his vocation and Ministery may truly and godly serve thee And O Lord who hast made all men nor wouldest the death of a sinner but rather that he should be converted and live have mercy upon al Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks and take from them all ignorance and hardness of heart and contempt of thy word and so fetch them home blessed Lord to thy flock that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites and be made one fold under one shepherd Jesus Christ And merciful God which through thy only begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death and by his resurrection Resurrection opened unto us the gate of everlasting life We humbly beseech thee that as by thy special grace preventing us thou doest put into our mindes good desires so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect And as thou didst give him not only to die for our sins but to rise again for our justification grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve thee in pureness of living and truth And as thou didst give him both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life give us the grace that we may alwayes most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit and also dayly endeavour our selves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life And like as we do believe thy only begotten Son our Lord to have ascended with Ascension great glory into the Heaven so we beseech thee grant us that we may also in heart and mind thither ascend also and with him continually dwell who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost And do not leave us comfortless but according to thy promise send us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour is gone before And as thou didst after our Saviours Ascention teach the hearts of thy faithful people by thy sending them the light of thy Holy Spirit Sending the holy Spirit Grant us by the same spirit to have a right judgement in all things and evermore to rejoyce in his holy comfort through the merits of Christ Jesus And seeing thou hast given us grace thus by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternall Trinity and in the power of Trinity the Divine Majesty to worship the unity We beseech thee that through the stedfastnes of this faith wee may evermore be defended from all adversities through Jesus Christ our Saviour who liveth and reigneth with the in the unity of the selfe same Spirit one God world without end Amen An Excellent Prayer VII O Almighty and Everliving Lord God God the Father God the Son God the holy Ghost holy blessed and glorious Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon us Remember not our offences nor the offences of our forefathers neither take thou vengeance of our sins but spare us good Lord spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most pretious blood and be not angry with us for ever Preserve us from all evill and mischief from sin from the crafts and assaults of the Divell from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation Deliver us from all blindnes of heart from pride vaine glory and hypocrisie from envy hatred and malice and all uncharitablenes from fornication and all other sins the wages of which is death and from all the deceits of the world the flesh and the Divell keep us from any hurt by lightning and tempest from the plague pestilence and famine from battels and murder and from sudden death deliver us from all sedition and privy conspiracy all false doctrine and heresie hardnes of heart and contempt of thy word and commandements And these things wee beseech of thee for and through the mystery of thy holy incarnation thy holy nativity and circumcision thy baptisme fasting and temptation through thine agony and bloody swet thy crosse and passion thy pretious death and buriall thy glorious resurrection and ascension and the comeing of the holy Ghost And O Lord God we do beseech thee that it would please the to rule and governe thy holy Church universall in the right way Illuminate all Bishops Pastors and Ministers of the Church with true knowledge and understanding of thy word and that both by preaching and living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly Be pleased to blesse and keepe the Magistrates giving them grace to execute justice and to maintaine truth And Blesse and keepe all thy people give us all hearts to love and dread thee and diligently to live after thy commandements That we may have increase of grace to heare meekely thy word and receive it with pure affection and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit Wee beseech thee to give unto all Nations unity peace and concord bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived strengthen such as do stand comfort and helpe the weake-hearted raise up them that fall and finally beate down Satan under our feete Be pleased O Lord to succour helpe and comfort all that be in danger necessity and tribulation preserve all that in their lawfull affaires travell by land or water all women labouring with child all sick persons and young children and to shew thy pitty upon all prisoners and captives defend and provide for the fatherlesse children and widdowes and all that are desolate and oppressed and let it please thee to have mercy upon all men Forgive our enemies persecutors and slanderers and turne their hearts And we beseech the to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth so as in due time we may enjoy them and deale not with us after our sins nor reward us after our iniquities but give us true repentance forgive us all our sins negligences and ignorances indue us with the graces of thy holy Spirit to amend our lives according to thy holy word And O mercifull father that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart nor the desires of such as be sorrowfull mercifully assist our prayers that we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities whensoever they oppresse us and gratiously heare us that those evils which the craft and subtilty of the divell or man worketh against us be brought to nought and by the providence of thy goodnes they may be dispersed that we thy servants being hurt by no persecutions may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church And seeing we have heard with our eares and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their dayes and in the old time before them We beseech thee in the midst of these our divisions and distractions to arise and helpe us by thy power and deliver us for the honour of thy name defend us from all our enemies and let thy mercy be shewed upon us as we do put our trust in thee
his will as also to exhort him to be charitable to the poor according to his ability And if the sick person feeling his conscience troubled with any weighty matter shall make a special confession of it and shall desire to receive a declaration of forgiveness in the name of Christ from the Minister he may do it after this manner OUr Lord Jesus Christ who hath given power and commandment to his Ministers to declare remission of sins to all which truly repent and believe in him of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences and in his name and by his authority committed to me I pronounce unto thee forgiveness of all thy sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen After which the Minister may pray after this manner ALmighty Everlasting God maker of mankinde which dost correct those whom thou dost love and chastisest every one whom thou dost receive we beseech thee to have mercy upon this thy servant visited with thy hand and to grant that he may take his sickness patiently and recover his bodily health if it be thy gracious will or otherwise whensoever his soul shall depart from the body it may be without spot presented unto thee and seeing according to the multitude of thy mercy thou dost so put away the sins of those that repent that thou remembrest them no more open thine eye of mercy upon this thy servant who most earnestly desireth pardon and forgiveness Renew in him most loving Father whatsoever hath been decayed by the fraud and malice of the Divel or by his own carnal will and frailness Preserve and continue this sick member in the unity of the Church consider his contrition accept his tears asswage his pain as shall seem to thee most expedient for him And for asmuch as he puts his trust only in thy mercy impute not unto him his former sins but take him unto thy favour send him help from thy holy place and evermore mightily defend him let the enemy have no advantage of him nor the wicked approach to hurt him O Lord look down from Heaven behold visit and relieve this thy servant look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy give him comfort and sure confidence in thee defend him from the danger of the enemy and keep him in perpetual peace and safety And we beseech thee to extend thy accustomed