the perfection of thine impartial Lov to the Souls of men Thou art not deluded with the beautiful Vizard of a Great Estate nor enamor'd on empty Titls of Honor but seeing throu the Veil of such human Additaments and beggarly Inventions dost infinitly prize the naked Souls and Bodies of thy Servants Quicken me I beseech thee to an industrious Attendance on my Calling and a stricter Watchfulness over my Thoughts Words and Deeds those numerous Flocks which are very apt to wander and go astray that my Soul may be precious in thy Sight And tho I walk in Darkness in the Vale and Shadow of Death yet let thy gracious Visitations not only enlighten and refresh me but also draw and direct my Heart to follow these honest Shepherds who in obedience to the direction they receiv'd from Heven left all to go unto Bethlehem and seé that thing which the Lord had made known unto them where they found the Babe lying in a Manger that I also being filled with the like Joy in Believing what they found verified by this Sign which the Angel had given them may boldly publish thy Goodness and Truth together with my own grateful Apprehensions of it as these Shepherds did who when they had seen it made known abroad the Saying which was told them concerning that 〈◊〉 and returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and 〈◊〉 §. 4. And how could they do less having so lately seen a Multitude of the Hevenly Host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good Will towards Men. Shal Angels descend to celebrat our Peace on Earth and Shal not We lift up our Eys on High to giv God the Glory Can they rejoice in the manifestation of His Good Will towards Men and Men themselvs be unaffected with such an inestimabl Benefit May I be silent or insensibl while the hevenly Host sing Praises I will prais and bless and giv Thee thanks for ever O my Dear Redeemer for the transcendent Efforts of thy Lov to Me and all Mankind exprest in this Angelick Carol. O be thou graciously pleased to warm my breast with som Sparks of this Celestial Charity that being like unto the Angels in doing thy Will and shewing forth thy Praises upon Earth I may at last be made equal to them in the fruition of thy 〈◊〉 Presence in Heven and in order thereunto let that Lov of God which was thus manifested towards us by sending his only begotten Son into the World that we might liv throu Him even when we were Enemies to God and all Goodness powerfuly engage us to the Practice and Improvement of that Peace thou hast restored upon Earth by transcribing the most excellent Copy of thy Good Will towards Men for if God so loved Us we ought also to lov one another Upon the unfeigned Discharge of which grateful and advantageous Duty the whol Success of His means of Grace and Our Hopes of Glory doth so much depend that without following those things which make for Peace as wel as Holiness no man shall see the Lord. §. 5. Now all they that 〈◊〉 those things which were told them by the 〈◊〉 wonder'd at it but the blessed Virgin Mary kept all these things and ponder'd them in her Heart I prais and magnify thy Name O thou uncreated Angel of the Covenant for the astonishing Power and peculiar Influence of thy Divine Revelations which are usualy attended with a various Effect upon the minds of different Persons Grant Lord I beseech thee that I may not entertain any Discovery of thy Saving Truth or more especial Presence with the short-lived Flash of a bare transient Wonder or fruitless Amazement after the loos Exampl of the un-thinking part of Mankind but rather so imitat the pious Prudence of thy matchless Mother who discreetly observed evry Intimation of thy God-head and carefuly kept in mind whatever might enlighten her Understanding therin as to treasure up all the sacred Notices of thine Eternal Power and Godhead in the safe Recesses of my Heart and allow som Time and Thought to make a du Reflection on such considerabl things as may thereupon be worthily committed to a Religious Memory in my Soul for whoso is wise will ponder these things and he shal understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. §. 6. O Thou Light of the World who wast born in the Night an Emblem of that dark and disconsolat Estate wherinto We by Transgression fell Thou art the Sun of Righteousness by whose Rising upon the Earth the Peepl that walked in Darkness hav seen a great Light and upon them that dwell in the Land of the Shadow of Death hath the Light shined Thy glorious Appearing hath dispersed the Cloud of thy Father's Wrath under which the whol Creation groaned together with those unwholsom Mists of Sin Error and Ignorance wherin Mankind was lost and benighted Thou hast dissolved the Everlasting Chains of Darkness which were justly prepared to bind us in Hell and Despair and once more restored us a Day of Hope to rejoice in the Light of thy Countenance for ever All that is within me doth bless thy H. Name Who hast said unto my Soul Arise shine for thy Light is com and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Lord grant that in thy Light I may see Light let the Light of thy Grace prepare mine Eys to behold the illustrious Splendor of thy Glory And since it is the Night wherin all the Beasts of the Forrest do mov let me hav no longer fellowship with the unprofitable Works of Darkness but rather reprov them by walking as a Child of the Light and of the Day remembring that the Day-spring from on high hath visited us to giv Light to them that sit in Darkness and in the shadow of Death to guide our Feet into the way of Peace which is the Work of Righte usness as its Effect is Quietness and Assurance 〈◊〉 ever §. 