PREFACE. (continued 13)

Næfð Godes rice nánes wurðes lofunge, ac bið gelofod be ðæs mannes hæfene. Heofonan rice wæs alæten þisum foresædum gebroðrum for heora nette and scipe, and eft syððan ðam rican Zacheó to healfum dæle his æhta, and sumere wudewan to ánum feorðlinge, and sumum menn to anum wæteres drence. Ic wene þæt þas word ne sind eow full cuðe, gif we hí openlicor eow ne onwreoð. "Zachéus wæs sum rice mann, and cepte þæs Hælendes fær, and wolde geseon hwilc hé wære; ac he ne mihte for ðære menigu ðe him mid ferde, forðan ðe hé wæs scort on wæstme. Þa forárn hé ðam Hælende, and stah uppon an treow, þæt he hine geseon mihte. Crist ða beseah upp wið þæs rican, and cwæð, Zachée, stíh ardlice adún, forðan ðe me gedafenað þæt ic nu to-dæg þe gecyrre. Zachéus ða swyftlice of ðam treowe alihte, and hine blissigende underfeng." Þaða Zachéus Crist gelaðod hæfde, ða astód he ætforan him, and him anmodlice to cwæð, "Drihten, efne ic todæle healfne dǽl minra góda ðearfum, and swa hwæt swa ic mid fácne berypte, þæt ic wylle be feowerfealdum forgyldan." Drihten him to cwæð, "Nu to-dæg is ðisum hirede hæl gefremmed, forðan ðe he is Abrahames ofspring. Ic com to secenne and to gehælenne þæt þe on mancynne losode." Þa hæfde Zacheus beceapod heofonan rice mid healfum dǽle his æhta: ðone oþerne dæl he heold to ðy þæt hé wolde þam be feowerfealdum forgyldan, þe hé ǽr unrihtlice bereafode. God's kingdom has no price of worth, but is priced according to a man's property. The kingdom of heaven was given to these beforesaid brothers for their net and ship, and afterwards to the rich Zacchæus for the half part of his possessions, and to a widow for one farthing, and to a man for a drink of water. I imagine that these words will not be quite clear to you, if we do not explain them to you more openly. "Zacchæus was a rich man, and had observed the Saviour's course, and would see who he was; but he could not for the many that went with him, because he was short of stature. He then ran before Jesus, and ascended a tree, that he might see him. Christ then looked up towards the rich man, and said, Zacchæus, descend quickly, for it seemeth good to me that I now to-day enter thy dwelling. Zacchæus then swiftly alighted from the tree, and received him rejoicing." When Zacchæus had invited Christ, he stood before him, and unhesitatingly said to him, "Lord, behold I distribute the half part of my goods to the poor, and whatsoever I have robbed by fraud, that I am willing to compensate fourfold." The Lord said to him, "Now to-day is salvation accomplished to this household, for he is Abraham's offspring. I come to seek and to save that which was lost among mankind." Thus had Zacchæus bought the kingdom of heaven with the half part of his possessions: the other part he held to the end that he might indemnify those fourfold whom he had unjustly bereaved.

Eft, "Æt sumum sæle gesæt se Hælend binnan ðam temple on Hierusalem, ætforan ðam maðm-huse, and beheold hú þæt folc heora ælmyssan wurpon into ðam maðm-huse, and ða fela rican brohton micele ðing. Þa com ðær an earm wudewe, and geoffrode Gode ænne feorðling. Drihten ða cwæð to his leorning-cnihtum, Ic secge eow to soðan, þæt þeos earme wydewe brohte maran lác þonne ænig ðyssera riccra manna. Hí ealle sealdon þone dæl heora speda þe him geðuhte, ac ðeos wydewe ealne hire bigleofan mid estfullum mode geoffrode." Þa hæfde seo earme wudewe mid lytlum feo, þæt is, mid ánum feorðlinge, þæt ece líf geceapod. Again, "At a time Jesus sat within the temple at Jerusalem, before the treasury, and beheld how the folk cast their alms into the treasury, and the many rich brought great things. Then came there a poor widow, and offered to God one farthing. The Lord then said to his disciples, I say unto you in sooth, that this poor widow hath brought a greater gift than any of these rich men. They all gave that part of their riches which seemed good unto them, but this widow hath offered all her substance with bountiful mind." Thus had the poor widow bought eternal life with a little money, that is, with one farthing.

Se Hælend cwæð on sumere stowe to his apostolum, "Soð ic eow secge, Swa hwá swa sylð ceald wæter drincan anum þurstigan menn ðæra ðe on me gelyfað, ne bið his méd forloren." Mine gebroðra, scrutniað nu ða mid hú wáclicum wurðe Godes rice bið geboht, and hú deorwurðe hit is to geagenne. Se ceap ne mæg wið nánum sceatte beon geeht, ac hé bið ælcum men gelofod be his agenre hǽfene. Jesus said in some place to his apostles, "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever giveth cold water to drink to one thirsty man of those who believe in me, his meed shall not be lost." My brothers, consider now with how trifling value God's kingdom is bought, and how precious it is to possess. The purchase may not be augmented for any treasure, but it will be priced to every man according to his own property.

We rædað on Cristes acennednysse þæt heofonlice englas wæron gesewene bufan ðam acennedan cilde, and hí ðisne lófsang mid micclum dreame gesungon, "Gloria in excelsis Deo, and in terra pax hominibus bone uoluntatis:" þæt is on urum gereorde, "Sy wuldor Gode on heannyssum, and on eorðan sibb ðam mannum ðe synd gódes willan." Ne bið nán lác Gode swa gecweme swa se góda willa. Gif hwá ne mage ðurhteon þa speda þæt hé gesewenlice lác Gode offrige, hé offrige ða ungesewenlican, þæt is, se góda willa, þe ða eorðlican sceattas únwiðmetenlice oferstihð. Hwæt is gód willa buton gódnys, þæt he oðres mannes ungelimp besargige, and on his gesundfulnysse fægnige, his freond na for middangearde, ac for gode lufige; his feond mid lufe forberan, nánum gebeodan þæt him sylfum ne licige, his nextan neode be his mihte gehelpan, and ofer his mihte wyllan? Hwæt is ænig lác wið þisum willan, ðonne seo sawul hí sylfe Gode geoffrað on weofode hire heortan? Be ðisum cwæð se sealm-scop, "In me sunt, Deus, uota tua, quæ reddam laudationes tibi:" "God Ælmihtig, on me synd þine behát, þa ic ðe forgylde ðurh hérunga." Swilce hé openlice cwæde, Þeah ðe ic næbbe ða uttran lác ðe to offrigenne, ic geméte swa-þeah on me sylfum hwæt ic lecge on weofode þinre herunge; forðan ða þu ne leofast be úre sylene, ac ðu bist swiðor gegladod on offrunge ure heortan. Ne mæg ðeos offrung beon on ðære heortan ðe mid gytsunge oððe ándan gebysgod bið, forðan ðe hí ðwyriað wið þone gódan willan, and swa hraðe swa hí þæt mód hreppað, swa gewit se góda willa: forði noldon þa halgan bydelas nán ðing on ðyssere worulde mid gitsunge gewilnian, ne náne synderlice æhta habban, to ðy þæt hí mihton butan ándan inweardlice him betwynan lufian. We read that at Christ's birth heavenly angels were seen above the born child, and that they with great delight sung this hymn, "Gloria in excelsis Deo, and in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis:" that is in our tongue, "Be glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those men who are of good will." No gift is so acceptable to God as good will. If any one cannot obtain the means of offering a visible gift to God, let him offer an invisible one, that is, good will, which incomparably excels earthly treasures. What is good will but goodness, so that he grieves for another man's misfortune and rejoices in his prosperity; loves his friend not for the world, but for good; to bear with his foe with love, to command to no one that which he likes not himself, to help his neighbour's need according to his power, and to be willing beyond his power? What is any gift in comparison with this will, when the soul offers itself to God on the altar of its heart? Of this said the psalmist, "In me sunt, Deus, vota tua, quæ reddam laudationes tibi:" "God Almighty, in me are thy promises, which I will pay through praises." As if he had openly said, Though I have not outward gifts to offer unto thee, yet will I find in myself that which I may lay on the altar of thy praise; for thou livest not by our gift, but thou art more gladdened by the offering of our hearts. This offering cannot be in the heart which is occupied with covetousness or envy, for they are adverse to good will, and as soon as they touch the mind, the good will departs: therefore the holy preachers would desire nothing in this world with covetousness, nor have any separate possessions, to the end that they might without envy inwardly love each other.

Witodlice ðas apostolas geseah se witega Isaias towearde, ðaða he þurh Godes Gast cwæð, "Hwæt sind þas þe her fleogað swa swa wolcnu, and swa swa culfran to heora eh-ðyrlum?" Se witega hí geseah ða eorðlican hæfene forseon, and mid heora mode heofonum genealæcan, and on lifes wordum genihtsumian, on wundrum scínan, and gecígde hí culfran, and fleogende wolcnu. Ure eh-ðyrla sind ure eagan, þurh ða besceawað ure sawul swa hwæt swa heo wiðutan gewilnað. Culfre is bilewite nyten, and fram geallan biternysse ælfremed. Soðlice ða halgan apostolas wæron swilce culfran æt heora eh-ðyrlum, ðaða hí nán ðing on þisum middangearde ne gewilnodon, ac hí ealle ðing bilewitlice sceawodon, and næron mid gecnyrdnysse æniges reaflaces getogene to ðam ðe hi wiðutan sceawodon. Se ðe þurh reaflac gewilnað ða ðing þe hé mid his eagum wiðutan sceawað, se is glida, na culfre æt his eh-ðyrlum. Verily the prophet Isaiah saw the apostles to come, when, through the Spirit of God he said, "Who are these that here fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows?" The prophet saw them despising earthly possession, and with their minds approaching to heaven, and abounding in the words of life, in wonders shining, and called them doves, and flying clouds. Our windows are our eyes, through which our soul beholds whatsoever it desires without. A dove is a meek animal, and a stranger to the bitterness of gall. Verily the holy apostles were as doves at their windows, when they desired nothing in this world, but they meekly beheld all things, and were not drawn by desire of any rapine to that which they beheld without. He who by rapine desires the things that he beholds with his eyes without, is a kite, not a dove at his windows.

