No. 14.

SCRIPTURE TRACTS

FOR THE

FASTS AND FESTIVALS.

Ash-Wednesday.

BY A LAYMAN.

"The Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness."-Liturgy.

"Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. Be afflicted, and mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."- St. James iv.

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"My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread.”—Psalm cii.

O Lord, turn not thy face from me,

Who lie in woeful state,
Lamenting all my sinful life

Before thy mercy-gate;

A gate which opens wide to those,

That do lament their sin :
Shut not that gate against me, Lord,
But let me enter in.

I need not to confess my life
To thee, who best can tell
What I have been, and what I am;
I know thou know'st it well.

Therefore with tears I come to beg
Of my offended God,

For pardon, like a child that dreads
His angry parent's rod.

O Lord, I need not to repeat

The comfort I would have:

Thou know'st, O Lord, before I ask,
The blessing I do crave.

Mercy, good Lord, mercy I ask,

This is the total sum;

For mercy, Lord, is all my suit

Lord, let thy mercy come!

;

Sternhold.

The First Day of Lent, commonly called

Ash Wednesday.

COLLECT FOR THIS AND EVERY DAY IN LENT.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CONFESSION OF THE DAY.

Turn thou us, O good Lord, and so shall we be turned. Be favorable, O Lord, be favorable to thy people, who turn to thee in weeping, fasting, and praying. For thou art a merciful God, full of compassion, long-suffering, and of great pity. Thou sparest when we deserve punishment, and in thy wrath thinkest upon mercy. Spare thy people, good Lord, spare them, and let not thine heritage be brought to confusion. Hear us, O Lord, for thy mercy is great, and after the multitude of thy mercies look upon us; through the merits and mediation of thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PROPER PSALMS, vi. xxxii. xxxviii. cii. cxxx. cxliii.

FOR THE EPISTLE.

Turn ye even unto me, saith the Lord, with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your heart, and not your garments: and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to

anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet; let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Joel ii.

THE GOSPEL.

When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. St. Matth. vi.

ORIGIN OF THE DAY.

"The Church begins her Lent this day to supply the Sundays in Lent, upon which it was not the Church's custom to fast, Sundays being high festivals in memory of our Saviour's joyful resurrection. Now if you take out of the six weeks of Lent six Sundays, there will remain but thirty-six fasting-days; to which, these four of this week being added, make the just number of forty."Bp. Sparrow.

In some of the Eastern Churches there was a Lent of seven weeks; but they never fasted in the East on Saturdays, so that the number of fastdays was nowhere more than thirty six, until this addition was made. "Some say it was the work of Gregory the Great, but others ascribe it to Gregory II., who lived above a hundred years after, in the beginning of the eighth century."Bingham's Ant. B. xxi. Ch. i.

By that time the ancient Apostolic discipline was nearly lost, and this day with its appointed service was of much use in supplying its place. Our own Church has shown herself faithful in retaining it, and at least once a year she makes a solemn call on sinners to consider their ways. There was much offence taken at this service formerly on the plea of religious scruple, but the same persons broke down all our institutions shortly afterwards. The only proper way of abolishing this day, is to restore the primitive discipline; and when we know that that cannot be done, we are not reasonable in under-valuing the ordinance, merely because the Apostles did not themselves appoint it.