World Heavenly-mindedness gratious Condescention ardent Zeal for thy Father's Glory and unbounded Love and that for the sake of that dearest Love which inclined thee to become incarnate for me Under Pontius Pilate I believe O my Lord and my God that though thou didst suffer all thy life long yet thy greatest sufferings were under the Roman Governour of Iudea Pontius Pilate I believe all those mighty sufferings but am as little able to express the greatness of them as I am the greatness of thy love which mov'd thee to suffer All I can doe is to love and to praise thee How great were thy sufferings O Saviour of the World when the very apprehension of them made thy Soul very heavy exceeding sorrowfull even to death made thee offer up prayers with strong crying and tears that if it were thy Father's will the Cup might pass from thee threw thee into an agony and bloudy sweat insomuch that there was an Angel sent from Heaven on purpose to strengthen thee O thou agonising Love impress on my heart so tender a sense of thy sufferings for me that I may agonise with thee that I may feel all thy sorrows that though I cannot sweat bloud like thee I may dissolve into tears for thee that I may love and suffer with thee throughout every part of thy Passion O suffering Jesus when my Meditations follow thee from the Garden to Mount Calvary I grieve and I love all the way I grieve and I love when I see thee O Incarnate God who couldst command more than twelve legions of Angels for thy rescue out of love to Sinners and in particular to me one of the vilest of all that number humbling thy self to be apprehended and bound by the rude Souldiers as a Malefactour I grieve and I love when I see thee O gratious Lord for my sake betray'd by the treacherous kiss of Iudas deny'd by Peter and forsaken of all thy Disciples I grieve and I love when I see thee O spotless innocence out of love to me dragg'd to Annas and Caiaphas the High-priest when I see thee accus'd by â—alse Witnesses arraign'd and condemn'd I grieve and I love when I see thee O divine Majesty out of love to me spit upon and blindfolded and buffeted and mockt sent to Pilate an Infidel Judge then to wicked Herod who with his men of war set thee at naught array'd thee in a white Robe of Mockery and sent thee again to Pilate I grieve and I love O injur'd Goodness when I see thee though declar'd innocent by the very Traytour Iudas who out of horrour for his Crime went and hang'd himself though declar'd innocent by Pilate himself the Judge to whom thine Enemies appeal'd yet worried to death by the clamours of the Rabble that cry'd out Crucify Crucify when I see Barabbas a Traytour and a Murtherer preferr'd before thee I grieve and I love when I see thee O lover of Souls for my sake most unjustly given up into the hands of infidel Souldiers to be stript naked and tied to a Pillar and scourg'd to see the Plowers plowing on thy back and making long furrows I grieve and I love O King of Heaven when I see thee out of love to me humbling thy self to be array'd in Purple with a Reed in thy hand when I see thee crown'd with Thorns to multiply thy torments when I see thee mockt by barbarous Wretches with their bended knee and with hail King of the Iews I grieve and I love when I see thee O Lord God whom the Angels worship spit upon again and buffeted and for my sake made the exâ—treme scorn and contempt and sport of thy insolent and insulting Enemies and though still declar'd innocent by Pilate yet surrender'd to the unrelenting Cruelty of the multitude to be crucified My Lord my God my Saviour with all my heart I love and adore thy infinite love and benignity to Sinners with all my heart I lament and detest the hatred and outrage of Sinners to thee Was crucifyed I grieve and I love O sorrowfull Jesus when I see thee for my sake opprest with the weight of thy own Cross till thy tender Body quite spent with sufferings sank under it I grieve and I love O thou great Martyr of Love when for my sake I see thy virgin Body stript naked thy Hands and thy Feet nail'd to the Cross when I see thee crucified between two Thieves and numbred with the Transgressours when I see Gall given thee to eat and Vinegar to drink I grieve and I love when I see thee O incarnate Deity hanging on the Cross and for my sake by thy own People in the height of thy anguish derided reproacht and blasphem'd with wagging of their heads mockt by the Souldiers and by the impenitent Thief I grieve and I love when I see thee O God blessed for evermore O Fountain of all blessing hang bleeding on the Cross and made a curse for me How does my indignation swell against the injustice and ingratitude and inhumanity of the Iews who could thus cruelly treat so unreproachable an Innocence so amiable a Charity so compassionate a Saviour Alas alas it was the Sinner O Love incarnate rather than the Jew that betray'd and derided and blasphemed and tortur'd and crucify'd thee the sins of lapst mankind and particularly my sins they were thy Tormentours and therefore from my heart I bewail detest and abjure them My Lord and my God instill penitential love into my Soul that I may grieve for my sins which griev'd thee that I may love thee for suffering for us Sinners who occasion'd all thy griefs O may I always love thee O may I never grieve thee more Dead I grieve and I love O bleeding Love when I see thee on the Cross quite spent with pain and anguish when I see thee in thy dying pangs commending thy Spirit into the hands of thy heavenly Father