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VESPERS.

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday.

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unto them

the songs of in the land

0

(cec) Ant.

my help.

that dream.

in the
Lord.

Sion.

of the
living.

Jerusalem.

(ddd) Text.

The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law. (On Saturdays giver from between his feet until Shiloh come, and unto the Text is that Him shall the gathering of the people, &c.

of Lauds and Vespers of the following Sundays.)

(eee) Hymn. Creator alme siderum, &c.

(fff) V. & R. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.

Let the earth open and bring forth salvation.

(ggg) Antiphon of the Magnificat.

Ist Monday. Lift up thine eyes, O Jerusalem, and behold the great. ness of thy King. Behold thy Saviour cometh to loose thee from thy chains.

1st Tuesday. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Hallelujah.

1st Wednesday. One that is mightier than I shall come after Me, whose shoes' latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

1st Thursday. I will wait for the Lord my Saviour, and will attend upon Him while He is near. Hallelujah.

1st Friday. Out of Egypt have I called My Son. He shall come to save His people.

1st Saturday. Come, O Lord, to visit us in peace, that we may rejoice before Thee with a perfect heart.

2d Monday. Behold the king, the Lord of the earth shall come; and He shall take away the yoke of our captivity.

2d Tuesday. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make the paths of our God straight.

2d Wednesday. O Sion, Thou shalt be renewed, and thou shalt see thy Holy One, who is to come unto thee.

2d Thursday. He who shall come after me, was in being before me; whose sandals I am not worthy to unloose.

2d Friday. O sing unto the Lord a new song, His praise is from the ends of the earth.

2d Saturday. There was no God made before Me, neither shall there be after Me; for every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue confess to God.

3d Monday. All generations shall call me blessed; because God hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.

3d Tuesday. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, loose the chains off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion.

3d Wednesday. Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

3d Thursday. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and leap for joy in her all ye that love her for ever.

3d Friday. This was the witness of John; He that cometh after me was in being before me.

3d Saturday,
(the 17th.)
[O Sapientia.]
(This is the first
of a series of Ma.
jores Antiphone,
said whole both before and after the Magnificat.)

O eternal Wisdom, which proceedest from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end of creation unto the other, mightily and harmoniously disposing all things, come Thou to teach us the way of understanding.

beginning on this day. They are

4th Monday (19.) O Root of Jesse, who art placed for a sign of the people, before whom kings shall shut their mouths, whom the Gen. tiles shall supplicate; come Thou to deliver us, do not tarry.

(Vide 4th Sunday for the intervening Antiphon.)

4th Tuesday (20.) O Key of David and Sceptre of the house of Israel, who openest and none shutteth, who shuttest and none openeth, come Thou, and bring forth the captive from the house of bondage who sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death.

4th Wed. (21.) O rising Brightness of the Everlasting Light and Sun of Righteousness, come Thou and enlighten those who sit in dark. ness and in the shadow of death.

4th Thurs. (22.) O King and the Desire of all nations, and chief Cor. ner-stone, who makest two to be one, come Thou and save man whom Thou formedst from the clay.

4th Friday (23) O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the gatherer of the people and their Saviour, come Thou to save us, O Lord our God.

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4th week.

Raise up, we beseech Thee, &c.

to the Sunday follow

ing.)

TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

No. 76.

(Ad Populum.)

CATENA PATRUM.

No. II.

TESTIMONY OF WRITERS IN THE LATER ENGLISH CHURCH TO THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION.

:

CONSIDERING the confidence and zeal with which modern and unscriptural views on the subject of Christian Baptism are put forth at the present time, it will not be unseasonable to present the reader with some testimonies from the writings of Anglican Divines in behalf of the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. By this doctrine is meant, first, that the Sacrament of Baptism is not a mere sign or promise, but actually a means of grace, an instrument, by which, when rightly received, the soul is admitted to the benefits of CHRIST'S Atonement, such as the forgiveness of sin, original and actual, reconciliation to Gon, a new nature, adoption, citizenship in CHRIST's kingdom, and the inheritance of heaven,-in a word, Regeneration. And next, Baptism is considered to be rightly received, when there is no positive obstacle or hindrance to the reception in the recipient, such as impenitence or unbelief would be in the case of an adult; so that infants are necessarily right recipients of it, as not being yet capable of actual sin. So much as these two positions is certainly held by every one of the authors of the following passages, though it is impossible to bring out their full meaning in such brief extracts however carefully selected.

There is a variety of questions connected with the subject beyond the two positions above set down, on which the writers under review differ more or less from each other, but not so as in the slightest degree to interfere with their clear and deliberate maintenance of these. Such, for instance, as the following :Whether grace be given in and through the water, or only contemporaneously with it. Again, whether Baptism, strictly speaking, conveys the blessings annexed to it, or simply admits into a state gifted with those blessings, as being the initiatory rite of the covenant of mercy. Or, again, whether or not Baptism, besides washing away past sin, admits into a state in which, for sins henceforth committed, Repentance stands in place of a Sacrament, so as to ensure forgiveness without specific ordinance; or whether the Holy Eucharist is that ordinance; or whether the full and explicit absolution of sin after Baptism is altogether put off till the day of judgment. Or, again, there may be difference of opinion as to the state of infants dying unbaptized. Or, again, whether Regeneration is an instantaneous work completed in Baptism, or admits of degrees and growth. Or, again, whether or not the Holy Spirit can utterly desert a soul once inhabited by Him, except to quit it for ever. Or, whether the change in the soul made by Baptism is indelible, for good or for evil; or may be undone, as if it had never been. Or, how far the enjoyment of the grace attached to it is suspended on the condition of our doing our part in the covenant. All these are questions, far from unimportant, but which do not at present come into consideration; the one point, maintained in the following extracts, being, that infants are by and at baptism unconditionally translated from a state of wrath into a state of grace and acceptance for CHRIST's sake.

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N. B. It would be easy to extend this list, were it necessary;

vid. Cosin's Devotions, Stanhope's Boyle Lectures, &c.

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