Then hall the Prieft ufe this my hand upon thee; In to Prayer. ALmighty and everlafting God, who haft vouchfafed to regenerate these thy fervants by water and the Holy Ghoft, and haft given unto them the fign of the forgivnefs of their fins; ftrengthen them, we beseech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghoft the Comforter; and daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace; the fpirit of wisdomn and understanding; the fpirit of counfel and ghoftly strength; the spirit of knowledge and true godli nefs; and fill them, OLord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, now and for ever. A men. Then fhall the Priest add as follows, Ign and feal thefe Perfons, O Lord, for thine own felf, that they may be thine for ever, by the holy crofs and paffion of thy Son. Confirm and ftrengthen them mercifully with the inward unction of the Holy Ghoft; that they may daily increase in the graces of the fame Spirit more and more, until they come to thine everlafting kingdom. Amen. Then the Priest hall feal them Severally with the feal of the Crofs on their foreheads; and feverally lay his hand upon their heads, saying, N.I feal thee with the feal of the Crofs, and lay ken that thou art devoted to the faith and obedience of Chrift crucified, and that his holy Spirit will be ready to affift thee, and to enable thee manfully to fight under his banner againft fin, the world, and the devil, and that thou must continue Chrift's faithful Soldier and Servant, unto thy lives end. Amen. [Note, The feal of the Cross ought to be made with the holy Ointment.] Then fhall the Prieft fay, WE yield thee humble thanks, O heavenly Father, that thou haft vouchfafed to call us to the knowledge of thy grace and faith in thee; Increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith in us evermore. Give thy Holy Spirit to thefe perfons; that being now born again, and made heirs of everlasting falvation, through our Lord Jefus Chrift, they may continue thy fervants, and attain thy promises, thro' the same our Lord Jefus Chrift thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee now and for ever. Amen. Then all ftanding up, the works, to believe in God, and jesty; We make our hum- and to ferve him; ye muft Note alfo, from the Conftitu- them, faying thus, ver. Amen. for e Note, Note, There ought none to be admitted to the holy Com munion, until they be Baptized and Confirmed. And if any have been Baptized, but not Confirmed, the Office may begin with the most folemn Confeffion and Abfolution, and then go on with the Renunciation and Confeffion, and what follows here, excepting what immediately concerns Baptifm itself; but with fome fuch verbal Alterations as the cafe will make neceffary. Instead of the ufual Church Catechifm, let these following Inftructions be learn'd by all the Catechumens, and explained on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays by the Catechifts. The Ten Commandments, Exod. XX. TH HESE Commandments God in vain : for the Lord God fpake in the twen- will not hold him guiltlefs, tieth Chapter of EXODUS, that taketh his Name in faying, I am the Lord thy vain. God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 1. Thou fhalt have no other Gods but me. II. Thou shalt not make to thy felf any graven Image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God; and vifit the fins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and fhew mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my commandments. III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy IV.Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days fhalt thou labour, and do all that thou haft to do; but the feventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou fhalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy fon, and thy daughter, thy man-fervant, and thy maid-fervant, thy cattle, and the ftranger that is within thy gates. For in fix days the Lord made heaven and earth, the fea, and all that in them is, and rested the feventh day; wherefore the Lord bleffed the feventh day and hallowed it. V. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. VI. Thou VI. Thou shalt do no murder. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VIII.Thou shalt not fteal. IX. Thou shalt not bear falfe witness against thy neighbour. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neigbours houfe, thou fhalt not covet thy neighbours wife, nor his fervant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, or any thing that is his. The Chriftian Explication and AVE before thine Eyes the Fear of God, and always remember the Ten CommandmentsofGod. To love the one and only Lord God with all thy Strength: to give no heed to Idols, or any fuch other Beings, as lifelefs Gods, or fenfelefs Beings, or Dæmons: Confider the manifold Workmanship of God, which received its Beginning through Chrift; Thou shalt obferve the Sab bath, on account of him who ceased from his Work of Creation, but ceafed not from his Work of Providence.'Tis a Reft for Meditation of the Law, not for Idleness of the Hands. Reject every unlawfulLuft:everything deftructive to Men: and all Anger: Honour thy Parents, as the Authors of thy Being: Love thy Neighbour as thy felf: Communicate the Neceffaries of Life to the Needy: Avoid fwearing falfly, and fwearing often, and in vain; for thou shalt not be held guiltlefs. Do not appear before the Priests empty; and offer thy Free-willOfferings continually: Moreover, do not leave the Church of Chrift; but go thither in the Morning, before all thy work; and again meet there in the Evening to return Thanks to God that He has preferved thy Life: Be diligent, and conftant, and laborious in thy Calling: Offer to the Lord thy Free-will Offerings; for fays he Ho nour the Lord with the Fruit of thy Labours: If thou art not able to caft any thing confiderable intotheCorban, yet at least bestow upon the Strangers one, or two, or five Mites. Lay up for thy felf Heavenly Treafure, which neither the Moth norThieves can deftroy. The Beatitudes, Matth. v. BLeffed are the poor in fpi rit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they fhall be comforted. Bleffed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they fhall be filled. Bleffed are the merciful, for they fhall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they L fhall fhall feeGod. Bleffed are the peacemakers, for they fhall be called the children of God. Bleffed are they which are perfecuted for righteousness fake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Bleffed are ye when men fhall revile you and perfecute you, and fhall fayall manner of evil against you falfly, for my fake: Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven for fo perfecuted they the prophets which were before you. [See alfo that whole Sermon at the Mount, Mat. v. vi, vii.] S.Paul's Heads of Catechetick Inftructions. Heb. vi. 2. Herefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Chrift, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, Of [* Dippings the doctrine of or Baptifms.]*immerfions, and of laying on of hands, and of refurrection of the dead, and of eternal Judgment. The Heads of Catechetick Inftruction out of the Conftitutions, Lib. vii. c. 39, 40, 41. HE who is to be Catechi zed in the Word of Piety, let him be inftructed beforehisBaptifm inthe Knowledge of the Unbegotten God; in the Underftanding of his only Begotten Son; in the affured Acknowledg ment of the Holy Ghoft. Let him learn the Order of the feveral Parts of the Creation, theSeries of Providence, the different Difpenfations of the Laws: Let him be inftructed why the world was made, and why Man was appointed to be a Citizen therein; let him also know his own Nature, of what fort it is; let him be taught how God punished the Wicked with Water, and did glorify the Saints in every Generation; I mean Enoch and Noah, and Abraham, and his Pofterity, and Melchifedech and Job, and Mofes, and fofbua, and Caleb, and Phineas the Prieft, and those that were holy in every Generation; and how God ftill took care of, and did not reject Mankind, but called them from their Error and Vanity to the Acknowledgment of the Truth at various Seafons, reducing them from Bondage and Impiety unto Liberty and Piety, from Injustice to Righteousness, from DeathEternal to Everlasting Life. Let him that offers himself to Baptifm learn thefe and the like things in his Catechizing. Let him alfo be inftructed in the Doctrines concerning our Lord's Incarnation, and in those concerning hisPaffion, and Refurrection from the Dead, and Afcenfion. And |