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
the hidden Manna of my Soul its Food and Refreshment in all Conditions in Afflictions my Support in Poverty my Treasure in Reproaches my Glory in Darkness my Light in Sickness my Health in Troubl my Repose in Prosperity my Defence in Life and Health my Joy and Consolation that Christ being thus formed in me I may through Him who giveth us the Victory overcom the Vanities of the World the Lusts of the Flesh and the Temtations of the Devil til He becom my Life in Death and my Happiness in Heven Amen THE Soul's Communion WITH HER SAVIOR The First Book Containing so much of the Gospel-History as relates to the Infancy of the H. Jesus and that time of his Privat Life which passed before He entred on his Publick Ministry Cap. I. Of His Incarnation §. 1. O Holy and Ever-blessed Jesu Eternal Son of the eternal God who didst descend from thy Father's Bosom from the highest Hevens thy Royal Throne to this Vale of Misery that by taking My Nature upon Thee Thou mightest not only suffer and satisfy for Me but also impart Thy Nature unto Me. I prais and magnify thy Name For this thine unspeakabl Lov. I adore thee for thine infinit Wisdom and Goodness I am astonished at thy stupendious Humility and Condescension to lost and undeserving Man Bow the Hevens O Lord once more and com down touch my Heart with thine Almighty Power and having cast out whatsoever may be offensiv to thy Sacred Majesty fill it with thy blessed Presence for ever §. 2. O Blessed Jesu whose Incarnation was so sublime a Mystery that to usher in a matter of such extraordinary Concernment to the World the Angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a City of Galilee named Nazareth to a Uirgin espoused to a man whose Name was Ioseph of the Hous of David and the Uirgin's Name was Mary I magnify thy Glorious Name For making thy Spirits Ministers unto them who shal be Heirs of Salvation As the Angels and Arch-Angels prais Thee the Cherubim and Seraphim adore Thee and all the hevenly Host bow down unto Thee not only fitting upon thy Throne but even at the lowest Degree of thy Foot-stool wherunto thou hast voluntarily humbled thy self in thine Incarnation So let me I beseech thee in concurrence with the Celestial Choir celebrat this Mystery of thy Lov on Earth worship the Majesty of thy Glory in Heven til my Life becom Angelical by rejoicing in Thee and in Thy Salvation §. 3. When the Angel came in unto her and said 〈◊〉 thou that art highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among Women she cast in her mind what manner of Salutation this should be I prais thy Holy Name O Blessed Jesu for the greatness of thine Eternal Lov to this Holy Virgin and to all Mankind in her O make me sensibl how highly I my self am favor'd in this great Transaction since She was thus blessed among Women that all the Families of the Earth might be blessed in her Seed A Salutation of such infinit Importance doth worthily deserv to be frequently revolved in our minds which being particularly brought to a privat Family in Jewry hath prov'd of universal Concernment to the whol World O let me also tast and see how gracious the Lord hath been to my Soul No matter for the Favor of Men so we find Grace with God §. 4. While she was troubled at his saying the Angel said unto her Fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God And behold thou shalt 〈◊〉 in thy womb and bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his Name Iuses He shal be great and shal be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shal giv unto him the Chrone of his Father David And he shal reign over the house of Iacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shal be no end I prais and magnify thy Name O Jesus for thy great Glory and endless Soveraignty for as much as thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy Dominion endureth throu-out all Generations O thou Root and Off-spring of David vouchsafe to extend thy Scepter over all Nations and be for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth that under thy Government all Peopl being saved from their Sins may liv and prosper in Peace and Holiness Sit upon the Throne of my heart by the Power and Presence of thy Holy Spirit reign over all the faculties of my Soul subdu them to thy Will and be thou my God and King forever §. 5. Then said Mary to the Angel How shal this be seeing I know not a Man Wherunto the Angel answered The Holy Ghost shal com upon thee and the Power of the Highest shal overshadow thee therfore also that Holy Thing which shal be born of thee shall be called The Son of GOD. I prais and magnify the Name O thou Son of God for thine in finit Condescension to becom the Son of Man It is not less Blessed and Mysterious to conceiv Thee in the Heart by Faith than to carry Thee in the Womb of Flesh Send therefore I befeech thee the same Spirit and Power to rest upon mine Affections til Christ be formed in me that thy Humility and Holiness thy Life and Lov may be brought forth in my Conversation and so adapt me to be called the Son of God §. 6. Holy Jesu who for the more rational Engagement of the Virgins Faith didst further acquaint her by the same Angel Behold thy Cousin Elizabeth who was called barren she also hath conceived a Son in her old Age. I magnify thy H. Name Becaus with God nothing shal be unpossibl This Maxim may suffice to silence all the Cavilling Inquiries of human Reason How this should be For the same Power that makes the barren Womb fruitful can with the same facility dispens with those Laws of Nature that render it unlikely there should be a Virgin-Mother And that Spirit which by breathing on them was abl to make dry Bones liv may be very rationaly believed of sufficient Power to impregnat a Virgin 's Womb. And therefore in Considering this transcendent Mystery of my Savior's Incarnation I will rather admire and recount his Goodness and Truth than question his Power or pry into the manner of its Accomplishment and in all his Trials of my Faith or Pati nce my Soul shal say as the 〈◊〉 of the Lord did Be it unto me according unto thy 〈◊〉 §. 7. Upon this Information the Blessed Virgin Mary arose and went iuto the Hill-Country to the Hous of 〈◊〉 to visit her Cousin Elizabeth who no sooner heard her Salutation but the Babe leaped in her Womb and she was filled with the 〈◊〉 Ghost so that she said with a 〈◊〉 voice Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb whence is it that the Mother of my Lord should com to me I prais thy Name For this marvelous Effect of thy
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
