Life confirming and encreasing that happy union with himself which is begun even while we live below on earth and shall be perfected when we come to Heaven PETITIONS O God the Father of mercies Father of our blessed Saviour Jesus the Christ We believe that having given us thy dear Son thou wilt with him also freely give us all things that whatever we ask of thee O Father in thy Sons name believing we shall receive it I humbly beceech thee therefore O Lord to have mercy upon me a poor miserable sinner And as thou hast sent thy Son into the World send him also to take possession of my Heart Let this great light of the world enlighten my dark mind with a saving knowledge of thee and of himself Direct me to discern my true happiness from the false flattering goods of this world that I may not spend my time here in worldly cares and pursuits but in seeking thee my End by him the only true Way to thee Let him teach and convince me of the great excellency of thy Laws and make me consider my wayes and turn my feet unto thy Testimonies Let the glad tidings of the Gospel O Lord by joyful tidings to me by thy giving me an assured interest in them Give me the pardon of all my sins by the Death of Christ and a right to Life and Happiness by his meritorious Life In me I pray that the mighty Redeemer may effectually destroy all the works of the Devil deface the ugly image of the Apostate spirit and restore the glorious likeness of thee my God. Make me Lord diligently and reverently to use thy appointed Means of Grace and let thy blessing alwaies make them means of grace to me And while I thankfully use them and am duly fruitful under them let me enjoy the means of Grace till thou hast brought me to glory Grant this O Father for the sake of thy beloved Son our compassionate Saviour Glory be to the Father c. Amen For Thursday Evening MEDITATION I. THe kind Master of this blessed Feast sends his Embassadors to make a general invitation He that is the divine Food puts the kindest words into their mouths that their invitation may not fail of good success He has said Come to me all ye that labour for Holiness and are oppress'd under the weight of your sins Come and I will give you the end of your Labour and will ease you of that intolerable burden Come you that hunger after Angels spiritual Food and thirst to drink at the fountain of bliss Come to me I will refresh you with the Wine of gladness and the bread of life Come you that are weak and you shall be strong come you that are strong lest you become weak Come you that have leisure and here entertain your time to your great advantage And you also that are busie and here sanctifie and devote your Employment Our glorious God did not only make a visit but is willing to dwell perpetually with us men upon earth He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain will make his residence in our little Tabernacles He whom the Seraphims prostrate adore and fly with all their wings to perform his commands He who came down to die for us sinners and ascended again above the highest Heavens Himself is there with all his precious blessings to the Soul that does desire and believe To such a Soul this blessed Sacrament applies all the vertues and merits of our Saviours Death and Passion When he receives the consecrated Bread and Wine from the hands of Christs Minister in his stead he is made a partaker in the Satisfaction of his death and the Pardon of all his sins is seal'd and confirm'd By eating the Bread and drinking the Wine the good Soul is more firmly united to the Redeemer And as a member of his mystical body shall be quickned and guided by his good Spirit The indwelling Spirit shall teach him his duty and inable him to run in the way everlasting He shall communicate power to conquer difficulties and temptations and to persevere with patience till he reach the Crown By this is such a soul united also to that Jesus who rose again from the death he submitted to And as it is assuredly risen to a new life of Grace it shall hereafter rise to an eternal life of Glory It may look on these signs as certain pledges that it shall be advanced to the happy mansions above Thus as our Lord himself when on Earth contain'd under his outward poverty all the glorious fulness of the Godhead so these signs that represent him to us are but poor in themselves in comparison to the rich blessings they bring along with them Whatever faintness we feel if we hunger after Christ and come hither to receive him he can refresh us Whatever fears dwell in our guilty minds and trouble us this Wine of true Consolation will chase them away O How great is thy Love Dear Lord that invites us miserable sinners to partake of thee That invites our emptiness to be united to thy fulness and our weakness to be cured by thy al sufficient power O how should the sons of men flock in when he sends out his invitations to this Feast when he calls us to a Feast of peace and love A feast of joy and incomparable sweetness What should the Captive wish but Liberty and the weary Pilgrim but rest What should the Sick desire but health and the depending Creature but to be near its God All are welcome to this Feast that have but Desire to partake and Faith to receive MEDITATION II. LOrd who are we unworthy wretches that thou thus regardest our sinful dust what is all the world compar'd to Thee that thus thou seemest for our sakes to disregard thy self It is for our sakes and to make us rich in Grace that thou so graciously condescendest to come among us More unworthy yet do we make our selves if we neglect to come where thou wilt be present O how insensible of their own true interest are those that neglect to approach this Sacred Feast Is it a small matter with you O careless wretches to ly under a great load of guilt that you come not to receive the pardon of your sins Is the Great God willing to be reconcil'd to sinners and to give them sure pledges of his reconcilement And should not all Mankind then earnestly seek his favour and gladly receive the pledges of his love None of us can be assur'd that he will not turn us into Hell till we are assur'd of our title to Heaven Where are all they that have been baptized and pretend that they account themselves Christians Why do they not come and own the Covenant then made by renewing it again at this Supper They that neglect this do in effect renounce that Covenant and despise the incomparable blessings it promises Well may they be impotent towards all good and enslaved to the tyranny of evil
