mercy may be multiplied upon us more often then wâ— do multiply our sinnes because it is by the multiplication of that mercy we obtain first grace to repent and then capacity to be pardoned and pittied too as if pardon alone were not enough without God also took pitty on us and did as well by his pitty â—xcuse as by his pardon forgive our sins For certainly should not God pitty our frailty he could never so often pardon our iniquity nor multiply as he doth his mercy upon us to prevent our sinning as if yet our ill natures could be overcome by his goodnesse and made to offend so great so good a God no more whereunto there is nothing so much conducing as the multip ied mercy that we beg to day to the end we may at last leave to grasp after the shadowes of comfort we aim at by following our own dictamens and may learn to run after the substance of God Almighties promises and thereby may deserve to be made partakers of his heavenly treasures which are promised to all that will for love of them renounce the empty shadowes of riches which this world affords But it remaines this prayer must suite as well to the other seâ—vice of the day as this glosse is suitable to the Prayer In brief therefore see the Epistle all upon graces gratis given while the prayer begs that pardon and pitty which we could never hope for did not God give them gratis and multiply his mercies upon us by the gratuite gift thereof See again the Gospel making the pardon and pitty extended to the Publicane more ultroneous and free by Gods having multiplyed his mercy on him least he should with the proud Pharisee boast his virtues who was full of nothing else but vice And consequently see an excellent report between the Prayer and both the other parts of holy Churches service teaching us by these examples to detest the shadowes of worldly pelfe and to run unto the promises of Almighty God thereby to be made partakers of his heavenly treasures The Epistle 1 Cor. 12.2 c. 2 You know that when you were heathen you went to dumb Idols according as you were led 3 Therefore I do you to understand that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith Anathema to Jesus And no man can say Our Lord Jesus but in the holy Ghost 4 And there are divisions of graces but one Spirit 5 And there are divisions of ministrations but one Lord. 6 And there are divisions of operations but one God who worketh all in all 7 And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit 8 To one certes by the Spirit is given the word of wisdome and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit 9 To another Faith in the same Spirit to another the grace of doing cures in one Spirit 10 To another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another discerning of spirits to another kinds of Tongues to another Interpretation of languages 11 And all these worketh one and the same Spirit dividing to every one according as he will The Explication 2. THat is to say like so many slaves to sense led on by the evil custome of your Idolatrous Ancestours and of the devil or rather indeed misled by them you went on in a kind of fond zeal to serve dumb Idols that could neither hear nor see much lesse give you any requital of the service you did them but now that you are Christians serving a true a living a liberal God give that great God thanks for this conversion O Corinthians 3. This word therefore is used as a link to tye this and the following verses in sense together as who should say therefore I put you in mind of your conversion from Gentilisme to Christianity that your zeal in the service of the true God may as much transcend what you used to false gods as life transcends death as all things transcend nothing as the shadow the substance for so much a perfect Christian transcends a Gentile And therefore it is impossible that a Christian speaking according to the true spirit of such should say Anathema to Jesus should curse Jesus as the Gentiles perhapâ— did curse their Idols when they had not what they expected from them but contrariwise are to blesse praise and magnifie Jesus Christ as the authour of all grace in this life and of glory in the next But the Apostle inculcates this because even the Jewes did curse Jesus as also did the Gentiles amongst whom the Corinthians lived and their Judges to try who were Christians made them do this so least they should follow this ill example the Apostle useth this exhortation to the contrary holding it sufficient obligation not to curse Jesus that one was a Christian See how handsomely the Apostle makes these two opposite to curse Jesus and to call upon the name of Jesus as who should say since the holy Ghost gives you the grace to call upon Jesus you cannot speak in the Spirit of the holy Ghost if you curse Jesus Where note that by calling upon Jesus is not meant the meer prolation of the name or word Jesus but the religious Invocation of that holy name in order to a supernatural end and this none can do but as assisted by the holy Ghost much lesse can you from any other fountain then this vaunt your selves O Corinthians of any other gifts or graces then this I say of the holy Ghost 4. One Spirit One onely holy Ghost giving diversely his several graces to several persons as he pleaseth 5. One Lord Christ Jesus God and man to whom all orders in the Church pay the tribute of their respective services as if from Christ they had their several offices and orders appointed them 6. Note the Apostle here refers grace to the holy Ghost as the fountain thereof ministration service or duty to Christ as Lord of heaven and earth and operation or working to God the Father as the origin and fountain of all things and of their operations And we may not unfitly say the same thing is meant by grace ministration and operation with several respects unto the several persons in the sacred Trinity who as one God is the undivided fountain of all the holy divisions abovesaid and so all things that are done out of God or as Divines say ad extra are equally attributed to the whole Trinity how ever we do piously attribute them also as it were severally to the several persons thereof By God's working all in all is here understood his mutuall concourse to all natural causes and effects and his sole working whatsoever is supernatural in us by means of graces given gratis and of such onely the Apostle here speaks not of graces rendring grateful nor preventing our operation but of such as God gives meerly gratis 7. By manifestation of the Spirit is here understood the gift of the holy Ghost whereby the said holy
ebrieties commessations and such like as I have foretold that they who do such things shall not obtaine the Kingdome of Heaven 22 But the fruit of the spirit is Charitie Joy Peace Patience Benignitie Goodnesse Longanimitie 23 Mildnesse Faith Modestie Continence Chastitie against such there is no Law 24 And they that be Christs have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences The Explication 16. THe summe of all he aimes at in this Epistle is to advise the Galatians to walk in the spirit after the dictamen of grace and not of nature after the instinct of the holy Ghost and not of their own corrupted judgements and by this meanâ— he tells them they shall avoid the accomplishment of fleshly desires how ever they may be tempted therewith 17. Hence the Manicheans and some Philosophers held there were two souls in man one spirituall the other carnall this of God that of the devil But the Catholick doctrine is otherwise that by one onely rationall soul in man are performed the operations of vegetative sensitive and reasonable souls Hence we see the reason why some good men sinne because they do not what they would what their spirit desires but what their flesh prevaileth for by a greater desire And indeed man is made up of these two contraries to show his life is a perpetuall warfare upon earth between the flesh and the spirit 18 This verse hath diverse senses but the genuine is if we be so led by the spirit of God as we doe what the same spirit dictates then we are not under the Law subject unto it or guiltie of the breach thereof Not that the Law ceaseth to oblige us but that we forbear to offend the Law and so are as it were rather above then under it whilest we walke under the Law of the spirit and in so doing rather trample it under us then break the Law which is onely made against transgressours not against the Just for against those there is no law saith the Apostle by and by against those who walk according to the dictamen of the Spirit 19. By the flesh we are here to understand the concupiscence thereof which leads to the vices afterwards enumerated namely fornication which is properly simple carnal knowledge between man and woman without other circumstances of adultery rape incest or the like Uncleannesse is properly that mollities or softnesse rather easinesse indeed to carnal delight which causeth single pollution without commixture of two bodies Impudicity is properly immodest kisses or touches between two persons Leâ—hery is properly any unlawful carnal delight which is extraordinary and so mortal This may be called also Lasciviousnesse which for the excesse transcends and passerh over all the special kinds of lust that are above named or can be indeed imagined and this excesse may be committed even between man and wife by undue knowledge of one another or by intemperance even in the due wayes of their mutual knowledge 20. By this verse enumerating acts of the soul amongst the works of the flesh we are taught that concupiscence resides as well in the soul as in the body of man and was left as a perpetual punishment of Adams sin in bâ—th parts of humane nature thereby to shew the whole masse of pure man was corrupted not onely every individual of mankind but every essential part of man as well his form as his matter his soul as his body from which Christ was free being God as well as Man and this punishment may not be unproperly called concupiscence which is indeed the fewel to the fire of all sort of sins burning perpetually in mankind and being by concupiscence perpetually fed so that concupiscence leades not onely to corporal but even to spiritual vices and therefore as well these as others are called works of the flesh and are here numbred by the Apostle among them namely Idolatry which is serving false Gods Witchcraft which is working by help of the devil Enmity which is a permanent and professed breach of friendship Contention which is perverse opposing one another in words or opinions out of a spirit of contradiction Emulation which is a repining at others well doing Anger which is a height of passion seeking revenge and this is mortal or venial according as it is greater or lesser Brawles which is breach of brotherly charity by giving provoking language Dissention which leades to strife or war Sects which are all Heretical opinions or choyce of religions by the conduct of private sense or spirit contrary to the known and common doctrine of holy Church 21. The three first vices mentioned here speak themselves plain enough in their names Commessations are all riots or gluttonous excesses in eating or drinking feasts or banquets hereunto are reduced all excesses of wantonnesse at such feasts as idle songs and light womens company or unchaste talk The close of this verse prohibiting from heaven these who do those works of the flesh above enumerated is to be understood onely when mortal habit is contracted in all or any of these works or when any dies in a mortal act of any of these vices 22. See how contrary the works of the Spirit are to those of the flesh and note that the Apostle speaks not here in the same stile as formerly for he calls corporal deeds works of the flesh but spiritual acts he calls the fruits of the Spirit and why because they are more indeed the fruits of the holy Ghost then of man and therefore are called fruits rather then works though they are the works or acts of our soul yet in regard they are done by the vertue of grace not of nature hence they are imputed to be rather fruits of the holy Ghost then acts of our soul whilest that holy Spirit operates more towards them then our own soules do which since Adams fall are still more propense to evil then to good works Note here are principally understood the acts not the habits of those vertues for an act is properly a fruit of the agent and the chief agent in these being the holy Ghost they though produced by us are called the fruits of the Spirit that is of the Holy Ghost in us And the first of these is called Charity as the prime and principal fruit of the Holy Ghost in us because it is indeed the highest of all other virtues insomuch that it partakes in a manner of the Deity it self since God is called Charity 1 Joh. 4 8. and therefore this is indeed the main and special fruit of the Spirit and all other virtues are not improperly called the fruits of this because it is this gives life to the soul and to all her virtues whatsoever And by this are produced in us these following namely Joy the fruit indeed of a serene conscience guilty of no adulterate affection to creatures but ravisht wholly with the pure love of God Peace the tranquillity of mind upon the serenity of a conscience not troubled with any
