liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

FOR THE IMITATION OF CHRIST'S EXAMPLE.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; mercifully grant that I may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partaker of his resurrection, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THANKSGIVING FOR CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS.

O THOU my crucified Saviour, glory be to thee for causing thy sufferings to be registered in the gospel; there I have read and remember the wonders and triumphs of thy almighty love, for which I will always adore and praise thee.

I remember, O gracious Lord, how thou, who thoughtest it no robbery to be equal with God, wast made in the fashion of frail man, of the vilest and most contemptible of men; for thou tookest upon thee the form of a very servant I remember how many reproaches and contradictions, blasphemies and persecutions, thou didst endure from a wicked and perverse generation; and all this to save us sinful men.

I remember, O gracious Lord, how thou didst endure a most bitter agony, and didst sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground; how thou, who art God above all, wast treacherously betrayed and apprehended, and bound as a malefactor, set at nought by Herod and his men of war, denied by Peter, forsaken by all thy disciples; and all this to save us sinful men.

I remember, how thou, O God of truth, wast accused by false witnesses; how thou, whom all the angels adore, wast blindfolded and buffeted, mocked and spit upon, stript naked and scourged, and all this that we might be healed by thy stripes, and to save us sinful men.

I remember, Lord, how thou, that art the great judge of heaven and earth, wast thyself dragged to the judgment seat and condemned; how thou, O King of heaven, wast crowned with thorns, and oppressed with the weight of thy own cross; and all this to save us sinful men.

I remember, O blessed Saviour, how thou, who art the Lord of glory, and the sole author of life, wast put to a most ignominious death; how thy hands and feet were nailed to a cross; how thou wast crucified between two thieves, and numbered with the transgressors; how thou hadst a portion given thee, to embitter thy very last gasp; and all this to save us sinful men.

I remember, O gracious Lord, how, when thou wert hanging on the very cross, thou wast scoffed at and reviled; how infinitely then thou wast afflicted and bruised for our transgressions, when the iniquities of us all were laid upon thy shoulders; how thou didst then express an anguish greater than all the torments of thy crucifixion, when thou didst cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And how thou didst at last give up the ghost, and die thyself, that we might live.

Was there ever any sorrow like that which my Lord and my God endured for me? Was there any love like to that love my Lord and my God has shewed to me? O my Saviour, with all my heart I love and adore thine infinite love and benignity to sinners; with all my heart I lament and detest the hatred and outrage of sinners to thee. Instil, O my God, penitential love into my soul, that I may grieve for my sins, which grieved thee;

that I may love thee for suffering for us sinners, who occasioned all thy griefs. O may I always love thee! O may I never grieve thee more! By the love of thy cross, O Jesu! I live; in that I will only glory; that above all things will I study; that above all things will I value. By the love of thy cross I will take up my cross daily, and follow thee; I will persecute, and torment, and crucify my sinful affections and lusts, which persecuted, tormented, and crucified thee; and if thy love calls me to it, I will suffer on the cross for thee, as thou hast done for me.

How illustrious and amiable were thy graces amidst all thy sufferings! O thou afflicted Jesu! I admire and love thy profound humility; unwearied patience, lamblike meekness, immaculate innocence, invincible courage, absolute resignation, compassionate love of souls, and perfect charity to thy enemies. Give me grace to tread in thy steps, and conform me to thy divine image; that the more I grow like thee, the more I may love thee, and the more I may be loved by thee. Amen.

CHAP. V.

EASTER-EVE.

Q. What Fast does the church this day celebrate? A. The great Vigil of our Saviour's resurrection, when he lay in the grave, and descended into the state of the dead; when there was a real separation of his soul from his body, whereby he was properly and truly dead : which state of his lowest humiliation the primitive church always observed with rigorous fasting, even in that age when Saturday was otherwise kept as a Festival, and in respect to the Jewish converts, honoured with all the solemnities of religion over all the Eastern church, as well as in some parts of the Western.

Q. How was Christ buried?

A. According to what was predicted concerning the Messias, our Saviour made his grave with the rich;a for Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, who was himself a disciple of the blessed Jesus, begged the body from Pilate, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and put it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; which was shut up with a great stone, and made secure by the Jews, by sealing the stone and setting a watch. All these circumstances do not only manifest the reality of our Saviour's death, but tend to make his resurrection more evident.

Q. How did the ancient church observe this vigil? A. It was celebrated with more than ordinary pomp, with solemn watchings, with multitudes of lighted torches, both in their churches and their own private houses, and with the general resort and confluence of all ranks of men, both magistrates and people. At Constantinople, it was observed with most magnificent illuminations, not only within the churches but without. All over the city there were set up lighted tapers, or rather pillars of wax, which gloriously turned the night into day, which they designed as a forerunner of that great light, even the Sun of righteousness, which next day arose upon the world.

Q. How were the Christians employed upon this vigil?

A. As the day was a strict fast, so the vigil continued at least till midnight, the congregation not being dismissed till that time; it being the tradition of the church, that our Saviour rose a little after midnight. But in the East the vigil lasted till the cock-crowing, the time being spent, in reading the law and the proMat. xxvii. 58, &c.

Isa. liii. 9.

b

phets, in expounding the holy Scriptures, and in baptising the catechumens. In the Latin church the water for the font is blessed on this day, and reserved for the use of the persons to be baptized the year following, which custom is a shadow of the ancient usage; for on Easter-Eve were the catechumens baptized by the bishop himself, if present; Easter being one of the chief times appointed by the church for baptizing adult converts; children and sick persons being baptized at all times.

Q. Must we pass through the gate of death before we can attain that happiness Christ hath purchased for us?

A. It is appointed for all men once to die; and though our blessed Saviour hath conquered death in depriving it of its power to hurt those that are his faithful servants, yet he hath not exempted us from the laws of mortality, but hath made death a necessary passage to the attainment of eternal happiness.

Q. What ought then to be the great concern of a serious Christian?

A. To fit and prepare himself for a holy and happy death, in which he ought to use the greater care and caution, because a mistake in this matter is irrecoverable, and never to be retrieved. We can die but once, and eternal happiness or eternal misery must be the consequence of it. And happy is that man whose mind is so well fortified, as to be able to meet the king of terrors, not only without fear, but with some degree of comfort and satisfaction.

Q. Wherein appears the wisdom of preparing ourselves for a happy death?

A. In that it is securing the mighty and important business for which we were sent into this world, in respect of which all the other labours of this life are mere