forever live with Christ who is my Life And these of the Wise Son of Sirach Fear not the Sentence of Death Remember them that have been before thee and that come after For this is the Sentence of the Lord over all flesh And why art thou against the pleasure of the most High There is no inquisition in the grave whether thou hast liv'd ten or an hundred or a thousand years Let him represent to him St. Hilarion surpris'd by Thieves who with Sword in Hand are just going to murther him when astonish'd to see him so unconcern'd and asking him why he fear'd not Death 'T is answered he because I have been a long time preparing my self for it He may also observe to him the Words of St. Cyprian who says that such only ought to fear Death as lack Faith and have no Hope of reigning with Christ To all which the Minister may superad divers Examples and Sayings of other Saints and Martyrs who have wish'd and long'd for their Dissolution whereby to pacifie and calm the trouble with which the Sick Person 's mind is disturbed Thirdly The last means we propos'd for removing the Patient's Fear of Death is by Ejaculatory Prayers the Minister teaching and assisting him to say after this manner O my God! I feel the horrors of Death upon me but as much as in me lies I sacrifice them to Thee and am ready to die if it be thy Pleasure I humbly submit my will to Thine O Lord who hast created me preserved me and by a special Grace caused me to be born within thy Church to the end I might be saved What reward shall I give unto Thee for all these Benefits I will receive at Thy Hand this Cup of my Death which Thou presentest to me I take it O my God with all my heart in testimony of my Love and Submission to Thee If Thou O Lord hast so decreed it notwithstanding my natural reluctance thereto I am most ready and willing to die hoping my Death will through thine infinite Goodness be follow'd by Eternal Rest O Father of Mercy and God of all Comfort I thank Thee that I am now come to my last hour which will put an end to all my Sins I thank Thee especially that Thou hast been pleas'd to afford me time to prepare my self for Death O help Thou me in my troubles and anguishes Strengthen my Soul that stands surrounded with the dangers of Hell Support my weakness and be my strong Defence against Satan that so I may die in Thy Favour and Love I know that my Redeemer lives and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh will I see God Whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold and not another Lord I beseech Thee encrease my Faith and Confidence in Thee and comfort thou me in all my Afflictions Thus may the Minister entertain the Sick Person in devout Meditations and Prayers making use also of such other Words and Sentences as he shall judge proper for the raising his Soul and fixing his Thoughts and Desires upon God CHAP. X. What is to be said to a Sick Person whose unwillingness to die proceeds from an excessive Love for the Things of this World OThers there are who are very loath to think of Death not so much like those mentioned in the preceding Chapter from an over-fondness of Life it self as a difficulty of quitting some particular Things and Circumstances attending it such as Riches and Honours and Pleasures and above all the Persons they most dearly love their Wives and Children c. On which last account the Poor Man's Case claims our greatest pity and attention For whilst his heart is fill'd with grief and anxious thoughts what will become of his distressed Family the Devil ne're fails to lay hold on this Occasion to divert his Mind from the Business of his Salvation If therefore the Minister find this to be the Condition of the Patient having first exhorted those that are present humbly to implore Almighty God to allay his Disquiets and render his Mind free and composed to the end he may think of nothing but Eternity let him make use of the following Means for comforting him And in the First place let him cause all such Persons to withdraw whether Wife or Children or others whose presence may attract the Patient's Affection to this World and keep up those melancholy thoughts he is in taking care to prevent as much as possible his being spoken to about them further than he shall think of absolute necessity with regard to their future Settlement After which he may proceed to inform him that this Disquiet of his is not only useless both to himself and Family but most prejudicial to his Soul in that it obstructs its due Preparation for Death That the Poverty under which he leaves his Family is an Evil that soon or late will have an end but the Torments of the other World have none and that therefore in these last moments of his Life he ought to entertain no other thoughts but how to avoid his own Eternal Misery That his Family is under the Conduct of the Divine Providence that loves them and will watch over them and bestow on them Temporal Goods sufficient perhaps too great a measure thereof so that instead of afflicting himself with the Consideration of the sad Condition he leaves them in he ought on the contrary to rejoyce in God and to lift up his Heart and Mind to Him and to beg his Grace to forget and reject whatever respects not his Everlasting Salvation with full perswasion that God to whom he is to recommend his Wife and Children as Christ when ready to die did his Disciples will be their Protector and Helper and Defender who being also more their Father than he himself is of his own Children and governing all things both in Heaven and on Earth by his Almighty Providence will supply them with whatsoever is necessary as well for their Bodies as their Souls This Trust and Confidence the Minister shall say to him will be more available to the good of your Family then all the disquieting thoughts you can entertain about them For God is Merciful and will grant us every thing we ask according to his Will Moreover remember that he who undertakes a long Journey should not carry ought about him that is combersom You are setting-out upon your Journey to Eternity and may within a little time appear before the Tribunal of God Take upon you therefore no such unnecessary Burden as that of the care of your Wife and Children Peradventure they have been the cause of your committing many Sins in the course of your Life Beware they be not that of your undoing now Disburthen your heart of this heavy Load that so it may be able to raise it self up to God and savour nothing but things Eternal Consider
