death and in the meane time that it maye please him to make you to prosper from good to better and to giue me to perseuere in your seruice as your very humble and very obedient seruant for euer * ⎠* A Christian exhortation the vvhyche must bee recited with a loude voyce before euery faithfull person being in the agonie of Death HE that is of GOD let him heare the word of GOD and let hym not only hear it but let him kéepe it and put it in execution for all thinges shall haue an ende and shall weare as a garmente but the worde of the Lorde GOD remayneth eternally Nowe séeing it is so that by one man sinne is come into the worlde and by sinne death and consequentlye all afflictions and aduersities depend of the same therefore iustly the life of man is nothing else but a continuall battell vpon the earth in suche sorte that the flesh sighteth against the spirite and the spirite against the Diuell the Worlde and the Flesh which are the enimies of our soules But following the counsell of the Apostle to obteyne victorie in that spirituall battayle you must constantly resist by Faith for the victorie which ouercommeth the world it is our faith the whiche is a true and stedfast knowledge of the loue of God towards vs according as by his Gospell he declareth himselfe to be oure father and sauioure by the meane of Iesus Christ Hauing then suche a stedfast Faith for your principal foundation acknowledge and confesse without fayning before the Maiestie of God that you are a poore and miserable sinner conceiued and borne in iniquitie and corruption prompte to all euill doing vnapte to anye good thing and that by youre vice you haue transgressed without ende and withoute ceassing the whole commaundementes of god In which thing doing you haue drawen by hys iust iudgemente ruine and destruction vpon you yet for all that you are displeased in your self that you haue offended him and do condemne your selfe and youre vices with true repentance desiring that the grace of God doe help your calamitie Praye then in such stedfast fayth if you can not with youre mouth pray wyth youre hearte that God our very louing and most mercifull father doe not enter at all into iudgement nor into accompt with you but that hée will haue pitie vpoÌ„ you in the name of his sonne Iesus Christ our Lord and that it may please him to blotte out our vices and spottes by the merites of the death and passion of the same Iesus Christe in whose name presente you to him his holy Prayer the whiche he hath taught vs in saying with a pure hearte Our Father which art in Heauen thy name be halowed Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heauen Giue vs this day our dayly bread And pardon vs our offences as we pardon them whiche haue offended vs And leade vs not at all into temptation but deliuer vs from the euill For thine is thy Kyngdome the power and the glorie throughout all ages So be it B. S. N. Acknowledge with all youre hearte your vniustice be forse for your sinnes repent you continually and the Kingdome of God shal draw néere vnto you acknowledge that there is no iustice nor innocencie nor anye good workes of you or in you but as a child of wrath conceyued borne in the sinne of the old Adam you do deserue eternall death and damnation Yet for all that let not the same nor all the sinnes of the world if you should haue committed theÌ„ feare you at al for Iesus Christ the true and eternall sonne of God is made verye man conceyued by the holy Ghost borne of a holy Virgin To sanctify and to cleanse you he hath suffered vnder Ponce Pilate many afflictions iniuries and outrages making himselfe a seruante and captine to sette you into full libertie Iesus Christ was crucifyed vpon the woodde of the Crosse to delyuer you from the eternall cursse Iesus Christ dyed in sheding his precious blaud for youre redemption to deliuer you fully from deathe from Hell and from the power of Satan Iesus Christ was buried in the Sepulchre to burie all youre sinnes the which he hathe borne blotted out Iesus Christe is descended into the lower partes in suffering an extreame anguish to deliuer you from all paynes and griefes of death Iesus Christe arose agayne from the dead to make you to rise agayne in your proper body and glorious immortalitie Iesus Christ is gone vp into Heauen to make you to go vp after him Iesus Christ is set at the right haÌ„d of God his father almightie being youre aduocate and intercessor towardes him and the appointment of all your sinnes We a waite for him that he shall come to iudge the liuing and the dead to yeèlde to euery one according to his workes but to his faithfull ones whiche beléeue in him he will not impute at all their sinnes but hauing iustified them by his grace will make them to raigne for euer with him in hys heauenly throne B. S. N. Such is the great misterie of our redemption the whiche by the helpe of the grace of the holye Ghoste you oughte stedfastly to beléeue to baue bin wrought for youre saluation And doubt not at all but that by the merite of Iesus Christe the head of his Churche you are made a member incorporate to the same yéelding him thankes in great humilitie that he hathe giuen you the grace to haue liued in the communion and companye of his faithfull hauing nouâ—ished you with hyword