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of every one at the day of his death, the same is fully accomplished upon the whole man at the day of the general judgment. Whereupon we find that the Scriptures everywhere do point out that great day unto us, as the time wherein mercy and forgiveness, rest and refreshing, joy and gladness, redemption and salvation, rewards and crowns, shall be bestowed upon all God's children. As in 2 Tim. i. 16, 18, The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus: the Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. 1 Cor. i. 8, Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts iii. 19, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 2 Thess. i. 6, 7, It is a righteous thing with God to recompense unto you which are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. Philip. ii. 16, That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 1 Thess. ii. 19, For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Who are kept by the power of God through salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Ephes. iv. 30, Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Luke xxi. 28, When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 2 Tim. iv. 8, Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and Luke xiv. 14, Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

1 Pet. i. 5, faith unto 1 Cor. v. 5,

And that the Church, in her offices for the dead, had special respect unto this time of the resurrection, appeareth plainly, both by the portions of Scripture appointed to be read therein, and by divers particulars in the prayers themselves, that manifestly discover this intention. For there"680 the

80 Οἱ λειτουργοὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς θείοις λογίοις ἐμφερομένας ἀψευδεῖς ἐπαγγελίας περὶ τῆς ἱερᾶς ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως αναγνόν

τες, ἱερῶς ἀδουσι τὰς ὁμολόγους καὶ ταυ τοδυνάμους τῶν ψαλμικῶν λογίων ωδάς. Dionys. Hierarch. Ecclesiast. cap. 7.

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ministers," as the writer of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy reporteth, "read those undoubted promises which are recorded in the divine Scriptures of our divine resurrection, and then devoutly sang such of the sacred Psalms were of the same subject and argument." And so accordingly in the Roman Missal, the lessons ordained to be read for that time are taken from 1 Cor. xv. Behold, I tell you a mystery; We shall all rise again, &c. John v. The hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, &c. 1 Thess. iv. Brethren, we would not have you ignorant concerning them that sleep, that ye sorrow not, as others which have no hope. John xi. I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he were dead, shall live. 2 Macab. xii. Judas caused a sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, justly and religiously thinking of the resurrection. John vi. This is the will of my Father that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son and believeth in him may have life everlasting and I will raise him up at the last day. And, He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath life everlasting: and I will raise him up at the last day. And lastly, Apocal. xiv. I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow them. Wherewith the sequence also doth agree, beginning,

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Tertullian, in his book de Monogamia, which he wrote after he had been infected with the heresy of the Montanists,

81 Missal, Roman. in Commemorat, omnium Fidelium Defunctorum.

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speaking of the prayer of a widow for the soul of her deceased husband, saith, that she requesteth refreshing for him, and a portion in the first resurrection." Which seemeth to have some tang of the error of the Millenaries, (whereunto not Tertullian only with his Prophet Montanus, but 85 Nepos also, and Lactantius, and divers other doctors of the Church did fall), who, misunderstanding the prophecy in the 20th of the Revelation, imagined that there should be a first resurrection of the just, that should reign here a thousand years upon earth; and after that a second resurrection of the wicked at the day of the general judgment. 87 They that come not to the first resurrection, but are reserved to the second, shall be burned until they fulfil the times betwixt the first and the second resurrection; or if they have not fulfilled them, they shall remain longer in punishment. And therefore let us pray that we may obtain to have our part in the first resurrection," saith St Ambrose. Hence, in a certain Gothic Missal, I meet with two several exhortations made unto the people to pray after this form: the one, that God would vouchsafe to place in the bosom of Abraham the souls of those that be at rest, and admit them unto the part of the first resurrection; the other, which I find elsewhere also repeated in particular, that he would “ place in rest the spirits of their friends

82 Enimvero et pro anima ejus orat, et refrigerium interim adpostulat ei, et in prima resurrectione consortium. Tertull. de Monogam. cap. 10.

83 Id. de Resurrect. Carnis, cap. 25. 84 Id. advers. Marcion. lib. iii. cap. ult. 85 Sicut Nepos docuit, qui primam justorum resurrectionem et secundam impiorum confinxit. Gennad. de Ecclesiast. Dogmat. cap. 55. Idem in Catalogo Scriptor. Ecclesiastic. de Tichonio Donatista. Mille annorum regni in terra justorum, post resurrectionem futuri, suspicionem tulit; neque duas in carne mortuorum resurrectiones futuras, unam justorum, et aliam injustorum, sed unam et semel omnium, ostendit.

86 Lactant. Institut. Divin. lib. vii. cap. 21, 24, et 26.

87 Qui non veniunt ad primam resurrectionem, sed ad secundam reservantur,

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isti urentur donec impleant tempora inter primam et secundam resurrectionem ; aut si non impleverint, diutius in supplicio permanebunt: ideo ergo rogemus ut in prima resurrectione partem habere mereamur. Ambros. in Psal. i. 5.

88 Quiescentium animas in sinu Abrahæ collocare dignetur, et in partem primæ resurrectionis admittat. Missal. Gottic. Tom. VI. Bibliothec. Patr. edit. Paris. ann. 1589, col. 251.