a Sick Person is by Words or Sentences taken out of the Holy Scripture and adapted into a Form of Prayer which the Minister shall first devoutly pronounce and the Patient if able repeat after him saying both with Heart and Mouth O Almighty God and my Eternal Creator I shall ever be troubled in my Mind until I am perfectly united to Thee The Number of my Transgressions I confess should set me far from that happy Union But Thine infinite Mercy will draw me to Thy self Remember Lord that I am the Work of Thine own Hands and that through the means of Thy Blessed Son Jesus Christ Thou hast call'd me to the Participation of Thy Kingdom I acknowledg my unfaithfulness to be such as renders me wholly unworthy so great a Favour But by the Merits of Thine only Son vouchsafe I beseech Thee to admit me into that Place of Rest and Bliss where I shall to all Eternity celebrate the Glory of Thy Name Be Thou pleased O Father of Mercies to look upon me as a miserable Slave whom Thou hast redeem'd with the Sacred Blood of Thy Dear Son and whose Sins Thou hast punish'd and taken satisfaction for by causing Him to die upon the Cross O have pity on my Soul and suffer not that so much Merit be cast away upon me In Thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be confounded But deliver me for the sake of Thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ who by the Merits of his Death and Passion is become my Righteousness my Sanctification and my Redemption Why art thou so full of heaviness O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me O put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks who is the help of my Countenance and my God Blessed are they O Lord that dwell in Thy House they shall be always praising Thee O lead Thou me into that Sacred Place where I may return Thee perpetual Thanks for the great Benefits Thou hast bestow'd upon me And Thou O my Saviour Jesus Christ who didst undergo the heavy Punishment due to my Sins that I might be capable of Eternal Happiness hast said that Thou art the Resurrection and the Life that he who does believe in Thee shall never die nay though he was even dead shall live O my God! I believe in Thee and hope e're long to enjoy and possess Thee in the Land of the Living I will come into Thy House I will worship in Thy Temple and confess Thy Name For Thou art the Way the Life and the Truth I have set God before mine Eyes and He is on my right hand so that I shall not fall Wherefore my heart is glad and does rejoyce My Flesh also shall rest in hope Thou shalt shew me the Path of Life In Thy Presence is the fulness of Joy and at Thy right Hand there is Pleasure for evermore The Minister shall also cause the Sick Person to mix Contrition with his Hope crying-out with David Have mercy upon me O God after Thy great goodness according to the multitude of Thy Mercies do away mine Offences Wash me throughly from my Wickedness and cleanse me from my Sin For I acknowledge my faults and my Sin is ever before me Against Thee only have I sinned and done ill in Thy sight Turn Thy Face from my Sins and put out my my Misdeeds Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me In a word let not his Hope of Pardon be any ways confin'd but let it be extended to all his past Sins whether Sins of Commission or Sins of Omission whether actual Offences against God and his Neighbour or neglect of his Duty towards both To which purpose the following Ejaculations may be us'd O Blessed JESU my only Helper and Amender repair that good which I have so unworthily destroy'd in my self by the abuse I have made of thy Graces to me as well as the scandal I have given my Neighbour by my ill Example Words and Actions Supply the imperfections and unprofitableness of my Life which with grief I confess to have spent in coldness towards Thee and indifference for my own Salvation Thou canst O Lord if Thou wilt even in the little time that I have now remaining restore to me all that I have lost Supply my wants and strengthen the weakness and infirmitys of my Soul Of all the Actions of my Life there is not one how pure soever it may appear but has been attended with many defects nor have I the least merit of my own But I fly to Thee O my Saviour beseeching Thee to support me with the abundance of Thy Grace to apply the Merits of Thy Sufferings to my Soul and present her to thy Father all covered with that most precious Blood Thou hast shed for her so as she may find Mercy with Him and be admitted into his Kingdom of Glory The Minister having thus established him in the Hope he ought to have of obtaining the forgiveness of all his Sins he may if he finds him able to bear it still continue the exercising of him in pious Thoughts and Ejaculations requiring him to say after him with an attentive mind O Father of Mercy and God of all Comfort be favorable to me and pardon the numberless Errors and Wickednesses and extravagancies of my Life who like the Prodigal Son whom Thou hast propos'd to me as an Instance of Thy Fatherly Goodness have wasted and abus'd not only the Temporal but Spiritual Talents which Thou hadst committed to my improvement O my gracious God I humbly beseech Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ ' s sake and by the Merits of his Death and Passion forgive me all my Sins and remit the Punishment due to me for them O Lord JESU to whom all Power and Authority belongs Thou hast promis'd that those who forgive the injuries done to them Thou wilt also forgive I do heartily forgive every one that has offended me Vouchsafe therefore to forgive me all my Wickednesses Ingratitudes and Infirmities and let thy Death make atonement for whatever I have done amiss to the end that when my Soul shall be separated from this Earthly Body she may presently be united to Thee and made Partaker of Thy Glory The Minister may also if he judges it convenient express himself in other words remembring especially to put the Sick Person often in mind of the great Love of Christ towards him and of the unspeakable Sufferings He has undergone to make Satisfaction for his Sins that the remembrance thereof may encrease his Hope and excite him to Acts of Faith Charity and Contrition CHAP. VII The Means for exciting Charity in a Sick Person AS Charity is of all Virtues the most excellent and the greatest of all Spiritual Gifts so the Minister ought as much as in him lies to entertain the Sick Person in this Divine Love and
of thy own Hands Assist me in this last Period of my Life Comfort thou my sad and afflicted Soul and preserve it from being taken out of Thy Arms by the infernal Spirits O Blessed JESU who gavest Thy most precious Blood for my Sanctification and Salvation be Thou pleased to render it efficacious to me in this my last Hour I acknowledge I have many and many times forfeited the Grace Thou bestowedst on me in my Baptism when I was first consecrated to Thee But Thy Mercy is far above my Transgressions Apply to my Soul the Merits of Thy Death and let me at this moment of my Departure feel the gracious Effects of Thy infinite Goodness and Power Me O Lord the unworthiest of Thy Creatures who with an humble and contrite Heart and a Soul full of Love to Thee and confidence in Thy Mercy do in a ready expectation of my sudden Dissolution cry unto Thee Lord JESU receive my Spirit Amen CHAP. VIII What the Minister is to do when coming to a Sick Person he finds every thing already done necessary for the disposing him to die as a good Christian HItherto we have spoken of what the Minister is to do for the disposing the Sick Person to die well But if he finds him to be already well prepar'd to have receiv'd the Holy Sacrament and to require only some Body with him to entertain him in those Godly Dispositions the Minister having first satisfied himself that he has still the use of his Understanding and is in a condition to hear what he shall say may read to him something out of the Gospel and repeat over him the usual Prayers of the Church And then proced 1. To the supplying what if ought that is necessary may have been omitted in his Preparation 2. To the exciting him to further Acts of Faith Hope and Charity and comforting him in his Afflictions and Pains 3. To the recommending his