We habbað nu ðyses godspelles traht be dæle oferurnen, nu wylle we eow secgan ða getácnunge ðæra feowera apostola namena, þe Crist æt fruman geceas. Eornostlice Simon is gereht 'gehyrsum,' and Petrus 'oncnawende,' Andreas 'ðegenlic,' Iacob is gecweden 'forscrencend,' and Iohannes 'Godes gifu:' þas getácnunge sceal gehwilc cristen mann on his drohtnunge eallunga healdan. Petrus wæs gecíged Simon ǽr his gecyrrednysse, ac Crist hine gehet Petrus, þæt getácnað, 'oncnawende,' forðan ðe he oncneow Crist mid soðum geleafan, þaða he cwæð, "þu eart Crist, ðæs lifigendan Godes Sunu." Untwylice se ðe God rihtlice oncnæwð, and him gehyrsumað, he hylt on his drohtnunge þyssera twegra namena getácnunge. Gif he ðegenlice, for Godes naman, earfoðnysse forberð, and werlice deofles costnungum wiðstent, ðonne gefylð hé on his ðeawum Andrees getácnunge, þe is gereht 'ðegenlic.' Iacob is gecweden 'forscrencend,' and se bið unleas forscrencend, þe mid gleawnysse his flæsclican leahtras, and deofles tihtinge forscrencð. Iohannes is gecweden 'Godes gifu.' Se bið gelimplice Godes gifu gecíged, þe ðurh góde geearnunga Godes gife begyt, to ði þæt hé his beboda geornlice gefylle. We have now in part run over the exposition of this gospel, now we will say to you the signification of the names of those four apostles, whom Christ first chose. Simon is interpreted obedient, and Peter acknowledging, Andrew bold, James is interpreted withering, and John God's grace: this signification every christian man should certainly hold in his life. Peter was called Simon before his conversion, but Christ called him Peter, which signifies acknowledging, because he acknowledged Christ with true belief, when he said, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." Undoubtedly he who rightly acknowledges God, and obeys him, holds in his life the signification of these two names. If he boldly, for the name of God, endures hardship, and manfully withstands the temptations of the devil, then fulfils he in his conduct the signification of Andrew, which is interpreted bold. James is called withering, and he is truly withering, who with prudence withers his fleshly vices, and the instigation of the devil. John is interpreted God's grace. He is aptly called God's grace, who obtains the grace of God through good deserts, to the end that he may zealously fulfil his commandments.

PASSIO EJUSDEM. PASSION OF THE SAME.

Se apostol Andreas, æfter Cristes ðrowunge, ferde to ðam lande þe is geháten Achaia, and ðær bodade Drihtnes geleafan and middangeardes alysednysse ðurh his ðrowunge. Þa wolde Egeas, sum wælhreow dema, his bodunge adwæscan, and ða cristenan geneadian to ðam deofellicum biggengum. Andreas him cwæð to, "Þe gedafenode, nu ðu manna dema eart, þæt þu oncneowe ðinne Deman, ðe on heofonum is, and hine wurðodest, seðe is soð God, and ðin mód awendest fram ðam leasum godum." Egeas him andwyrde, "Eart ðu Andreas, þe towyrpst ura goda tempel, and tihtst ðis mennisce to ðære ydelan láre ðe Romanisce ealdras awurpon, and adwæscan heton?" Andreas him andwyrde, "Romanisce ealdras gyt ne oncneowon Godes soðfæstnysse, hú Godes Sunu to mannum cóm, and tæhte þæt þas deofolgyld, þe ge begað, ne synd na godas, ac synd ða wyrstan deoflu, manncynna fynd, ðe þæt mannum tæcað hú hi ðone Ælmihtigan God gremion, and hé hí ðonne forlǽt, and se deofol hí gebysmrað swa lange, oðþæt hí gewitað of heora lichaman scyldige and nacode, naht mid him ferigende buton synna anum." Egeas cwæð, "Þas synd ydele word. Witodlice ða eower Hælend ðas wórd bodade, þa gefæstnodon Iudei hine on rode gealgan." Andreas him andwyrde, "Eala gif ðu witan woldest þære halgan rode gerynu, mid hú sceadwisre lufe manncynna Ealdor, for ure edstaðelunge þære rode gealgan underfeng, na geneadod, ac sylfwilles." Egeas sæde, "Húmeta segst ðu sylfwilles, ðaða he wæs belæwed, and be ðæra Iudeiscra bene, þurh ðæs ealdormannes cempan ahangen?" Andreas andwyrde, "Forði ic cwæð sylfwilles, forðan ðe ic wæs samod mid him ðaða he fram his leorning-cnihte belæwed wæs, and hé on ǽr his ðrowunge us foresǽde, and þæt he wolde on ðam þriddan dæge of deaðe arisan: cwæð þæt he hæfde mihte his sawle to syllenne, and mihte hí eft to onfonne." Egeas cwæð, "Ic wundrige ðe snoterne wer, þæt ðu ðyssere láre fylian wylt, swa hú swa hit gewurde, sylfwilles oððe neadunge, þæt hé on rode gefæstnod wære." Andreas him andwyrde, "Micel is ðære rode gerynu, ða ic ðe geopenige, gif ðu me gehyran wylt." Egeas sæde, "Hit ne mæg soðlice beon gesǽd gerynu, ac wite." Andreas cwæð, "Þæt sylfe wite þu ongytst beon gerynu mancynnes edniwunge, gif ðu geðyldelice me gehyran wylt." Egeas andwyrde, "Ic ðe geðyldelice gehyre, ac gif ðu me ne gehyrsumast, ðu scealt onfon ðære ylcan rode gerynu on ðe sylfum." Andreas him andwyrde, "Gif ic me ondrede þære rode gealgan, þonne nolde ic ðære rode wuldor bodian." Egeas sæde, "Þin gewitlease spræc bodað rode wite to wuldre, forðan ðe ðu þurh dyrstignysse þe ne ondrætst deaðes wite." Andreas andwyrde, "Na ðurh dyrstignysse, ac ðurh geleafan ic me ne ondræde deaðes wite. Rihtwisra manna deað is deorwyrðe, and synfulra manna deað is forcuð." Egeas sæde, "Buton ðu offrige lác urum ælmihtigum godum, on ðære ylcan rode ðe ðu herast ic ðe hate gewæhtne afæstnian." Andreas him cwæð to, "Dæghwomlice ic offrige mine lác ðam Ælmihtigan Gode, seðe ana is soð God. Na hlowendra fearra flæsc, oððe buccena blód, ac ic offrige dæghwomlice on weofode þære halgan rode þæt ungewemmede lamb, and hit ðurhwunað ansund and cucu syððan eal folc his flæsc et, and his blód drincð." Egeas befrán, "Hú mæg þæt swa gewurðan?" Andreas him andwyrde, "Gif ðu leornian wille hú þæt gewurðan mæge, þonne undernim ðu leorning-cnihtes híw, þæt þu ðas gerynu leornian mæge." Egeas sæde, "Ic wille mid tintregum æt ðe ofgan ðises ðinges insiht." Se halga apostol andwyrde, "Ic wundrige ðearle ðin, húmeta þu sy to swa micelre stuntnysse gehworfen, þæt ðu wenst me for tintregum ðe geopenian ða godcundan gerynu. Þu gehyrdest ðære halgan offrunge gerynu; nu, gif ðu gelyfst þæt Crist, Godes Sunu, seðe wæs on rode ahangen, sy soð God, þonne geopenige ic ðe hú þæt lámb on his rice ðurhwunað ansund and ungewemmed, syððan hit geoffrod bið, and his flæsc geeten, and his blód gedruncen. Gif ðu ðonne gelyfan nelt, ne becymst ðu næfre to insihte þyssere soðfæstnysse." The apostle Andrew, after Christ's passion, went to the land which is called Achaia, and there preached the faith of the Lord, and the redemption of the world through his passion. Then Ægeas, a cruel judge, would suppress his preaching, and force the christians to idolatrous worship. Andrew said to him, "It were fitting, now thou art a judge of men, that thou shouldest know thy Judge who is in heaven, and worship him, who is the true God, and turn thy mind from the false gods." Ægeas answered him, "Art thou Andrew, who castest down the temples of our gods, and instigatest this people to the vain doctrine which the Roman senators have rejected, and ordered to be suppressed?" Andrew answered him, "The Roman senators know not yet God's truth, how the Son of God came to men, and taught that these idols which ye worship are not gods, but are the worst devils, foes of mankind, who teach men how they may exasperate the Almighty God, and he then forsakes them, and the devil deludes them so long, until they depart from their bodies guilty and naked, bearing nothing with them but sins alone." Ægeas said, "These are idle words; for when your Jesus preached these words, the Jews fastened him on a cross." Andrew answered him, "O, if thou wouldst know the mystery of the holy cross, with what discerning love the Prince of mankind received the cross for our re-establishment, not compelled, but of his own will." Ægeas said, "How sayest thou of his own will, when he was betrayed, and at the prayer of the Jews was crucified by the soldiers of the governor?" Andrew answered, "For this reason I said of his own will, because I was together with him when he was betrayed by his disciple, and he before his passion foretold it to us, and that on the third day he would arise from death: he said that he had power to give his soul, and power to receive it again." Ægeas said, "I wonder that thou, a sagacious man, wilt follow this doctrine, let it have been as it might, of his own will or by compulsion, that he was fastened on a cross." Andrew answered him, "Great is the mystery of the cross, which I will disclose to thee, if thou wilt hear me." Ægeas said, "It cannot truly be called a mystery, but a punishment." Andrew said, "That same punishment thou wilt understand to be the mystery of the renovation of mankind, if thou wilt patiently hear me." Ægeas answered, "I will hear thee patiently, but if thou obeyest me not, thou shalt receive the same mystery of the cross in thyself." Andrew answered him, "If I feared the cross, then would I not preach the glory of the cross." Ægeas said, "Thy witless speech preaches the punishment of the cross as a glory, because through audacity thou dreadest not the punishment of death." Andrew answered, "Not through audacity, but through faith I dread not the punishment of death. The death of righteous men is precious, and the death of sinful men is execrable." Ægeas said, "Unless thou offerest gifts to our almighty gods, on the same cross which thou praisest I will order thee afflicted to be fastened." Andrew said to him, "Daily I offer my gift to the Almighty God, who alone is the true God. Not flesh of lowing oxen, or blood of bucks, but I offer daily on the altar of the holy cross the undefiled lamb, and it continues sound and living after all folk have eaten its flesh, and drunk its blood." Ægeas asked, "How can that so be?" Andrew answered him, "If thou wilt learn how that can be, take a disciple's form, that thou mayest learn this mystery." Ægeas said, "I will with torments extort from thee an insight into this matter." The holy apostle answered, "I wonder greatly at thee, how thou art turned to such great folly, that thou imaginest that for torments I will disclose to thee the divine mystery. Thou hast heard the mystery of the holy offering; now, if thou believest that Christ, the Son of God, who was hanged on a cross, is true God, then will I disclose to thee how the lamb continues sound and undefiled in its kingdom, after it is offered, and its flesh eaten, and its blood drunken. But if thou wilt not believe, thou wilt never come to an insight of this truth."

