New-Years Day.

The firſt of January, commonly called New-years Day, of the old Roman Account, which began the year from that day; otherwiſe the Circumciſion of our Lord, being celebrated eight days after his Birth incluſively, as it was on the Male-Children of the Jews, according to the Judaical Law, in memory of his Circumciſion, as the old Law commanded, Geneſis the 17th, and the 12th. when he was named Jeſus, (Gr. a Saviour) as the Angel had foretold, St. Luke 1.32. Circumciſion is deriv'd from the Latin Circumcido, which ſignifies a cutting round about; and in truth to ſpeak more properly, it is the cutting away of the Praepuce, or double fore-skin, which enfoldeth the Head, or Extremity of the Virga Virilis; and was perform'd with a very ſharp Stone, ordered and fitted for that uſe; and not with an Iron Knife ſteel'd, as ſome are of Opinion, tho miſtaken. It was a Ceremony Preſcribed by the Great Jehovah, to Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, and his Poſterity, who were Heirs of the Divine Promiſe, and Commanded to be ſacredly obſerved by the Hebrews, upon the ſevere penalty of Death; as a ſign and ſeal of the Covenant betwixt God and them, and a mark of Diſtinction from all other Nations; which Ceremony was always ſtrictly obſerv'd among them; but abrogated after the Reſurrection and Aſcenſion of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. This Faſt is one of His Majeſties Offering-Days at Court, whereon Gold, Myrrh and Frankincenſe is offered; and being celebrated on the firſt of January; the ſecond is term'd the Octave of St. Stephan, the third of St. John, and the fourth of the bleſſed Innocents.

Epiphanie.

The next we meet with in the order of the Calendar, is Epiphanie, or Twelfth-day. Epiphanie is a Greek word, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , & ſignifies an Arparition, ſo called and celebrated in memory and honour of our Saviours manifeſtation made to the Gentiles by a miraculous Comet, or Blazing-Star, by virtue whereof, the three Magi, or Sages (vulgarly called the three Kings of Colen) were conducted to him, who, upon Diſcovery of that Star, came out of the Eaſt to Paleſtine, or Jewry, to adore him in the Manger, where (a Twelve-month after Chriſt's Birth) the firſt of them is (as Tradition delivers it down to us) nam'd Melchior, an aged Man, with a long Beard, who offered Gold to our Saviour, as to a King, in teſtimony of his Regality; the ſecond Jaſper, a Beardleſs Youth, who offered Frankincenſe, as unto God, in acknowledgment of his Divinity; the third Balthaſar a Black, or Moor with a large ſpreading Beard, who offered Myrrh, as to a Man, that was ready or fit for his Sepulchre, thereby ſignifying his Humanity; of which this Diſtich is extant, Tres Reges Regi Regum tria dona ferebant; Myrrham Homini, Uncto Aurum, Thura dedêre Deo.

Engliſhed thus, Three Kings the King of Kings Three Gifts did bring; Myrrh, Incenſe, Gold; as to God, Man and King.

And the Poet Prudentius ſings ſweetly on this Subject, in this following Tetraſtich. Hic pretioſa Magi ſub Virginis ubere Chriſto Dona ferunt Puero, Myrrhae que & Thuris, & Auri; Miratur Genitrix tot caſti ventris honores, Seque Deum genuiſſe, Hominem, Regemque ſupremum. And thus Tranſlated by Dr. Spark in his Primitive Devotion. The Wiſe-men here choice Treaſures do diſpence To Chriſt, and Mary, Myrrh, Gold Frankincenſe; While thus aſtoniſh'd at this Glorious thing; A Maid at once to bear God, Man, and King.

Or 'tis ſo call'd from the appearing of the Holy Ghoſt in the ſhape of a Dove, at his Baptiſm, 30 years after (for this ſixth of January was the day of our Saviour's Baptiſm, and is Celebrated as ſuch by the Church) and therefore 'tis term'd by Alcas Cyriacus, an Arabick Manuſcript of Aſtronomical Tables in the Archbiſhop's Archives, in the Library of Oxford; the Feaſt of Epiphanie, or Benediction of Waters. On this day alſo is commemorated the firſt Miracle performed by our Saviour at the Wedding in Cana of Galilee, where he turn'd Water into Wine. The Vigil (or Eve of this Feſtival, ſo nam'd from Vigilia in Latin, Watohing; becauſe then Chriſtians were wont to Watch, Faſt, and Pray in their Churches) was call'd in the Primitive Times, Vigilia Luminum; and the Ancients then were accuſtomed to ſend Lights one to the other. This day was of old Celebrated in honour of Auguſtus Caeſar by the Romans, for his Conqueſt of Media, Aegypt, and Parthia, which were after added to their Empire; but the Holy Church willing to alter that Solemnity, and introduce a better, inſtituted this Feaſt of the Epiphanie in lieu of it. 'Tis ſtyl'd Twelfth-Day, becauſe Celebrated on the 12th day after the Nativity of the Bleſſed Jeſus excluſively, not taking in Chriſtmas-Day for one. This is alſo one of His Majeſties Offeringdays at White-hall.

St. Paul.

January the 25th. is kept the Feſtival known by the Name of the Converſion of St. Paul, that once bloody Perſecutor of the People of God; tho through his Mercy, he afterward became the great Apoſtle of the Gentiles, and was Martyr'd at Rome for the faith of Chriſt; but inſerted in our Rubrick ſince His Majeſtie's Reſtauration, Anno Dom. 1664.

January the 30th.

January the 30th. A Day — Nigro carbone notandus;—and not to be thought upon without Horror & Conſternation. 'Tis kept annually, as a ſolemn Faſt for the barbarous, unexampled Murder of the beſt of Kings, Charles the Firſt, of bleſſed Memory, and is by Act of Parliament, 12. Car. 2di. ſet apart to implore the Mercy of God, that the guilt of the innocent Blood of this Royal Martyr may not hereafter be viſited upon us, and our Poſterity, &c.

Purification of the bleſſed Virgin.

February the 2d. is Candlemas-Day, or the Purification of the Bleſſed Virgin. Candlemas-Day 'tis call'd from the Saxon, Candlemaeſſe, the Maſs or Feaſt of Candles (the old Saxons term all Holy-days, Maſsdays, becauſe they were obliged to hear Maſs on thoſe days, or becauſe High Maſs was then Sung) for before Maſs is ſaid on that day, the Roman Church bleſſeth, deputeth, or ſets apart her Candles for ſacred uſe; which do ſerve in the Church all the enſuing year, and goes in Proceſſion with Hallowed Candles, carried by the Romaniſts, in commemoration of the Divine Light, wherewith our Saviour Illuminated the Univerſal Church, at his Preſentation, when the Good & Aged Simeon ſtyled him a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of his People Iſrael, Luk. 2.32. and both by Simeon and Anna proclamed to be the true Meſſiah. 'Tis nam'd alſo the Purification, from Purifico, to Purifie; kept in memory, both of the Preſentation of our Bleſſed Lord, and the Purification of the Holy Virgin in the Temple of Jeruſalem, within the ſpace of forty days after her Happy Delivery of the Holy Child, Jeſus; in obedience to the Moſaical Law, as it is ſet down, Leviticus, the 12th. and the 6th: not that the Bleſſed Virgin had contracted any Impurity by her Child-birth, which ſtood in need of Purification (being the Mother of Purity in the very Abſtract) but partly becauſe (as Mr. Lightf. ſays in his Harmony of the four Evangeliſts) that Chriſt in nothing might be wanting to the Law; and partly that this might be an occaſion for the firſt publick Declaration of him by Simeon and Anna: The Dutch call this Day Lichtmiſs, the Maſs, or Feaſt of Lights; ſee the Saxon Dictionary by Summers: and was Inſtituted by Juſtinian the Emperor, Anno Chriſti 542. Beſides, 'tis one of the four Gawdy, or Grand-Days in the Inns of Court, which ſingly fall out in every Term: Candlemas, or the Purification in Hilary; Aſcenſion, or Holy Thurſday in Eaſter; Midſummer, or St. John Baptiſt's in Trinity; All Saints, or Allhollandtide in Michaelmas Term. Theſe four are no Days in the Courts at Weſtminſter: and in the Inns of Court on theſe Days double Commons are allow'd, and Muſick and Revelling on All-Saints: and Candlemas-Day, as the firſt and laſt day of Chriſtmas.

The Etymologie of the word may be taken from Judge Gawdy; who as 'tis affirm'd by ſome, was the firſt Inſtituter of theſe Days; or rather from the Latin Gaudium, becauſe they are Days of Joy, and furniſh the Tables in the Inns of Court with good Chear.

In the Colledges at the Univerſities they are uſually call'd Gawdy, in the Inns of Court Grand-Days, and at His Majeſtie's Court, White-Hall, Collar-Days; for on theſe Days at Court, the King, Knights of the Garter, and Judges wear their Collars of S.S. It is alſo one of His Majeſtie's Offering-days.

St. Matthias.

On February the 24th. (but in Leap-year the 25th) is Celebrated the Feaſt of St. Matthias, who was one of the 70 Diſciples, and elected Apoſtle by lot, in the room of that Arch Traytor Judas, after the Aſcenſion of our Bleſſed Lord: He Preached the Holy Goſpel in Macedonia (and after Travelled into Judaea) where he was firſt cruelly ſtoned by the Jews, and then Beheaded according to the Roman Cuſtom, Anno Dom. 51. and it is alſo one of His Majeſties Collar-Days, without Offering; here we may properly come in with our Diſcourſe concerning Biſſextile, or Leap-year. 'Tis term'd Biſſextilis, becauſe the 6th of the Calends of March are twice reckon'd, viz. on the 24th and 25th of February; ſo that Leap-year has a ſupernumerary day more than other years; according to that old Rhythm, Thirty Days hath November, April, June, and September; February hath Eight and twenty alone, And all the reſt have thirty and one; But when of Leap-year cometh the time, Then Days hath February Twenty and nine:

Obſerve alſo this Latin Diſtich; tho in old Monkiſh Rhythm, regardleſs of true Quantity, Biſſextum Sextae Martis tenuere Calendae, Poſteriore die celebrantur Feſta Mathiae.

This Leap-year is obſerved every fourth year, and was firſt invented by Julius Caeſar, the Perpetual Dictator of Rome, to accommodate and even the year with the Courſe of the Sun; and takes the name of Julian Account from him, who before the Incarnation of Chriſt, the ſpace of 44 years, obſerving the erroneouſneſs of the Account then in uſe; ordered the year to conſiſt of 365 days and ſix hours which ſix hours, in four years time, made 24 hours, or a Civil Day, and were added to the end of February; and upon this account every fourth year contained. 366 days, and was call'd Annus Biſſextilis, for the reaſon premention'd, and the thing it ſelf Intercalatio, an Interlacing or puting any odd thing between even ones, meaning the odd day in Leapyear, in which account for many years there was no ſenſible Error diſcovered; yet in proceſs of time it was found not to be ſo exactly agreeable with the Sun's natural Motion; for the Julian exceeded the true Solar year by 10 Minutes, and 48 ſeconds, and cauſed the Aequinoxes and Solſtices, yearly, to alter and change their places, and recede or fly back ſo many Minutes and ſeconds; in conſideration whereof, Pope Gregory the 13th of that Name, by the advice • nd aſſiſtance of Antonius Lilius, • is Brothers, and other Eminent Mathematicians, did, in the year of our Lord 1582. correct the Roman Calendar, appointing the year to contain 365 days, 5 hours, 49 Minutes, and 12 ſeconds, and that the Vernal Aequinox which was then on the 11th of March, might be reduced to the 21th as it was at the time of the firſt Council of Nicaea; he commanded, that 10 days in October ſhould be totally omitted, viz. from the 4th, to the 14th; ſo that the 4th day of the Month was counted the 14th. Hence it is, that the New, Foreign, Gregorian, or Lilian is 10 days before the old, or our Julian account. Here it is alſo obſervable, that every Leap-year (to prevent all Ambiguities that may ariſe at Law) it is provided by the Statute de Anno Biſſextili, 21 H. 3. that the 24th and 25th of February, in Suits at Law, ſhall be accounted for one day only. Britton f. 209. Dyer 17 Eliz. 345. but for keeping of Fairs, it is ordered, that thoſe which uſe to be on the 24th of February, ſhall be kept on the 25th, becauſe the Feaſt of St. Mathias is not till the 25th of February in the Leap-year. It is call'd Leap-year from the Dutch Loop-iare, qu. Leapyear, becauſe it exceeds the bounds of other years by a day.