Soul to God 4. and Lastly To the saying something for the Edification of such as are present To the First Having desired those that shall be about the Patient's Bed to withdraw a little he shall ask him as we have said at the latter end of the Fourth Chapter whether he feels a calm in his Conscience or whether he be doubtful and desirous of further information in any thing concerning his Salvation And if he be the Minister ought diligently to attend both to the hearing him and giving him satisfaction therein Or if he says no and yet the Minister suspects the Case to be otherwise with him let him advise him to bethink himself whether he has not forgot to repent of some secret Sin or whether he has not been too reserv'd in some certain Particulars such as the Restitution of the Honour or Goods he may have taken away from his Neighbour Which Restitution if he be really convinc'd he ought to make let him forthwith do it himself if possible or at least order it to be done as soon as may be And in case he has not sufficient for it let him be brought faithfully to promise that if it should please God to restore him to his health again he would omit nothing for the giving satisfaction to all he is indebted to In like manner the Minister is to inform himself whether he has Children or had the discharging of any Publick Offices or the like that so he may ask him proper Questions concerning the same respectively and avoid what else would be less useful As to the Second Head namely the Exciting the Patient to Acts of Faith c. The Minister is to consider the bent of his Mind For if he be one that is Pious and accustom'd to Divine Meditation and able to pray and meditate by himself 't will be convenient that he be let alone for sometime without interruption But because his Sickness may have brought him low and there may be cause to fear that by reason of the weakness of his Mind as well as that of his Body he may not be able to support himself in his holy Cogitations the Minister may gently ask him whether he is not willing to be assisted therein To which if he replyes that he is devoutly entertaining himself the Minister shall desire him to communicate his Meditations to him that he may be also profited thereby This is a very useful Caution For by it the Minister will discover whether there be no delusion or temptation mixt in his thoughts And if he finds him as it often happens to need a Subject to be given him to meditate upon he shall propose to him some comfortable Words of our Saviour as these recorded in St. Mathew's Gospel Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest Or some others relating to the Mystery of his Passion and especially such as he may be thought to like best and be most edified by remembring him of Christ's Sufferings upon the Cross and the excessive Torments and reproachful Death He underwent for our Sins whose heinousness required so severe a Punishment in his Sacred Person By which means he may at once be excited to Contrition and a necessary Confidence of obtaining Heaven which the Redeemer of the World has thus purchas'd for him with his most precious Blood If the Patient has not strength sufficient to meditate by himself and yet has enough of his Senses remaining to be able both to hear and to be affected with the Words of Exhortation then the Minister will do well to continue him in the Exercise of his Contrition Faith Hope and Charity as we have said in the 2d 5th 6th and 7th Chapters and having represented to him how great and ignominious those Torments were which our Blessed Saviour endur'd he shall add that our Sins must certainly have been very enormous to have stood in need of so extraordinary a Remedy Let him if he be able say Lord Have mercy upon me Christ Have mercy upon me a poor wretched Sinner I am sorry from my heart that ever I have offended Thee O forgive me all my iniquities Encrease my repentance and support it and supply its defects with the Merits of Thy Blood O Merciful Saviour be favourable unto my Soul that longeth after Thee and nothing but Thee And for the exciting his Faith let him call to mind that Jesus Christ though of one and the same Substance with the Father Co-eternal and Coequal with Him in all his Perfections yet has been willing so far to humble himself as even to take our Flesh upon Him and die on the Cross for our Salvation and then let him adore Him as the Saviour and Redeemer of the World It will be also very proper for the Comfort and Edification of his Relations and other Persons present that he openly declare the Profession of Faith he dies in saying I protest before Heaven and Earth that I die in the Catholick and Apostolick Faith hoping to be saved through the sole
too great Love of this Life SOME there are who afflict themselves too much at the approach of Death through an over-great fondness of this Life the grief they conceive of parting with it being such that they cannot submit themselves to the Pleasure of God but die much against their Wills Which ill disposition produces in the Heart of a Sick Person these three dismal Effects I. That by how much the greater his reluctance is so much the more he is troubled and confounded with the apprehension of Death according to the Son of Sirach's Saying O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions II. That by this Reluctance of his he not only deprives himself of the Comfort he would receive from his voluntary Resignation to Death but runs a great risque of offending God III. That he does not prepare himself as he ought for Death nor can resolve to think of his Eternal State And the Condition of such a One is so much the more deplorable in regard no body dares speak to him of Dying But on the contrary they are apt to turn their Discourse upon the hopes of his Recovery for the sake of entertaining him in an agreeable idea though in the end most pernicious to him by reason of its diverting him from the thoughts of his Salvation As therefore they tender his Eternal Welfare let both the Minister and his Friends take heed that he be not thus dallied with when his Condition is become dangerous but that he be in a prudent manner apprised of the same to the end he may examine the State of his Soul making him sensible that his Preparation for Death will be no impediment to his Recovery if it pleases God to spare him longer in this Life But if he cannot resolve to die let the Minister endeavour to bring his mind over by Arguments Examples and Words in Form of Ejuculatory Prayers First By Arguments which the Minister is to ground as much as he can on the Holy Scripture to the end they may be not only in themselves the stronger but of more Authority and Force with the Patient For Example he shall with St. Paul tell him That it is appointed for all Men once to die That on this condition it is we are born and wherein no distinction is made between Princes and Subjects That we all die soon or late and flow like the Waters into the Bowels of the Earth yea we are like Water that is spilt on the ground from whence it cannot be gathered up He shall also represent to him that though he should recover his Health he may in a little time relapse again and not have the means he now has for his Preparation That he ought to look upon himself as a Pilgrim travelling through this World as through strange Regions in his Way to Heaven