week preceding, which made Wednesday the first day of Lent, and which was thence called Caput Jejunii; it was, for another reason, called Dies Cinerum, Ash Wednesday.

The latter name is said to have originated from the following custom. On the first day of Lent, the Penitents were to present themselves before the Bishop, clothed in sackcloth, with naked feet, and eyes turned to the ground. In this condition, they were introduced into the Church, where the Bishop and the rest of the Clergy, all in tears, repeated the seven Penitential Psalms; and, rising from Prayers, they threw ashes upon them, and covered their heads with sackcloth; and then, with mournful sighs, declared to them, that, as Adam was cast out of Paradise, so they must be cast out of the Church. Then the Bishop commanded the officers to turn them out of the Church doors; and all the Clergy followed after, repeating that curse upon Adam, In the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat thy bread. The like penance was inflicted on them the next time the Sacrament was performed, which was the Sunday following. All this was done, that the Penitents, observing how great a disorder the Church was put into, by reason of their crimes, should not esteem lightly of penance.

Our Church has supplied the want of this severe discipline, by adding to her ordinary Service a very proper and suitable Office, called The Commination, which will be considered in its proper place.

In the Morning and Evening Service, instead of the Psalms for the day, there are appointed six of David's Penitential Psalms, (the seventh being reserved for the Commination Service) concerning which, we need only observe, that they are the very Forms, in which the Royal Prophet expressed his penitence; and they have been so esteemed in the Church, as to be constantly used for the same purpose, in times of humiliation and repentance.

The Collect was made new at the compiling of the Liturgy; the Epistle and Gospel were taken out of the old Offices.

There are no proper Lessons for this day.

OF THE SUNDAYS IN LENT.

The Sundays in Lent are, in our Church, as well as in the Greek Church, named from their number; the fourth, how

ever, is generally with us called Mid-lent Sunday, though some others term it Dominica Refectionis, the Sunday of Refreshment; the reason of which, probably, is, the Gospel for the day, which contains the miracle of our Saviour feeding five thousand; or, perhaps, the first Lesson in the Morning Service, which contains the history of Joseph entertaining his brethren. The fifth Sunday is, by the Latins especially, often called Passion Sunday: this might be a more appropriate name to the following Sunday, which is the Sunday next before Easter, and has obtained the appellation of Palm Sunday, in commemoration of our Saviour's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the multitude that attended him strewed palm branches in his way: in memory of which remarkable transaction, palms used to be borne, here with us, till the second year of Edward VI.

The Collects, as well as the Epistles and Gospels, of all these Sundays, are the same that we meet with in the old Offices, excepting that the first was made new at the Reformation, and the last is, in the Litany of St. Ambrose, appointed for Good Friday. These Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, designed for our meditation on Sundays, being the intervals of the Fast-days during the week, are calculated to remind us of the duties we have undertaken in this time of general humiliation. In the Epistles, we are taught the obligation of returning to our acts of self-denial and humiliation; and, in the Gospels, we have set before us, the example of Christ, who not only fasted, but went about doing good; in all which, we are, more especially at this time, bound to imitate him.

OF THE PASSION WEEK.

As the Fasting during the time of Lent was appointed in imitation of our Saviour's Fasting, so the one in Passion Week may be considered, as appointed to commemorate his Sufferings and Passion, which were then completed. Some consider it, as only a continuation of the same Fast, but kept in a stricter degree. This was called The Great Week, on account of the important transactions it witnessed, and the great effects derived to us from them; and The Holy Week, from the devout exercises in which Christians employed themselves upon this occasion. Some persons are said to have fasted the whole of this week, from Monday morning to cock-crowing on the Sunday morning, at which time our Saviour was supposed to

have risen. There are several constitutions of Emperors, to prohibit all law proceedings during this week.

The Church of England has made provision for exercising the devotion of her members in public, by rehearsing, in the Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels, most of those portions of Scripture, that relate to the occasion of this week's commemoration.

The same Collect that is used on the Sunday before, is appointed to be used on the four days following, till Good Friday.

Our Reformers did not much confine themselves to the Gospels appointed for this week in the ancient Offices; but thought it would be most useful, to read all the accounts of our Saviour's Passion, given by the four Evangelists, as they stand in order. St. Matthew's account is, accordingly, appointed for Sunday; chap. xxvith for the second Lesson, and xxviith for the Gospel. St. Mark's account is read on Monday and Tuesday. St. Luke's on Wednesday and Thursday. On Good Friday is John xviiith for the second Lesson, and xixth for the Gospel.