great many thousands find favour with God to be saved from an universal deluge In several populous Cities before this floud could well be forgotten there could not ten righteous persons be found for whose sake they might be spar'd from destruction Then the rayes of divine light were communicated but to a few particular persons Only Abraham found favour with God to have a numerous seed and that his seed should be heirs of a Covenant of Promise I will be thy God said the Almighty to him and the God of thy seed after thee Accordingly he that was the God of Abraham took also particular care of Isaac and Jacob and he gave his Statutes and Judgments to the Children of Israel but did not deal so with any other Nation But since thy coming O glorious Messiah light is come into the world and the way of Salvation has been made known to all men unclouded light has come wlth thee no more opprest with ceremonial veils which therefore has diffused it self into the dark corners of the Earth and spread it self to the ends of the World. The Day-spring from on high has visited our distant region and on us has the Sun of righteousness kindly arose The Christian Church thanks be to thy Love Dear Lord has included within its pale a great many Nations It has had thousands that with a strong and generous love have run swiftly after Thee in the way of thy counsels nay millions with a fair degree of hope have walked constantly towards thee in the way of thy Commands Whence O my God could this strange improvement come but from the infinite Merits of the Redeemers death Hence it was that when he had ended his holy Life he ascended to Heaven and gave gifts to men He gave largely of his Spirit to his chosen Apostles and sent them out to preach his Word and dispence his appointed Sacraments He gave them the gift of Tongues that they might Preach to all Nations and the gift of working Miracles to confirm their Doctrines By his Spirits cooperating with these and succeeding their endeavours they every where propagated the Faith and Love of Jesus Our kind Lord before he ascended into Heaven appointed the use of two sacred Rites in his Church to assist the Faith of those who did not see his Person that they might notwithstanding believe and in believing be blessed Lest mankind should be so ungrateful as to forget him he has left us memorials of his tender love By these he shews us his bloody Death and Passion and makes himself present to those that believe and love and these by the powerful working of his Holy Spirit have confirm'd many Disciples in their most holy Faith Many they have possest with a holy fervour and courage to do and suffer great things for the name of Jesus O blest Memorials of my Saviours love and faithful seals of all his promises whereby what he has done for us is represented and what he has purchas'd is applyed to us If I forget to sing of you let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth If I forget to meditate on you let my head forfeit its power to think MEDITATION III. WHere O thou boundless Ocean of Immense charity where will thy overslowing streams stay their course we and our ingratitude basely strive to oppose Thee but nothing can resist thy Almighty Goodness Thou didst come to thine own People and they received Thee not yet thou didst not forsake the kind design of thy coming When the Impiety of man was treacherously plotting to betray and murder Thee then didst thou mercifully consult about means to convey thy saving blessings to the world When they were resolving to bruise and kill thy sacred Body thou wast contriving how we might best reap advantage from thy Passion and Death Thy love we see was desirous to do more than dye for us having contrived moreover a way to live in us The Lord Jesus on the same night when he was betray'd took Bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and said Take Eat this is my Body which was broken for you this do in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for the remission of the sins of many Drink ye all of it and do this as oft as you Drink it in remembrance of me Thus has our wise Lord found an excellent way to make even our flesh assist the Spirit in us He has contrived by sensible things to make us move towards heavenly by those things which are wont to draw and fasten us to this earth When he distributed the Bread and Wine to his Disciples he gave them an interest in his abundant graces and merits And thus is he ready to bestow himself still upon those that believe and are desirous to partake of him He has commanded the celebration of this Holy Supper to be continu'd in the Christian Church to the end of the world And that not only to keep alive a thankful remembrance of his Death but also to confirm his gracious Promises to them that believe on him To the happy Soul then that with faith and thankfulness does thus commemorate the dying Love of our Saviour this Holy Supper is a Feast of fat things and of Wine on the lees well refined Jesus Christ himself will come and Sup with such and be willing to make his constant abode with them His Promise assures his Presence with them while they are here on Earth and that they shall when they go hence be taken up to be where he is O Praise the Lord ye Nations of the Earth all praise and admire his wisdom and love His Love that so industriously seeks our happiness and his Wisdom that finds such excellent means to accomplish it Praise him that is the sole fountain of spiritual Blessings and who alone has right to ordain the means of conveying them for that he has instituted a few means and those easie to be observed and made them the conveyances of all the riches of his Grace Give hearty thanks to the kind Redeemer for this Institution and express your thankfulness by coming to this his Supper Come to it to remember his propitiatory Death and to receive Jesus Christ who offers himself to you Come to partake of the important purchases of his Death and to devote your selves entirely to him who has so lov'd you Come all ye People of the wide world and let us adore the God that feeds us With himself our kind Saviour will feed us and with his Sacred Flesh his sacred Flesh is meat indeed and his Blood is drink indeed Our first Parents eat of the forbidden tree and incurr'd for themselves and their posterity an eternal Death We are invited to a Feast of spiritual Food which whosoever eateth shall live for ever With these dainties will divine love nourish us up to immortal