bowing thy head and giving up the Ghost Thou O Lord of life didst for us Sinners humble thy self to death even to the death of the Cross a death of utmost shame and ignominy and of torment insupportable all love all glory be to thee Was ever any sorrow O crucify'd Lord like that sorrow my sins created thee Was ever any love O outrag'd Mercy like that love thou didst shew in dying for Sinners All the frame of Nature O dying Saviour fell into convulsions at the crucifixion of their great Creatour The Sun was darkned the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom the Earth quak't the Rocks clave asunder the Bodies of dead Saints rose out of their Graves insomuch that the Centurion and infidel Souldiers acknowledg'd thee to be the Son of God thou wast lovely and glorious and adorable in thy lowest humiliation all love all praise be to thee Thy
hatefull violations of thy love and from that vengeance they justly deserve O my God O my Love deliver me and deliver all faithfull people O my God O my Love I earnestly pray that thy love may so prevail over our hearts that we may sadly lament and abhor all these abominations and may never more provoke thee The Second Commandment O my God O my Love I know the true Love of thee is incommunicable to any but thee and therefore I renounce and detest and bewail as odious and offensive to thee as directly opposite to thy love and to thy glory All making of Idols or false Gods or of graven Images with intent of worshipping and bowing down before them All representations and picturing of thee O my God by visible likenesses of things in Heaven or in Earth All corporeal shapes which are infinitely unsutable to thy invisible and spiritual nature and derogatory from thy adorableness All Idolatry and Religious invocation of Creatures All sacrilege and prophanations of thy House and of things sacred All abuse or disesteem or carelesness of thy Word and contempt of thy Ministers All superstitious or unlawfull rites superfluities or mutilations irreverence or indecencies in thy publick worship by which thou art any way dishonoured All resting in mere outward observances or refusing to give thee bodily worship and to fall down before thee All the least tendencies to any of these impieties From all these and the like violations of thy incommunicable Love and from that vengeance they justly deserve O my God O my Love deliver me and deliver all faithfull people c. as p. 39. O my God O my Love imprint on my soul an Awfull Love of thy Majesty that I may worship thee in spirit and in truth and in a manner worthy of thee O my God O my Love make me so tender of the Honour of thee my Beloved that I may shew a due regard to all the parts of thy worship That with lowest humiliation of soul and body whenever I appear in the presence of infinite-Love I may fall down and adore thee O my God O my Love O may I always enter thy house the habitation of unbounded Love with recollected thoughts compos'd behaviour becoming reverence and sincere intentions of Love O my God O my Love O may I ever frequent the publick Prayers and approach thine Altar with fervent and heavenly affections with holy impatience for the blessings of thy Love O my God O my Love O may I always reade and hear thy Word the heavenly register of thy Love with a serious attention an inflamable heart and a particular application and ever learn from it some lesson of thy Love O my God O my Love for thy dearest sake give me grace to pay a religious veneration to all sacred persons or places or things which are thine by solemn dedication and separated for the uses of Divine Love and the communications of thy grace or which may promote the decency and order of thy worship or the edification of faithfull people O my God O my Love let thy All-powerfull Love abound in my heart and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name that in all these and in all other possible instances of thy love our souls may be continually employed to praise and to love thee c. as p. 39. Thou O my God O my Love art a jealous God jealous of thy own Honour and of the chastness of my Love O let me never run after other Loves or commit spiritual Adultery against thee to provoke thee to anger Thou O my God O my Love dost visit the iniquities of the Fathers upon the children Thou when thy jealousie burns like fire against Idolaters and those that rob thee of thy worship art wont to punish them in their very posterity with temporal evils and with spiritual too when their children tread in their steps for then thou makest their Father's sins occasions of hastning or of increasing thy judgments though thou always sparest the children that repent O let thy just indignation against violating thy Worship deter me and all that profess thy Name from such violations Thy jealousie O my God O my Love falls heavy upon them that hate thee but how is it possible for any one to hate thee who art infinite love and yet alas all that are enemies to thy Divine Worship all that exalt any lust any creature into thy Throne to ascribe their happiness to sacrifice their esteem and zeal and affections and to offer up Sovereign Honours to it what do they doe but love false Gods and hate thee and are therefore hated by thee O Lord God to hate thee is the proper character of Devils and Lucifer himself cannot sin beyond that utmost extremity of evil the hatred of thee and my heart is full of horrour and grief to think that ever those that bear thy Image and daily subsist by thy love