which is his Native Country That he should consider the many Tokens God has given him of his Love and that which he at present gives him in assisting him with his Grace That God now calls him to Himself in order to the making him happy and that a longer Life here might be ruinous to him by the snares and inticements of this Sinful World That Death is not terrible to the Righteous but meerly a Passage to Eternal Glory And better is the day of our Death than that of our Birth forasmuch as we are born to die and do only die to live forever In short That Christ assures us in his Gospel that whosoever believes in him shall have Everlasting Life and that his Death shall be but the beginning of his Eternal Happiness Moreover let the Patient be induced to reflect on the Miseries of this present Life Let him as much as he is able call to mind the whole Course of his Life from his Infancy to this very moment and consider before God whether he has pass'd one day of it without affliction That we are to expect here nothing but Sufferrings God having set us in this World as in a Valley of Tears to live in a constant State of Penitence That therefore we ought not to be grieved when God is pleased to remove us from the Place of our Exile into our own Country and far from wishing our selves Citizens of this World we should with St. Paul remember that here we have no continuing City but are to look for one that is to come which will abide for ever Let him further consider that being now under the Gospel we should be so much the more desirous to die because Jesus Christ has by his Merits open'd Heaven to us That Death is both the End of a false and perishable Life and the Entrance into a Happy and Eternal State That God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living That a Christian ought to raise himself above the things of this World and solely to fix his Thoughts and Hopes upon his Saviour That this Life is a continual Warfare with our Lusts and Passions and Death the welcome End of this War and Beginning of our Rest That the Spirit of God declares those and those only to be happy that die in his Grace because they are going to enjoy an Everlasting Peace In a word let the Minister omit nothing that may conduce to the perswading him to receive his Death with Submission making him sensible that how averse soever he be to it yet die he must and that since neither Life nor Death are within his power or disposal he can never be at rest till he submits himself with all humility and resignation to the Will and Pleasure of Almighty God Secondly The Minister may perswade the Sick Person to a willingness to die by laying before him several Examples of this kind carrying force and authority with them and in the first place that of Christ himself who in the Garden of Olives foreseeing the Torments that were waiting for Him at Jerusalem was seized with fear and pray'd to the Father to deliver Him therefrom but immediately after submitting himself to Him added these Words Not as I will but as Thou wilt That he ought to imitate this Sacred Model of Self-resignation by a free Offering of his Life to God notwithstanding the terror he has of Death and all the reluctances of Nature thereto Let him also be put in mind of David who finding himself over-whelm'd with the Miseries of this present Life us'd frequently to cry out to God in terms like these Wo is me that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech and to have my Habitation among the Tents of Kedar My soul has long dwelt with them that hate peace Many are my Persecutors and mine Enemies Consider my affliction and deliver me I long for thy Salvation O Lord Whereto he may add the words of St. Paul O wretched Man that I am Who shall delive me from this body of Death I ardently desire to be dissolved that I may
that both your Life it self and all the Goods you have enjoy'd in this World were not yours but God's who lent them you only for your use as means of engaging your Love to him And if he takes them away again you have no reason to complain but your Duty is freely to lay them down remembring that Jesus Christ who is Lord of all died upon the Cross naked and divested of all Worldly Desires You know that God took from Job all that he possess'd and yet that Prince said only this Naked came I out of my Mother's Womb and naked shall I return thither The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Endeavor to be as disintangled and loose from the World as that Holy Person was Which Exhortations the Minister shall conclude with moving the Patient to repeat after him some Sententious Prayers like these Deliver me O Lord from all affections for the things of this World and fix in my heart the sole desire of possessing thee How amiable are thy Dwellings O Lord of Hosts My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the Living God For one day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than live in the Palaces of Worldly Princes There shall I be satisfied as it were with marrow and fatness and shall drink of thy Pleasures as out of the River For with Thee is the Well of Life and in thy presence is the fulness of joy and at thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore Whereto the Minister may add according to his discretion what of any of the foregoing Chapters he shall judge necessary for putting the Sick Person into a frame of dying like a good Christian Thus far of those whose Reluctances to Death proceed from a too great Love of this Life and the Pleasures and Satisfactions attending it For such whose terrors arise only from an imagination that there may not be time enough remaining for them to explain as they ought some particular Matters which disturb their Consciences For such we say till we come to give them more ample Instructions in the sequel of this Discourse let us in the mean time excite them to be very good Husbands of those Moments which are yet behind which may not be so few as they apprehend Let them employ the same in Self-Examination Prayer and Communion in an immediate Restitution of what is not their own or if that cannot be in providing by their Testament or Codicil that it be done with all possible Expedition as we have said in the preceding Chapters And lastly for such as are troubled to die for this only reason because they had resolved to alter their Course of Life and propos'd to themselves the doing of many pious Works they must be perswaded to resign themselves up to the Will of God and instead of that Good which they intended to have done to offer up their Lives to Him as a Sacrifice with a disposition humbly and readily to receive whatever it shall please his Divine Providence to determine concerning them Than which they cannot offer to God any thing greater or more acceptable CHAP. XI What is to be done to a Sick Person that is Impatient IMpatience in a Sick Person may proceed from either of these two Causes The languishing Condition which the Severity of his Distemper has reduced him to Or Poverty which leaves him destitute of the Helps and Remedies necessary for his Recovery The Case being such the Minister is in the first place to comfort him by assuring him how much he is grieved to see him in that deplorable Condition and using all the Means he can to procure him Ease and Relief that so he may the more effectually