to our souls. Q. Is it available to the dead? A. It is for as we are all in the same communion, though in a different state, we all partake of the same prayers. and sacrifice. Q. Why are there so many ceremonies used at the offering of this sacrifice? A. That this sacrament and sacrifice, which is the most holy of all, may shine with greater solemnity, and the hidden mysteries thereof be represented to our eyes by those outward ceremonies. INSTRUC. What is commonly called Mass, is the eucharistical sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, under the forms of bread and wine; which being consecrated separately, represent his body slain, and his blood shed on the cross: this sacrifice then, or the Mass, as to the substance, was ordained by Christ; as to the many prayers and ceremonies, these were added by St. Peter, James, Clement, and their successors. As Melchisedeck was a type of our Saviour, Heb. vii. so his sacrifice was a figure of this: for Melchisedeck offered bread and wine, our Saviour offers his body and blood, under the forms of bread and wine; for this being the thing figured, contains more than that which was only the figure and shadow of it. There are several sacrifices; as a contrite heart is a sacrifice to God. Prayer, alıns-deeds, fasting, and other good works done for God, are said to be sacrifices, but this is only in a metaphorical and spiritual sense: but if we speak of a real and proper sacrifice, it is an offering of some sensible thing to God, as an acknowledgment of his being the supreme Lord and God of all. And as God can receive due honour and worship from men, only through his Son Jesus Christ, hence the sacrifice, by which our Saviour offered himself on the cross, was the most perfect that ever was offered to God, from the beginning of the world, whether under the law of nature or Moses: they were only types and figures of this sacrifice to come, and no more than as shadows to the substance they were offered by the hands of sinners, this by Christ himself. The sacrifice we now offer at Mass is the same that Christ offered at his last supper; nor must we think it to be a different sacrifice from that of the cross, but in substance the same, and only different as to the manner of offering. It is the same sacrifice as mentioned in the Acts, where the Apostles, as the Greek text has it, were offering sacrifice. Acts xiii. 2. The same that was offered by St. Andrew when about to die: he said, "I offer every day on the altar an immaculate lamb, whose "flesh indeed is eaten, but the lamb that was offered re"mains whole and entire." It is the same that was foretold by the prophet Malachi: From the rising of the sun to the setting thereof, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering. As by this sacrifice we are rendered capable of a just and due adoration of God, through his only Son Jesus Christ, it is properly said to be a sacrifice of adoration, which answers to the Holocausts of the old law. It is also a propitiatory sacrifice; for himself said of it, This is my body, which is given for you. St Luke xxii. 19. This is my blood, which shall be shed for many, for remission of sins; and in this regard it answers to the sin offerings. It is also a sacrifice of thanksgiving, for the word Eucharist means thanksgiving: and it is a sacrifice of petition, to obtain of God all blessings, spiritual and temporal, through Jesus Christ our sovereign Mediator; and in this it answers and fulfils the peace offering. This sacrifice is available not only to the living, but also to the dead, who died in our Lord, and are detained in purgatory; because all that are in the communion of God's Church, though in different states, partake of the same prayers and sacrifice. What were those prayers and sacrifices the Machabees offered up for their deceased brethren, but a type of the divine mysteries of the death and passion of Christ, now offered for our deceased friends? And this was done in the very infancy of the church, as the ancient liturgies, altars, fathers, and councils witness. "We make an"niversary offerings for the dead," says Tertulian, "in "the prayers which the priest pours forth to our Lord "at the altar, the recommendation of the dead hath its "place." Says St. Augustin, de cura pro mort. Himself offered the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, for his deceased mother. In all our liturgies there is also memory made at Mass of the saints who are in heaven; but as St. Augustin says, "We make not "mention of the martyrs at our Lord's table, as we do "of others that rest in peace, that is, for the intent to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us.” It is no prejudice to the people that the Mass is said in Latin; because the Mass is the Priest's office, not the people's. Under the Old Testament the people were not so much as present in the holy place where the priest offered sacrifice for all the congregation of Israel, but were praying without in the court of the temple, at the time of incense, and the priest was hid from them in what he said and did; but as all knew the nature, the end, and benefit of the sacrifice which was offering for them, and joined in heart with the priest; as this was sufficient then to partake of the sacrifice; so it is sufficient now. The reasons why the Liturgy or Mass is in Latin, are, 1. Because the church of Christ is the church of all nations, and would have the Liturgy in that language which is in all nations the most universally known aud understood. 