profess thy Name that in all these and all other possible instances of duty our lives may be continually employ'd to love thee and for thy sake to love our neighbour and to excite our neighbour to love thee The Ninth Commandment O my God O my Love I renounce as p. 52. All manner of bearing false Witness against my Neighbour All false accusations or glosses or pleadings or testimonies or sentences in Courts of Judicature by concealing or overspeaking or perverting right and truth All things prejudicial or destructive to my neighbours good name All censoriousness and slander detraction and calumny forc'd consequences or invidious reflexions All scoffing or exposing the infirmities of others All whispering and tale-bearing or raising of evil reports suspicions or jealousies and all evil-speaking All equivocations and dissembling flattery and lying All the least tendencies to any of these injurious falshoods From all these and the like hatefull violations of thy love and of the love c. as page 52. O my God O my Love who dost love truth and dost hate a lie as perfectly Diabolical instill into my Soul an unalterable love of truth that nothing may tempt me to deviate from an intire veracity in my whole conversation or become a liar which thy Soul abhors O Lord give me grace ever to speak the truth and let my heart and my tongue always go together O my God give me grace to be tender of my neighbour's good name since I cannot love him if I take that from him which I know to be most dear to him Grant O my God for the sake of thy own love that I may be always ready to vindicate my neighbour's good name on all occasions that I may judge the best and speak well of him and conceal or excuse his infirmities that I may be impatient to hear slow to believe and unwilling to propagate evil reports that I may put candid interpretations on his actions since the more he is defamed the less able he is to serve thee the less credit he has to perswade others to love thee O my God O my love let thy c. as page 51. The Tenth Commandment O my God O my Love I renounce as p. 51. All the inordinate desire of what is my neighbour's All coveting his House or Wife or Servant or Maid or Ox or Ass or any thing that is his All discontentedness with my worldly condition and worldly solicitude All covetousness or repining at the happiness of others All taking pleasure in sin or complacence in past impurities All the first motions all the least tendencies to concupiscence From all these and the like hatefull c. as p. 52. O my God O my Love thou art the great searcher of hearts and dost not onely require outward acts of duty but the inward disposition of the heart the heart is the chief sacrifice thou requirest the heart is the proper seat of thy love and my heart I wholly devote to thee O my God create in me a clean heart that the fountain of action being clean the streams may run clean also Give me a heart O thou who onely canst change the heart entirely turn'd to thee that may suppress and resist all the first springings of Lust before they shoot up into consent approbation and desire before lust conceiving brings forth sin Lord make me contented and thankfull and well-pleased with that portion thy providential love has allotted me and to acquiesce in thy choice as best for me O great Lord of hearts lodge my neighbour in my heart next to my self let all my desires be for his good and let it be the subject of my joy and praise and love to see thy love liberal to him to see him abounding in thy blessings O my God my love what can a Soul enamour'd of thee ever desire but thee O let the world never more have place in my heart all my affections I withdraw from that to fix on thee Forgive me O my God if I am unmeasurably ambitious it is onely of thy favour forgive me if I am unsatiably covetous it is onely of thy fruition forgive me if I am perpetually discontented it is onely because I cannot love thee more O unconceivable happiness of Heaven where my Ambition shall rest on a Throne where my Covetousness shall be filled with the â—eartifick Vision and where I shall be eternally satisfied with love O my God O my Love let thy c. as page 51. Q. My good child know this that thou art not able to do these things of thy self nor to walk in the Commandments of God and to serve him without his special grace which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent Prayer Let me hear therefore if thou canst say the Lords Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil Amen Q. What desirest thou of God in this prayer A. I desire my Lord God our heavenly Father who is the giver of all goodness to send his grace unto me and to all people that we may worship him serve him and obey him as we ought to do And I pray unto God that he will send us all things that be needful both for our souls and bodies And that he will be merciful unto us and forgive us our sins and that it will please him to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and bodily and that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death And this I trust he will do of his mercy and goodness through our Lord Iesus Christ. And therefore I say Amen So be it O infinite Lord it is my duty and my happiness to love thee but alas my own sad experience teaches me how little able I am to love Ah Lord there is a dark cloud of Ignorance spread over my Soul that intercepts thy beams I cannot clearly see I cannot fully know how lovely thou art Ah Lord when ever any gleams of thy loveliness break in upon my Spirit and attract my will a crowd of strange Loves importune and tempt me to wander after them Since O my God I can of my self neither know nor love thee since I cannot by my own strength do those things thou requirest nor walk in thy Commandments nor serve thee nor think so much as one good thought whither can I fly but only to thy free and unbounded love Thou art my hope my help and my salvation thou only canst teach and enable me to know and to love thy own goodness By thy special Grace
AN EXPOSITION ON THE Church-Catechism OR THE PRACTICE OF Divine Love COMPOSED For the Diocese of Bath Wells LONDON Printed for Charles Brome at the West-end of St. Paul's and William Clarke in Winchester 1685 Imprimatur Io. Battely RR mo P. D no. Wilhelmo Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris domesticis Ex Aedibus Lamb. Aug. 9. 1685. To the Inhabitants within the Diocese of Bath and Wells THOMAS their Unworthy Bishop wisheth the Knowledge and the Love of God Dearly Beloved in our Lord THE Church has provided this short Catechism or Instruction to be learn'd of every person before he be brought to be Confirm'd by the Bishop wherein she teaches all things that a Christian ought to know and believe for his Soul's health and she has enjoyn'd All Fathers and Mothers Masters and Dames to cause their Children and Servants and Prentices to come to the Church at the time appointed and obediently to hear and be ordered by the Curate untill such time as they have learn'd all that is here appointed to be learn'd How seasonable and necessary this Injunction is in these days our wofull experience does sufficiently convince us when we reflect on the gross Ignorance and Irreligion of persons in those places where Catechizing is neglâ—cted which all sober Christians do sadly deplore Since then the Providence of God who is wont to glorifie his strength in the weakness of the Instruments he uses has caught me up from among the meanest Herdmen into the Pastoral Throne and has been pleased to commit you to my care The Love I ought to pay to the chief Shepherd obliges me to feed all his Lambs and his Sheep that belong to my flock and according to my poor abilities to teach them the Knowledge and the Love of God and how they may make them both their daily study and practice One thing onely I most earnestly beg of you all whether old or young that ye would help me to save your own Souls that ye would learn and seriously consider again and again the terms on which your Salvation is to be had As for you who have Families I beseech you to instill into your Children and Servants their Duty both by your Teaching and your Example In good earnest it is less cruel and unnatural to deny them Bread for their mortal Bodies than saving Knowledge for their immortal Souls Ye that are Fathers or Masters I exhort you to tread in the steps of Abraham the Father of the faithfull and the friend of God and like him to command your Children and Housholds to keep the way of the Lord. Ye that are Mothers or Mistresses I exhort you to imitate that unfeigned Faith which dwelt in young Timothy's Grandmother Lois and his Mother Eunice who taught him from a Child to know the Holy Scriptures which were able to make him wise to Salvation and like them to bring up your Children and Servants in the nurture and admonition of the Lord I passionately exhort and beseech you all of either Sex never to cease your conscientious zeal for their instruction till you bring them to Confirmation To renew their Baptismal vow To make open profession of their Christianity To discharge their Godfathers and Godmothers To receive the solemn Benediction of the Bishop To share in the publick Intercessions of the Church and to partake of all the Graces of God's Holy Spirit implor'd on their behalf that God who has begun a good work in them may perfect it till the day of Christ and that I my self at that dreadfull day may render an account of you with joy How much the Catechism of our Church may conduce to so desirable an end you will in some measure judge by the following Explication as imperfect as it is and which by God's gratious assistence I have so contriv'd that at one and the same time it may both inform your understanding and raise your affections and that it might the better sute with every ones leisure and infirmities it is Pen'd in short Forms of Devotion to be us'd in whole or in part in separate Collects or Ejaculations or occasionally as your Spiritual necessities shall require God of his infinite mercy bless the whole to his own Glory and to your Edification through Iesus the Beloved Amen Amen AN EXPOSITION ON THE Church-Catechism c. Question WHAT is your Name Answer N. or M. Q. Why do you answer by that Name rather than by your Sirname A. Because it is my Christian Name and was given me when I was made a Christian and puts me in mind both of the Happiness and duty of a Christian. Q. Where do you learn the Happiness and the Duty of a Christian A. The very next answer teaches me the Happiness and all the rest of the