Sunday.

As for Sunday or the Lords-Day, it is the weekly Feaſt of the Refurrection of Chriſt; not Inſtituted by him, or God himſelf, but by his own Apoſtles in the place of the rejected Sabbath of the Jews, for theſe enſuing Reaſons:

1. That Chriſtians ſhould not be obliged to the obſervance of Judaical Ceremonies; but teſtifie the Abrogation of their Feaſts, and the liberty receiv'd by the coming of Chriſt.

2. That as the Jewiſh Sabbath did continually put them in mind of the former World finiſhed by the Creation; ſo the Lord's-Day ought to keep us in the conſtant Remembrance of a far better world begun by our Saviour, who came to reſtore all things, and make Heaven and Earth new; therefore for this Reaſon did they Honour the Laſt day, we the Firſt in every ſeven, annually.

3. In regard that the Lord roſe from the Dead on this day, and perfected the great and wonderful Work of Man's Redemption.

4. We cannot more congruouſly apprehend the Majeſty of the Super-eminent and Puiſſant Jeſus, by any other Creature than by the moſt reſplendent and glorious Light of the Sun, the Ruler of this day; for it is written, Et in ſole poſuit Tabernaculum ſuum, & exiit de Tribu Judae, cujus Signum (Leo) eſt Solare Animal.

The Lord's-Day (when any happens) between Candlemas, and Twelfth-Day, hath no certain Name; but is call'd the firſt, or ſecond Sunday (on which it falls) after Chriſtmas; but thoſe that ſucceed the Epiphanie, are denoted according to the Numeral order, as the firſt Sunday after it is ſtyl'd the firſt Sunday after Epiphanie, the next the ſecond, &c. whereof there are five this preſent year, ſometimes only four, but more or fewer, according to the greater quantity of the Intervallum majus, tho the Sunday immediately preceding Septuageſima is ever counted the laſt Sunday after Epiphanie.

Valentine's-Day.

Valentine's-Day is on the 14th of February, ſo call'd from Valentine (Powerful, Lat.) a Roman Biſhop, whoſe Feaſt is kept this day: about this time the Birds make choice of their Mates for the enſuing year, and we among us of our Valentines; that is, Men and Women choſen for ſpecial Loving Friends; it ſignifies alſo Saints choſen for ſpecial Patrons for the year.

The next 4 Sundays are known by the Name of

Septuageſima, Serageſima, Quinquageſima, and Quadrageſima.

The three firſt have their Names from the Order in which they precede the 4th Quadrageſima, and ſo of the reſt.

Septuageſima was Inſtituted, as 'tis generally believ'd, for theſe three Reaſons.

1. For Suppletion; i.e. making up what is wanting; for becauſe ſome did not uſe to faſt on the Friday (and therefore Sexageſima was Inſtituted, as you ſhall underſtand by and by) neither upon the Saturday, in regard that our Saviour on that day reſted in his Grave, to denote our future Reſt (and 'tis obſerv'd by St. Auguſtin, that the Inhabitants of Aſia, & ſome others, grounding their Practice on an Apoſtolical Tradition, would not Faſt on the Saturday) therefore the Week call'd Septuageſima, was added to ſupply the ſeven days of Sexageſima.

2. For it's own Signification; in that thereby is ſignified unto us the Exile and Affliction of Mankind from Adam to the laſt general Conflagration; and therefore all Holy Hymns, and Sacred Anthems of Joy are intermitted by our Holy Mother the Church, during the time of Septuageſima.

3. To repreſent the 70 years Captivity of the Jews in Babylon: and as at that time the Iſraelites laid aſide their Inſtrument, ſaying, Quomodo cantabimus Canticum Domini, &c. ſo the Church leaves off her Songs of Praiſes during this time. Sexageſima was inſtituted by Melchiades Bp. of Rome, a Martyr, who flouriſhed, An. Dom. 311. and ordained, that none ſhould Faſt on Friday, becauſe of the Lord's Supper, and his Aſcenſion on that day; ſo neither on the Sunday (which being the firſt day of the Week) ſolemnizeth our Saviour's Reſurrection, to diſtinguiſh between Chriſtians, and Gentiles; therefore the Ancients (to redeem the Fridays in Quinquageſima) added this other Week to the Faſt, call'd by them Sexageſima.

The next Sunday is Quinquageſima. The Holy Church Commands a Faſt to be obſerv'd, conſiſting of 40 days, before Eaſter, ſtyl'd Quadrageſima, or the Holy time of Lent, wherein there are but 36 days, beſides the Lord's-Days, on which ſhe faſts not, for joy of the Reſurrection; now to ſupply this Defect, four days of the foregoing Week were added to the Quadrageſimal Faſt; and afterward it was (firſt by Teleſphorus Biſhop of Rome and Martyr, who flouriſhed, Anno Dom. 142. and ſince that by Pope Gregory the Great) Decreed, that all Prieſts ſhould begin their Faſt two days ſooner, viz. two days before the additional four pre-mentioned; that as they preceded the Laity in Dignity, they might alſo in Sanctity and Holineſs; therefore this Week Quinquageſima was added to the Week Quadrageſima.

Shrovetide.

Next we come to Shrovetide or Carneval, which is derived from the Saxon Shrive, or Shrift; and the Belgick Tyde or Tijdt, i.e. the time of ſhriving or confeſſion of Sins; for about this time the Roman Catholicks uſe to confeſs their Sins. and receive the bleſſed Sacrament; to the end they might more Religiouſly obſerve the Holy time of Lent then immediately enſuing. 'Tis call'd Carneval (being a diſſolute Seaſon, or Licentious Time) qu. valeat caro, becauſe then they bid adieu to eating of Fleſh, and feed on Fiſh.

Aſh-Wedneſday.

Aſh-Wedneſday is the Beginning, or Head of the Faſt of Lent, and was by Gregory the Great, (Pope of Rome) Dedicated to the Conſecration and ſprinkling with Aſhes (and therefore call'd in Latine, Dies Cinerum, or Aſh-Wedneſday, by the Ancients Caput Jejunii, the Head of Faſting, or firſt beginning of Lent) yet (as Hoſpinian affirms) there is extant an Homily compoſed by Maximus Biſhop of Tours, in France, with this Inſcription, In Die Cinerum, which ſhews the Inſtitution thereof to be before his Time, becauſe Maximus Taurinenſis liv'd 170 years before him, viz. Anno Dom. 420. 'Tis call'd Aſh-Wedneſday, from the ancient Ceremony of Bleſſing Aſhes on that Day; and therewith the Prieſt ſigneth the People on the Forehead in the form of a Croſs, affording them withal this wholſom Admonition; Memento Homo quod Pulvis es, & in Pulverem reverteris; Remember Man, that thou art Duſt, and to Duſt thou ſhalt return; to mind them of their Mortality, and prepare them for the Holy Faſt of Lent; the Aſhes uſed this day in the Church of Rome, are made of the Palms conſecrated the Sunday Twelve-month before: and formerly in the Eaſterin Countries, they uſually on this Day wore Sack-cloth, and ſprinkled Aſhes on the Heads of the People, which was done in token of ſincere Humiliation, and a true and unfeigned ſorrow for Sin.

St. David.

St. David's, vulgarly and ludibriouſly nick-nam'd St. Taffie's Day, which is on the firſt of March, is a Britiſh Holy-Day, and obſerv'd by them very ſolemnly, in Honour and Commemoration of St. David, their worthy Patron, who is by their Records and Tradition, juſtified to be a Prelate of Eminent Holineſs and Auſterity of Life, a Perſon of great Learning, a moſt Florid and Eloquent Preacher of the Word of God, and Archbiſhop of Menevy, now taking from him the Name of St. David s in Pembrokeſhire. He flouriſhed in the fifth and ſixth Age after the Incarnation of Chriſt, and died aged 140 years, as Dr. Pits teſtifieth in his Treatiſe Intituled, De Illuſtribus Angliae Scriptoribus: The Britains on this Day conſtantly wear a Leek, in Memory of a Famous and Notable Victory obtain'd by them over the Saxons; they, during the Battel, having Leeks in their Hats, for their Military Colours, and Diſtinction of themſelves, by the perſwaſion of the ſaid Prelate, St. David.

The firſt Sunday in Lent is call'd Quadrageſima, the ſecond Reminiſcere, the third Oculi, the fourth Laetare, the fifth Iudica, the fixth Dominica Magna; of theſe in order.

Quadrageſima, or the firſt Sunday in Lent; ſo call'd becauſe it is diſtant 40 days from the grand Feaſt of Eaſter, containing the Lenten Faſt, as it was obſerv'd by the Primitive Chriſtians, in imitation of our Saviour's Faſting in the Deſart 40 days, and 40 nights; it is call'd alſo Invocavit, becauſe on that Day the Church ſings Invocavit me, & ego exaudiam eum, or that taken out of Pſalm the 90th, v. 3, 4. 'Tis ſtyl'd Lent, ſo call'd from the old Saxons, who nominated March, Lenct Monat, i. e. Length Month, becauſe the Days then begin to lengthen, and exceed the Nights. Now this Month being ſo named by our Anceſtors, when they did firſt imbibe or embrace Chriſtianity, and therewith alſo the ancient and Religious Cuſtom of Faſting; this Seaſon is peculiarly term'd the Faſt of Lent, by reaſon of the Lenct-Monat, or Month of March, wherein the major part of the time of this Grand Faſting always hapned. Sir Richard Baker ſaith in his Chronology, that it was firſt commanded to be obſerv'd here among us in England, by Ercombert the 7th King of Kent, in or about the year of our Lord 641. So that it is of Antiquity in this Nation, and no upſtart and new-fangled Faſt.

Then we meet with Ember-Week, ſo named from the Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , i. e. Dies; Days, by way of Emphaſis, the Grand Days of Faſting, as ſome are of opinion; others conceive, that they are call'd the Days of Aſhes, or Ember-Days from that as Ancient, as Religious Cuſtom of wearing Hair-Cloth, and uſing Aſhes in times of Publick Penance and Piety, or from the Antiquated uſage of eating no other Food on thoſe Days, till Night, only a Cake baked under the Embers or Aſhes, which they call'd, Panem Subcineritium, or Ember-Bread, Turb. Cath. Yet Sir Henry Spelman ſaith, De Conciliis, that the true and genuine word is Imber, from the Saxon Imbren, i. e. a Circle; becauſe the Ember-days move round the year, as it were in a Circle. Theſe Ember-Weeks are four in the year; and they of old, in every one of them faſted on Wedneſday, Friday, and Saturday, as you will find it in this ancient Couplet.

Poſt Cineres, Pentec: poſt Crucem, poſtque Luciam. Mercurii, Veneris, Sabathi, Jejunia fiant.

That is, the next Week after Aſh-Wedneſday, Whitſunday, Holy-Rood, or the Exaltation of the Croſs, and St. Lucie's Day. They are of great Antiquity in the Church, being times of Publick Prayer, Faſting and Proceſſion, and ſtyl'd Quatuor Anni Tempora, by the Ancient Fathers; for beſides the firſt Inſtitution of them for quarterly Seaſons of Devotion, proportion'd to every part of the year, that the intire year, & each Diviſion thereof might be bleſſed thereby; they were partly inſtituted for the ſucceſsful Ordination of Prieſts in the Roman Church, and partly to beg a Bleſſing on the Fruits of the Earth, and render thanks to God for the ſame; nay, beſides their anſwerableneſs to thoſe Jejunia Quatuor, or ſolemn Faſting-days inſtituted by the Jews, and mentioned by the Prophet Zachary, ca. 8. that we Chriſtians might not be inferior to them in ſo Holy a Duty; the Church hath aſſigned them an Excellent uſe, in imitation of the Apoſtles, Acts 13.3. See a Book Intituled, A View of the Directory, fol. 56. Much about this time the Aequinox happens, which is an Imaginary, phancied Line, paſſing juſt between the two Poles in the midſt of Heaven, which Lines the Sun travels to twice a year (namely about the 11th of March, which is call'd the Vernal, and the 11th of September, the Autumnal Aequinox) and equals the Day and Night for length throughout the Univerſe (except with the Inhabitants directly under the Poles) and therefore term'd Equinox.

The ſecond Sunday in Lent is nam'd Reminiſcere, from the Entrance of the 5th Verſe of Pſal. 25. Reminiſcere miſerationum tuarum Domine, &c. Call to Remembrance, O Lord, thy tender Mercies, &c.

