admitted to communicate with Jesus by Faith and the participation of the Sacramental mysteries may obtain remission of our sins and be so confirm'd in the ways of godliness and rescued from the dominion and impositions of Satan that being filled with thy Holy Spirit we may here be made worthy Members of Christ's Body and at last become heirs of everlasting life through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen § 22. Just before his leaving the Church the good man thus prays Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel After which he speaks courteously and friendly to all his fellow-communicants for they are his brethren and the Eucharist is the bond of that unity and this serves him instead of the Kiss of Charity which was anciently given at this Sacrament tho now the custom be antiquated And because the Love-feasts succeeded the Eucharist which are also now disused that he may do something that is equivalent thereunto he invites one or more of his poorer Neighbours for the rich are in no need
thy sight for all mankind especially for the houshold of faith through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen May the Blessing of God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be with me and remain with me now and for evermore Amen § 28. And because the blessings of an Easter are very valuable and deserve extraordinary returns the good Christian thinks fit after the Evening Service at Church is over to return again to his Closet to converse with his holy Saviour and to exercise those acts of Love of Faith of Contrition and Hope and other Graces which for want of leisure or other conveniences could not so well be performed in the House of God to which he subjoins this or the like Meditation The MEDITATION § 30. I Am now return'd from that happy place that is preferable to Paradise where I have been treated with a Feast of fat Things and Wine well refined and what does my Lord require of me in point of Gratitude for these his inestimable benefits but to do Justice to love Mercy and to walk humbly with my God For every thing in this Sacrament obliges me to holiness of Life the Institutor of it was the undefiled High Priest of our Profession who did bear all sins but committed none the end of its Celebration is to show forth his Death which when we receive unworthily we act over again we new crucifie the Lord of Life who hath bought us and bring on our selves the most horrid and affrighting guilt that we can incur the preparation is nothing less than a strict examination of our Consciences than strong Prayers and Cries ardent resolutions of being better and a constant course of pious and charitable Actions This Sacrament actually enters us into Covenant with God and what agreement can there be between Light and Darkness It is an Emblem of our holy Profession which calls us to an exemplary Conversation it is a bond of Christian Communion and obliges to Charity 't is a representation of our Saviour's Crucifixion and so calls to the practice of Patience Forgiveness and Holy Resolution and it is a solemn Sacrifice of Praise and so obliges to practical Gratitude How wide are thy Wounds O my dying Saviour and how sorrowful thy Countenance Oh thy bitter Agony Oh thy shameful Cross And all occasioned by my sins and shall I continue in the same Transgressions out of despite to my Saviour Lord let me never be in any capacity to do so any more for how shall I dare to eat with thee and to lift up my heel against thee In this Sacrament I renew the Vow which I made in my Baptism and have so often shamefully broken and thereby forfeited the blessings which were promis'd me upon the performance of my duty Now this Covenant as on Gods part it entitles me to his Protection and his love to the Merits of his Son and the indwelling of his Holy Spirit so on my part it engages me to accept of that Son of his in all his Offices obliging me to receive him as my Sovereign and to obey his Commands and to depend upon him to receive him as my High Priest and to believe that his Sacrifice of himself if I repent and amend shall cleanse me from all sin but if I continue in my disobedience shall avail me nothing and to give my self up to his Instruction as a Prophet learning from him all the particulars of the Divine Will that are necessary to make me wise to Salvation and perfect unto every good Work But how often have I broken that Covenant rebell'd against this my Sovereign made my self unworthy of the blessing of this my High Priest and cast all his Laws behind my back Before my Repentance my bosom was a Den of Thieves and a Cage of unclean Birds but now it is cleansed and I am become a new Creature now know I that I am the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in me but if any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple I am There is a particular Veneration paid to the places where Princes usually entertain themselves and every House where any of the Blood-Royal of Persia is born is afterward converted to a Sanctuary and whereever any of their Princes lodges in a Journey the place is reputed for the future sacred and ought not the place where my God takes up his Habitation to be for the same reason separate from profane and common uses And if some of the School-Doctors who assert Transubstantiation tell us that as soon as the consecrated Host grows mouldy the Body of God retires from it and it is again changed into its old substance of bread can I think that God will pitch his Tents in a polluted Soul infected with the Leprosie of Vice I do therefore resolve and it shall from henceforward be the employment of my time and my strength so to live in thy fear and to thy service that I may dye in thy favour and rest in thy Peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. § 31. At the end of this Meditation this Collect is fitly subjoined BLessed and most bountiful Saviour as thou hast honoured me and made me happy this day so vouchsafe me the same measures of Grace the same ardors of Mind and the same holy opportunities all the days of my Life fix my thoughts upon the things of Heaven strengthen and inflame my love to my dying Saviour increase and support my Faith confirm and secure my Hopes and give me frequent occasions to exercise all the other Virtues of my Christian Calling and as thou hast filled my soul with the most ravishing and transporting pleasures so make me for ever careful that I neither quench thy Blessed Spirit nor stifle its Motions but that I may improve all the seasons of Mercy and all the tendries of Grace to the best ends and purposes to the advancement of thy Glory and my own Salvation through thy Merits and Mediation who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen § 32. After this the devout man is all Rapture and all Joy and cannot forbear praising God afresh for all his spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in this or the like Hymn O God my heart is ready my heart is ready I will sing and give praise with the best Member that I have I will give thanks unto thee O Lord among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the Nations For thy mercy is greater than the Heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the Clouds Through God shall we do great acts and it is he that shall tread down our enemies Truly God is loving unto Israel even unto such as are of a clean heart Oh how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts my soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh rejoice in