him to reign over them Quest. What Promises hath Jesus Christ made us in the Gospel Answ. He hath promised to give us all that we need in this life That every thing shall work together for our good That he will be with us in tribulation and persecution He hath promised his Graces and his holy Spirit to enable us to do our duty and if we make use of these Graces he hath promised to give us more He hath promised to forgive us our sins to hear our prayers to take the sting of death from us to keep our souls in safe custody after death and in his due time to raise our bodies from the grave and to joyn them to our Souls and to give us eternal life and joys that shall never cease Quest. How is Jesus Christ able to do all this for us Answ. When he had suffered death and was buried three days God raised him up again and gave him all power in Heaven and Earth made him head of the Church Lord of Men and Angels and the judge of the quick and dead Quest. By what means doth Jesus Christ our Lord convey all these Blessings to us Answ. Jesus Christ had three Offices and in all he was Mediator between God and man He is our Prophet our Priest and our King Quest. What was his Office as he was a Phophet Answ. This Office he finished on earth beginning when he was thirty years old to â—…each the Gospel of the Kingdom Faith and Repentance Quest. When began his Priestly Office and wherein does it consist Answ. It began at his death for he was himself the Priest and the Sacrifice offering himself upon the Altar of the Cross for the sins of all the World Quest. Did his Priestly Office then cease Answ. No He is a Priest for ever that is unto the end of the world and represents the same Sacrifice to God in Heaven interceding and praying continually for us in the virtue of that sacrifice by which he obtains relief of all our necessities Quest. What doth Christ in Heaven pray for on our behalf Answ. That our sins may be pardoned our infirmities pitied our necessities relieved our persons defended our temptations overcome that we may be reconciled to God and be saved Quest. How is Jesus Christ also our King Answ. When he arose from his grave and had for forty days together conversed with his Disciples shewing himself alive by many infallible tokens he ascended into Heaven and there sits at the right hand of God all things being made subject to him Angels and Men and Devils Heaven and Earth the Elements and all the Creatures and over all he reigns comforting and defending his elect subduing the power of the Devil taking out the sting of Death and making all to serve the Glory of God and to turn to the good of his Elect. Quest. How long must his Kingdom last Answ. Till Christ hath brought all his enemies under his feet that is till the day of judgment in which Day shall be performed the greatest acts of his Kingly power for then he shall quite conquer Death triumph over the Devils throw his enemies into Hell-fire and carry all his Elect to never-ceasing glories and then he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father that God may be all in all Quest. How is Christ a Mediator in all these Offices Answ. A Mediator signifies one that stands between God and us As Christ is a Prophet so he taught us his Father's will and ties us to obedience As he is a Priest he is our Redeemer having paid a price for us even his most precious blood and our Advocate pleading for us and mediating our Pardon and Salvaon As he is a King so he is our Lord our Patron and our Judge yet it is the Kingdom of a Mediator that is in order to the world to come but then to determine and end And in all these he hath made a Covenant between God and us of an everlasting interest Quest. What is the Covenant which Jusus Christ our Mediator hath made between God and us Answ. That God will write his Laws in our hearts and will pardon us and defend us and raise us up again at the last day and give us an inheritance in his Kingdom Quest. To what Conditions hath he bound us on our parts Answ. Faith and Repentance Quest. When do we enter into this Covenant Answ. In our Baptism and at our ripe years when we understand the secrets of the kingdom of Christ and undertake willingly what in our names was undertaken for us in our infancy Quest. What is the Covenant of Faith which we enter into in Baptism Answ. We promise to believe that Jesus Christ is the Messias or he that was to come into the world That he is the Anointed of the Lord or the Lord 's Christ That he is the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary That he is God incarnate or God manifested in the flesh That he is the Mediator between God and Man That he died for us upon the Cross and rose again the third day and ascended into Heaven and shall be there till the day of Judgment that then he shall be our Judge in the mean time he is the King of the world and head of the Church Quest. What is the Covenant of Repentance Answ. We promise to leave all our sins and with a hearty and sincere endeavour to give up our will and affections to Christ and do what he hath commanded according to our power and weakness Quest. How if we fail of this Promise through infirmity and commit sin Answ. Still we are within the Covenant of Repentance that is within the promise of pardon and possibility of returning from dead works and mortifying our lusts and though this be done after the manner of men that is in weakness and with some failings yet our endeavour must be hearty and constant and diligent and our watchfulness and prayers for pardon must be lasting and persevering Quest. What Ministeries hath Christ appointed to help us in this duty Answ. The Ministery of the Word and Secraments which he will accompany with his Grace and his Spirit Quest. What is a Sacrament Answ. An outward Ceremony ordained by Christ to be a sign and a means of conveying his grace unto us Quest. How many Sacraments are ordained by Christ Answ. Two Baptism and the Supper of our Lord. Quest. What is Baptism Answ. An outward washing of the Body in Water in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost in which we are buried with Christ in his death after a Sacramental manner and
persevering duty to all families visited with the rod of God give consolation and a holy use of the affliction and a speedy deliverance to us all pardon and holiness and life eternal through Jesus Christ Amen The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communication of the Holy Spirit be with us all for ever Amen A short Prayer to be said every Morning I. O Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the God of mercy and comfort with reverence and fear with humble confidence and strong desires I approach to the throne of Grace begging of thee mercy and protection pardon and Salvation O my God I am a sinner but sorrowful and repenting Thou art justly offended at me but yet thou art my Lord and my Father merciful and gracious Be pleased to blot all my sins out of thy remembrance and heal my Soul that I may never any more sin against thee Lord open my eyes that I may see my own infirmities and watch against them and my own follies that I may amend them and be pleased to give me perfect understanding in the way of godliness that I may walk in it all the days of my pilgrimage Give me a spirit diligent in the works of my calling chearful and zealous in Religion fervent and frequent in my prayers charitable and useful in my Conversation Give me a healthful and a chast body a pure and a holy Soul a sanctified and an humble spirit and let my body and Soul and spirit be preserved unblameable to the coming of the Lord Jesus Amen II. BLessed by thy Name O God and blessed be thy Mercies who hast preserved me this night from sin and sorrow from sad chances and a violent death from the malice of the Devil and the evil effects of my own corrupted nature and infirmity The out-goings of the Morning and Evening shall praise thee and thy Servants shall rejoyce in giving thee praise for the operation of thy hands Let thy providence and care watch over me this day and all my whole life that I may never sin against thee by idleness or folly by evil company or private sins by word or deed by thought or desire and let the imployment of my day leave no sorrow or the remembrance of an evil conscience at night but let it be holy and profitable blessed and always innocent that