Catechism the Duty of a Christian. Q. Who gave you this Name A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism wherein I was made a Member of Christ the Child of God and an Inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. Shew me from hence the Happiness of a Christian. A. The Happiness of a good Christian is altogether unutterable he is one who has Christ for his Head God for his Father and Heaven with all its joys and glories which are all eternal for his Inheritance Q. Shew me on the contrary the condition of a bad Christian. A. The misery of a bad Christian is altogether insupportable He has Christ for his Enemy the Devil for his Father and Hell with all its miseries and torments and despair which are all eternal for his Doom Q. Which of these Conditions do you chuse A. I adore the goodness of God who has set before me life and death blessing and cursing and in great compassion to my Soul has bid me chuse life and with all my heart I chuse life even life eternal Q. Are there not many in the World that chuse death A. It is too too visible there are such is the extreme madness and folly of obstinate Sinners that they chuse the Service of the Devil before the Service of God and Hell before Heaven the damnation of such men is wholly from themselves and having chosen death even death eternal it is most just with God to give them their choice Q. Blessed be God who has given you grace to make a right choice Tell me what you must doe to obtain that which you have chosen life eternal A. All that I am to doe is reduc'd to one word onely and that is Love This is the first and the great Command which comprehends all others the proper Evangelical Grace and eternal Truth has assured me This doe and thou shalt live So that if I truly love God I shall live beloved by God to all eternity Q. Tell me wherein the love of God doth consist A. The love of God is a grace rather to be felt than defin'd So that I can doe no
more than rudely describe it It is the general inclination and tendency of the whole man of all his heart and soul and strength of all his powers and affections and of the utmost strength of them all to God as his chief and onely and perfect and infinite Good Q. Is this love of God taught in the Catechism A. The Catechism having in the entrance of it presented to our choice the happiness of a Christian does throughout all the remaining parts of it instruct us in the duties of a Christian by which that happiness is to be attain'd which are all sum'd up in the love of God which is here most methodically taught Q. In what method does the Catechism teach the love of God A. In a method so excellent and natural that if by God's help I can but faithfully observe it I shall not fail of the love of God Q. Explain this method to me A. It teaches me how the love of God is produc'd how practis'd and how preserved Q. Shew me more distinctly in what parts of the Catechism each of these particulars is coucht A. If I seriously desire the love God I must first expell all contrary loves out of my heart and then consider the motives and causes that excite it the former is taught in the Vow of Baptism the latter in the Creed When divine love is once produc'd my next care is to put it in practice and that is by bringing forth the fruits or effects of Love which are all contain'd in the Ten Commandments When the love of God is produc'd in my heart and is set on work my last concern is to preserve and ensure and quicken it It is preserv'd by Prayer the pattern of which is the Lord's Prayer It is ensured to us by the Sacraments which are the Pledges of Love and more particularly it is quickned by the Holy Eucharist which is the feast of Love So that the plain order of the Catechism teaches me the rise the progress and the perfection of Divine love which God of his great mercy give me grace to follow Q. I beseech God to give you the grace you pray for that you may prosecute this method with your heart as well as with your words A. It is the full purpose of my Soul so to doe and I trust in God I shall doe it Q. You are to begin with the vow you made at your Baptism Tell me What did your Godfathers and Godmothers then for you A. They did promise and vow three things in my name First That I should renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked World and all the sinfull lusts of the flesh Secondly That I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And thirdly That I should keep God's holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life Q. Dost thou not think thou art bound to believe and to doe as they have promised for thee A. Yes verily and by God's help so I will and I heartily thank our Heavenly Father that he hath call'd me to this state of Salvation through Iesus Christ our Saviour And I pray unto God to give me his grace that I may continue in the same unto my lives end Q. The promises of faith and obedience which you made in your baptism will be mention'd in their proper places when you come to the Creed and to the Decalogue that which now lies before you is to shew how your Abrenunciation is preparatory to the love of God A. As all particular graces are but the love of God varied by different instances and relations so all particular sins are nothing but concupiscence or the love of one Creature or other in competition with or opposition to the love of God Now all the Creatures on which we set our love are reducible to these three the Devil the World and the Flesh and my heart must be emptied of these impure Loves before it is capable of entertaining the pure love of God Q. If you are conscious to your self that you have entertained these impure Loves and have violated your baptismal Vow and have in your heart renounc'd God instead of renouncing his Enemies what must you doe to recover that favour of God you have lost and to be deliver'd from the wrath to come A. I must throughly repent of all the breaches of my vow and I must seriously renew it Q. Express your repentance for breaking it A. I express it thus O Lord God with shame and sorrow and confusion of Face I confess and acknowledge thy infinite mercy and goodness to me my infinite vileness and ingratitude to thee Thou Lord infinitely good and gratious wast pleas'd out of thy own free mercy first to love me to excite me to love again glory be to thee Thou Lord didst vouchsafe of a miserable Sinner to make me a Member of my Saviour thy own Child and an Heir of Heaven glory be to thee I infinitely wicked and unworthy have despis'd and rejected and forfeited all the inestimable Blessings to which I was intitled by my Baptism Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me wretch that I am I have cut my self off by my sins from being a true Member of Christ's Mystical Body and from all the gratious influences I might have deriv'd from my union to him Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me wretch that I am I have by my numerous provocations lost that holy Spirit of Adoption whereby I might become thy Child O God and call thee Father and am become a Child of wrath Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me wretch that I am I have by my own willfull impiety disclaimed my being an Inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven and am become an Heir to the Kingdom of Darkness Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me I have easily yielded to the temptations of Satan and have wrought the works of my Father the Devil Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me I have greedily coveted and pursued the pomps and vanity of this wicked World Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me I have often indulg'd the sinfull lusts of the Flesh Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me I have lov'd all things which thou Lord hatest and am my self become odious in thy sight Lord have mercy upon me Woe is me I have neither believ'd in thee O my God nor obey'd thee nor lov'd thee as I ought and as I solemnly vow'd I would Lord have mercy upon me O Lord God most gratious and reconcileable Pitty and pardon me I lament O Lord God my detestable impiety for having so long and so often and so obstinately offended thee In the bitterness of my Soul O Father of mercy I bewail and abhor my unworthiness and the hardness of my heart that has despis'd the riches of thy goodness and forbearance and long-suffering which should have lead me to repentance O Lord God whatever thou
deny'st me deny me not a broken and a contrite heart O that my head were waters and my eyes fountains of tears that I might weep much and love much having much to be forgiven Lord hear me help me save me for thy own gratious promise sake for thy own tender mercies sake for the merits and sufferings of Iesus thy beloved in whom thou hast made Penitents accepted Amen Amen Q. Having repented of the violations of your Baptismal Vow shew me how you will renew it A. I shall doe it after this manner I have sinned O Lord God I have sinned and done evil in thy sight but I repent I turn to thee I confess and forsake my wickedness and am sorry for my sins It grieves me O most amiable Goodness it grieves me that ever I offended thee With all my heart O my God do I now renew the Sacred vow which alas alas I have so often violated O Lord God I do for the future Renounce the devil that Arch-rebel against thee with all his Apostate-Angels I renounce all his worship all his impious suggestions delusions and temptations for which he is called the tempter and all the ways of consulting him which ungodly men have taken I renounce all his works all those sins of the Spirit all pride and malice and envy all treachery and lying revenge and cruelty all tempting others to Sin hatred to Holiness and Apostasie which are his daily practice and are truly diabolical I utterly renounce O Lord God the pomps and vanity of this wicked world all covetous desires of honour riches and pleasure all sinfull excesses in things lawfull I renounce Lord all evil customs all evil companions all that is vain or wicked in the world all that friendship with the world which is enmity with thee all things that may alienate my heart from thee I renounce O Lord God all worldly comforts and possessions all my natural relations and my own life whenever they stand in competition with my duty to thee I utterly renounce O Lord God all the sinfull lusts of the flesh all the inordinate desires of my own corrupt nature of my own carnal mind which is enmity with thee I Renounce Lord all fleshly lusts which war against thee and against my own