The third Sunday in Lent is call'd Oculi, from the entrance of the 14th v. of the 25th Pſalm, Oculi mei ſemper ad Dominum, &c. My Eyes are ever looking unto the Lord.

March the 17th. St. Patrick's-Day; a great Saint, Worker of Miracles, and the much honoured Patron of Ireland.

The fourth Sunday is call'd Laetare, from the beginning of the 10th v. of the 66th Chap. of Iſaiah, Laetare cum Jeruſalem, &c. Rejoyce with Jeruſalem, &c. It is alſo term'd Dominica de Roſa, from the Golden Roſe which the Pope of Rome carrieth in his hand when he walks before the People in the Temple; as alſo, Dominica de Panibus, or Refectionis; becauſe the Miracle of the five Loaves in the Holy Goſpel is explained on this Day in the Roman Church; but we here in England truly ſtyle it Mid-Lent Sunday.

March the 19th. in the Roman Church is Celebrated in Commemoration of St. Joſeph Confeſſor, the Husband of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary.

Annunciation of the Holy Virgin.

The 25th of this Month is the Feaſt of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin, the Conception of our Saviour, vulgarly Lady-Day; and this is Celebrated in Commemoration of that moſt Happy Meſſage, or rather Embaſſy from God, which was pronounced by the Angel Gabriel, in which ſhe was Declar'd and Proclam'd the Bleſſed Mother of God, St. Luke 1ſt. 31, 32.

The fifth Sunday in Lent is call'd Judica, and Paſſion-Sunday; from the entrance of the 35th Pſalm, Judica me Deus, Diſcerne Cauſam meam, &c. Judg me, O Lord! Plead thou my Cauſe, &c. 'Tis term'd Paſſion-Sunday, from the Paſſion of our Lord, which is then near approaching, and was Inſtituted to prepare us worthily for the Religious Celebration thereof.

On this Day the Romaniſts clothe all their Crucifixes in their Churches with Mourning Colours, in remembrance of our Saviour's going out of the Temple, and abſconding Himſelf, in order to Diſpoſe us to a Compaſſion with him.

Palm-Sunday.

Palm Sunday, Dominica Palmarum, or Dominica Magna, is the 6th and laſt Sunday in Lent, immediately preceding Eaſter. 'Tis call'd Palm-Sunday, or Dominica Palmarum (which is the ſame in Latin) from the Branches of Palm which the Jews ſtrewed under his feet, at his Triumphant Entrance into Jeruſalem upon an Aſs, crying Hoſanna to the Son of David, St. Matth. 21.25. and hence it is that the Romaniſts do annually on this day, bleſſe the Palm, and go ſolemnly in Proceſſion, in honour of our Saviour's Triumph, all the people carrying Boughs, or Branches of Palm in their hands. It hath the Name Dominica Magna, or the Great Lord's-Day; becauſe of the Great and many Infallible good things that were confer'd on the Faithful, the Week enſuing; namely, Death aboliſhed, Slander and the Tyranny of Satan remov'd, by the painful and ignominious Death of our Saviour.

This is call'd the Holy-Week, becauſe Men gave over their worldly employ, Courts were ſhut up, Priſoners freed, and many Prayers and Offices perform'd by the Holy Church, in order to our Preparation for the Grand Feaſt of Eaſter, and the Week of Faſts, becauſe faſting was then increas'd, with Watching & Prayer, for they did lye on the ground, and when they did eat on theſe ſix days, their Food was only Bread, Salt and Water.

The next Wedneſday after Palm-Sunday, was the Day whereon the Scribes and Phariſees ſate in Council againſt the Lord of Life; the Thurſday following, the Paraſceue (Greek) or Preparation of the Legal Paſſeover, and the Inſtitution of the Lord's Supper, that very night, which is otherwiſe nam'd Maundy Thurſday, quaſi Mandati Thurſday (being the laſt Thurſday in Lent, and firſt before Eaſter) from fulfilling the Mandate or Command of our Saviour, which aroſe from an ancient Ceremony frequently practis'd by Prelates in Cathedral Churches and Religious Houſes, and is in imitation of Chriſt; who on the Evening of this Day, after his laſt Supper, and before he Inſtituted the Bleſſed Sacrament, waſhed his Diſciples feet; acquainting them withal, that they muſt do ſo likewiſe to one another; which is the Mandate whence the Day takes Denomination. At the beginning of the ſaid Ceremony, Chriſt utter'd theſe words, ſoon after he had waſhed their feet, Joh. 13.34. (which are ſung as an Antiphone) Mandatum novum do vobis, ut diligatis invicem, ſicut dilexi vos.

Good Friday.

The next Day is ſtyl'd Good-Friday, becauſe the Good Work of Man's Redemption was then Conſummated; the Cauſe of all our good, and true ground of all our joy; it being the moſt Sacred and Memorable Day of the Bloody Paſſion of Chriſt on the Croſs; which was a ſufficient Attonement or Satisfaction for the Sins of Mankind.

And here it will not be amiſs for the Reader to take notice (in order to his underſtanding it, when he meets it in Authors) that in the Roman Church, the Offices call'd Tenebrae, are Sung on Thurſday, Friday, and Saturday, of this Holy, or Great Week, and that in Lamentation of our Saviour's Paſſion; and becauſe theſe are ſtill anticipated in the Rehearſal, the Evening of the foregoing Wedneſday, Thurſday, and Friday, hath obtain'd the Appellation of Tenebrae-Days from the Latin Tenebrae, or the French Tenebres, Days of Darkneſs, or Dark Days, becauſe thereby they repreſent the Darkneſs that attended and accompanied our Lord's Crucifixion; and then alſo that Church extinguiſheth all her Lights; and after ſome ſilence, when the whole office is concluded, they make a ſudden great noiſe, to repreſent the rending the Veil of the Temple, and the diſorder the whole frame of Nature was in at the death of her Maker.

Their Matins alſo, or Morning-Service is, on the firſt three days before Eaſter begun with very many Lights, but ended in Darkneſs; repreſenting thereby the Night-time wherein they ſeized and apprehended our Saviour in the Garden Gethſemani; in which Office there are 15 Tapers lighted at the firſt, and placed in a Candleſtick of a Triangular form, viz. as many as there are Canticles in the Office; and at the concluſion of every Canticle or Pſalm, one of the 15 Tapers or Lights is put out, and ſo gradually, till they are all extinguiſhed.

Eaſter.

The next to this great Week, that Great and High Feaſt of Eaſter, or the Reſurrection of the Holy Jeſus, after his three days Interment in the Grave, ſucceeds; and is ſtyl'd Paſche, (Paſcha) or Eaſter. 'Tis call'd Paſcha, a Paſſeover (not in memory of the Angels tranſit in Egypt, (the Jewiſh Paſſeover being a Holy Action appointed by God in the killing and eating of a Lamb; partly that the Church of the Jews might remember the Benefits God confer'd upon them in paſſing over the Houſes, and not ſmiting them, Exod. 12.11.) but our Feaſt is celebrated in Commemoration of the Reſurrection of Chriſt; tho we ſtill retain the Name Paſcha, not only becauſe the Lamb that was kil'd by the Jews of old in their Paſſeover, was a true Type of the Lamb of God, Chriſt Jeſus, which was ſacrificed for Man's Salvation; but becauſe at that very time he paſſed to his Father from this World 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Peſach, ſignifies Tranſitio, a paſſage from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Paſach, Tranſire, to paſs) or becauſe then there was made a paſſage from an Old to a New Life; in Span. nam'd Florida a florido & vernanti anni tempore, from the flouriſhing and Spring-time of the year in which it falls. 'Tis call'd Eaſter, from Eoſter, a Goddeſs of the ancient Saxons, whoſe Feaſt they kept in the Month of April, Cam. or as Minſhew gives it in regard that then the Sun of Righteouſneſs did riſe, as the Sun in the Eaſt; and therefore Eaſter comes from the Eaſt. Now this is the Baſis of all the Lord's-Days in the year, tho it be a Moveable Feaſt, and falls ſometimes higher, ſometimes lower, (as all the Moveable Feaſts do) but the time of Eaſter being known, the reſt are ſoon diſcovered; and thus you may know when Eaſter will fall:

Poſt Martis Nonas, ubi ſit Nova Luna requiras, Et cum tranſierit bis Septima Paſcha patebit.

Or thus, Inde dies Solis tertia Paſcha venit.

But take it in Engliſh more plainly thus: Eaſter-Day is always the firſt Sunday after the firſt full Moon, which ſhall happen next after the 11 day of March, and if the full Moon fall on a Sunday, the Sunday after will be Eaſter Day. Now tho this Rule be true enough as to the Gregorian, yet it is not applicable to our Julian Accompt, which the Table of Moveable Feaſts in the Common-Prayer Book Calculated for 40 years regardeth only, and muſt be followed till His Majeſty Commands another; and one reaſon is, the Preceſſion of the Aequinoctium Vernum, which from the firſt Nicene Council, to this time hath Anticipated 11 days, falling now the 10th of March; whereas it was on the 21th. and the reaſon of this Anticipation is, that the Julian exceeds the Solar year 10 Minutes, and 48 Seconds, or thereabout; which cauſes the Aequinoxes and Solſtices yearly to change their Places, and go backward ſo many Minutes and Seconds. The Lunations alſo, by reaſon of the great quantity allow'd them, do every 19 years anticipate almoſt an hour and a half, and in 312 years and a half, one whole day; and therefore not exactly to be found by the Golden Number, tho on thoſe Lunations, Eaſter depends, as of it all the Moveable Feaſts, which is the other Cauſe of thoſe Errors, and both together the firſt occaſion of the Roman Emendation, whereby that Church doth always produce Eaſter on the Sunday following the firſt full Moon next after the Vernal Aequinox, according to the Deeree of the Nicene Council. This occaſion'd that Error that all the Aſtrologers were guilty of, viz. 5. Weeks Miſtake in 1663, and one Week in 1664; and it is the 20th time it hath ſo happened ſince 1600: but in the Years 2437, 2461, 2491, there will be 42 days Error, and ſome time afterward no leſs than 49 days; and after the Year 2698, (if the Old Calendar be ſtill retain'd) it will never agen happen according to the Rule of the Church, as before: Thus far Mr. G. Wharton.

Eaſter-Day, (and the reſt of the Moveable Feaſts) Anno 1668, according to the Julian Accompt, fell full as ſoon, or low in the Year, upon its neareſt Limit or Boundary, as ever it could, which hath not hapned from 1573, till this Year; nor will ſo fall out agen in 247 years, till the year 1915, which will be 239 years from this Year, before it ſo happen.

Here you may alſo Obſerve, That Eaſter always falls between the 21th of March, and the 26th of April, theſe two dayes being excluded; for it never happens on, but between them. Eaſter-day is one of his Majeſties Offering-dayes at Court, being a Houſhold-day alſo, when the Beſant is given by the Lord Steward, or one of the other White-Staffe-Officers. All the Holy-dayes in Eaſter week are his Majeſties Collar, but not Offering-dayes.

Next follows the Quinquageſimal Interval of 50 dayes between Eaſter and Whitſontide, which the Primitive Chriſtians obſerv'd as an intire Feſtival, in honour of the Reſurrection and Aſcenſion of the Holy Ghoſt, with great Exultation and exceeding Joy, it contains 6 Sundays.

Low-Sunday.

The firſt is Low-Sunday, Dominica in Albis, or Quaſimodogeniti. 'Tis ſtyl'd Low-Sunday, becauſe 'tis a Low Feſtival in compariſon of Eaſter-Day, the preceding high Feſtival. It is the Octave of Eaſter-Day, nam'd Dominica in Albis, in regard of the Angels who appear'd at the Reſurrection in White Garments; and from the Catechumeni, or Neophyts (i.e. perſons lately Converted to the Faith, newly taught the Principles of Religion, but not Baptiz'd; or if Baptiz'd, not yet admitted to the Euchariſt, White Garments, (the Emblems of Innocence) which in old times they uſually put on at their Baptiſm, and in the Church on this day were ſolemnly deveſted of them; or for that thoſe who had been Baptiz'd, receiv'd then the Biſhop's Confirmation, and put on other white Veſtments, which they wore till the next Sunday. 'Tis call'd Quaſimodogeniti, from the entrance, in the 1 Peter, 2.2. Quaſimodogeniti Infantes Rationabiles ſine dolore lac concupiſcite.

St. George.