Hwæt ða, Egeas hine gebealh, and het sceofan þone apostol on sweartum cwearterne. Þær com ða micel menigu ealre ðære scire to ðam cwearterne, and woldon Egeam acwellan, and alædan ðone apostol of ðam cwearterne. Ða cwæð Andreas to ealre ðære menigu, "Mine gebroðra, ne astyrige ge ðone stillan Drihten to ænigre yrsunge mid eowerum anginne. Ure Hælend wæs belǽwed, and he hæfde geðyld: he ne flát ne ne hrymde, ne nán mann his stemne on strætum ne gehyrde. Habbað eow nu stilnysse and sibbe, and ne hremmað minne martyrdom, ac swiðor gearciað eow sylfe swa swa Godes cempan, þæt ge mid únforhtum móde ealle ðeowracan and lichamlice wita ðurh geðyld oferswyðon. Gif ænig óga is to ondrædenne, þonne is se to ondrædenne þe nænne ende næfð. Witodlice mannes ege is smice gelíc, and hrædlice, þonne hé astyred bið, fordwinð. Þa sárnyssa on ðyssere worulde oððe hí sind leohte and acumenlice, oððe hí sind swære, and hrædlice ða sawle út adræfað. Þa sárnyssa ðe on ðære towerdan worulde yfelum gegearcode synd, þa beoð ece; ðær bið dæghwomlice wóp, and wanung, and heofung, and endeleas cwylming, to ðam onét Egeas unforwandodlice. Beoð swyðor gearwe to ðam þæt ge ðurh hwilwendlice gedreccednysse becumon to ðam ecum gefean, þær ge symle blissiað, blowende and mid Criste rixigende." Hereupon Ægeas was wroth, and ordered the apostle to be thrust into a swart prison. There came then a great multitude of all the province to the prison, and would slay Ægeas, and lead the apostle from the prison. Then said Andrew to all the multitude, "My brothers, excite not the peaceful Lord to any anger with your design. Our Saviour was betrayed, and he had patience: he strove not, nor cried, nor did any man hear his voice in the streets. Have now quiet and peace, and hinder not my martyrdom, but rather prepare yourselves, as God's soldiers, that ye with fearless mind may overcome all threats and bodily torments by patience. If any terror is to be dreaded, then is that to be dreaded which has no end. Verily awe of man is like smoke, and quickly, when it is agitated, vanishes. The pains in this world are either light and bearable, or they are heavy, and quickly drive out the soul. The pains which in the world to come are prepared for the evil, will be eternal; there will be daily weeping, and wailing, and groaning, and endless torment, to which Ægeas fearlessly hastens. Be rather ready, that through transitory tribulation ye may come to the eternal joy, where ye will ever rejoice, blooming and reigning with Christ."

Þaða se apostol ðyllice word þam folce geond ealle þa niht lærde, ða on dægrede sende Egeas to ðam cwearterne, and het him lædan to þone halgan apostol, and cwæð, "Ic wende þæt þu on nihtlicere smeagunge sceoldest ðin mód fram dwæsnysse awendan, and geswican ðære herunge þines Cristes, þæt ðu mihtest mid ús lifes gefean brucan. Dyslic bið þæt man sylfwilles to rode gealgan efste, and hine sylfne to tintregum asende." Andreas andwyrde, "Blisse ic mæg mid þe habban, gif ðu on Crist gelyfst, and ðine deofolgild forlætst. Crist me sende to ðyssere scire, on ðære ic him gestrynde unlytel folc." Egeas cwæð, "Forði ic ðreatige ðe to ura goda offrunge, þæt ðis folc ðe ðu bepæhtest forleton ða idelnysse ðinre láre, þæt hí urum godum geoffrian magon ðancwurðe onsægednysse. Ne beláf nán ceaster on eallum ðisum earde, on ðære þe næron ure goda templa forlætene, and nu sceal eft beon ge-edstaðelod ura goda biggeng ðurh ðe, þæt hí magon beon [on] ðe gegladode, and ðu on urum freondscipe beon mage. Gif ðu þis nelt, ðonne scealt ðu, for ware ura goda, mislice wita ðrowian, and syððan on rode-gealgan, ðe ðu herodest, hangigende ateorian." Se apostol him andwyrde, "Þu deaðes bearn, gehýr me, and ðu ceaf, ecum ontendnyssum gegearcod, gehýr me, Godes ðeowan, and Hælendes Cristes apostol. Oð þis ic spræc ðe liðelice to, þæt þu mid gesceade ðone soðan geleafan oncneowe; ac nu ðu ðurhwunast on ðinre sceamleaste, and wenst þæt ic sceole for ðinum ðeowracum forhtian. Swa hwæt swa ðe is geðuht gyt máre on tintregum asmea. Swa micclum ic beo andfengra minum Cyninge, swa micclum swa ic for his naman on tintregum mid andetnysse þurhwunige." When the apostle had through all the night taught the folk in such words, Ægeas sent to the prison at dawn, and ordered the holy apostle to be led to him, and said, "I weened that thou in nightly meditation wouldst turn thy mind from folly, and cease from the praise of thy Christ, that thou mightest with us enjoy the delights of life. It is foolish that a man should hurry wilfully to the cross, and send himself to torments." Andrew answered, "Joy I may have with thee, if thou wilt believe in Christ and abandon thy idolatry. Christ sent me to this province, in which I have gained him no little folk." Ægeas said, "Therefore do I force thee to offer to our gods, that this folk, whom thou hast deceived, may forsake the vanity of thy lore, that they may offer to our gods a grateful sacrifice. Not a city has remained in all this country in which the temples of our gods have not been forsaken, and now the worship of our gods shall be again established through thee, that they may be gladdened in thee, and that thou mayst be in our friendship. If thou wilt not this, then shalt thou, for the security of our gods, suffer divers torments, and afterwards perish, hanging on the cross which thou hast praised." The apostle answered him, "Thou child of death, hear me, and thou chaff, prepared for everlasting kindling, hear me, God's servant, and apostle of Jesus Christ. Until now I have spoken to thee meekly, that thou with reason mightest acknowledge the true belief; but now thou persistest in thy shamelessness, and weenest that I shall fear for thy threats. Devise whatsoever appears to thee yet greater in torments. By so much the more acceptable I shall be to my King by as much as I for his name shall with profession continue in torments."

Þa hét se reða cwellere hine astreccan, and hine seofon siðon beswingan; het hine syððan aræran, and cwæð him to, "Andreas, gehýr me, and awend þinne rǽd for agotennysse þines blodes. Gif ðu swa ne dest, ic do þæt þu losast on rode-gealgan." Se apostol andwyrde, "Ic eom Cristes ðeowa, and ic sceal his rode sigor swiðor wiscan ðonne ondrædan. Þu soðlice miht ætberstan þam ecum cwylmingum þe ðe synd gemynte, gif ðu on Crist gelyfst, syððan ðu mine anrædnysse afándast. Ic me ondræde þin forwyrd, and ic for minre ðrowunge ne eom gedrefed. Min ðrowung geendað on ánum dæge, oððe on twam, oððe be ðam mæstan on þrim; soðlice ðin cwylming ne mæg binnon ðusend geara to ende gecuman. Forði, earming, ne geýc ðu swiðor þine yrmða, and ne onæl ðu ðe sylfum þæt ece fyr." Then the cruel murderer ordered him to be stretched out, and scourged seven times; he afterwards ordered him to be raised, and said to him, "Andrew, hear me, and change thy resolve for the shedding of thy blood. If thou doest not so, I will cause thee to perish on the cross." The apostle answered, "I am Christ's servant, and I shall rather wish than dread the triumph of his cross. But thou mayst escape from the eternal torments that are designed for thee, if thou wilt believe in Christ, after thou shalt have tried my steadfastness. I dread thy destruction, and for my suffering I am not afflicted. My suffering will end in one day, or in two, or at most in three; but thy torment cannot come to an end within a thousand years. Therefore, miserable, increase not more thy miseries, and kindle not for thyself the everlasting fire."

Hwæt ða, Egeas geǽbyligd hét hine ahón on rode-hencgene, and bebead ðam cwellerum þæt hí hine mid wiððum handum and fotum on þære rode gebundon, þæt he langlice ðrowian sceolde. Þa árn þæt cristen folc togeanes ðam cwellerum ðe hine to þære rode læddon, clypigende and cweðende, "Hwæt hæfð þes rihtwisa mann and Godes freond gefremod, þæt hé rode-hengene wyrðe sy?" Andreas soðlice bæd þæt folc þæt hí his ðrowunge ne geletton. Eode him mid bliðum mode fægnigende, and þæt folc lǽrende. He ofseah ða feorran ða rode þe him gegearcod wæs, and clypode mid micelre stemne, ðus cweðende, "Hál sy ðu, ród, þe on Cristes lichaman gehalgod wære, and mid his limum gefrætwod, swa swa mid meregrotum. Þu hæfdest eorðlicne ege, ærðan ðe ure Drihten þe astige; nu ðu hæfst heofonlice lufe, and byst astigen for behate. Orsorh and blissigende ic cume to ðe, swa þæt ðu me blissigende underfó, ðæs leorning-cniht ðe on ðe hangode, forðan ðe ic þe symle lufode, and ic gewilnode ðe to ymbclyppenne. Eala ðu góde rod, þe wlite and fægernysse of Drihtnes lymum underfenge, ðu wære gefyrn gewilnod and carfullice gelufod, butan to-forlætennysse gesoht, and nu æt nextan minum wilnigendum mode gegearcod. Onfoh me fram mannum, and agíf me minum Láreowe, þæt he ðurh ðe me underfo, seðe þurh ðe me alysde." Hereupon Ægeas exasperated ordered him to be hanged on a cross, and commanded the executioners to bind him on the cross with withies hands and feet, that he might slowly suffer. Then the christian folk ran towards the executioners who led him to the cross, crying and saying, "What has this righteous man and friend of God perpetrated, that he is worthy of the cross?" But Andrew besought the folk not to hinder his suffering. He went with them rejoicing blithe of mind, and instructing the folk. He saw then from afar the cross which was prepared for him, and cried with a loud voice, thus saying, "Hail be to thee, cross, which wast hallowed by the body of Christ, and with his limbs adorned as with pearls. Thou hadst earthly awe before our Lord ascended thee; now thou hast heavenly love, and art ascended for promise. Cheerful and rejoicing I come to thee, that thou mayst joyfully receive me the disciple of him who hung on thee, for I have ever loved thee, and I have desired to embrace thee. O thou good cross, which didst receive beauty and fairness from the limbs of the Lord, thou hast been of old desired and carefully loved, without intermission sought by, and now at last prepared for my longing mind. Receive me from men, and give me to my Teacher, that he through thee receive me, who through thee hath redeemed me."