when the days of my short abode are done and the shadow is departed I may die in thy fear and favour and rest in a holy hope and at last return to the joys of a blessed Resurrection through Jesus Christ in whose name and in whose words in behalf of my self and all my friends and all thy Servants I humbly and heartily pray Our Father c. A Prayer for the Evening ETernal God Almighty Father of Men and Angels by whose care and providence I am preserved and blessed comforted and assisted I humbly beg of thee to pardon the sins and follies of this day the weaknesses of my services and the strength of my passions the rashness of my words and the vanity and evil of my actions O just and dear God how long shall I confess my sins and pray against them and yet fall under them O let it be so no more let me never return to the follies of which I am ashamed which bring sorrow and death and thy displeasure worse than death Give me a command over my evil inclinations and a perfect hatred of sin and a love to thee above all the desires of this world Be pleased to bless and preserve me this night from all sin and all violence of Chance and the malice of the spirits of darkness Watch over me in my sleep and whether I sleep or wake let me be thy servant Be thou first and last in all my thoughts and the guide and continual assistance of all my actions Preserve my body pardon the sin of my Soul and sanctifie my spirit Let me always live holily and justly and soberly and when I die receive my Soul into thine hands O holy and ever blessed Jesus that I may lie in thy bosom and long for thy coming and hear thy blessed Sentence at Doomsday and behold thy face and live in thy Kingdom singing praises to God for ever and ever Amen Our Father c. For Sunday A Prayer against Pride I. OEternal God merciful and glorious thou art exalted far above all heavens thy Throne O God is glory and thy Scepter is righteousness thy Will is holiness and thy Wisdom the great foundation of Empire and Government I adore thy Majesty and rejoyce in thy Mercy and revere thy Power and confess all glory and dignity and honour to be thine alone and theirs to whom thou shalt impart any ray of thy Majesty or reflexion of thy honour but as for me I am a worm and no man vile dust and ashes the son of corruption and the heir of rottenness seized upon by folly a lump of ignorance and sin and shame and death What art thou O Lord The great God of Heaven and Earth the Fountain of Holiness and Perfection infinite But what am I So ignorant that I know not what so poor that I have nothing of my own so miserable that I am the heir of sorrow and death and so sinful that I am encompassed with shame and grief II. AND yet O my God I am proud proud of my shame glorying in my sin boasting my infirmities for this is all that I have of my own save only that I have multiplied my miseries by vile actions every day dishonouring the work of thy hands my understanding is too confident my affections rebellious my will refractory and disobedient and yet I know thou resistest the proud and didst cast the morning Stars the Angels from Heaven into chains of darkness when they grew giddy and proud walking upon the battlements of Heaven beholding the glorious Regions that were above them III. THou O God who givest grace to the humble do something also for the proud man make me humble and obedient Take from me the spirit of pride and hautiness ambition and self-flattery confidence and gaiety teach me to think well and to expound all things fairly of my brother to love his worthiness to delight in his praises to excuse his errours to give thee thanks for his graces to rejoyce in all the good that he receives and ever to believe and speak better things of him than of my self IV. O Teach me to love to be concealed and little esteem'd let me be truly humbled and heartily ashamed of my sin and folly teach me to bear reproaches evenly for I have deserved them to refuse all honours done unto me because I have not deserved them to return all to thee for it is thine alone to suffer reproof thankfully to amend all my faults speedily and do thou invest my Soul with the humble robe of my meek Master and Saviour Jesus and when I have
became a Sacrifice for all our sins and suffered himself to be taken by the malicious Jews and put to a painful and shameful death they being envious at him for the number of his Disciples and the reputation of his person the innocence of his life the mightiness of his Miracles and the power of his Doctrine and this Death he suffered when Pontius Pilate was Governour of Judea Was crucified Jesus Christ being taken by the Rulers of the Jews bound and derided buffeted and spit upon accused weakly and persecuted violently at last wanting matter and pretences to condemn him they asked him of his person and office and because he affirmed that great Truth which all the world of good men long'd for that he was the Messias and designed to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on high they resolved to call it Blasphemy and delivered him over to Pilate and by importunity and threats forced him against his Conscience to give him up to be scourged and then to be Crucified The Souldiers therefore mocking him with a Robe and Reed and pressing a Crown of thorns upon his head led him to the place of his death compelling him to bear his Cross to which they presently nail'd him on which for three hours he hanged in extreme torture being a sad spectacle of the most afflicted and the most innocent person of the whole world Dead When the Holy Jesus was wearied with tortures and he knew all things were now fulfilled and his Father's wrath appeased towards Mankind his Father pitying his innocent Son groaning under such intolerable miseries hastned his Death and Jesus commending his Spirit into the hands of his Father cried with a loud voice bowed his head and died and by his death sealed all the Doctrines and Revelations which he first taught the world and then confirmed by his Bloud He was consecrated our merciful High-Priest and by a feeling of our miseries and temptations became able to help them that are tempted and for these his sufferings was exalted to the highest Throne and seat of the right hand of God and hath shewn that to Heaven there is no surer way than suffering for his Name and hath taught us willingly to suffer for his sake what himself hath already suffered for ours He reconciled us to God by his Death led us to God drew us to himself redeemed us from all iniquity purchased us for his Father and for ever made us his servants and redeemed ones that we being dead unto sin might live unto God And this Death being so highly beneficial to us he hath appointed means to apply to us and to represent to God for us in the Holy Sacrament of his last Supper And upon all these considerations that Cross which was a smart and shame to our Lord is honour to us and as it turned to his Glory so also to our Spiritual advantages And Buried That he might suffer every thing of humane nature he was by the care of his Friends and Disciples by the leave of Pilate taken from the Cross and embalmed as the manner of the Jews was to bury and wrapp'd linnen and buried in a new grave hewn out of a Rock And this was the last and lowest step of his Humiliation He descended into Hell That is He went down into the lower parts of the earth as himself called it into the heart of the earth by which phrase the Scripture understands the state of Separation or of Souls severed from their Bodies By this his descending to the land of darkness where all things are forgotten he sanctified the state of Death Separation that none of his servants might ever after fear the jaws of Death and Hell whither he went not to suffer torment because he finished all that upon the Cross but to triumph over the gates of Hell to verifie his Death and the event of his sufferings and to break the iron bars of those lower prisons that they may open and shut hereafter only at his command The third day he rose again from the Dead After our Lord Jesus had abode in the grave the remaining part of the day of his Passion and all the next day early in the morning upon the third day by the power of God he was raised from Death and Hell to Light and Life never to return to death any more and is become the first-born from the dead the first-fruits of them