The festyuall

¶De cyrcumsicione domini.

[illustration]

GOod frendes suche a daye is called newe yeres daye / & is y^e fyrste day of the begynnynge of the newe yere that is comȳ¦ge / and is the laste daye of the yere that is gone. And therfore this day ye shall come to god and holy chyrche to here your dyuyne seruyce forth this yere For lyke as a good seruaunt that hath a good mayster maketh his couenaūt but ones / but holdeth forthe from yere to yere / hauynge ful tru¦ste in his mayster that he wyll for his good seruyce gyue hȳ

a good rewarde in his grete nede at his laste ende. In the sa¦me wyse goddes seruauntes maketh couenaunte with hym but ones / that is at the crystenynge at fonte. And there he maketh a couenaunt to be goddes seruaunt / hauynge full trust in god that at his grete nede that is at the daye of do¦mewyll quyte hym for his seruyce in euerlastynge blysse of heuen / and soo wyll he doo to all that be good seruauntes. Thus this day is called newyeres day. It is also called (cir¦cumsicio domini). The cyrcumcisyon of our lorde. Also this daye is called the newe yeres daye. For this day is the fyrst daye of the kalender / and the yere gooth moche by the kalē¦der / therfore it is called neweyeres daye. Saynt Augustyn sayth. This day and this nyght hethen people vse many fal¦se opynyons / and wytchecraftes / and false beleue the whi∣che be not to tell amonge crysten people lest they torne to y^e vse / wherfore ye that be crysten people be well ware lest ye be deceyued by ony false sorcerye as by takynge counceyle of a man afore an other in byēge or sellynge or lenyng / in y^e whiche some haue dyuers opynyones / and yf they be well shryuen they be worthy for to haue grete penaūce for theyr mysbeleue / for that cometh of y^e fende and not of god. This daye is called the cyrcumcysyon of oure lorde. For as holy chyrche telleth this daye he was cyrcumcysed / and bled his blode for our sake / for whan the flesshe was cut he bled fast and was full sore for he was but yonge and tender / and but viii. dayes olde / and therfore he bled the more. And ye shall wete y^t he bled fyue tymes for vs. Quin{que} em̄ vicib{us} sāgui∣nē suum {pro} nobis effudit). The fyrst sheddȳge was at this daye whan he was cyrcumcysed. An other was for fere of his passyon / for ryght as a chylde wepeth for fere whan he seeth y^e rod & hath no harme / soo y^e flesshe of our lorde swete blode for drede of a strōge passyon y^t was comȳge. y^e .iii. tyme was in his flagellacyon whan he was beten w^t scourges / so

that all his body ranne on reed bloode. The .iiii. tyme was whan he was nayled hāde and fete on the crosse. The fyfth tyme was whan that Longyus perysshed his herte with a spere that water and blode came out of his woundes. And thenne they toke vp the crosse with the body and lyfte it vp¦on hye / and sodaynly they lete the crosse fall downe in to y^e mortayse that all the synewes / vaynes / and Ioyntes brake and blode and water came out of euery woūde / this he suf∣fred for vs. Thenne syth Cryst was cyrcumcysed and shed his blode thus for vs that was without synne / and cyrcum¦sysyon is for synne remedy & helpe / why wolde he be cyrcū∣cysed that neuer dyde synne. Sctūs augustin{us} dicit propt quattuor causas). Saynt Austyn sayth it was for four cau¦ses. The fyrst was for to make a seeth with the Iewes / for elles they wolde & myght haue sayd that he had not ben of theyr lawe / wherfore they wolde not receyue hym / nor con∣sent to his techynge / this was to deceyue y^e fende. For ryght as the fende deceyued Adam and Eue / and so all mankyn∣de was dampned / soo it fel to Cryste to deceyue the fende / wherethrugh all mankynde myght be saued. Thenne whā the fende sawe that he was cyrcumcysed as an other chylde he wende that he had taken the penaunce in remedy of ory∣gynall ••••••ne / and so he knewe hym not fro an other chylde For yf 〈◊〉〈◊〉 had knowen hym verely that he had come to haue bought mankynde / he wolde neuer haue tysed the Iewes to haue put hym to dethe. The seconde cause was that our lady was wedded to Ioseph for to deceyue the fende / for y^e fende sholde wene that Ioseph had be his fader and not cō∣ceyued of the holy goost. The thyrde cause why he was cyr∣cumcysed / y^t was in confermynge the olde lawe in grete cō∣forte to the olde faders that were of the olde testament. For and yf he had be crystened & not cyrcūcysed it had ben a gre¦te dyscomforte to all y^t were before thyncarnacyon of Cryst

The .iiii. cause of his cyrcumcysyon was / for our lorde wyst well y^t there wolde come heretykes after y^t wolde haue sayd y^t Cryst had a body of the erthly fantasy / & not of flesshe and blode as one of vs haue / for a body of the ayre may not ble∣de. And therfore to put away all suche erroures Cryste was cyrcūcysed & bled in the cuttynge of his flesshe. The whiche flesshe was cut frome his membre / & an angell brought it after to kynge Charles for the moost precyous relyke of the worlde / & for the gretest worshyppe y^t he coude do therto he brought it to Rome to a chyrch y^t is called (Sctā sctō{rum}. And for these foure causes Cryst was cyrcūcysed. This day also is called the vtas of the natyuyte / y^t is y^e .viii. day of our lor∣des byrthe in grete to kenynge to all vs y^t be goddes seruaū¦tes to thynke on these .viii. dayes that foloweth his byrthe. The fyrst day is to thȳke inwardly on the sede y^t we were cō¦ceyued of / that is foule and abhomynable in it selfe / that a man or a woman be they neuer so fayre that & they sawe y^e mater them wolde be ashamed in themselfe to thynke that euer they were conceyued of y^t foule thynge. The .ii. daye is to thȳke how greuously he payneth his moder in his byrth in so moche that it is a grete myracle of god y^t she may haue her lyfe. The .iiii. daye is to thynke how feble and how wret¦ched he is borne / for all the beestes of kynde somwhat they can helpe themselfe / saue onely mankynde / he neyther may ne can helpe hymselfe in no degre but deye anone but yf he haue helpe and socoure of other. The .iiii. daye is to thynke in how moche peryl & drede he lyueth / therfore in euery pla¦ce dethe foloweth hym and is euery daye redy to fall on hȳ what tyme ne where no man knoweth / but onely god hym selfe. Incert{us} est locus ī quo mors te repectat). It is vncer¦tayne there as dethe abydeth the. The .v. day is for to thyn∣ke how horryble dethe is whan he cometh For in shorte spa¦ce and tyme he maketh a man for too stynke soo that all the

best frēdes y^t he hathe in the erthe & hyde him there The .vi. daye is to thynke how sorowfull is the departynge of the bo¦dy & the soule y^t may not be departed tyll the hert in the bo¦dy breke for drede of the syghtes that the soule shall see that for grete fere the herte breketh (O mors {quam} amara est memo¦ria tui) O thou deth how bytter is it to thynke vpon y^e. whā y^u art comynge to ony man. The .vii. daye is to thynke how dredful is the dome y^t he shall go to anone / & how streyght his Iugement shall be / Thenne he y^t wyll thynke on thyse .viii. dayes I hope he shall be circūcysed / y^t is he shal be cut awaye from the lust of his flesshe & of synne / and so do de{per}∣te from this worldes lykynge / & thus cometh the .viii. daye y^t is the vtas of Cryst y^t is the Ioye of blysse y^t neuer shall ha¦ue ende. To the whiche god brynge vs all to Amen.