April the 23th. is the Day Dedicated to the Memory of St. George, the Martyr, of Cappadocia, and is honoured by the Georgians the Inhabitants of a Country call'd Georgia. ſituated between Colchos, Caucaſus, the Caſpian-Sea, and Armenia, heretofore Iberia and Albania; they do highly reverence and honour this Saint. He alſo is our Patron, and the ſame Perſon that the Knights of the Garter have formerly ſo much honoured, they being alwayes, on that day only, Inſtall'd at Windſor. This is one of his Majeſties Collar-days without Offering, at White-Hall.

St. Mark.

The 25th of this Month is St. Mark's Day. A Feaſt in Honour of the Evangeliſt, who wrote the Life, Acts, Miracles, Death and Reſurrection of our Saviour Chriſt. He was the firſt Prelate of Alexandria, where he Taught the Goſpel, and alſo all over the adjacent Regions from the Country of Aegypt to Pentapolis. He was Martyr'd at Alexandria in the time of the Tyrant Trajan, which was thus executed. They faſtned a Cable-Rope about his Neck, wherewith they dragg'd him from the place call'd Bucolus, to another term'd Angels, where the raging Idolaters burned him to aſhes, (againſt whom he preached) Anno Domini 63. and was Interred at Bucolus praemention'd. This is one of his Majeſties Collar-dayes without offering.

Miſericordia.

The ſecond Sunday after Eaſter is term'd Miſericordia, from the Entrance of the fifth Verſe of the 32 Pſalm, Miſericordia Domini plena eſt Terra, &c.

Philip and Iacob.

May-Day, or St. Philip, and St. James, vulgarly, but falſly call'd Philip and Jacob; (Philip is a Greek word, and ſignifies a Lover of Horſes. Jacob, Hebr. a Supplanter, May-day 'tis call'd, becauſe the firſt of May, a day of Mirth and Jollity among the Common Herd; and Philip and James, becauſe dedicated to the two Apoſtles and Martyrs of that name. The former of the City of Bethſaida, who preached in Phrygia, and Converted the Eunuch Candaules. It is affirm'd by ſome Authors, that he ſent 12 Diſciples into our Country of Britain, to work the Converſion of them. In concluſion, the Pagans ſeized him, and put him to the Ignominious death of his Lord and Maſter, at the City Hierapolis, about the Year of our Lord, 53.

The later, viz. St. James the Leſſer, (James is a Name wreſted from Jacob) was Son to Alphaeus and Pen-man of that Excellent Epiſtle which goes under his Name; for his Wiſdome and Piety ſirnamed the Juſt. He was created Biſhop of Jeruſalem after the Aſcenſion; and Governed that Church 30 years compleat; where he was moſt Inhumanely firſt ſtoned, and afterward being placed on the Top of a Pinacle of the Temple, precipitated from thence, and being half dead, and his Thighes broken, and lifting up his hands to Heaven, he was knock'd on the head with a great Fuller's Club; this Bloody Butchery was Executed on this Saint in the Seventh Year of the Sanguinary Emperour Nero. This is alſo one of his Majeſtie's Collardays without Offering.

Holy Croſs, or Holy-Rood-day.

May the 3d, is Inventio Crucis, i. e. the Invention of the Holy-Croſs, or Holy-Rood-day, and is in the Roman, tho not in our Rubrick; of which there are two call'd Holy-Rood-dayes, viz. this, being on the 3d. of May, and the Exaltation of the Croſs on the 14th of September. 'Tis a Feaſt in Commemoration (as the Romaniſts believe) of the Miraculous and Wonderful Invention, or finding out the Holy Croſs, on which the Bleſſed Jeſus ſuffered, by St. Helen, the Mother of Conſtantine the Great, after it had been conceal'd and buried in the Earth by the Painims, the ſpace of 180 years, in place whereof they had erected a Statue to their wanton Deity, Venus. 'Tis called Holy-Rood-Day, and Holy Croſs, becauſe of the great Sanctity it receiv'd, by touching and bearing the Oblation of the moſt precious Body of Chriſt, and Rood is an old Saxon word, ſignifying a Croſs, or the Image of Chriſt on the Croſs, being compos'd generally of Wood, and erected in a Loft for that purpoſe, juſt over the paſſage of the Church into the Chancel. Fuller.

The third Sunday after Eaſter as it falls in courſe here, is ſtyl'd Jubilate, from the beginning of Pſalm the 65. Jubilate Deo omnis Terra, &c.

The fourth Sunday Cantate, from the entrance of the 98th Pſalm, Cantate Domino Cantieum Novum, &c.

May the 14th. our moſt Gracious and Soveraign Princeſs Donna Catarina Landed at Portſmouth, in order to the confirmation of her ſolemn Nuptials, with His Majeſty our Dread Soveraign, Charles the Second, whom God long preſerve in health and happineſs.

Rogation-Sunday.

Next follows Rogation-Sunday, the fifth Sunday after Eaſter, (the Week following is call'd Rogation-Week, or Vocem Jucunditatis, the Inſtitution or Reſtauration whereof, is by Hiſtorians attributed to Claudius Mamertus, or Mamercus Biſhop of Vienne in France, Anno Dom. 452. or as ſome ſay, 466. being the fifth Sunday after Eaſter, from the like entrance Vocem Jucunditatis annunciate & audiatur, &c. and Rogation Sunday, or Week, which is always the next but one before Whitſunday, à Rogando Deum, as being once (tho we cannot affirm that now) Conſecrated above all other Weeks of the year in an extraordinary manner, unto Prayers, Litanies, and Supplications, (and are ſtill enjoyn'd by the Church to all perſons among the Roman Catholicks on Monday, Tueſday, and Wedneſday) with Abſtinence from fleſh, for theſe Reaſons: Firſt, for a Devout Preparative to the Feaſt of Chriſt's moſt glorious Aſcenſion, and Pentecoſt, which is ſhortly after. 2. Becauſe the fruits of the Earth are tender, and in danger, being in the Bloſſom. 3. For that much about this time of the year, Monarchs and Potentates begin to undertake their Wars; upon both which Conſiderations, all Good and Pious Chriſtians have great Reaſon to be frequent with God in Rogations and Prayers, at this time, particularly; and for this cauſe it is, that the Solemnization of Matrimony is prohibited by the Holy Church from the firſt day in this Week, until Trinity Sunday following. The Belgians or Dutch-men call it Cruys-Week, that is, Croſs-week; and ſo 'tis alſo nam'd in ſome Parts of England, becauſe the Prieſt on theſe days goes in Proceſſion with the Croſs before him.

In the old Saxon 'tis nam'd Gangdagas, i. e. Dayes of Walking or Perambulation. In the North of England Gang-week, from the ganging or going in Proceſſion (for Gang there, as well as in the Saxon, ſignifies to go) from an Antient and Commendable Cuſtome (tho diſcontinued in the time of the late Unnatural Rebellion) to make Perambulations and Proceſſions with the Young Children in every Pariſh and Townſhip with us, to view and underſtand the Ancient Limits and Boundaries of every Pariſh, to prevent all manner of Incroachments, Contentions and Suits at Law. In the Inns of Court 'tis known by the name of Graſs-week, becauſe the Students Commons on ſome days that Week, conſiſt much of Salads, hard Eggs, and Green-ſauce.

The Robigalia and Ambarvalia of the Antient Romans, did, after their Heatheniſh manner, in ſomething, reſemble theſe In •• itutions; They were call'd Robigalia, from Robigus, one of their numerous Deities, to whom they aſcribed the preſerving of Corn from Blaſting, therefore theſe Feaſts were ſacred to him particularly. And Ambarvalia, quòd victima arva ambiret, becauſe the Sacrifice to be offered at that time did walk round the Fields.

May the 21th. 1662. K. Charles was Married at Portſmouth to Donna Catarina, Infanta of Portugal, by Gilbert Biſhop of London.

May the 22. is a Feaſt dedicated by the Romaniſts to one Julia, a Holy, Devout Virgin, and is placed in their Rubrick, not mention'd in our Calendar.

Holy Thurſday, or Aſcenſion-Day.

The next Feaſt celebrated by our Holy Mother the Church, is Holy-Thurſday, or Aſcenſion-Day, which is the 40th day after Eaſter, or his Reſurrection; call'd Holy-Thurſday, becauſe ſo Holy a Work was perform'd on this Holy-day; and Aſcenſion-day, in memory of our Saviour's Aſcenſion into Heaven, in the ſight of his Apoſtles and Diſciples then preſent, Acts 1.9. there to prepare a place for all true Chriſtians, being preceded by whole Legions of Angels, and attended by Millions of Saints, whom he had diſcharged & ſet at large out of their imaginary Priſon of Limbo: (as the Romaniſts fondly conceive) In ſhort, and in truth, this Feſtival of Chriſt's Aſcenſion, is the Conſummation of all he did and taught, during his Reſidence here upon Earth, and therefore it was (not without great reaſon) termed by the Antients, Felix Clauſula totius Itinerarii Filii Dei, the Sabbath, or Conſummation of all his labour in the Great and ſtupendous Work of Man's Redemption. This is one of his Majeſties Offering-dayes.

Next comes the 6th Sunday after Eaſter, call'd Exaudi, from the beginning of the 27th Pſalm, Exaudi Domine vocemmeam, &c.

The Week after Aſcenſion-Day is Expectation-Week; for now the Apoſtles were earneſtly expecting the promiſe of our Lord; If I go away, I will ſend the Comforter to you, Jo. 16.7.

King Charles 2d. Nat.

May the 29th is Celebrated upon a double account, firſt in Commemoration of the Birth of our Soveraign King Charles the Second, the Princely Son of his Royal Father Charles the Firſt of happy Memory, and Mary the Daughter of Henry the 4th, the French King, who was born the 29th day of May, Anno 1630. and alſo by Act of Parliament 12 Car. 2. by the Paſſionate deſires of the People, in Memory of his moſt Happy Reſtauration to his Crown and Dignity, after 12 years forced Exile from his undoubted Right, the Crown of England, by Barbarous Rebels and Regicides; and on the 8th of this Month his Majeſty was with Univerſal Joy and great Acclamations Proclaim'd in London & Weſtminſter, and after throughout all his Dominions; the 16th he came to the Hague; the 23th with his two Brothers Embarqued for England, and on the 25th he happily Landed at Dover, being received by General Monk and ſome of the Army; From whence he was, by ſeveral Voluntary Troops of the Nobility and Gentry, waited upon to Canterbury, and on the 29th 1660, he made his Magnificent Entrance into that Emporium of Europe, his Stately and Rich Metropolis, the Renowned City of London. On this very day alſo Anno 1662. the King came to Hampton-Court with his Queen Catharine after his Marriage at Portſmouth, as is before mention'd. This as it is his Birth-day is one of his Collar-days without Offering.

Pentecoſt or Whitſunday.

After this ſucceeds the Grand Solemnity of Pentecoſt or Whitſunday. Pentecoſt, from the Greek, becauſe 'tis the 50th day from Eaſter or Chriſt's Reſurrection; and Whitſunday, or White-Sunday, from the Catechumeni, who were apparell'd in White Garments, and on the Eve of this Feaſt admitted to the Sacrament of Baptiſme. But Verſtegan affirms, That it was of old nam'd by our fore-fathers, Wied-Sunday, or Wihed-Sunday, becauſe Wied or Wihed, in the Saxon Tongue, ſignifies Sacred. Now this Feſtival was antiently celebrated among the Jewes on the 50th day after the Paſſeover, in the memory of Promulgation of the Divine Law of God on Mount Sinai; and our Whitſunday is kept 50 dayes after Eaſter by all True and Good Chriſtians; to commemorate the Miſſion of the Holy Ghoſt, on that day, (which deſcended on the heads of the Apoſtles, in Tongues reſembling fire, Act. 2.3.) who is the only and moſt Infallible Interpreter of the Divine Law. This is one of his Majeſtie's Offering-dayes, and a Houſhold-day when the Beſant is given by the Lord Steward, or one of the other White Staff-Officers, and all the Holy-dayes, in Whitſun-Week, are Collar-days without Offering.

Ember-Week follows Whitſun-day, which is one of the 4 Grand Seaſons of the Year, as is before ſpecified at large.

Trinity-Sunday.

Trinity-Sunday falls next in courſe, (which is always the Lord's day following, and the Octave of Whitſunday) ſo nominated in Honour of the moſt Bleſſed Trinity; and to ſignifie unto us, that the holy Works of our Redemption and Sanctification, which were then Conſummated, are common to all Three Perſons in the Trinity. This Feſtival was firſt Inſtituted by Gregory the 4th, who then ſate in the Epiſcopal Chair, in the year of our Lord 827. It is one of his Majeſties Offering-days at White-Hall.