with his bodye and with hys bloud acknowledging as well assured the great mercie of God by the remission of all youre sinnes the which he hath giuen you by Iesus Christ who will make you to rise againe at the latter daye to raigne with him in the life eternall the which he hath promised to all those whiche beléeue in him being baptised in his name Nowe B. S. N. séeing that you haue this Faith doubt not at all to receyue the promise of Faith for God is true he is not a lyar as man is rather Heauen and Earth shall passe but the worde of God remayneth for euer God is youre father and creator you are hys creature and the worke of his hands he hath not made you to destroy you for hée is the sauiour of all men and willeth not the deathe of a sinner but that he conuert and liue wherefore I declare vnto you in the name of God that of his great goodnesse and mercie he giueth you full pardon and remission of all your sinnes by the onely merite of his sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde in the sheding of his pretious bloud for he is the propitiation not only of all your sinnes but of all the sinnes of the whole world B. S. N. Iesus Christ sayeth with his owne mouth that all things are possible to him
vsed towardes oure fathers are not yet quenched and consumed for thou art the great eternall God fauourable and mercifull whiche neuer changest Thy holy worde teacheth vs very playnely that all the earthe is full of thy mercies the whiche doe farre surmount thy Iustice wherefore appease thy rigour towardes thy creature haue pitie and compassion of him for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christ our lord Looke not vppon his sinnes but beholde the face of thy Christe who hathe sufficientlye satisfyed for the same in offering to thée vppon the Crosse the greate Sacrifice of hys body we beséeche thée then most louing and mercifull God to make him to féele thy grace the whyche thou neuer denyest to thy Children And for so much as thou art oure eternall father whiche knowest well what is necessarie and expediente for our saluation we doe not pray thée to prolong or to shorten hys life for we do repose our selues vpon thy holy will the which we doe only desire to do Thou arte wise not néeding councell to dispose of thy creature according to thy good pleasure but if it please thée to call him who is he that maye resist and if thou wilt send him health which is he that maye controll thée For all things are in thy hand and nothing is done without thy will and holye Prouidence Yet notwithstanding O Lord if of thy mercie thou doest prolong his dayes thy scourge shall serue hym for chastizemente to amende and to turne to thée and wée wyth hym shall yéelde vnto thée thankes and prayses But if thou haue determined to passe him into a better life we beséeche thée for the loue of thy sonne Iesus to forget all hys faultes and offences the whyche thou hast willed to be blotted out and washed in the shedding of his pretious bloud That it maye please thée for the merit of the death and passion of thy sonne to receyue his soule into thy hands when thou shalte call him out of thys Worlde O Lord God despise not the workemanship of thy handes for beholde héere thy poore creature in manner vtterly beaten downe the whyche calleth vpon thée from the deapth of all his euils presenting vnto thée his sorowfull and penitente hearte the whiche we beséeche thée to haue for acceptable for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde for whose sake thou hast promised vs to heare our requestes Wherefore O Lord we beséech thée to receyue vs into thy holy conduct lightning our heartes and vnderstandings to addresse vs towardes thée and to call vpon thy name so as thy sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde hath taughte vs to pray for all oure necessities saying Our Father whiche arte in Heauen c. Lastly O God and most mercifull Father that it maye please thée euer to susteyne vs by thy grace and power to the ende that through the weakenesse of our fleshe we fall not And for so muche as of our selues we are so féeble that we are not able to stande fast the space of one minute may it please thée to fortifie vs by thy holy Spirit and to arme vs with thy graces to the end that we may constantlye perseuere in thy Fayth without the whiche it is not possible to please thée it may please thée to confirme vs dayly in the same whereof wée wyll make confession both wyth heart and mouth saying I beleeue in God the Father Almightie c. The Prayers being ended they may sée how the sicke person doeth and enquire how he féeleth himselfe with Christian and gratious spéech but if they sée that he decline and that within shorte time after no token of recouerie doe appeare they may chose some mete time to speake to the sicke person and to aske hym if he do desire to heare spéech of God and to hearken to his word whilest he hath yet good remembrance For if he be of God they maye then beginne thys little Catechisme which followeth * ⎠* A shorte Catechisme vvhiche is not onely to instructe the sicke but also to refreshe his memorie with the great mysterie of oure Redemption for the good vnderstanding and remembrance whereof in his latter dayes he ought to make confession of his faith