7. O thou Prince of Peace who by disposing the States of the Earth to Peace and Quietness at the time of thy Nativity hast shew'd that the gracious Design of thy Coming into the World was to remov the Enmity between God and Man by reconciling them to each other in thy Self I glorify thy Name For so suitabl an 〈◊〉 that what was written by the Prophet Isaiah is fulfilled for unto Us a Child is born unto Us a Son is given and the Government shal be upon his Shoulder and Of the increas of his Government and Peace there shal be no End Lord How coms it to pass that such as call themselves after thy Name be no less Contentious and Bloody than 〈◊〉 who are Strangers to the Doctrin of thy Gospel How long shal Christendom be the Scene of those Tragick Wars and injurious Villanies which Barbarians detest and blush at O Be thou pleased to extend thy Golden Scepter over the Earth that the
Presence O Blessed Jesu and for the powerful Influence of thy Spirit manifest therin even before thy Manifestation to the World Help me O Lord so to correspond with Thee in thy gracious Visitations as to discharge all the Offices of Lov Friendship and Christian Piety incumbent on me toward all Relations that I also may be a Joy unto thy Servants and they such unto Me as Thou art unto us all And let the voice of thy Salutation sounded in mine Ears by the Ministry of thy Word make me Blessed in believing that there shal be a Performanre of those things which were told us from the Lord as wel concerning the second Coming to judg the World as hath already been of thy first Coming to redeem it §. 8. O my dear Redeemer who in making choice of this Holy Virgin to be thy Happy Mother hast regarded the low Estate of thy 〈◊〉 preferring that before all the outward Pomp and Grandeur wherwith we are too fondly taken to giv us an instructiv Instance that Humility is the Fountain and Fore-runner of Honor for behold from thenceforth all Generations do call 〈◊〉 Blessed My Soul doth magnify the Lord For He that is Mighty hath don great things and Holy is his Name He hath shewed strength with his Arm when He put down the mighty from their Seats and exalted them of low degree to help his Servant Israel in remembrance of his Mercy Lord since the Poor and Lowly in heart are so acceptabl in thine Eys teach me to lov Retirement and delight in Devotion as this Elect Virgin did and make me truly content and happy in the lowest degree wherin thy Providence shal think fit to place me And since thou art graciously inclined to fill the hungry 〈◊〉 good things let her Faith in relying on God's ancient Promises of Mercy which he spake to our Fathers to Abraham and to his Seed for ever her Wisdom in treasuring up all thy Sacred tho Mysterious Verities her constant Obedience to thy revealed Will her exemplary Humility amidst all thy Graces conferr'd upon her and that Spirit of Prais and Thanksgiving wherwith she rejoiced in God her Savior added to her modest Chastity and holy Fear replenish and adorn my Soul and Life in all Estates and Conditions for thy Mercy is on them that fear Thee from Generation to Generation §. 9. O thou Day spring from on high who throu the tender Mercy of our God hast visited us to giv Light to them that 〈◊〉 in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death to guide our Feet in the way of Peace Blessed be the Lord God of Israel For he hath visited and redeemed his Peopl and hath raised up an horn of Salvation for us in the house of his Servant David Lord grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies may serv Thee without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before Thee all the days of our Life till we acquire the saving 〈◊〉 of thy Salvation given unto thy Peopl by the Remission of their Sins §. 