sit and grateful sense of thy Mercies that the people every where with one consent may confess and praise thee that one Generation may praise thy name to another and thankully talk of all thy wonderous Mercies O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the Children of men O make our senses subject to our reason and our reason intirely obedient to Thee Make us alwaies in using thy Creatures to take their service as admonition and obligation to mind our Duty to thy self Teach thou us that all things in this world ought to praise Thee by the Tongues and Hearts of men whom thou hast not only made capable to know their goodness but hast also given leave to enjoy their usefulness O make the whole Creation conspire to thine Honour and all that depend on Thee join together in thy Praise Mercifully carry on the whole Creation to its end Order thy Creatures about us to attain their end in serving us and so order us that we may attain ours in glorifying and enjoying Thee Glory be to the Father c. For Monday Evening MEDITATION I. MY God in every thing I see thy hand in every passage thy wise and gracious Providence Thou wisely governest the House thou hast built and preventest with thy Mercies all our wants Thou callest us up early in the morning and givest us light by the beams of the Sun that we may every one labour in his proper work and so fill up the little place appointed for us in this World Doing that service to Thee and that good to Mankind which thou our great Lord and Master dost require And thou providest also a rest for our weary Evening and favourest our sleep with a shady darkness to refresh our bodies in the Peace of Night and save the waste of our decaying Spirits Again thou awakest our drowsie eyes and biddest us return to our daily task Thus has thy Wisdom mixed our Life and beauteously interwoven it with rest and work whose mutual change sweeten each other and both prepare us for our greatest duty That of finishing here the work of our Salvation to rest hereafter in thy Holy place In like manner thy wise Providence O Lord has appointed that after a little time of toil and trouble death should call thy Saints away to a state of rest Thou dost not we thank thee oblige us to conflict with the difficulties and evils of this Life till the day of retribution comes Thou soon callest us to a place where the wicked cease from troubling and our subtle adversary the Devil from tempting us Where our own appetites and passions shall strive no more against our Reason and Conscience Where our Innocence shall be no longer assaulted or endanger'd by the threatnings or allurements of this World Our Souls are enlarged to a spacious liberty being let out from this prison of the Body and go to dwell in the region of Spirits While our Bodies quietly rest in their silent grave till they rise again to Immortal Glory And thou hast design'd O Lord that they shall awake again from the sleep of Death and rise even from the bed of the Grave And then indeed there comes a Morning which shall never be succeeded by an Evening a waking time for the body after which it shall sleep no more It rises indeed to work again but that work never tires it any more that work is sweeter than the rest it leaves There needs no interruption of that work to sweeten it which is eternally pleasant and delightful MEDITATION II. LOrd how does thy bounty give us all things else with a large and open hand Our Fields at once are cover'd with Corn and our Trees bow under the weight of their Fruit. At once thou fillest our Magazines with plenty and sendest us whole showers of other blessings Only our time thou distillest by drops and never givest us two moments at once But takest away one while thou lendest another to teach us to prize so precious a Jewel That we may learn to value every hour and not childishly spend them upon trifles Much less maliciously murther whole daies in pursuing a course of Sin and Shame It was thy Mercy too O Gracious God to disperse by parcels our portion of time That the succeeding day may learn to grow wise and correct its faults by experience of the past Else if our being were all at once as it shall be in the next the Eternal Life our Sins would have here no power to be repented and then alas how desperate were we We who are born in the way to Misery and unless we change can never be happy We who so often wilfully go astray and unless we return must perish for ever Thou hast appointed our time O Soveraign Lord beyond which we cannot pass When thou takest away our breath we die we return to the dust and our place here shall know us again no more for ever Thou commandest the grave to dispense with none but indifferently to seize us all alike That all alike may provide for the fatal hour of death and none may be undone with mistaken hopes Thou tellest us plainly we must dye but kindly concealest the time and place that every where we may stand upon our guard and every moment expect thy coming MEDITATION III. WHy do we so much bemoan our selves and complain for the necessity of dying Seems it so hard a fate to tread the path which all our Ancestors have gone before us Adam the first of men and Abraham the Friend of God David the man after Gods own Heart and the Blessed Mary Virgin-Mother of our Lord. All these have paid their debt to Nature and subscribed to the Law of universal Mortality Yea Jesus Christ himself the Eternal Son of God expir'd on the Cross and went to his Glory through the Gates of Death And shall our fond self-love so blindly flatter us as to make us wish an exemption from this common fate Should we not be glad that a troublesome Life will have an end and rejoice to get out of danger into safety from a stormy Sea to a quiet Harbour This Life is so encombred with evils that we have reason to be thankful it will not last alwayes and rather to wish than complain that it may not last long If we die in Old age Death should be very welcome to us after a long and tedious voyage If in our Youth we die it prevents a thousand calamites a thousand dangers of ruining our Souls What need we be possest with fear at thinking how many kinds of Death there are we are sure there is but one for us Dying is an act to be done but once and if it be once well done we are happy for ever Our dayes perhaps are too few to grow rich in or to satisfie the ambition of a haughty Spirit But to be taught the Love of God and the Meek and Humble Life of Jesus requires