St. Barnabas.

June the 11th. St. Barnabas the Apoſtle comes next in the Calendar; commonly call'd Barnaby. The Name is Hebrew, ſignifying Son of the Maſter, of Prophecy, or of Comfort. The proper Name given him at his Circumciſion was Joſes, for Joſeph, by a ſweeter Termination, or Cadence: From the Apoſtles he received the Sirname of Barnabas; He was born in the Iſle of Cyprus, an Iſland in the Mediterranean, between Cilicia, Syria, and Aegypt, whoſe Anceſtors fled thither for their greater ſafety, in the Tumultuous and Diſtracted Government of Antiochus Epiphanes, or as ſome imagine, when Pompey with his Romans Conquered Judaea. He deſcended of the Tribe of Levi; his Parents were Opulent, and Pious; he was committed to the Tutelage of the Great Doctor of the Law, Gamaliel, at whoſe Feet he was educated with his Fellow-Pupil St. Paul. He was an Eye-witneſs of the Miracle in the Cure of the Paralytick at the Pool of Betheſda, which ſoon convinced him of the Divinity of our Saviour. He was one of the 70; ſold all his Lands on Earth to Purchaſe in Heaven; and when God gave Saul his Fiat for an Apoſtle's Place, they two were Joynt-Commiſſioners for the Church, Fellow-Travellers, Conſorts, and Zealots for Chriſt, &c. Dr. Brough on the Feſt: And both Preached the Goſpel in Seleucia, Salamis, Paphos, Cyprus, Perga in Pamphilia; and here Mark the Son of Barnabas his Siſter Mary, whom they took with them, as their Miniſter and Attendant, weary of this Troubleſome, Itinerant Life, departed from them, (which occaſion'd the unhappy Difference between theſe two Apoſtles Paul and Barnabas) afterwards they Travell'd to Iconium, Lyſtra, Derbe, and ſo back to Antioch, and then they parted with ſome diſcontent, becauſe Barnabas would take his Couſin Mark with him, which St. Paul denied, by reaſon of his weak Deſertion, and he went to Silas, but Barnabas with his Couſin Mark to his own Country Cyprus, though ſome ſay Rome, but 'tis moſt probable Cyprus, in the laſt period of his Life, where he Converted great numbers; but ſome Syrian Jews coming to Salamis, where he then was furiouſly ſet upon as he was Teaching in the Synagogue, in a Corner whereof they ſhut him up till night; then brought him forth, and after unexpreſſible Tortures, ſtoned him. This Barnaby-day, or thereabout, is the Summer Solſtice or Sun-ſted, when the Sun ſeems to ſtand, and begins to go back, being the longeſt day in the year; about the 11th or 12th of June; it is taken for the whole time, when the days appear not for 14 days together either to lengthen, or ſhorten.

Corpus-Chriſti.

June the 14th is Corpus-Chriſti-day, that is the Feſtival of the Body of our Lord, a Feaſt that owes its Inſtitution to Urban the 4th Prelate of Rome, about the year of God 1264. in honour of the Body of Chriſt, or Bleſſed Sacrament of the Altar. On this Day in all Catholick Countreys, during the Octave of this Feaſt, and the Sacrament is moſt ſolemnly carried about in Proceſſion, to be adored by the People; the Prieſts and they all Expreſſing their Devotion in Hymns, Songs, and Prayers, accompanied with all the Teſtimonies of Pious Affections (as they term it) as Muſick, Lights, Flowers ſtrewed all along the Streets, their richeſt Tapeſtries hung out upon the Walls, &c.

The next Sunday is the firſt Sunday after Trinity, and the Sundays after are call'd 1ſt, 2d, 3d, &c. according to their Numeral order, from their ſucceſſion of Trinity, till the 1ſt Advent-Sunday.

St. Iohn Baptiſt.

The 24th of June is St. John Baptiſt's, or commonly Midſummer-Day, which needs no interpretation. The Name John in Hebrew is Gracious, and Baptiſt is a Greek word, ſignifying Waſher or Dipper, by way of Eminence; becauſe he Baptized our Saviour in the River Jordan, and was the firſt that Baptized. This Feſtival is in Commemoration of St. John, the Son of Zachary and Elizabeth, who was one of the Tribe of Levi, and he that ſhewed us the Lamb of God, who taketh away the Sins of the World, yet was this Devout and Auſtere Saint, the Praecurſor or Fore-runner of our Saviour, beheaded by Herod the Blood-thirſty Tetrarch, at the deſire and requeſt of Herodias (the Relict of his Brother Philip) Anno Dom. 30. This is one of His Majeſtie's Offering-Days at Whitehall, and the day appointed for the Election of the two Sheriffs of London and Middle-ſex.

St. Peter and St. Paul.

On the 29th of June is celebrated the Feaſt of St. Peter and St. Paul. Peter in the Greek ſignifies a Stone, or Rock; Paul, Hebrew, Wonderful, or worſt; but Cardinal Baronius derives it from the Latin, and makes it ſignifie Little, or Humble. They are both joyned in one Solemnity for theſe Reaſons; becauſe they were both Principal and Joynt Co-operators under our Lord and Saviour, in the Converſion of the World; it falling to St. Peter's lot to Convert the Jews, and St. Paul's, the Gentiles; for this Cauſe St. Paul was nam'd the Apoſtle of the Gentiles; as alſo in regard they were both Martyr'd at Rome. St. Peter, the Chief and Head of the Apoſtles, Preached the Goſpel in Pontus, Cappadocia, Bithynia and Galatia, and at laſt at Rome, where he was diſgracefully Crucified under that Tyrant and Monſter of Men, Nero, with his Head downward; for according to Tradition, it was his own deſire, and there he was alſo Interred.

St. Paul, whoſe former Name was Saul (Hebr. Lent of the Lord, or as ſome will have it, Fox) before his Converſion; being a violent Perſecutor; when St. Stephan was ſtoned; kept the Murderers Cloaths; and when cruel Commiſſioners were ſent to Scourge, Kill and ſlay all that called on the Name of Chriſt, he carried the Letters. He was a Jew born, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, Learned and (his Principle pardoned) Conſcientious too. The Voice of our Saviour to him out of Heaven, Acts 9.38. with a Light, ſtrook him blind, and down, and did both unhorſe and un-Jew him. He ask'd, and was directed what courſe to ſteer; goes to Ananias, and receives at once his Sight and Baptiſm; and thenceforth the World becomes his Charge, and Conqueſt; and the Gentiles his ſpecial care. Being thus called after Chriſt's Aſſumption, and Regiſtred in the Catalogue of his Apoſtles; he Preached the Goſpel (the Profeſſors whereof he formerly perſecuted with ſo great fury and heat) from Jeruſalem to Illyricum, Spain and Italy, and was beheaded by the bloody Sword of the Emperor Nero, on a Sunday, being the third Calends of July, or the 29th of June, according to our Julian Computation, and ſo was alſo St. Peter; now as they both ſuffered, they both lye buried together. This Day the Church keeps, and we moſt concern'd (his Gentile-Converts) have greateſt cauſe of all to obſerve to his Memory, but to thy Glory, O Chriſt! Dr. Brough of the Holy Feaſts and Feſtivals of the Church of England. This is one of the King's Collar-days without Offering.

Viſitation of Mary.

In July, the firſt we meet with, is the Viſitation of Mary, inſtituted and obſerv'd by the Church of Rome, in Honor of the Mother of God; and in Memory of her viſiting St. Elizabeth, after ſhe had Conceiv'd the Son of God; at whoſe preſence, St. John the Baptiſt leaped in the Womb of his Mother, St. Luke 1.41. This is a Feſtival in the Roman Rubrick, not in ours.

St. Swithin's-Day.

On the 15th of this Month is St. Swithin's-Day (Swithin Saxon comes from the old Engliſh Switheahn, that is, very High, as Celſus with the Romans.) This name was taken up in Honour of St. Swithin, the Holy Biſhop of Wincheſter, about the year of our Lord 860, and call'd the Weeping St. Swithin; for that about this time Praeſepe & Aſelli, two Rainy Conſtellations in the Sign Cancer ariſe Coſmically (that is together with the Sun, or in the ſame Degree of the Ecliptick with him) and commonly cauſe Rains. Cambden.

Dog-days, Dies Caniculares, or Sirius; certain days that begin toward the latter end of June, and end the latter end of Auguſt, ſo call'd of Canicula, the little Dogſtar, which then riſeth with the Sun, being Predominant, and greatly increaſeth his heat, during the time of its Reign.

'Tis nam'd Sirius from the Greek, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 h • e. Siccand • , to dry up; Propterea quod & fluvios & fontes nimio calore exiccet, becauſe it dries up the Rivers and Fountains by its Exceſſive heat; vel 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ab evacuando, from evacuating, quod Corpora noſtra ſudoribus evacuet; becauſe it cleanſeth our Bodies by ſweat.

Here I preſume we may appoſitely inſert an account of the Spaniſh Invaſion, abſtracted out of Hiſtory; becauſe they were Engaged, and Diſcomfitted this Month,

In the 21th year of the Reign of Q. Eliz. Anno Dom. 1588. the Spaniſh Invaſion hapned; Their Navy conſiſted of 130 Ships, in which there were 19290 Soldiers, 8050 Marriners, 2080 Gally-Slaves, 2630 Great Ordnance, and for the greater Sanctification of the Action, 12 of their Veſſels were call'd by the Names of the 12 Apoſtles. The Commander in Chief of the Fleet, was Don Alphonſo, Duke of Medina; the next in Authority was Martin Recalde, an Able Seaman. They came out of the Groyn in May, but were diſperſed, and the Queen in the mean time made the following Preparations; the Lord Charles Howard Lord Admiral of her whole Navy, and Sir Francis Drake Vice-Admiral, were to be ready at Plimouth; the Lord Henry Seymor (ſecond Son to the Duke of Somerſet) with 40 Engliſh and Dutch Ships to guard the Coaſts of the Netherlands, and keep the Prince of Parma from coming forth for Land-Service. Thre were placed along our Southern Coaſts 20000 Soldiers, and two Armies of Trained Men Levied, the one commanded by the Earl of Leiceſter, conſiſting of 1000 Horſe, and 22000 Foot, who pitch'd his Tents at Tilbury; over the other (appointed as a Guard to Her Majeſties Royal Perſon) conſiſting of 24000 Foot, and 2000 Horſe, the Lord Hunſdon was General.

Now all things on both ſides being in a readineſs, the Spaniſh Navy ſet forth in May, as before, but were drawn back and diſtreſſed, and their firſt Appearance was July the 21th. The Admiral of England, coming out of Plimouth, ſent a Pinnace, nam'd, The Defiance, before; which, by a Great Shot, Challenged the Spaniards to Fight, and they ſpeedily fell to it, but the Engliſh had the better.

The 23th of this Month they had a ſecond Fight, where there was little hurt done by the Spaniards; the 24th they reſted on both ſides, and the 25th which was St. James his Day, they fell to it the third time, and the Engliſh got the better; after which the Spaniards held on their Courſe, and turn'd no more upon us.

The 27th of the Month, towards evening, the Spaniards caſt Anchor near Calice, the Engliſh then having 140 Ships; tho but 15 of them bore the brunt of the Battle.

The 28th the Lord Admiral made eight of his worſt Veſſels Fire-ſhips, and ſent them in the Night to the Spaniſh Fleet; at the ſight whereof, they made a hideous noiſe, cut their Cables with great confuſion and aſtoniſhment.

The Spaniſh Navy being now deſtitute of many neceſſary Proviſions, and no hope of the Prince of Parma's Aſſiſtance, reſolv'd for Spain Northward, in which they loſt many Ships and Men; the Engliſh Navy ſtill purſued cloſely, till they were fain to leave them, for want of Powder.

Thus this Invincible Armada, (for ſo it was ſtyl'd in a Spaniſh Bravado) that was three whole years preparing; in the ſpace of one Month was often beaten, and at length put to flight; many of their men ſlain, above half their Ships taken and ſunk; not above 100 of the Engliſh miſſing at the moſt; not ſo much as a Ship, but Cock's ſmall Veſſel; thus ſailing about all Britain by Scotland, the Orkneys and Ireland, they return'd to Spain with as great diſhonour, as they ſet out with Oſtentation; for indeed, Mendoſa in France Triumphed before the Victory in Print. Now Q. Elizabeth for this Happy Succeſs, appointed Prayers and Thankſgiving in all Churches throughout England; and She (as it were in Triumph) came in Perſon attended with a numerous Train of her Nobility into the City, went into the Cathedral of St. Paul's (where the Banners taken from the Enemy were publickly expoſed to the view of Spectators) and there gave thanks to Almighty God in a moſt humble manner, for ſo great a Deliverance from, and defeat of a Foreign Enemy.