corporall eyes to the latter that their time is now come also of awaking from the sleep of infidelity and of their other enormious sins being the Redeemer of all mankinde was actually come though even the Jewes also after Christs Birth were fast enough asleep in their infidelity most of them and so were capable of this speech to them even in that sense too 12. By the night is here meant the time before Christs comming made dark as night with infidelity By the day the time after our Saviours Birth rendered bright as day with the light of the Gospel the works of darkness are Sin because they shut out the light of grace from our Souls the Armour of Light are acts of Vertue works of Grace and in these words Saint Paul minds us that our life is here a spiritual warfare since we know Armour is necessary for Warriours though the Greek Text imports by Armour of Light a kind of habit proper to the day and this is not inconsistent with the other sense above for Armour is a kind of habit too 13. This Verse seemes to begin with prosecuting the last sense in the former as if it were indecent to appear in the day without our Armour of Light as above but if it be taken as independent thereof it imports not for the sense is full in it self Aâ— in the day of Grace as in the day of the illuminating Gospel let us walk honestly that is modestly converse religiously and shew our selves to be children of Light by our works shining to the edification of our neighbour and glory of God Not any more in Banquettings and Drunkenness feastings and excesses of Wines These you know are works of the Flesh not of the Spirit or the Grace of God by Chamber-works the Apostle means here plainly Fornication by Impudicities more petulant and wanton actions of Lust even in publick such as indeed may be well called carnall impudencies Not in Contention not striving for vain-glory and popular applause whence followes the forbidden Emulation which is an envie at our neighbours greater good or esteem than our own See therefore here three of the capitall Sins so represented unto us as by all means to be avoided Gluttony Lechery Envy all being acts and deeds of darkness not fit to appear in the day light of the Gospel which now shines bright among us 14. By putting on Christ is here meant being dressed up in such Vertues as may make us appear Christians men clad in the Livery the Sanctity of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ and so abundant the Apostle in this phrase bids our Vertues be that they may hang as full Garments all over us for this difference there is betwixt carrying and putting on of cloathes that when carryed they are cumbersome and not adorning when put on they are light and becoming So to carry Vertue onely wrapt up in the speculation of it is no way graceful but to unfold it by the practice thereof this becomes a good Christian and this is truly to put on Christ not onely to study and speculate but to practice Vertue The Application 1. THe two first Verses of this Epistle are wholly and clearly describing the effects of the Incarnation and do exhort to a due Christian comportment at such a season That is now to prepare our selves for our Deification since therefore God became man that man might become God I have said ye are Gods and all sons of the Highest Psal 82. v. 6. 2. The third Verse tells us how unsuitable all Sin must needs be at this season though indeed it cannot be allowable at any time but especially how unseasonable these three deadly Sins now are which here the Apostle specifies and under them forbids us all the rest Gluttony Lechery Envy For nothing sooner starves a Soul to death than a gluttonous pampering of the Body nothing more odious to our God incarnate than to pollute that humane nature which Jesus could not endure to take upon him but in the sacred womb of his unpolluted Virgin Mother Nothing so unseasonable at this season of love as for a Christian to envy Christ in his neighbour just now when he coming to save us commands us to love each other as he loves us all 3. The last Verse gives us an armour of Proof against all danger of sin whatsoever for as Jesus by taking our sins upon himself did redeem us so we by putting on his Vertues may deserve to be saved that is to say we may be capable of Salvation for other desert we have not of our selves than a meer capacity of Heaven through the merits of our Saviours death and passion applyed to us cooperating towards that which we cannot operate our own Salvations since it is the onely participation of his merits that makes us fit to receive his rewards for those we call our meritorious actions such as Saint Augustine required saying He that made thee without thee will not save thee without thee Yet the same Doctor lest we should presume too much upon our selves says also When God rewards mans works he crowns his own Gifts for even our cooperation whereby we merit is the speciall Gift of God Which we Petition in the Prayer above most aptly set to the Tune of this Epistle The Gospel LUKE 21. ver 25. c. 25. ANd there shall be signes in the Sun and the Moon and the Stars and upon the Earth distresse of Nations for the confusion of the sound of the Sea and Waves 26. Men withering for fear and expectation what shall come upon the whole world for the powers of Heaven shall be moved 27. And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty 28. But when these things shall begin to come to passe look up and lift up your heads for your redemption is at hand 29. And he spake to them a similitude see the figtree and all trees 30. When they now bud forth fruit out of themselves you know that Summer is nigh 31. So you also when you shall these see things come to passe know that the Kingdom of God is nigh 32. Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all be done 33. Heaven and Earth shall pass but my Words shall not pass The Explication 25. THese Signes appearing in the Sun Moon and Stars argue they shall not perish but remain set to another Series or order of being than they were before such Signes in them shall portend the dismall day of Judgement And indeed how can there be other than a sad distress on earth amongst all the Nations thereof upon the confusion of sound that will then be in the boiling Sea and Waves which by the general conflagration fire falling from Heaven shall be far more agitated than ever by any storm or tempest these commonly happening but in some part of the Sea whereas this disturbance shall arise from the very bottom of the channell
Parents will to have him lost If then beloved we see the piety of the B. Virgin Mother of God was short of that which must be our guide how can we hope with lesse than heavenly piety to render our actions our desires gratefull to his divine Majesty And who can now complain there wants connexion in this Prayer unto the other service of the day if any doe let him see how to comply with the heavenly piety of his Eternall Father Jesus was Thirty years together subject to his Temporall Mother and then we shall soon find out a way how to sweeten the sour of our humane actions by having no desire to any of them less than heavenly nor to doe them with less than heavenly piety The Epistle ROM 12. ver 1. c. 1. I Beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercy of God that you exhibite your bodies a living host holy pleasing God your reasonable service 2. And be not conformed to this world but he reformed in the newnesse of your mind that you may prove what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is 3. For I say by the grace that is given me to all that are among you not to be more wise than behooveth to be wise but to be wise unto sobriety to every one as God hath divided the measure of Faith 4. For as in one body we have many members but all the members have not one action 5. So we being many are one body in Christ and each one anothers members The Explication 1. THe Apostle had in his former Chapter told them much of the mercies of Almighty God and shewed them how though the wicked were justly condemned yet even the Blessed were most mercifully saved hence by that mercy so much inculcated immediately before he now conjures them that as they had now received from him the rule of Faith so they would frame their manners their actions and lives according to that rule see what is said of this Rule in the next Sundayes Epistle Rom. 12. v. 6. But to the present Text wherein the Apostle here beseecheth them by the mercy so much above recommended to live good lives answerable to their rule of Faith and to exhibite their bodies by action as well as their souls by Faith a living host to God There are many who loose the literall sense of this place by contenting themselves with the divers and those excellent mysticall meanings thereof as first by saying our bodies are living when our lives are vertuous Secondly when we are charitable because charity is the life of all vertues Thirdly when we have received the Sacrament of Christ his Body and Bloud but in very deed the literall allusion here is to the antient bloudy Sacrifices both of Jews and Gentiles made of beasts dead bodies whereunto the daily unbloudy Sacrifice of the Evangelicall Lamb is diametrically opposite first of the living Body and bloud of Christ next of living chastized but not mortified bodies of Christians being as the Apostle adviseth offered up to the service of Almighty God since such chastizements leave the bodies living by a naturall life again they live by the spirituall life of good works done in obedience to their soules command for so operating besides by corporall mortification or pennance the body is made truly a living host because it is mortified alive by becoming subject to the command of the Spirit for all mortification is a kind of living death whilest it makes the body dye to concupiscence and live to grace but these our bodies must further be holy Sacrifices that is to say imployed in holy not prophane or impure works not worshipping Idols as the Gentiles did but God as befits good Christians not polluting their bodies with unchast actions but keeping them pure and undefiled for this purity is by the Apostle 1 Cor. 7 called sanctity and is such indeed Again this bodily host must be pleasing to God for it may be living and holy in it self and yet not pleasing to God if the offerer be displeasing since many there are who fast goe in pilgrimage to holy places doe other corporall pennances and yet not rectifying together their souls obliquities their passions of the mind are nothing pleasing to God Lastly he concludes exhorting that our offerings to God be seasoned with the salt of wisedome that is be alwayes a reasonable service not fond childish curious indiscreet or singular but such as we may ever render a reasonable account of even to God who will not allow of indiscretions for reasons though indeed the Apostle here alludes to the irrationall offerings among the Gentiles who made their Idols their Gods and dedicated their services to Stocks and Stones whereas he would have Christians be more reasonable and instead of dead beasts to offer their living bodies joyntly with the acts of their believing hoping and loving souls to be a perpetuall Sacrifice or service to God all their life time and thus the whole creature will become not a corporall not an irrationall but a spirituall and reasonable Sacrifice 2. The Apostle hath pleased to make a disjunctive recommends of this entire creature in way of Sacrifice to God while in the former verse he insisted cheifly on the corporall part of the creature which we are and so advised how to render our bodies a living Sacrifice to God but in this verse he tells us how to render our better part the soul of man an acceptable oblation to the divine Majesty and since Christian perfection consists as well in declining evill as in doing good therefore this verse begins with removing evill out of our way that so we may doe good which the Apostle understands when he bids us take heed we doe not conforme our actions to the course of this unconformable world and this we shall performe by avoiding the evill that we see in men for we shall then best shew that we doe not conforme unto sinfull men when we fly their company and avoid such actions as renders them sinners and having thus followed the negative part of this counsell we are the better prepared to put the positive part thereof in execution for by not conforming to the world we whose bodies are made up of the old worldly metall shall be reformed in the newnesse of our minds by setting them henceforward on heavenly which heretofore were imployed wholly upon earthly cogitations so the Apostle by bidding us not conform to this world did not mean to forbid us making use of it but not to figure our selves like unto it that is not to become vain proud idle and the like as the world is for so we make our selves figures of this world or variable as worldlings are whereas the Apostle desires us to avoid becoming mutable or transitory figures and wisheth us to become persisting formes rather which are of a permanent nature namely spirituall formes of Saints not worldly figures of men and here reformation imports in truth