that slept and although he was put to death in the flesh yet now being quickned in the Spirit he lives for ever And as we all die in Adam so in Christ we all shall be made alive but every man in his own order Christ is the first and we if we follow him in the Regeneration shall also follow him in the Resurrection He ascended into Heaven When our dearest Lord was risen from the Grave he conversed with his Disciples for forty days together often shewing himself alive by infallible proofs and once to five hundred of his Disciples at once appearing Having spoken to them fully concerning the affairs of the Kingdom and the Promise of the Father leaving them some few things in charge for the present he solemnly gave them his Blessing and in the presence of his Apostles was taken up into Heaven by a bright Cloud and the Ministery of Angels being gone before us to prepare a place for us above all Heavens in the presence of his Father and at the foot of the Throne of God From which glorious presence we cannot be kept by the change of Death and the powers of the Grave nor the depth of Hell nor the height of Heaven but Christ being lifted up shall draw all his Servants unto him And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty I believe that Jesus Christ sitteth in Heaven above all Principalities and Powers being exalted above every Name that is named in Heaven and Earth that is above every creature above and below all things being put under his feet That he is always in the presence of his Father interceding for us and governs all things in Heaven and Earth that he may defend his Church and adorn her with his Spirit and procure and effect her eternal Salvation There he sits and reigns as King and intercedes as our High-Priest He is a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which God made and not man the Author and Finisher of our Faith the Captain of our Confession the great Apostle of our Religion the Great Bishop of our Souls the Head of the Church and the Lord of Heaven and Earth And therefore to him we are to pay Dvino Worship Service and Obedience and we must believe in him
is full and mixt And must be drunk Wormwood and Gall To this are draughts to beguile care withall Yet the Decree is fixt Doubled knees and groans and cries Prayers and sighs and flowing eyes Could not intreat His sad Soul sunk Under the heavy pressure of our sin The pains of Death and Hell About him dwell His Fathers burning wrath did make His very heart like melting wax to sweat Rivers of Blood Through the pure strainer of his skin His boyling body stood Bubling all o're As if the wretched whole were but one door To let in pain and grief And turn out all relief O thou who for our sake Didst drink up This bitter Cup Remember us we pray In thy day When down The strugling throats of wicked men The dregs of thy just fury shall be thrown Oh then Let thy unbounded mercy think On us for whom Thou underwent'st this heavy doom And give us of the Well of Life to drink Amen On the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin A Winged Harbinger from bright Heav'n flown Bespeaks a lodging-room For the mighty King of Love The spotless structure of a Virgin-womb O're-shadow'd with the wings of the blest Dove For he was travelling to earth But did desire to lay By the way That he might shift his cloaths and be A perfect man as well as we How good a God have we who for our sake To save us from the burning lake Did change the order of Creation At first he made Man like himself in his own Image now In the more blessed reparation The Heaven's bow Eternity took the measure of a span And said Let us make our self like Man And not from Man the Woman take But from the Woman Man Allelujah we adore His Name whose goodness hath no store Allelujah Easter-day WHat glorious light How bright a Sun after so sad a night Does now begin to dawn Bless'd were those eyes That did behold This Sun when he did first unfold His glorious beams and now begin to rise It was the holy tender Sex That saw the first ray Saint Peter and the other had the reflex The second glimpse o' th' day Innocence had the first and he That fled and then did penance next did see The glorious Sun of Righteousness In his new dress Of triumph immortality and bliss O dearest God preserve our Souls In holy innocence Or if we do amiss Make us to rise again to th' life of Grace face That we may live with thee and see thy glorious The Crown of holy Penitence Allelujah On the Day of Ascension HE is risen higher not set Indeed a cloud Did with his leave make bold to shrowd The Sun of Glory from Mouut Olivet At Pentecost hee'I shew himself again When every ray shall be a tongue To speak all comforts and inspire Our Souls with their coelestial fire That we the Saints among May sing and love and reign Amen On the Feast of Pentecost or Whitsunday TOngues of fire from Heaven descend With a mighty rushing wind To blow it up and make A living fire Of heavenly Charity and pure desire Where they their residence should take On the Apostles sacred heads they sit Who now like Beacons do proclaim and tell Th' invasion of the host of Hell And give men warning to defend Themselves from the inraged brunt of it Lord let the flames of holy Charity And all her gifts and graces slide Into our hearts and there abide That thus refined we may soar above With it unto the element of Love Even unto thee dear Spirit And there eternal peace and rest inherit Amen Penitential Hymns I. LOrd I have sinn'd and the black number swells To such a dismal sum That should my stony heart and eyes And this whole sinful trunk a flood become And run to tears their drops could not suffice To count my score Much less to pay But thou my God hast blood in store And art the Patron of the poor Yet since the Balsame of thy blood Although it can will do no good Unless the wounds be cleans'd with tears before Thou in whose sweet but pensive face Laughter could never steal a place Teach but my heart and eyes To melt away And then one drop of Balsam will suffice Amen II. GReat God and just how canst thou see Dear God our misery And not in mercy set us free Poor miserable man how wert thou born Weak as the dewy jewels of the Morn Wrapt up in tender dust Guarded with sins and lust Who like Court-flatterers wait To serve themselves in thy unhappy fate Wealth is a snare and poverty brings in Inlets for theft paving the way for sin Each perfum'd vanity doth gently breath Sin in thy Soul and whispers it to death Our faults like ulcerated sores do go O're the sound flesh and do corrupt that too Lord we are sick spotted with sin Thick as a crusty Leper's skin Like Naaman bid us wash yet let it be In streams of blood that flow from thee Then will we sing Touch'd by the heavenly Dove 's bright wing Hallelujabs Psalms and Praise To God the Lord of night and days Ever good and ever just Ever high who ever must Thus be sung is still the same Eternal praises crown his Name Amen A Prayer for Charity FUll of Mercy full of Love Look upon us from above Thou who taught'st the blind man's night To entertain a double light Thine and the day's and that thine too The Lame away his Crutches threw The parched crust of Leprosie Return'd unto its infancy The Dumb amazed was to hear His own unchain'd tongue strike his ear Thy powerful mercy did even chase The Devil from his usurp'd place Where thou thy self should'st dwell not he O let thy love our pattern be Let thy Mercy teach one Brother To forgive and love another That copying thy Mercy here Thy Goodness may hereafter rear Our Souls unto thy glory when Our Dust shall cease to be with â—…en Amen The End John 17.3 1 John 2. 23. Deut. 6. 2. Exod. 20. 2 3. Rev. 1.4 Psal. 90. 2. 1 Tim. 1. 17. Gen. 1. 1. Exod. 20. 11. Heb. 3. 4. Isa. 40. 12. Job 42. 2 3. Psal. 139. 1 c. Psal. 147. 5. Exod. 34. 6 7. 1 Tim. 6. 1 16. John 4. 24 1 King 8. 27. Amos 3. 6. Psal. 139. 1 9. Acts 7. 48 49. PS 2. 4. 103. 16. 115. 3. Isa. 11. 4. 44. 6. Job 9.4 c. Deut. 32. 39. Gen. 18. 25. Deut. 32.4 Exod 34. 7. Psal. 103. 8. 25. 8. 86. 5. Psal. 51. 2 Jam. 1.17 Heb. 11.6 Mat. 28.19 Joh. 14. 16 26. 15. 26. 1 Cor. 12. 4 5 6. 2 Cor. 13 13. 1 John 5. 7. 1 John 1. 18. 3. 16. Luke 24. 49. Acts 1. 4. 3. 33. Colos. 1. 16. Acts 1. 7. 24. 1 Cor. 8. 6. 1 Cor. 6. 18. Gal. 1. 4. Phil. 2. 22. Dan. 2. 47. Zach. 4. 14. 14. 9. Mat. 11. 25. Psal. 145. 10 11. Acts 14. 15. Gen.