Æfter ðisum wordum he hine unscrydde, and þam cwellerum his gewǽda betæhte. Hí ða genealæhton, and hine on ðære rode ahófon, and ealne his lichaman mid stearcum wiððum, swa swa him beboden wæs, gewriðon. Þær stodon ða má þonne twentig ðusend manna mid Egeas breðer, samod clypigende, "Unriht wisdom, þæt se halga wer swa ðrowode." Se halga Andreas soðlice of ðære rode gehyrte ðæra geleaffulra manna mód, tihtende to hwilwendlicum geðylde, secgende þæt þeos sceorte þrowung nis to wiðmetenne þam ecan edleane. After these words he unclothed himself, and delivered his weeds to the executioners. They then approached, and raised him on the cross, and bound all his body with strong withies, as they had been commanded. There stood more than twenty thousand men with Ægeas's brother, together crying, "Unjust wisdom, that the holy man should thus suffer." But the holy Andrew from the cross cheered the minds of those faithful men, stimulating them to temporary patience, saying that this short suffering is not to be compared with the everlasting reward.

Þa betwux ðisum eode eall þæt folc to Egeas botle, ealle samod clypigende and cweðende, þæt swa halig wer hangian ne sceolde; sidefull mann, and mid þeawum gefrætwod, æðele láreow, arfæst and gedéfe, gesceadwis and sýfre ne sceolde swa ðrowian, ac sceolde beon alysed lybbende of ðære rode; forðan ðe he ne geswicð soð to bodigenne, nu twegen dagas cucu hangigende. Hwæt ða, Egeas him ondred ða menigu, and behét þæt hé wolde hine alysan, swa swa hí gewilnodon, and eode forð mid. Þa befrán se apostol, mid þam ðe he hine geseah, "Hwæt nu, Egeas, hwí come ðu to us? Gif ðu wylt gelyfan gyt on ðone Hælend, þe bið gemiltsod, swa swa ic ðe behét. Gif ðu to ði come þæt þu me alyse, nelle ic beon alysed lybbende heonon. Nu ic geare geseo minne soðan Cyning; ic stande on his gesihðe to him me gebiddende. Ðin me ofhrywð, and þinre yrmðe, forðan ðe þín andbidað þæt éce forwyrd. Efst nu, earming, þa hwíle ðe ðu ænig ðing miht, ðe-læs ðe ðu wille þonne ðe forwyrned bið." Þa woldon hi hine alysan, ac heora handa astifedon, swa hwá swa hreopode þa rode mid handum. Þa clypode se apostol to Hælendum Criste mid ormætre stemne, þus biddende, "Min góda Láreow, ne lǽt ðu me alysan, buton þu underfó ær minne gast." Then in the meanwhile all the folk went to the house of Ægeas, all crying together and saying, that so holy a man ought not to hang; a man strict of conduct, adorned with pure morals, a noble teacher, pious and meek, discreet and sober, ought not so to suffer, but should be loosed living from the cross; for he ceases not from preaching truth, now hanging two days alive. Hereupon Ægeas feared the multitude, and promised that he would release him as they desired, and went forth with them. Then the apostle, when he saw them, asked, "How now, Ægeas, why comest thou to us? If thou wilt yet believe in Jesus, thou shalt have mercy, as I promised thee. If thou comest to release me, I will not be released hence living. Now I already see my true King; I stand in his sight praying to him. For thee and thy misery I grieve, for eternal perdition awaits thee. Hasten now, wretch, while thou canst do anything, lest thou desire when it is forbidden thee." They would then release him, but their hands stiffened, whosoever touched the cross with hands. Then the apostle, with loudest voice, cried to Jesus Christ, thus praying, "My good Master, let me not be released, but do thou first receive my spirit."

Æfter ðisum wordum wearð gesewen leoht micel of heofonum færlice cumende to ðam apostole, and hine ealne ymbsceán, swa þæt mennisce eagan hine ne mihton geséon, for ðam heofonlican leohte ðe hine befeng. Þæt leoht ðurhwunode swa for nean ane tide, and Andreas ageaf his gast on ðam leohte, and ferde to Criste samod mid þam leoman, þam is á wuldor geond ealle woruld. After these words a great light was seen suddenly coming from heaven to the apostle, and illumined him all around, so that human eyes might not see him for the heavenly light that surrounded him. The light continued nearly an hour, and Andrew gave up his ghost in that light, and went to Christ together with that beam, to whom is ever glory throughout all the world.

Egeas wearð gelæht fram atelicum deofle hamwerd be wege, ærðan ðe hé to húse come, and hé ðearle awedde, aworpen to eorðan on manna gesihðe þe him mid eodon. He gewát ða of worulde wælhreow to helle, and his broðor heold þæs halgan Andreas líc mid micelre arwurðnysse, þæt hé ætwindan moste. Swa micel óga asprang ofer eallum ðam mennisce, þæt ðær nán ne beláf ðe ne gelyfde on God. Ægeas was seized by the horrid devil on the way homeward, before he came to his house, and he became exceedingly frantic, being cast to the earth in the sight of the men who went with him. He then departed from the world bloodthirsty to hell, and his brother held the corpse of the holy Andrew with great reverence, that he might enwrap it. So great awe sprang up over all that people, that not one there remained who believed not in God.

Þas ðrowunge awriton þære ðeode preostas and ða ylcan diaconas ðe hit eal gesawon, ðy-læs þe hwam twynige þyssere gereccednysse. Uton nu biddan ðone Ælmihtigan Wealdend, þæt his eadiga apostol ure ðingere beo, swa swa hé wunode his gelaðunge bydel. Sy ðam Metodan Drihtne wurþmynt and lóf á on ecnysse. Amen we cweðað. The priests of that nation, and the same deacons who saw it all, recorded this passion, lest any one should doubt concerning this narrative. Let us now pray to the Almighty Ruler, that his apostle may be our intercessor, as he had been the preacher of his church. Be to the Lord Creator honour and praise ever to eternity. Amen we say.

DOMINICA PRIMA IN ADUENTUM DOMINI. THE FIRST SUNDAY IN THE LORD'S ADVENT.

Þyses dæges þenung, and ðyssere tide mærð sprecað embe Godes to-cyme. Þeos tíd oð midne winter is gecweden, Aduentus Domini, þæt is Drihtnes to-cyme. His to-cyme is his menniscnys. He com to us ðaða he genam ure gecynd to his Ælmihtigan Godcundnysse, to ði þæt hé us fram deofles anwealde alysde. The service of this day, and the celebration of this tide speak concerning God's advent. This tide until midwinter is called Adventus Domini, that is The Lord's Coming. His advent is his humanity. He came to us when he took our nature to his Almighty Godhead, to the end that he might redeem us from the power of the devil.

Nu stent se gewuna on Godes gelaðunge, þæt ealle Godes ðeowan on cyrclicum ðenungum, ægðer ge on halgum rædingum ge on gedremum lofsangum, ðæra witegena gyddunga singallice on þyssere tide reccað. Þa witegan, þurh Godes Gast, witegodon Cristes to-cyme ðurh menniscnysse, and be ðam manega bec setton, ða ðe we nu oferrædað æt Godes ðeowdome ætforan his gebyrd-tide, him to wurðmynte, þæt he ús swa mildheortlice geneosian wolde. Crist com on ðam timan to mancynne gesewenlice, ac he bið æfre ungesewenlice mid his gecorenum þeowum, swa swa he sylf behét, þus cweðende, "Efne ic beo mid eow eallum dagum, oð þissere worulde gefyllednysse." Mid ðisum wordum he geswutelode þæt æfre beoð, oð middangeardes geendunge, him gecorene menn, ðe þæs wyrðe beoð þæt hí Godes wununge mid him habban moton. The custom now stands in God's church, that all God's servants in the church-services, both in holy readings and in harmonious hymns, constantly at this tide recite the songs of the prophets. The prophets, through the Spirit of God, prophesied Christ's advent through humanity, and of that composed many books, which we now read over at God's service before his birth-tide, to his honour, for that he would so mercifully visit us. Christ came at that time to mankind visibly, but he is ever invisibly with his chosen servants, as he himself promised, thus saying, "Lo I will be with you on all days until the consummation of this world." By these words he manifested that there will ever be, until the ending of the world, men chosen to him, who will be worthy that with him they may have habitation with God.