Soul all sloth and idleness and intemperance and lasciviouâ—ness all filthiness of flesh and spirit which render us unclean in thy sight O Lord God I utterly Renounce all things that may any way displease thee from them all let it be thy good pleasure to deliver me I know Lord that Sin is the utmost abomination to thy purity the most audacious outrage to thy Adorable Majesty the perfect contradiction to thy Deity and therefore I utterly renounce and abhor it I know Lord that Sin exposes us to all the Vials of thy wrath and to vengeance eternal I know it sets the Sinner at the extremest distance and opposition and defiance to thee and therefore I utterly renounce and abhor it I know Lord I cannot love thee but I must hate evil and therefore I renounce and detest it Turn thou me O Lord God and so shall I be turned Turn O Lord the whole stream of my affections from sensual love to the love of thee O my God let thy heavenly love be the constant byass of my Soul O may it be the natural spring and weight of my heart that it may always move towards thee Thy love O my God shall hereafter be the sole rule and guide of my life I will love thee and love whatever thou lovest and hate whatever thou hatest I will believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith and I will keep thy Holy Will and Commandments and waâ—â— in the same all the days of my life All this O my God I own my self bound to believe and doe and though of my self I am impotent to all good yet by thy help I will perform it and I heartily thank thee O heavenly Father who out of mere compassion to my Soul hast call'd me to this state of salvation through Iesus Christ our Lord. Glory be to thee O Lord who hast indulg'd me this opportunity of repentance Glory be to thee who hast wrought in me this Will to renew my Baptismal vow O my God I humbly I earnestly pray unto thee to give me continual supplies of thy grace that I may continue in thy love unto my lives end that being faithfull to death I may receive the Crown of life O Lord God I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments My heart is empty and disengag'd and longs for thee my heart is entirely devoted to thee Enter O my God possess it with thy gratious presence and fill it with thy love Lord for thy tender mercies sake restore me to thy favour to all the graces and privileges of my Baptism of which I have been spoil'd by my sins Lord make me a living member of thy Church the mystical body of thy Son O my God unite me inseparably to Christ my Head and from thence let his gratious influences be ever streaming into my soul Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son But I return with the Prodigal O let thy paternal bowels yearn on me and gratiously receive me Lord send thy Spirit of Adoption into my heart to instill true filial affections that I may again be own'd by thee for thy Child and call thee Father and share in the blessings of thy Children and at last become an Inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven O heavenly Father accept my imperfect repentance compassionate my infirmities forgive my wickedness purifie my uncleanness strengthen my weakness fix my unstableness and let thy love ever rule in my heart through the merits and sufferings and love of the Son of thy love in whom thou art always infinitely pleas'd Amen This Office may be us'd in times of devout Retirement or on the Lord's day or in Affliction or Sickness but especially before the Holy Eucharist Q. Rehearse the Articles of your Belief A. I. I Believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth II. And in Iesus Christ his onely Son our Lord III. Who was Conceived by the Holy Ghost Born of the Uirgin Mary IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucified Dead and Buried He descended into Hell V. The third day He rose again from the Dead VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty VII From thence he shall come to iudge the quick and the dead VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost IX The Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints X. The Forgiveness of Sins XI The resurrection of the body
Father Almighty though thou fillest all places yet thy Glory is most manifested in Heaven and there thy Majesty does most Illustriously dwell and to thy Throne there are we to lift up our hearts when we Pray O let my soul fly up to thee when I pray in Heavenly Thoughts and Desires and Love O let me savour nothing of the earth whenever I treat with thee in Heaven Glory be to thee O Gratious Lord who in the Petitions of thy most Divine Prayer hast taught us for what we are to Pray for all blessings Temporal and Eternal for all things lawful and acording to thy will Glory be to thee O Jesu who in ranking the Petitions for Spiritual blessings first hast taught us to seek Heaven in the first place grant Lord that I may always beg thy blessings in their due order that I may pray for blessings Spiritual with holy violence with importunity and resolution not to be denyed as being the proper ingredients of thy Love and absolutely necessary to my eternal welfare and for Temporal with Indifference and Resignation to thy will since I may Love thee and be eternally happy without them Hallowed be thy Name O Lord God may Thy Name thy own Glorious and Amiable self have a Love and Honour separate and incommunicable May thy infinite Goodness and Greatness be for ever by all Men and all Angels Confest and Admired and Adored and Magnified both in Private and Publick in our Hearts our Mouths and our Lives All Creatures share in thy Goodness O God O let all Creatures help us to Glorifie thy Name O may every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Thy Kingdom come O thou King of Kings may Thy Kingdom of Grace the Church Militant the Catholick Seminary of Divine Love come to its utmost Evangelical perfection in this life O may thy Gospel Lord be dayly propagated Unbelieving Nations Converted and the number of thy Saints augmented Grant O Lord God that thy true Religion thy Word thy Conveyances of Grace all the Holy Institutions Laws and Governours fixt by thee in thy Spiritual Kingdom may be Loved and Honoured and Obeyed and that thy faithful Subjects may be protected against all the malice of wicked men or the powers of darkness O my God let it be thy good Pleasure to put a period to sin and misery to infirmity and death to compleat the number of thine Elect and to hasten thy Kingdom of Glory that s and all that wait for thy Salvation may in the Church Triumphant eternally Love and I Praise thee Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven O my God thy Will and thy Commands are most Holy Iust and Good and condescending to our weakness and by no means grievous O give me Grace Conscientiously to observe them Thy blessed Angels O Lord always behold thy Face in Heaven They have the Beatifick Vision of thy incomparable Amiableness they cannot but unalterably choose thee they must needs to their utmost capacity Praise and Love thee they cannot possibly offend thee they ever perfectly obey thee and are always upon the Wing at thy Command Lord give me Grace in imitation of the blessed spirits above to set thee always before me O six my serious Contemplation on thee Ravish my soul with a lively sense of thy infinite Amâ—ableness O vouchsafe me one short glimps of thy Goodness O may I once tast and see how Gratious Thou art that all things besides thee may be tastless to me that my desires may be always flying up towards thee that I may render thee Love and Praise and Obedience Pure and Chearful Constant and Zealous Universal and Uniform like that the Holy Angels render thee in Heaven Give us this day our dayly Bread Glory be to thee O Heavenly Benefactor who openest thy hand and fillest all things living with plenteousness O let it be thy good pleasure to give me and all the wait on thy Beneficent Love our food in due season Give us Bread and all that is comprehended by it Health Food Raiment and all the necessaries of Life Give us O Heavenly Father Dayly Bread nothing to gratifie our Luxury but such a competence as thy Divine wisdom sees fittest for us Give us O bountiful Creatour Dayly Bread this day Teach us to live without covetous anxiety for to morrow with a fiducial dependance on thy Fatherly Goodness and to be content and thankful for the present portion thy Love has indulged us O merciful Lord give us Our Bread that which is our own Bread by honest Labour or a lawful Title and grant that we may never eat the Bread of Idleness or of deceit Do Thou Lord Give us our Bread for unless thou givest it we cannot have it and together with our Bread give us thy blessing otherwise our very Bread will not nourish us Above all O Lord God give us the Bread of Life the Bread that came down from Heaven the Body and Blood of thy most Blessed Son to feed our Souls to Life eternal Blessed Jesus O that it might be my meat as it was thine to do the will of thy Heavenly Father And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us For thy own inâ—inite mercies sake and for the Merits of the Son of thy Love Forgive me and all penitent sinners Our trespasses our sins Known or Secret of Omission or Commission which are the vast debts we owe to thy vindictive justice Forgive us O Lord as we forgive all them even our greatest Enemies that tâ—â—esâ—â—ss against us their trespasses which are infinitely inconsiderable in comparison of our trespasses against thee Glory be to thee O Lord who to teach us Charity hast made our forgiveness the condition of obtaining Thine O Easie O Gratious condition of Pardon who would not forgive his Brother a few pence in this Life to have ten Thousand Talents forgiven in the next O let my love Lord learn from thine not only to forgive my Enemies but to be Zealous also to do them good And lead us not into temptation O Lord God thou seest how our Ghostly Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil are every moment soliciting inticing alluring or tempting us to evil O be merciful to us save and help and deliver us Thou seest O my God how infirm I am and how ready my own deceitful heart is to surrender it self to the Tempter and I know that Satan cannot tempt me without thy permission O lead me not if it be thy good pleasure suffer me not to fall into violent or lasting Temptations that may endanger my perseverance I know O heavenly Father that to be tempted is no sin for thy own beloved Son God incarnate was tempted to the most horrid of all Sins to fall down and worship the very
