and exact of them to be faithful and diligent 16. In your Servants suffer any offence against your self rather than against God endure not that they should swear or lie or steal or be wanton or curse each other or be railers or slanderers or tell-tales or sowers of dissention in the family or amongst neighbours 17. In all your entercourse with your neighbours in the day let your affairs be wholly matter of business or civility and always managed with Justice and Charity never let it be matter of curiosity or enquiry into the actions of others always without censuring or rash judgment without backbiting slandering or detraction Do it not your self neither converse with them that do He or she that loves tale-bearers shall never be beloved or be innocent 18. Before dinner and supper as often as it is convenient or can be had let the publick Prayers of the Church or some parts of them be said publickly in the family and let as many be present as you can The same rule is also to be observed for Sundays and Holy-days for their going to Church Let no servant be always detained but relieved and provided for by changes 19. Let your meal be temperate and wholesom according to your quality and the season begun and ended with Prayer and be sure that in the course of your meal and before you rise you recollect your self and send your heart up to God with some holy and short Ejaculation remembring your duty fearing to offend or desiring and sighing after the eternal Supper of the Lamb. 20. After meal use what innocent refreshment you please to refresh your mind or body with these measures 1. Let it not be too expensive of time 2. Let it not hinder your devotion nor your business 3. Let it be always without violence or passion 4. Let it not then wholly take you up when you are at it but let your heart retire with some holy thoughts and sober recollections lest your mind be seized upon by it and your affections carried off from better things secure your affections for God and sober and severe imployment Here you may be refreshed but take heed you neither dwell here nor sin here It is better never to use recreation than at any time to sin by it But you may use recreation and avoid sin and that 's the best temper But if you cannot do both be more careful of your Soul than of your refreshment and that 's the best security But then in what you use to sin carefully avoid it and change your refreshment for some other instance in which you can be more innocent 21. Entertain no long discourse with any but if you can bring in something to season it with Religion as God must be in all your thoughts so if it be possible let him be in all your discourses at least let him be at one end of it and when you can speak of him be sure you forget not to think of him 22. Towards the declining of the day be sure to retire to your private devotions Read meditate and pray In which I propound to you this method On the Lord's day meditate of the glories of the Creation of the works of God and all his benefits to mankind and to you in particular Then let your devotion be humbly upon your knees to say over the 8 th and 9 th Psalms and sometimes the 104 th with proper Collects which you shall find or get adding the form of Thanksgiving which is in the Rule of Holy Living pag. 378. in the manner as is there directed or some other of your own chusing Meditate on Monday on 1. Death Tuesday 2. Judgment Wednesday 3. Heaven Thursday 4. Hell Saying your usual Prayers and adding some Ejaculations or short sayings of your own according to the matter of your devotion On Friday recollect your sins that you have done that week and all your life-time and let your devotion be to recite humbly and devoutly some penitential Litanies whereof you may serve your self in the Rule of Holy Living pag. 373. On Saturday at the serne time meditate on the Passion of our blessed Saviour and all the mysteries of our Redemption which you may do and pray together by using the forms made to that purpose in the Rule of Holy Living pag. 391. in all your devotions begin and end with the Lord's Prayer Upon these two days and Sunday you may chuse some partions out of The Life of Christ to read and help your meditation proper to the mysteries you are appointed to meditate or any other devout books 23. Read not much at a time but meditate as much as your time and capacity and disposition will give you leave ever remembring that little reading and much thinking little speaking and much hearing frequent and short prayers and great devotion is the best way to be wise to be holy to be devout 24. before you go to bed bethink your self of the day past if nothing extraordinary hath hapned your Conscience is the sooner examined but if you have had any difference or disagreeing with any one or a great feast or great company or a great joy or a great sorrow then recollect your self with the more diligence ask pardon for what is amiss give God thanks for what was good If you have omitted any duty make amends next day and yet if nothing be found that was amiss be humbled still and thankful and pray God for pardon if any thing be amiss that you know not of If all these things be in your offices for your last prayers be sure to apply them according to what you find in your examination but if they be not supply them with short ejaculations before you begin your last prayers or at the end of them Remember also and be sure to take notice of all the mercies and deliverances of your