Þa halgan witegan witegodon ægðer ge ðone ærran to-cyme on ðære acennednysse, and eac ðone æftran æt ðam micclum dome. We eac, Godes ðeowas, getrymmað urne geleafan mid þyssere tide þenungum, forðan ðe we on urum lofsangum geandettað ure alysednysse þurh his ærran to-cyme, and we ús sylfe mániað þæt we on his æftran to-cyme gearwe beon, þæt we moton fram ðam dome him folgian to ðam ecan lífe, swa swa hé us behét. Be ðyssere tide mærsunge spræc se apostol Paulus on ðyssere pistol-rædinge to Romaniscum leodum, and eac to eallum geleaffullum mannum, þus mánigende, "Mine gebroðra, wite ge þæt nu is tima ús of slæpe to arisenne: ure hǽl is gehendre þonne we gelyfdon. Seo niht gewát, and se dæg genealæhte. Uton awurpan ðeostra weorc, and beon ymbscrydde mid leohtes wæpnum, swa þæt we on dæge arwurðlice faron; na on oferætum and druncennyssum, na on forliger-beddum and unclænnyssum, na on geflite and ándan; ac beoð ymbscrydde þurh Drihten Hælend Crist." The holy prophets prophesied both the first advent at the birth, and also the latter at the great doom. We also, God's servants, confirm our faith with the services of this tide, because we in our hymns confess our redemption through his first advent, and we admonish ourselves to be ready on his latter advent, that we may from that doom follow him to everlasting life, as he has promised us. Of the celebration of this tide the apostle Paul, in this epistle to the Roman people, and also to all believing men, spake, thus admonishing, "My brothers, know ye that it is now time for us to arise from sleep: our salvation is nearer than we believed. The night is departed, and the day has approached. Let us cast away works of darkness, and be invested with weapons of light, so that we by day may go honestly; not in gluttony and drunkenness, not in adulteries and uncleannesses, not in strife and envy; but be invested by the Lord Jesus Christ."

Se apostol ús awrehte þæt we of slæpe ure asolcennysse and ungeleaffulnysse æt sumon sæle arison, swa swa ge on ðyssere andwerdan rǽdinge gehyrdon. "Mine gebroðra, wite ge þæt nu is tima ús of slæpe to arisenne." Witodlice ne gedafenað ús þæt we symle hnesce beon on urum geleafan, swa swa ðas merwan cild, ac we sceolon onettan to fulfremedre geðincðe, þurh gehealdsumnysse Godes beboda. We sceolon asceacan ðone sleacan slǽp us fram, and deofles weorc forlǽtan, and gán on leohte, þæt is, on godum weorcum. Gefyrn scean leoht ingehydes geond eorðan ymbhwyrft, and forwel menige scinað on soðfæstnysse wege, þa ðe farað ðurh godspellic siðfæt to ðæs ecan lifes gefean. Efne nu "ure hæl is gehendre þonne we gelyfdon." Þurh ðeonde ingehyd and gódne willan, anum gehwilcum is hæl gehendre ðonne him wære ðaða hé æt fruman gelyfde, and forði hé sceal symle geðeon on dæghwomlicere gecnyrdnysse, swa swa se sealm-scóp cwæð be Godes gecorenum, "Þa halgan farað fram mihte to mihte." The apostle has excited us to arise at some time from the sleep of our sluggishness and disbelief, as ye in this present lesson have heard. "My brothers, know ye that it is now time for us to arise from sleep." Verily it befits us not to be always delicate in our faith, as a tender child, but we should hasten to perfect excellence through the observance of God's commandments. We should shake sluggish sleep from us, and forsake the devil's works, and go in the light, that is, in good works. Of old the light of knowledge shone over the circumference of earth, and very many shine in the way of truth, who go through the evangelic path to the joy of everlasting life. Lo now "our salvation is nearer than we believed." Through increasing knowledge and good will, salvation is nearer to every one than it was to him when he at first believed, and therefore he should ever increase in daily diligence, as the psalmist said of God's chosen, "The holy go from virtue to virtue."

Eac is gehwilcum men his endenexta dæg near and near; and se gemænelica dóm dæghwomlice genealæhð, on ðam underfehð anra gehwilc be ðam ðe hé geearnode on lichaman, swa gód swa yfel. Uton forði ælc yfel forfleon, and gód be ure mihte gefremman, þy-lǽs ðe we ðonne willon ðonne we ne magon, and we ðonne fyrstes biddon ðonne us se deað to forðsiðe geneadað. "Seo niht gewát, and se dæg genealæhte." Hér asette se apostol niht for ðære ealdan nytennysse, ðe rixode geond ealne middangeard ǽr Cristes to-cyme; ac he toscoc ða dwollican nytennysse ðurh onlihtinge his andwerdnysse, swa swa se beorhta dæg todræfð þa dimlican þeostru ðære sweartan nihte. Deofol is eac niht gecweden, and Crist dæg, seðe us mildheortlice fram deofles ðeostrum alysde, and us forgeaf leoht ingehydes and soðfæstnysse. "Uton awurpan þeostra weorc, and beon ymbscrydde mid leohtes wæpnum, swa þæt we on dæge arwurðlice faron." Uton awurpan ðurh andetnysse and behreowsunge þa forðgewitenan yfelu, and uton heonon-forð stranglice wiðstandan deofles tihtingum, swa swa se ylca apostol on oðre stowe his underðeoddan mánode, "Wiðstandað þam deofle, and he flihð fram eow; genealæcað Gode, and he genealæhð to eow." Leohtes wæpna synd rihtwisnysse weorc and soðfæstnysse. Mid ðam wæpnum we sceolon beon ymbscrydde, swa þæt we on dæge arwurðlice faron. Swa swa dæges leoht forwyrnð gehwilcne to gefremmenne þæt þæt seo niht geðafað, swa eac soðfæstnysse ingehyd, þæt is, geðoht ures Drihtnes willan, ús ne geðafað mándæda to gefremmenne. Also to every man is his last day nearer and nearer; and the common doom approaches daily, at which every one will receive according to what he has merited in body, whether good or evil. Let us then flee from every evil, and do good according to our power, lest we be willing when we cannot, and pray for time when death compels us to depart. "The night is departed, and the day has approached." Here the apostle has placed night for the old ignorance, which reigned through all the world before Christ's advent; but he scattered the erroneous ignorance by the illumination of his presence, as the bright day drives away the dim darkness of the swart night. The devil is also called night, and Christ day, who has mercifully released us from the devil's darkness, and given us the light of knowledge and truth. "Let us cast away works of darkness, and be invested with weapons of light, so that we by day may go honestly." Let us by confession and repentance cast away the forthgone evils, and let us henceforth strongly withstand the instigations of the devil, as the same apostle in another place exhorted his followers, "Withstand the devil, and he will flee from you; draw near unto God, and he will draw near unto you." The weapons of light are works of righteousness and truth. With those weapons we should be invested, so that we by day may go honestly. As the light of day forbids everyone to perpetrate that which the night allows, so also the knowledge of truth, that is, the thought of our Lord's will, allows us not to perpetrate deeds of wickedness.

Symle we beoð fram Gode gesewene, ægðer ge wiðutan ge wiðinnan; þi sceal eac gehwá seðe fordémed beon nele eallunga warnian þæt hé Godes beboda ne forgǽge, na on oferǽtum and druncennyssum. We sceolon habban gastlice gereordunge, swa swa se ylca apostol ðisum wordum tæhte, "Þonne ge eow to gereorde gaderiað, hæbbe eower gehwilc halwende láre on muðe, and sealm-boc on handa." Druncennys is cwylmbære ðing, and galnysse antimber. Salomon cwæð, "Ne bið nán ðing digle þær ðær druncennys rixað." On oðre stowe beweop se ylca apostol ungemetegodra manna líf, ðus cweðende, "Heora wámb is heora God, and heora ende is forwyrd, and heora wuldor on gescyndnysse." Na on forliger-beddum and on unclænnyssum, ac beo arwyrðe sinscipe betwux gelyfedum mannum, swa þæt furðon nán forliger ne unclænnyss ne sy genemned on Godes gelaðunge; na on geflite and ándan. Crist cwæð be gesibsumum mannum, þæt hi sind Godes bearn gécigede, and witodlice ða geflitfullan sind deofles lyma. Se yfela secð symle ceaste, and wælhreaw engel bið asend togeanes him. Anda is derigendlic leahter, and æfre bið se niðfulla wunigende on gedrefednysse, forðan ðe se ánda ablent his mód, and ælcere gastlicere blisse benæmð. Þurh ándan bepæhte se deofol þone frumsceapenan mann, and se niðfulla is þæra deofla dælnimend. Seo soðe sibb afligð ungeðwærnysse, and ðæs modes digelnysse onliht, and witodlice se ánda gemenigfylt yrsunge. We are ever seen by God, both without and within; therefore should everyone who wills not to be condemned especially take care that he transgress not God's commandments, either by gluttony or drunkenness. We should have ghostly refection, as the same apostle taught in these words, "When ye gather yourselves to refection, let each of you have salutary lore in mouth, and psalm-book in hand." Drunkenness is a death-bearing thing, and the material of libidinousness. Solomon said, "Nothing is secret where drunkenness reigns." In another place the same apostle bewailed the life of intemperate men, thus saying, "Their belly is their God, and their end is perdition, and their glory in pollution." Not in adulteries and uncleannesses, but let there be honourable union between believing persons, so that at least no adultery nor uncleanness be named in God's church; not in strife and envy. Christ said of peaceful men, that they are called children of God; and verily the strifeful are limbs of the devil. The evil ever seeks contention, and a cruel angel will be sent against him. Envy is a pernicious vice, and ever will the envious be continuing in affliction, because envy blinds his mind and deprives it of every ghostly bliss. Through envy the devil deceived the first-created man, and the envious is a participator with the devils. True peace drives away discord, and enlightens the darkness of the mind, and envy certainly multiplies anger.

Se apostol beleac þisne pistol mid þisum wordum, "Ac beoð ymbscrydde ðurh Drihten Hælend Crist." Ealle ða ðe on Criste beoð gefullode, hí beoð mid Criste ymbscrydde, gif hi ðone cristendom mid rihtwisnysse weorcum geglengað. Ðas gewædu awrát se ylca apostol swutellicor on oðre stowe, ðus cweðende, "Ymbscrydað eow, swa swa Godes gecorenan, mid mildheortnysse and mid welwillendnysse, mid eadmodnysse, mid gemetfæstnysse, mid geðylde, and habbað eow, toforan eallum ðingum, ða soðan lufe, seoðe is bénd ealra fulfremednyssa; and Cristes sib blissige on eowrum heortum, on ðære ge sind gecígede on anum lichaman. Beoð þancfulle, and Godes word wunige betwux eow genihtsumlice, on eallum wisdome tæcende and tihtende eow betwynan, on sealmsangum and gastlicum lófsangum, singende mid gife Godes on eowrum heortum. Swa hwæt swa ge doð on worde oððe on weorce, doð symle on Drihtnes naman, þancigende ðam Ælmihtigan Fæder ðurh his Bearn, þe mid him symle on ánnysse þæs Halgan Gastes wunað." The apostle closed this epistle with these words, "But be invested by the Lord Jesus Christ." All those who are baptized in Christ are invested with Christ, if they adorn their christianity with works of righteousness. Of these weeds the same apostle wrote more plainly in another place, thus saying, "Clothe yourselves, as God's chosen, with mercy and with benevolence, with humility, with moderation, with patience, and have, before all things, true love, which is the bond of all perfections; and let Christ's peace rejoice in your hearts, in which ye are called in one body. Be thankful, and let God's word dwell among you abundantly, in all wisdom teaching and stimulating among yourselves, in psalms and ghostly hymns, singing with God's grace in your hearts. Whatsoever ye do in word or in work, do it ever in the name of the Lord, thanking the Almighty Father through his Son, who with him ever continueth in unity of the Holy Ghost."

