to do for him after the custom of th Law, he took him up in his Arms, an Bleffed God and faid, Now difmifeft the O Lord, thy Servant according to th word in peace, for mine eyes have fe thy Salvation which thou haft prepare before the face of all People; a light f the illumination of the Gentiles, and th Glory of thy People Ifrael. And his F ther and Mother were marvelling those things which were spoken of hir And Simeon bleffed them, and faid Mary his Mother, Behold this Child fet for the fall and rifing again of ma in Ifrael, and for a fign which fhall contradicted; and a fword fhall peir through thy own Soul, that t thoughts of many hearts may be r vealed.

Refp. Give, us O Lord, thy Holy Gra that our days may pals in innocence, an our innocence fuftain us in hope: Gi us thy Holy Grace, that our hope m increafe to confidence, and our confiden be establifht in peace. peace difmifs thy Servants. O thou light of the W ufeft to walk, that

And then i
Lead

here the

lyfee thee: fhew us thy Blessed self, O thon Glory of Heaven, that our Souls may faft embrace thee. And thenLesson 25.

And there was one Anne a Prophetess, the Daughter of Phanuel, of the Tribe of Afer; he was of a great Age, and had liv'd with her Husband feven years from her Virginity and she was a Widdow till eighty four years, who departed not from the Temple, but ferved God with Faftings and Prayers night and day. And she, at the fame hour, suddenly coming in, confefs'd our Lord, and pake of him to all that expected the redemption of Ifrael.

Refp. Lord, in thy hands are the times and Sefons, which thou kindly difpofeft in advantage of thy Servants. That thy favours may encourage their virtue, and their virtue encrease thy favours. Thou war deft the Chastity of Virgins, and the Fidelity of Wives; Thon crownest the Holynefs of Widows, and the perfe verance of all who conftantly love thee.

On 26.

had performed all

things according to the Law of our Lor behold, an Angel of our Lord appeare to Jofeph in his fleep, faying, Arife, an take the Child and his Mother, and f into Egypt, and be there till I tell the for it will come to pass that Herod wi feek the Child to deftroy him. Wh arofe, and took the Child and his Moth by night, and retir'd into Ægypt, and w there till the Death of Herod, that might be fulfilled which was fpoken our Lord by the Prophet, faying, Out Egypt have I call'd my Son. Refp. Nothing, O my God, can be hid fro thee, but thy all-piercing Wifdom clean Jees it; nothing can refit against the but thy Almighty Power abfolutely con mands it. And shall our Faith be ftill little, as to doubt in thy Providence Thou fendeft even thy Angells to forete us of the danger, and propofe us the rea ready way to fecure our deliverance *And that

Lesson 27.

Then Herod, perceiving he was delu ded by the Sages, was exceeding angry and, fending, flew all the Male-Childre in Bethlehem, and all the Coafts thereo

from

from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquir'd of the Sages. Then was fulfilled that which was fpoken by Jeremy the Prophet, faying, In Rama was there a voyce heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her Children, and would not be comforted, becaule they are not.

Refp. And why, O thou God of Justice, why do thou patiently permit fuch in tolerable cruelties? Barbaronfly they tare the fucking Children from their Nurses Brefts, and dash out their Brains before their Mothers Faces. Difpute t, curicus Man, the fecrets of Providence; all the ill that's done is for the nd of the sufferers. The little Infants e untimely flain, but their fins are prevented that might elle bave undone them; the belpless Innocents are inbumanely Murthered,but they reign for ever with the Crowns of Martyrs. Difpute Leffon 28.

not

*

But, when Herod was dead,' beholdɔ Angel of our Lord appear'd' in fleep to Jeph in Egypt, faying, Arife and take the Child and his Mother, and go into C 3

the

the Land of Ifrael; for they are dea who fought the life of the Child. An

he arofe and took the Child and his Mo ther, and came into the Land of Ifrael But, hearing that Archelaus reign'd i Judea, in the room of his Father Herod he was afraid to go thither: and, bein warn'd in his fleep, he turn'd afide int the parts of Galilee, and came and dwe in a City call'd Nazareth, that it migh be fulfilled which was fpoken by the Pro phets, he shall be called a Nazaren. Refp. At last the Wolf muft dye, and b call'd to account for all the Lambs he b worryed; at last the Patient will furell be relieved, and the times of fafety re turn to the Innocent. For, the eye our Lord ftill watches over the Just, an his hand directs their steps. Sorron may endure for an Evening, but joy hal refresh the Morning; here you perhap may be threatned with danger, but in in another City dwell in peace. For

the eyeLeffon 29. And the Child grew and waxed ftrong in Spirit, full of Wisdom, and the grace of God was in him. Now,his Parents wen to Jerufalem every year at the folemn day