the soule or understanding but first it must passe the sentinels of our outward sences and they if loyall will keep out all sinne whatsoever but if corrupted or treacherous to their sovereigne the soule then they welcome any traytour sent by the world or the devill to surprize their Prince and indeed all resistance to forreigne enemies is vayne if we first subdue not our domestick foe our own bodies by forcing them to obey the commands of reason for unlâ—sse we bring them first to this obedience all our resistance to sinne is like artilery let flye at crowes in the ayre when an army of daring men are ready to run into the mouthes of our Cannon and might be taken off if levelld at whilest our bullets fly in vaine above their heads by a mismounting our Artillery that is to say by roaring and crying out against the distantiall world and devill when indeed the flesh is the storming foe that scales our walls unresisted at the same time we pretend a maine resistance to our mightiest foes this fond way of fight the Apostle tells us of when he shewes his own close guard to be the safer defence namely the chastizement of his own body and if we aske what that chastizement imports we shall find it to be not onely a correction or slight rebuke but an absolute subduing or captivating of it to the soules command by fasting prayer and other corporall austerities as haire-shirts disciplines or worse tormenting instruments such as holy men have taught us the wholsome use of upon all notable occasions of temptations or dangers to the soule nay these meanes the Apostle used amidst his greatest spirituall labours least as he sayd while he preached to others he might himself become reprobate by the assault of pride or vain-glory how much more then oght those to mortifie their bodies who do not wast them in spirituall indeavours as S Paul did but above all how fondly do Hereticks shake off the use of corporal mortifications the exercise of good works under pretence of Faith alone to be sufficient when the greatest master of Spirit in the world S. Paul dares not hold himself by Faith secure without good works much lesse did he boast as they doe of a revelation that he should be saved noe nor relye upon his being confirmed in grace but wrought his salvation with feare and trembling which did accompany his hope not his presumption thereof Heare Saint Ambrose how he speaks against hereticks opposing this doctrine and practise of Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Vercellan Church I hear saith this Doctor-Father some men say there is no merit of abstinence and that those are mad who chastize their bodies to make them subject to their soules which certainly Saint Paul had never done if he had held it to be madnesse To the same effect all the rest of the Fathers abound with like sentences which for brevity sake I omit to transcribe but not to admonish the Christian reader of especially the hereticks whom it most concernes I say not who they be least I offend persons while I onely oppose their errors cut of charity to them and zeale of their soules salvation Cap. 10. vers 1. Here the Apostle seems to divert from the Corinthians to the Jewes but indeed makes this seeming diversion an approach to them againe whilest he puts them in mind that it is not onely Faith with Abraham nor to be baptized with Christians will suffice to get the goale of heaven unlesse we run continually thither upon the speed of our perpetuall good works for saith he I will not have you ignorant that our Fathers namely the children of the Synagogue the Israelites wanted not Faith nor the figurative Baptisme of the cloud and the red Sea types of our true Baptisme yet because they did murmur at God and sinne in the desart deserting thereby the necessary adjunct of good works to merit their arrivall at the land of promise of six hundred thousand onely two men Joshua and Caleb did arrive at and enter the said land In like manner Christians be they never so firme in their Faith never so deepely dipt in the true Baptisme of the red sea of Christs passion unlesse they hold on the speed of good works while they are running the race to the heavenly Canaanâ— they shall never enter that heavenly land of promise which is the price they runne for But we are here to note how Calvin corrupts this place of S. Paul saying the Jewes received no lesse the truth and substance of Christ and his benefits in their umbratile and figurative Sacraments onely than we Christians do in our reall Sacraments which are the true substance of the Jewish shadowes For the Apostle doth not say they and we eat all one meate but that all they among themselves did eat of the figurative body of Christ the Manna in their desart raining down upon them and drank of his figurative bloud the waters flowing out of the rock strucken by Moses as a Type of the bloud and water the matter of our truer meates issuing out of our Saviours side peirced by Longinus as Jesus hung upon the crosse The cloud here mentioned is that we read of Exod. 13. shadowing them in the day from the scorching Sun and shining like fire to guide them in their nightly marches through the desarts as prodigious a thing as was the division of the red-sea by the switch of Moses his wand as he marched on before them 2. Note this verse doth not assert the Jewes to have been baptized in Moses as in a signe of their beliefe in the Mosaick Law but that by this precedent miraculous kind of Baptisme they were induced afterwards to believe in the â—aw of Moses so in this the figure differs from the thing figured for though this their umbratil Baptisme previous to their Faith be a Type of our true Baptisme yet our Faith in Christ is precedent thereto whereas the Jewish Faith was consequent to their shadow of baptisme And whereas the divided sea stood as two brasse walls to secure the children of Israel a dry passage through the wet element of the waves yet joyned againe to overwhelme the Aegyptian forces that presumed to persecute the children of God so the red sea of Christs passion divides it self to secure the children of grace but closeth to drown the children of the devill originall sinne in infants originall and actuall too in the adult being those who are at years of discretion As therefore our Baptisme is the thing praefigured by this divided sea so Christ is by Moses so the holy Ghost by the cloud cooling the scorching sun of concupiscence in us and inlightening our darkned soules by his holy Grace 3. We were told in the exposition of the first verse of this Chapter that they did all eat the same figurative food onely with us that is Manna wich was a figure of Christs body our spiritual food in the Sacrament of
seen the Example of Humane Frailty in the chief Pastour of Gods Church that since the Sword of spiritual Power was put into their hands they might also have reason to shew mercy and not to retain other mens sins being penitent fiâ—ding their own were remitted upon Repentance and it was not without Reason that Christ foretold his Apostles he would rise again and appear to them in Galilee because he knew after his Death the Apostles and all the rest of his Disciples or Friends would be both afraid to meet together in Judea and that the Jews were so malicious against Christ as they would not suffer so great a number of his Disciples as Christ had above the eleven Apostles to appear amongst them much less to make assemblies Again the Apostles were most of them Galileans and so Christ knew they would be retreating to their own homes when he was gone or soon after if he rose not presently Lastly he had himself done many miracles in Galilee and therefore chose to get belief of them all at once by this one above all the rest his rising from the dead to Life again besides Galilee imports as much as transmigration and Christ passing from Death to life chose to do it in a place proper to the mystery which was yet redoubled by his appearing to multitudes at once in Galilee to shew he found the Jews no longer worthy his aboad among them and so he passed from them to the Gentiles where he had left many Disciples besides those Twelve he chose Apostles and whereof Judas was turned Apostata and dyed despairing so when the Angel said to the Maries Go tell his Disciples he meant tell all his Friends who are many in Galilee and St. Paul 1 Cor. 15. v. 6. seems to say that at the first apparition of Christ in Galilee there were more then five hundred of his Disciples or Friends and such as believed religiously of him whom therefore he rewarded by making them undoubted witnesses of this most doubtful and much controverted Truth his rising from the dead The Application 1. THe scope of all this Gospel is to prove the real Resurrection of our Blessed Lord and by that means the Immortality of Humane Souls so to wean them from their Temporal desires and plant their Loves upon Eternity the doubt if not the ignorance whereof made them embrace the Transitory Pleasures of the World and laugh at those for fools who thought of any happiness or misery to come when this life had an end by Death 2. Hence when the Apostles preach't our Saviours Resurrection it was held a scandal to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles because it brought the tidings of Eternity to men that knew not any thing before but fleeting time and so for want of hoping in eternal Happiness by leading holy Lives fell headlong in a trice to everlasting Misery by living viciously according as the Royal Prophet said They lead their days in Jollity and in an instant they descend to Hell 3. As therefore when our Saviour died good men began to think it folly to be good because their Vertue was not able to maintain them living still So when he rose again bad men began to fear they might as well revive to misery as happiness and consequently were more easily reclaimed from Vice and brought in Love with Vertue so that Eternity we see is made a special Root of Christianity when even a desire to live eternalâ—y is held a motive strong enough to work a Sanctity into our Souls Since Holy Church makes it her rule to day that as by Christ his Resurrection the door was open to a blest Eternity so our desires thereof may be preserved in us by him that gave them to us by his prevenient Grace On White or Low Sunday The Antiphon Joh. 20. v. 26. AFter eight days the doors being shut our Lord entring in said unto them Peace be to you Alleluja Alleluja Vers Tarry with us O Lord Alleluja Resp For night draweth on Alleluja The Prayer GRant we beseech thee Almighty God that we who have accomplished the Pascal Feasts may