A CHOICE MANUAL Containing What is to be Believed Practised and Desired or Prayed for the Prayers being fitted to the several Days of the Week ALSO FESTIVAL HYMNS According to the Manner of the ANCIENT CHURCH Composed for the use of the Devout especially of younger Persons By Jeremy Taylor D. D. LONDON Printed by J. Grover for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty 1677. THE Golden Grove The Eleventh Edition THE GUIDE of Infant-Devotion together with a Guide for the PENITENT A CHOICE MANUAL Containing What is to be Believed Practised and Desired or Prayed for the Prayers being fitted to the several Days of the Week ALSO FESTIVAL HYMNS According to the Manner of the ANCIENT CHURCH Composed for the use of the Devout especially of younger Persons By Jeremy Taylor D. D. LONDON Printed by J. Grover for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty 1677. TO THE Pious and Devout READER IN this sad declension of Religion the Seers who are appointed to be the Watchmen of the Church cannot but observe that the Supplanters and Underminers are gone out and are digging down the foundations and having destroy'd all publick forms of Ecclesiastical Government discouâ—…tenanc'd an excellent Liturgie taken off the hinges of Unity disgrac'd the Articles of Religion polluted publick Assemblies taken away all cognizance of Schism by mingling all Sects and giving Countenance to that against which all Power ought to stand upon their guard There is now nothing left but that we take care that men be Christians For concerning the Ornament and advantages of Religion we cannot make that provision we desire Incertis de salute de gloria minime certandum For since they who have seen Jerusalem in prosperity and have forgotten the order of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice and the beauty of the Temple will be tempted to neglect so excellent a ministration and their assembling themselves together for peace and holy Offices and be content with any thing that is brought to them though it be but the husks and acorns of Prodigals and Swine so they may enjoy their Lands and their Money with it we must now take care that the young men who were born in the Captivity may be taught how to Worship the God of Israel after the manner of their fore-fathers till it shall please God that Religion shall return into the Land and dwell safely and grow prosperously But never did the excellency of Episcopal Government apppear so demonstratively and conspicuously as now Under their conduct and order we had a Church so united so orderly so govern'd a Religion so setled Articles so true sufficient and confess'd Canons so prudent and so obey'd Devotions so regular and constant Sacraments so adorn'd and ministred Churches so beauteous and religious Circumstances of Religion so grave and prudent so useful and apt for edification that the enemies of our Church who serve the Pope in all things and Jesus Christ in some who dare transgress an Institution and Ordidinance of Christ but dare not break a Canon of the Pope did despair of prevailing against Us and Truth and knew no hopes but by setting their faces against us to destroy this Government and then they knew they should triumph without any enemy so Balaam the Son of Bosor was sent for to curse the People of the Lord in hope that the son of Zippor might prevail against them that had long prospered under the Conduct of Moses and Aaron But now instead of this excellency of Condition and Constitution of Religion the people are fallen under the Harrows and Saws of impertinent and ignorant Preachers who think all Religion is a Sermon and all Sermons ought to be Libels against Truth and old Governours and expound Chapters that the meaning may never be understood and pray that they may be thought able to talk but not to hold their peace they casting not to obtian any thing but Wealth and Victory Power and Plunder and the People have reap'd the fruits apt to grow upon such Crab-stocks they grow idle and false hypocrites and careless they deny themselves nothing that is pleasant they despise Religion forget Government and some never think of Heaven and they that do think to go thither in such paths which all the Ages of the Church did give men warning of lest they shoul that way go to the Devil But when men have try'd all that they can it is to be supposed they will return to the excellency and advantages of the Christian Religion as it is taught by the Church of England for by destroying it no end can be serv'd but of Sin and Folly Faction and Death eternal For besides that no Church that is enemy to this does worship God in that truth of Propositions in that unblameable and pious Liturgie and in preaching the necessities of holy life so much as the Church of England does besides this I say it cannot be persecuted by any Governour that understands his own Interest unless he be first abused by false Preachers and then prefers his secret Opinion before his publick Advantage For no Church in the World is so great a friend to Loyalty and Obedience as she and her Sisters of the same perswasion They that hate Bishops have destroy'd Monarchy and they that would erect an Ecclestical Monarchy must consequently subject the temporal to it and both one and the other would be supream in Consciences and they that govern there with an opinion that in all things they ought to be attended to will let their Prince govern others so long as he will be rul'd by them And certainly for a Prince to persecute the Protestant Religion is as if a Physician should endeavour to destroy all Medicaments and Fathers kill their Sons and the Master of Ceremonies destroy all Formalities and Courtships and as if the Pope should root out all the Ecclesiastick State Nothing so combines with Government if it be of God's appointment as the Religion of the Church of England because nothing does more adhere to the Word of God and disregard the crafty advantages of the World If any man shall not decline to try his Title by the Word of God it is certain there is not in the world a better guard for it than the true Protestant Religion as it is taught in our Church But let things be as it please God it is certain that in that day when Truth gets her Victory in that day we shall prevail against all God's enemies and ours not in the purchaces and perquisites of the world but in the rewards and returns of Holiness and Patience and Faith and Charity for by these we worship God and against this Interest we cannot serve any thing else In the mean time we must by all means secure the founndation and take care that Religion may be conveyed in all its material parts the same as it was but by new and permitted instruments For let us secure that our young men be good Christians it