before the company of the faythful of the which one in the absence of the Minister hould demaund of hym as follovveth The Minister B. S. N. Euery man whiche knoweth well himselfe and is not ignorante of his estate and qualitie certaynely ought to acknowledge that albeit he is created to the image and likenesse of God yet notwythstanding he is conceyned and borne in the sinne of the olde Adam wherby he is made a poóre and wretched sinner ignorant inconstant and full of iniquitie and consequentlye subiecte to all miseries afflictions aduersities and lastly to deathe the cause whereof is sinne the whyche God not willing to leaue it vnpunished doth afflicte vs dayly and to speake it playnely he chastiseth vs in this world to the end we shoulde not be damned wyth the worlde Wherefore B. S. N. be patiente in your sicknesse and you shall possesse your soule in spiritual ioy acknowledge youre sinne and accuse youre selfe before the Maiestie of God whome you must looke vpon and behold by Faith making confession of the same both with heart mouth before the whole company For it is written that man beléeueth wyth his hearte to iustice and confesseth with his mouth to saluation Harken then to the demaundes whyche now I will make vnto you and answere me faithfully according to the vnderstanding that you haue receyued of the lord But if you can not bycause of your weakenesse and impeachment of your sicknesse I wyll answere for you and it shall suffice vs that ye giue vs to vnderstand by some token your heart and cōstancie of faith in the whiche you must liue and dye Now I aske of you For what cause and to what end were you created in this worlde The sicke For to know God. Minister Was it necessarie for you to know God The sicke Yea truely for so muche as hée is my soueraigne goodnesse withoute the knowledge of him I shoulde bée more miserable than the brute beastes Minister Séeing that you know God you know well that he is an infinite power wisedome and goodnesse one onely God in three persons father sonne and holy Ghost It is the onlye God which Abraham Isaac and Iacob did worship in spirit truth It is the only eternall God whiche hathe created Heauen and Earthe as all the thyngs whyche are in them the knowledge of GOD whiche you haue is it not suche The sicke Yes Minister But coulde suche a simple knowledge of God bring you well to eternall life The sicke Very hardly for it is eternall life to confesse and knowe one onely God and hym whome hée hathe sente hys onely eternall sonne oure Lorde and Sauioure Iesus Christ Minister For what
which beléeueth beléeue then without any doubte that Iesus Christe taking to him oure flesh became very man wherefore he dyed for you hauing borne all your sinnes in his body to blotte and put them out Present vnto God the pretious deathe of his sonne Iesus Christ and by the merit of the same death and passion aske him mercie in saying from the bottome of youre heart in great humilitie and repentance LOrd God Almightie be merciful to me poore wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe my Lord and Sauiour And for the merite of his deathe and passion it maye please thee to receiue my soule the which I recommend into thy hands B. S. N. Put your strong trust in God for séeing that he is for you none shall be against you for Iesus Christ which is the Lamb without spotte hathe ouercome all for you he offered himselfe once onely for you and by the same only oblation hathe wholly wiped out all youre sinnes he hath made of none effecte your folly imustice abhomination with thys good Lord Iesus Christ God the father hathe giuen you all things B. S. N. Fortifie your selfe in Iesus Christ the whiche calleth you and iuuiteth you by his Prophets Apostles and Euangelistes to addresse youre selfe fréely to him saying all you which haue thirst come to the great fountayne Come to me all ye that laboure and are loden and I will ease you B. S. N. Beléeue stedfastly that Iesus Christ hath set you frée from all your sinnes and hath reconciled you to God his father to whome in great humilitie and repentance say you from the bottome of your heart LOrd God Almightie be mercifull vnto mee poore wretched Sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christ my Lorde and Sauioure And for the merit of his deathe and passion it may please thee to receiue my Soule the which I recommende into thy hands B. S. N. Be of good chéere for vndoubtedly he will receyue youre soule as his for the loue of his sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde whiche is the Sauioure and Redéemer of all those which beléeue in him Moyses and all the Prophets haue borne witnesse that all people shal receiue saluation and blessing by Iesus Christ The Apostles and Euangelistes witnesse that Iesus Christe is not come to call the iust but the sinners te repentance and to giue his soule for the Redemption of many for hée hath shedde his bloud for the remission of sinne Beléeue then and doubt not at all for Iesus Christe hathe made the purgation of all youre sinnes hauing promised that all those which shal beléeue in him and in his father which hath sent him shall haue eternall life and shall not come at all into iudgemente but shall passe from death into life Go to now B. S. N. reioyce