retain the same in our Manners and Lives by thy bounty inabling us so to do The Illustration WE heard last Sunday the Churches Prayers were now to run in a peculiar Channel of Life-giving Waters those of the Resurrection of our Lord See therefore this days Service sliding sweetly down that stream but in this Prayer I finde a Phrase so strange as needs a gloss to make it understood though it speak plain English too for how can we retain a thing that 's past as is the Paschal Feast and yet this is it we pray for to day and not onely to retain this feast in our memories but in our manners and our lives sure then the meaning is we must retain those good desires which we besought God to prosecute in us in our last Sundays Prayer and which as by his preventing grace they were afforded us so by his continued bounty we now beg ability to continue or retain them in our manners and lives Now albeit this makes the Prayer above to be as it were a recapitulation of the last Sundays Prayer since the Octave Day is a closing up one and the self same Feast that began seven days before yet we must finde a deeper sence in this days Prayer such as petitioneth we should retain the Vertues which did occur to the accomplishment of the Paschal Feast as the good desires to those Vertues and if we look back to what those Vertues were we shall finde them to be sincerity and verity or rather in a word perfect Sanctity such as might make the old Leaven in us of sin to be White Manchet of Sanctity as if it were nothing for us to make yearly Memory of Christ his Death and Passion and of his Resurrection for in these two Mysteries consist the Paschal Feast unless our selves did remain ever dead unto sin and ever alive to God by vertue of our resurrection in his holy grace assuredly this must be the sence of our Prayer to day for this is truly to retaine in our manners and lives the Feasts of Pasche that are past when we make our selves Paschall Lambes by the Sincerity and Sanctity of our lives and manners For thus we shall first by our Faith overcome the world and next by our good works give the testimony of Gods Holy Spirit being in us which this dayes Epistle so much insisteth on as the effect of our Faith and of our Victory over the world by the same Faith And to the Gospell this Prayer is literall whilst it beggs we may retaine in us that Paschall Feast which is the whole scope of this dayes Gospell telling us how our Saviour appeared in confirmation of his Resurrection to his Apostles and in the narration of Saint Thomas his infidelity exhorting us to a firmer Faith in that and in all the other mysteries of our Redemption To conclude
victorious peace as who should say his coming hither was not upon his own account but ours So he tells them now his business is done their peace is made in Heaven and Earth 20. He shewed how they still remained perforated boared thorough as with the Nayles and Spear that had pierced them while he hung upon the Cross what more powerful Argument of the Truth of his resurrection what more convincing proof that it is a Piety for Christians to revere the memory of his Sacred wounds when the first thing he shewed to oblige us to love him after his resurrection were the Wounds he received for us in his bitter Death and Passion The joy which followed in the Disciples upon seeing these wounds was not that he had received them but that those notwithstanding and his Death to boot for the sins of mankinde they saw him propitious merciful sweet benigne unto them that they did not see him come to reproach their flight from him nor Peters denying of him but to comfort them to consolidate their Faith and in them the Faith of all Christians in this now undoubted Truth that as he became man was crucified dead and buried for satisfaction of our sins so now he arose from Death to Life to give all mankinde an assurance that the work of their redemption was finished and their salvation secured if they would themselves hence it was the Apostles were glad to see our Lord risen and alive to confirm all his former Doctrine maugre the Jews malice against him and their belief that they had put him to such a death as he was past all power of reviving 21. While he repeats peace to them again he shews the abundance of his goodness flowing still from himself and falling upon those he loves and further in testimony that these his Apostles were all in the rank of those he loved most behold he gives his own most ample commission which he had from his heavenly Father unto every one of them while he sends them in vertue of the same Commission to convert the whole world as he himself was sent first to redeem it and by vertue of his Passion to convert it also which yet he would not do to have the whole honour of it to himself but gives to his Apostles the happiness to be his instruments his cooperators thereunto as himself was the instrument of his heavenly Father to the same purpose and if we observe the force of our Saviours words in giving his commission of Apostolate to these his chosen Servants we shall finde he doth not onely give them the title and honour of being his Apostles but of being even so many Sons of God by commission not by nature while he sends them even as his Father sent him to supply what was wanting of his Passion as we have heard already explicated once or twice 22. And least being but men not God as he was they should fear to fail in the execution of this high Commission Lo by his breathing on them he seems to convert them into holy Spirits and if we may so say even to so many Hoâ—y Ghosts by Commission or Office not by Nature in giving the Holy Ghost unto them For as by Spiration of the Father and Son the Holy Ghost proceeded equal to both in Nature so by this Spiration of Christ upon his Apostles they became equal in Spirit to him sent as he was by his heavenly Father in similitude of office in-similitude of power because he was God as well as his Father in similitude of end to save the souls of men in similitude of works of miracles and lastly in similitude of Spirit of Love and of affection while their commission is given by way of his Holy and Divine Insufflation or Inspiration whence they were impowered even to dye for him as he was by the force of his own holy Spirit to dye for us and by this inspiration he shews that as God by breathing on Adam gave him natural Life so he by breathing on his Apostles gives them a supernatural one a life of Grace but we must note here the holy Ghost was not given them as they had it before in Baptism when they received justifying Grace and Grace rendring them grateful nor as it was afterward to be given them by way of plenitude containing the fulness when they were so confirmed in Grace as that probably they never sinned afterwards but as a thing here gratis given and limited to one special effect namely to that of remission of sins as is made evident by the words in the following Verse so here we may see gratuite grace may consist with the state of sin or power to absolve others sins may be in a Priest who is actually himself in sin Note also by this inspiration the same power of remitting sins was given to St. Thomas though absent as well as to those Apostles present as Numb 11. v. 26. we read the Spirit of Prophesie was given in like absence by Moses to Eldad and Medad for we do not see it repeated after when St. Thomas came in among them though some think it was then he received that power and not before Note also that by this ceremony of our Saviours breathing upon the Apostles holy Church is grounded in sufficient warrant to use such ceremonies as to her shall seem fit in Administration or Collation of Sacraments 23. How absurdly doth Calvin wrest this place to power of preaching rather then he will allow man power of remitting sins though it be given him by God himself This very corruption of so plain a place of Scripture argues how dangerous a thing it is for men to read and wrest it to their own sense since the Act of Preaching is Teaching and Exhorting the Act of forgiving sins is the Act of a judging Power besides all men may at all times be lawfully preacht unto be they in sin or out of sin but all cannot at all times be absolved from sin nor any indeed at any time but by Contrition Confession and Satisfaction either Actual or in Vote if opportunity be given It is therefore an Article of Faith that by these words our Saviour gave to the Apostles power to forgive sins however it may be disputed whether he had not before at his last Supper made them Priests when he said unto them as often as you shall do this that is as often as you shall Consecrate my Body and Blood or Eat and Drink them do it in remembrance of me Luk. 22. v. 19. because now whensoever Priests are Ordained it is done by their joynt prolation of the words of Consecration with the Bishop at Mass after he hath said unto them Receive ye power to offer Sacrifice and though here were given by Christ the Faculties of Absolving to the Apostles yet it doth not follow Priesthood was then given since to this day we see many Priests that have power to Sacrifice and yet have not leave to Administer
mysteries which we have faithfully received we may be purged from sinne and delivered from all dangers On the fifth Sunday after Easter The Prayer O God from whom all good things do proceed grant unto thy humble supliants that we may thinke on those things which are good thou inspiring us and thou governing us we may put the same in execution The Secret REceive O Lord the Prayers of the faithfull with the oblations of their sacrifices that by these offices of pious devotion we may passe into eternall glory The Post-Communion GRant unto us O Lord who are filled with the vertue of the heavenly Table that wee may desire those things which are right and receive what we desire On Sunday within the Octaves of Ascension The Prayer OMnipotent Eternal God grant us ever to have our wills devoted and our hearts sincerely bent unto the service of thy Divine Majesty The Secret MAy the Immaculate Sacrifices purifie us O Lord and afford unto our souls the Vigor of supernal Grace The Post-Communion BEing replenished with thy holy Gifts grant unto us we beseech thee that we may always remain in thanksgiving FINIS THE THIRD PART Of the first TOME On the Feast of Pentecost OR On WHIT-SUNDAY The Antiphon ACTS 2. v. 1. ON this day are compleat all the dayes of Pentecost Allelujah This day the holy Ghost did appear to the Disciples in fire and gave unto them gifts of graces sent them over all the world to preach and testifie that he which shall believe and be baptized shall be saved Alleluja Vers The Apostles did speak with divers tongues Alleluja Resp The wonderfull works of God Alleluja The Prayer O God who on this day hast taught the hearts of the Faithfull by the Illumination of the holy Ghost grant unto us in the same Spirit to relish those things that are right and ever to rejoyce in his consolation The Illustration IF we look back to the three last Sundayes-prayers we shall find them all as it were preparatives to this which we now make to day of relishing those things that are right and rejoycing in the consolation of the holy Ghost And indeed our B. Saviours whole life and death had no other aim then by making God man to winn man into an affection of deity and of being content to become God and when by the last mystery of humane redemption as far as lay on our Saviours part his glorious Ascension we were brought to devote our wills and our hearts affections sincerely to the service of Almighty God now we are led into that holy School and unto that heavenly Master where we shall be taught how to set our hearts right to his heavenly Majestie and this by the Illumination of the holy Ghost which that we may do the better see how to day we pray that in the same Spirit we may relish those things which are right and rejoyce in the consolation thereof as if in this School flesh and bloud were to have no place which had so far and so long mis-led us and indeed the very Apostles themselves so long as they looked upon Jesus Christ as man they did not relish the pure service of Almighty God they were not set right in their hearts affections they doted upon flesh and bloud and so fell into the errours thereof S. Peter of denying Christ in his afflictions S. Thomas of doubting of his Resurrection but we never heard that after the coming of the holy Ghost any of the Apostles fell into those or any other errours in the rectitude of their service towards Almighty God but were alwayes in the right and took content in nothing that was wrong or swarving from the doctrine of their Master our Saviour Jesus Christ And why this Because the holy Ghost who was the Spirit of Truth had possessed them and taught them all truth and made them not onely relish it but disrelish all things that were contrary thereunto Nor is it without reason that erring man in his most solemn prayer should beg the grace of God to relish what is right for we never please our selves with what we do not relish nor do we ever relish what displeaseth us whereas to relish what is right is to relish at least what is pleasing unto God however it doth oftentimes nor please our selves and therefore in this grand day when we are to be weaned from the nurse of flesh and bloud and brought into the school of Spirit and are to ask our Master a boon now we see his hands full of bounty and benevolence we are taught to beg that we may relish and take content in whatsoever is right towards God be it never so averse to our selves because our teeth being set on edge with flesh and bloud and our mouths quite out of taste with Spirituall food nothing is of more import to us then that we may relish such meat as we must hereafter live and nourish by Spirituall consolations not earthly delectations any more for the first set us and our hearts affections right to God the last draws us headlong to death Now it will be the least of our cares to day to adjust this prayer unto the Epistle since this is altogether of the coming down of the holy Ghost into the school of spirituall comfort where he is to reade his lessons to mens hearts as this prayer tells us and as we read Jerem. 