Uton forði us gearcian mid þisum foresædum reafum, be ðæs apostoles mynegunge, þæt we to ðære wundorlican gebyrd-tide ures Drihtnes mid freolslicere ðenunge becumon, þam sy wuldor and lóf á on ecnysse. Amen. Let us then prepare ourselves with these before-said garments, according to the apostle's admonition, that we may come to the wonderful birth-tide of our Lord with solemn service, to whom be glory and praise ever to eternity. Amen.

DOMINICA II. IN ADUENTUM DOMINI. THE SECOND SUNDAY IN THE LORD'S ADVENT.

Erunt signa in sole et luna et stellis: et reliqua. Erunt signa in sole et luna et stellis: et reliqua.

Se Godspellere Lucas awrát on ðisum dægðerlican godspelle, þæt ure Drihten wæs sprecende þisum wordum to his leorning-cnihtum, be ðam tácnum ðe ǽr þyssere worulde geendunge gelimpað. Drihten cwæð, "Tácna gewurðað on sunnan, and on mónan, and on steorrum, and on eorðan bið þeoda ofðryccednyss:" et reliqua. The Evangelist Luke wrote in this day's gospel, that our Lord was speaking in these words to his disciples, concerning the signs which will happen before the ending of this world. The Lord said, "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and on earth there shall be affliction of nations," etc.

Se halga Gregorius us trahtnode þyses godspelles digelnysse þus undergynnende: Drihten ure Alysend ús gewilnað gearwe gemetan, and forþi cydde ða yfelnyssa ðe folgiað þam ealdigendan middangearde, þæt hé us fram his lufe gestilde. He geswutelode hú fela ðrowunga forestæppað þyssere worulde geendunge, gif we God on smyltnysse ondrædan nellað, þæt we huru his genealæcendan dóm, mid mislicum swinglum afǽrede, ondrædon. Her wiðufan on þyssere rǽdinge cwæð se Hælend, "Ðeod arist ongean ðeode, and rice ongean rice, and micele eorðstyrunga beoð gehwær, and cwealm, and hunger." And syððan betwux ðam þus cwæð, "Tácna beoð on sunnan, and on mónan, and on steorrum, and on eorðan ðeoda ofðriccednys, for gemencgednysse sǽlicra yða and sweges." The holy Gregory has expounded for us the obscurity of this gospel, thus beginning: The Lord our Redeemer is desirous to find us ready, and therefore chid the evils which follow the senescent world, that he might wean us from its love. He manifested how many sufferings will precede the ending of this world, if we will not dread God in serenity, that at least, terrified with many tribulations, we may dread his approaching doom. Here above in this lesson Jesus said, "Nation shall arise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and great earthquakes shall be everywhere, and pestilence, and hunger." And afterwards among them thus said, "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and on earth affliction of nations, for the mingling of the sea-waves and sound."

Sume ðas tácna we gesawon gefremmede, sume we ondrædað us towearde. Witodlice on ðisum niwum dagum arison ðeoda ongean ðeoda, and heora ofðriccednyss on eorðan gelámp swiðor þonne we on ealdum bocum rædað. Oft eorðstyrung gehwǽr fela burhga ofhreas, swa swa gelámp on Tyberies dæge þæs caseres, þæt ðreottyne byrig ðurh eorðstyrunge afeollon. Mid cwealme and mid hungre we sind gelome geswencte, ac we nateshwon gyta swutele tácna on sunnan, and on mónan, and on steorrum ne gesáwon. We rædað on tungelcræfte þæt seo sunne bið hwiltidum þurh ðæs monelican trendles underscyte aðystrod, and eac se fulla móna færlice fagettað, þonne he ðæs sunlican leohtes bedæled bið ðurh ðære eorðan sceadwunge. Sind eac sume steorran leoht-beamede, færlice arísende, and hrædlice gewítende, and hí symle sum ðing níwes mid heora upspringe gebícniað: ac ne mænde Drihten ðas tácna on ðære godspellican witegunge, ac ða egefullan tácna þe ðam micclan dæge forestæppað. Matheus se Godspellere awrát swutelicor þas tácna, þus cweðende, "Þærrihte æfter ðære micclan gedrefednysse, bið seo sunne aðystrod, and se móna ne sylð nán leoht, and steorran feallað of heofonum, and heofonan mihta beoð astyrode, and ðonne bið æteowed Cristes róde-tácn on heofonum, and ealle eorðlice mægða heofiað." Ðære sǽ gemengednyssa, and dæra yða sweg ungewunelice gyt ne asprungon, ac ðonne fela ðæra foresædra tácna gefyllede sind, nis nán twynung þæt þa feawa ðe þær to lafe sind witodlice gefyllede beón. Some of these signs we have seen accomplished, some we fear are to come. Verily in these new days nations have arisen against nations, and their affliction on earth has happened greater than we in old books read. Oft an earthquake in divers places has overthrown many cities, as it happened in the days of the emperor Tiberius, that thirteen cities fell through an earthquake. With pestilence and with hunger we are frequently afflicted, but we have not yet seen manifest signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. We read in astronomy, that the sun is sometimes darkened by the intervention of the lunar orb, and also the full moon suddenly becomes dusky, when it is deprived of the solar light by the shadow of the earth. There are also some stars beamed with light, suddenly rising, and quickly departing, and they by their uprise ever indicate something new: but the Lord meant not these signs in the evangelical prophecy, but the awful signs which will precede the great day. Matthew the Evangelist wrote more plainly of these signs, thus saying, "Straightways after the great tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall give no light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be agitated, and then shall appear the sign of Christ's cross in the heavens, and all earthly powers shall mourn." The minglings of the sea, and the sound of the waves have not yet unusually happened, but when many of the before-said signs have been fulfilled, there is no doubt that the few which are remaining will also be fulfilled.

Mine gebroðra, þas ðing sind awritene þæt ure mód þurh wærscipe wacole beon, þæt hi ðurh orsorhnysse ne asleacion, ne ðurh nytennysse geadlion; ac þæt symle se óga hí gebysgige, and seo embhydignys on gódum weorcum getrymme. Drihten cwæð, "Menn forseariað for ógan and andbidunge ðæra ðinga þe becumað ofer ealne middangeard. Witodlice heofonan mihta beoð astyrode." Heofonan mihta sind englas and heah-englas, þrymsetl, ealdorscipas, hlafordscipas and anwealdu. Þas engla werod beoð æteowde gesewenlice urum gesihðum on to-cyme ðæs strecan Déman, þæt hí stiðlice æt ús ofgan þæt þæt se ungesewenlica Scyppend emlice forberð. Þonne we geseoð mannes Bearn cumende on wolcnum, mid micelre mihte and mægenðrymme. Drihten gecígde hine sylfne mannes Bearn gelomlicor ðonne Godes Bearn, for eadmodnysse þære underfangenan menniscnysse, þæt hé us mynegige mid þam gecynde þe he for ús underfeng. He is soðlice mannes Bearn, and ne manna Bearn, and nis nán oðer anes mannes bearn buton Crist ána. He bið on mihte and on mægenðrymme geswutelod þam ðe hine on eadmodnysse wunigende gehyran noldon, þæt hí ðonne gefredon his mihte swa miccle stiðlicor, swa micclum swa hí nu heora swuran to his geðylde nellað gebigan. Þas word sind gecwedene be ðam wiðercorenum, ac her fyliað þa word ðe ða gecorenan frefriað. Se Hælend cwæð, "Þonne ðas wundra ongynnað, ahebbað þonne eowre heafda and behealdað, forðan ðe eower alysednyss genealæhð." Swilce hé swutellice his gecorenan mánode, 'Þonne middangeardes wita gelomlæcað, þonne se óga ðæs micclan domes bið æteowod, ahebbað þonne eowre heafda, þæt is, gladiað on eowrum mode, forði ðonne þes middangeard bið geendod, þe ge ne lufodon; þonne bið gehende seo alysednyss ðe ge sohton.' On halgum gewrite bið gelomlice heafod gesett for þæs mannes mode, forðan ðe þæt heafod gewissað þam oðrum limum, swa swa þæt mód gediht ða geðohtas. We ahebbað ure heafda þonne we ure mód arærað to gefean þæs heofonlican eðles. Þa ðe God lufiað, hí sind gemánode þæt hí gladion on middangeardes geendunge, forðan þonne he gewít, ðe hí ne lufodon, ðonne witodlice hí gemetað þone ðe hí lufodon. My brothers, these things are written that our minds may be vigilant through heedfulness, that through security they slacken not, nor through ignorance become void; but that terror ever occupy, and attention to good works confirm them. The Lord said, "Men shall wither for terror and for awaiting the things which shall come over all the world: for the powers of heaven shall be agitated." The powers of heaven are angels and archangels, thrones, principalities, lordships and powers. These hosts of angels will appear visible to our sights at the advent of the severe Judge, that they may sternly exact from us that which the invisible Creator patiently forbears. Then we shall see the Son of man coming in clouds, with great might and majesty. The Lord called himself the Son of man oftener than the Son of God, from the humility of his assumed humanity, that he may admonish us with the nature which he for us received. He is truly Son of man, and not Son of men, and there is no other son of one man but Christ alone. He will be manifested in might and in majesty to those who would not obey him while existing in humility, that they then may feel his might by so much the more severely as they now will not bow their necks to his patience. These words are said of the reprobates, but here follow the words which comfort the chosen. Jesus said, "When these wonders begin, then lift up your heads and behold, for your redemption approacheth." As if he had manifestly exhorted his chosen, 'When the torments of the world shall thicken, when the dread of the great doom shall appear, raise then your heads, that is, be glad in your minds, for then this world shall be ended, which ye loved not; then shall be at hand the redemption which ye sought.' In holy writ head is very frequently put for the mind of man, because the head directs the other members, as the mind devises the thoughts. We lift up our heads when we raise our minds to the joys of the heavenly country. Those whom God loves are exhorted to be glad for the ending of the world, for when that passes away, which they loved not, then certainly they will find that which they loved.