self and your Relatives that day 25. As you are going to bed as often as you can conveniently or that you are not hindred by company meditate of death and the preparations to your grave When you lie down close your eyes with a short prayer commit your self into the hands of your faithful Creator and when you have done trust him with your self as you must do when you are dying 26. If you awake in the night fill up the intervals or spaces of your not sleeping by holy thoughts and aspirations and remember the sins of your youth and sometimes remember your dead and that you shall die and pray to God to send to you and all mankind a mercy in the day of Judgment 27. Upon the Holy-days observe the same Rules only let the matter of your meditations be according to the mystery of the day As upon Christmas-day meditate on the Birth of our Blessed Saviour and read the Story and Considerations which are in The Life of Christ and to your ordinary devotions of every day add the prayer which is fitted to the mystery which you shall
a lie in thy prayers which though not observed is frequently practis'd by careless persons especially in the forms of Confession affirming things which they have not thought professing sorrow which is not making a vow they mean not If thou meanest to be devout and to enlarge thy Religion do it rather by increasing thy ordinary devotions then thy extraordinary For if they be not regular but come by chance they will not last long But if they be added to your ordinary offices or made to be daily thy spirit will by use and custom be made tender and not willing to go less FRIDAY The sixth Decad. HE is a truly charitable and good man who when he receives injuries grieves rather for the malice of him that injures him than for his own suffering who willingly prays for him that wrongs him and from his heart forgives all his fault who stays not but quickly asks pardon of others for his errours or mistakes who sooner shews mercy than anger who thinks better of others than himself who offers violence to his appetite and in all things endeavours to subdue the flesh to the spirit This is an excellent abbreviature of the whole duty of a Christian. No man can have felicity in two states of things If he takes it in God here in him he shall have it hereafter for God will last for ever But if he takes felicity in things of this world where will his felicity be when this world is done Either here alone or hereafter must be thy portion Avoid those things in thy self which in others do most displease thee And remember that as thine eye observes others so art thou observed by God by Angels and by men He that puts his confidence in God onely is neither over-joyed in any great good things of this life nor sorrowful for a little thing Let God be thy love and thy fear and he also will be thy Salvation and thy refuge Do not omit thy Prayers for want of a good Oratory or place to pray in nor thy duty for want of temporal encouragements For he that does both upon God's account cares not how or what he suffers so he suffer well and be the friend of Christ nor where nor when he prays so he may do it frequently fervently and acceptably Very often remember and meditate upon the wounds and stripes the shame and the pain the death and the burial of our Lord Jesus for nothing will more enable us to bear our Cross patiently injuries charitably the labour of Religion comfortably and censuring words and detractions with meekness and quietness Esteem not thy self to have profited in Religion unless thou thinkest well of others and meanly of thy self Therefore never accuse any but thy self and he that diligently watches himself will be willing enough to be silent concerning others It is no great matter to live lovingly with good-natur'd with humble and meek persons but he that can do so with the froward with the wilful and the ignorant with the peevish and perverse he only hath true charity always remembring that our solid true peace and peace of God consists rather in complying with others than in being complied with in suffering and forbearing rather than in contention and victory Simplicity in our intentions and purity of affections are the two wings of a Soul investing it with the robes and resemblances of a Seraphim Intend the honour of God principally and sincerely and mingle not thy affections with any creature but in just subordination to God and to Religion and thou shalt have joy if there be any such thing in this World For there is no joy but in God and no sorrow but in an evil conscience Take not much care what or who is for thee or against thee the judgment of none is to be regarded if God's judgment be otherwise Thou art neither better nor worse in thy self for any account that is made of thee by any but by God alone secure that to thee and he will secure all the rest SATURDAY The seventh Decad. BLessed is he that understands what it is to love Jesus and contends earnestly to be like him Nothing else can satisfie or make us perfect But be thou a bearer of his Cross as well as a lover of his Kingdom Suffer tribulation for him or from him with the same spirit thou receivest consolation follow him as well for the bitter Cup of his passion as for the Loaves and remember that if it be a hard saying Take up my Cross and follow me it is a harder saying Go ye Cursed into everlasting fire No man can always have the same spiritual pleasure in his Prayers For the greatest Saints have sometimes suffered the