in which I advise you to proceed is that in which Children are commonly taught in regard I am now to look on you as a Child For there are two sorts of Children there are Children in age and Children in understanding 1 Cor. 14.20 and in this latter respect you are Children and the same method for the most part is proper for you which is proper for those that are Children in Age. I must therefore feed you with Milk before you can be capable of strong Meat Heb. 5.13 and I must look on you as Lambs of my â—lock which I am to use tenderly and these following Directions which I give to Parents for the training up their Children in Piety I do equally design for the training up of you God of his Infinite Goodness bless them to you both I exhort all you who are Parents to instil good things into your Children as soon as ever they begin to speakâ— let the first words they utter if it be possible be these Glory be to God Accustom them to repeat these words on their knees as soon as they rise and when they go to bed and oft times in the day and let them not eat or drink without saying Glory be to God As their speech grows more plain and easie to them teach them who Made and Redeem'd and Sanctified them and for what end namely to glorifie and to love God and withal teach them some of the shortest Ejaculations you can such as these Lord help me Lord save me Lord have mercy upon me All love all glory be to God who first lov'd me Lord keep me in thy love Within a little time you may teach them the Lords Prayer and hear them say it every day morning evening on their knees with some one or more of the fore-going Ejaculations and by degrees as they grow up they will learn the Creed and the whole Catechism Be sure to teach your Children with all the sweetness and gentleness you can lest if you should be severe or should over-task them Religion should seem to them rather a burden than a Blessing As their Knowledge increases so let their Prayers increase also and teach them as they go to turn their Catechism into Prayers after the manner which I shall shew you and to confirm and improve their knowledge bring them duly to the Church to be Catechised by the Parish Priest that by his familiar and devout Explications of the Catechism they may learn to understand it and may be capable of reading the Exposition on it and other Books of Piety Take conscientious care to season your Children as early as you can with the love of God which is the first and great Commandment Matth. 22.38 and with the fear of God which is the beginning of Wisdom Psal. 111.10 for the awful love and the filial fear of God must always go together The same method you observe in teaching your Children the same you may observe in teaching your Servants according as you see they want teaching and you your selves will reap the benefit of it as well as your Servants for the more devout servants they are of God the more faithful Servants will they be to you Remember you must teach both your Children and Servants by your Example as well as by your Instruction for they learn best by Example and if they see you give an example of fraud or lying of revenge or calumny of uncleanness or drunkenness of cursing and swearing and irreligion instead of teaching them to obey God you teach them to provoke him instead of teaching them to honor God you teach them to blaspheme him instead of leading them the way to Heaven you lead them the way to Hell and you will increase your own damnation by furthering theirs which God forbid you should ever do Now that you may the better give a good Example to your Family I will by Gods help give you a method of daily Devotion taken for the most part out of the Catechism which will be suitable to all Christians be they never so well instructed and which you may by little and little teach your Children and which those who have been bred up in ignorance and are Children in understanding and are yet willing to be taught may learn to say also as the capacities of either do increase for a Christian must never stand at a stay but must be always growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ 2 Pet. 3.18 A method of daily Prayer As soon as ever you awake offer your first thoughts and words to God saying Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost Three Persons and one God blessed for evermore All love all praise be to thee As you are rising say I laid me down and slept and rose up again for the Lord sustained me All love all glory be to God Psal. 3.5 As soon as you are drest kneel down as our Saviour himself kneel'd Luke 22.41 at his Prayers and remember you are in Gods presence and say your Prayers with Reverenc e and Devotion Morning Prayer Glory be to thee O Lord God for my preservation and refreshment and for all the Blessings of the night past for which All love All praise be to thee Father forgive me all the evil of the night past for the merits of Iesus my Saviour Amen O merciful God keep and protect and bless me this day and prosper me in my Calling and preserve me from sin and danger for the merit of Iesus my Saviour Amen I believe in God the Father Almighty c. All love all glory be to thee O God the Father who hast made me and all the World All love all glory be to thee O God the Son who hast redeemed me and all Man-kind All love all glory be to thee O God the Holy-Ghost who doest sanctifie me and all the elect people of God All love all glory be to thee O Father of mercy who in my Baptism didst make me a member of Christ thy own Child and an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven O my God I do this day dedicate my self to thy service and do renew the promise and vow of my Baptism I do from my heart renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanity of this wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh from all which Good Lord deliver me I believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith and I will keep thy holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life All this O Lord I am bound to believe and do and by thy help so I will and I heartily thank thee O Heavenly Father who hast call'd me to this â—tate of salvation through Iesus Christ my Saviour and I pray unto thee to give me thy Grace that I may continue in the same to my lives end Lord hear me help me pardon my failings supply all my wants
XII And the life everlasting Amen Q. What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy belief A. First I learn to believe in God the Father who hath made me and all the world Secondly in God the Son who hath redeemed me and all mankind Thirdly In God the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the Elect people of God Q. What is the method of the Creed A. The Creed teaches me to believe in God and to believe his Church Q. How in God A. It teaches me to believe in God with respect to his Unity and then to the Trinity of Persons in that Unity Father Son and holy Ghost Q. How does it teach you to believe the Church A. It teaches me to believe the Church with regard to its two different states either Militant below or Triumphant above Q. How are the Articles of the Creed Motives of Love A. Every Article includes a Blessing as well as a Mystery and is as proper to excite our Love as to engage our Faith Q. Give me such a Paraphrase on the Creed that throughout the whole your Faith may work by Love A. I shall doe it to the best of my power in such Instructive and Pathetical Aspirations as follow I Believe My Lord and my God with a full free and firm assent I believe all the Articles of my Creed because thou hast revealed them I know thou art infallible Truth and canst not thou art infinite Love and wilt not deceive me Glory be to thee With all my heart O my God do I love and praise thee who art so infinitely amiable in thy self and so full of love to us that all I can know or believe of thee excites me to love thee Lord daily increase my Faith make it active and fruitfull that I may believe and love thee as entirely as becomes one entirely devoted to thee In God I believe O my God that thou art One and that there is no other God besides thee thou art that One infinite and independent Being that One onely true God whom all Men and all Angels are to Adore All glory be to thee O Lord God help me to love and to praise thee with God-like affections and a sutable Devotion I believe O my God that in the Unity of thy Godhead there is a Trinity of Persons I believe in thee O Father Son and Holy Ghost in whose Name I was baptized to whose Service I am religiously devoted All glory be to thee I believe I admire I love I praise I adore thee O most blessed and glorious Trinity God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost for being the joint Authours of our Salvation All glory be to thee O sacred and dreadfull and mysterious Trinity though I cannot conceive thee yet let me daily experiment thy goodness Let thy Grace O Lord Iesus let thy Love O God the Father let thy Communications O Holy Spirit be ever with me The Father I believe and love and praise thee O my God the first Person in the most Adorable Trinity the Fountain of the Godhead the Eternal Father of thy coeternal Son Jesus my Saviour Glory be to thee O God the Father for so loving the world as to give thy onely begotten Son to redeem us Glory be to thee O Heavenly Father for first loving us and giving the dearest thing thou hadst for us O help me to love again and to think nothing too dear for thee Almighty I believe O my God that thou art a Spirit most pure and holy and infinite in all perfections in Power and Knowledge and Goodness that thou art Eternal Immutable and Omnipresent all love all glory be to thee I believe O Lord that thou art most wise and just most happy and glorious and all-sufficient most gratious and mercifull and tender and benign and liberal and beneficent all love all glory be to thee I believe thy Divine Nature O my God to be in all respects amiable to be Amiableness it self to be Love it self and therefore I love I admire I praise and fear and adore thee Thou Lord art my Hope my Trust my Life my Joy my Glory my God my All my Love Maker of Heaven and Earth I believe that thou O Father Almighty didst create Heaven and Earth the whole World and all things in it visible and invisible out of nothing and by thy Word onely All glory be to thee I believe O thou great Creatour that thy Divine Love made thee communicate Being to thy Creatures that thou lovest all things and hatest nothing thou hast made Glory be to thee I believe O God that thou art the sole Lord and