perswade him of his partaking sincerely with him in his affliction Which charitable manner of proceeding cannot fail of winning his Heart and engaging him to hearken with more patience and willingness to whatever shall be said to him concerning his Salvation Then let the Minister represent to him that his Impatience is so far from diminishing his illness that it does but encrease it and deprive him of the Comfort and Satisfaction he would reap from the taking this his Visitation with patience and submission the best and most effectual Means for rendring those Evils lighter and more supportable which are not within Human power to remove For according to the saying of St. Chrysostome Tribulations do pursue with much greater vehemence those that fly from them than those that receive them without murmuring or repining Moreover he should be admonished to consider That God sends these afflictions only for him to make a good use of them as Helps for his Sanctification That therefore instead of being grieved and displeased thereat he ought to praise and thank His Divine Goodness for them as being Graces necessary to his Eternal Salvation That upon this account it is that Solomon will not have us to fly from the Chastisements of the Lord nor grow weary and impatient under the troubles He is pleas'd to dispense to us He correcting only those He loves and administring thereby an occasion to us of drawing Consolation from the very pains which He inflicts on us provided we bear them with due Meekness and Resignation Let him reflect on the vast Number of Sins he has committed and the severe punishment he deserves for them The consideration of which will certainly if any thing oblige him with the deepest Contrition and humility to commit himself into the Hands of God and readily embrace whatever troubles or anguishes his Divine Wisdom shall think fit to exercise him with even Death it self in hopes of appeasing God's wrath thereby and rendring Him more favourable and gracious to him Of which the Minister may give him Confidence Adding that Afflictions are only sent us to take off our Minds from this World and raise them to the Contemplation of Things Eternal and that God is pleased to be with the Afflicted who are of a yielding and submissive Spirit Saying by his Prophet I am with him in trouble I will deliver him and he shall glorifie me In a word let him seriously consider that we are visited with pains and griefs to try our Virtue exercise our Faith and encrease our Contrition and that for this Cause it is that the Son of Sirach advises us to receive all kinds of Afflictions with humbleness of heart for as Gold is try'd by the Fire so are Men by the Tribulations of this present Life Lastly The Minister shall represent to him that Heaven is prepared for those that patiently suffer in this World that the Hand of God does by Calamities polish us as it were like Stones of which He will Build his Heavenly Jerusalem and that therefore in order to our being made happy we ought submissively to bear whatever Burthen He
his Speech and Understanding but likely to die very soon WHEN the Minister is called to One that has receiv'd a mortal Wound for which no Remedy can be expected he is to admonish him presently to confess his Sins and beg Pardon of God and all Mankind whom he has offended and to be in Charity with the whole World And if he finds him not throughly affected with the sense of his Offences nor the danger he is in he shall gently represent to him the heinousness of his Crimes and his great ingratitude towards so Gracious a God who has declared Himself willing to remit all his Transgressions upon condition of his sincere Repentance having so loved him as to have given his own Son to die for him With which Discourse if the Minister perceives the Patient to be moved and made sensible of the Errors his Life and truly Penitent he shall give him Confidence in God's Mercies through the Merits of the ever Blessed Jesus and pronounce to him the ample Pardon which his Heavenly Father has granted him of all his Sins and for the yet further confirming him in this Hope shall administer to him the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and continue to exercise him in those Acts of Charity Justice and Devotion that are mentioned in the foregoing Chapters particularly the Fifth Sixth and Seventh If there be any time remaining the Patient shall be put in mind to request the Publick Prayers of the Church which both the Minister and his Friends are to take care of procuring for him that being so recommended to God he may receive the benefit of those Joynt-Prayers which are most prevailing with the Almighty and as such may not be a little conducive to the Salvation of his departing Soul CHAP. XVII How the Minister is to apply himself to a Sick Person who has the Vse of his Reason but no Disposition to such things as are necessary to the making a Happy End WHEN the Sick Person shews an unwillingness to prepare himself as he ought for dying well the Minister shall desire his Friends and Relations to put up their earnest Prayers to God that He would be pleased to touch his heart with a sense of his Sins and exciâ—e a true Contrition in him To which purpose it may also be convenient that some of his Friends in whom he reposes greatest Confidence or such as have influence or Authority over him apply themselves to him and admonish him to be attentive to what shall be said to him in order to his Preparation for Death that in case it should please God to take himout of this World he may be forever happy in the next Then shall the Minister begin with accosting him in a meek and tender and affectionate manner by which he may not a little contribute to his Salvation For this will engage him the more readily to give ear to him and so may at length draw him unawares to a sence of his deplorable Sinful State and of the absolute necessity of his obtaining Mercy through Repentance and Faith in Christ's Merits And in the next place the Minister shall represent to him that God does often visit us with Sickness to awaken us from the slumber of Sin as Christ did the Man sick of the Palsie mention'd in the Gospel whom after having heal'd him he discharged with this Admonition Go and sin no more lest a worse thing happen to thee That God is able still to restore him to his former Health if it seem meet to him but having sent this Affliction for his amendment expects he should first make that good use of it For the quickening him wherein he may be put in mind of the Words in Ecclesiasticus by which we are advised not to defer our Conversion one moment lest Death surprise us in the midst of our Sins and we become thereby irrecoverably lost Let him therefore apply himself incessantly to the Business o his Salvation and perform the Means necessary thereto while Time and Opportunity serve him for them The effect of which he will very soon be sensible of in the great Comfort he will draw therefrom both for appeasing the Wrath of God and sheltering him from the Assaults of the Devil Nor may it be altogether in vain to excite him to his Duty by Motives of Honour telling him what a Blot it will be to his Reputation What Shame and Infamy will for ever attend his Name and of what ill consequence it may be to his Children and Relations when it shall be remembred that he died in a State of