should turn themselves into Devils and this World into a Hell by hating thee O boundless Love turn them O turn them into men again and then they cannot chuse but love thee Glory be to thee O my God who shewest mercy to them that love thee and keep thy Commandments Love and Obedience always go together and entail a blessing on the posterity of thy Lovers O keep me always one of that happy number O let me ever love and obey thee Glory be to thee O Lord God whose Love is more diffusive than thy Anger they vengeance extends but to the third or at most the fourth generation thy mercy unto thousands and the more diffused thy Love is the more powerfully it moves us to praise and to love thee The Third Commandment O my God O my Love thy Name is thy own glorious and amiable self thy Divine Nature and Perfections and Works most worthy to be ador'd most worthy to be lov'd and therefore I will always adore and love thy Name O my God O my Love may I ever have awfull thoughts of thee may I never mention thy venerable Name unless on solemn and just and devout occasions may I never mention it on those occasions without acts of love and adoration O my God O my Love to love and to glorify thy Name is the great end of our Creation which is still more enforced by our Redemption O let it be the greatest busineâ—â— of my whole life to love and to glorifie it all the possible ways I can by my mouth by my conversation by my publick confession of thee before men even to death whenever thou art pleas'd to call me to it by engaging all I can to glorify and love thee O happy life O blessed death which is spent and expires in glorifying in loving thee O my God O my Love
deny'st me deny me not a broken and a contrite heart O that my head were waters and my eyes fountains of tears that I might weep much and love much having much to be forgiven Lord hear me help me save me for thy own gratious promise sake for thy own tender mercies sake for the merits and sufferings of Iesus thy beloved in whom thou hast made Penitents accepted Amen Amen Q. Having repented of the violations of your Baptismal Vow shew me how you will renew it A. I shall doe it after this manner I have sinned O Lord God I have sinned and done evil in thy sight but I repent I turn to thee I confess and forsake my wickedness and am sorry for my sins It grieves me O most amiable Goodness it grieves me that ever I offended thee With all my heart O my God do I now renew the Sacred vow which alas alas I have so often violated O Lord God I do for the future Renounce the devil that Arch-rebel against thee with all his Apostate-Angels I renounce all his worship all his impious suggestions delusions and temptations for which he is called the tempter and all the ways of consulting him which ungodly men have taken I renounce all his works all those sins of the Spirit all pride and malice and envy all treachery and lying revenge and cruelty all tempting others to Sin hatred to Holiness and Apostasie which are his daily practice and are truly diabolical I utterly renounce O Lord God the pomps and vanity of this wicked world all covetous desires of honour riches and pleasure all sinfull excesses in things lawfull I renounce Lord all evil customs all evil companions all that is vain or wicked in the world all that friendship with the world which is enmity with thee all things that may alienate my heart from thee I renounce O Lord God all worldly comforts and possessions all my natural relations and my own life whenever they stand in competition with my duty to thee I utterly renounce O Lord God all the sinfull lusts of the flesh all the inordinate desires of my own corrupt nature of my own carnal mind which is enmity with thee I Renounce Lord all fleshly lusts which war against thee and against my own Soul all sloth and idleness and intemperance and lasciviouâ—ness all filthiness of flesh and spirit which render us unclean in thy sight O Lord God I utterly Renounce all things that may any way displease thee from them all let it be thy good pleasure to deliver me I know Lord that Sin is the utmost abomination to thy purity the most audacious outrage to thy Adorable Majesty the perfect contradiction to thy Deity and therefore I utterly renounce and abhor it I know Lord that Sin exposes us to all the Vials of thy wrath and to vengeance eternal I know it sets the Sinner at the extremest distance and opposition and defiance to thee and therefore I utterly renounce and abhor it I know Lord I cannot love thee but I must hate evil and therefore I renounce and detest it Turn thou me O Lord God and so shall I be turned Turn O Lord the whole stream of my affections from sensual love to the love of thee O my God let thy heavenly love be the constant byass of my Soul O may it be the natural spring and weight of my heart that it may always move towards thee Thy love O my God shall hereafter be the sole rule and guide of my life I will love thee and love whatever thou lovest and hate whatever thou hatest I will believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith and I will keep thy Holy Will and Commandments and waâ—â— in the same all the days of my life All this O my God I own my self bound to believe and doe and though of my self I am impotent to all good yet by thy help I will perform it and I heartily thank thee O heavenly Father who out of mere compassion to my Soul hast call'd me to this state of salvation through Iesus Christ our Lord. Glory be to thee O Lord who hast indulg'd me this