31.33 I will write my law in their hearts whence it is holy Church to day takes the Antiphon out of the Epistle rather then out of the Gospel and yet rather makes it then takes it for though the sense be the same neverthelesse the letter is not so which perhaps was mysteriously contrived to shew that as soon as the holy Ghost came down to teach the Church was able of her self to reade a lesson to her children and immediately we see S. Peter preached but indeed as the Gospels ever tell us the stories of our Saviour's life so the Acts of the Apostles tell us the history of the holy Ghost first that of the fact when and how he came next that of the effect how prodigiously he wrought in the hearts of those he did descend upon so the Epistle being to day out of the Acts of the Apostles is as the gospel of the holy Ghost made the place whence Preachers take their texts or whereunto at least they drive the design of all their Sermons And to this the prayer is apparently suited yet it is not therefore unsuitable to the Gospel also of the day wherein S. John tells us in our Saviours name he that loveth me observes my words which is in effect to say doth relish my words doth relish that which is right for nothing more right then the word of God since we may take that for verity and rectitude it self especially being taught us by the holy Ghost who this Gospel tells was to come purposely to teach us truth the truth of that word by the
our course according to that Providence since it is most certain that God Almighty never intends our ruine by the miseries he permits to fall upon us but rather our salvation if we bear them with conformity to his holy will But we must find the prayer adapted to this present Epistle and Gospel too else we fail of our design You will have anon the literall sense of both expounded but we must now prosecute our further aim of making it appear this prayer is as it were an abstract of them both In which holy Church would teach us how to cast our selves upon the providence of God with a perfect resignation to his divine will as who should say O God we know thou hast environed mankind with a world of internall and externall evils yet thou that art omnipotent canst remove those evils or things which are hurtfull out of our way and canst afford us all that is good and beneficiall to us since we doubt not but thy goodnesse hath a desire to save each of us and consequently hast so disposed of us in thy saving Providence as notwithstanding all the evils that environ us thy will of saving us shall not be frustrated No not maugre all the internall evils mentioned in the Epistle of our own flesh and bloud propending us to perpetuall sinne nor all the externall evils mentioned in the Gospel of ravenous wolves of false prophets who under colour of saving our souls seek to swallow them up into the mouth of hell For as against our internall evils we find helps in the Epistle domestick easie helps such as S. Paul is almost ashamed to name our own flesh and bloud captivated onely to the rule of reason and grace in like manner we find helps in the Gospel against our externall evils false prophets or teachers when we are in the Gospel taught how to distinguish them from true and safe guides by looking into their lives and works which are compared there to fruits of trees that is if their lives be good we may safely follow them if bad we must avoid them And certainly as we have no internall enemy greater then our own flesh and bloud ill regulated so we have no externall greater then false prophets ill teachers since the Lay-mens lives ought to be squared unto the lives of their spirituall leaders and when any of these are false guides it is like the corruption of the best thing which alwayes is the worst corruption O how fitly then doth holy Church to day reflecting on these internall and externall enemies or evils mind Almighty God in this prayer of that his never-failing providence when to secure us that it be not frustrated in us she bids us deprecate all those evils that may indanger it and beg all those helps that may conduce unto it Say then beloved this prayer with this relation to the Epistle and Gospel both which it sweetly summes up unto you and say it with such a fervour of spirit as it self imports that is beseeching God to looke upon us as lost souls amidst so many dangers as he hath placed us in unlesse he use his own omnipotent power to make good in us his saving Providence For then God hears best when we pray with most earnestnesse and when we cast our selves wholly upon his care and Providence which can never be frustrated The Epistle Rom. 6. v. 19. c. 19 I speak a humane thing because of the infirmity of your flesh For as you have exhibited your members to serve uncleannesse and iniquity unto iniquitie So now exhibit your members to serve justice unto sanctification 20 For when you were servants of sinne you were free to justice 21 What fruit therefore had you then in those things for which now you are ashamed for the end of them is death 22 But now being made free from sinne and become servants to God you have your fruit unto sanctification but the end life everlasting 23 For the stipends of sin death But the grace of God life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Explication 19. St. Paul calls it well a humane thing or motive when he moves us to piety by the argument of requiring no more care in us to serve God then we used to serve our selves And as by iniquity he understands all sinne so by justice he understands all virtue which doth sanctifie us 20. That is to say by making sinne your master you had cast off all the yoke of duty you ow to justice the mistresse under whom you ought to serve God So free to justice means slavery to injustice in this place which is a very ill freedome indeed 21. 'T is clear enough we reap no fruit from sinne but shame and death 22. As clear it is that when we renounce the bondage we were in to sinne we then become servants to God and have for the present fruit of our service sanctity and for the future an eternall and blissfull life 23. That is to say the naturall and due reward of sin is death but life eternall is not so due to Saints because it is a huge grace of God that they obtain heaven when they have done all they can to gain it And in this place the Apostle calls it grace or a reward given to virtue by the singular favour and mercy of God And he calls this grace life everlasting because under the notion of life he includes all that is good and happy and because he will confront it with death which is the reward of sinne to make it more gratefull by being compared to so ungratefull an opposite as death is unto life The Application 1. IT is evident S. Paul in this place speaks to the Lay-people amongst the Romans not to the Church-men for he requires a farre greater perfection of them then of the Layity to whom he indulgeth here as much as humane frailty can expect when he makes the Infirmity of their flesh the strength of his argument to perswade them to the fruits of the spirit their sanctification by the works of charity For without charity there can be no saintity 2. As therefore all sins whatsoever are reduced to the works of the flesh so all virtues are reduced to the works of charity which is the spirit of God working in us counter to the flesh that still producing slavery shame death and damnation this freedome confidence life everlasting and salvation 3. Now in regard Almighty God hath made no flesh at all of his spirituall counsels and in regard we see his wisdome hath so ordained that the life of man is a perpetuall warfare between the spirit and the flesh as this Epistle tells us from the first to the last of it and lastly in regard he hath provided us one sole Chieftain sufficient to quell all the enemies of the flesh his holy grace his love his charity which alone is able to secure souls from all the assaults of their triple enemies the world the flesh and
laudable to boot by his acceptance of our endeavours as if we had been able to perform our duty when it is himself that doth the work and yet affords the praise thereof to us because we did but set our hands to the burthen that he lifted up And hence it is our willingnesse is lookt upon by him as if it were a perfect will our desires as if they were performances because what we wish he wills what we but desire to do he perfects and so esteems us his faithfull people because he is as well our faithful servant as our noble Master himself avoucheth this I came not to be served but to serve and so looks upon his own worth his own praise as though they were radicated in us unworthy creatures and thus is pleased in us even while we are displeased with our selves to see how little we do in earnest of that all which he accepteth at our hands as if it all had been by us well done O convincing goodnesse But we must further find this prayer adapted to the other service of the day And in one onely verse of the Epistle we shall see it done Not that we are sufficient to think any thing of our selves but our sufficiency is of God if not to think much lesse to do What so patt as this unto the Prayer And yet S. Paul rests not here he shewes Gods bounty stops not untill he brings his servants to the top of all preferment as he did when he honoured simple men with the title of Apostolate when he made them Ministers of salvation unto all the world When could this be more aptly made the subject of the Epistle then now that the Prayer so magnifies the bounty of Almighty God unto his servants Or when could the Gospel better begin with the happinesse it was to those that see our Saviour Jesus Christ with their own eyes whom Princes had in vain desired to see and could not have the honour of that view which yet he was so lavish of unto his chosen servants to his Apostles Disciples and several devotes of both sexes And when could the double-dealing Doctour be better reprehended for his boasted zeal of knowing how to gain eternal life then in this Gospel we do read he was by being told God was no way better served then when men did mutually love each other and shew this love to be sincere by helping one another in their need For then we serve God faithfully worthily and laudably when we love our neighbour as our selves then we run without offence unto the promises of Almighty God when we do that which Jesus told the Doctour of the Law he should by doing secure himself of everlasting life that is by loving one another O sweet O easie way to heaven O Prayer exactly well adapted to the other service of the day The Epistle 2 Cor. c. 3. 