not so much the number of years as the faithful endeavours and prayers of a pious Mind Would we bestow on the improvement of our Souls the time we vainly trifle away our day would be short enough and not seem tedious and yet would be long enough to finish our appointed task And what O Glorious Lord is our business here but to trim our Lamps and await thy coming To sow the Immortal seed of Hope and expect to receive the happy encrease It is no matter how late the fruit be gather'd if still it go on in growing better No matter how soon it fall from the Tree if it be not blown down before 't is ripe PETITIONS O Thou most just but secret Providence who governest all things by the Counsel of thine own Will whose powerful hand can wound and heal lead down to the Grave and bring back again Behold to thee we bow our heads and freely submit our dearest concerns Strike as thou pleasest our Health our Lives we cannot be safer than at thy dispose Onely these few requests we humbly make which O! may thy Clemency vouchsafe to hear Cut us not off in the midst of our folly nor suffer us to expire impenitent and with our sins unpardon'd But make us Lord first ready for thy self and then take us to thy self in thine own fit time Thou dost frequently O Lord put us in mind of our own and the World's last end by burying every day in the dark silent Grave of Night Sweeten we humbly beseech thee and render familiar to our expectation those terrible Periods of time by our constant due use of night and sleep Grant that our yielding so often and so easily at the Summons of our drowsie humours to suspend a while the operations of the whole man may teach our Souls to reflect themselves into a more reasonable willingness when ever thou callest to leave our Bodies in the Bed of dust and pass into the state of their own perfect and ever-waking Activity and Bliss Do thou Lord in whose indulgent hands are both our Time and our Eternity whose Providence gives every minute of our Life and governs the fatal period of our Death make us every Evening still provide to pass with comfort that important hour Make us still balance our accounts for Heaven and strive to encrease our Treasure with thee That if we rise no more to our acquaintance here we may joyfully waken among thy blessed Angels there to unite our Hymns with theirs and joyn all together in one full Quire. Amen Hymn 18. NOw O my Soul the day is gone Which in the morn was thine It 's emptied Glass no more shall run It 's Sun no longer shine 'T is true alas the day is gone O were it onely so Is it not lost as well as done Cast up thy Counts and know Art thou got so much nearer Heaven As nearer to the Grave Has thy Hearts grief a fitness given Sin 's pardon to receive From what base Vice hast thou refrain'd To break the course of sin Or what new Vertue hast thou gain'd To make thee rich within Their time is well bestow'd on those Who well their time bestow Whose main concern still forward goes Whose hopes still riper grow Who when the warning Clocks proclaim Another hour is past Have the wise art to set their aim And thoughts upon their last This sad Life's last and happiest hour Which brings them to their home Where they shall sing and bless the power That made them thither come O my dear Lord of Life and Death The ever-living King Since thou dost give to all their breath May all thy Glory sing Glory and Honour Power and Praise To the mysterious Three As at the first beginning was May now and ever be Amen For Tuesday Morning MEDITATION I. BE thou eternally adored O God of our Salvation and may thy Praises be sung by thy Servants for ever When our first Parents had disobey'd thy Precepts to the ruine of themselves and their whole Posterity thy wondrous mercy did immediately provide a remedy Thou didst provide and promise a powerfull Redeemer Thou didst commit the helping us to him that is able to save to the uttermost A Redeemer that could conquer Sin and Death and crush the Serpents head who drew us into misery A Redeemer that could fully repair the breaches our sin had made and render our condition better than before That could satisfie for our sins by his Death and merit the Beginning and Perfection of happiness for us in our present Holiness and future Glory He can enlighten our eyes with a clearer view of those excellent Truths that belong to our peace can support our feeble Nature with a stronger Grace to carry us on safely through all Encounters till we arrive at the Land of Rest and be received for ever into the glorious Kingdom O Blessed Jesu our Strength our Guide who knowest and dost pity our weak Capacities and in thy tender care hast so contrived the way to our happiness that nothing can undoe us but our own perverseness nothing but the wilful love of Sin and Death How easie hast thou made the way to Heaven how light is the burthen thou lay'st on thy followers It is but to believe in thee the God of Truth but to love thee our greatest Benefactor but to desire earnestly the seeing thee that thou requirest and doing thus we are sure to possess an Eternity of Joy. Eternal Praises be given to the admirable wisdom of God who knows how to bring good out of evil Eternal praises to that infinite Goodness which graciously condescended to do this Let all the admiring World join together in this and say O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Goodness of God! How unsearchable are his Attributes and his wayes how much past finding out Man guiltily threw away the happiness his God had given him God takes occasion thence to give him greater He not only restores us to our first degree but makes even our fall rebound us to a greater height This is the Love of God the Father to Mankind This is the Love of Jesus the Christ this is the love of the eternal Spirit of Love. Hymn 19. LET others take their course And sing what name they please Let Wealth or Beauty be their Theam Such empty Sounds as these For me I 'l ne'r admire A lump of burnisht Clay Howe're it shines it is but dust And shall to dust decay Sweet Jesus is the Name My Song shall still adore Sweet Jesus is the Charming word That does my life restore When I am dead in grief Or which is worse in Sin I call on Jesus and he hears And I to live begin Wherefore at this bright Name Behold thus low I bow And thus again yet is all this Much less than what I owe. Down then down both my knees Still lower to the ground While with mine Eyes and Voice lift up Aloud these lines