in Iesus Christe for he hathe loued you and washed you from al your sinnes in his bloud Take this strong faith wherewith to fighte valiantlye against the aduersarie haue none other buckler to defende youre selfe withall but this pretious bloud of Iesus Christ the which by the vertue of his deathe and passion hathe reconciled you to God his father vnto whome from the bottome of your hearte in great humilitie and repentance presente this Prayer LOrd God Almightie shew mercie vnto me poore wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe my Lorde and Sauiour and for the merite of his death and passion it may please thee to receyue my soule the whiche I commend into thy handes B. S. N. Holde fast this hope and stedfast fasth that thy good God full of all mercie will receyue youre soule as his into his handes for the loue of his sonne Iesus Christe for there is none other name vnder the Heauen giuen to men by the which we maye be saued and there is no saluatiō in any other than in Iesus Christ arme you then well wyth this good Iesus Christe for he hathe done all for you he hath fulfilled the Law for you he hathe ouercome all for you Now go too B. S. N. reioyce you in God stand alwayes fast in thys liuely fayth Followe and imitate the holy Patriarkes Prophets and Apostles which are all saued in this faith who do all assure you that the aduersarie can in no wise hurt you for youre cause is wonne by Iesus Christe whiche is youre Iudge and your aduocate both togither wherefore saye alwayes in this stedfast faith Albeit I shoulde walke in the middest of the shadowe of deathe I will feare no euill for thou Lorde God art with me B. S. N. Be you also neuer wéerie to say from the bottome of youre heart in great humilitie and repentance LOrde God Almightie be mercifull to me poore wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe my Lord and Sauiour And for the merite of his death and passion it may please thee to receyue my soule the whiche I commende into thy hands So be it A singular Prayer for one whyche is greately afflicted wyth sickenesse the whiche is more lyke to dye than to liue With a little Catechisme made of purpose to instructe the sicke person and to cause him to behold by Faith the greate misterie of oure Redemption Ecclesiasticus 18. Before the sicknesse vse medicine and before thou come to Iudgemente examine thy selfe and in the presence of God thou shalte finde fauoure Nowe the Lorde admonisheth vs to pray alwayes chiefely when we are touched with his rods Wherefore all the faithfull parentes and friends which visit the sicke person shoulde not onely visit and comforte the body but also should searche and enquire for spirituall medicine for his soule whiche thing shoulde bée done by good Prayers confession of sinnes and Christian exhortation according to the word of God without the whiche man can not liue but is deade béeyng yet lyuing And to the end that all these things may be done in good order and wyth zeale first it is néedefull to prostrate themselues before the Maiestie of God and to pray vnto him begynning in this sort Our helpe is in the name of the lord c. Then to presente vnto hym the generall confession of sinnes and consequently thys presente Prayer as followeth O Lord God Almighty and father of all mercies we are aēssbled in the name of thy welbeloued Sonne oure Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christe in the fauour of whome we are bold to presente oure selues vnto thée to call vpon thy most blessed name hauing oure onely resuge to thy soueraigne goodnesse the whiche we doe not desire to féele and tast in oure selues only but also in the necessitie of thy poore creature being afflicted both with bodily sicknesse and affliction and calamitie of the spirite We know O Lord that thou doest iustly visit and chastice him wyth thy roddes to cause hym to vnderstande thy fatherly affection but thy great mercies whiche thou hast
cause is it necessarie for you to confesse and knowe the Lord Iesus Christ The sicke Bycause I must recouer in Iesus Christe all that whiche I haue lost in my self by meane of the sinne of the olde Adam wherein I was conceyued and borne Wherefore it was néedefull for my saluation that Iesus Christe very God and verye man being clothed with oure fleshe shoulde of his frée liberalitie and grace giue me all that which I had lost in Adam Minister It is very well sayde that is the cause why Iesus Christe was conceyued by the holy Ghost and borne of the Virgine Marie to purge and sanctifie you for cleane contrary to him you are conceyued and borne in sinne and of sinfull parents wherefore do not you confesse that wythout Iesus Christe you shoulde haue remayned a poore and wretched sinner in eternall death The sicke Yes verily but I beléeue and confesse that this good Iesus Christ hathe reconciled me to God his Father Minister Yea but how hath he reconciled you to God his father The sicke By his deathe and passion in the sheding of his pretious bloud for to deliuer me from eternall paynes This good Iesus Christe hath suffered for me vnder Ponce Pilate manie afflictiōs iniuries and troubles It is Iesus Christ which was crucifyed for me as accursed vpon the woodde of the Crosse to deliuer mée from the eternall cursse wherevnto