The compleat office of the Holy Week with notes and explications / translated out of Latin and French ; published with allowance.

The FIRST PROPHECY, taken out of the 1st Chapter of Genesis.

In this Lesson the Catechumens are taught, that all Creatures subsist by God alone, who would in creating them give a Being to a Good that might proceed from him, though he had no use of them, to compleat himself by them, his whole felicity being in himself, though these his Creatures had never been, or that they had remained in their imperfection; then the Church represents how God made Man the most noble and perfect of all visible Creatures, in raising him above all that is upon the Earth, in making him according to his own Image, in giving him Reason and Understanding; and lastly, making him capable of Eternal Felicity.

IN the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and vacant, and darkness was upon the face of the depth. And the spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said, Be light made. And light was made. And God saw the light, that it was good; and he divided the light from darkness. And there was evening and morning, that made one day. God also said, Be a firma∣ment made amidst the waters: And let it di∣vide between waters and waters. And God made a firmament, and divided the waters, that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament. And it was done so. And God called the firmament, hea∣ven: And there was evening and morning, that made the second day. God also said, Let the waters, that are under the heaven, be gathered

together in one place: And let the dry land appear. And it was so done. And God called the dry land, earth; and the gathering of wa∣ters together, he called seas. And God saw that it was good. And said, Let the earth shout forth green herbs, and such as may seed; and fruit-trees, yielding fruit after his kind, such as may have seed in it self upon the earth. And it was done so. And the earth brought forth green herb, such as seeds according to his kind; and tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to his kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and morn∣ing, that made the third day. Again, God said. Be there lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and night, and let them be for signs and seasons, and days and years; to shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was done so. And God made two great lights; A greater light to govern the day, and a lesser light to govern the night; and stars. And he set them in the firmament of heaven, to shine upon the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and morning, that made the fourth day. God also said, Let the waters bring forth creeping creature, having life, and flying foul, over the earth, under the firmament of hea∣ven. And God created huge whales, and all

living and moving creature, that the waters brought forth according to each sort, and all foul, according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. And he blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and replenish the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth. And there was evening and morn∣ing, that made the fifth day. God said more∣over, Let the earth bring forth living creature in his kind, cattel, and such that creep, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done. And God made the beasts of the earth, according to their kinds; and cattel, and all that creepeth on the earth, in his kind. And God saw that it was good: And he said, Let us make man to our own image and likeness: let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fouls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and all creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. And God created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and saith, Increase and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fishes of the sea, and fouls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have gi∣ven you all manner of herb that seedeth upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat; and

to all beasts of the earth, and to every foul of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done. And God saw all things that he had made; and they were very good. And there was evening and morning, that made the sixth day. The hea∣vens therefore and the earth were fully finish∣ed, and all the furniture of them. And the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made; and rested the seventh day from all the work that he had done.

The Church having told us, in the precedent Lesson, whence we derive our Extraction, to what a state of Glory God had raised the first Man, having placed him in the midst of the de∣lights of Paradise, as in the shadow of Life; from whence, by an exact observance of God's Commandments, he was to have been translated to a far more happy condition: in this she tells us the cause of our fall, and the excess of God's love to us; that he sent his only Son to deliver us from eternal Damnation; whereunto we were enslaved, and to make us capable of Eter∣nal Life. And thereupon by the voice of the Deacon she ex∣horts us to bend our knees, and render all due acknowledgments to the Divine Goodness.

Let us Pray.

Let us bend our knees.

The Church shewing us, that our sins are exceeding great and numerous, and that our state is very lamentable; yet she assures us, that the Remedy our Saviour brought us, is far more effectual and powerful, by the Sub-deacon's answering,

R. Lift up your selves.

The Faithful give God thanks by the Priest for his goodness, in Creating and Redeeming them; and considering, that the Mortal Venom of sin seized upon Eve and Adam through their own Senses; and thereby fell into that misery, which was the Fountain of ours, beseeches of his Majesty the Grace to subject their Senses to their Reason; so as they may reap the wholsome effect of their Redemption.

O God, who, by an admirable effect of thy power, hast created man, and yet more powerfully hast redeemed him, grant, we be∣seech thee, strength of our reason, we may overcome all allurements to sin, and, at length, enjoy eternal happiness: Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.