Alms with chearfulness so thou wentest about doing good and didst often relieve those that were not able to requite thee Thou hast commanded us not to fear them which can kill the Body and yielded up thine own to the death upon the Cross to do the will of him that sent thee thou wast obedient even unto death Thou hast commanded Subjection to Parents and practised it hast said Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and wrought a Miracle to pay a Tribute Thou injoynest us Mercy and Compassion and who ever exprest more than thy self Thou didst not only weep in Sympathy with the Affliction of thy Friends but also over the hard and stubborn Jerusalem that had killed thy Prophets and was ready to kill thee Thou enjoynest us to love our fiercest Enemies and thy dying breath pray'd for thy Crucifiers Thy perfect Soul did not need as our weak Natures do the outward Forms and Discipline of Religion yet thou didst conform to the observance of the common appointed Feasts and assist in the publick Duties at the Temple Thou didst watch and pray with so fervent a Zeal that thy Practice was perfectly equal to thy Precepts This Life and even Death it self our merciful Lord undertook to mark out for us the way to Heaven To beat it plain by his own sacred Steps and render our passage thither easie and secure Shall we not then O my Soul rejoycingly follow that path which we see our Saviour trod before us Which we see though spread all over with Thorns yet carried him directly to the Glories of Paradise Shall we not confidently rely on so gracious a Leader who promises if we faint to look back and relieve us MEDITATION III. MAY every Age sing Praises to our God and all Generations adore his Providence From the Beginning his Mercy has still laid means to raise us to those blessed Objects which are above our Nature At first he created Adam with all necessary knowledge and then taught the Patriarchs to inform their Families Afterwards he made use of the Angels to bring us his Commands and often inspir'd the Prophets to declare his Will. When he had done all this it was not enough to bring untoward Man to his true end What did he then to save the perishing World O strange Excess of divine Goodness He sent even his own beloved Son to dwell among us and teach us the way of Salvation the sacred Art of training up our Souls for Heaven and fitting them for the blissful Union with himself But O! thou King of glorious Sweetness whose flowing Tongue dropt Milk and Hony We were alas not happy to behold thy Person nor our Ears worthy to hear thy Voice Yet e're we were born thou hadst us in thy thoughts and didst provide a sufficient method to supply that defect selecting a number of choice Disciples and thorowly instructing them in thy heavenly Doctrine that they might keep alive the memory of thee and witness to all Nations thy stupendious works Thou didst verifie their Mission with the Power of Miracles and enflame their hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit Over all the World they proclaim'd thy Law and undauntedly preach'd the Crucified Saviour and God. Deep in the Breasts of the Faithful did they write thy Gospel and seal it before their eyes with their own Blood. Their Successors deposited the same precious Treasure in the common Magazine of the Church The Church has been maintain'd by the mighty power of God so that the Gates of Hell have not prevail'd against her Thus is the Catholick Faith descended on us and thus shall continue to the end of the World. Blessed be thy power O Lord that has wrought such Miracles to confirm thy Truth and enclined our hearts to believe it How many Souls are miserably seduced by the Corruptions of the latter Ages and revolted to a mixture of Paganism with Christianity while we by thy good Providence are led in the right way to Happiness We are taught to direct our Homage where we cannot sin nor fail in doing it to one God by one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus the Man who also is God. How many Nations lie miserably involv'd in the darkness of Barbarism and Unbelief while we enjoy a clear noon-day and safely walk in the light of Truth O infinite Goodness who freely choosest to pour forth thy Blessings on us who are unworthy of the least Mercies As 't is from thee alone that we receive these favours to thee alone we will return our Praises PETITIONS O Christ the all-seeing Wisdom of the Eternal Father and Soveraign King of Men and Angels who from thy glorious Throne didst descend on our Earth familiarly to teach us the Oracles of Heaven O write thy sacred Instructions deep in the Table of our Hearts and suffer not at any time our Passions to break them Make us still study thee our heavenly Master and continually admire the excellent Beauty of thy Law. Let us be transform'd into an inward agreement to it by the renovation of our Minds that all our infirmities may be cured all our defects supply'd and our thoughts and words and actions conform'd to the dictates of right Reason Let thy excellent Example O Lord alwayes shine bright before our eyes and never be forgotten by us O put it often into our Hearts to reflect and say How would our Master have behaved himself in the Circumstances that we are in And what thou hast done we pray thee enable us to do Reach forth thy powerfull hand and strengthen us with thy Grace that nothing may divert us from following thee In the dangerous Labyrinth of this World and the whole course of our Pilgrimage here Lord let thy heavenly Dictates be our Map and thy holy Life our Guide And that we may be the more surely conducted to the Folds of Bliss do thou dear Lord send us Pastours after thine own Heart O illuminate all that thy Providence calls to the Sacred Office with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word possess them with a fervent Zeal to promote thy Glory and the Salvation of our Souls Give them great prudence that they may know how to manage our folly and perverseness so as notwithstanding them to do us good Make them O Lord good Examples to the Flock in Self-denial Meekness Contempt of the World in due subjection to Magistrates and Charity to all their Neighbours that they may save themselves and those that hear them And make us O Lord to encourage them by all means in their good Work to esteem them highly in love for their works sake to receive the Instructions and submit to the Reproofs which thou sendest by them Grant these things O Lord who art the great Shepherd of Shepherds and of our Souls for thine own honour Glory be to c. Amen For Wednesday Evening MEDITATION I. WEll we are now so much nearer our Grave and all the world is older