St. James.

July the 25th, is the Feaſt of St. James (Hebr. the ſame as Jacob) the Apoſtle, ſirnamed the Greater, Brother to St. John, the Sons of Zebedee, who was both an Apoſtle, and Martyr: This is he that Taught the Goſpel to the 12 diſperſed Tribes; and was Murdered by the Sword; or (as ſome ſay) Beheaded in Judaea by Herod Agrippa, Anno Dom. 45. where he was buried, and conſequently the firſt of the 12 Apoſtles that was tranſlated to the Kingdom of Chriſt.

This is one of the King's Collar-Days without Offering.

St. Anne.

The next day, being the 26th, is by ſome People Celebrated to the Memory of St. Anne (Hebr. Gracious) who was the Holy Mother of the Bleſſed Virgin. This Day is not in our, but the Roman Rubrick.

Lammas-Day.

Auguſt begins with a Feaſt; the firſt, being call'd Lammas-Day, the Gule, or Yule of Auguſt, St. Peter advincula, or St. Peter's Chains. 'Tis nam'd Lammas, qu. Lamb-maſs; becauſe on that Day in the time of Popery here among us in England, the Tenants that held Lands of the Cathedral Church in York (which is Dedicated to St. Peter ad vincula) were obliged by their Tenure on that day, to bring a live Lamb into the Church, whil'ſt they were ſinging High-Maſs, or (as ſome conceive) it may take its Derivation from the Saxon, Hlarmaeſſe, i.e. Loaf-Maſs, or Bread-Maſs ſo call'd, as a Feaſt of Thankſgiving to God for the firſt fruits of the Corn, and it ſeems hath been obſerv'd with Bread made of new Wheat; and accordingly it is a Cuſtom in ſome Places, for Tenants to be bound to bring their Lord that years Wheat, on or before the firſt of Auguſt. Ham. Reſol. 2.6. Quaeries p. 465.

'Tis call'd the Gule or Yule of Auguſt, which ſome Conjecture to be only a Corruption of the Britiſh word Gwyl-Awſt, that is, the Feaſt of Auguſt. Others again conceive (and I think more truly) that Gule comes from Gula in Latin, or Gueule in French, a Throat; and St. Peter ad vincula for this Reaſon following, which you have in Durand's Rationali Divinor. l. 7. Ca. De feſto Sancti Petri ad vincula: (a Catholick Story) that one Quirinus a Tribune of Rome, had a Daughter who was troubled with a painful Diſeaſe in her Throat; and therefore, (I preſume, other means failing) Addreſſed himſelf to his then Holineſs Alexander the 6th of that Name, from St. Peter; and deſir'd to borrow or ſee the Chains that St. Peter was chained with under Nero; which Requeſt being obtain'd; his Daughter kiſſing the ſaid Chains, was as miraculouſly, as Immediately cur'd of her Malady—(Credat Judaeus Appella, —Non Ego)—whereupon Quirinus with his whole Family turn'd Chriſtians, and were baptized: Tunc dictus Alexander Papa (as Durand hath it) hoc Feſtum in Calendis Auguſti Celebrandum Inſtituit, & in Honorem Beati Petri Eccleſiam in Urbe Fabricavit, ubi Vincula ipſa repoſuit, & ad vincula Nominavit, & Calendis Auguſti Dedicavit; ſo that this Day being before only known by the Name of the Calends of Auguſt, was afterward upon this very occaſion termed, either of the Inſtrument that wrought this Miracle, the Day of St. Peter ad vincula, or of the part of the Daughter, namely, the Throat, whereon the Miracle was wrought, the Gule of Auguſt. This day is kept by the Papiſts, as they ſay, in Honour of thoſe Chains, wherewith Herod cauſed St. Peter at Jeruſalem; to be bound, from which he was diſengaged by the Angel of God, Acts the 12th. by the ſole Touch whereof, not only the fore-mentioned, but many other Miracles were wrought; nay, ſome of that Church are ſo ſuperſtitiouſly Credulous, as to believe their Miraculous joyning together many years after into one intire Chain, with thoſe Iron Fetters wherewith the Holy Apoſtle was loaden, when he was Impriſoned at Rome.

Auguſt the 5th. in ſome of our ancient Calendars, is known by the name of Gowrie's Conſpiracy, and tho now omitted, (the reaſon thereof you ſhall ſoon underſtand) yet it was kept very devoutly in the Reign of King James, as a Day of Thankſgiving to the Almighty for his Deliverance from the Treacherous Conſpiracy of the Gowries in Scotland.

The Story runs thus, as Baker relates it in his Chronicle, p. 382. out of which take this Abſtract. The Earls Gowry, Marre, Lindſey, and others, Invited the King to the Caſtle of Reuthen (in the abſence of the Earl of Arran and Lenox) and there detain'd him, not permitting him to walk abroad; all his Truſty Servants they remov'd from him, and Compel'd the King by Letters to Queen Elizabeth to approve and allow of this his Thraldom. After his Mother Queen Mary had ſent to Queen Elizabeth, complaining of the Uſage of her Son, he himſelf ſent Colonel William Steward, and John Colvill to the Queen of England; and after the Death of Lenox in France, the Surprizers being lifted up in their Conceits, thinking they had him ſafe enough; he, on a ſudden (tho ſcarce 18 years of age) with ſome few others, convey'd himſelf to the Caſtle of St. Andrews, to whom the Nobility Repair'd, with Armed Bands, fearing ſome danger might befall him; afterward with fair words he adviſed ſome of his Surprizers to go from Court to avoid Tumult, promiſing them Pardon, if they would crave it; but Gowry only asked Pardon, and ſubmitted himſelf, uſing this Diſtinction, that he had not offended in Matter, but in Form: and farther, Baker ſaith, p. 384. that Gowry was tried by his Peers at Sterling, Anno 1600. where being accus'd of many Treaſons, tho he gave colourable Anſwers to them all; yet was found Guilty, Condemn'd, and Beheaded; whoſe Head his Servants ſewing to the Body, committed to the Grave.

Baker farther ſaith, p. 428. At this time, Anno 1603. the King forgat not a Deliverance he formerly had; which tho it were in Scotland, yet he would have notice taken of it in England, which was this his Deliverance from the Conſpiracy of the Gowries, on the 5th of Auguſt 1600. three years before, and thereupon, Friday, being the 5th day, was by Commandment appointed to be Holy-Day; with Morning-Prayer, Sermon, and Evening-Prayer read, with Bonefires at Night, which was then, and after, during his Life, ſolemnly obſerv'd.

Auguſt the 6th. is the Transfiguration; (from Transfiguro, Lat. to change ſhape) a Feaſt Celebrated by the Papiſts in Memory of our Saviour's Transfiguring himſelf upon Mount Thabor, and ſhewing a Glimpſe of his Glory to his Apoſtles, St. Peter, St. James, and St. John; And his Face (ſaith the Text) ſhone as the Sun, and his Garment became white as Snow, Matth. 17.2. and in them alſo unto us, for our encouragement to Vertue, Perſeverance in Faith and mutual Love one toward another.

St. Laurence.

The 10th of this Month, is a Day Dedicated to St. Laurence (Lat. flouriſhing like a Bay-Tree; the ſame as Daphnis in Greek) who was Deacon to Pope Xiſtus, then ſitting in the Chair at Rome, a very Zealous Perſon, according to Tradition, for the Catholick Cauſe; who thereupon in the Primitive times, was by the Cruel and Barbarous Pagans, moſt inhumanely Broyled on a Gridiron, for the Faith of Chriſt; which Martyrdom he ſuffered with undaunted and matchleſs Fortitude. This is in the Roman, but not in our Rubrick.

The Aſſumption of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary.

The 15th of this Month is, The Aſſumption of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Holy Jeſus, ſo call'd from Aſſumo, Lat. to aſſume, or take up; 'tis obſerv'd in Memory of her being Aſſum'd, or taken up (as the Papiſts confidently maintain) into Heaven, both Soul and Body after her Dormition, or Diſſolution, and this is a conſtant Tradition of their Church. This is alſo in the Roman, not in our Rubrick.

St. Bartholomew.

The next is the Feſtival of St. Bartholomew, ſolemnized on the 24th of Auguſt. The Name is Chaldee, and ſignifies the Son of him that makes the water aſcend. He was Nephew (as ſome maintain) and Heir to a King of Syria; yet both an Apoſtle, and Martyr. He Preached the Glad Tidings of the Goſpel to the Indians, where he, by the Command of Polemius, King of India, was ſorely beaten with Cudgels, the firſt day; the next Crucified and Excoriated, or flean alive, while he was faſtned on the Croſs; and finally (ſtill breathing, and alive) Beheaded in the year of our Lord 51. For this Reaſon it was named Duplex Feſtum, ſome obſerving the 25th. as we the 24th of Auguſt. Here was a Complication of Puniſhments for no Crime at all. This is one of His Majeſtie's Collar-Days without Offering.

The 29th is the Decollation of St. John Baptiſt. Beheaded by Herod, at the requeſt of Herodias; which we have praementioned in the Feſtival of St. John Baptiſt.

Septemb. the 2d. On this day hapned that Dreadful Conflagration of the City of London, about one of the Clock in the Morning, Anno 1666. beginning at the Houſe of one Mr. Farryner, a Baker in Pudding-Lane, near New Fiſh-Street, which conſumed in four days time the greateſt part of this Flouriſhing Metropolis. 'Tis ſuppoſed to be fired by one Robert Hubert of Roan in Normandy, with one Peidloe, the chief, there being in all 23 Complices, as he confeſſed; for which he was hang'd at Tyburn, and dyed a Roman Catholick.

Nativity of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary.

The 8th of this Month is the Nativity of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary, (Heb. Exalted, or from Marah, as ſome conceive, i. e. Bitterneſs) which is a Feſtival obſerv'd by our Holy Mother the Church, in Commemoration of her Happy and Glorious Birth, who brought into the World the Author of all Life and Salvation, our Bleſſed Lord and Saviour, Jeſus Chriſt.

Holy-tood-Day, or Holy-Croſs.

The 14th. is the other Holy-rood-Day; or Holy-Croſs, (the Invention of the Croſs being on the 3d of May, which we have given you an account of) 'tis call'd Holy Croſs, or the Exaltation of the Croſs, in Memory of the Exaltation, or ſetting up the Holy Croſs which was found by St. Helen. (as we have already acquainted you) by Heraclius, the Emperor; who having regained it a ſecond time from the Perſians, after it had been given over for loſt, the ſpace of 14 years, carried it on his ſhoulders to Mount Calvarie, and there Exalted it with more than ordinary Solemnity.

Then follows the Ember-Week, according to the Rule before laid down, Poſt Cineres, &c. this being the third in the year, following Holy-Croſs, or Holy-rood-Day.

St. Matthew.

On the 21th of this Month, is Celebrated the Feſtival of St. Matthew, (Heb. Reward) an Apoſtle, and one of the four Holy Secretaries of the moſt Sacred Goſpel. He was by Birth a Jew, by Profeſſion a Publican, or Toll-Cuſtomer; was at length Converted, and became a Diſciple, Apoſtle, Euangeliſt and Martyr. He wrote the Goſpel of Chriſt in the Hebrew Language, and delivered it to James, the Brother of our Lord, who was at that time Biſhop of Jeruſalem. He Preached in the Kingdom of Aethiopia, where he was kindly entertain'd by the Eunuch (Chamberlain, or Chief Governor to Candace, Queen of Aethiopia; as it is Recorded in the Acts of the Apoſtles, Acts the 8th. 27th.) and was ſo ſucceſsful in his Teaching, that he prevail'd and perſwaded Aeglippus the King, and his People to be Baptized; but after his Deceaſe, there ſucceeded him one Hyrtacus by name, who Deteſted the Apoſtle, and therefore Commanded him to be run through with a Sword; which was accordingly done, Anno Dom. 71. This is one of His Majeſtie's Collar-Days, without Offering.

St. Michael the Arch-Angel.