opportunity of repentance Glory be to thee who hast wrought in me this Will to renew my Baptismal vow O my God I humbly I earnestly pray unto thee to give me continual supplies of thy grace that I may continue in thy love unto my lives end that being faithfull to death I may receive the Crown of life O Lord God I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments My heart is empty and disengag'd and longs for thee my heart is entirely devoted to thee Enter O my God possess it with thy gratious presence and fill it with thy love Lord for thy tender mercies sake restore me to thy favour to all the graces and privileges of my Baptism of which I have been spoil'd by my sins Lord make me a living member of thy Church the mystical body of thy Son O my God unite me inseparably to Christ my Head and from thence let his gratious influences be ever streaming into my soul Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son But I return with the Prodigal O let thy paternal bowels yearn on me and gratiously receive me Lord send thy Spirit of Adoption into my heart to instill true filial affections that I may again be own'd by thee for thy Child and call thee Father and share in the blessings of thy Children and at last become an Inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven O heavenly Father accept my imperfect repentance compassionate my infirmities forgive my wickedness purifie my uncleanness strengthen my weakness fix my unstableness and let thy love ever rule in my heart through the merits and sufferings and love of the Son of thy love in whom thou art always infinitely pleas'd Amen This Office may be us'd in times of devout Retirement or on the Lord's day or in Affliction or Sickness but especially before the Holy Eucharist Q. Rehearse the Articles of your Belief A. I. I Believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth II. And in Iesus Christ his onely Son our Lord III. Who was Conceived by the Holy Ghost Born of the Uirgin Mary IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucified Dead and Buried He descended into Hell V. The third day He rose again from the Dead VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty VII From thence he shall come to iudge the quick and the dead VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost IX The Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints X. The Forgiveness of Sins XI The resurrection of the body
bodily Sufferings O almighty Love were intolerable but yet thy inward were far greater I grieve I love I melt all o'er when I hear thee on the Cross crying out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Ah sinfull Wretch that I am how infinite and unconceivable were the inward Dolours and Agonies thou didst undergo for us Sinners when thou didst tread the Winepress of thy Father's wrath alone when it pleas'd thy own most beloved Father to bruise thee and to put thee to grief when the iniquities of the whole World were laid on thee and my numerous sins increast thy load and heightned thy torment when thy own Deity withdrew all consolation from thee when God offended by our sins did afflict thee in the day of his fierce anger no sufferings no love was ever like unto thine for me no grief no love but thy own should exceed mine for thee For whom O unutterable goodness didst thou suffer the extreme bitterness oâ— sorrow but for the vilest of all thy Creatures sinfull man and for me one of the worst of Sinners and therefore I praise and love thee For what end didst thou suffer O most ardent Charity but to save Sinners from all things that were destructive the Curse of the Law the Terrours of Death the Tyranny of Sin the Powers of Darkness and Torments Eternal to purchase for us all things conducible to our Happiness Pardon and Grace Consolation and Acceptance and the everlasting Joys and Glories of the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore I praise and love thee Out of what motive didst thou suffer O boundless Benignity but out of thy own preventing love free mercy and pure compassion and therefore I praise and love thee When no other Sacrifice could attone thy Father's Anger O thou the beloved Son of God and reconcile Divine Justice and Mercy together but the Sacrifice of God incarnate who as man was to die and to suffer in our stead as God was to merit and make satisfaction for our sins 't was then that thou O God the Son didst become Man the very meanest of Men didst take upon thee the form of a Servant and didst on the Cross shew us the mystery and the Miracle of Love God crucified for Sinners and Sinners redeem'd by the bloud of God O thou propitious Wonder God incarnate on the Cross by what Names shall I adore thee all are too short too scanty to express thee Love onely nothing but Love will reach thee thou art Love O Jesu thou art all love O tenderest O sweetest O purest O dearest Love soften sweeten refine love me into all Love like thee By the love of thy Cross O Jesu I live in that I will onely glory that above all things will I study that before all things will I value by the love of thy Cross I will take up my Cross daily and follow thee I will persecute and torment and crucify my sinfull Affections and Lusts which persecuted tormented and crucify'd thee and if thy love calls me to it I will suffer on the Cross for thee as thou hast done for me How illustrious and amiable were thy Graces amidst all thy Sufferings O thou afflicted Jesu I admire and I love thy profound Humility unwearied Patience