and the apprehenfions of Gods wrath make our Devotions heartless, our Confcience unquiet, and our Lives uncomfortable; in which Diftrefs let us paffionately beg of him to pity us, who hath fatisfied the Juftice of God, and purchased his Mercy for us. One drop of his precious blood will allay all these fears, and remove our guilt from us; now that he may be more inclinable to redrefs our Mifery, let us fecondly confefs our fins, viz. Thofe which have been committed moft directly against Our Lord Jefus: Our Impenitence and Unbelief, our Prefuming upon his Salvation, or Defpairing of his Grace, that we have been fo unmindful of his favours, unthankful for his benefits, unaffected with his Agonies, and difobedient to his Commands, we have doubted of his Promises,defpifed his Offers, harboured his Murtherers, denyed him the pleasure of faving us,crucifying to our felves again the Lord of Life, and feeming to ftrive to make his Death in vain unto us: Thus we have requited our dear Redeemer, and are we not grievous finners? It is hard to fay,whether we be more miferable or more finful we are both in fo high a measure,let us therefore speedily cry to him for Pity and Pardon, if we look upon him he can help us, he is God and therefore able, he is the Redeemer of the world, and therefore willing to relieve and forgive us,if we look upon our felves, we need both relief and remiffion; for we are very Mife rable and grievous finners, and every one of these Confiderations will help us to fay this Petition for Mercy to God the Son alfo with Fervency and Devotion:His Power may quicken our Faith, his Mercy raise our hope,and our own Mifery may make us earnest,our Sinfulness may make us humble if duly thought upon, and when the heart is thus affected,no doubt the Tongue will unfeignedly fay, Bod the Son, &c. Have percy, &c. 10. S.V. God the Holy Ghoff, proceeding from the F&ther and the Son, Have mercy upon us milerableDinners:]As the Divinity of the Son,fo of the Holy Ghost also was denyed by many of the old Hereticks; as Arrius (d), Samofatenus (e), Photinus (f), and efpecially Macedonius (g);but the Catholick Church did ever confute and condemn them,afferting that the Holy Ghoft was very God, equal with the Father and the Son: As a Teftimony whereof the Nicene Creed affirmeth, that the Holy Ghoft is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son, fo of Old, and fo in our Church, we glorifie him with them in the Gloria Patri, (d) Theodoret,lib.5.c. (g)Sozomin 1.4.c.27. c. we worship him with them here in this Invocation, thereby declaring we believe the Holy Ghoft to be truly God, fince we must worship only the Lord our God, and him alone must we serve, Mat.iv. 10. We were baptized in his Name, and therefore we must call on his Name, for which we have a Prefident in St.Paul, who calls the Spirit the Lord, and prays directly that He will establish their hearts in Holiness before God the Father, at the coming of our Lord Jefus Christ, Ch) Patrem dixit, filium dixit, ver. 13. Quem ergo cum Patre Filopeter Spiritum junxit. Ambrof. de Spir. fan&o 1.3. I Theff.iii.12,13. as St. Ambrofe well obferves (b): And to give ftill further evidence of our right belief, we give to the Holy Ghoft his peculiar Character, viz. that e proceedeth (not from the Father by the Son, as the Greeks hold, but) from the Father and the Son, as the Scripture doth inform us, John xiv.16. and xv.26. and xvi.7.Yet to fhew he is not leffened by this Proceffion, but of the me gracious nature as well as the fame glorious digni cap. 15. ty ty with the Father and the Son from whom he doth proceed: We make the fame Petition to this that we did to the other, even that he will have mercy on us; We make the fame Complaint before him that we are miferable, the fame Confeffion to him that we are inners,and we have good reafon fo to do; for we have fome Miseries proper to be removed by the Office, and we have fins committed against the Perfon of the Holy Ghost, so that while the Holy Man is going before us in repeating this Invocation, our Thoughts ought to be fixed upon thefe two Subjects, 1. As the Holy Ghoft is our Sanctifier, we may properly reprefent our felves as miferable before him by reafon of the Ignorance of our minds, the perverfeness of our Wills, the hardness of our hearts, the disorder of our affections, the fury of our Paffions and the violence of our Lufts, we may fadly complain of the want of many Graces, and the weaknefs of thofe which we have, of our averfenefs to begin, our flackness to carry