Ne gewurðe hit la, þæt ænig geleafful, seðe gewilnað God to geseonne, þæt hé heofige for middangeardes hryrum; hit is soðlice awriten, "Swa hwá swa wile beon freond þyssere worulde, he bið Godes feond geteald." Witodlice se ðe ne blissað on nealæcunge middangeardes geendunge, se geswutelað þæt he his freond wæs, and bið þonne oferstæled þæt he Godes feond is. Ac gewíte þises middangeardes freondscipe fram geleaffulra manna heortan, and gewíte fram ðam ðe þæt oðer líf gelyfað toweard, and hit ðurh weorc lufiað. Þa sceolon heofian for middangeardes toworpennysse, þa ðe heora heortan wyrtruman on his lufe aplantodon, þa ðe þæt towearde líf ne secað, ne his furðon ne gelyfað: we soðlice, ðe þæs heofonlican eðles gefean eallunga oncneowon, sceolon anmodlice to ðam ónettan. Us is to gewiscenne þæt we hrædlice to ðam faron, and þurh ðone scyrtran weg becumon, forðan ðe ðes middangeard is mid menigfealdum unrótnyssum geðread, and mid ðwyrnyssum geangsumod. O let it not be, that any believer, who desires to see God, mourn for the fall of the world; for it is written, "Whosoever will be a friend of this world, will be accounted a foe of God." But he who rejoices not at the approach of the ending of the world, manifests that he was its friend, and will then be convicted that he is God's foe. But let friendship for this world depart from the hearts of believing men, and depart from them who believe the other life to come, and really love it. They should mourn for the destruction of the world who have planted the root of their heart in its love, who seek not the life to come, nor even believe in it: but we, who full well know the joys of the heavenly country, should unanimously hasten to it. It is for us to wish that we may go to it quickly, and arrive by the shorter way, for this world is afflicted with manifold tribulations, and with crosses tormented.

Hwæt is ðis deadlice líf buton weg? Understandað nu hwilc sy on weges geswince to ateorigenne, and ðeah nelle þone weg geendigan. Drihten cwæð, "Behealdað þæs fíctreowa and ealle oðre treowa, þonne hí spryttað, ðonne wite ge þæt hit sumorlæhð. Swa eac ge magon witan, ðonne ge ðas foresædan tácna geseoð, þæt Godes rice genealæhð." Soðlice mid þisum wordum is geswutelod þæt ðises middangeardes wæstm is hryre. To ðam hé wext þæt he fealle; to ðy he sprytt þæt hé mid cwyldum fornyme swa hwæt swa hé ær sprytte. Þes middangeard is ðam ealdigendan menn gelíc: on iugoðe bið se lichama þeonde on strangum breoste, on fullum limum and halum; witodlice on ealdlicum gearum bið þæs mannes wæstm gebíged, his swura aslacod, his neb gerifod, and his lima ealle gewæhte; his breost bið mid sicetungum geðread, and betwux wordum his orðung ateorað; þeah ðe him adl ón ne sitte, þeah forwel oft his hæl him bið adl. Swa is ðisum middangearde: æt fruman hé wæs ðeonde swylce on geogoðháde, he wæs on lichamlicere hælðe growende, and on spéda genihtsumnysse fætt, langsum on life, stille on langsumere sibbe; ac hé is nu mid ylde ofsett, swylce mid gelomlæcendum héfigtymnyssum to deaðe geðread. What is this deathlike life but a way? Understand now what it is to faint through the toil of the way, and yet not to desire the way to end. The Lord said, "Behold these figtrees and all other trees, when they sprout, then ye know that summer is near. So likewise ye may know, when ye see these before-said signs, that God's kingdom draweth near." Verily by these words it is manifested that the fruit of this world is falling. It grows that it may fall; it sprouts that it may destroy with diseases whatsoever it had before sprouted. This world is like to a senescent man: in youth the body is thriving with strong breast, with full and hale limbs; but in senile years the man's stature is bowed, his neck slackened, his face wrinkled, and his limbs all afflicted; his breast is tormented with sighs, and between his words his breath fails; though disease sit not on him, yet too often his health is a disease to him. So it is with this world: at first it was thriving as in youth, it was growing in bodily health, and fat in abundance of good things, long in life, still in long peace; but now it is with age oppressed, as it were with frequent tribulations afflicted to death.

Mine gebroðra, ne lufige ge þisne middangeard þe ge geseoð þæt lange wunian ne mæg. Be ðisum cwæð se apostol, "Ne lufige ge middangeard, ne ða ðing ðe him on wuniað, forðan swa hwá swa middangeard lufað, næfð hé Godes lufe on him." My brothers, love not this world which ye see cannot long exist. Of this the apostle said, "Love not the world, nor anything that dwelleth on it, for whosoever loveth the world, hath not love of God in him."

Wel is Godes rice sumerlicere tide wiðmeten, forði ðonne gewitað þa genipu ure dreorignysse, and lifes dagas ðurh beorhtnysse þære ecan sunnan scinað. Well is the kingdom of God compared with the summer season, for then the clouds of our dreariness pass away, and the days of life shine through the brightness of the eternal sun.

Ealle ðas foresædan ðing sind mid micelre gewissunge getrymde þurh ðisne æfterfyligendan cwyde, "Soð ic eow secge, Ne gewít ðeos mægð, oðþæt ealle ðas ðing gewurðað." Þas word spræc Drihten to Iudeiscre mægðe, and heora cynn ne gewít þurh ateorunge, ærðan ðe þes middangeard geendað. Be ðisum andgite cwæð se apostol Paulus, þæt "Drihten sylf astihð of heofonum on stemne þæs heah-engles, and mid Godes byman, and ða deadan ærest arisað; syððan we ðe lybbað, and on lichaman beoð gemette beoð gelæhte forð mid þam oðrum on wolcnum togeanes Criste, and we swa symle syððan mid Gode beoð. Frefriað eów mid þisum wordum." Eac on ðisum andgite geðwærlæhð se Godspellere Matheus, þisum wordum, "Drihten asent his englas mid byman and micelre stemne, and hí gaderiað his gecorenan fram feower windum, of eallum eorðlicum gemærum oð ða heálican heofonan." All these before-said things are with great certainty confirmed by this following sentence, "Verily I say unto you, This tribe shall not pass away, until all these things shall take place." These words the Lord spake to the Jewish tribe, and their kin will not pass away through decay, before this world ends. Of this sentence the apostle Paul said, that "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead will first arise; afterwards, we who live, and shall be found in the body, will be caught forth with the others in clouds towards Christ, and so we shall ever after be with God. Comfort yourselves with these words." Also in this sentence the Evangelist Matthew agrees, in these words, "The Lord will send his angels with trumpet and loud voice, and they shall gather his chosen from the four winds, from all earthly boundaries to the high heavens."

Se apostol cwæð, "We ðe lybbað." Ne mænde he hine sylfne mid þam worde, ac ða ðe on life þurhwuniað oþ geendunge þyssere worulde. Mid þam is eac geswutelod, þæt mancynn mid ealle ne ateorað ær ðære geendunge, ac hí habbað hwæðere sceortne deað, þa ðe þonne on life gemette beoð; forðan ðe heofonlic fyr ofergæð ealne middangeard mid anum bryne, and ða deadan arisað of heora byrgenum mid ðam fyre, and ða lybbendan beoð acwealde þurh ðæs fyres hætan, and ðærrihte eft ge-edcucode to ecum ðingum. Ne derað þæt fyr nán ðing þam rihtwisum, ðe ǽr fram synnum geclænsode wæron; ac swa hwá swa ungeclænsod bið, he gefret þæs fyres ǽðm; and we ðonne ealle to ðam dóme becumað. Ne bið se dóm on nánum eorðlicum felda gedémed, ac bið swa swa se apostol her wiðufan on þyssere rǽdinge cwæð, þæt we beoð gegripene on wolcnum togeanes Criste, geond þas lyft; and þær bið seo twæming rihtwisra manna and arleasra. Þa rihtwisan nahwar syððan ne wuniað buton mid Gode on heofonan rice, and ða arleasan nahwar buton mid deofle on helle suslum. The apostle said, "We who live." He did not mean himself by those words, but those who continue in life until the ending of this world. By that it is likewise manifested, that mankind will not wholly perish before the ending, but that they will, nevertheless, have a short death who shall then be found in life; for heavenly fire will pass over all the world with one burning, and the dead will arise from their graves with that fire, and the living will be slain by the fire's heat, and straightways after requickened to eternity. The fire will in no wise injure the righteous who had before been cleansed from sins; but whosoever is uncleansed shall eat the fire's breath; and we shall then all come to the doom. The doom will be deemed on no earthly field, but will be as the apostle here above in this lesson said, that we shall be seized up in clouds towards Christ, through the air; and there will be the separation of righteous and impious men. The righteous will afterwards dwell nowhere but with God in the kingdom of heaven, and the impious nowhere but with the devil in hell-torments.

Se Hælend beleac þis godspel mid þisum wordum: "Heofen and eorðe gewítað, and mine word næfre ne gewítað." Ne awendað heofon and eorðe to nahte, ac hi beoð awende of ðam hiwe ðe hí nu on wuniað to beteran hiwe, swa swa Iohannes se Godspellere cwæð, "Þonne bið niwe heofon and niwe eorðe." Ne beoð witodlice oðre gesceapene, ac ðas beoð ge-edniwode. Heofon and eorðe gewítað, and ðeah ðurhwuniað, forðan ðe hí beoð fram ðam hiwe ðe hí nu habbað þurh fyr geclænsode, and swa-ðeah symle on heora gecynde standað. Þonne bið seo sunne be seofonfealdum beorhtre þonne heo nu sy, and se móna hæfð þære sunnan leoht. Jesus concluded this gospel with these words: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away." Heaven and earth will not turn to naught, but they will be changed from the form in which they now exist to a better form, as John the Evangelist said, "Then there shall be a new heaven and a new earth." There will not indeed be others created, but these will be renewed. Heaven and earth will pass away, but will, nevertheless, continue, for they will be cleansed by fire from the form which they now have, and will yet stand ever in their own nature. Then will the sun be sevenfold brighter than it now is, and the moon will have the light of the sun.