Lamb-like Meekness immaculate Innocence invincible Courage absolute Resignation compassionate love of Souls and perfect Charity to thy Enemies O my Love I cannot love thee but I must desire above all things to be like my Beloved O give me grace to tread in thy steps and conform me to thy Divine Image that the more I grow like thee the more I may love thee and the more I may be lov'd by thee And Buried He descended into Hell I believe O crucified Lord that thou wast really dead and that there was a separation of thy Body and Soul That thy side was mortally wounded and pierced with a Spear on the Cross and thy sacred Body was buried to assure us of thy death All love all glory be to thee I believe O pierced O wounded Love that thy Soul in the state of separation did descend into Hell to vanquish Death and all the Spirits of darkness in their own Dominions and therefore I adore and love thee Glory be to thee O thou great Champion of Love who didst for our sakes singly encounter all our ghostly Enemies who didst thy self taste of death that thou mightst take away the sting of death who didst wrestle with principalities and powers and all the force of Hell that we might share in thy Victory for which wonderfull Salvation I will always praise and love thee The third day he rose again from the dead I believe O Almighty Love that according to the Types and Prophecies which went before of thee and according to thy own infallible predictions thou didst by thy own power rise from the dead the third day All love all glory be to thee Glory be to thee who didst lie so long in the Grave to undergo the full condition of the dead and to convince all the world thou wert dead and didst rise so soon that thou mightst not see corruption or retard our joy All love all glory be to thee He ascended into Heaven I believe O Victorious Love that thou after thy conquest over Death and Hell didst ascend in triumph to Heaven that thou mightst prepare Mansions for us and from thencâ— as Conquerour bestow the gifts of thy conquest on us and above all the gift of thy Holy Spirit that thou mightst enter into the Holy of Holies as our great High-priest to present to thy Father the sweet-smelling Sacrifice of his crucified Son the sole propitiation for Sinners and therefore all Love all glory be to thee Glory be to thee O Jesu who didst leave the world and ascend to Heaven about the 33 d year of thy age to teach us in the prime of our years to despise this world when we are best able to enjoy it and to reserve our full vigour for Heaven and for thy Love O thou whom my Soul loveth since thou hast left the world what was there ever in it worthy of our Love O let all my affections ascend after thee and never return to the earth more for whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none â—pon earth that I desire in comparison of thee And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty I believe O Triumphant Love that thou now sittest in full and peacefull possession of bliss and at the right hand of God that thy humane Nature is exalted to the most honourable place in Heaven where thou sittest on thy throne of glory ador'd by Angels and interceding for Sinners and therefore all love all glory be to thee Glory be
generality of the World and therefore all Love all Glory be to thee Glory be to thee O all-powerful Love by whose inviâ—â—ble Grace we in Baptism die to sin to all carnal Affections renouncing and detesting them all and resolving to take no more pleasure in them than dead persons do in the comforts of life O may I ever thus die to Sin Glory be to thee O Jesu who from our death to Sin in our Baptism dost raise us to a new Life and dost breath into us the breath of Love 'T is in this Laver of regeneration we are born again by Water and the Spirit by a new Birth unto righâ—eoâ—â—ness that as the natural Birth propagated sin our spiritual Birth should propagate Grace for which all Love all Glory be to thee Glory be to thee O most indulgent Love who in our Baptism dost give us the holy spirit of Love to be the principle of new Life and of Love in us to infuse into our Souls a supernatural habitual Grace and ability to obey and love thee for which all Love all Glory be to thee Glory be to thee O compassionate Love who when we were conceived and Born in Sin of sinful Parents when we sprang from a root wholly corrupt and were all Children of Wrath hast in our Baptism made us Children of thy own Heavenly Father by Adoption and Grace When we were Heirs of Hell hast made us Heirs of Heaven even joynt Heirs with thy one self of thy own Glory for which with all the powers of my Soul I adore and love thee I know O dearest Lord that I am thine no longer than I Love thee I can no longer feel the saving efficacy of my Baptism than I am faithful to my Vow I there made no longer than I am a Penitent no longer am I Christian if I name the name of Christ I am to depart from Iniquity O do thou give me the Grace of True Repentance for all my Sin for my original Impurity and for all my actual Transgressions that I may abhor and â—â—rsake them all wound my Soul with a most affectionate sorrow for all the Injuries and Affronts and dishonours I have offered to infinite Love Glory be to thee O most liberal Jesu for all those exceeding great and pretious Promises of Pardon and Grace and Glory which thou hast made to us Christians in the Sacrament of Baptism O may I ever stedfastly believe O may I ever passionately Love may I ever firmly rely on thy