Proprietour of all things thou hast made that all things do necessarily depend on thee that 't is in thee onely we live and move and have our Being All Love all Glory be to thee I believe O thou Communicative Goodness that thou dost preserve and sustain and protect and bless all things thou hast made sutably to the Natures thou hast given them All Love all Glory be to thee I believe O mighty Wisedom that thou dost most sweetly order and govern and dispose all things even the most minute even the very sins of men to conspire in thy Glory O do thou conduct my whole life steer every motion of my soul towards the great End of our Creation to love and to glorifie thee I believe O Lord that thy Love was more illustrious in the Creation of Man than in all the rest of the visible World thou wert pleased to make him in thy own Image and after thy own divine likeness All Love all Glory be to thee Thou Lord didst make Man for thy self and all things visible for Man Thou designedst all creatures for his use and didst subject them to his Dominion the very Angels thou didst charge to keep him in all his ways All Love all Glory be to thee Thy Works O Lord are wonderfull and amiable I love and admire and praise thy Universal Providence over the whole World the perpetual flux of thy Goodness on every Creature All glory be to thee I love and praise thee O my God for all the particular vouchsafements of thy love to me for all thy deliverances and blessings either to my body or to my soul known or unknown for all that I do not remember or did not consider All Love all Glory be to thee The longer I live O my God the more reason I have to love thee because every day supplies me with fresh experiments and new motives of thy manifold love to me and therefore all Love all Glory be to thee And in Iesus I believe in thee O Jesus and I rejoice in that dear Name which is so full
World Heavenly-mindedness gratious Condescention ardent Zeal for thy Father's Glory and unbounded Love and that for the sake of that dearest Love which inclined thee to become incarnate for me Under Pontius Pilate I believe O my Lord and my God that though thou didst suffer all thy life long yet thy greatest sufferings were under the Roman Governour of Iudea Pontius Pilate I believe all those mighty sufferings but am as little able to express the greatness of them as I am the greatness of thy love which mov'd thee to suffer All I can doe is to love and to praise thee How great were thy sufferings O Saviour of the World when the very apprehension of them made thy Soul very heavy exceeding sorrowfull even to death made thee offer up prayers with strong crying and tears that if it were thy Father's will the Cup might pass from thee threw thee into an agony and bloudy sweat insomuch that there was an Angel sent from Heaven on purpose to strengthen thee O thou agonising Love impress on my heart so tender a sense of thy sufferings for me that I may agonise with thee that I may feel all thy sorrows that though I cannot sweat bloud like thee I may dissolve into tears for thee that I may love and suffer with thee throughout every part of thy Passion O suffering Jesus when my Meditations follow thee from the Garden to Mount Calvary I grieve and I love all the way I grieve and I love when I see thee O Incarnate God who couldst command more than twelve legions of Angels for thy rescue out of love to Sinners and in particular to me one of the vilest of all that number humbling thy self to be apprehended and bound by the rude Souldiers as a Malefactour I grieve and I love when I see thee O gratious Lord for my sake betray'd by the treacherous kiss of Iudas deny'd by Peter and forsaken of all thy Disciples I grieve and I love when I see thee O spotless innocence out of love to me dragg'd to Annas and Caiaphas the High-priest when I see thee accus'd by â—alse Witnesses arraign'd and condemn'd I grieve and I love when I see thee O divine Majesty out of love to me spit upon and blindfolded and buffeted and mockt sent to Pilate an Infidel Judge then to wicked Herod who with his men of war set thee at naught array'd thee in a white Robe of Mockery and sent thee again to Pilate I grieve and I love O injur'd Goodness when I see thee though declar'd innocent by the very Traytour Iudas who out of horrour for his Crime went and hang'd himself though declar'd innocent by Pilate himself the Judge to whom thine Enemies appeal'd yet worried to death by the clamours of the Rabble that cry'd out Crucify Crucify when I see Barabbas a Traytour and a Murtherer preferr'd before thee I grieve and I love when I see thee O lover of Souls for my sake most unjustly given up into the hands of infidel Souldiers to be stript naked and tied to a Pillar and scourg'd to see the Plowers plowing on thy back and making long furrows I grieve and I love O King of Heaven when I see thee out of love to me humbling thy self to be array'd in Purple with a Reed in thy hand when I see thee crown'd with Thorns to multiply thy torments when I see thee mockt by barbarous Wretches with their bended knee and with hail King of the Iews I grieve and I love when I see thee O Lord God whom the Angels worship spit upon again and buffeted and for my sake made the exâ—treme scorn and contempt and sport of thy insolent and insulting Enemies and though still declar'd innocent by Pilate yet surrender'd to the unrelenting Cruelty of the multitude to be crucified My Lord my God my Saviour with all my heart I love and adore thy infinite love and benignity to Sinners with all my heart I lament and detest the hatred and outrage of Sinners to thee Was crucifyed I grieve and I love O sorrowfull Jesus when I see thee for my sake opprest with the weight of thy own Cross till thy tender Body quite spent with sufferings sank under it I grieve and I love O thou great Martyr of Love when for my sake I see thy virgin Body stript naked thy Hands and thy Feet nail'd to the Cross when I see thee crucified between two Thieves and numbred with the Transgressours when I see Gall given thee to eat and Vinegar to drink I grieve and I love when I see thee O incarnate Deity hanging on the Cross and for my sake by thy own People in the height of thy anguish derided reproacht and blasphem'd with wagging of their heads mockt by the Souldiers and by the impenitent Thief I grieve and I love when I see thee O God blessed for evermore O Fountain of all blessing hang bleeding on the Cross and made a curse for me How does my indignation swell against the injustice and ingratitude and inhumanity of the Iews who could thus cruelly treat so unreproachable an Innocence so amiable a Charity so compassionate a Saviour Alas alas it was the Sinner O Love incarnate rather than the Jew that betray'd and derided and blasphemed and tortur'd and crucify'd thee the sins of lapst mankind and particularly my sins they were thy Tormentours and therefore from my heart I bewail detest and abjure them My Lord and my God instill penitential love into my Soul that I may grieve for my sins which griev'd thee that I may love thee for suffering for us Sinners who occasion'd all thy griefs O may I always love thee O may I never grieve thee more Dead I grieve and I love O bleeding Love when I see thee on the Cross quite spent with pain and anguish when I see thee in thy dying pangs commending thy Spirit into the hands of thy heavenly Father bowing thy head and giving up the Ghost Thou O Lord of life didst for us Sinners humble thy self to death even to the death of the Cross a death of utmost shame and ignominy and of torment insupportable all love all glory be to thee Was ever any sorrow O crucify'd Lord like that sorrow my sins created thee Was ever any love O outrag'd Mercy like that love thou didst shew in dying for Sinners All the frame of Nature O dying Saviour fell into convulsions at the crucifixion of their great Creatour The Sun was darkned the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom the Earth quak't the Rocks clave asunder the Bodies of dead Saints rose out of their Graves insomuch that the Centurion and infidel Souldiers acknowledg'd thee to be the Son of God thou wast lovely and glorious and adorable in thy lowest humiliation all love all praise be to thee Thy
bodily Sufferings O almighty Love were intolerable but yet thy inward were far greater I grieve I love I melt all o'er when I hear thee on the Cross crying out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Ah sinfull Wretch that I am how infinite and unconceivable were the inward Dolours and Agonies thou didst undergo for us Sinners when thou didst tread the Winepress of thy Father's wrath alone when it pleas'd thy own most beloved Father to bruise thee and to put thee to grief when the iniquities of the whole World were laid on thee and my numerous sins increast thy load and heightned thy torment when thy own Deity withdrew all consolation from thee when God offended by our sins did afflict thee in the day of his fierce anger no sufferings no love was ever like unto thine for me no grief no love but thy own should exceed mine for thee For whom O unutterable goodness didst thou suffer the extreme bitterness oâ— sorrow but for the vilest of all thy Creatures sinfull man and for me one of the worst of Sinners and therefore I praise and love thee For what end didst thou suffer O most ardent Charity but to save Sinners from all things that were destructive the Curse of the Law the Terrours of Death the Tyranny of Sin the Powers of Darkness and Torments Eternal to purchase for us all things conducible to our Happiness Pardon and Grace Consolation and Acceptance and the everlasting Joys and Glories of the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore I praise and love thee Out of what motive didst thou suffer O boundless Benignity but out of thy own preventing love free mercy and pure compassion and therefore I praise and love thee When no other Sacrifice could attone thy Father's Anger O thou the beloved Son of God and reconcile Divine Justice and Mercy together but the Sacrifice of God incarnate who as man was to die and to suffer in our stead as God was to merit and make satisfaction for our sins 't was then that thou O God the Son didst become Man the very meanest of Men didst take upon thee the form of a Servant and didst on the Cross shew us the mystery and the Miracle of Love God crucified for Sinners and Sinners redeem'd by the bloud of God O thou propitious Wonder God incarnate on the Cross by what Names shall I adore thee all are too short too scanty to express thee