10. Holy Jesu With what Wisdom didst thou delay thine Incarnation so long With what Mercy no longer Thou didst defer it so long that the Scriptures fore-going it might testify of Thee according to that saying In the Volume of the Book it is written of Me to the end all holy Souls in the sundry Ages and Nations of the World might be filled with Expectations Desires of Thy Coming in the Flesh and confirmed in their Faith by the Prophecies accordingly fulfilled Yet wouldst thou not delay it longer that the Over-flowings of thy Lov in the Fulness of Time might satisfy all holy Longings with the Accomplishment of thy wonderful Incarnation in order to our compleat Redemtion I prais and magnify thy Name For the exceeding Riches of thy Grace and Wisdom treasured up in this thy mysterious and sacred Dispensation Beseeching thee that as Thou art the 〈◊〉 of all Nations so to render thy self altogether lovly in mine eys O vouchsafe to com into my Soul in the fulness of thy Compassion for the Pardon of my Sins in the fulness of thy Grace to subdu my Lusts and in the fulness of thy Power to strengthen me in resisting Temtations as thou camest in the fulness of thy Lov to redeem me from their malevolent Influence §. 11. O Blessed Jesu who didst endure nine Months Confinement in thy Mother's Womb til the days were accomplished that she should be delivered that beginning at the Root of our Nature thou mightest throuly cleans its Original Corruption I magnify thy Sacred Name For thy patient Conformity to thine own Laws of Nature attending till her ordinary Time and Method should open the doors of the Matrix for thy Releas Lord moderat that Impatience wherwith we usualy crave any expected Good and that Eagerness of mind which precipitats us into irregular Courses to evade whatsoever we fancy uneasy or troublsom And when I am reduced to any great Strait enabl me with a contented Patience and humbl Resignation to wait on Thee my best Aid and Exemplar for Deliverance in thy good time §. 12. When as his Mother Mary being espoused to Joseph was found with Child before they came together and that just man not willing to make her a public Exampl was minded to put her away privily the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a Dream saying Joseph thou Son of David fear not to take Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shal bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his Name Jesus for he shal save his Peepl from their Sins I celebrat thy saving Name For fulfilling that which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying Behold a Uirgin shal be with Child and shal bring forth a Son and they shal call his Name Emmanuel Evidence thy self O Jesus to be God with Us. in making us tender of our Neighbor's Reputation and instead of judging rashly according to appearance let us rather follow the Dictats of thy Grace if not from the immediat Direction of thy Holy Spirit yet according to the charitabl Prescriptions of thy Holy Word §. 13. Then Joseph being raised from Sleep did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him laying aside all the unkind Determinations of his mistaken Jealousy I prais and magnify thy Name O God For that steddy Faith and perfect Resignation wherwith this thy Servant entertained the Intimation of thy Divine Will who was not disobedient to the hevenly Vision but readily submitted to the Authority of the Message without disputing the Truth or Possibility of the Mystery therin revealed Lord render me more inclinabl to employ my Talent in a hearty Obedience to thine express Commands than spend my Time in the fruitless Disquisition of those unaccountabl 〈◊〉 which thou hast been pleased to reveal from Heven And let his unparallel'd Abstinence who took unto him his Wife and yet
THE Soul's Communion With her SAVIOR OR The History of our Lord Jesus Christ Written by FOUR EVANGELISTS Digested into Devotional Meditations The First Part. LONDON Printed for W. Crooke at the Green Dragon nigh Devereux-Court without Temple-Bar 1685. THE PREFACE TO THE Devout Reader SIr Edwyn Sandys in his Europae Speculum observs That as one principal Means used by the Papacy to countermine the Progress of the Reformation they took such Care to fill all Countries with Books of Prayer and Piety in their own Language that they forbore not to reproach the Protestants who had upbraided them for confining the Peepl to the dark Devotion of an unknown Tong with their Poverty Weakness and Coldness in that kind as being forced to take the Catholick Books for their Supply therein And since the time wherin he made that Observation the Reformed Churches hav been too long exposed to the same Reproach and Inconvenience for as it was the highest Mark of deplorabl Servitude that the Israelits went down to the Philistins to sharpen evry man his Share and his Coulter and his Ax and his Mattock so it must needs prov a very dangerous Snare to the most religious Protestants that they were constrained to hav Recours to the Church of Rome for their best Helps to Devotion whose Care of Souls in making that necessary Provision for Piety carried with it so fair a shew of tru Sanctity and Godliness as invited too many of the unwarily Devout first to a favorabl Opinion and then to the absolute Espousal of her Errors and Superstition craftily mingled and recommended in those Prayers and Meditations that were hammer'd out at her Forge And what was so 〈◊〉 a Temtation to win her Adversaries may wel be thought a more forcibl