89 Deum judicem universitatis, Deum cœlestium et terrestrium et infernorum, fratres dilectissimi, deprecemur pro spiritibus carorum nostrorum, qui nos in Dominica pace præcesserunt; ut eos Dominus in requie collocare dignetur, et in parte primæ resurrectionis resuscitet. Ibid. col. 257; Gregor. Oper. Tom. v. col. 228, edit. Paris.; Preces Ecclesiast. a Gregor. Cassandro collect. p. 385, Oper.

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which were gone before them in the Lord's peace, and raise them up in the part of the first resurrection." And, to come nearer home, Asserius Menevensis, writing of the death and burial of Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, and Burghred, King of the Mercians, saith, that they "expect the coming of the Lord and the first resurrection with the just." The like doth Abbo Floriacensis also write of our Cuthbert. Which, how it may be excused otherwise, than by saying that at the general resurrection 92 the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then the wicked shall be raised after them, and by referring the first resurrection unto the resurrection of the just, which shall be at that day, "I cannot well resolve. For certain it is, that the first resurrection, spoken of in the 20th chapter of the Revelation of St John, is the resurrection of the soul from the death of sin and error in this world; as the second is the resurrection of the body out of the dust of the earth in the world to come; both which be distinctly laid down by our Saviour in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St John; the first in the 25th verse, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live; the second in the 28th and 29th, Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

And to this general resurrection, and to the judgment of the last day, had the Church relation in her prayers; some patterns whereof it will not be amiss to exhibit here, in these examples following:

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95 Although the condition of

suo ordine resurgat; considerandum est tamen propter illum sermonem Johannis, (Apocal. xx.), ne forte dividi omnis resurrectionis ratio in duas partes possit, id est, in eos qui salvandi sunt justos, et in eos qui cruciandi sunt peccatores: ut sit una quidem bonorum, quæ dicitur prima; illa vero quæ est miserorum, secunda dicatur. Hieronym. in Psal. i. 5. Si non resurgunt peccatores in concilio justorum ; diversa est peccatorum justorumque resurrectio.

95 Quamvis humano generi mortis illata conditio pectora nostra mentesque contristet; tamen clementiæ tuæ dono spe fu- '

death brought in upon mankind doth make our hearts and minds heavy; yet, by the gift of thy clemency, we are raised up with the hope of future immortality; and being mindful of eternal salvation, are not afraid to sustain the loss of this light. For by the benefit of thy grace, life is not taken away to the faithful, but changed; and the souls being freed from the prison of the body, abhor things mortal when they attain unto things eternal. Wherefore we beseech thee that thy servant N., being placed in the tabernacles of the blessed, may rejoice that he hath escaped the straits of the flesh, and in the desire of glorification expect with confidence the day of judgment." 96 Through Jesus Christ our Lord, whose holy passion we celebrate without doubt for immortal and well resting souls; for them especially upon whom thou hast bestowed the grace of the second birth; who, by the example of the same Jesus Christ our Lord, have begun to be secure of the resurrection. thou, who hast made the things that were not, art able to repair the things that were; and hast given unto us evidences of the resurrection to come, not only by the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles, but also by the resurrection of the same thy only begotten Son our Redeemer." 66 97 O God, who art the Creator and Maker of all things, and who art the bliss of thy saints, grant unto us who make request unto

turæ immortalitatis erigimur; ac memores salutis æternæ, non timemus lucis hujus sustinere jacturam, quoniam beneficio gratiæ tuæ fidelibus vita non tollitur, sed mutatur: atque animæ, corporeo ergastulo liberatæ, horrent mortalia dum immortalia consequuntur. Unde quæsumus ut famulus tuus N., in tabernaculis beatorum constitutus, evasisse se carnales glorietur angustias, diemque judicii cum fiducia voto glorificationis exspectet. Præfat. antiqu. edit. Colon. ann. 1530, num. 106; Tom. 11. Liturgic. Pamel. p. 608; et Tom. v. Oper. Gregorii, edit. Paris. col. 233. Habetur et prior Præfat. hujus pars in Missa Ambrosiana, Tom. 1. Liturg. Pamel. p. 450, 451; posterior in altera Præfat. ibid. p. 449, et Oper. Gregor. col. 232, a.

96 Per Christum Dominum nostrum, cujus sacram passionem pro immortalibus

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et bene quiescentibus animabus sine dubio celebramus; pro his præcipue, quibus secundæ nativitatis gratiam præstitisti; qui exemplo ejusdem Jesu Christi Domini nostri cœperunt esse de resurrectione securi. Quippe qui fecisti quæ non erant, potes reparare quæ fuerant; et resurrectionis futuræ nobis documenta non solum per propheticam et apostolicam doctrinam, sed per ejusdem unigeniti tui, Redemptoris nostri, resurrectionem dedisti. Præfat. antiqu. 107 et 112, Grimold. Sacrament.; Tom. 11. Liturg. Pamel. p. 460, 461; et Tom. v. Oper. Gregor. col. 235.

97 Deus, qui universorum es Creator et Conditor, quique tuorum es beatitudo sanctorum, præsta nobis petentibus, ut spiritum fratris nostri, corporis nexibus absolutum, in beata resurrectione facias præsentari. Prec. Ecclesiast. Cassandr. Oper. p. 385; Tom. v. Gregor. col. 228, e.

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