superabundant Love in all these Promises for which I will ever adore and love thee Glory be to thee O sweetest Love who in my infancy didst admit me to holy Baptism who by thy preventing Grace when I was a little Child didst receive me into the evangelical Covenant didst take me up into the arms of thy Mercy and bless me Glory be to thee who didst early dedicate me to thy self to prepossess me by thy Love before the World should seize and defise me Ah Gratious Lord how long how often have I polluted my self by my Sins But I repent and deplore all those Pollutions and I consecrate my self to thee againâ—t O thou most reconcileable Love pardon and accept me and restore me to thy Love O let the intenseness of my future Love not only Love for the time to come but retrieve all the Love I have lost Glory be to thee O tenderest Jesu who when by reason of my Infancy I could not promise to repent and believe for my self didst mercifully accept of the promise of my Sureties who promisâ—â— both for me as thou didst accept for good to the Paralytick the charitable intentions of those that brought him to thee and of the Faith of the Woman of Canaan for the Cure of her Daughter for which merciful acceptance all Love all Glory be to thee O my God my Lord the promise which was made by my Sureties for me I acknowledg that as soon as I came to a competent Age I was bâ—â—â—d my self to perform and I own and renew my Obligation I promise O my Lord with all the force of my Soul to Love thee O do thou ever keep me true to my own promise â—â—ce thou art ever â—â—alterably true to thine for which I will ever adore and love thee Q. Why was the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ordained A. For the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ and of the benefits which we receive thereby Q. What is the outward part or sign of the Lords Supper A. Bread and Wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received Q. What is the inward part or thing signified A. The body and blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper Q. What are the benefits where-we are partakers thereby A. The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and bloud of Christ as our bodies are by the bread and wine Q. What is required of them who come to the Lords Supper A. To examin themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new life have a lively faith in Gods mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his death and be in charity with all men Glory be to thee O crucified Love who at thy last Supper didst ordain the Holy Eucharist the Sacrament and Feast of Love It was for the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of thy death O blessed Jesu and of the Benefits we receive thereby that thou wast pleased to ordain this sacred and awful Rite all Love all Glory be to thee Ah dearest Lord how little sensible is he of thy Love in dying for us who can ever forget thee Ah wo is me that ever a Sinner should forget his Saviour and yet alas how prone are we to do it Glory be to thee O Gracious Jesu who to help our memories and to impress thy Love deep on our Souls hast instituted the blessed Sacrament and commanded us Do this in remembrance of me O Jesu let the Propitiatory Sacrifice of thy Death which thou didst offer upon the Cross for the Sins of the whole World and particularly for my Sins be ever fresh in my remembrance O blessed Saviour let that mighty Salvation thy Love has wrought for us never slip out of my mind but especially let my remmbrance of thee in the Holy Sacrament be always most lively and affecting O Jesu if I love thee truly I shall be sure to frequent thy Altar that I may often remember all the wonderful Loves of my Crucified Redeemer I know O my Lord and my God that a bare remembrance of thee is not enough O do thou therefore fix in me such a remembranâ—e of thee as is suitable to the infinite Love I am to remember Work in me all the holy and heavenly affections as become the remembrance of a Crucified
AN EXPOSITION ON THE Church-Catechism OR THE PRACTICE OF Divine Love COMPOSED For the Diocese of Bath Wells LONDON Printed for Charles Brome at the West-end of St. Paul's and William Clarke in Winchester 1685 Imprimatur Io. Battely RR mo P. D no. Wilhelmo Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris domesticis Ex Aedibus Lamb. Aug. 9. 1685. To the Inhabitants within the Diocese of Bath and Wells THOMAS their Unworthy Bishop wisheth the Knowledge and the Love of God Dearly Beloved in our Lord THE Church has provided this short Catechism or Instruction to be learn'd of every person before he be brought to be Confirm'd by the Bishop wherein she teaches all things that a Christian ought to know and believe for his Soul's health and she has enjoyn'd All Fathers and Mothers Masters and Dames to cause their Children and Servants and Prentices to come to the Church at the time appointed and obediently to hear and be ordered by the Curate untill such time as they have learn'd all that is here appointed to be learn'd How seasonable and necessary this Injunction is in these days our wofull experience does sufficiently convince us when we reflect on the gross Ignorance and Irreligion of persons in those places where Catechizing is neglâ—cted which all sober Christians do sadly deplore Since then the Providence of God who is wont to glorifie his strength in the weakness of the Instruments he uses has caught me up from among the meanest Herdmen into the Pastoral Throne and has been