The 29th of this Month is the Feaſt of St. Michael (Heb. who is like God) the Arch-Angel who figur'd Chriſt, or Michaelmas, that is, a Solemnity or Maſs in honour of St. Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Hoſt, and one of the Nine Orders of Angels, aſwel to Commemorate that famous Battle fought by him, and them in Heaven, againſt the red Dragon (or the Devil) and his Apoſtate Angels, Apoc. 12. in Defence of God's Honour; as alſo (ſay the Romaniſts) to Commend the whole Church of God to their Patronage and Prayers; and by them 'tis nam'd the Dedication of St. Michael; becauſe there is a Church at Rome, dedicated on that day to St. Michael by Pope Boniface. This is one of King Charles his Offering-Days at His Court of Whitehall. And on this day alſo the Lord Mayor of the City of London, for the year enſuing, is Elected.

There is another Feaſt obſerv'd by the Romaniſts, call'd the Apparition of St. Michael, and is in Commemoration of his Wonderful Appearance on Mount Garganus, where (as the Papiſts fondly flatter themſelves) by his own appointment a Temple was Dedicated to him, in the time of Pope Gelaſius.

St. Luke.

October the 18th. is a Day Conſecrated to the Memory of St. Luke (Heb. Taken) the Euangeliſt. Syria was the Place of his Nativity; by Profeſſion he was a Phyſician of Antioch, after that an Euangeliſt, and the Holy Penman of the Acts of the Apoſtles in their Peregrination; but eſpecially of St. Paul's. He died at Epheſus, in the 84th year of his Age, where he was inhum'd, Anno Chriſti, 74; and was (together with Andrew and Timothy) Tranſlated to Conſtantinople, many years after, in the Reign of Conſtantius, Son of Conſtantine the Great; but Nicephorus, the Hiſtorian ſays, that he was Hang'd on a Green Olive-Tree. This is one of His Majeſtie's Collar-Days, without Offering.

The 21th of this Month Dedicated to Urſula (Lat. a little She-Bear) The Name of a Female Saint heretofore of great Honour, and ſtill continued in the Calendar, and this Day was kept ſolemnly in Commemoration of a Famous, Religious Britiſh Virgin, who notwithſtanding the Tenderneſs of her Sex, and her Zeal for the true Religion, was moſt Inhumanly Martyred under Attila King of the Huns; ſtyled Flagellum Dei; a Bloody, but Valiant Scythian, who over-ran Italy, and Gallia; and at the Perſwaſion; or rather Intreaty of Pope Leo, retired into Hungary.

St. Simon and Jude.

The 28th is the Feſtival of St. Simon and Jude. Simon (Heb. Hearing, or Obedient) ſirnamed Zelotes (Gr. Fervent) was born in Cana, a Town of Galilee, the Son of Mary and Cleophas, as Euſeb. affirms, L. 3. C. 11. and taught the Goſpel in Aegypt and Perſia; from thence he returned, and ſucceeded St. James in the Biſhoprick of Jeruſalem; where, under the Reign of the Emperor Trajan, he was Crucified in the 120th year of his Age, and conſequently the laſt Martyr of all the Apoſtles. St. Jude (Heb. Jude, Judah, and Jehudah; all three ſignifie Confeſſion called alſo Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus) Preached the Holy Goſpel to the Edeſſaeans; a ſort of People of Edeſſa, a City of Syria, and throughout all Meſopotamia; he was Murdered at Berytus, a City of Phoenicia, in the Reign of Agbarus, King of Edeſſa, according to the moſt Authentick Tradition, where he was very Honorably Sepulchred, in the year of our Lord 21. This is one of His Majeſtie's Collar-Days, without Offering.

The next day after, being the 29th, is a day whereon the Elected Mayor for that year, accompanied with the Aldermen of London on Horſeback to the River of Thames; and the Companies of Freemen wait upon him in Barges, with Drums and Trumpets, to Weſtminſter, and there he walks with the Aldermen round the Hall, and then goes up to the Exchequer, where he is Sworn, and returns to the City; and at his Landing, he is waited upon by ſeveral Companies of Soldiers, and ſeveral ſtately Pageants are erected, and carried about in a Triumphant manner.

All Saints.

November 1ſt. Begins with the Feſtival of All Saints, or Allhallows, and this time is commonly call'd Allhallontide; Tis a Solemnity in Honour and Memory of all the Saints, (as the Papiſts maintain) that ſo at leaſt they may obtain the Patronage and Prayers of them all; ſince the whole year is much too ſhort to afford us a Particular Feaſt for every Saint.

All Souls.

The next day, Novemb. 2d. is All-Souls; a Day Inſtituted by the Church of Rome, in Commemoration of all the Faithful departed this Life; that by the Prayers and Suffrages of the Living, they may be diſcharged of their purging Pains, and at laſt obtain Life Everlaſting; to this purpoſe the Day is kept Holy till Noon. Hence proceeds the Cuſtom of Soul-Maſs Cakes; which are a kind of Oat-Cakes, that ſome of the Richer ſort of Perſons in Lancaſhire, and Herefordſhire (among the Papiſts there) uſe ſtill to give the Poor, on this Day; and they in Retribution of their Charity, hold themſelves obliged to ſay this old Couplet, —God have your Saul Beens and all.

Both theſe days were of ſuch eminent obſervance with our Anceſtors, that they ſtill continue no Court-days at Weſtminſter-Hall, but are the Lawyers and Judges Holy-days. All-Saints is one of His Majeſtie's Offering-Days at Whitehall, and one of the Houſhold-days, when the Beſant is given by the Lord Steward; or one of the other White-Staff-Officers.

November the 5th, commonly call'd Gun-Powder-Treaſon-Day, Anno 1605. and in the third-year of the Reign of King James, in England, of Happy Memory, of which take this Brief Narrative Collected out of Sir Richard Baker, in the ſaid King's Reign. The 19th day of March-was a ſecond Parliament appointed to ſit at Weſtminſter, & the ſaid Parliament beginning, the King made a long and Loving Speech to both Houſes wherein he ſignified the Cauſe of his Calling it; but in the time, when it ſhould have proceeded, there was ſuddenly diſcovered a Plot of Treaſon, ſo Damnable, and Foul, that Poſterity will hardly think it true, when they ſhall hear of it. The Plot was to blow up with Gun-powder both Houſes of Parliament, at a time when the King, Prince, and all the Nobility ſhould be ſitting in the Upper Houſe, and all the Knights and Burgeſſes in the Lower.

The Principal Contriver of this Plot, was Robert Cateſby; a Gentleman of great account in Northamptonſhire, deſcended from that Cateſby, who had been a ſpecial Councellor of King Richard the 3d. to whoſe Family the Divine Providence had now ordain'd a diſaſtrous Period. This Cateſby, not able to perform the Work alone, draws in many to aſſiſt him; as namely, Tho. Piercy, Tho. Winter, John Graunt, Ambroſe Rookwood, John Wright, Francis Treſham, Guido Fawks, and at laſt Sir Everard Digby, all earneſt Papiſts, and all bound by Oath, and by receiving the Sacrament, To be ſecret for effecting this Plot, they hired a Houſe cloſe adjoining to the Upper Houſe of Parliament, where they were to dig through a Wall for the fit placing of their Powder; about Candlemas they had wrought the Wall half through, and ſuddenly they heard a noiſe in the next Room, which made them fear they had been diſcovered; but ſending Guy Fawks (who went now under the Name of John Johnſon, as Mr. Piercy's Man) to ſee what the matter was, he brought word, that it was a Cellar, where Sea-Coals had been laid, and were now a Selling, and the Room offered to be Let for a yearly Rent: this Room therefore, as moſt fit for their purpoſe, being right under the Parliament-Houſe, Mr. Piercy preſently went and hired, laying into it 20 Barrels of Powder, which were covered with Billets and Faggots, that they might not be diſcovered.

Thus the 1ſt part of the Plot was put in good readineſs, it now remain'd to conſider what was to be done, when the Blow ſhould be given, intending to ſurprize the Duke of York, who was abſent, and the Lady Elizabeth, at the Lord Harrington's, in Warwickſhire, where ſhe then lay, under pretence of a Match at Hunting, near Dunchurch; but their Tenderneſs, leſt their Friends ſhould Periſh, overthrows them; for to prevent ſuch Promiſcuous Slaughter, a Letter was framed, and ſent to the Lord Monteagle, Son and Heir of the Lord Morley, brought him by one of his Foot-men, which he receiv'd from an unknown Man in the Street. The Letter was as followeth.

My Lord,

OUt of the Love I bear to ſome of your Friends, I have a care of your Preſervation; therefore I would wiſh you (as you tender your Life) to forbear your Attendance at this Parliament; for God and Man have Concurr'd to Puniſh the Wickedneſs of this Time; and think not ſlightly ef this Advertiſement; for tho there be no Appearance of any ſtir, yet I ſay, they ſhall receive a terrible Blow, this Parliament, and yet ſhall not ſee who hurts them. This Counſel is not to be Contemn'd, becauſe it may do you good, and can do you no harm; for the Danger is paſt, as ſoon as you have burn'd this Letter; and I hope you will make good uſe of it.

My Lord having read this Letter, tho much perplex'd, yet went preſently to the Court, (the King being then a Hunting at Royſton) and delivered it to the Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretary of State; and the Earl having read it, acquainted firſt the Lord Chamberlain with it, and then the Lord Admiral, the Earls of Worceſter, and Northampton; who, as ſoon as the King was return'd from Hunting, acquainted him with it; but the King apprehended ſome Violent Motion, and that it muſt be ſome ſudden danger by Blowing up with Powder; and diligent ſearch being made by the Lord Chamberlain, and the Lord Monteagle, who entring the Cellar, found great ſtore of Faggots and Billets, and more diligent ſearch being made, there were found under the Billets 36 Barrels of Powder, together with other Inſtruments fit for their purpoſe, and apprehended Fawx there, and found in his Pocket a piece of Touch-wood, a Tinder-box to light the Touch-wood, and a Watch, which Mr. Piercy had bought the day before, to try the ſhort, or long burning of the Touch-wood, that was prepared to give fire to the Train of Powder. Moſt of the Confederates met at Dunchurch, according to Agreement; but the Plot being thus Diſcovered, Cateſby & Piercy were both ſlain, coming out of Mr. Littleton's Houſe in Worceſterſhire; ſo were John and Chriſtopher Wright, the reſt taken; and on the 27th of January following, a Commiſſion was directed to divers Lords, and Judges of both Benches, for Trial of the reſt of the Confederates, who were all Condemn'd, and had Judgment to Die; and on the Thurſday following, Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, Graunt, and Bates, were accordingly Drawn, Hang'd, and Quarter'd at the Weſt End of St. Paul's Church, London; and on Friday the other four, Tho. Winter, Keyes, Rookwood, and Fawks, were Executed in the Parliament-Yard at Weſtminſter. This Plot was Diſcovered to the Rejoycing of all People; inſomuch that the King of Spain's, and the Arch-Duke's Embaſſadors made Bone-fires, and threw Money among the People, in token of Joy.

And now King James, not to be unmindful of the Lord Mounteagle, for being the means of Diſcovering this Treaſon, gave him in Fee-farm of Crown-Lands 2000 l. to him and his Heirs, and 500 l. a year beſides, during his Life; and not to be Unthankful to God for the Deliverance, he cauſed the 5th of November, being the day of the Diſcovery, to be kept Holy with Prayers, and Thankſgiving to God, which was then ſolemnly perform'd, and hath been ſince, and is likely for ever to be continued.

The 28th of March following, Henry Garnet, Provincial of the Engliſh Jeſuits, was Arraign'd in Guild-hall, for concealing the aforeſaid Treaſon, where he had Judgment to be Drawn, Hang'd; and Quarter'd; and accordingly on the 3d of May, was Drawn from the Tower unto the Weſt End of St. Paul's Church, and there Executed.

At his Death he Confeſſed his Fault, asked Forgiveneſs, and Exhorted all Papiſts never to Attempt any Treaſon againſt the King, or State, as a Courſe which God would never proſper. By an Act 3d Jac. 'tis ordain'd, that all Perſons appear at their Pariſh-Church, for the Obſervation of this Day. This is one of his Majeſtie's Collar-days without Offering.

Queen Katharines Birth-Day.

November the 15th, is the Birth-Day of our moſt Gracious Queen Katharine (Gr. Pure) whom God preſerve, and grant her length of Days, Health and Happineſs in this world, and in the world to come.