Sin and Impenitence But if all these Admonitions shall notwithstanding prove ineffectual the Minister must try to find out the true cause of his Obstinacy as whether he be an Atheist or Infidel or has led a loose and dissolute Life and not only committed many enormous Crimes and Immoralities but persisted therein for several Years without any remorse or thoughts of Repentance and for which he thinks there is no Pardon now to be hop'd for Or whether he has made a Contract with the Devil or is so tied to some beloved Sin that he knows not how to bid Farewel to it Or lastly whether it arises only from Laziness and the trouble of Examining his Conscience 1. The Minister discovering that the Patient is an Atheist or Infidel is to lay before him what we have said concerning Faith in the Twelfth Chapter without entring into any Dispute with him unless he goes about to maintain his Errors In which Case he must be answer'd and confuted by solid Arguments But much better it were to avoid all dispute if possible for fear of exasperating him and preventing his coming to that calm and charitable temper of mind wherein he ought more especially to be at this juncture 2. If his Obstinacy proceeds from the Multiplicity and heinousness of his Crimes then shall the Minister raise his Hope by what we have set down in the Sixth and Thirteenth Chapters adding for his yet greater Confidence that were all the Sins both of Men and Devils joyn'd together in one and the very same Person they would appear nothing in comparison of the Divine Mercy and might be wholly done-away by one single Drop of Christ's Blood That God knows whereof we are made He is not ignorant of our Natural Frailty and propensity to Sin and therefore is ready to pardon us when-ever we make our application to Him for it with a truly penitent and contrite heart 3. If he has enter'd into a Contract with the Devil and that is found to be the real cause of his Despair the Minister must comfort him and establish in him a necessary Christian Hope by shewing him that he is not at all oblig'd to keep his Word with such a Traitor and Enemy as that Hellish Fiend though he had even sign'd the Obligation with his own blood That it is lawful for him to deceive the Deceiver of all Men and that he ought to
fly for shelter to his Redeemer who by his Death has deliver'd him from the Empire of Satan and from the Power of Darkness Adding thereto what-ever he shall think proper to keep up the Patient's Hope and dispose him in case he be restored to Health again to do what shall be directed him for the good of his Soul and security of his Eternal Salvation 4. If this Obstinacy proceeds from his adhering to some particular Sin that he is loath to disengage himself from such as the being possess'd of Goods unlawfully gotten which he knows not how to think of restoring the Minister shall represent to him that in all appearance his last Minute is now drawing nigh when he will not be able to avoid leaving these Goods behind him which he refuses to make Restitution of That his Soul is just going to be separated at once from his Body and all those Worldly Pleasures he so fondly embraces and will not renounce and that within a little time he will be summon'd before the Tribunal of God where he must expect to receive Sentence according as he has done whether good or bad If the fear of leaving his Children in want be the main Obstruction to his performance of this Essential part of his Duty let him be advis'd to consider how great an Enemy he will be to himself thus to expose both his Body and Soul to the danger of Everlasting Flames only to enrich his Children who far from being the better for this ill-gotten Wealth may live to curse it as an Occasion of their utter Ruin and Damnation That indeed with much greater Pleasure and Satisfaction he should cast them upon the Divine Providence who if they prove Virtuous will not fail to take careof them and give them a far better and more secure Settlement than any they could have procured to themselves by this unlawful Treasure Which joyn'd with a lively Representation of God's infinite Goodness and Love to us the Favours we daily receive from his Hands and the Glory which He is preparing for us compared with the dreadful Torments of Hell and the miserable State of the Damned Souls may prevail upon him to prefer Spiritual Riches and Enjoyments before all other Considerations And as he shall be observ'd to be most affected with any of the foregoing Motives such Motive may be prudently insisted on to the softening of his heart and making it contrite 5. Lastly If a drouzy Laziness be the Sole Impediment to his Preparation for Death the Minister shall awaken him from this Spiritual Lethargy by shewing him the great danger his Soul is in offering him the assistance of his Advice and Prayers and exhorting him to confess his Sins to God with a Declaration of God's readiness to pardon him on condition of his sincere and hearty Repentance In short whatever may be the Cause of his Reluctance the Minister shall as we have said already desire his Friends and Relations not only themselves to pray for him but to procure him the Publick Prayers of the Church not ceasing to admonish the Patient also while he is able to pray for himself Which the Minister perceiving he is not likely to remain long in a capacity of doing by reason of his approaching Dissolution he ought by no means to abandon him but on the contrary redouble his Fervor in recommending his Soul to God and administring Ghostly Comfort to him to the last moment unless it be that he knows some other particular Minister that may be more acceptable to him whom in such Case he shall cause to be sent for especially if he be a Man of Authority by his Office and Reputation By all which Holy Means and the Blessing of God attending them the Patient being brought as we hope he will to a through Repentance and fit Composure for receiving it the Blessed Sacrament shall be administred to him whereby his Conscience will be much quieted and his Friends and Relations comforted CHAP. XVIII What in the last place the Minister is to do if the Patient dies and What in-case it shall please God to restore him to his Health again With regard on the one hand to the Standers-by and on the other to the Person Recover'd HAving conducted the Patient through all the Circumstances of his Illness and as we hope left nothing wanting towards the Security of his Everlasting Salvation it remains only that we suppose this Sickness of his to terminate either in his Death or Recovery and instruct the Minister how to make the proper Uses of both Events If Death be the Issue the first thing calling for the Minister's regard is the Comforting of the Friends and Relations of the Party Deceas'd A Subject so copious that to be particular therein would be as endless as superfluous I shall therefore content my self with mentioning some of the common Topicks of Consolation on this Occasion and leave it to the Minister's Discretion to inforce and inlarge upon them according to the various Circumstances of Persons Time and Place This then in general may be said to all That they ought by no means to give way to a Grief that cannot possibly avail them any thing but may by being too far indulg'd prove both highly displeasing to God and prejudicial to their own Healths That they