pleased to commit you to my care The Love I ought to pay to the chief Shepherd obliges me to feed all his Lambs and his Sheep that belong to my flock and according to my poor abilities to teach them the Knowledge and the Love of God and how they may make them both their daily study and practice One thing onely I most earnestly beg of you all whether old or young that ye would help me to save your own Souls that ye would learn and seriously consider again and again the terms on which your Salvation is to be had As for you who have Families I beseech you to instill into your Children and Servants their Duty both by your Teaching and your Example In good earnest it is less cruel and unnatural to deny them Bread for their mortal Bodies than saving Knowledge for their immortal Souls Ye that are Fathers or Masters I exhort you to tread in the steps of Abraham the Father of the faithfull and the friend of God and like him to command your Children and Housholds to keep the way of the Lord. Ye that are Mothers or Mistresses I exhort you to imitate that unfeigned Faith which dwelt in young Timothy's Grandmother Lois and his Mother Eunice who taught him from a Child to know the Holy Scriptures which were able to make him wise to Salvation and like them to bring up your Children and Servants in the nurture and admonition of the Lord I passionately exhort and beseech you all of either Sex never to cease your conscientious zeal for their instruction till you bring them to Confirmation To renew their Baptismal vow To make open profession of their Christianity To discharge their Godfathers and Godmothers To receive the solemn Benediction of the Bishop To share in the publick Intercessions of the Church and to partake of all the Graces of God's Holy Spirit implor'd on their behalf that God who has begun a good work in them may perfect it till the day of Christ and that I my self at that dreadfull day may render an account of you with joy How much the Catechism of our Church may conduce to so desirable an end you will in some measure judge by the following Explication as imperfect as it is and which by God's gratious assistence I have so contriv'd that at one and the same time it may both inform your understanding and raise your affections and that it might the better sute with every ones leisure and infirmities it is Pen'd in short Forms of Devotion to be us'd in whole or in part in separate Collects or Ejaculations or occasionally as your Spiritual necessities shall require God of his infinite mercy bless the whole to his own Glory and to your Edification through Iesus the Beloved Amen Amen AN EXPOSITION ON THE Church-Catechism c. Question WHAT is your Name Answer N. or M. Q. Why do you answer by that Name rather than by your Sirname A. Because it is my Christian Name and was given me when I was made a Christian and puts me in mind both of the Happiness and duty of a Christian. Q. Where do you learn the Happiness and the Duty of a Christian A. The very next answer teaches me the Happiness and all the rest of the Catechism the Duty of a Christian. Q. Who gave you this Name A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism wherein I was made a Member of Christ the Child of God and an Inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. Shew me from hence the Happiness of a Christian. A. The Happiness of a good Christian is altogether unutterable he is one who has Christ for his Head God for his Father and Heaven with all its joys and glories which are all eternal for his Inheritance Q. Shew me on the contrary the condition of a bad Christian. A. The misery of a bad Christian is altogether insupportable He has Christ for his Enemy the Devil for his Father and Hell with all its miseries and torments and despair which are all eternal for his Doom Q. Which of these Conditions do you chuse A. I adore the goodness of God who has set before me life and death blessing and cursing and in great compassion to my Soul has bid me chuse life and with all my heart I chuse life even life eternal Q. Are there not many in the World that chuse death A. It is too too visible there are such is the extreme madness and folly of obstinate Sinners that they chuse the Service of the Devil before the Service of God and Hell before Heaven the damnation of such men is wholly from themselves and having chosen death even death eternal it is most just with God to give them their choice Q. Blessed be God who has given you grace to make a right choice Tell me what you must doe to obtain that which you have chosen life eternal A. All that I am to doe is reduc'd to one word onely and that is Love This is the first and the great Command which comprehends all others the proper Evangelical Grace and eternal Truth has assured me This doe and thou shalt live So that if I truly love God I shall live beloved by God to all eternity Q. Tell me wherein the love of God doth consist A. The love of God is a grace rather to be felt than defin'd So that I can doe no