Love onely nothing but Love will reach thee thou art Love O Jesu thou art all love O tenderest O sweetest O purest O dearest Love soften sweeten refine love me into all Love like thee By the love of thy Cross O Jesu I live in that I will onely glory that above all things will I study that before all things will I value by the love of thy Cross I will take up my Cross daily and follow thee I will persecute and torment and crucify my sinfull Affections and Lusts which persecuted tormented and crucify'd thee and if thy love calls me to it I will suffer on the Cross for thee as thou hast done for me How illustrious and amiable were thy Graces amidst all thy Sufferings O thou afflicted Jesu I admire and I love thy profound Humility unwearied Patience Lamb-like Meekness immaculate Innocence invincible Courage absolute Resignation compassionate love of Souls and perfect Charity to thy Enemies O my Love I cannot love thee but I must desire above all things to be like my Beloved O give me grace to tread in thy steps and conform me to thy Divine Image that the more I grow like thee the more I may love thee and the more I may be lov'd by thee And Buried He descended into Hell I believe O crucified Lord that thou wast really dead and that there was a separation of thy Body and Soul That thy side was mortally wounded and pierced with a Spear on the Cross and thy sacred Body was buried to assure us of thy death All love all glory be to thee I believe O pierced O wounded Love that thy Soul in the state of separation did descend into Hell to vanquish Death and all the Spirits of darkness in their own Dominions and therefore I adore and love thee Glory be to thee O thou great Champion of Love who didst for our sakes singly encounter all our ghostly Enemies who didst thy self taste of death that thou mightst take away the sting of death who didst wrestle with principalities and powers and all the force of Hell that we might share in thy Victory for which wonderfull Salvation I will always praise and love thee The third day he rose again from the dead I believe O Almighty Love that according to the Types and Prophecies which went before of thee and according to thy own infallible predictions thou didst by thy own power rise from the dead the third day All love all glory be to thee Glory be to thee who didst lie so long in the Grave to undergo the full condition of the dead and to convince all the world thou wert dead and didst rise so soon that thou mightst not see corruption or retard our joy All love all glory be to thee He ascended into Heaven I believe O Victorious Love that thou after thy conquest over Death and Hell didst ascend in triumph to Heaven that thou mightst prepare Mansions for us and from thencâ— as Conquerour bestow the gifts of thy conquest on us and above all the gift of thy Holy Spirit that thou mightst enter into the Holy of Holies as our great High-priest to present to thy Father the sweet-smelling Sacrifice of his crucified Son the sole propitiation for Sinners and therefore all Love all glory be to thee Glory be to thee O Jesu who didst leave the world and ascend to Heaven about the 33 d year of thy age to teach us in the prime of our years to despise this world when we are best able to enjoy it and to reserve our full vigour for Heaven and for thy Love O thou whom my Soul loveth since thou hast left the world what was there ever in it worthy of our Love O let all my affections ascend after thee and never return to the earth more for whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none â—pon earth that I desire in comparison of thee And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty I believe O Triumphant Love that thou now sittest in full and peacefull possession of bliss and at the right hand of God that thy humane Nature is exalted to the most honourable place in Heaven where thou sittest on thy throne of glory ador'd by Angels and interceding for Sinners and therefore all love all glory be to thee Glory be
we may all praise and love thee O my God amidst the deplorable divisions of thy Church O let me never widen its breaches but give me catholick Charity to all that are baptis'd in thy Name and catholick Communion with all Christians in desire O deliver me from the Sins and Errours from the Schisms and Heresies of the Age. O give me grace to pray daily for the peace of thy Church and earnestly to seek it and to excite all I can to praise and to love thee I believe O most holy Jesu that thy Saints here below have communion with thy Saints above that they pray for us while we celebrate their memories congratulate their bliss give thanks for their labours of love and imitate their examples for which all love all glory be to thee I believe O gratious Redeemer that thy Saints here on Earth have Communion with the holy Angels above that they are ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation and watch over us and we give thanks to thee for their protection and emulate their incessant praises and ready obedience for which all love all glory be to thee I believe O my Lord and my God that the Saints in this life have Communion with the three Persons of the most adorable Trinity in the same most benign influences of love in which all three conspire for which all love all glory be to thee O Father Son and Holy Ghost world without end Glory be to thee O Goodness infinitely diffusive for all the Graces and blessings in which the Saints communicate for breathing thy love as the very Soul into thy mystical Body that all that believe in thee may love one another and all join in loving thee The Forgiveness of Sins I believe O my God that none can forgive Sins but thou alone and that in thy Church forgiveness is always to be had and for so inestimable a blessing all love all glory be to thee I believe O thou lover of Souls that without true repentance we cannot hope for pardon that our repentance is at the best imperfect that it is out of thy mere mercy O heavenly Father and for the merits and passion of thy crucified Son that thou dost accept our imperfect repentance and art pleas'd to forgive us and therefore all love all glory be to thee Glory be to thee O most adorable Trinity for thy infinite love in our forgiveness Glory be to thee O Father forgiving O Son propitiating O Holy Ghost purifying I miserable sinner who sigh and pant and languish for thy forgiveness and to be at peace with thee praise and adore and love that most sweet and liberal and tender and amiable mercy that delights in forgiving sinners The Resurrection of the Body I believe O victorious Jesu that by the virtue of thy Resurrection all the dead shall rise bad as well as good all love all glory be to thee by whom death is swallowed up in victory I believe O Almighty Jesu that by thy power all shall rise with the same bodies they had on earth that thou wilt recollect their scattered dust into the same form again that our Souls shall be re-united to our Bodies that we shall be judged both in Body and Soul for the sins committed by both that the Bodies of the wicked shall be fitted for torment and the Bodies of the Saints chang'd in quality and made glorify'd Bodies immortal and incorruptible fitted for heaven and eternally to love and enjoy thee for which glorious vouchsafement I will always praise and love thee And the Life everlasting I believe O great Judge of Heaven and Earth that after all the Quick and Dead have appear'd before thy Judgment-seat then the most just and unrepealable Sentence shall pass and be executed to all eternity joyfull onely to those that love thee and therefore all love all glory be to thee I believe O righteous Jesu that the wicked shall be set on thy left hand and be damn'd to Hell to be tormented with everlasting and unconceivable anguish and despair by the Devil and his Angels and their own Conscience both in Soul and Body in the lake of fire and brimstone from which there never can be any redemption O just reward of those that do not love thee O mercifull Jesu how desirous art thou that we should be happy in loving thee when thou hast created Hell on purpose to deter us from hating thee and Heaven to compell us to love thee and therefore all love all glory be to thee I believe O my Lord and my God that the righteous shall be rewarded with joys unspeakable and full of glory with the beatifick Vision and love of thy self in Heaven with a happiness of Body and Soul which shall be in all respects most perfect eternal and unchangeable that they shall never sorrow nor sin more which is all the free gift of thy infinite love O heavenly Father and the purchase of thy bloud O God incarnate for which I will ever to the utmost of my power adore and love thee O boundless love when shall I love thee in heaven without either coldness or interruption which alas too often seise me here below When O my God O when shall I have the transporting vision of thy most amiable goodness that I may unalterably love thee that I may never more offend thee O thou whom my Soul loveth I would not desire heaven but because thou art there for thou makest heaven wherever thou art I would not O Jesu desire life everlasting but that I may there everlastingly love thee O inexhaustible love do thou eternally breath love into me that my love to thee may be eternally increasing and tending towards infinity since a love less than infinite is not worthy of thee Amen O thou great authour and finisher of our Faith do thou daily increase my Faith and heighten my love O grant that in holy ardours of love to love crucify'd my love may at last ascend to the region of love that I may have nothing to doe to all eternity but to praise and to love thee Amen O infinite Love Amen Amen This Office may be divided into several parts and used on the Lord's days or on Holy-days especially on the great Festivals of Christmas Easter Pentecost in Lent also and particularly on Good-friday and before the reception of the blessed Sacrament as is most sutable to the occasion or to the state temper and disposition of every devout Soul Q. You said your Godfathers and Godmothers did promise for you that you should keep God's Commandments Tell me how many there be A. Ten. Q. Which be they A. The same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of