4 And such confidence we have by Christ to God 5 Not that we are sufficient to think any thing of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 6 Who also made us meet Ministers of the New Testament not in the letter but in the Spirit for the letter killeth but the Spirit quickeneth 7 And if the ministration of death with letters figured in stones was in glory so that the children of Israel could not behold the face of Moyses for the glory of his countenance that is made 8 How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be more in glory 9 For if the ministration of damnation be in glory much more the ministry of justice aboundeth in glory The Explication 4. BY confidence here is understood an assured trust such as Saints have when they undertake by Gods assistance to work miracles And this confidence S. Paul had that by his preaching he had written the word of God in the hearts of the Corinthians and that they were now in a manner a living Epistle or letters of Gods truth that is of Christ his doctrine or Evangelicall instructions 5. By any thing here is meant any thing appertaining or ordained to faith grace merit or salvation as who should say S. Paul did not arrogate to himself that he was able to be a minister to his own or any others salvation of himself but attributes all this to the speciall assistance of Almighty God So Catholicks teach out of this place against hereticks that our own free will is not able to will our own salvation as an act purely our own but it must proceed from God that we will any thing in order to a supernaturall end and such is our salvation Yet hence it follows not that desire of our salvation is not an act of our free will but that free will alone is not able or sufficient thereunto without Gods grace and speciall assistance so we allow two causes necessary to concurre unto humane salvation grace as the supernaturall and our cooperation thereby with an act of freewill as the naturall this last being elevated as it were by the first to do more with it concurring then it could have done alone 6. By a meet minister here understand a sufficient one and S. Paul confesseth he is not such of himself but is made so by virtue of grace as in the verse above Not in the letter but in the spirit is as much as to say not by the written Law but by the inward spirit and grace of God not so as Moyses was who cited the letter onely of the Law for his promotion the tables of the Commandments c. No the commission of the Apostles was by way of mission their part was to preach according to the spirit infused to them by Christ and to deliver by word of mouth his doctrine not by writing so their tradition was the first rule of Christian Religion to the world after Christ and that they writ the Gospel was an after inspiration of the holy Ghost not any speciall command left them so to do by Christ Hence they writ it not for a rule or necessary square to measure out our wayes but as a spirituall help much conducing to piety if rightly understood and squaring with their sense who by tradition had delivered much more then they writ And hence it follows that the letter may kill if misunderstood but the spirit or sense of the Apostle is that which quickeneth or giveth spirituall life to our souls as being a true expression of the spirit or sense of Jesus Christ By the letter killing is truely meant the letter of the old Law which was written to terrifie rather then to save and was but a type of a new Law that should save rather by the spirit or sense thereof then by the letter and the spirit is said to quicken because it gives life to the soul as being the spirit of grace and charitie the Holy Ghost indeed teaching us all truth of the letter of the Law whence we say Come holy Ghost visit the minds of thy people fill with
time by doing homage to Almighty God So by this account all Sundayes Holy dayes require an exercise of these three virtues Theologicall and consequently all the time of private prayer is to be spent in actual exercise of these because that prayer is an addresse to God as all the time of persecution that being suffered for Gods sake all the time of troubles for those are caused by sinne against Almighty God and must have end by saintitie so by this account all our life time must be a practice of these virtues an increase of them indeed as the onely means to make us saints to make us capable of God Almighties promises by loving these his easie his sweet his saving commandements which are the continual exercise of these Theologicall virtues whereby we are made capable of his heavenly promises And least it should be with us as with these nine ungratefull Lepers cured from their Leprosy which is a type of all sinne whatsoever but especially of the foulest of all others Infidelity Therefore holy Church to day to prevent all sin in her Christian children and above all the sin of ungratefull infidelitie commends unto us the Prayer above that by often saying this Prayer we may exercise the noblest and most essentiall virtues that belong to Christianitie and by their increase make our selves worthie of our Saviours promises to all good Christians On the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Matth. 6. v. 33. SEek first the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and all things shall be given you besides Vers Let my prayer O Lord c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer KEep we beseech thee O Lord thy Church with perpetuall propitiation and since without thee humane mortalitie faileth let it alwayes by thy helps be withdrawn from such things as are hurtfull and directed to those that are saving The Illustration HOw excellently well is the much of the Epistle and Gospel contained in the little of this Prayer wherein we confesse it is by the perpetuall propitiation of our Saviours passion without which our humane mortality would be alwaies failing as the onely help conducing to support us that we can be withdrawn from the works of the flesh and directed to walk in the Spirit that is to say taken off from those things which are hurtfull and directed to those that are saving And what else is the whole Epistle but an exhortation to leave off the works of the flesh and to pursue the fruits of the Spirit Again what are the two masters which the Gospel saies we cannot serve at once but the flesh and the spirit what the drift of all the Gospel but to dehort from one and exhort unto the other So here Epistle Prayer and Gospel speak all one thing how severall soever the language be of each and no marvell because the spirit of Almighty God is able to animate all the creatures of the world Act. 17.28 For it is he in whom we live are moved and have being Now having thus made good our main affair of this work the mutuall connexion of parts in holy Churches service it rests onely to elucidate a word or two in the Prayer above to render the same in it self perfectly understood The first is the perpetuall propitiation wherewith we beg the Church may be kept for though above we called that propitiation an effect of our Saviors passion yet here we must further give a reason why we did so call it and also why we in the Prayer affirm the same to be a perpetuall effect thereof Know therefore it is the effect of his passion because it is not onely a satisfaction for sinne but also a pacification of Gods wrath against mankind who by sinne had provoked Almightie God to a high indignation against the whole race of men And therefore we call this propitiation perpetuall because it is infinite in duration as well as in power of appeasing for though it be now above 1651. years since our Saviour did actually suffer yet the virtue of his suffering is still vigorous and shall be to the worlds end because it was the suffering of God as well as of man and therefore must needs have an eternall operation that is be able for all eternity to appease the wrath divine and in this sense we say the preservation of the world in being is the continuation of the act whereby it was created so the preservation of mens souls from the wrath of the heavenly Father is the continuation of the passion of his sacred Sonne The next phrase of this Prayer which we are to clear is that wherein we say without our perpetually propitious Lord Humane mortalitie would fail as if there were any other mortalitie then humane that were capable of the benefit of our Saviours passion of his perpetuall propitiation Truely no there is not for since it was onely Humane nature that he assumed and by assuming it was pleased to redeem the same we say rightly well no other mortalitie was capable of the benefit of this redemption not but that other natures are mortall as all terrestriall creatures are in the very rigour of death or mortalitie because they all die by way of corruption and if we say the celestiall spirits are mortall too because they may be held to die when they fell from heaven to hell from the state of grace to the state of damnation we shall not speak improperly and truly the phrase of this Prayer seems to allude to that mortality of the blessed spirits when therein we are taught to affirm that our Saviours passion was a propitiation peculiarly provided for the subsistence onely of humane mortalitie since it was a remedy provided onely to recover so often as they chance to fall mortall men and not any other mortall creature besides either terrestriall or celestiall And thus the stile of humane mortalitie is most apposite because man onely had the happinesse of mercy to be shewed him for his sins which was a favour never done to any Angel whatsoever and this mercy is just the same which this present Prayer avoucheth begging that our humane mortalitie which needs must fail without it may have the benefit of our blessed Saviours perpetuall propitiation by the application thereunto of his bitter death and passion which will afford it helps to avoid what is hurtfull and to follow what is saving The Epistle Galat. 5. v. 16. c. 16 Brethren I say walk in the spirit and the lusts of the flesh you shall not accomplish 17 For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh for they are adversaries one to another that not what things soever you will these you do 18 But if you be led by the spirit you are not under the Law 19 And the works of the flesh be manifest which are fornication uncleannesse impudicitie lecherie 20 Serving of Idols witchcrafts enmities contentions emulations anger brawles dissentions sects 21 Envies murthers