are not to look upon those as lost whom God is pleas'd to take to Himself And as to this Separation from their Departed Friend it will not be of any long continuance forasmuch as within a little while they shall meet him again in a happy and joyful Resurrection Nay that 't is even still in their power to possess him as fully as ever they did whilst in the Flesh if as all good Christians should labour to do they possess God with Whom and in Whom he now is On which account if their Love to him was sincere they ought instead of repining at his Death to rejoyce at his being thus remov'd from the Calamities and Miseries of this World into the Bosom of Eternal Bliss and Glory Whereby having brought them into a Condition of attending to and profiting by his Ghostly Admonitions the Minister is to represent to them and the rest of the Company the Necessity of preparing our selves for Death whilst we are in Health by frequently receiving of the Lord's Supper and strictly examining our Lives and Conversations especially upon the Article of doing right to our Neighbour as being that which commonly most burthens our Consciences when we come to die And how near we may be to this last Moment God only knows who has number'd our Days and set bounds to our Lives beyond which we shall not pass That therefore it highly imports us to think seriously thereon and so to regulate all our Actions as if we liv'd under a constant Expectation of it Let him observe to them how precious the present time is and how worthy of being laid hold on for the security of our Eternal Happiness That
THE Dying Man's Assistant OR Short Instructions For those who are concern'd in the Preparing of Sick Persons FOR DEATH Being also No less Worthy the Consideration of all Good Christians in time of Health As shewing the Importance of an Early Preparation for their Latter End with regard as well to their Temporal as Eternal State O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Deut. 32. 29. LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultry 1697. THE PREFACE JVdging the SUBJECT of this TREATISE above the needing any Arguments to perswade the World of its Importance I shall trouble the READER with no other PREFACE than may just suffice for the facilitating his Application of it to Practice Nor to this purpose do I think any thing more necessary than the imprinting in his mind a clear and succinct Idea of its Design Which in short is this The whole being intended for A Compleat Set of Instructions shewing how to assist and dispose a Sick Person in order to his making a Happy End is divided into XVIII Chapters In the First of which I have represented to the MINISTER the Zeal and Charity the Humility and Sincerity the Patience and Attention the Prudence and Conduct requir'd on his part towards the due Performance of this SACRED OFFICE Tâ—â—â—â—gh the Body of the Work I have consider'd the SICK PERSON under all the various Circumstances of Virtue or Frailty incident to Mankind in that Condition and have attempted to lay down the most proper and effectual Means for improving the One and removing the Other whether by force of Argument or manner of Application and Address Wherein great distinction is to be made according to the different Quality Capacity and Temper of the PATIENT In a Word the MINISTER has here ready digested and ia Terms for the most part taken out of the SCRIPTURE or FATHERS Forms of Prayer and Ejaculations both for his own Vse and the SICK PERSON 's with whatever else I judged conducive to the stating a good Christian in a perfect Readiness for his Dissolution having therein had so much regard to his Temporal Affairs in conjunction with his Spiritual as concerns the providing by a prudent just and timely Disposal of his Estate for his doing Right to All Good to as Many as may be and preserving Peace and Amity in his Family And Lastly As the PATIENT's Illness shall terminate in his Death or Recovery I have made it the Subject of the XVIII Chapter to shew the MINISTER how to improve both Events to Edification the former with respect to the Standers by the latter to the Person Recover'd WHICH Instructions tho' I have all along directed to the MINISTER as falling within his proper Province yet would I by no means be understood to restrain them to his use alone there being God knows too many Accidents in the way of obstructing his Assistance to put the Patient 's Everlasting Salvation upon that Issue Thus far only I would urge it that when by any reasonable Endeavours the Minister's Aid may be procured 't is without Dispute to be preferr'd But that failing it is not barely allow'd to but incumbent on every good Christian whether Relation Friend or other best qualified for it to put in Practice any such Part of this Treatise as he shall think may most avail the SICK PERSON in his Last Minutes with Exception only to the Administration of the Holy Sacrament of the LORD's SUPPER which the Church has thought fit from a due regard to the Sacredness thereof to reserve to herself not doubting but through the Mercy of GOD the Person desiring it will in such Case reap equal Benefit from his good Intentions as if he actually received the same And this being said methinks there should need nothing more to perswade any one that professeth Christianity of the necessity of his endeavouring to render himself capable of discharging this Duty were it meerly in Charity to his Neighbour without other Motive thereto But when to that shall be added the yet further Considerations of his being also taught hereby not only how to regulate his own Life whilst in Health so as to leave little to be done when it shall please God to visit him with the like Summons but even of this Little to know how then more readily to acquit himself by being prepared to make the best Advantage of the MINISTER's Assistance Or Lastly under the want of that to be able to make his own Peace with GOD before he go hence and be no more seen I say when all these Considerations shall be duly weigh'd I cannot suppose it possible for him to doubt its being a Concern of the Last Importance What remains is Christian Reader that with the same sincerity wherewith I have thus endeavour'd to represent to you the Design and Use of this little Tract I also own the many Defects and Frailties of its Author Diverse Repetitions may appear therein less grateful to you and which I will not presume to say were impossible to be avoided But I doubt not of your thinking more favourably of them when you shall consider that the Whole is not to be us'd at once but such Part only as shall be found most applicable to the Condition of the Patient not to mention how little unmindful I have been on this Account of making References from one Chapter to another where the Discourse would admit it without interruption The rest you are desired by your Charity to excuse and supply carrying it all along in your Thoughts that the Chief Intent of this Work was the GLORY of GOD and SALVATION of MEN's SOULS For which therefore as I am not much in pain about your Censure so neither do I ask your Thanks but only to be remember'd in your Prayers as you shall always be in mine Who am your Fellow-Christian and Faithful Servant in the LORD THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS Chap. I. THE Duty of a Minister in assisting Persons who are in danger of Death Pag. 1 Chap. II. What things are requisite for the disposing a Sick Person to die well p. 8. Chap. III. Advice to be given to a Sick Person concerning his Relations his Body and his Estate p. 20. Chap. IV. What the Minister ' s Duty is when he finds the Sick Person has not done all that is necessary for him in order to his dying as a good Christian p. 26. Chap. V. How Sick Persons especially such as are not very perfect in their Belief ought to be exercis'd in the Faith p. 30. Chap. VI. How the Minister is to raise and exercise the Hope of the Sick Person p. 34. Chap. VII The Means for exciting Charity in a Sick Person p. 49. Chap. VIII What the Minister is to do when coming to a Sick Person he finds every thing already done necessary for the disposing him to die as a good Christain p. 57. Chap. IX What means are to