The Epistles now appointed were thought somewhat more suitable, than those in the older Offices.

OF THE THURSDAY BEFORE EASTER.

On this day did our Saviour give commandment to his Apostles, to commemorate the Sacrament of his Supper, which he this day instituted, after the celebration of the Passover; hence this day it called Dies Mandati, thence Mandate, or MaundyThursday; though some think it is so called, from that new commandment, which he gave them, to love one another, as is recorded in the second Lesson for the Morning Service.

The Gospel for this day is peculiarly proper to the time, as it treats of our Saviour's Passion. The Epistle contains an account of the institution of the Lord's Supper; the constant celebration of which, both in the Morning and Evening, after supper (as was the practice among the early Christians, in memory of its being first instituted at that time) rendered that portion of Scripture very suitable to the day.

On this day, the Penitents, that were put out of the Church on Ash Wednesday, were received into it again; partly, that they might be partakers of the Holy Communion, and partly in memory of our Lord being on this day apprehended and

bound, in order, by his sufferings, to work our deliverance and freedom. The form of reconciling Penitents was this: the Bishop went out to the doors of the Church, where the Penitents lay prostrate on the earth; and thrice, in the name of Christ, called them, Come, come, come, ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord; then, after he had prayed for, and admonished them, he reconciled them, and brought them into the Church. The Penitents, thus received into the bosom of the Church, trimmed their heads and beards; and, laying off their penitential weeds, reclothed themselves in decent apparel.

OF GOOD FRIDAY.

This day received its name from the blessed effects of our Saviour's sufferings. It has always been a day of the strictest fasting, and humiliation, from a sense of the guilt of the sins of the whole world, which drew upon our blessed Redeemer, that painful, and shameful death of the

cross.

The Gospel for this day, by the course just mentioned, falls upon St. John, which too is more proper, than any taken from the other Evangelists, because he was the only one, who was present at the passion, standing by the Cross, while others fled; his testimony, as an eye witness, and his example, not to fear, or be ashamed of the Cross of Christ, should ever be remembered. The Epistle proves, from the insufficiency of the Jewish sacrifices, that they only typified a more sufficient one, which the Son of God did, as on this day, offer up. In imitation of Christ's Love for us, in so suffering, the Church teaches us, in one of the Collects, to pray that the effects of Christ's death may tend to the salvation of all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics.

The Psalms for the day, were all composed by David, in times of his greatest calamity, and do most of them belong mystically to the Crucifixion of our Saviour; especially the 22nd, which is the first for the Morning; this was, in several passages, literally fulfilled by his sufferings, and was recited by him, either in part, or the whole, when upon the Cross.

The first Lesson for the Morning, is Gen. xxii. containing the account of Abraham's readiness to offer up his son Isaac, thereby typifying that perfect oblation, which was

this day made by the Son of God. The second Lesson is John xviii. The first Lesson for the Evening, contains a clear prophecy of the Passion of Christ, and of the benefits the Church thereby receives: the second exhorts us to patience under sufferings, from the example of Christ, who suffered so much for us.

OF EASTER EVE.

This Eve was, in the ancient Church, celebrated with more than ordinary devotion; with solemn watching, with multitudes of lighted torches, making together a mixture of humiliation and magnificence. The day was a fast, and the Vigil continued till midnight; a little after which, it was supposed, by some, that the Resurrection took place; and in the East, till cock crowing; which, by others, was supposed to be the crisis of that extraordinary event.

The Church of England, instead of these painful exercises, has provided for the devotion of her true sons, by advising us to fast in private, and by calling us together in public, to meditate upon our Saviour's death, burial, and descent into Hell; the Gospel treats of the two former, and the Epistle of the latter.

OF EASTER DAY.

No one can doubt, that in, and from the time of the Apostles, there has always been celebrated an Anniversary to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ; the only dispute has been, what was the particular time, when the Festival should be kept.

In the primitive times, on this day, the Christians of all churches used to meet one another with this morning salutation, Christ is risen; to which the person saluted answered, Christ is risen, indeed; or else thus, and hath appeared unto Simon, Luke xxiv. 34, which custom is still retained in the Greek Church. Our Church, supposing the same eagerness for the joyful news amongst us, begins, as soon as the Absolution is over, and we are rendered fit for rejoicing, her office of praise with Anthems, proper to the day, encouraging her members to call upon one another, to keep the feast, for that Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, and is also risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.