is easy to make them good Protestants unless they be abus'd with prejudice and suck venom with their milk they cannot leave our Communion till they have reason to reprove our Doctrine There is therefore in the following pages a Compendium of what we are to Believe what to do and what to Desire It is indeed very little but it is enough to begin with and will serve all persons so long as they need milk and not strong meat And he that hath given the following Assistances to thee desires to be even a door-keeper in God's House and to be a servant of the meanest of God's servants and thinks it a worthy employment to teach the most ignorant and make them to know Christ though but in the first rudiments of a holy Institution This only he affirms that there is a more solid comfort and material support to a Christian spirit in one article of Faith in one period of the Lord's Prayer in one Holy Lesson than in all the disputes of impertinent people who take more pains to prove there is a Purgatory than to perswade men to avoid Hell And that a plain Catechism can more instruct a Soul than the whole day's prate which some daily spit forth to bid them get Christ and persecute his Servants Christian Religion is admirable for its wisdom for its simplicity and he that presents the following Papers to thee designs to teach thee as the Church was taught in the early days of the Apostles to believe the Christian Faith and to understand it to represent plain Rules of good Life to describe easie Forms of Prayer to bring into your Assemblies Hymns of Glorification and Thanksgiving and Psalms of Prayer By these easy paths they lead Christ's little ones into the Fold of their great Bishop and if by this any service be done to God any ministery to the Soul of a Child or an ignorant Woman it is hoped that God will accept it and it is reward enough if by my Ministery God will bring it to pass that any Soul shall be instructed and brought into that state of good things that it shall rejoyce for ever But do thou pray for him that desires this to thee and endeavours it Jer. Taylor CREDENDA OR What is to be Believed A SHORT CATECHISM For the Institution of young persons in the Christian Religion Quest. IN what does true Religion consist Answ. In the knowledge of the one true God and whom he hath sent Jesus Christ and in the worshipping and serving them Quest. What doest thou believe concerning God Answ. 1. That there is is a God 2. That he is One 3. Eternal 4. Almighty 5. That he hath made all the world 6. That he knows all things 7. That he is a Spirit not of any shape or figure or parts or body 8. That he is present in all places 9. That his seat is in Heaven and he governs all the world so that nothing happens without his order and leave 10. That he is the Fountain of Justice 11. Of Mercy 12. of Bounty or Goodness 13. That he is unalterably happy and infinitely perfect 14. That no evil can come near him 15. And he is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Quest. What other Mystery is revealed concerning God Answ. That God being one in Nature is also three in Person expressed in Scripture by the names of Father Son and Holy Spirit The first Person being known to us by the name of The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second Person is called The son and the Word of the Father The third is The Spirit and promise of the Father And these are Three and One after a secret manner which we must believe but cannot understand Quest. What is this God to us Answ. He is our Creator and Father and therefore he is our Lord and we are his Creatures his Sons and his Servants Quest. Wherefore did God create and make us Answ. That we might do him honour and service and receive from him infinite felicities Quest. How did God make man Answ. By the Power of his word out of the slime of the Earth and he breathed into him the breath of life Quest. Was man good or bad when God made him Answ. Man was made pure and innocent Quest. How then did man become sinful and miserable Answ. By listening to the whispers of a tempting spirit and breaking an easy Commandment which God gave him as the first tryal of his obedience Quest. What evils and chages followed this Sin Answ. Adam who was the first man and the first sinner did both for himself and his posterity fall into the state of death of sickness and misfortunes and disorder both of Body and Soul we were thrown out of Paradise and lost our Immortality Quest. Was man left in these evils without Remedy Answ. No but God pitying his creature promised That of the seed of the Woman he would raise up a Saviour and Redeemer who should restore us to God's favour and to the felicity which we lost Quest. How did God perform the promise Answ. By sending Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature to die for our sins to become our Lord and the Author of holiness and life and Salvation to mankind Quest. Who is Jesus Christ Answ. He is the Son of God the Second Person of the holy Trinity equal with the Fathe rtrue God without beginning of life or end of daies Quest. How then could he be our Redeemer and the promised seed of the Woman Answ. The Son of God in the fulness of time by the miracles of his Mercy took upon him Humane nature and united it after a wonderful manner to his Godhead so that he was both God and Man He was born of a Virgin who conceived him not by any natural means but by the power of the holy Ghost and was called Jesus Christ and his Mother's name was Mary of the seed of Abraham of the family of David And all these things came to pass when Augustus Caesar was Lord of the Roman Empire Quest. How did Jesus Christ work this promised Redemption for us Answ. By his holy and humble life and his obedient dying a painful death for us upon the Cross. Quest. What benefits do we receive by the life and death of Jesus Christ Answ. We are instructed by his Doctrine encouraged by his excellent Example we are reconciled to God by his death He hath given us an excellent Law and glorious Promises and himself hath received power to make good all those Promises to his Servants and fearfully to destroy them that will not have
are made partakers of Christ's Death and of his Resurrection teaching us that we should rise from the death of Sin to the life of Righteousness Quest. VVhat is the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Answ. A ceremony of eating Bread and drinking Wine being blessed and consecrated by God's Minister in publick Assemblies in remembrance of Christ's Death and Passion Quest. What benefits are done unto us by this Sacrament Answ. Our Souls are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ our Bodies are sealed to a Blessed Resurrection and to Immortality our Infirmities are strengthned our Graces encreased our Pardon made more certain and when we present our selves to God having received Christ's Body within us we are sure to be accepted and all the good prayers we make to God for our selves and others are sure to be heard Quest. Who are fit to receive this Sacrament Answ. None but baptized Christians and such as repent of their Sins and heartily purpose to lead a good Life Quest. What other Ministeries hath Christ ordained in his Church to help us and to bring so many great purposes to pass Answ. Jesus Christ hath appointed Ministers and Embassadors of his own to preach his word to us to pray for us to exhort and to reprove to comfort and instruct to restore and reconcile us if we be overtaken in a fault to visit the sick to separato the vile from the precious to administer the Sacraments and to watch for the good of our Souls Quest. What are we tied to perform towards them Answ. To pay them honour and maintenance to obey them in all things according to the Gospel and to order our selves so that they may give account of our Souls with chearfulness and joy Quest. Which are the Commandments and Laws of Jesus Christ Answ. They are many but easy holy but very pleasant to all good minds to such as desire to live well in this world and in the world to come and they are set down in the Sermons of our Blessed Lord and of his Apostles but especially in the 5 6 7. Chapters of S. Matthew AN EXPOSITION OF The Apostles Creed I Believe in God I Believe that there is a God who is one true supreme and alone infinitely wise just good free eternal immense and blessed and in him alone we are to put our trust The Father Almighty I believe that he is 1. the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and 