The 19th of this Month is Celebrated in Commemoration of the Nativity of our King Charles the Firſt, of Bleſſed Memory, a Royal Monarch, and Glorious Martyr, who was born this day, at Dunfernling, in Scotland, Anno Dom. 1600 and is placed in our Engliſh Rubrick.

Preſentation of the Virgin Mary.

The 20th, or as ours hath it the 21th of this Month, is the Preſentation of the Virgin Mary, in the Roman Rubrick; a Feaſt in Commemoration of her being preſented in the Temple at the age of three years, where ſhe Vowed her ſelf to God, both Soul, and Body.

St. Clement.

The 23th, is Dedicated to St. Clement (Lat. Merciful) who was Fellow-Labourer with St. Paul, and according to all Probability, Rome was his Native Place, deſcended of a Noble Race; his Father's Name Fauſtinus, or as ſome think Fauſtus; he was the Youngeſt of three Sons; he had the good fortune to be under the Pupilage of St. Barnabas in Judaea, who came to Rome, and followed him to Alexandria, Judaea and Caeſarea, where he met with St. Peter who Diſcipled, Baptized, and as ſome over-conſecrated him Biſhop of Rome. Now that which made him Martyr was this: He had Converted the Noble Roman Lady Theodora, and her Husband Siſinnius, Kinſman and Favorite to the then late Emperor Nerva; and for this Torcutianus, a Grandee of Rome, with the Mutinous Rabble, charging him with Magick and Sorcery, the Emperor being acquainted therewith by Mamertinus, the Praefect, he return'd this Anſwer, That he ſhould either Sacrifice to the Gods, or be Baniſhed to a diſconſolate City, beyond the Pontick Sea, and was Tranſported thither to dig in the Mines, a horrid Puniſhment, Et mortiproxima; here he Converted great Numbers, which incenſed them ſo highly, that Aufidianus the Preſident by the Emperor's Order, Commanded he ſhould be caſt into the Sea, that the Chriſtians might not find his Body. There are many Miracles handed down to us by Tradition of this Pious Man; for which, ſee Dr. Cave's Apoſtolici; for we deſign but an Abridgment. He was thus deſtroy'd on the 24th, or as ſome ſay, the 9th of November, in the 3d year of the Emperor Trajan, about two years after his Exile, he having been nine years, and ſome controverted Months Biſhop of Rome.

St. Andrew.

The 30th day of this Month, is the Feſtival of St. Andrew (Gr. Manly) the Brother of Simon Peter; by Profeſſion an Indigent Fiſherman, yet an Holy Apoſtle, and at length a Bleſſed Martyr, who Inſtructed the Scythians, Sacians, Sogdians, and the Inhabitants of the middle Sebaſtopolis, in the Goſpel of Chriſt. After this he Preached in Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia; and all along the Euxine Sea: Laſtly, in Thrace, Macedonia, Theſſaly and Achaia; where in the Reign of the Emperor Veſpaſian, he was Crucified by the King of the Edeſſaeans, Aegeas by Name, and Sepulchred at Patris a City of Achaia, Anno Dom. 80. or thereabout. This is one of his Majeſtie's Collar-Days without Offering.

Advent-Sunday.

The next is Advent-Sunday, ſo call'd ab Adventu Domini in Carnem, and they are four in number Inſtituted by the Holy Church, to the end, that from the firſt of them, until the Nativity of our Bleſſed Lord, we might prepare our Minds for a ſober Life, and Pious Meditation of his Birth then approaching. Parate viam Domini, rectas facite ſemitas Dei noſtri; and this is the laſt of the Moveable Feaſts in the Calendar.

The 8th of December, is the Conception of the Virgin Mary, a Feaſt among the Romaniſts, Celebrated in Memory of her Miraculous Conception, who was conceiv'd by her Parents St. Joachim and St. Anne in their old and infirm Age, and Sanctified from the very firſt inſtant in her Mothers Womb.

The 13th of this Month, is in remembrance of St. Lucia (Lat. Lightſom, or Bright) who is by Tradition reputed to be an Unſpotted Virgin, and Reſolute Martyreſs. This is uſually counted the Winter Solſtice, at which time the Sun comes to the Tropick of Capricorn.

The next Week enſuing is the 4th and laſt Ember-Week in the year.

St. Thomas.

The 21th is Dedicated to St. Thomas, the Apoſtle (Tho. is Hebr. a Twin, or as ſome will have it, Bottomleſs pit, he was ſirnamed Didymus, Gr. a Twin, becauſe a Twin-born, or on ſome ſuch occaſion) was our Saviour's Holy Apoſtle and Martyr, who inſtructed the Parthians, Medes and Perſians in the Goſpel; as alſo the Caramanians, Hircanians, Bactrians and Magicians, and was at laſt wounded to death with a Dart at Calamina, a City in India; and there honorably Interr'd, Anno Chriſti 35. This is at White-hall one of the King's Collar-days without Offering.

Mat. Chriſt.

The 25th of December, beyond all Controverſie, is the Day of our Saviour's Nativity at Bethlehem, or Chriſtmas-Day (as the Saxons uſe to term their Feaſts, from the Maſs appropriated to the day, of which you have an account before) which is ſufficiently and Learnedly prov'd by Modern Authors, namely, Edward Fiſher Eſq; in his Vindication of our Goſpel-Feſtivals, and the Great Selden in his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or God made Man; and by the Ancients St. Auſtin and St. Chryſoſtom. And of old Epiphany (which is Manifeſtation) was taken for Chriſtmaſs Day upon this Identity of the word, it being the time, when our Saviour was incarnated, or manifeſted in the fleſh. In the North of England, 'tis commonly call'd Yule, from the Latin Jubilum, which imports a Time of Joy and Feſtivity. The Latin or Weſtern Church nam'd it Luminaria, or the Feaſt of Lights; becauſe therein were uſed abundance of Lights and Tapers; or rather, (as ſome conceive) becauſe Chriſt the Light of Lights; the true Light then came into the World; and this is the Foundation and Baſis of all the other Chriſtian Feſtivals, and to be Celebrated with greateſt Solemnity and Veneration. This is a Grand day in His Majeſties Court, and one of the Houſhold-days, when the Beſant is to be given by the Lord Ste ward, or one of the White-Staff Officers.

Immediately after Chriſtmas, follow as Attendants upon that high Feſtival, St. Stephans, St Johns, and St. Innocents; not that this was the very time of their Suffering; but becauſe none are thought fitter Attendants on Chriſt's Nativity, who have laid down their Lives for him, from whoſe Birth they receiv'd Spiritual Life. Dr. Spar. Rationale of theſe as they ſucceed in the Calendar.

St. Stephan.

Firſt of St, Stephan, (Gr. a Crown) The Proto-Martyr; the Holy Writ gives us no particular Satisfaction; of the Countrey, Parents, or Relations of this Pious and Zealous Chriſtian. He was a Jew without queſtion, and by the Ancients agreed to be ordained one of the 7 Proto-Deacons; Ut bona communia curaret, ea que viduis & Pauperibus rectè diſtribueret; which was but part of their Office; for they were elected by our Lord to be the Apoſtles Coadjutors and Fellow-Labourers, not only to diſtribute juſtly the Alms of the Church, according to their emergent Neceſſities; but to Baptize, Preach and Abſolve too in ſome Caſes. He zealouſly and ſtrennouſly confuted the Jews in their erroneous Tenets concerning the true Meſſiah; maintaining that Jeſus of Nazareth was the true one foretold by the Prophets; He was for this accuſed of Blaſphemy, Condemned and Stoned by the Jews at Jeruſalem, An. Dom. 35.

St. Iohn.

The next in order is St. John's, (John in the Hebr. ſignifies Gracious) who was the Brother of James, an Evangeliſt, and the beſt Beloved Apoſtle. He taught the Goſpel to the Aſiaticks, but the Tyrant Trajan Baniſhed him into Patmos, an Iſle in the Aegean Sea, where he pen'd his Holy Goſpel, which was afterward publiſhed at Epheſus by his Deacon and Hoſt. After the death of the Emperor, he return'd to Epheſus, and continued there till he lived 120 years, and then died of an Apoplexy, in the year of our Saviour's Incarnation 104.

Innocents.

The 28th. Innocents, or Childermaſs-Day, that is the Feaſt of the Children, the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, who were Maſſacred by Herod the Great moſt Inhumanely in our Saviour's ſtead, tho not for his ſake; among whom, his own Son (as Hiſtorians affirm) eſcaped not the fate of his Cruelty; which extorted this ſaying, from the Emperor Auguſtus Caeſar; Melius eſt eſſe Herodis Porcum, quam Puerum; It is better to be Herod's Hog, than his Son.

Dr. Sparrow in his Ration. ſaith upon the account of theſe three Feſtivals. There are three kinds of Martyrdom. p. In Will, and Deed, which is the Higheſt. 2. In Will, but not in Deed. 3. In Deed, but not in Will. In this order they attend. St. Stephan 1ſt, who ſuffered both in Will and Deed; next, St. John, who ſuffered Martyrdom in Will, but not in Deed; being Miraculouſly delivered out of the boyling Cauldron into which he was put before Pont. Latin in Rome. Laſtly, the Holy Innocents, who ſuffered in Deed, but not in Will; yet are reckoned among the Martyrs, becauſe they ſuffered for Chriſt, whoſe Praiſe theſe his Witneſſes Confeſſed and ſhewed forth, not in ſpeaking, but in dying.

And thus we have done with the Feſtivals; only it is obſervable, that as the Romaniſts open, ſo they cloſe the year with a Feſtival in the Popiſh Rubrick, tho not in ours, which is the laſt day of December, and conſequently of the year as to our Method, being a Day Dedicated to the Memory of Sylveſter, who once ſate in the Seat of Rome, and died a Confeſſor. This is in the Roman, not our Rubrick.

Now I conceive it will not be amiſs to give you a juſt, but Conciſe account of the Vigils and Faſts of the Church on the Eves of the Feaſts. Vigil comes from the Lat. Vigilo, and ſignifies to watch. In the time of the Apoſtles, and for ſome continuance after, when Perſecuted and Diſperſed Chriſtians durſt not appear in Publick, by reaſon of the many Treacheries and daily ſnares laid for them by their violent Perſecutors, they were compell'd for their own Preſervation, and Self-ſecurity to Aſſemble in private Holes, Corners, and Subterranean Places, to Exerciſe their Religion, and Perform their Devotion to their God. But in the Primitive times immediately ſucceeding the Bleſſed Apoſtles, when they apprehended no danger of Perſecution, they Faſted and watched in their Oratories all the whole Eaſter-Week (but thoſe Faſts are now voluntary, and not injoyn'd; for there is no Faſt commanded betwixt Eaſter, and Whitſunday, Chriſtmas, and Epiphany) and the Vigils of this Feſtival, by large Waxen Tapers, were made as Light as day, through the whole City, to repreſent myſtically the Light of Salvation, then ready to diffuſe it ſe •• all over the Univerſe. And this is the Original of that uſage among Chriſtians, both Men and Women, to Watch and Faſt on the Eves of their High Solemnities in the Churches, and at the Tombs of the Saints departed; the Authors of which cuſtom are credibly Reported to be Diodorus of Antioch, together with Flavianus; but in proceſs of time, this Uſage at watching and faſting at Sepulchres was at the perſwaſion of Leontius, then Biſhop of Antioch, reſtrained to the Church only, Anno 375. The Watch by Night they uſed to divide into four parts: the 1ſt Vigil began at 6 in the Evening, and continued til 9; the 2d. at 9, and continued till 12; the 3d. from 12 to 3; and the 4th from 3 to 6 in the Morning. But at length theſe Promiſcuous Nocturnal Vigils were the Cauſe of Great Impiety, as ſome are of Opinion, therefore Women were denied admiſſion, becauſe as the Canon ſaith, under the pretext of Prayer, many Crimes were ſecretly Committed, at length the Vigils themſelves were prohibited, (tho not for the reaſon aforeſaid, others are of opinion; but rather becauſe Zeal and Fervour in Religion grew cool, and Chriſtians became more remiſs in their Devotion) and the Faſts now obſerv'd on the Eves of great Feſtivals were Inſtituted in their room; yet they ſtill retain the name of Vigils, as being the Denomination of a Duty requir'd therein, this was confirm'd by Pope Innocent the 3d, about the year of the Incarnation 1210.

Thus you have a ſhort and true account of all the Feaſts, Faſts, Vigils, both of the Engliſh and Romiſh Rubrick; with ſeveral other Holy-days not heretofore taken notice of in Treatiſes of this Nature.