O my God by thy particular assistance by the strength of thy Love I can do all things O let thy Grace ever enlighten and enflame me let it ever prevent and accompany and follow me let it ever excite and encrease and support thy love in my heart O let it ever work in me both to will and to do of thy good pleasure I know Lord that thy Grace and all other blessings I must learn at all times to call for by diligent Prayer and I adore and love thy infinite Benignity to sinners in indulging us the privilege the honour the happiness to pray to thee to pour out our souls to breath out our desires to present our wants and to unbosom our griefs at thy Throne of love I praise and I love thee O sovereign Love for not only permitting us miserable Wretches to pray to thee but also for giving us all imaginable encouragement to so important and divine a Duty I adore and love thee O munificent goodness for inviting for commanding us to pray I adore and love thee for pouring out thy holy spirit of grace and supplication on us to help our Infirmities to assist us in praying to make intercessions for us with Sighs and Groans that cannot be uttered with the utmost ardours of a penitential and indigent love I adore and love thee for giving us so many glorious promises of hearing our Prayers so many firm assurances of a gracious acceptance O thou great Prophet of Divine Love who as if thy invitation and command and assistance and promise were not enough to move us to pray hast condescended to teach us this duty thy self and to give us a perfect pattern of Prayer for which I adore and love thee Glory be to thee O blessed Master of Devotion who in dictating a form of Prayer and enjoyning us to use it hast complied with our weakness and warned us not to relie on rash and unpremeditated Effusions who in dictating a short form hast taught us to avoid vain repetitions or thinking we shall be heard for much spâ—aking and to measure our Prayers rather by their fervency than length That Prayer which was composed by thy own self O God that hearest Prayer we are sure is most divine and excellent and perfect like its Author and most agreeable and acceptable to thee for which I adore and love thee O Blessed Jesus the only beloved of God thou best understandest the language of Love and in that language thou hast taught us to pray and whenever we pray in that language we have an humble confidence thy heavenly Father will hear us who with the words of his own beloved Son will ever be well pleased and therefore I adore and love thee Thou O heavenly Guide of our Devotion and our Love by teaching us to pray hast shewed us that Prayer is our treasury where all Blessings are kept our Armoury where all our strength and weapons are stored the only great preservative and the very vital heat of Divine Love Give me grace therefore to call on thee at all times by diligent Prayer O the unspeakable misery of those who either totally neglect the duty of Prayer or else prophane it by drawing near to God with their lips when their hearts are far removed from him whose Prayers being void of all Devotion and concern are turned into fresh sins How deservedly shall he have God for his Enemy who would not beg pardon of a most reconcileable Father How deservedly shall he suffer eternal wrath who thought Heaven not worth the asking O my God let me daily offer up to thee my morning and evening Sacrifice in private and in publick too if my circumstances permit and as near as I can let me omit no opportunities of praying or of praising thee O my God may I ever keep my self in thy Love by praying in the holy Ghost and by praying without ceasing since I incessantly want the succours of thy Love Ah Lord I know my Devotion has daily many unavoidable and necessary interruptions and I cannot always be actually praying all I can do is to beg of thy Love to keep my heart always in an habitual disposition to Devotion and in mindfulness of thy divine presence that I may perpetuate my Prayer by frequent Ejaculations O my God as thy infinite Love is ever-streaming in Blessings on me O set my Soul be ever breathing Love to thee O my God to Prayer whereby I address to thee give me grace to add the daily reading and meditation of thy word whereby thou art pleased to converse with me It is thy abundant Love to us O Lord that thou indulgest us thy word in our own mother Tongue that from those dear Volumes of thy Love every devout Lover may daily and on all occasions supply proper fewel to his Love for which all Love all Glory be to thee I adore and love thee O heavenly Oracle of Love for contriving this Prayer in that admirable method that thou hast withal taught us all the requisites of an acceptable Prayer thou in the Preface hast taught us how to Pray In the Petitions for what to Pray and in the Conclusion what ought to be the end of our Prayers for which I adore and love thee Father Glory be to Thee O Jesu who hast taught us to whom to direct our Prayers to God only since he only is Omniscient to know and all-sufficient to succour all our necessities Glory be to thee who hast taught us for whose sake only we can hope to be heard even for thy own O blessed Jesus for it is through thy alone Mediation that we sinners can call God Father or have access to his Throne Glory be to thee O beloved Jesu who in teaching us to call God Father hast taught us to pray with the affections of a Child with Reverential Love and Reliance on the Paternal care and benignity and love of our Heavenly Father Our Father Glory be to thee O Lord who in teaching me to call God Our Father has taught me not to confine my Charity to my self but to pray also with the affections of a Brother to all mankind who are children by Creation to all Christians who are children by Adoption of the same Heavenly Father O give me that Brotherly kindness to them all that I may beg the same blessings for them as for my self and earnestly pray that they may all share with me in thy Fatherly Love Which art in Heaven Glory be to thee O thou beloved of the Father who in teaching us to pray to Our Father in Heaven hast taught me the infinite distance between God and us and to pray with the Humility of a supplicant with that awe that becomes a frail Creature a miserable Sinner before his Creator and his Judge O
generality of the World and therefore all Love all Glory be to thee Glory be to thee O all-powerful Love by whose inviâ—â—ble Grace we in Baptism die to sin to all carnal Affections renouncing and detesting them all and resolving to take no more pleasure in them than dead persons do in the comforts of life O may I ever thus die to Sin Glory be to thee O Jesu who from our death to Sin in our Baptism dost raise us to a new Life and dost breath into us the breath of Love 'T is in this Laver of regeneration we are born again by Water and the Spirit by a new Birth unto righâ—eoâ—â—ness that as the natural Birth propagated sin our spiritual Birth should propagate Grace for which all Love all Glory be to thee Glory be to thee O most indulgent Love who in our Baptism dost give us the holy spirit of Love to be the principle of new Life and of Love in us to infuse into our Souls a supernatural habitual Grace and ability to obey and love thee for which all Love all Glory be to thee Glory be to thee O compassionate Love who when we were conceived and Born in Sin of sinful Parents when we sprang from a root wholly corrupt and were all Children of Wrath hast in our Baptism made us Children of thy own Heavenly Father by Adoption and Grace When we were Heirs of Hell hast made us Heirs of Heaven even joynt Heirs with thy one self of thy own Glory for which with all the powers of my Soul I adore and love thee I know O dearest Lord that I am thine no longer than I Love thee I can no longer feel the saving efficacy of my Baptism than I am faithful to my Vow I there made no longer than I am a Penitent no longer am I Christian if I name the name of Christ I am to depart from Iniquity O do thou give me the Grace of True Repentance for all my Sin for my original Impurity and for all my actual Transgressions that I may abhor and â—â—rsake them all wound my Soul with a most affectionate sorrow for all the Injuries and Affronts and dishonours I have offered to infinite Love Glory be to thee O most liberal Jesu for all those exceeding great and pretious Promises of Pardon and Grace and Glory which thou hast made to us Christians in the Sacrament of Baptism O may I ever stedfastly believe O may I ever passionately Love may I ever firmly rely on thy superabundant Love in all these Promises for which I will ever adore and love thee Glory be to thee O sweetest Love who in my infancy didst admit me to holy Baptism who by thy preventing Grace when I was a little Child didst receive me into the evangelical Covenant didst take me up into the arms of thy Mercy and bless me Glory be to thee who didst early dedicate me to thy self to prepossess me by thy Love before the World should seize and defise me Ah Gratious Lord how long how often have I polluted my self by my Sins But I repent and deplore all those Pollutions and I consecrate my self to thee againâ—t O thou most reconcileable Love pardon and accept me and restore me to thy Love O let the intenseness of my future Love not only Love for the time to come but retrieve all the Love I have lost Glory be to thee O tenderest Jesu who when by reason of my Infancy I could not promise to repent and believe for my self didst mercifully accept of the promise of my Sureties who promisâ—â— both for me as thou didst accept for good to the Paralytick the charitable intentions of those that brought him to thee and of the Faith of the Woman of Canaan for the Cure of her Daughter for which merciful acceptance all Love all Glory be to thee O my God my Lord the promise which was made by my Sureties for me I acknowledg that as soon as I came to a competent Age I was bâ—â—â—d my self to perform and I own and renew my Obligation I promise O my Lord with all the force of my Soul to Love thee O do thou ever keep me true to my own promise â—â—ce thou art ever â—â—alterably true to thine for which I will ever adore and love thee Q. Why was the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ordained A. For the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ and of the benefits which we receive thereby Q. What is the outward part or sign of the Lords Supper A. Bread and Wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received Q. What is the inward part or thing signified A. The body and blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper Q. What are the benefits where-we are partakers thereby A. The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and bloud of Christ as our bodies are by the bread and wine Q. What is required of them who come to the Lords Supper