glorious Dear Lord are the effects of thy Grace How shameful the instances of our folly and weakness PETITIONS OBlessed Jesu who art a Prince and Saviour whose kindness it is to give repentance and remission of sin Bestow I beseech thee on me such a hearty Contrition for all the wandring steps that I have made from my Duty as to fit me to receive thy Pardon And then Pardon O Meek Redeemer what my passions have done and what my weakness has omitted Let a sence that thou my God art reconcil'd to me give me this night a sweet repose as in the arms of thy tender Mercy Make me too hereafter O Lord if I shall live after this night more carefully watch my self that my few dayes do not slide unprofitably away and especially that they be not spent in sin Make me every day retire to study thee and my self My self that I may know and correct my many Infirmities and Thee that I may adore thy infinite Perfections And to thy Perfections O Lord and the strength from them communicated unto me make me ascribe all the good that I am able to do Let me alwayes say as I ought This is not I but Christ that liveth in me Make me also the more attentively obsequious to the steady guidance of thy Grace and grant I may never want it while the time of my warfare and pilgrimage continues Instruct me I beseech thee O thou who art the best of Teachers in these great and wise truths that the things of this world are of very little import since its joys and griefs will last but a very little while and that the future state does infinitely concern me where the Life and Death are for ever Fix my heart O Sovereign Goodness I pray thee on thy self alone Let me not be good only by halves since there is a glorious Heaven prepared that is worth all our labours Prevent by the power and prevalence of thy grace in me my mingling so much as formerly thy pure Grace with my corrupted Nature Deliver me O Lord from the Temptations of this world and mercifully save me from the wrath to come that dreadful wrath which we so justly fear and which many condemned wretches do already irrecoverably feel Hymn 22. AND do we then believe There is a world to come Where all this world shall summon'd be To take their final doom Is there a Heaven indeed To crown the Innocent Is there a Hell and horrid Pains The Wicked to torment Are these Eternal too And never to have end Shall never those Delights decay These Sorrows never mend Good God is all this true And sure most true it is And yet we live as if there were Nothing so false as this O quicken Lord our Faith Of these great Joyes and Fears And make the last dayes Trumpet be Still sounding in our Ears Still may this glorious hope Shine bright before our eyes We shall go up at last to meet Our Jesus in the Skies Come Jesu come and take Our banisht Souls to thee Come quickly Lord that in thy light Our eyes thy light may see Glory to Thee great God One Coeternal Three As at the first beginning was May now and ever be Amen For Thursday Morning MEDITATION I. HE who made the Sun to enlighten our steps in the Pilgrimage of this short Life has he ordain'd no guide to conduct our Souls in the difficult way to our eternal home Yes he sent his Son a bright light into the world by whose Directions we may find our Happiness He who feeds the Ravens when they call upon him has he not provided Bread for his Children He has and still his Mercy furnishes means to perform whatever his Justice commands The Son of God himself became incarnate and took the humane nature into a Personal Union Thus it was consecrated by him to become the Instrument wherewith he would accomplish our Redemption He was sacrificed for us upon the Cross that so he might become food to our Faith And that food he gives with the Sacramental Bread and Wine to every the meanest meet receiver Though he be now exalted to the right Hand of God and his Glorified Body shall suffer Death no more Yet the believing Soul that comes to this Supper finds him really present and does partake of his Body and Blood. The Lord of love has espoused to himself an Holy Church and promis'd it his presence to the end of the World He has made her all Glorious within the Saints are the excellent of the Earth With these he is present at the celebration of his worship and feeds them with his own Crucified Body at his Supper O Souls redeem'd by the Blood of Jesus and nourisht with his Sacred Body why melt you not away in Tears of Joy for being so regarded by the King of Heaven What hast thou promised O Gracious and Faithful Lord to him that receives Thee with an Humble Love All that is contain'd in those sweet and mystick words He dwells in me and I in him O Blessed Words if once my Soul can say He dwells in me and I in him He is my Refuge in all Temptations He is my Comfort in all Distresses He is my Security against all mine Enemies He dwells in me and I in him What can an infinite bounty give greater than it self and what can an empty Creature receive better than the Alsufficient God Blessed O Jesu are they who discern Thee under the Veils of Bread and Wine Blessed are the Souls prepar'd by Faith and Love to receive Thee at this Sacred Supper Blessed yet more is that devout Heart that desires thy second coming into the World that longs to see thy immediate self and to see thee in thy Glory O thou Lord of Grace and Glory our chiefest Joy and best Portion in the land of the living what hast thou prepared for thy Servants to give them hereafter when thy bounty is so liberal to them here What dost thou reserve in thy Kingdom who givest us thy self in this place of Banishment How will thy open vision transport our Souls when our dark Faith yields us now such delight O my ador'd Redeemer my Soul longs for the Happy Day when I shall see thy Face without a Veil When I shall be able to endure the beams of thy Glory shining out upon me in their full brightness And my weakness will not need as now to converse with Thee with Clouds and Shadows interpos'd My Soul seek thy Saviour now and thou shalt find him hereafter receive him thus veil'd and thou shalt enjoy him in his Glory Take these things that he offers Thee with a thankful Heart and humble Faith and then they shall prove sure pledges that Christ himself will be ever thine Hymn 23. WIth all the Pow'rs my poor Soul hath Of Humble Love and Loyal Faith I come Dear Lord and worship Thee Whom too much love bow'd low for me Down busie Sense Discourses dye And all