be us'd when the Patient does not resign himself as he ought to the Will of God and is afraid of Death through a too great Love of this Life p. 68. Chap. X. What is to be said to a Sick Person whose unwillingness to die proceeds from an excessive Love for the Things of this World p. 77. Chap. XI What is to be done to a Sick Person that is Impatient p. 84. Chap. XII How those Persons ought to be managed that lie under Temptations against the Faith p. 89. Chap. XIII How to comfort a Sick Person that is mistrustful of God ' s Mercy and troubled with Despairing Thoughts p. 94. Chap. XIV What is to be said to such as shew too great a Confidence and presume too far upon their Salvation p. 101. Chap. XV. How a Sick Person is to be managed when bereft in a great measure of his Senses and Understanding p. 104. Chap. XVI What the Minister is to do when he finds the Sick Person posess'd of his Speech and Understanding but likely to die very soon p. 107. Chap. XVII How the Minister is to apply himself to a Sick Person who has the Vse of his Reason but no Disposition to such things as are necessary to the making a Happy End p. 109. Chap. XVIII What in the last place the Minister is to do if the Patient dies and What in case it shall please God to restore him to his Health again With regard on the one hand to the Standers-by and on the other to the Person Recover'd p. 117. Being concluded with A Prayer and Thanksgiving to be offer'd to GOD by One newly Recover'd from a Dangerous Sickness p. 124. THE Dying Man's Assistant OR Short Instructions For those who are concern'd in the Preparing of Sick Persons FOR DEATH CHAP. I. The Duty of a Minister in assisting Persons who are in danger of Death THOSE whom it shall please Almighty God to call to the Assistance of Dying Christians in order to their making a Happy End ought well to consider that this is an Office of the highest Consequence for as much as no less than our Neighbour's Salvation may depend thereon As we die but once so if in the last moment of our Lives we omit ought that is necessary to our Eternal Welfare we are gone for ever the Fault is irreparable And what should still the more excite the Zeal and Charity of Ministers on this Occasion is this Consideration That oftentimes the Divine Providence marks out some particular Persons to contribute to the Salvation of others who without their Assistance might eternally perish But though this were not so certain it is that they who are aiding to Dying Persons may perform their Duty in such a manner as to dispose them at least to die in more abundant Grace and contribute to their enjoying a greater degree of Felicity in Heaven If it be an Act of Charity to preserve in Grace those that are in Health by exhorting them to a frequent Participation of the Blessed Sacrament and the Use of other Pious Means What ought the Minister's Zeal to be in assisting those poor Souls that are drawing near the time of their Departure it being certain that wheresoever the Tree shall fall be it on the South or be it on the North there it will for ever lie Let the Minister therefore remember that of himself he is by no means capable of performing this important Part of his Ministry but must apply himself to God for the Assistance of his Holy Spirit herein A Sick Person has often-times his Mind disturb'd through the violence of his Distemper and sometimes a Prospect of Hell too raises in him an inward Terror and Disquiet and whil'st he is in this Agony and just upon the point of giving up the Ghost the Devil n'ere fails to use all his Arts for improving the little time that remains to his final Destruction The Consideration of all which should oblige the Minister humbly to acknowledge his own Weakness to be mistrustful of his own Strength and repose in God alone all his Hopes of contributing to the Salvation of Dying Persons His intention of assisting them in the Condition they are in must be sincere remembring they are the Images of God and Members of Jesus Christ who has redeemed them with his Blood and appointed him in his stead to take care of their Salvation and that by how much the better End they make so much the more God will be glorified Let all these Motives serve to raise in him a fervent desire of saving them by all the Means the Divine Providence shall inspire him with Let him every day ask of God the Talent necessary for this Function Let him pray for the Sick in general and particularly for those to whom he is called Let him renew his Zeal by Exultations of the Heart and short and frequent Ejaculations which he may apply to them and let him recommend their Souls to God not only in his private Prayers but above all in the Publick Prayers of the Church 'T is advisable that the Minister think afore-hand of what he is to say or do on this Occasion and so to order and dispose it in his memory as to omit nothing that may be necessary both for the Comfort of the Sick Person and Edification of those that are present This he ought to be very intent upon forasmuch as the same things are not always proper to be said or at least not to be said in the same manner but must be caâ—efully suited to Time and Place and the Disposition he shall find in the Patient of hearing them A Person of Quality is to be dealt with after a quite disferent manner from one of a low Condition They that abound with Wit and Learning and are of a sweet Temper and have exercised themselves in the Practice of Devotion are not to be addressed to in the same Stile as those that are ignorant rude and of a moâ—ose Nature To the former a few Words well chosen and seasonably spoken are sufficient Whereas the latter need common things to be said to them adapted to their Apprehensions and those to be also inlarged upon But here the Minister is to consider whether they retain or have lost their Sences whether their Distemper puts them to great Torment or not whether they may for some time be spoken to or whether their Pain will not permit it All which shews that there is a great deal of Prudence requisite in the Minister for his making a good and seasonable use of those Things he has prepar'd speaking them sometimes interruptedly and by intervals sometimes softly and at other times in a different tone to the end the Sick Person may the better relish them be less troubled therewith and reflect on the same with more leisure He may also propound Questions to him if he perceives in him Strength and Understanding enough to answer them And above all he must not omit Praying