Argument to establish and confirm her own Friends and Abettors to her 〈◊〉 So that without a proportionabl Care to countermine her Policy there could be littl hope either of with-drawing any of her Members or withholding many of our own from her Communion But now the Church of England hath both exprest her self sufficiently sensib of that Defect and made abundant Provision for its Supply in compiling and publishing such and such store of Books of Devotion in her Mother-Tong as neither the Roman nor any of the Reformed can boast of more or better It may therefore be questioned to what purpos this littl Tract should be super-added to those many excellent pieces of Devout Meditation already in Print which makes me judg it requisit to giv the Reader som short Account both of its Occasion and Design A most Excellent Person eminent not to mention her quallity which is very considerabl as wel for her Devotion as Intelligence being by a just and rational Conviction of those gross Errors and Forgeries on and by which the Church or rather Court of Rome hath founded and upheld her Greatness reclaimed from her Communion to that of the Church of England to evidence how far she was from being induced therunto by any other Motiv besides that of disinterested Religion resolved to confine her self to the same strict Rules of Devotion and Abstinence in the Exercise of her Protestant Principls whereby she had exprest her exemplary Zeal in the Popish Superstition And that her Soul in those many hours which she daily allotted for Retirement might not grow languid and dull in the same Act either of Prayer or Reading as the Body is apt to becom stiff and unweildy if long held to the self-same Posture or Motion these brief Aspirations on the Gospel-History were composed to diversify her Entertainment and fill up those Intervals which a pious Difcretion thought requisit for the better Improvment and more orderly Disposal of the time set apart for such Religious Exercises And what hath been thus used and approved in the Devout Solitude of a Privat Closet now appears in Publik with Design to supply the vacant Hours of other pious Votaries especially at such times as either the wise Authority of our Superiors or their own particular Resolution shal dedicat a whol day to the Duties of Prayer and Humiliation But lest that different Order wherinto the several Evangelists hav cast their Relation of our Savior's Acts and Speeches which the Holy Ghost hath thought fit to transfer unto succeeding Ages upon Record might occasion a fruitless Repetition of any one Part or an unseemly Confusion in the Whole I have reduced it to such a Method which Gerard and Chemnitius hav digested their Harmony of the Four Gospels into that the Religious Peruser may more regularly pass throu the entire History or the more readily hav Recours to any particular Transaction in it which may best suit with the present Scope of his Devotion Wherunto if this small Essay prov any way serviceabl it will at once recompens my present Labor and encorage me to proceed being ardently desirous to express my Self in Communion with my Savior A sincere Lover of Souls P. Traheron A General Prayer Preparatory to the ensuing Meditations O Father of Mercies and God of all Consolation who art the Fountain of Life and Salvation my So◠and all that is within me bless thy Holy Name for sending thine Only-begotten Son into the World to redeem Me and all Mankind to thine Eternal Glory I beseech Thee withdraw mine Affections from this World that I may serv Thee in Spirit and in Truth Enlighten my Understanding and reform my Will that my Heart may be entirely united to Thee and all other Business set apart as well secretly among the Faithful as openly in the Congregation adore and prais the God of my Salvation And since the Mercies of GOD do at once oblige and encorage me to present my Soul and Body a Living Sacrifice at thine Altar let this my Reasonabl Service be so acceptabl unto Thee that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to com nor Hight nor Depth nor any other Creature be abl to separat me from the Lov of God which is in Christ JESUS our LORD Giv me a clear Sight into all the Mysteries of His Life and a du Sense of all the Miracls of His Lov unto Death til I be so ravished with the Contemplation of their gracious Design upon my Soul as to count all things but Loss for the Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ Jesus my Lord and be ready to suffer the Loss of all things and count them but Dung that I may win Christ and be found in Him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is throu the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith that I may know Him and the Power of His Resurrection and the Fellowship of His Sufferings being made conformabl unto His Death And let the constant secret Meditation of His Life and Lov His Sufferings and Glory His Virtues and Graces His Precepts and Promises His Presence and Power be