conspire with it against us Sometimes surprizing our unwary negligence sometimes defeating even our strongest resolves Not that they can compell our wills unless we yield or make the least wound without our consent Much less prevail against the power of Heaven and frustrate the purpose of the Almighty Wisdom Whose Mercy has us'd more arts to save us than the craft of Vice can invent to destroy us Such a Redemption so miraculously wrought such holy Sacraments so often repeated Such glorious promises so faithfully assur'd and which revives our hope so easily attain'd O infinite goodness how generous is thy Love how liberally extended over all the World Thou invites t little Children to come to thee and the lame and the blind to sit down at thy Feast None are shut out of Heaven but such as will not go in none made unhappy but those who care not to be otherwise Chear then thy self my Heart and let no fears molest thee nor even Death it self abate thy courage Death is a passage that was alwayes short and our Saviours death has made it safe to them that follow him in their lives By the practice of the Saints it is grown familiar and by their happy success become desirable Lose not then thy hope in so glorious an enterprize where Eternity is at stake and Heaven is the reward That Heaven for which the Ancient Hermits sought devout retirement in the Deserts That Heaven for which the holy Confessors spent all their time and innumerable Martyrs laid down their dearest lives That Heaven where Millions of Angels continually sing and all the blessed make one Quire That Heaven where the adored Jesus eternally Reigns and the Immortal Deity shines bright for ever That very Heaven is promis'd to thee my Soul that blest Eternity thou art commanded to hope for Raise now thy head and see those beauteous Prospects that ravish the Hearts of all their beholders Yonder far above the Stars is thy Saviours Kingdom yonder we must dwell when we leave this Earth Yonder must our Souls remove to rest when the stroak of Death shall divide them from their Bodies And when the Almighty Power shall joyn them again yonder must we live with our God for ever PETITIONS O Most Gracious and Bountiful King of Saints It was by thy sufficient grace afforded to them that any of thy Saints were able to do much good and to suffer much evil for thy sake They acknowledg'd it was not they that did any good but it was Christ that lived in them O Lord to whom then should we go but unto thee for assistance to follow those that have been Followers of Thee To thee O Lord we must address our selves and to Thee alone for thou alone art the Dispenser of that Grace we need And we thank thee thou hast given us such assurance of thy good will in taking our nature and dying for us that we know not nor need desire one more tender than thou and more ready to help us O Lord direct us we Pray to find the footsteps of thy Flock and inable us to follow the blessed track that we may come at last to the happy rest thou givest them Pity O Lord the Infirmities of thy Servants and quicken our slowness by the example of thy Saints What we see they have done for the love of Jesus let us be ambitious to do what they patiently suffer'd let us neither sinfully decline nor undergo with murmuring and discontent Make us especially O Lord to remember what thou hast done and suffer'd to set before our selves thy bright example the light of which directed them And make us mindful too of what thou promisest and what they have gain'd by following thee that their Names according to thy Promise are written in the Book of Life and they shall be exalted to sit with thee on thy high Throne O Bounteous Lord the only Author of all we have the only object of all we hope As thou hast prepared a Heaven for us O may thy grace prepare us for it O make us live the Life of the Just and let our last end be like theirs that we may dye the death of the Just and live for ever in that blest Society and in that blest Society may for ever sing thy Praise and say To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Hymn 34. TEll me ye glorious Stars that shine About the Lambs Caelestial throne How from such bodies once as mine Are you to this great brightness grown Hark with one Voice they thus reply This to the Lambs desert is due His humble Death rais'd him so high And us his faithful Followers too With one Voice this too they will say Our Lord taught us the happy Skill By his bright steps to guide our way And follow his best Followers still As we saw they had set their mind And rul'd their course we order'd ours This State alone we both design'd And up towa'rds this strein'd all our powers Taught by wise Temperance we abstain'd From Earths low Joyes for greater goods And slighting little drops we gain'd Full sweet and everlasting Floods Well arm'd with Fortitude we bare All lesser evils worse to flye And mortal-death we durst out-dare That we might not for ever dye Strict Justice we observ'd by giving To every one their utmost due That all in peace and order living All freely might this Heaven pursue But Prudence govern'd all the rest Prudence that made us still apply That which was fittest and was best To advance greatest Charity On these swift golden wheels of Grace That Loves bright fiery Chariot bear We all arriv'd at this bright place O follow us and do not fear O certain Truths O blest Attesters O that all yet on Earth might prove Of both these things such strong digesters That both these things might feed their love Him who hath made us all for this Him who hath made himself our waâ—… Him that will lead us in 't to Bliss May all men Praise and all obey Amen Devotions FOR THE Holy-dayes The Second Part. FOR THE FEASTS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR For the Morning MEDITATION I. COme let us ascend to the house of our Lord and celebrate this day with a holy Joy imploring his Mercy in all we need and blessing his Bounty for all we have He is our God and we are his People Created by his goodness to be happy for ever He is our Redeemer and we his Purchase restor'd by his Death to a forfeited Happiness to day let us adore our God that Redeem'd us Praise our Lord all you Nations of the Earth Praise him with the Voice of Joy and of Thanksgiving Praise him with the well-tun'd strings of your Hearts Praise him with the sweetest Instrument a chearful Obedience Let every one that pretends to felicity sing immortal