profess thy Name that in all these and all other possible instances of duty our lives may be continually employ'd to love thee and for thy sake to love our neighbour and to excite our neighbour to love thee The Ninth Commandment O my God O my Love I renounce as p. 52. All manner of bearing false Witness against my Neighbour All false accusations or glosses or pleadings or testimonies or sentences in Courts of Judicature by concealing or overspeaking or perverting right and truth All things prejudicial or destructive to my neighbours good name All censoriousness and slander detraction and calumny forc'd consequences or invidious reflexions All scoffing or exposing the infirmities of others All whispering and tale-bearing or raising of evil reports suspicions or jealousies and all evil-speaking All equivocations and dissembling flattery and lying All the least tendencies to any of these injurious falshoods From all these and the like hatefull violations of thy love and of the love c. as page 52. O my God O my Love who dost love truth and dost hate a lie as perfectly Diabolical instill into my Soul an unalterable love of truth that nothing may tempt me to deviate from an intire veracity in my whole conversation or become a liar which thy Soul abhors O Lord give me grace ever to speak the truth and let my heart and my tongue always go together O my God give me grace to be tender of my neighbour's good name since I cannot love him if I take that from him which I know to be most dear to him Grant O my God for the sake of thy own love that I may be always ready to vindicate my neighbour's good name on all occasions that I may judge the best and speak well of him and conceal or excuse his infirmities that I may be impatient to hear slow to believe and unwilling to propagate evil reports that I may put candid interpretations on his actions since the more he is defamed the less able he is to serve thee the less credit he has to perswade others to love thee O my God O my love let thy c. as page 51. The Tenth Commandment O my God O my Love I renounce as p. 51. All the inordinate desire of what is my neighbour's All coveting his House or Wife or Servant or Maid or Ox or Ass or any thing that is his All discontentedness with my worldly condition and worldly solicitude All covetousness or repining at the happiness of others All taking pleasure in sin or complacence in past impurities All the first motions all the least tendencies to concupiscence From all these and the like hatefull c. as p. 52. O my God O my Love thou art the great searcher of hearts and dost not onely require outward acts of duty but the inward disposition of the heart the heart is the chief sacrifice thou requirest the heart is the proper seat of thy love and my heart I wholly devote to thee O my God create in me a clean heart that the fountain of action being clean the streams may run clean also Give me a heart O thou who onely canst change the heart entirely turn'd to thee that may suppress and resist all the first springings of Lust before they shoot up into consent approbation and desire before lust conceiving brings forth sin Lord make me contented and thankfull and well-pleased with that portion thy providential love has allotted me and to acquiesce in thy choice as best for me O great Lord of hearts lodge my neighbour in my heart next to my self let all my desires be for his good and let it be the subject of my joy and praise and love to see thy love liberal to him to see him abounding in thy blessings O my God my love what can a Soul enamour'd of thee ever desire but thee O let the world never more have place in my heart all my affections I withdraw from that to fix on thee Forgive me O my God if I am unmeasurably ambitious it is onely of thy favour forgive me if I am unsatiably covetous it is onely of thy fruition forgive me if I am perpetually discontented it is onely because I cannot love thee more O unconceivable happiness of Heaven where my Ambition shall rest on a Throne where my Covetousness shall be filled with the â—eartifick Vision and where I shall be eternally satisfied with love O my God O my Love let thy c. as page 51. Q. My good child know this that thou art not able to do these things of thy self nor to walk in the Commandments of God and to serve him without his special grace which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent Prayer Let me hear therefore if thou canst say the Lords Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil Amen Q. What desirest thou of God in this prayer A. I desire my Lord God our heavenly Father who is the giver of all goodness to send his grace unto me and to all people that we may worship him serve him and obey him as we ought to do And I pray unto God that he will send us all things that be needful both for our souls and bodies And that he will be merciful unto us and forgive us our sins and that it will please him to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and bodily and that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death And this I trust he will do of his mercy and goodness through our Lord Iesus Christ. And therefore I say Amen So be it O infinite Lord it is my duty and my happiness to love thee but alas my own sad experience teaches me how little able I am to love Ah Lord there is a dark cloud of Ignorance spread over my Soul that intercepts thy beams I cannot clearly see I cannot fully know how lovely thou art Ah Lord when ever any gleams of thy loveliness break in upon my Spirit and attract my will a crowd of strange Loves importune and tempt me to wander after them Since O my God I can of my self neither know nor love thee since I cannot by my own strength do those things thou requirest nor walk in thy Commandments nor serve thee nor think so much as one good thought whither can I fly but only to thy free and unbounded love Thou art my hope my help and my salvation thou only canst teach and enable me to know and to love thy own goodness By thy special Grace