Ever. Jefus Chrift the Righteous; to whom Thurf with Thee, and the Holy Ghoft, be ascribed all Honour and Glory now and for evermore. Amen. See the concluding Prayer and Bleffing on Page 41, and 42. * The Morn. Meditation for Friday Friday On the Paffion of our Bleffed Saviour, com- Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himfelf, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the crofs. Phil. xi. 6, 7, 8. I. Propofe now unto thee, O my Soul, that thou mayft give me Comfort by a devout Meditation on the Sufferings of our wounded Jefus, which were the Wonder and Aftonishment of Heaven and Earth! And there learn of thy Saviour to be meek and lowly in Heart; who being the great Lord of the World condescended with the profoundest Humility and Silence Here you may obferve the Directions given on Page 3. Friday Silence to undergo the Punishment of in Slaves. Morn. II. Behold with what Patience this innocent Lamb yields to have his Body plowed and furrowed by mercilefs Murderers! Behold him naked, helplefs, and unpitied, whilft the furious Executioners tear his Skin and tender Flesh with forged Scourges, to fatisfy the Cruelty of a barbarous Multitude! III. Behold this fame bleffed Jefus extended, tortured, and nailed, and rudely hoisted up upon the Cross between two Thieves, where he hung for the Space of three long Hours, [reviled by the Jews, and railed at by the very Thieves] in Pain, Dolour, in Grief, and Shame; all his Bones disjointed, and his Wounds ftretched and rent, the Wider by the Weight of his Body hanging on the Nails; and all this for Man, even for thee my Soul, a miserable Sinner. IV. Behold those powerful Hands, which fo lately had cured the Blind and Deaf, cleanfed the Lepers, and loofed Morn. loofed them that were bound by Sa-Friday tan, extended in Misery! Behold thofe 32 adorable Feet pierced with Nails, which had gone about doing Good continually! V. Behold that facred Body hanging upon the Cross, hungry and thirsty, naked and cold, wounded and rent, weeping and bleeding, racked and tortured, languishing, praying, and facrificing itself, and expofed to all Manner of Shame and Torment for thee, in which all the Treasures of Wisdom and Power were hid! And let that Vinegar and Gall given unto him, quench all immoderate Appetites in thee, and imbitter all fenfual Delights. Behold that Face, more beautiful than the Sons of Men, which comforted the Afflicted, and the Light of whofe Countenance the Fathers and Prophets had fo much defired, changed into the Palenefs and Horror of Death; and crying to his Father, My God, my God, why hast thou forfaken me, and then gave up the Ghoft. VI. Oh! Morn. Friday VI. Oh! how great in Mercy, how abundant in Compaffion was the Son of God, thus to die for thee; how great in Majefty, how terrible in Power! For now did the Heavens wax dark, the Veil of the Temple rent afunder, the very Stones clave, and the Dead arofe. How great was his Power in his Death, to produce fuch Wonders by it, in it, and after it? How far did his Merits and Power extend? Even to the Sun in the Heavens, to the Veil in the Temple, to the Holy of Holies, to the Dead in the Graves, to the Centre of the Earth, to Hell beneath; yea, to the very Hearts of the Impenitent. For the Centurion now was convinced of his Error and converted. VII. Oh! I will flee to the Cross of my Saviour, and there with the pious, devout, and afflicted Women, and his beloved Difciple St. John, I will open the Flood-Gate of mine Eyes, I will water my Couch with Tears, I will bring my Body into Subjec Morn. Subjection, and rend my Heart; left Friday I by my evil Deeds approve, and be-w come Partaker of their Sins, the infatiable Malice of the Chief Priests and Elders, who perfuaded the Multitude to cry out at once, Away with this Man, and releafe unto us Barabbas; what was this but to fay, destroy the Innocent, and give us a Traitor and a Thief? Away with the Prince of Peace and universal Charity, and leave unto us the Author of Sedition? Put him to Death who has raised up the Dead before us, and give unto us a known Murtherer. VIII. But what haft thou done, O thou Lamb of God? and how haft thou deserved, thou Saviour of the World, to be thus expofed, vilified, and tormented? What is thy Crime, and the Cause of thy Grief? What is it that has laid thee on the Altar of the Cross, naked, bleeding, tortured, and dying? The Lord has laid on thee the Iniquities of us all: Thou art wounded for our Tranfgreffions: Thou art bruised for our Sins: The Chaftife ment |