horrour of sin or the least affection thereunto which peace of conscience the Apostle magnifies so that he sayes it surpasseth all sense and cannot be sufficiently expressed Philip. 4.7 so great a fruit this is of charity and these are the chief internal fruits Now the external are Patience whereby we bear with the provocations of others that attempt to disturb the tranquillity of our minds by which we neither loose our own nor disquiet others Benignity goes further whilest it not onely bears patiently all external attempts against our internal quiet but even endeavours to sweeten their asperity who are harsh unto us to oblige others who would disoblige us as well as to requite the courtesies we receive from them this consists chiefly in a sweetnesse of language in an evennesse of actions towards all men and is such as very good men may want unlesse they have the special gift thereof and this is the main vertue by which we gain from others the reputation of being Saints Goodnesse rests not satisfied in doing well for all men and in all we do but in declining offence to any either God or men this consists chiefly in ayming to profit our selves or others and is therefore esteemed the fountain of utility Longanimity hath a great share of patience as if it were a continuation thereof yet hath this speciall difference from it thâ—t this reports rather to time then persons and useth the exercise of patience properly upon all diversity or difference of time past present and future for that every minute of our lives ought by this virtue to be a patient expecting the good hour of Gods holy will to be done in us whilest we live by our sanctification when we dye by our salvation 23. Mildnesse is here understood to be diametrically opposite to anger or revenge of injuries and differs by that notion from patience as also by rendring a man tractable and flexible to all that is desired and good to be done Faith is of two considerations first as it is opposite to heresie and so assenteth to whatsoever is proposed by God or holy Church to be believed though never so much above nature and this faith is not so properly called a fruit of charity or of the holy Ghost as it is indeed the root or first principle of religion Secondly as it imports fidelity or veracity in point of promise and as it is opposite to fraud or lying and thus it is properly a fruit of the holy Ghost or of charity or as it is said here by the Apostle of the Spirit and of this Faith S. Paul sayes Charity believes all things 1 Cor. 13. so it consists in a kind of genuine simplicity by considing in the veracity of all men and believing rather then distrusting what they say Modesty imports an equal temper in all words and actions and renders a man well composed for the exteriour of him grateful and acceptable to all men being an effect of his inward rectitude or composition Continency is as it were a militant chastity and consisteth in the act of resistance to temptation so it is rather an imitation or inchoation of chastity then chastity it self which may be perfect when and where there is no opposition or temptations as a man is said to live chaste so long as he sins not carnally but continent whilest he actuaâ—ly resists temptation to carnality though this vertue is a kind of transcendent perfection over all mens actions and thus it is as well a temperance from excesse of meats as from all other vices Hence married people may be said to be continent though not chaste when they forbear all carnal pleasure but that which is the moderate use of the marriage bed Chastity consists in an absolute forbearing all carnal pleasure whatsoever as well that of marriage as not of marriage and is highly commendable as labouring to bring the body to the simplicity or purity of a spirit by declining all corporeal commixtion or impurity And against these fruits or the producers of them there is no law that is they are not forbidden any way nor punishable by any law at all but may freely be practised Which doctrine of the Catholick Church is against that of Sectaries forbidding vowes of chastity as if they were vowes against the law of nature 24. This last verse ends the forementioned war between the flesh and the spirit telling us that those who are truly Christs have by the grace of the Spirit by the help of the holy Ghost not onely overcome the flesh but crucified it too allayed even all the desires and concupiscences thereof by works of penance and mortification which is called a spiritual crucifixion because it imitates the death of our Saviour who dyed that we might live in spirit and never dye to him There are five noted wayes of this crucifying our concupiscences by feare of hell by conformity of our will to Gods holy will by guarding of our senses by prayer and by fasting watching and almes deeds or any other mortifications either of mind or body The Application 1. IT is no marvel if after so deep a root as our Faith took last Sunday we see to day the same Faith rise with a mighty stemm a stock of Hope topt with a gallant Head of charity and become a dainty Tree laden with several fruits of all sorts of vertues whatsoeuer for the many numbred here in this Epistle are an epitome of all the rest and indeed however Charity be the best and highest of all vertues yet she must have the staffe of Hope to rest upon and the root of Faith to suck the triple breast of the single Deity the milky mystery of the B. Trinity or else she is not ripe enough to gather and be served in as fruit sit for the heavenly Table 2. But that we may know when she is ripe indeed see here how she is set against her opposite the flesh which is a love to sense but not to soules to creatures but not to the Creatour so the Apostle playes at once the husbandman the painter and the Philosopher whilest he to day gives charity to us full â—ipe and with her best life colour made by the shadow of the flesh that sets her off as foyles do beauties and as two contraries set forth one another see them both in their several effects in the Explication of the Text above 3. But because fruits do wither where the grounds are dry and have not sapp to feed the Roots therefore S. Paul doth close up his Epistle to day with the Aqueduct of life giving waters to all Christian vertues our Saviour and his sacred Passion for when he sayes Those that are of Christ have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscence he must needs conclude that Christ first overcame this flesh by his Spirit and that it is by the application of his Passion we are inabled also to do the like and that without the application of this
so we must live rather content to die poor then seek to live rich after God will have us die beggars Note it is onely excesse of care or anxious solicitude that we are forbidden not ordinary diligence in our occasions 33. By first is here understood chiefly or principally so that we are allowed a secondary care of our temporals though our main imploy and study must be to get heaven for that is the Kingdome of God By Gods justice is here understood those virtues and good deeds that render us just in the sight of God and so capable of that heaven we are in the first place to seek since it was the end for which we were first created By those things which shall be given us besides are understood things of lesse moment and consequently which ought to take up lesse of our care such as are meat clothes and other temporalls The Application 1. GOd and Mammon are not so here declared to be the two masters meant who cannot be both served at once but that we may also take the spirit and the flesh for these two masters and this the rather because so the Gospel is more literally suting the Epistle and besides S. Matthew in the following verses of this present Text doth aim directly at the service we pretend unto the flesh when we neglect our souls to provide for our bodies 2. And see how to prevent this poor pretext our charity is led to day by Providence to shew us that we cannot any way pretend to corporall duty for excusing us from our spirituall obligations since God Almighties Providence is here brought in to furnish us with all things necessary for the body and so to ease us of that care and to send us about our main and onely businesse our secking in the first place the kingdome of heaven and the justice thereof by the works of charity such as in the Epistle above are enumerated and assuring us all things wanting else shall be provided us by his Providence who never relinquisheth the just man nor permits his seed to seek their bread so if neither for our selves nor for our posterity we need to interrupt our spiritual duties or to renounce our service to our souls for any tie we have to serve our bodies we have no pretence then left at all for our so doing 3. Yet least we be withdrawn from the saving works of charity by the hurtfull ones of the flesh which humane frailty would easily incline us to therefore we are taught upon the reading of this holy Text To pray as above alwayes for the help of Christ his perpetuall propitiation by the cordiall of his passion to relieve our fainting charity withall in her march to heaven On the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Luk. 7. v. 16. A Great Prophet is risen amongst us and because God hath visited his people c. Vers Let my Prayer O Lord c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer LEt thy continued mercy O Lord both cleanse and defend thy Church and because without thee it cannot stand securely be it alwayes governed by thy bounty The Illustration WE heard in the exposition of the last Sundayes prayer that the perpetuall propitiation there begged was the continuation of our Saviours passion to be our continuall help in all occasions and now that to day we beg to have the mercy of our Lord continued to his Church we seem but to repeat the same prayer again in a varied phrase But if we cast our eyes upon the Epistle and Gospel here below and observe how the Expositours upon them apply the same as declaring all the office of Priestly function and telling us what should be the duty of the people thereupon we shall soon perceive as well a difference in the substance as in the phrase or language of these two prayers That alluding to the immediate influence of the passion into us by the personall help which our Saviour affords in the grace he gives us to repent us of our sinnes which relating to himself is fitly called his perpetuall propitiation but reporting to the mediate helps we have from our Saviour by the mediation of his Ministers the Doctours Teachers Preachers and Priests of holy Church it is rather stiled his continued mercy towards us because it was his mercy that moved him to supply his own personall presence amongst us by the mediation of the Priests whom in his place he left by means of catechising preaching and administration of the Sacraments to continue his mercy towards us and by the continuation thereof to cleanse and defend his holy Church cleansed indeed by participation of the Sacraments defended by the communication of the Priests their functions sacrifices and prayers in her behalf and yet our holy mother closeth up this Sundayes prayer with an immediate addresse again unto the fountain it self when she concludes affirming it is as well his bounty as his mercy that she subsisteth by when she professeth she cannot stand securely unlesse she be alwayes governed by his bounty that is to say by his holy grace derived unto us through the hands of his Ministers the Priests of holy Church so that this prayer instructs us whence our helps do flow and by what hands they are conveyed to us And requisite it is that we do pray in this sort to day when the Epistle runs all upon the Priests office to the people and their putting in practice the Christian doctrine taught them by the Priest all which is neatly couched under the spirituality wherewith the Epistle tells us both are rendred compleat as signifying neither the Master nor the Schollar must sow fleshly seeds since both must live by spirituall fruits And for the Gospel we hear the Fathers of the Church avouch it to be a parable alluding to the death of sinne and life of grace which is coincident with what the Epistle taught us of sowing spirituall seeds that might bring forth fruits of grace of Christ not fleshly which produce nothing at all but corruption and death Since then we have this prayer adjusted to the sense of the Expositours upon the other parts of this dayes service we make good our designe as hitherto we did in some one of the latitudes in the preface of this work allowable unto this mysticall Theologie The Epistle Galat. 5. and 6. Chap. Chap. 5. v. 26. If we live in the spirit in the spirit also let us walk let us not be made desirous of vain-glory provoking one another envying one another Chap. 6. v. 1. Brethren if a man be preoccupied in any fault you that are spirituall instruct such a one in the spirit of lenitie considering thine own self lest thou also be tempted 2 Bear ye one anothers burthens and so you shall fulfill the Law of Christ 3 For if any man esteem himself to be something where as he is nothing he seduceth himself 4 But let every one prove his own work and so in
