all title to the light of God's countenance, and incurred his indignation and wrath-that when justice urged our excision, and divine holiness demanded the vindication of a violated law-that when among the host of heaven "there was none to help ;" among the innumerable orders of created beings "there was none to uphold,” none whose "arm could bring salvation" for us-that in this our hopeless state of condemnation and misery, when the mercy of the Almighty Father prompted, thou didst willingly undertake the office of our Redeemer ; Praises evermore be unto thee, O eternal Son of God. That thou, who "wast with the Father before the world was," "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person"-thou, whom cherubim and seraphim adored, and to whom the host of heaven bowed submissive-didst condescend to vail thy glory in our miserable nature; Praises evermore be unto thee, O eternal Son of God. That thou didst relinquish the felicity of the Godhead, to be born in our nature, of an humble and obscure family; to be ushered into the world among the beasts of the stall; and to sustain the wants and pains of infancy and childhood-when thou couldst have commanded the homage of the universe, and encircled thyself with celestial majesty and splendour; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That thou, whom angels and archangels counted it their glory to serve, didst thyself become subject to thy parents, rendering them reverence and obedience; and through the whole of thy benevolent life didst become the servant of mankind, in administering to their necessities; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That in the prosecution of the benevolent work of our redemption, thou didst sustain want, and suffering, and sorrow; and didst even wander without a place to lay thy head,-when thou wast entitled to the eternal throne of universal dominion; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That thou didst encounter shame, indignity, and insult; didst associate with the refuse of mankind; and patiently didst submit to the charge of acting in concert with the prince and powers of darkness -when thou couldst have commanded, for thy attendants, the brightest seraphs that minister in the court of heaven; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That in the day of thy humiliation, as a suffering Saviour, thou didst become "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" that, laden with the sins of a guilty world, thou didst appear "without form or comeliness," "thy visage marred more than any man, and thy form more than the sons of men"that in the garden of Gethsemane thou didst, friendless and alone, "tread the wine-press" of thy Father's wrath, and "drink the dregs of that cup of trembling" which infused direful horrors through thy soul, and bathed thy convulsed body in a bloody sweat; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That thou didst submit to be betrayed by one of thy disciples, and "led as a lamb to the slaughter" by thy implacable enemies; that, deserted by thy timid and faithless followers, thou didst patiently submit, in the hall of the high priest, and at the tribunal of Pilate, to be unjustly arraigned and condemned, to be buffeted and spit upon, scourged and mocked-when thy omnipotent word could have struck to the earth thy vengeful adversaries; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That thou didst patiently labour under the load of the ignominious cross on which thou wast to suffer-and, condemned as a malefactor, didst, amidst the cruel taunts of thy enemies, sustain the agonies of death, made more dreadful to thy spirit by the wrath of thy Father; Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That for us men, and for our salvation, these painful sufferings, this ignominious and cruel death were patiently sustained-that thou wast "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, that the chastisement of our peace was upon thee, and that by thy stripes we are healed;" Praises evermore be unto thee, O most Holy Jesus, eternal Son of God. That by thy sufferings and death thou hast sealed the truth of thy doctrines, and exhibited a bright and affecting example of those graces of humility, meekness, and love, which thou dost call us to practise; that by thy suffering life and agonizing death, thou hast powerfully enforced thy instructions, rendered an all-sufficient atonement for sin, and shed divine lustre on that path of humble and holy obedience by which we are to ascend to the glorious bliss of thy eternal kingdom; Praises evermore be unto thee, O eternal Son of God, who didst take our nature upon thee, and for us didst become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. THE PRAYER. "ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast given thine only Son to be both a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life; give me grace that I may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour myself to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life." O most blessed and merciful Jesus, eternal Son of God, who didst suffer for iniquities not thine own, and by the shedding of thy most precious blood didst pay the infinite price of our redemption; may the contemplation of thy bitter sufferings excite in my heart the emotions of lively gratitude to thee, my gracious Redeemer, who couldst stoop from the glory and felicity of the Godhead, and encounter shame, sorrow, persecution, and death, to achieve my deliverance and salvation. Contemplating, with frequent and holy admiration thy infinite condescension and love, may I regard no sacrifices too dear, no service too exalted to testify my sensibility and gratitude. Let me not incur the awful guilt of contemning the affecting motives to repentance exhibited by thy precious blood, shed to atone for my sins. Beholding, in the agonies of thy cross, both the fearful display of the justice of God, and the attractive lustre of his infinite mercy, may the emotions of holy apprehension, and love unite to excite in my heart the resolution of serving thee. O let me not sink under the condemnation of having contemned thy bitter agonies, of having trampled thee under foot, of having put thee to ap open shame, of having crucified thee afresh, by my transgressions. Over the emblems of thy sufferings, displayed on the altar, may I resolve to renounce all my sins; and may I offer thee a heart penetrated with the emotions of contrition, grati tude, and love. And O thou compassionate Re deemer, in whose suffering life the virtues of humility, patience, and divine charity shone forth with the most exalted lustre-may the example thou hast set me be the subject of my constant and devout meditations; and warmed with the glorious view, may I resolve to imitate thy divine humility, patience, and love. May the contemplation of thy cross, on which, in the agonies of death, thou didst pour forth the earnest prayer for pardon on thy relentless enemies, disarm in my soul every purpose of resentment, and quicken the emotions of forgiveness and kindness. Eternal Spirit! fountain of divine love! shed abroad in my heart that sacred charity for all mankind, that tender affection and sympathy for the members of Christ's mystical body, by which I shall be conformed to the likeness of my blessed Redeemer, and made meet for his eternal kingdom of peace and joy. Holy Spirit! when I approach that banquet, where Christians commemorate their Saviour's mercy, and testify that they are partakers of the same blessed privileges and hopes, may thy grace subdue every resentful and angry passion, and enkindle the flame of divine charity. May my soul embrace in its ardent affection the holy company of the redeemed, who meet at the altar to celebrate the immortal triumphs and blessings of their Saviour's mercy. May thy grace unite me to them in the bands of sympathy and friendship, and excite me uniformly to exercise towards them the virtues of gentleness, forbearance, and love. Thus, O my Saviour, by fulfilling that law of celestial kindness which thou didst so earnestly and repeatedly enjoin, may I exhibit to the world the engaging lustre of thy blessed religion. Thus cherishing the spirit of divine love in the exercise of forbearance and forgiveness, may I ever be |