on, and our weariness e're we can accomplish any Good; all which miferable and evil dif pofitions the bleffed Spirit can redress,and make us ready and able to every holy Duty; pray we therefore to him to pity these our spiritual miferies; And let us not wonder, why the good Spirit beholding us lyc under these evil habits hath not hitherto removed them, for our Admiration will ceafe and turn into felf-accufation, if 2. We call to mind our Sins against the Spirit of God, for though we are not guilty of that fpiteful Blafphemy against the Holy Ghoft,which is faid to be unpardonable, Mat.xii.32. yet we have not demeaned our felves toward him, as his Office and Delign deferved (i) We have often grieved him (i) Dewis præcepit Spiritum San&tum wtpote pro nature fue bono tenerum dy deli lenitate, quiete d pace trattare, non fu rore,non bile, non ira, non odio, inquietare. Tert.de spi catum, tranquillitate Ephef Ephef.iv. 30. by ftifling his good motions, neglecting his directions, and difregarding his reproofs; we have not profited by the word which he endited, the Ordinances in which he is prefent, nor by any of the means of Grace; we have quenched holy, and cherished impure thoughts, hating to be reformed, impatient of being hindred from evil purposes, refractory and incorrigible ever under Chaftifements,till we have almoft tired out the Patience of the gentle and holy Spirit of God, fo that unless he have mercy upon us, and do pardon our former ftubbornefs, we might fear he would give us over,and never attempt our Converfion more, which is the faddeft of all Judgments; We have as yet time to prevent such a defertion, and to obtain the pardon of all our former provocations, the removal of all our fpiritual evil-difpofitions, if with a penitent heart and devout affection, with a fence of our Miseries, and forrow for our Sins, we can call upon the Holy Ghoft and fayHave mercy, &c. - S.VI. Voly, bledled and glorious Trinity, three Perlons and one God, Have mercy upon us, miferable Sinners:] The former Addreffes to the Father, Son and Holy Ghoft in particular have fufficiently fhewed the Diftinction of the Perfons: And now that we may fet forth the Unity of the Godhead, we invoke them all in One repeating the fame Request to the whole Trinity together, which we had made to each Perfon apart before, and we have Examples of fuch kind of Addreffes and Prayers to the Holy and bleffed Trinity,as well in the Writings of the Orthodox Fathers (k), as in the publick Offices of the antient Church (). I hall fhall only produce that memorable Prayer (k) Auguft. Meditat. (1)Eucholog.Пavá- of of the Eastern Church, which begins some of their Of fices, and is thus expreft, O most holy Trinity, have mer cy upon us, Lord be merciful to our fins, Saviour pardon our tranfgreffions, Holy one behold and heal our infirmities for thy Names fake: To the fame fence with these of our Church.We cryed for mercy,and declared our miferies and our Sins to every Perfon before, and now we do the fame to all, to mind us that our Sins against any one Perfon of the Holy and undivided Trinity,is also agatust every Perfon, and to admonish us that our Miferies are not to be relieved by any one Perfon,fo as to exclude the other, for they do all joyn to fuccour and relieve us, heing as unanimous in their actions as united in their nature, fo that if we propitiate one we reconcile all, if we offend one we difplease all,and therefore it is very fit we should unite them in our Devotion, who do all make up One God: And withal we may here fitly adore the Myftery of the incomprehenfible Trinity, declaring we believe it, though we cannot fathom the depth of it, and admire it where we cannot fully understand it. We know that there is a Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, and we know that this Trinity is Holy and unmixed, Bleffed by the Angels, Glorious in the eyes of all faithful People, once more therefore let us cry, Have mercy; it is not a vain Repetition, for Mercy is fo neceffary for us (m),and this Holy importunity is so pleasing to God (n), that we ought to repeat this Request often, and to beg with a fervency, not to be denyed: And we may also have Two Advantages by this Repetition; Firft, that if there be any Mifery or Sin which lyes upon us, and which we could not properly refer to any of C 3 (m) Abfit enim ut multiloquium deputetur quando neceffaria dicuntur.Aug.Retract. (J Luc xviii.5./mportunus vincit malum, quanto magis bər nitatem mundi. Talm. Tra&.Sanhedr. the Perfons in particular, |