Dauid soðlice be Cristes to-cyme þisum wordum witegode: "God cymð swutellice, and hé ne suwað. Fyr byrnð on his gesihðe, and on his ymbhwyrfte bið swiðlic storm." Se storm aðwyhð swa hwæt swa þæt fyr forswælð. Be ðam dæge cwæð se witega Sofonias, "Se miccla Godes dæg is swiðe gehende, and ðearle swyft: biter bið þæs dæges stemn: þær bið se stránga gedrefed. Se dæg is yrres dæg, and gedrefednysse dæg and angsumnysse, yrmðe dæg and wánunge, þeostra dæg and dimnysse, byman dæg and cyrmes." David verily prophesied of Christ's advent in these words: "God shall come manifestly, and he will not keep silence. Fire shall burn in his sight, and round about him shall be a mighty storm." The storm will wash whatsoever the fire burns. Of that day the prophet Zephaniah said, "The great day of God is very near at hand, and exceedingly swift: bitter shall be the voice of that day: there shall the strong be afflicted. That day is a day of wrath, and a day of affliction and anxiety, a day of misery and wail, a day of darkness and dimness, a day of the trumpet and of outcry."

Mine gebroðra, settað þises dæges gemynd ætforan eowrum eagum, and swa hwæt swa bið nu héfigtyme geðuht, eal hit bið on his wiðmetennysse geliðegod. Gerihtlæcað eower líf, and awendað eowre ðeawas, witniað mid wope eowre yfelan dæda, wiðstandað deofles costnungum; bugað fram yfele, and doð gód, and ge beoð swa micclum orsorgran on to-cyme þæs ecan Déman, swa micclum swa ge nu his strecnysse mid ege forhrádiað. Se witega cwæð, þæt se miccla Godes dæg is swiðe gehende, and þearle swyft. Þeah ðe gyt wære oðer þusend geara to ðam dæge, nære hit langsum; forðan swa hwæt swa geendað, þæt bið sceort and hræd, and bið swilce hit næfre ne gewurde, þonne hit geendod bið. Hwæt þeah hit langsum wære to ðam dæge, swa hit nis, þeah ne bið ure tíma langsum, and on úre geendunge us bið gedémed, hwæðer we on reste oþþe on wite ðone gemǽnelican dóm anbidian sceolon. Uton forði brucan þæs fyrstes ðe us God forgeaf, and geearnian þæt ece líf mid him seðe leofað and rixað in ealra worulda woruld. Amen. My brothers, set the remembrance of this day before your eyes, and whatsoever now appears to be trouble, it shall all be mitigated on comparison with it. Correct your lives, and change your conduct, punish your evil deeds with weeping, withstand the temptations of the devil; eschew evil and do good, and ye will be by so much the more secure at the advent of the eternal Judge, as ye now with terror anticipate his severity. The prophet said, that the great day of God is very near at hand and very swift. Though there were yet another thousand years to that day, it would not be long; for whatsoever ends is short and quick, and will be as it had never been, when it is ended. But though it were long to that day, as it is not, yet will our time not be long, and at our ending it will be adjudged to us, whether we in rest or in torment shall await the common doom. Let us, therefore, profit by the time which God has given us, and merit the everlasting life with him who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

NOTES.

Page 2, l. 5 from bot. undergann—here a finite verb seems wanting.

—2, l. 3 f. b. geendung þyssere worulde. It was an universal belief at the time throughout Europe, that the world was to end in the year 1000: M. Michelet has collected the principal passages to be found in the old writers relative to this superstition. Concil. Trosl. a. 909 (Mansi, xviii. p. 266): "Dum jam jamque adventus imminet illius in majestate terribili, ubi omnes cum gregibus suis venient pastores in conspectum Pastoris æterni," etc.—Trithemii Chron. a. 960: "Diem jamjam imminere dicebat (Bernhardus, eremita Thuringiæ) extremum, et mundum in brevi consummandum."—Abb. Floriac. a. 990 (Gallandius, xiv. 141): "De fine mundi coram populo sermonem in ecclesia Parisiorum audivi, quod statim finito mille annorum numero Antichristus adveniret, et non longo post tempore universale judicium succederet."—Will. Godelli Chron. ap. Scriptt. Fr. x. 262: "A.D. MX, in multis locis per orbem tali rumore audito, timor et mœror corda plurimorum occupavit, et suspicati sunt multi finem sæculi adesse."—Rad. Glaber, l. iv. ibid. 49: "Æstimabatur enim ordo temporum et elementorum præterita ab initio moderans sæcula in chaos decidisse perpetuum, atque humani generis interitum." Hist. de France, t. ii. p. 300, note, ed. Bruxelles.

—6, l. 8. heofenas. Sic MS. for heofenes or heofenan.

—8, l. ult. awecð. MS. Reg. has awyhtð, and after anre handa adds and ealle eorðan he belicð on his handa.

—10, l. 11 f. b. norð-dæle. So Cædmon, p. 3, l. 8.

In fact the whole beginning of the work ascribed to Cædmon appears to be a metrical paraphrase of this homily. Andweald is corrupt orthography for anweald.

—26, l. 13 f. b. for geferena, MS. Reg. has þegena.

—28, l. 2 f. b. After acenned wæs, MS. Reg. adds, seðe æfre buton anginne of þam Ælmihtigan Fæder acenned wæs.

—42, l. 12. Nis nan ... Hælend Crist. These words seem an interpolation, or incidental remark of Ælfric; they are therefore inclosed as a parenthesis in the translation.

—58, l. 9. mægðhad should correctly have been rendered virginity.

—84, l. 9 f. b. This passage concerning Rachel is not clear: it may possibly refer to some rabbinic tradition about her children.

—98, l. 8 f. b. on þissere stowe, in this place. The place where Ælfric composed the homily, probably Cerne abbey (Cernel).

—100, l. 10 f. b. nellað heora þing wanian. This passage is obscure, and the translation purely conjectural. Monday was accounted an unlucky day by the old Germans. See Grimm, D. M. p. 662, and on superstitions connected with the moon, ib. p. 407.

—108, l. 13. This passage is evidently the original of the lines in the Codex Exoniensis, p. 69, 30 sq., and contribute to strengthen the opinion that Cynewulf was the author of that work, as well as of the Vercelli poetry. To him Ælfric dedicated his Life of S. Æthelwold.

—174, l. 9. On praying to saints for their intercession, see also Theodori Lib. Pœniten. xlviii. 1, 2. in 'Ancient Laws and Institutes of England.'

—190, l. 13 f. b. we his gelyfað. The construction with the genitive is worthy of notice: in another place we have, we ðe gelyfað Cristes æristes.

—242, l. 16. alefed. This word is probably akin to læpeo (T. Roffens. læweo) in the Laws of Eadward and Guthrum, x. (Anc. LL. and Inst.), which in the old Latin version is rendered, membris disfactus.

—244. Rubric. "The Litania Major is St. Mark's day, and the Litania Minor is for the Rogation time, or the three days preceding the feast of the Ascension, by the Anglo-Saxons called Gang-days. The service both on St. Mark's day, and on the three Rogation days before the Ascension is the same, and from the present homily it seems, that on the Rogation days the Litany in the time of Ælfric was called Major, as it is also in the Canons of Charlemagne, and in some very old MSS. of the Liturgy; though by the Council of Clovesho, A.D. 747, the service used on St. Mark's day was called 'Litania Major,' leaning for the use of the term on the authority of Rome. The distinction is still strictly observed, the Litania Major signifying St. Mark's day, the other the Rogation week."—R.

—244, l. 16. Uigenna, Vienne in the former province of Dauphiné.

—246, l. 6 f. b. haligdom may here probably signify the host.

—294, l. 13. Lucas se Godspellere. See Homily p. 314, where the book of The Acts of the Apostles is ascribed to St. Luke.

—298, l. 5 f. b. twegen englas, etc. See Cod. Exon. p. 28.

—322, l. 15 f. b. See Cod. Exon. p. 295.

—338, l. 8 f. b. þonne. In Matt. xviii. 12. and Luke xv. 4. hu ne.

—436. Hom. de Assumptione, etc. Here some leaves have been cut out of the MS.; the part wanting, reaching to p. 446, l. 3, is supplied from MS. Reg. It is also supplied (apparently by the hand of Wheelocke) in the MS. itself, but in a text far too corrupt for use.

—448, l. 4. For nalæs, MS. Reg. reads here, ne læs, which is followed in the version; but the entire passage is still far from clear.

—524, l. 9 f. b. Here a leaf has been cut out; the part wanting, reaching to p. 530, l. 11, is supplied from MS. Reg.

—534, l. 9. "This passage refers to a ceremony once in very general usage. It was the custom to spread out a sheet of sackcloth on the floor, and on this to sprinkle ashes in the shape of a cross. Just as the dying person was in the last agony, he was taken out of bed, and stretched on the sackcloth and ashes; it being deemed more becoming, that sinful man should yield up his soul thus, than on a soft bed, when his divine Redeemer died on the hard wood of the cross."—R.

This usage was not obsolete about twenty-five years since.

—566, l. 5. nywerenan (MS. Bodl. niwernan). In the Bodley MS. this word (which I do not recollect to have seen elsewhere) is glossed by tenero.

—586, l. 6 f. b. An account of the passion of St. Andrew wholly different from that contained in this homily, is that on which the poem entitled The Legend of St. Andrew is founded, for the details of which the reader is referred to the preface of Mr. Kemble's edition of The Poetry of the Codex Vercellensis. In a very mutilated manuscript of Anglo-Saxon homilies at Blickling Hall, for the loan of which the Society is indebted to the kindness of the Dowager Lady Suffield, there is a fragment of a homily which, it seems highly probable, was the immediate original of the Vercelli poem.

—598, l. 8 f. b. ætwindan. The meaning of this word here I do not understand: can it be an error for hit windan?

—608, l. 9. undergynnende. I am not aware of the occurrence of this word elsewhere. In Ælfric's Preface to the Heptateuch (Analecta A.-S. p. 25) we find underbeginnenne in the sense of to understand.

END OF VOL. I.

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