2. The church was ever a lover of uniformity, and therefore made choice of that language, in which our way of worshipping God may be in all countries uniform and alike. 3. All the vulgar languages are subject to changes and corruptions, which the Latin and Greek are not. For these reasons the church has judged it best and most convenient, to retain the Liturgy in the same language in which it has been, ever since the days of St. Peter, in all these parts of the world; though it is very certain that the Latin, neither in his time, nor in any time since, was the vulgar tongue of all countries in the west, no more than Greek in the east. Why must we, in a point of discipline, pretend to be wiser than the apostles ? GETHSEMANI ABBEY," SECT. II. INSTRUC. The parts of the Mass expounded. THE HE essential part of this sacrifice is already explained. There are many other prayers, oblations, and ceremonies, which were added by the apostles and some of their successors, as well for greater solemnity of this great sacrament and sacrifice, as to move devotion, and to make clear the mystery it represents, the death and passion of Christ. For wheresoever you cast your eyes, it puts you in mind of it; the altar with its ornaments, and the crucifix thereon, puts you in mind of Mount Calvary and Christ crucified the priest in his robes represents him bound with cords in the garden, and mocked in robes of derision at the court of Pilate and Herod: the consecration of the elements separately represents his body slain, and his blood shed: the silence during the canon, signifies his crucifixion, or hanging on the cross, which amazed and silenced all nature: the elevation of the host, and the chalice, to be seen and adored by the people, represent his elevation on the cross. The many crosses that are made, are signs of his passion, and the communion is a token of his expiring on the cross, and of his burial. A more particular account of all the parts of the Mass is as follows: 1. The priest begins with a psalm in praise of God, because the psalms are a collection of what the scriptures say in praise of the divine attributes. 2. Then follows the confession of sin, before the whole court of heaven; because sin offends God and all heaven. 3. Having thus humbly. begged pardon for sin, we proceed to Kyrie Eleison, Greek words, that signify, Lord, have mercy on us, nine times repeated; thrice to God the father; thrice to God the son; and thrice to God the Holy Ghost. 4. Then we say with the angels, who came from heaven to sing at our saviour's birth Glory be to God on high, and peace to men, of good will on earth, &c. This is to put us in mind of the glory we hope for at the end of this life, which is the end of our prayers and sacrifice. 5, Next follows the prayer or collect for the day, in which the priest prays for all the people: to this is joined the lesson, taken from the writings either of the prophets or the apostles; because our instruction was first begun by the doctrine of the prophets and apostles: the lesson is followed by the gradual, which signifies our progress in a spiritual life; the choir singing at the end of it, either an Alleluia, which expresses spiritual joy, er a Tract, which expresses spiritual sorrow; these being affections which ought to be the effect of the foregoing doctrine.But because Christ is the truth incarnate, by whom both prophets and apostles, priests and people, are instructed to perfection, some passage of his gospel is next read ; and after it the Nicene creed, to shew that with faith we assent to the doctrine of Christ; and therefore this creed is said at Mass, on all the festivals of our Saviour, and on those of the blessed virgin Mary, the apostles and doctors of the church, who were chiefly instrumental in founding this faith. So far is the preparation to the sacrifice, and was anciently called the Mass of the Catechumens, because they were permitted to be present at it thus far, before they were baptized. The people being thus prepared, then follow the offering, the consecration, and the receiving. The offering consists of oblations and prayers of the priest to God, that it may be acceptable for the people, who, by singing and music, express the joy with which they make this offering to him. The consecration is introduced with a preface, in which the priest excites the people to lift up their hearts towards God, and devoutly to join with the angels in heaven, to praise the divinity of Christ, together with the father and the holy ghost, saying thrice, holy, holy, holy; also to praise his humanity, saying with the children in the temple, Hosannah to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of our Lord. After this begins the canon, in which the priest, in silence, makes memory for those for whom this sacrifice is offered; as for the Catholick church, for the higher powers in the state, 1. Tim. ii, for particular friends, and for all who are present with devotion. This is followed by |