Adam had bound me This my faniour Iesus Christ was indéede buried to burie all my sinnes wyth him to the ende they shoulde not bée imputed vnto me before god It is my Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ which is gone downe into the lower partes suffering an extreame temporall anguishe to deliuer me from an eternall Minister All this whiche you haue nowe confessed of Iesus Christe was it sufficient to saue you The sicke No but that the holy Scriptures should be in euery iote fulfilled for what is it that Iesus Christ should haue profited me to haue bin borne crucifyed dead buried and gone downe into the lower partes for me only withoute being risen agayne Wherefore I beléeue and confesse that my Lorde my head and Sauiour Iesus Christe is risen from the dead to make me to rise with hym as one of his little members into eternall life Minister Consequently it is written that he is gone vp into the Heauens being nowe set at the righte hande of God his Father But what dothe this ascention profit you The sicke My Lord my head and Sauiour Iesus Christe is gone vp into the Heauens to make me to go vp after him for there where the head is the members are also and I beléeue that being set at the right hande of God his Father he is mine Aduocate intercessor and only mediator towards him very wel assuring me that none may be able to hurte me séeing that Iesus Christ is mine aduocate my iudge togither wherefore I haue no occasion to feare the day of his iudgement when he shall come to iudge the liuing and the dead for I beléeue and confesse in steadfast Faith that there is no iudgemente nor condemnation againste those whiche are faithfull members in Iesus Christ Minister Who hathe giuen him the grace to vnderstande and knowe all these things The sicke It is by the grace of the holye Ghost one onely God with the Father and the sonne by whose meane we receyue all the good thinges and giftes whiche are offered vnto vs in Iesus Christ Minister Séeing that you haue alreadye confessed that you are a member of Iesus Christ it followeth then that you are also incorporate to hys Churche the whiche ye ought to beléeue to be holy Catholike and vniuersall The sicke I beléeue certaynely the holye Church vniuersal washed and clensed in the pretious bloud of Iesus Christ wherefore I doe most humbly thanke him that he hath gyuen me the grace to be one of the little members of his Church and beyng baptised in his name he hath made me to liue in the communion vnitie and charitie of the same hauing instructed me with his holy word and nourished me with his true bodye hauing giuen me to drinke of hys most pretious bloud in hope of the eternall life Minister Nowe séeing that you are so well founded vpon the liuely Rocke which is Iesus Christ and knowing your selfe well you must confesse and acknowledge the principall good things whiche you haue receyued of thys Lord Iesus Christ The sicke It is very méete for I will not be ingrate to acknowledge the good things and giftes that I haue receiued of God wherefore I consesse that I wretched and miserable sinner haue infinitely and withoute ceassing offended the goodnesse and iustice of God hauing transgressed his holy commandements In doing whereof I haue deserued eternall death and damnatiō Notwithstanding I appealing to the mercie of God do aske him mercie and beléeue and confesse vndoubtedly that my sinnes are fully and wholly forgiuen me by the only merite of the deathe and passion of my Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ in the sheding of hys most precious bloud wherein I doe assure my selfe to be sufficientlye and fully washed and purged which is the greatest cōtentation and good thing that euer I mighte receyue and such is my faith in the whyche I will liue and dye by the grace of the holy Ghost Minister Séeing that you haue receyued so great a good thing of God by the meane of his sonne Iesus Christe it behoueth you also to do hys commandementes for euen as he hathe pardoned and forgiuen you all your sinnes euen so likewise must you fréely and with a good heart forgiue all those whiche may haue offended you other wise you shall not walke according to God. The sicke Héerein haue I knowen the Law of Iesus Christ to be the onely holy and perfect lawe commaunding vs to loue our neyghbours both friēds and enimies as our selues wherefore I beséeche all those whome I may haue offended eyther in worde or déede to forgiue me with as good a heart as I doe forgiue all whyche haue offended me desiring to doe them pleasure and seruice as to my good bréethren and friends Minister Now séeing that it is ordeyned of God that all men shall dye we may not resist his ordinance but we must continually conforme our selues to his holy will wherfore my brother you may not find it strange if I doe declare vnto you that which the good Prophete Esay dyd declare to the King Ezechias saying vnto hym from the Lorde Giue order to thy house for thou shalt die shalt liue no longer This good councel should stirre you vp to dispose your self spiritually well in your cōscience It is first to turne your selfe to God and to bewayle your sinnes as this good King did to implore his mercie in asking him forgiuenesse and saying alwaye in your heart O Lord God be