of partition between us having abolished the Enmity not only by thy Death but in thy Life thine Exampl as wel as Precept engaging us to lay aside those distinctions wherby Schism and Faction curtail our Kindness and hinder our mutual Edification And tho unnecessary Conversation with leight or scandaIous persons is to be industriously avoided and very warily admitted yet when a just Occasion or accidental Providence brings a vicious person into my Company let me rather improv the Opportunity to reclaim an Offendor than be deterr'd from using my best endevor to save a Soul from death throu the Shame or Fear of being censured a Friend of Publicans and Sinners as thou my Lord and Master hast often been who like a merciful Physitian wouldst rather inspect our very Corruptions than neglect the Cure even of a lascivious Harlot such as this Samaritan seems to be for when thou didst bid her Go call thy husband and she replyed I hav no husband thou couldst tell her In that thou saidst truly for thou hast had five husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband implying that in case he were husband to some other she lived in Adultery if not yet she lived in Fornication with one not espoused to her self §. 4. This particular Discovery of the privat Transactions of her own life made by one that was wholy a Stranger both to her Country and Person induced the Woman to confess unto him Sir I perceiv that thou art a Prophet and on that consideration she enters upon the Debate of a publick Controversy which had been so violently maintained between their two Nations that the Iews would hav no Dealings with the Samaritans supposing a person so extraordinarily qualified very fit to decide the matter in Dispute which she states thus Our 〈◊〉 worshipped in this Mountain and ye say that in Ierusalem is the place where men ought to worship I prais thy Holy Name O thou Reconciler of the World not only For asserting the Truth of the Jewish Church and the Error of the Samaritan in this thy positiv Reply Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for Salvation is of the Iews but likewise for opening a way unto their Reconciliation and removing the Occasion of the Difference by saying unto the Woman Believ me the hour cometh and now is when ye shal neither in this Mountain nor yet at Ierusalem worship the Father but the tru Worshippers shal worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth Lord since thou hast no longer confined thine Adorers to attend thy Service in one determinat place but dost will that men pray evry where lifting up holy hands I humbly beseech thee let this our Christian 〈◊〉 engage us to the more hearty and sincere Attendance as wel on thy publick Ordinances as our privat Offices of Religion remembring that God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth for the Father seéketh such to worship him §. 5. The Woman being hereby convinced of her Error the better to express her readiness to embrace the further Revelation of the Gospel saith unto him I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when He is com he will tell us all things I celebrat thy Gracious Name O Iesus For saying unto her I that speak unto thee am He. With what plainness dost thou own the truth and power of that thine Office to this Alien nay Enemy to the Commonwealth of Israel which thou didst with so much care reserv from the Notice of thine own Peepl the Mystery which thou didst couch under obscure Parabls and 〈◊〉 Sayings in thy many publick Sermons to them thou hast clearly unvailed in one short and plain Expression to this Samaritan O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! how unsearchabl are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out My Gracious God since thou hast thus reduced into Practice what thou hadst long before professed to thy Servant Moses I will have Mercy on whom I will hav Mercy I humbly beseech thee hav Compassion on my Soul and vouchsafe to make thy self effectually known unto me who am wors than a Samaritan by Nature a Sinner of the Gentils in Conversation §. 6. As soon as thou O Christ hadst given her this open Evidence and Acknowledgment of thine Office and Authority the Woman as having forgot her corporal Necessities and tasted the Grant of the Request she had made unto thee Sir giv me this Water that I thirst not neither com 〈◊〉 to draw left 〈◊〉 Water-pot and went her way into the City and 〈◊〉 to the Men that-lived in her Neighborhood Com and see a man which told me all things that ever I did Is not this the Christ I magnify thy Name For the communicativ Virtu of the Christian-Faith and the gradual Propagation of thy Gospel therby Many of the Samaritans of that City having believed on Thee for the Saying of the Woman which testified He told me all that ever I did Let those apparent Notices of thy Will O my God which hav enlightned mine Understanding and engaged mine Affections in the Profession of the tru Faith render me zealous and succesful in publishing those sacred Truths wherof I my self am convinced that I may becom an happy and industrious Instrument to promote thy Glory and the Good of others whether they be my Brethren and Neighbors in the flesh or not since throu him who came and preached peace to us which were afar off as wel as to them that were nigh we are no more Strangers and Foreiners but are made capabl of becoming fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the hous-hold of God by being built upon the foundation of the Apostls and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone §. 7. In the mean while his Discipls who were newly returned with the Provisions which they went unto the City to buy and marvelled that He talked with the Woman prayed him saying Master eat But he said unto them I hav meat to eat that ye know not of I prais and magnify thy Name O Jesus Becaus wheras thy Discipls were apt to mistake thy words in a carnal sence as appears by their questioning one with another Hath any man brought him ought to eat thou hast fully explained the spiritual Meaning therof by this thy gracious Declaration My Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me and to finish his Work O hevenly Father create in me I beseech thee the same Mind which was in thy Son Christ Jesus that I also may prefer doing good in my Generation before my necessary Food and esteem the Performance of those things which are agreeabl to the Will of thy Holiness my chief Repast and Satisfaction such Acts of Obedience and Charity being capabl to 〈◊〉 my Soul unto Everlasting Life while the daily Bread which my Body stands in need of doth perish in