banishment of the heart sometimes are fervent sometimes they feel a barrenness of Devotion for this Spirit comes and goes Rest therefore only in God and in doing thy duty and know that if thou beest over-joyed to day this hour will pass away and temptation and sadness will succeed In all afflictions seek rather for Patience than for Comfort if thou preservest that this will return Any man would serve God if he felt pleasure in it always but the vertuous does it when his Soul is full of heaviness and regards not himself but God and hates that consolation that lessens his compunction but loves any thing whereby his is made more humble That which thou dost not understand when thou readest thou shalt understand in the day of thy visitation for there are many secrets of Religion which are not perceived till they be felt and are not felt but in the day of a great calamity He that prays despairs not But sad is the condition of him that cannot pray Happy are they that can and do and love to do it He that will be pleased in his prayers must make his prayers his Rule All our duty is there set down because in all our duty we beg the Divine Assistance and remember that you are bound to do all those duties for the doing of which you have prayed for the Divine Assistance Be doing actions of Religion as often as thou canst and thy worldly pleasures as seldom that if thou beest surprised by sudden death it may be odds but thou mayest be taken at thy Prayers Watch and resist the Devil in all his Temptations and Snares His chief designs are these to hinder thy desire in good to put thee by from thy Spiritual imployment from Prayers especially from the Meditation of the Passion from the remembrance of thy Sins from humble Confession of them from speedy Repentance from the custody of thy Senses and of thy Heart from firm purposes of growing in grace from reading good Books and frequent receiving the Holy Sacrament It is all one to him if he deceives the by a lye or by truth whether he amaze or trouble thee by love of the present or fear of the future Watch him but in these things and there will be no part left unarmed
in which he can wound thee Remember how the Proud have fallen and they who have presumed upon their own strength have been disgraced and that the boldest and greatesttalkers in the days of peace have been the most dejected and pusillanimous in the day of temptation No man ought to think he hath found Peace when nothing troubles him or that God loves him because he hath no enemy nor that all is well because every thing is according to his mind nor that he is a holy person because he prays with great sweetness and comfort But he is at Peace who is reconciled to God and God loves him when he hath overcome himself and all is well when nothing pleases him but God being thankful in the midst of his afflctions and he is holy who when he hath lost his comfort loses nothing of his duty but is still the same when God changes his face towards him POSTULANDA OR Things to be prayed for A FORM of PRAYER By way of Paraphrase expounding The Lord's Prayer Our Father MErciful and Gracious thou gavest us being raising us from nothing to be an excellent creation efforming us after thy own Image tenderly feeding us and conducting and strengthening us all our days Thou art our Father by a more excellent Mercy adopting us in a new birth to become partakers of the ininheritance of Jesus Thou hast given us the portion and the food of Sons O make us to do the Duty of Sons that we may never loose our title to so glorious an inheritance Let this excellent Name and Title by which thou hast vouchsafed to relate to us be our Glory and our Confidence our Defence and Guard our Ornament and Strength our dignity and the endearment of Obedience the Principle of a holy Fear to thee our Father and of Love to thee and to our Brethren partakers of the same Hope and Dignity Unite every member of the Church to thee in holy bands Let there be no more names of Division nor Titles and Ensigns of Errour and Partiality Let not us who are Brethren contend but in giving honor to each other and glory to thee contending earnestly for the Faith but not to the breach of Charity nor the denying each others Hope But grant that we may all join in the promotion of the honour of thee our Father in celebrating the Name and spreading the Family and propagating the Laws and Institutions the Promises and Dignities of our Elder Brother that despising the transitory entertainments of this world we may labour for and long after the inheritance to which thou hast given us title by adopting us into the dignity of Sons For ever let thy Spirit witness to our spirit that we are thy children enable us to cry Abba Father Which art in Heaven Heaven is thy Throne the Earth thy Footstool From thy throne thou beholdest all the dwellers upon Earth and triest out the hearts of men and nothing is hid from thy sight And as thy Knowledge is infinite so is thy Power uncircumscribed as the utmost Orb of Heaven and thou sittest in thy own Essential Happiness and Tranquillity immovable and Eternal That is our Country and thither thy Servants are travelling there is our Father and that is our inheritance there our hearts are for there our treasure is laid up till the day of Recompence Hallowed be thy Name Thy Name O God is glorious and in thy Name is our hope and confidence According to thy Name so is thy praise unto the World's end They that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee for thy Name which thou madest to be proclaimed unto thy people is The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty In this glorious Name we worship thee O Lord and all they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee The desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the remembrance of thee Thou art worthy O Lord of Honour and praise and glory for ever and ever we confess thy glories we rejoyce in thy mercies we hope in thy Name and thy Saints like it well for thy Name is praised unto the end of the World it is believed by Faith relied upon by a holy Hope and loved by a great Charity All thy Church celebrates thee with praises and offers to thy Name the Sacrifices of Prayers and Thanksgiving Thou O God didst frame our Nature by thy own Image and now thou hast imprinted thy Name upon us we are thy servants the relatives and domesticks of thy family and thou hast honoured us with the gracious appellative of Christians O let us never dishonour so excellent a Title nor by unworthy usages prophane thy holy Name but for ever glorifie it Let our Life be answerable to our dignity that our body may be chast our thoughts clean our words gracious our manners holy and our life usefull and innocent that men seeing our good works may glorifie thee our Father which art in Heaven Thy Kingdom come Thou reignest in Heaven and Earth O do thou rule also in our hearts advance the interest of Religion let thy Gospel be placed in all the Regions of the earth and let all Nations come and worship thee laying their proudâ—… wills at thy feet submitting their understandings to the obedience of Jesus conforming their affections to thy holy Laws Let thy Kingdom be set up gloriously over us and do thou reign in our Spirits by thy Spirit of Grace subdue every lust and inordinate appetite trample upon our pride mortifie all rebellion within us and let all thine and our enemies be brought into captivity that sin may never reign in our mortal Bodies but that Christ may reign in our Understanding by Faith in the Will by Charity in the Passions by Mortifications in all the Members by a right and a chast use of them And when thy Kingdom that is within us hath flourished and is advanced to that height whither thou hast designed it grant thy Kingdom of Glory may speedily succeed and we thy Servants be admitted to the peace and purity the holiness and glories of that state where thou reignest alone and art all in all Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Thy Will O God is the measure of holiness and peace thy Providence the great disposer of all things tying all events together in order to thy glory and the good of thy Servants by a wonderful mysterious Chain of Wisdom Let thy Will also be the measure of our desires for we know that whatsoever thou saiest is true and whatsoever thou doest is good Grant we may submit our wills to thine being patient of evils which thou inflictest lovers of the good which thou commandest haters of all evil which thou forbiddest pleased with all the accidents thou sendest that though our nature is weaker than
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
call us and assist us Hear our Prayers c. Give to thy servants a watchful and an observing Spirit diligent in doing our duty inflexible to evil obedient to thy word inquisitive after thy will pure and holy thoughts strong and religious purposes and thy grace to perform faithfully what we have promised in the day of our duty or in the day of our calamity Hear our Prayers c. O teach us to despise all vanity to fight the battels of the Lord manfully against the Flesh the World and the Devil to spend our time religiously and usefully to speak gracious words to walk always as in thy presence to preserve our Souls and bodies in holiness fit for the habitation of the holy Spirit of God Hear our Prayers c. Give us a holy and a perfect repentance a well-instructed understanding regular affections a constant and a wise heart a good name a fear of thy Majesty and a love of all thy glories above all the things in the world for ever Hear our Prayers c. Give us a healthful body and a clear understanding the love of our neighbours and the peace of the Church the publick use and comforts of thy holy Word and Sacraments a great love to all Christians and obedience to our Superiours Ecclesiastical and Civil all the days of our life Hear our Prayers c. Give us Spiritual Wisdom that we may discern what is pleasing to thee and follow what belongs unto our peace and let the knowledge and love of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord be our guide and our portion all our days Hear our Prayers c. Give unto us holy dispositions and an active industry in thy service to redeem the time mis-spent in vanity for thy pity sake take not vengeance of us for our sins but sanctifie our Souls and bodies in this life and glorifie them hereafter Hear our Prayers c. Our Father c. IV. To be added to the former Liâ—…anies according as our Devotions and time will suâ—…feâ—… For all states of Men and Women especially in the Christian Church O Blessed God in mercy remember thine inheritance and forget not the congregation of the poor for ever pity poor mankind whose portion is misery and folly shame and death But thou art our Redeemer and the lifter up of our head and under the shadow of thy wings shall be our help until this Tyranny be over-past Have mercy upon us O God and hid not thy self