himself onely shall he have the glory not in another 5 And every one shall bear his own burthen 6 And let him that is catechized in the word communicate to him that catechizeth him in all goods 7 Be not deceived God is not mocked for what things a man shall sow those also shall he reap 8 For any that soweth in his flesh of the flesh also shall reap corruption but he that soweth in the spirit of the spirit shall reap life everlasting 9 And doing good let us not fail for in due time we shall reap not failing 10 Therefore whilst we have time let us work good to all but especially to the domesticalls of faith The Explication 26. IF we have internall life of grace and justice let us walk justly according to the conduct of that grace and by no means look back to the wayes of Judaisme being as we are Christians but let us so farre decline from being vain-glorious as the Jews were that we even forbear the desire as well as the act thereof much lesse let us vaunt our selves to be better then others provoking them thereby to anger or envying if in any gift they excell us 1. Note S. Paul means here such faults as are casually and by frailty committed not those that are habituall or accustomary besides he glanceth here specially at frail relapses to Judaisme and such he commands the Galatians to instruct that is to reprehend gently and with lenitie not rigidly or severely as obstinate offenders ought to be reprehended so besides he makes not every one a reprehender of his brethren but those onely that are spirituall meaning Priests or Churchmen and such reprehension he will have to be in spirit also not in any vain way Note he falls from the plurall to the singular number left he had else seemed to accuse a whole community of frailty and of danger to be tempted which is indeed incident to single persons and not handsomely imputed to many 2. Here he comes to the plurall number again exhorting us to bear each others burthens whether they be of naturall disposition not agreeing with our own or whether they be diseases or afflictions laid upon our neighbour or lastly and chiefly even their sinnes we must bear indeed pardon conceal excuse and if we wil perfectly obey this counsell even do penance for them by our prayers fastings or alms and in so doing we shall fulfill the Law of Christ his command of loving one another This is my precept that you love one another as I have loved you Joh. 15.12 but he so loved us as he bore all our sinnes upon his back and therefore we must be content to help bear those of our neighbours to imitate the example of our Master 3. By something is here understood good virtuous or spiritual as who should say if any man doth not follow the precept above of bearing his brothers burthen let him never think he is or can be any thing in the sight of God Observe the text is so far from esteeming him for some body who is not sweet and gentle to his brother as he is not accounted so much as any thing in the sight of God but is truly as nothing in his eye and absolutely seduceth or cheateth himself if he conceiveth otherwise 4. In this verse we are exhorted to valew our selves onely as we can deserve to be esteemed by Almighty God where we all know we merit little or nothing and not as we may seem to be compared to others For what availes it a man to see another commit greater sins then himself if he commit sinne enough to damne him or at least to render him ungrateful to Almighty God And yet nothing more common then for us to flatter our selves that all is well at home if we see any greater evil in others then in our selves To seek our glory out of others ignominy is folly We shall never arrive to eternal glory in the next world if we do not contrive to be such here within our selves as may deserve the reward of eternal glory rather for our own good works then because others have greater bad ones to answer for then we 5. Note in the second verse above the Apostle meant the burthens of the living brethren in this he reports to those of the dead and in that sense we should each one carry his own burthen before the Tribunal of Christ at the later day as if our sins were then laid in a knapsack on our own backs and each man there to answer onely for his own unlesse he had made himself also guilty of others sins too and in such case they become his also The Reformers mis-understand this place when they alleadge it against purgatory and will therefore have it needlesse to ease our brethren in purgatory of their burthens by our prayers Alas they are chiefly then objects of our compassions and may yet find ease by the communion with the Church in prayer by partaking of the suffrages which the Saints afford them but at the later day it will not be so then is a time for justice not for mercy 6. Observe here the practise of catechizing or teaching Christian doctrine to be as ancient as from the primitive Church in the Apostles dayes Note that then also they who had the happinesse to receive the benefit of being catechized were exhorted to repend the spiritual courtesie by temporal rewards of relief to the Apostles Note lastly that catechizing was by word of mouth not by writing performed for it was indeed prohibited in those times to commit to writing the mysteries of faith lest the Infidels should profane them as they came to their view and yet now what huge force the Reformers put in the Scripture as if it alone availed and tradition were nothing worth whereas both together make up one perfect Record of Christian doctrine 7. This verse may either be refer'd to that immediate before or to the fourth above as who should say deceive not your selves by pretending excuses from relieving their temporal wants who afford you the spiritual helps of Christian doctrine so S. Augustine Theophylactus and S. Hierome expound this place or as more generally others expound it delude not your selves for you cannot cousen God by shaking off your burthens upon other mens shoulders you shall bear your own for God knowes which are yours and you cannot cousen him and thus it reports to the fifth verse as above let each one bear his own burthen So the metaphor imports that this life is a husbandry a time of sowing the next is that of reaping according as we have sowed here if good works then good reward if bad then punishment 8. This verse S. Hierome and the rest above interpret as they did that of the catechized as who should say if you sow the seed of almes to those that instruct you you shall reap the reward the Spirit that is heaven if you sow penury and relieve them not
eternall glory and by our cooperating with him give us the rewards of his own operations in us whom he makes labour in his vineyard here a while that he may set us in eternall rest at his own heavenly table where though he be pleased to delight in us yet we shall be the onely gainers by enjoying him for he gets nothing but to be content that we get all by being but willing to present our selves to him as the humane subjects wherein he is pleas'd to produce the divine work of our salvations while he is satisfi'd to call us his fruit that he may be our food for all eternity Thus we are taught in the prayer above and may saying it with the same spirit that made it saint our selves as is desir'd we should by the holy Ghost who gave us this sainting prayer for that holy purpose FINIS On VVhitsunday The first Prayer O God who on this day hast taught the hearts of the Faithful by the Illumination of the holy Ghost grant unto us in the same spirit to relish those things that are right and ever to rejoyce in his Consolation The Secret SAyntifie we beseech thee O Lord our offered gifts and mundifie our hearts by the Illustration of the Holy Ghost The post-Communion LEt the infusion of the Holy Ghost O Lord purifie our hearts and fertilize them by the inward aspersion of his heavenly dew On Trinity Sunday The first Prayer ALmighty everlasting God who hast granted to thy servants in confession of the true Faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of Majestie to adore unity we beseech thee heartily that in the firmnesse of the same Faith we may ever be defended from all adversity The Secret SAyntifie we beseech thee our Lord God by the invocation of thy holy name the Hoste of this oblation and render us thereby unto thy self an eternal present The post-Communion GRant O Lord God that the receiving of this Sacrament and the confession of the sempiternal Holy Trinity and of the undivided unity thereof may avail us to the health both of our body and soul On the first Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer O God the strength of those that trust in thee be mercifully present to our prayers and because without thee mortal infirmity is of no ability grant the assistance of thy grace that in doing what thou dost command we may please thee both in word and will The Secret VOuchsafe appeased we pray thee to accept of these our offerings dedicated to thee O Lord and grant that unto us they may afford perpetual help The post-Communion BEing filled with so great gifts grant O Lord we beseech thee that while we receive these wholsome boones we may never cease from praising thee On Sunday within the Octaves of Corpus Christi being the second after Pentecost The first Prayer MAke us O Lord equally to have both a continual fear and love of thy holy name because thou dost never leave them destitute of thy government whom thou doest instruct in the solidity of thy Love The Secret MAy this oblation sacred to thy name purifie us O Lord we beseech thee and from day to day carry us to such actions as conduce unto our heavenly life The post-Communion NOw that we have received thy sacred gifts we beseech thee O Lord that together with frequenting this mysterie the effect of our salvation may increase On the third Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer O God who art the Protectour of those that hope in thee without whom nothing is valid nothing is holy multiply we beseech thee over us thy mercy that thou being our ruler thou our guide we may so passe by the temporal goods of this world as not to loose the eternal of the next The Secret LOok we beseech thee O Lord upon the offerings of thy suppliant Church and grant that what we are to receive may by perpetual sanctification prove unto the health of thy believing people The post-Communion MAy thy holy things O Lord received quicken us and prepare us being expiated for thy everlasting mercy On the fourth Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer GRant us O Lord we beseech thee that by thy order our course in this world may be peaceably directed and that thy Church may enjoy a quiet devotion The Secret BE pacified O Lord we beseech thee having received our oblations and propitiously compell unto thee our even rebellious wills The post-Communion MAy the received mysteries O Lord purifie us and by their bounty defend us On the fifth Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer O God who hast prepared invisible good things for those that love thee infuse into our hearts the desire of thy love that loving thee in all things and above them all we may attain unto thy promises which surpasse even all our desires The Secret BE O Lord propitious upon our supplications and take unto thee benignely these offerings of thy servants of both sexes that what every one hath presented in honour of thy name may profit all of us to our salvation The post-Communion WHom thou O Lord hast filled with thy heavenly gifts grant we beseech thee that we may be cleansed from our hidden sinnes and delivered from the snares of our enemies On the sixth Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer O God of powers to whom all belongs that is best ingraft in our breasts the love of thy holy name and grant in us the increase of Religion that thou mayest nourish those things which are good and being so nourished maintain them by the practise of pietie The Secret TAke unto thee O Lord benignely these oblations of thy people and be propitious upon our supplications and that no ones desires be frustrate no ones request in vain grant we beseech thee that what we ask faithfully we may obtain efficaciously The post-Communion WE are O Lord full with thy gifts we beseech thee grant that we may be cleansed by their effect and defended by their help On the seventh Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer O God whose providence is so disposed as it never can be frustrated remove we humbly beseech thee all things that are hurtfull and grant whatsoever may be beneficiall unto us The Secret O God who hast concluded the diversity of the legall hosts under the perfection of one sacrifice receive the same from thy devout people and sanctifie it as thou diddest the offerings of Abel that what every one tenders thee in honour of thy Majesty may avail to the health of us all The post-Communion MAy thy medicinall operation clemently free us from our perversities and bring us to those things that are right On the eighth Sunday after Pentecost The first Prayer GRant us O Lord we beseech thee propitiously the spirit of thinking and doing what is right that as we cannot be without thee so we may live unto thee The Secret REceive O Lord we beseech thee what of thy