the fingular Goodness and Piety of foseph to whom the was efpoufed; have perfuaded the Church of God in all Ages to believe that the ftill continued in the fame Virginity, and therefore is to be acknowledged The Ever Virgin Mary.

Q. How ought we to reverence the bleed Virgin Mary?

A. By entertaining a great Opinion of her Virtue and Piety, which had the great Honour of being the Mother of the Meffiab. It being reasonable to believe, that a Perfon chofe for that Purpose was endowed with great Excellencies: And the rather, because she maintained fo lively a Senfe of her own Unworthiness to receive fo great an Honour, and when she was advanced to be the Mother of the World's Saviour, feeks no greater Title than to be ftyled Handmaid of the Lord: But not to invocate Luke i. her; because we are directed in Scripture to offer 38. up all our Prayers in the Name, and through the Mediation of Jefus Chrift only; befides, the Church of God in the three firft Ages maketh no Mention of it; neither are there any Footsteps of that Practice to be found among them.

Q. What may we learn from the Obfervation of this Festival?

A. To admire and adore the great Goodness of God manifefted in the Incarnation of the Eternal Word; thereby fhewing that he thought nothing too great nor too dear to part with for our Sakes; and the wonderful Humility and Condefcenfion of our Saviour, who stooped fo low when he undertook the Work of our Redemption. To exprefs great Modesty and Confufion when we meet with the Praises and Applause of the best Men, from a true Senfe of our Unworthinefs, and by Silence and Fear to guard ourselves from Vanity. To endeavour to answer the Defign of our Saviour's being made Man, that we might become like unto God, and

be made Partakers of the Divine Nature; and that Chrift might be formed in us, and that we might put on the Lord Jefus Chrift; by making no Provifion for the Flefh to fulfil the Lufts thereof: That as he was pleafed to be united to our Nature, fo we may make it the great Care and Business of our Lives to be really and fpiritually united to him. Q. How are Chriftians united to Chrift?

A. This Union is formed by Baptifm, when they are made Members of Chrift's mystical Body the Church, whereof he is the Head, and wherein they profefs to believe what he hath revealed, and to perform what he hath commanded, and engage to govern their Lives by that Gofpel he hath published to the World. And all the Metaphors in Scripture that defcribe this Relation, plainly refer to their being Members of the Chriftian Church. Now this Union is farther maintained by preferving Communion with the Church in Prayers, and in the Sacrament, and by living in a regular Subjection to, and ftrict Union with, our fpiritual Governors the Bishops and Prefbyters, Chrift's Representatives here upon Earth.

Q. Doth this outward and visible Profeffion convey to us all the Privileges of being Members of Chrift?

A. By being made Members of the Chriftian Church, we are in fome Measure entitled to all those Privileges that are derived from Chrift our Head; but yet we can never be made effectually Partakers of them, except we perform those Conditions upon which thofe great Bleffings were promised; we must be true to our Baptifmal Covenant, we must renounce all Sins, which are the Works of the Devil, and thofe falfe and corrupt Maxims which govern the World, and mortify the finful Lufts of the Flesh; we muft fubject our Understandings to the Obedience of Faith, and keep God's holy Will and Commandments, and walk in the fame all the Days of

our

our Lives, if ever we pretend to be really united to our Saviour, and expect the Benefit of fuch a fpiritual Relation.

Q. What are the great Privileges that refult from this Union, from our being living Members of Chrift's myftical Body?,

A. The gracious Promises of Pardon and Forgiveness of Sin upon our true Repentance, and Affiftance of God's Bleffed Spirit, and the Influences of his Grace, to enable us to work out our Salvation. The Benefit of Chrift s Interceffion in Heaven, where he is an Advocate for us with the Father. A Share in all thofe Promises of Care and Protection made to the Church. And to encourage our Perfeverance, an Inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away. For though all Mankind are in the Hands of God's unlimited Goodnefs, yet his covenanted Mercies are the peculiar Lot and Portion of Christians, the Members of Chrift's mystical Body.

I

Befeech thee, O Lord, pour thy Grace into For the my Heart, that, as I have known the Incarna- Benefit of Chrift's tion of thy Son Jefus Chrift by the Meffage of an Death. Angel, fo by his Crofs and Paffion I may be brought unto the Glory of his Refurrection, through the fame Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II.

Defire, O Lord, to blefs and praise thy infinite Praife for Goodness, which took Compaffion upon Man- the Incar kind in its greatest Misery; and hath provided fo nation. admirable a Remedy, by fending thy only-begotten Son into the World to recover our corrupt and degenerate Nature; and by the Purity of his Doctrine,

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the

the Example of his Life, and the Sacrifice of his Death, to purchase eternal Happiness for us, and to direct and lead us into the Way to it. All Glory be to our great Redeemer and Saviour; who came down from Heaven, that he might carry us thither, and took human Nature upon him, that we thereby might be made Partakers of a Divine Nature; and humbled himself to death, even the Death of the Cross, that he might exalt us to Glory and Honour. Unto him that was as upon this Day incarnate, to our Lord Jefus Chrift, who hath loved us, and taken our Nature upon him, and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father; to him be Honour and Praife, Dominion and Power, now and for ever. Amen,

III.

For Imitation of the bleffed

GR

RANT, O Lord, by the Affiftance of thy Grace, that I may moft heartily comply with Virgin. those great Things which thou haft done and defigned for my Salvation: Teach me readily to obey thee, as the Angels do in Heaven: Give me Purity and Piety, Prudence and Modefty, those Virtues which made the bleffed Virgin fo highly favoured: That my Employment may be always holy, that my Affections may not be fet upon this World; that, as much as my Condition of Life will bear, I may frequently retire both from the Business and Enjoyments of it: That by Prayer and Meditation I may have my Converfation above: That by believing the Gofpel of Christ, I may entertain him in my Heart, and by Obedience to his Laws publifh him to the World: That he may dwell in me for ever, and that I may dwell with him above, in Mansions of Glory to all Eternity, Amen.

CHAP.

CHAP. XV.

Easter Sunday. A Moveable Feaft.

Q. WHAT Festival doth the Church this Day ob-
Serve?

A. The great Festival of the Anniversary Commemoration of our Saviour's Refurrection, which, for its Antiquity and Excellency, challenges the Precedence of all other Festivals.

Q. How ancient is the Obfervation of this Festival? A. As ancient as the very Times of the Apostles, as is clear to thofe that are converfant in the Affairs of the Primitive Church. In those purer Times the only Difpute being not about the Thing, but the particular Time when the Festival was to be kept. Q. What was the State of the Controversy about keeping of Eafter?

A. The Afiatic Churches kept their Eafter upon the fame Days the Jews observed their Paffover, viz. the Fourteenth Day of their firft Month, chiefly anfwering our March; and this they did upon what Day of the Week foever it fell: And from thence they were ftyled Quarto-decimans; keeping Eafter upon the Fourteenth Day after the Appearance of the Moon. The other Churches, especially those of the West, kept Eafter upon the Lord's Day following the Jewish Paffover. Thefe latter pleaded Apoftolical Tradition, the Afiatics the Practice of the Apoftles themselves.

When was this Controverfy determined?

A. In the great Ecumenical Council of Nice, affembled by the Emperor Conftantine; wherein it was ordained, that Eafter fhould be kept upon one and the fame Day throughout the World, not according to the Cuftom of the Jews, but upon the Lord's Day; which Decree was ratified and pubTished by the Imperial Letters to all the Churches.

Q. What

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