from our Petition Preserve O God the Catholick Church in holiness and truth in unity and peace free from persecution or glorious under it that she may for ever advance the honour of our Lord Jesus for ever represent his Sacrifice and glorifie his Person and advance his Religion and be accepted of thee in her blessed Lord that being filled with his Spirit she may partake of his glory Have mercy upon us c. Give the spirit of Government and Holiness to all Christian Kings Princes and Governours grant that their people may obey them and they may obey thee and live in honesty and peace justice and holy Religion being Nursing-fathers to the Church Advocates for the oppressed Patrons for the widows and a Sanctuary for the miserable and the fatherless that they may reign with thee for ever in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Have mercy upon us c. Give to thy Servants the Bishops and all the Clergy the Spirit of holiness and courage of patience and humility of prudence and diligence to preach and declare thy will by a holy life and wise discourses that they may minister to the good of Souls and find a glorious reward in the day of our Lord Jesus Have mercy npon us c. Give to our Relatives our Wives and Children our Friends and Benefactors our Charges our Family c. pardon and support comfort in all their sorrows strength in all temptations the guard of Angels to preserve them from evil and the conduct of thy holy Spirit to lead them into all good that they doing their duty may feel thy mercies here and partake of thy glories hereafter Have mercy upon us c. Give to all Christian Kingdoms and Commonwealths peace and plenty health and holy Religion to all Families of Religion and Nurseries of Piety zeal and holiness prudence and unity peace and contentedness to all Schools of Learning quietness and industry freedom from wars and violence factions and envy Have mercy upon us c. Give to all married persons faith and love charitable and wise compliances sweetness of society and innocence of conversation to all Virgins and Widows great love of Religion a sober and a contented spirit an unwearied attendance to devotion and the offices of holiness protection to the fatherless comfort to the disconsolate patience and submission health and spiritual advantages to the sick that they may feel thy comforts for the days wherein they have suffered adversity Have mercy upon us c. Be thou a star and a guide to them that travel by land or sea the confidence and comfort of them that are in storms and shipwrecks the strength of them that toil in the Mines and row in the Gallies an instructer to the ignorant to them that are condemned to die be thou a guide unto death give chearfulness to every sad heart spiritual strength and proportionable comfort to them that are afflicted by evil spirits pity the lunaticks give life and salvation to all to whom thou hast given no understanding accept the stupid and the fools to mercy give liberty to prisoners redemption to captives maintenance to the poor patronage and defence to the oppessed and put a period to the iniquity and to the miseries of all mankind Have mercy upon us c. Give unto our enemies grace and pardon charity to us and love to thee take away all anger from them and all mistakes from us all mis-interpretations and jealousies bring all sinners to repentance and holiness and to all thy Saints and Servants give an increasing love and a persevering duty bring all Turks Jews and Infidels to the knowledge and confession of the Lord Jesus and a participation of all the Promises of the Gospel all the benefits of his Passion to all Hereticks give humility and ingenuity repentance of their errours and grace and power to make amends to the Church and Truth and a publick acknowledgment of a holy faith to the glory of the Lord Jesus Have mercy c. Give to all Merchants faithfulness and truth to the labouring husbandman health and fair seasons of the year and reward his toil with the dew of Heaven and the blessings of the earth to all Artisans give diligence in their Callings and a blessing on their labours and on their familes to old men piety and perfect repentance a liberal heart and an open hand great Religion and desires after Heaven to young men give sobriety and chastity health and usefulness an early piety and a
Conscience I. YOU are to consider the Necessity of this Duty For if we take care that the Rooms which we eat or sleep in should be kept clean you cannot but think that the cleansing of the Soul is a Concernment infinitely beyond it and for doing this there is no other way left but to search out every corner of it and to cast out every Sin with every unclean thought that hath defiled it II. You are to remember that there is a great Measure of Discretion to be used in the Performance of this so that you may neither omit it when your own heart may tell you that there is something amiss in you which must be look'd after nor on the other side over-scrupulously pursue it when you are not conscious to your self of any notable Failings but such as are incident to humane frailty for if you do not wilfully pass over any of your greater Offences but confess particularly and repent seriously of them God will more easily pass by your lesser Infirmities being such as the Holy Prophet despaired of finding out when he so sadly complained Who can tell how oft he offendeth III. That though it may not only seem but be impossible to you to recollect every failing