PART I
CHAPTER I
☙ Of the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the Cross, His triumph over death, and His most joyful Resurrection from the grave
BLESS Thee, and give thanks to
Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for Thy
victory and triumph upon the Cross
over death, and for Thy glorious and
joyful Resurrection from the Tomb,
in which, after being buried amid
many tears, Thou didst, for our sakes, lie for three
days and nights, actually a corpse, hidden from
every human eye, and closed up with a great stone,
so that Thou couldst neither be touched nor seen
by Thy disciples or Thy friends. Thou wast, moreover, watched by a strong guard of heathen soldiers
as a precaution against Thy rising from the dead,
and making Thy escape ; and to prevent Thy disciples from carrying Thee away, secretly taking
Thee to some other place, worshipping Thee as
God, and saying to the people: " The Crucified is
risen from the dead."
But in this case surely the wickedness of evil men recoiled upon themselves; and all the crafti-
