CHAPTER LII.

NAMES OF EXCELLENCE ATTRIBUTED

UNTO THE

HOLY SACRAMENT; AND GATHERED OUT OF THE WRITINGS OF THE ANCIENT FATHERS.

CHAPTER LIII.

A SHORT MEDITATION ON THESE NAMES

OF EXCELLENCY.

WHAT couldest Thou do, most merciful Lord,

for us and for our good, that Thou hast not done? Thou hast taken our frail nature upon Thee, and given us the divine; Thou hast freely offered unto us the riches of Thy mercy, the treasures of Thy grace, the abundance of Thy love, by this great, inestimable, and most Divine Sacrament, by this blessed, pure, and venerable mystery, the mystery of peace and piety, the holy of holies, the hidden manna; whereby it is evident with what flames of love Thou didst burn, whose delight is to be with the sons of men; the fruit of whose love is to shew mercy; and because the fire of this love could no longer be hid, it must needs break out by this holy mystery, left unto us; for which, O Lord, we give unto Thee honour, praise, power, and do minion now and for evermore. Amen.

t Proverbs viii. 31.

CHAPTER LIV.

CERTAIN SHORT MEDITATIONS UPON THE PASSION: TO BE USED BEFORE OR AFTER THE RECEIVING OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.

GOOD and gracious Jesus, Thou didst eat the Paschal lamb in Jerusalem with Thy dear beloved disciples, and arising from supper, didst gird Thyself about with a towel, and poured water into a basin, and kneeling upon Thy knees, Thou meekly didst wash the feet of Thy disciples, and wiped them with a towel.

O most good and gracious Jesu, Thou, before Thou should suffer, did bequeath a most excellent good thing unto Thy children, as a fatherly legacy, leaving for us Thy most sacred Body to be our meat, and Thy most precious Blood to be our drink there can no wit nor understanding penetrate and thoroughly see the bottomless depth of Thy charity.

O most good and gracious Jesu, Thou coming to the Garden of Olives began to fear and to be heavy, whereupon Thou didst say to Thy disciples, 'My soul is sorrowful unto death :" and then divided and sundered from them, Thou settest Thy

self upon Thy knees, and falling upon the earth flat on Thy face, Thou prayedst unto Thy Father, and fully and wholly resignedst and yieldedst Thyself unto Him, saying, Father, Thy will be done! And at length, through a most painful agony, wherewith Thou wert grievously oppressed and afflicted, Thou didst sweat throughout all Thy Body a bloody sweat.

O good and gracious Jesu, Thou, kindled and burning with an ineffable desire to redeem, wentest to meet Thine enemies, and suffered Judas, the traitor, to kiss Thee, Thyself to be taken and to be bound with all confusion and shame, and most unworthily to be led unto Annas, where Thou suffered most meekly to be stricken on Thy most innocent face.

O good and gracious Jesu, Thou, being fast bound like a notorious malefactor, wast led unto the house of Caiaphas the high-priest, where the Jews most unjustly accused Thee, most spitefully struck and buffeted Thee; scornfully wast Thou mocked and blindfolded, being bidden to prophesy who strake Thee, doing to Thee innumerable injuries all the night.

O good and gracious Jesu, Thou in the morning wast brought before Pilate, and with most sweet and pleasant countenance, casting Thine eyes down,

stood before him in the judgment-hall; and when Thou wast most falsely accused of the Jews, and many a rebuke and reproach given Thee, Thou meekly held Thy peace, and made no answer.

O good and gracious Jesu, Thou wast sent from Pilate to Herod. This Herod, of a very curious and vain mind, coveting to see some miracle at Thy hand, asked and demanded many things of Thee; the Jews cried out against Thee, but Thou, amongst all these, most wisely held Thy peace. For this cause Herod and all his despised Thee. O how immeasurable was this humility and obedience! At the will and pleasure of Thine enewies Thou wentest forth, Thou returnedst again, suffering them to do with Thee what they would.

O good and gracious Jesus, Thou in the judgment-hall, being stripped naked and without any compassion bound fast to a pillar, wast most cruelly scourged; there was Thy virginal and tender flesh cut with whips and torn with stripes, altogether mangled and deformed with black and blue, and many a wound, so that the streams of Thy most precious Blood ran down on every side upon the

earth.

O good and gracious Jesu, after that sore and sharp scourging of Thine, to put Thee unto more shame, Thou wast clothed with a purple garment,