2. of all that believe in him whom he hath begotten by his Word and adopted to the inheritance of Sons and because he is our Father he will do us all that good to which we are created and designed by Grace and because he is Almighty he is able to perform it all and therefore we may safely believe in him and relie upon him Maker of Heaven Earth He made the Sun and the Moon the Stars and all the Regions of Glory he made the Air the Earth and the Water and all that live in them he made Angels and Men and he who made them does and he only can preserve them in the same being and thrust them forwards to a better He that preserves them does also govern them and intends they should minister to his Glory and therefore we are to do worship and obedience to him in all that we can and that he hath commanded And in Jesus Christ I also believe in Jesus Christ who is and is called a Saviour and the Anointed of the Lord promised to the Patriarchs whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power to become the Great Prophet and declarer of his Father's Will to all the world telling us how God will be worshipped and served he is anointed to be the Mediator of the New Covenant and our High-Priest reconciling us to his Father by the Sacrifice of himself and to be the Great King of all the world And by this Article we are Christians who serve and worship God the Father through Jesus Christ. His only Son Jesus Christ is the Son of God he alone of him alone For God by his Holy Spirit caused him to be born of a Virgin by his power he raised him from the dead and gave him a new Birth or being in the Body he gave him all power and all excellency And beyond all this he is the express Image of his person the brightness of his glory equal to God beloved before the beginning of the world of a nature perfectly Divine very God by essence and very Man by assumption as God all one in nature with the Father and as Man one Person in himself Our Lord Jesus Christ God's only Son is the Heir of all things and persons in his Father's house All Angels and Men are his servants and all the Creatures obey him We are to believe in him and by Faith in him onely and in his name we shall be saved Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost I believe that Jesus Christ was not begotten of a Man nor born by natural means but that a Divine Power from God God 's Holy Spirit did overshadow the Virgin-Mother of Christ and made her in a wonderful manner to conceive Jesus in her womb and by this his admirable manner of being conceived he was the Son of God alone and no Man was his Father Born of the Virgin Mary Though God was his Father and he begat him by the power of the Holy Ghost and caused him miraculously to begin in the womb of his Mother yet from her he also derived his humane Nature and by his Mother he was of the Family of King David and called the Son of Man his Mother being a holy person not chosen to this great honour for her wealth or beauty but by the good will of God and because she was of rare exemplar modesty and humility and she received the honour of being a Mother to the Son of God and ever a Virgin and all generations shall call her blessed Suffered under Pontius Pilate After that Jesus passed through the state of Infancy and Childhood being subject to his Parents and working in an humble Trade to serve his own and his Mother 's needs he grew to the estate of a man he began to preach at the age of thirty years and having for about three years and a half Preached the Gospel and taught us his Father's will having spoken the Gospel of his Kingdom and revealed to us the secrets of Eternal life and Resurrection of the Dead Regeneration and Renewing by the Holy Spirit perfect Remission of sins and Eternal Judgment at last that he might reconcile the world to his Father he
resolved with thy Servant David to take care of my ways that I offend not in my tongue but have many times vainly and inconsiderately let it loose and either to please the Company or my self I have spoken words which might unhappily prove occasions of sin both to them and me without regard or remembring how great Flames such little sparks might kindle But I Repent O my God I Repent I do infinitely condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XVIII Wo Wo unto me O God that all the parts and faculties of my Soul and Body have been abused and have not served the Laws of their Creator but have so eagerly and constantly pursued the corrupt desires of a seduced Heart that I have cause to fear that either my whole life may be looked upon as one continued sin or at least as having admitted so few inconsiderable Pauses that if thou shouldst enter into strict Judgment with me I should not have the confidence to say when or where or wherein I have been innocent But I Repent O my God I Repent I am confounded and astonished at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XIX Wo unto me O God that I have wretchedly failed even in my best endeavours that I have been cold in my Devotions weary of my Prayers inconstant to good purposes dull and heavy in the way to Heaven but quick and active in all the ways of sin having made it the whole business of my life rather to seem to be Religious than really to be so But I Repent O my God I Repent I Accuse and Judge and Condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XX. Wo Wo unto me O God that I have not washed mine hands in Innocency when I have gone unto thine Altar nor made mine heart ready to receive the bread that came from Heaven but have failed in my Preparations and have not sufficiently considered either mine own unworthiness or the high secrets of so great a Mystery But I Repent O my God I Repent I am grieved and troubled at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XXI Wo Wo unto me O God that having so often received those inestimable Pledges of thy love the precious Body and Blood of thy dear Son in the Holy Sacrament I have been so unwary as to admit my former sins under the same roof with thee and have unhappily done what lay in me to drive thee from me But I Repent O my God I Repent I am infinitely ashamed at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XXII Wo Wo unto me O God that my Repentance the only plank left me in the Shipwrack of my Soul hath been so weak so slight and so unsteady that every small blast of a new Temptation hath been able to drive me from it and by frequent Relapses into sin gives me cause enough to repent even of my vain repentance But I Repent again O God again I I Repent I hate and loath and abhor my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XXIII Wo Wo unto me O God that having received my Life and Being and Preservation from thee with so many advantages to have made me happy in this world and blessed in the next I have been so abominably unthankful that I have cast all these thy Blessings behind me and returned thee nothing back for all thy favours but affronts and injuries and sins But I Repent O my God I Repent I am confounded and astonished at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XXIV Wo wo unto me O God that being Redeemed by the Death and Passion of thy dear and only Son I have not laid his bitter Agonies to heart nor made right use of the precious Ransom which was laid down for me That I have not yet sued out my pardon with such Penitent Tears as thou requirest nor laid hold of the benefits of it by a lively Faith but have chosen rather stupidly to continue in my Sins and to neglect the Blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing But I Repent O my God I Repent I hate and loath and abhor