and that your scrupulous endeavouring of it may rather prove a torture to the Conscience than an Ease to it yet you are so far to exercise an Inquisition upon your self as by observing these lesser particulars though it be but in gross you may the better discover what the corruption of your Nature sways you to and having discovered it you are bound to strive to subdue it by degrees and what you cannot for the present overcome humbly to ask pardon for IV. That though it be the Duty of every day not to let the Sun go down upon any Sin that you have committed without examining of the Merits of it yet there are times when this ought to be more punctually and solemnly done especially at such times as you set apart for humbling your Soul with Fasting or for preparing your self for the devout Receiving of the Sacrament V. For the Manner of Ordering this Examination several Methods have been prescribed some by dividing the subject Matter of it into Thoughts Words and Deeds others as sins are differenced by their several Objects either as being immediately sins against God or against your Neighbour or against your own Soul Others advise to set God's holy Commandments before you and to examine by that Rule what you have done amiss But in the chice of this you may free your self from all Perplexity by taking his advice whom you shall chuse to be your Spiritual Guide And the Duty it self being once resolved upon the Mode of doing may easily be found out Advice Concerning Confession I. THat besides this Examination of your Conscience which may be done in secret between God and your own Soul there is great use of Holy Confession which though it be not generally in all Cases and peremptorily commanded as if without it no Salvation could possibly be had yet you are advised by the Church under whose discipline you live that before you are to receive the Holy Sacrament or when you are visited with any dangerous sickness if you find any one particular sin or more that lies heavy upon you to disburthen your self of it into the Bosom of your Confessor who not only stands between God and you to pray for you but hath the power of the Keys committed to him upon your true Repentance to Absolve you in Christ's Name from those sins which you have confessed to him II. You are to remember that you bring along with you to Confession not only unfeigned Sorrow and Remorse of Conscience for sins past but settled Resolutions for the time to come never to offend in the same kind again for without this Confession is but a mere Pageant and rather a mockery of God than any effectual means to reconcile you to him III. That having made choice of such a Confessor who is every way qualified that you may trust your Soul with him you are advised plainly and sincerely to open your heart to him and that laying aside all consideration of any personal weakness in him you are to look upon him only as he is a Trustee from God and commissioned by him as his Ministerial Deputy to hear and judge and absolve you IV. That the Manner of your Confession be in an humble posture on your knees as being made to God rather than man and for the Matter of it let it be severe and serious but yet so as it may be without any inordinate Anxiety and unnecessary Scruples which serve only to entangle the Soul and instead of setting you free which is the benefit to be looked for by Confession perplex you the more V. That for the frequency of doing this you are to consult with your own necessities and as your Physician is not sent for upon every small diftemper which your own care may rectifie so neither are you obliged upon every failing to be over-scrupulous or to think it a point of Necessity presently to confess it For the Confessor cannot be always present but your God is to whom if you apply your self with Prayers and Penitence confessing in his ears alone whatever you have done amiss and stedfastly believing that through the merits of your Saviour they shall never be imputed to you you may be confident that your Absolution is at that time sealed in Heaven but the comfortable declaration of it you are to look for from the Priest Advice concerning Devout Receiving the Holy and Blessed Sacrament I. YOU are first to consider seriously the Infinite love of your Saviour who not only offered himself for you as a Sacrifice upon the Cross but that this might never be forgotten by you left the blessed memory of it in his holy Sacrament which as often as you devoutly and faithfully receive you are effectually made Partaker of all the merits of his precious Death and Passion II. That for the frequency of doing this if your own Conscience doth not speak home to you you refer your self to your Spiritual Guide who knowing the Temper of your Soul and how you stand disposed may best direct you Only I shall add this that the oftener you apply your self to do it your life will be the purer your heart the chearfuller and the better armed against all Temptations III. That three times in the year at least especially on those solemn Festivals observed by all Christians who have not utterly cast off Obedience to the Church and order in their Devotions you lay aside all excuses and every Sin that then besets you and seriously prepare your self for so great a Blessing IV. That as soon as you wake that Morning and the sooner you awake the better sign it is that your mind is set upon it you rouse your self up with a fervent expectation of Receiving that day the Bread that