No. 2.

RECEIVE, O Lord, for Thy dear Son's sake

my unworthy part in the glorious worship of Thy Church. Forgive my coldness, inattention, and imperfect understanding thereof. May Thy Presence abide with us; and make us to be doers of Thy Word and not hearers only; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

No. 3.

LORD, I implore Thy blessing on all who have been prevented from joining this day in Thy public worship, and Thy pardon on those who have wilfully absented themselves. O Lord, let them not altogether miss their spiritual food, and restore them speedily to the assemblies of Thy children. Especially I pray for the sorrowful and the sick, that they may be comforted by Thy Spirit, and may lift up their hearts to holy and happy places, in humble trust and penitent love; through Thy mercy, and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Remember that acting with too much liberty in God's Presence injures that respectful reserve and self-restraint which is due to Him.

A Meditation on the Holy
Eucharist.

"THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME."

The object of this Mystery is the making Memorial of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Father Which is in heaven.

To do this acceptably we must have a lively sense of the Person and Character of Him Whom we commemorate. We must therefore kindle in our hearts a holy admiration of His Goodness revealed to us in the great acts whereby He hath manifested Himself to the world. We must quicken our thankful remembrance of His Coming in the flesh to do the will of the Father, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, to make us partakers of Himself, His holiness,

His Divine nature.

O

LORD God, Almighty Father, in glad obedience to this command of Thy Blessed Son, I humbly unite myself with all saints in Thy holy Church to make the Memorial of Him, which He hath willed us to make. Open Thou the eyes of my heart that I may see Him as He hath manifested Himself in His Incarnation, in His blessed Passion, mighty Resurrection, and glorious Ascension. Help me, O Lord, by Thy Holy Spirit, to know Him and His Goodness, that I may not offend Thee in making memorial of Him, that

in all reverence and thankfulness I may make mention of His righteousness, even His only.

This Act of Memorial is the highest Act of the Church's worship.

And inasmuch as the Lord Jesus hath chiefly manifested Himself in loving devotion of Himself to the Father, our memorial worship hath always been directed to exhibit that loving selfdevotion. This was commanded to be done by the solemn Sacrifices of the old Covenant, and is still commanded to be done by way of SACRIFICE. In the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist we offer Bread and Wine to God, by the hands of the priest, as a sacrifice. And this outward sacrifice is a sign and pledge of an inward sacrifice, viz. the offering ourselves, our souls and bodies, in imitation and representation of the Lord's offering of Himself. This is our reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice. We make resolutions of future service, and offer them, giving ourselves to be a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And we offer our past service, such as it is, for the praise of God, as the sacrifice of praise which we offer to God continually, the fruit of our lips, viz. the fulfilment of promises of service made in Baptism, Confirmation, and former Eucharists. We offer this our sacrifice through the priest, as the deputy of the unseen High Priest, and therefore really through Christ Himself, as a sweet savour of Christ unto God, in memorial of Him, Who as the second Adam gave Himself, from Bethlehem to Gethsemane, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.

GOD and Father of our Lord Jesus

a sweet

Christ unto Thee. O let me not savour the

things which be of men! I desire to exhibit and display to Thee His life living in me, by imitating what He did, doing like as He did. Thou hast called me to the fellowship of Thy Son, I pray Thee by Thy faithfulness to accept me as a member incorporate in His Mystical Body. Permit me now, in the power of His life, to say with Him, "Not my will, but Thine, be done." Oh for the wretchedness of my sacrifice! Oh that I should be permitted, invited, commanded, to bring myself before Thee in commemoration of my Lord!

We offer ourselves, not singly, but as members of the One Body of Christ. We all contribute to the united act of the whole Church offering herself in memorial of her Lord.

HANKS be to Thee, O God, for this proof

THA

and seal of my adoption, that Thou dost allow me to bear a part in this act of Thy Church, which my Lord hath purchased with His Blood, which He loveth and cherisheth as a man doth his own flesh. Oh, may my individual offering be hidden in the great oblation of the Catholic Church! May it be accepted in her sacrifice of thanksgiving, in her grateful acknowledgment of His wonderful and glorious self-devotion !

Secondly, after we have done our part, in OFFERING sacrifice, then God graciously performs His part, in the CONSUMPTION of the sacrifice, which He has accepted through Christ.

Outwardly, God gives back, by the hands of His priests, to be consumed by the worshippers,

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the Bread and Wine which has been offered to Him. He does this as a sacrament. i.e. He therein imparts an inward and spiritual gift. He invites the members of Christ who have joined in offering the memorial of their Head, to come up to His Board, to enter into higher communion with Him, to share with Him His ineffable satisfaction in accepting the Offering of the whole Mystical Body, to receive back from Him, not only what they have brought, but infinitely more. He will not separate the sacrifice of the Body from that inestimable Offering of the Head of which it is the memorial.

In this holy mystery He gives us Christ Himself, the true Bread from heaven. He renews the baptismal Gift. He revives in us the Life of the Son, the second Adam, that we may live by Him, even as He lives by the Father.

LORD and heavenly Father, what am I to come to Thy holy Table for such a Gift as this? All that I can bring, all that the whole Church can bring, is as nothing compared with that which Thou dost now offer us.

Oh, let the sacred Body and Blood of my Lord and Saviour so strengthen and refresh His life in me, that henceforth the natural man may be powerless, that I may live entirely devoted to Thee.

I humbly bow down myself before my Lord present with us in Body, Soul, and Spirit, in His Divine and Human Nature, one Christ. Blessed be He that cometh in the Name of the Lord!

Moreover, the unity of the Church's offering