my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XXV Wo Wo unto me O God that thy Holy Spirit I have grieved thy Counsels I have rejected thy Motions I have quenched and have entertained the Lusts and Vanities nf this life with far more earnest and passionate affections than all thy Holy Inspirations But I Repent O my God I Repent I am utterly ashamed and confounded at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XXVI Wo Wo unto me O God that having thus far opened my guilty heart before thee I have left so many Sins behind that I cannot number them some that I have really forgot some that I would forget if my Conscience would give me leave Sins known that I cannot conceal and sins secret such as I have taken so much care to hide from others that they are now become hidden from my self But whatsoever they are or wheresoever they are registred whether in my own Conscience or in any other Record that may be proved against me in the day of Judgment I call the whole Court of Heaven to witness That I do sadly Repent my self of them all That I do abhor my self for them all That I resolve stedfastly to renounce them all Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner Amen Amen The Penitent Soul having made this or the like Confession prepares and stirs up it self to true Contrition WHat shall I say more unto thee O thou that art the Judge of the whole Earth or what shall I do more I have ransacked my breast and laid it open I have spread it before thee as Hezekiah the blaspheming Letter of his Enemy I do not desire that there should be so much as any fold or pleight or corner of it hidden from thee Or if this be not enough to transact this great business of my Soul between me and thee alone and that possibly I may flatter my self in the several acts of my intended Penitence I am ready to go farther and to make my self the more ashamed of sinning with all humility to confess these sins of mine to some of those servants of thine whom thou hast placed between mee and thee and to whom alone under thee thou hast so clearly given the power of Absolution O deal with me then as thou didst with thy Servant David who no sooner confessed his sins but thou forgavest him all his iniquities But are there not they who confess their sins and have the impudence to glory in them or at least pass them over without any act of real Contrition or any remorse at all But O my God if my heart deceive me not I am none of those for I can neither glory in my shame nor can I be satisfied with my self when I appear with dry eyes before thee After this Preparation these
Express Acts of Contrition may follow FOR I am grieved O my God I am grieved passionately heartily grieved that ever I offended thee That I the work of thy hands have sinned against thee my Maker That I the price of thy Blood have sinned against thee my Jesus who hadst so much love for me as to be content to die for me That I the chosen Temple of thy Holy Spirit have sinned against him who sanctified me For this I grieve and mourn and my heart is wounded within me And having done all this yet I have not done for still I am grieved grieved that I can grieve no more that my Head is not a continual Spring and mine Eyes Fountains of Tears Wo is me wretch as I am that I who have been so easie so forward so eager to sin should not be so untoward so heavy so unable to repent Wo is me that I should be still so drowsie so dead asleep in sin that I should not be yet awake and sensible of the condition I am in O that I had died before my unworthy Soul had given way to those strst sins which hath drawn so foul a Train after them But O my God though I cannot wait on thee among the Innocent yet deny me not a room among the Penitent Remember O my God that though Ahab had sold himself to work wickedness yet because he Prayed and Fasted and humbled himself before thee thou hadst so much regard even of this outward Penitence of his as to promise not to bring the evil upon him in his days But Lord if my heart deceives me not I do not only outwardly and seemingly but really and cordially Repent And therefore for the evil that I have deserved O my God rather let the punishment light upon me in this world than in the next Rather let me perform the Penance of my Tears here than reserve it for that sad time when a whole Sea of Tears will do no good And having said all this if my Repentance be yet imperfect as I know it cannot but want many grains if weighed in this just balance let the bitter Sufferings of thy dear Son Jesus be cast into the Scale and then I shall not fear if thou enter into Judgment with me But of my self O God I am utterly unable and which way to satisfie thee I know not I dare not say so much as the Servant in the Gospel did Master have patience with me and I will pay thee all But rather Master have patience with me for I can pay thee nothing at all unless thy bounty be so great as to give it me to pay thee I can Fast from a meal sometimes though it be with much ado and I can Pray though coldly enough and if the fit and qualm of my Devotion holds out longer I can strain for a Tear or two to sprinkle upon my dry Devotions But should I fast my self into Air and Emptiness and weep my self into Water should I tear the skin from this sinsul Flesh of mine I should never be able to satisfie for the least of those Millions of Millions of sins which through the several moments of my life either ignorantly or knowingly weakly or wilfully I have sinned against thee What I have transgressed against others I am not only sorry for but ready as far as my power will reach to satisfie But for my sins against thee my God I must lay my hand upon my mouth for ever for I have nothing to return or answer But the comfort is and blessed shall be my Soul if rightly I lay hold on it that it is thou O my blessed Jesu who hast satisfied for me one drop of whose blood is enough to satisfie for the sins of a thousand worlds And this being so will thy offended Eather be so rigorous as to require the same payment again Especially will he require it of me a poor a broken and a bankrupt Sinner Canst thou exact the utmost farthing of him who hath not a mite of his own to pay thee The Transition which the Penitent makes from the Acts of Contrition to the Acts of Resolution for amendment of life without which all sorrow for Sin is in vain BUT because by thy infinite Mercy O my God thou hast satisfied for me already shall I therefore fold my Arms and sit down and do nothing towards it Or which is worse shall I go on Shall I continue in my Sins that Grace may abound Now God forbid No I here resolve rather to die the Death than ever wilfully to sin against thee more I do here resolve utterly to avoid the temptations and approaches towards those former sins which have hitherto so miserably betrayed me I do here resolve thy holy Spirit assisting me upon all the duties of a new life to be hereafter more wary in my ways and more constant to good resolutions to love thee above all the pleasures and interests of this life and sadly to consider what an infinite loser I should be if to gain all that my corrupt heart desires I should lose thee If after all this I should be so miserably forgetful both of my self and thee as shamefully to relapse into any of those sins which I have now repented of I do here once more resolve to abhor and loath my self for it and not to let my Conscience sleep or admit of any rest till I have with bitter tears and a sharp reiterated Repentance obtained my pardon Having thus far made his Resolution the Penitent betakes himself to Prayer AND now O thou great Searcher of all Hearts who