that relish it and thoroughly digest it 's strong nourishment to them that feed on it as often as their daily bread We shall be hereafter like the Angels in Heaven Those that now set their Affections on things above shall be hereafter like the Angels in Heaven And what O dearest Lord are those blest Angels but Spirits that know and love and delight for ever Such O my soul we shall be if we follow now the Instructions of our Saviour We shall lead that sweet life and be and live like the Angels in Heaven We shall know all that is true and love all that is good and delight in that Knowledge and Love for ever No ignorance shall darken us nor errour deceive us for we shall be like the Angels in Heaven No Cares shall perplex us nor Crosses afflict us for we shall be like the Angels in Heaven Our joyes shall be full and pure and everlasting for we shall be like the Angels in Heaven Chear thee my Soul and bless thy bounteous Lord by whom thou shalt be exalted to that dignity Comfort thy self and raise thy hopes yet gloriously higher raise them to the expectation of more than thou canst conceive for so much yet more is intended for thee so much more is included in those wonderful words We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is PETITIONS O Blessed Jesu whose Sacred Body was laid in a Sepulcher after thou hadst finisht in it the work of our Redemption Make me so frequently to renew in my Mind the memory of thy Death and burial as may put me upon a serious preparation for my own Since thou didst not design to abide long on this Earth let not my Heart be set on any condition here make me to grow daily less affected to this transitory life and more in love with thy eternal joyes Give me O thou that art the only giver of repentance a truly penitent Heart for all my past neglects of thee Deliver me O Lord from the punishments my Sins deserve and deliver me from the Sins which deserve those Punishments Make thy self O my ador'd Redeemer the Master-wish of my Heart the scope and end of all my time Wherever I am in this unconstant World and whatever business entertains my hand still let my inward eye look up towards thee and fix it's sight on thy glorious face Soon as I awake let me look up towards thee and when I rise first bow my knees to thee Help me often in the day to call in my thoughts to thee and when I go to rest close up mine Eyes in Thee Suffer me not O Lord to be any longer distracted about many things from thee who art the one thing Necessary but gather me up from the World into my self and then take me up from my self into thee there to be ravisht with thy kind embraces there to be feasted with the Antipasts of Heaven So shall my time be govern'd by thy Grace and my Eternity be crown'd with thy Glory Grant these things the purchases of thy precious blood O Lord for thine own Eternal Honour and Glory Amen Hymn 36. LOrd now the time returns For weary man to rest And lay aside those pains and cares With which our day 's opprest Or rather change our thoughts To more concerning cares How to redeem our mispent time With sighs and tears and prayer's How to provide for Heaven That place of rest and peace Where our full joyes shall never wain Our pleasures never cease Blest be thy Love dear Lord That taught us this sweet way Only to love thee for thy self And for that Love obey O thou our Souls chief hope We to thy Mercy fly In ev'ry place thou canst protect And all we need supply Whether we wake or sleep To thee we both resign By Night we see as well as Day If thy light on us shine Whether we live or dye Both we submit to thee In Death we live as well as Life If thine in Death we be Glory to Thee Great God One Coeternal three To Father Son and Holy Ghost Eternal Glory be Amen FOR THE FEASTS OF THE HOLY GHOST For the Morning MEDITATION I. COnsider now my Soul the Mercies of thy God consider the wonders he has wrought for the Children of Men The Eternal Father created us of nothing and set us in the way to everlasting Happiness the Eternal Son came down from Heaven to seek and restore us again to it when we had lost our selves the Eternal Spirit sends his Grace to sanctifie us and gives strength to walk that holy way Thus every Person of the Sacred Trinity has freely contributed his peculiar Blessing and all together as one co-infinite Goodness have graciously agreed to compleat our Felicity But O Ingrateful we was it not enough to receive of our God all we have and are was it not enough that the Son of God should come down and live here to teach us and dye to redeem us was not all this enough to make us Love And Love is all he aim'd at and Love is all we needed We will confess to thee O Lord our miserable condition and to the Praise of thy necessary merciful relief Such alas was the corruption of our nature and so many and so strong the Temptations round about us that without this thy last miraculous favour of sending the Holy Ghost to guide and quicken us we should still have remain'd in our old dull pace slow to understand and slower to obey We should have quite forgotten our God that made us and neglected the service of our Lord that bought us had not thy fulness been furnisht with one Blessing more and thy goodness ready to bestow it on thy poor Creatures hadst thou not providently reserv'd a better Blessing than the dew of the Clouds and fatness of the Earth better than Plenty of Corn and Wine or the multitude of Posterity or Dominion over our Brethren These were the great Rewards of the old Law but behold far greater than these are here Divine Refreshments from the Heaven of Heavens and the rare delicious fruits of the Holy Ghost Meekness and Peace and Joy diffus'd in our Breasts Strength and undaunted Courage kindled in our Hearts The strong and sweet Ardours of Divine Love that make every Duty in our way delightful and every Cross tolerable A thousand sweet Embraces of the Spouse of Souls a thousand dear Pledges of his everlasting Love These are the great Rewards of the Law of Grace and are given to prepare us for the Kingdom of Glory Hymn 37. COme Holy Spirit send down those beams Which gently flow in silent Streams From thy bright Throne in Heaven above Come thou Enricher of the Poor And bounteous source of all our Store Come fill our Souls with thy pure Love. Come thou our Souls delicious Guest The weary'd Pilgrims sweetest Rest The injur'd Suffe'rers best relief Come thou our Passions cool allay Whose Comfort wipes all tears