goodness to him who is grieved with sickness visit him O Lord as thou didst visit Peters wifes mother and the Captains servant so visit and restore to this sick person his former health if it be thy will or else give him grace so to take this visitation that after this painful life ended he may dwell with thee in life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose name and words we call upon thee saying OUr Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our dayly bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the Kingdome the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen Here if the sickness of the person can permit it the whole 71. Psalm containing seasonable matter may be read unto him IN thee O Lord have I put my trust let me never be put to confusion but rid me and deliver me in thy righteousness incline thine ear unto me and save me Be thou my strong hold whereunto I may alway resort thou hast promised to help me for thou art my house of defence and my castle Deliver me O my God out of the hand of the ungodly out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man For thou O Lord God art the thing that I long for thou art my hope even from my youth Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art he that took me out of my mothers womb my praise shall be alway of thee I am become as it were a monster unto many but my sure trust is in thee O let my mouth be filled with thy praise that I may sing of thy glory and honour all the day long Cast me not away in the time of age forsake me not when my strength faileth me For mine enemies speak against me and they that lay wait for my soul take their councel together saying God hath forsaken him persecute him and take him for there is none to deliver him Go not far from me O God my God haste thee to help me Let them be confounded and perish that are against my soul let them be covered with shame and dishonour that seek to do me evil As for me I will patiently abide alway and will praise thee more and more My mouth shall dayly speak of thy righteousness and salvation for I know no end thereof I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God and will make mention of thy righteousness only Thou O God hast taught me from my youth up until now therefore will I tell of thy wondrous works Forsake me not O God in mine old age when I am gray headed until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to all them that are yet for to come Thy righteousness O God is very high and great things are they that thou hast done O God who is like unto thee O what great troubles and adversities hast thou shewed me and yet didst thou turn and refresh me yea and broughtest me from the deep of the earth again Thou hast brought me to great honour and comforted me on every side Therefore will I praise thee and thy faithfulness O God playing upon an instrument of musick unto thee will I sing upon the harp O thou holy one of Israel My lips will be fain when I sing unto thee and so will my soul whom thou hast delivered My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long for they are confounded and brought unto shame that seek to do me evil The BLESSING THe Almighty Lord which is a most strong tower to all them that put their trust in thee to whom all things in Heaven and earth and under the earth do bow and obey be now and evermore thy defence and make thee to know and feel that there is none other name under Heaven given to man in whom and through whom thou mayest receive health and salvation but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour glory for ever Amen THE CATECHISME Question WHen was your name given you Answer At my Baptisme Question What was then promised for you Answer These three things first that I should forsake the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of the wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh Secondly that I should believe all the
Good Lord we beseech thee to heare us and graciously looke upon our afflictions pittifully behold the sorrowes of our hearts favourably with mercy forgive the sins of thy people and grant us what else thou knowest more necessary for us even for Jesus Christ his sake who is the Son of God and Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world in whose blessed name and words we conclude our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us OUr Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evill for thine is the kingdome the power and the Glory for ever Amen These particulars following having been in the peoples memories and still are it is good to preserve them so by an often rehearsal in their due time and place most of them being either select places out of holy Scripture or containing the necessary points of faith to be believed by us Psalm 95. (a) This was wont to precede the reading of the Psalms O Come let us sing unto the Lord let us heartily rejoyce in the strength of our salvation Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and shew our selves glad in him with Psalms For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods In his hands are all the corners of the earth and the strength of the hills is his also The Sea is his and he made it and his hands prepared the dry land O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker For he is the Lord our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness When your fathers tempted me proved me and saw my works Forty years long was I grieved with this generation and said it is a people that do erre in their hearts for they have not known my wayes Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning c. (b) This is both a hymn and a Creed and if 1200. years continuance in the Church may not be a suflicient plea for the keeping its place after the first Chapter out of the old Testament in the morning the Ten Commandements much neglected may be read in the room of it WE praise thee O God we knowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee the Father everlasting To thee all Angels cry aloud the Heavens and all the powers therein To thee Cherubin and Seraphin continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of sabbath Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee The noble army of martyrs praise thee The holy Church throughout all the world doth knowledge thee The Father of an infinit majesty Thine honourable true and only Son Also the Holy Ghost the comforter Thou art the King of glory O Christ Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man thou didst not abhorre the virgins womb When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the kingdome of Heaven to all believers Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge We therefore pray thee help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood Make them to be numbred with thy Saints in glory everlasting O Lord save thy people and bless thine heritage Govern them and lift them up for ever Day by day we magnifie thee And we worship thy Name ever world without end Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this day without sin O Lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us O Lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee O Lord in thee have I trusted let me never be confounded Luke 1. 68. (c) This or the next were wont to be read after the second lesson or chapter out of the New Testament in the morning BLessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers and to remember his holy covenant To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham that he would give us That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear In holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life And thou childe shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his wayes To give knowledge of salvation unto his people for the remission of their sins Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace Or Psalm 100. O Be joyful in the Lord all ye lands serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song Be ye sure that the Lord he is God it is he that hath made us and not we our selves we are his people and the sheep of his pasture O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his name For the Lord is gracious his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth from generation to generation Luke 1. 46. (d) This or the next were used to be read after the first chapter at the Evening MY soul doth magnifie the Lord my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour For he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed For he that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is his Name And his mercy is on them that fâ—â— him throughout all generations He hath shewed strength with his arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away He remembring his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel as he promised to our