seest that I am of my self weak and mutable and no better than a Reed shaken with the wind O shew thy strength in my weakness fasten and confirm me in these good purposes and so bind them with Cords unto thine Altar that I may never start from thee more or be any longer of that Herd whose good resolutions are as a dream in the night or if they last longer they are but as the next morning dew and as soon vanish away O give me the Resolution of thy Servant Joshua I and my house will serve the Lord. O give me the Heart of thy Servant David who so passionately makes his Protestations I will take no wicked thing in hand I hate the sins of unfaithfulness there shall no such cleave unto me I will walk in my house with a perfect heart I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Judgements Lord I am not able to think one of these good thoughts without thee much less to resolve upon them But I who without thee am able to do nothing may venture to say as thine Apostles did that in thee I am able to do all things Lord give me the strength to do what thou requirest and then require of me what thou pleasest Amen After these Resolutions the Penitent prepares himself with an humble Soul and bended knees to beg Pardon O The God of
am unprofitable yet I am thy Servant And here upon my bended Knees I humbly beg of thee that I may live and die so Lord hear my Prayers and let my cry come unto thee Lord pardon my Prayers and let not my coldness and wanderings and infinite unworthiness turn them into sin Lord hear my Prayers and let my cry come unto thee Amen Amen FESTIVAL HYMNS Celebrating the Mysteries and chief Festivals of the Year according to the manner of the Ancient Church fitted to the fancy and devotion of the younger and pious persons Apt for memory and to be joined to their other Prayers Hymns for Advent or the Weeks immediately before the Birth of our Blessed Saviour I. WHen Lord O when shall we Our Dear Salvation see Arise arise Our fainting eyes Have long'd all night and 't was a long one too Man never yet could say He saw more than one day One day of Eden's seven The guilry hour there blasted with the breath Of sin and death Hath ever since worn a nocturnal hue But thou hast given us hopes that we At length another day shall see Wherein each vile neglected place Gilt with the aspect of thy face Shall be like that the porch gate of heaven How long dear God how long See how the Nations throng All humane kind Knit and combin'd Into one body look for the their Head Pity our multitude Lord we are vile and rude Headless and senseless without thee Of al things but the want of thy blestface O haste apace And thy bright self to this our body wed That through the influx of thy power Each part that er'st confusion wore May put on order and appear Spruce as the childhood of the year When thou to it shalt so united be Amen The second Hymn forAdvent or Christ's coming to Jerusalem in triumph LOrd come away Why dost thou stay Thy rode is ready and thy paths made straight With longing expectation wait The Consecration of thy beautious feet Ride on triumphantly behold we lay Our lusts and proud wills in thy way Hosanna welcome to our hearts Lord here Thou hast a Temple too and full as dear As that of Sion and as full of sin Nothing but Thieves and robbers dwell therein Enter and chase them forth and clense the floor Crucifie them that they may never more Profane that holy place Where thou hast chose to set thy face And then if our stiff tongues shall be Mute in the praises of thy Deity The stones out of the Temple wall Shall cry aloud and call Hosanna and thy glorious footsteps greet Amen Hymns for Christmas-day I. MYsterious truth that the self-same should be A Lamb a Shepherd and a Lion too Yet such was he Whom first the sheperds knew When they themselves became Sheep to the Shepherd-Lamb Shepherd of Men and Angels Lamb of God Lion of Judah by these titles keep The Wolf from thy indangered Sheep Bring all the world unto thy Fold Let Jews and Gentiles hither come In numbers great that can't be told And call thy Lambs that wander home Glory be to God on high All glories be to th' glorious Deity The second Hymn being a Dialogue between three Shepherds WHere is this Blessed Babe That hath made All the world so full of joy And expectation That glorious boy That Crowns each Nation With a triumphant wreath of blessedness Where should he be but in the throng And among His Angel-Ministers that sing And take wing Just as may Echo to his Voice And rejoyce When wing and tongue and all May so procure their happiness But he hath other Waiters now A poor Cow An Ox and Mule stand and behold And wonder That a stable should enfold Him that can thunder Chorus O what a gracious God have we How good How great even as our misery The third Hymn Of Christ's Birth in an Inn. THE blessed Virgin travail'd without pain And lodged in an Inn A glorious Star the sign But of a greater guest than ever came that way For there he lay That is the God of Night and Day And over all the pow'rs of Heaven doth reign It was the time of great Augustus Tax And then he comes That pays all sums Even the whole price of lost Humanity And sets us free From the ungodly Empirie Of Sin and Satan and of Death O make our hearts blest God thy lodging-place And in our brest Be pleas'd to rest For thou lov'st Temples better than an Inn And cause that sin May not profane the Deity within And fully o're the ornaments of Grace Amen A Hymn for Christmas-day A Wake my Soul and come away Put on thy best array Lest if thou longer stay Thou lost some minutes of so blest a day Go run and bid good morrow to the Sun Welcome his safe return to Capricorn And that great morn Wherein a God was born Whose Story none can tell But he whose every word 's a Miracle To day Almightiness grew weak The World it self was mute And could not speak That Jacob's Star which made the Sun To dazzle if he durst look on Now mantled o're in Bethlehem's night Borrow'd a Star to shew him light He that begirt each Zone To whom both Poles are one Who grasp'd the Zodiack in 's hand And made it move or stand Is now by Nature Man By stature but a Span Eternity is now grown short A King is born without a Court The Water thirsts the Fountain's dry And Life being born made apt to die Chorus Then let our praises emulate and vie With his Humility Since he 's exil'd from skies That we might rise From low estate of men Let 's sing him up agen Each man wind up's heart To bear a part In that Angelick Quire and show His glory high as he was low Let 's sing t'wards men good will and Charity Peace upon Earth Glory to God on high Hallelujah Hallelujah A Hymn upon St. John's day This day We sing The friend of our eternal King Who in his bosom lay And kept the Keys Of his profound and glorious Mysteries Which to the world dispensed by his hand Made it stand Fix'd in amazement to behold that light Which came From the throne of the Lamb To invite Our wretched eyes which nothing else could see But fire and sword hunger and miserie T' anticipate by their ravish't sight The beauty of Celestial delight Mysterious God regard me when I pray And when this load of clay Shall fall away O let thy gracious hand conduct me up Where on the Lamb 's rich viands I may sup And in this last supper I May with thy friend in thy sweet bosom lie For ever in Eternity Allelujah Upon the day of the holy Innocents MOurnful Judah shreeks and cries At the obsequies Of their Babes that cry More that they lose the paps than that they die He that came with life to all Brings the Babes a funeral To redeem from slaughter him Who did redeem us all from sin They