A. To examin themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new life have a lively faith in Gods mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his death and be in charity with all men Glory be to thee O crucified Love who at thy last Supper didst ordain the Holy Eucharist the Sacrament and Feast of Love It was for the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of thy death O blessed Jesu and of the Benefits we receive thereby that thou wast pleased to ordain this sacred and awful Rite all Love all Glory be to thee Ah dearest Lord how little sensible is he of thy Love in dying for us who can ever forget thee Ah wo is me that ever a Sinner should forget his Saviour and yet alas how prone are we to do it Glory be to thee O Gracious Jesu who to help our memories and to impress thy Love deep on our Souls hast instituted the blessed Sacrament and commanded us Do this in remembrance of me O Jesu let the Propitiatory Sacrifice of thy Death which thou didst offer upon the Cross for the Sins of the whole World and particularly for my Sins be ever fresh in my remembrance O blessed Saviour let that mighty Salvation thy Love has wrought for us never slip out of my mind but especially let my remmbrance of thee in the Holy Sacrament be always most lively and affecting O Jesu if I love thee truly I shall be sure to frequent thy Altar that I may often remember all the wonderful Loves of my Crucified Redeemer I know O my Lord and my God that a bare remembrance of thee is not enough O do thou therefore fix in me such a remembranâ—e of thee as is suitable to the infinite Love I am to remember Work in me all the holy and heavenly affections as become the remembrance of a Crucified
take Heavenly delight in thy Gracious Presence that with Praise and Thansgiving with Jubilation and Triumph I may receive thee into my Heart there I will have Love only Love always Love to entertain thee Lord when I present my self and my Love as all the Gift I have to offer at thy Altar next to my Love to thee and for the sake of thy infinite Love to me which I there remember give me Grace to love my Neighbour and to be in Charity wiâ—h all men and to walk in Love as thou hast loved us and hast given thy self for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour for which all Love all Glory be to thee O most Reconcileable Jesu in this Memorial of thy Sufferings I see how thou didst forgive me and didst love me when I was thy Enemy O for thy dearest Love to me give me Love to forgive all my Enemies and to be at peace with the world as I desire to be Loved and Forgiven and to be at peace with thee All that have any way injured me O my God I freely forgive for thy sake O do thou also forgive them incline them to Brotherly Charity and let them at last feel the comfort of that Reconciliation thou didst make upon the Cross for which I will ever Adore and Love thee O my God if I have wronged or injured my Neigbour O give me Grace to beg his pardon and as I have opportunity to make him satisfaction and restitution according to my power O crucified Love whenever I see thee in any of thy poor Members Hungry or Naked or in Distress O let the Remembrance of thy Love in Dying for me engage me to contribute all I can to thy relief O may I ever be liberal in my Alms to thee who wert so liberal of thy inestimable Blood for me It is very adviseable that persons before they Communicate should read over the whole Communion-Office or at least the exhortations there which they will find to contain very proper and plain and excellent Instructions It were much to be wish'd that people would make more use of their Common Prayer Books than they do and apply the Prayers they meet with there to their own particular conditions for the Book is always at hand and the Prayers are most safe and familiar and devout and the more they affect us in our Closet the more they will affect us in the Congregation and well meaning souls will reap great spiritual advantage from this practice For example an humble poor Christian who it may be has no other Book but his Common Prayer Book and who intends to come to the Holy Communion may learn to turn the Communion-Office to his own private use after this manner Almighty God unto whom all hearts be open all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that I may perfectly love thee and worthily magnifie thy Holy Name through Christ our Lord. Amen I give most humble and hearty thanks to thee O God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both God and man who did humble himself even to the death upon the Cross for us miserable sinners who lay in darkness and the shadow of death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to everlasting Life Glory be to thee O Jesus our master and only Saviour who to the end that we should always remember thy exceeding great Love in thus dying for us and the innumerable benefits which by thy precious Blood-sheding thou hast obtained to us hast Instituted and Ordained Holy Mysteries as Pledges of thy Love and for a continual remembrance of thy Death to our great endless Comfort To thee therefore O blessed Saviour with the Father and the Holy Ghost I will give as I am most bounden continual thanks I submit my self wholly to thy Holy Will and Pleasure and will study to serve thee in true Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things Judg of all men I acknowledg and bewail my manifold sins c. I lift up my heart unto thee O Lord I give thanks unto thee O Lord our God it is meet and right so to do it is very meet right and my bounden duty that I should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee O Lord Holy Father Almighty everlasting God But chiefly am I bound to praise thee for giving thy only Son Jesus to dye for my Sins and to rise a-again for my Justification Therefore with Angels and Archangels and with all the Company of Heaven I laud and magnifie c. I do not presume to come to thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in my own righteousness c. Glory be to God on high and on earth Peace good will towards men I praise thee c. To these as you see occasion you may add many very good Prayers short and plain and pertinent to your purpose which you may collect out of the Common Prayer and which will much further your Devotion such as these O Lord who never â—ailest to help and govern them whom thou doest bring up in thy stedfast Fear and Love keep me I beseech thee under the protection of thy good Providence and make me to have a perpetual Fear and Love of thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O God who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass Mans understanding pour into my heart such Love toward thee that I loving thee above all things may obtain thy promises which exceed all that I can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Lord of all power and migâ—t who art the Author and Giver of all gooâ— things graft in my Heart the Love of thy Name encrease in me true Religion nourish me with all goodness and of thy great mercy keep me in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O Lord who hast taught me that all my doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into my Heart that most excellent gift of Charity the very bond of Peace and of all Vertues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee Grant this for thy only Son Jesus Christs sake Amen Almighty God who hast given thy only Son to be unto us both a Sacrifice for Sin and also an example of Godly life give me grace that I may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable Benefit and also daily endeavour my self to follow the blessed steps of his most holy Life through the same Jesus Christ our Lord Amen They that are ignorant or that cannot read should go to their Parish Priest or to some
and the wants of all faithful People which I 〈◊〉 up in the words of thy own beloved Son Our Father which art in Heaven c. After the like manner you may pray at night Evening Prayer Glory be to thee O Lord for my preservation and for all the Blessings of the day past for which all love all praise be to thee Father forgive me all the sins I have this day committed either in thought or word or deed either against thee or against my neighbor for the sake of Iesus my Saviour Amen Amen It grieves me O merciful God that I should daily offend thee But I repent O pitty and pardon me for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen Amen O my God keep and protect and bless me this night and preserve me from sin and danger for the sake of Iesus Amen Amen Lord refresh me this night with seasonable sleep that I may rise the next morning more fit and able to serve thee in my Calling for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen Amen I believe in God the Father c. All love all glory be to thee our God the Father who c. as in the Morning I desire thee O Lord God O Heavenly Father who art the Giver of all goodness to send thy Grace unto me and to my Wife and Children to my Husband and Children Father and Mother Brethren and Sisters Kindred and Friends Master and Mistris you must name these Relations according as you stand related and to all people that we may worship thee serve thee and obey thee as we ought to do And I pray unto thee that thou would'st send us all things that be needful both for our souls and bodies and that thou wilt be merciful unto us and forgive us our sins and that it will please thee to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and bodily and that thou wilt keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death And this I trust thou wilt do of thy meecy and goodness through our Lord Iesus Christ. Amen Lord so be it Lord hear me help me pardon my failings supply all my wants and the wants of all for whom I pray which I sum up in the words of thy own beloved Son Our Father which art in Heaven c. As you are going to bed say I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Psal. 4.9 As you began the day so end it with glorifying God and when you are in bed say Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God blessed for evermore All praise all love be to thee I earnestly beg of God to make you sensible your selves and to give you grace to make your Children and Servants sensible also how Necessary and Happy and Heavenly a Duty Prayer is and how many exceeding great precious Promises God has made to those that devoutly pray to him and if you are thus sensible you will not content your selves with Morning and Evening Prayer onely but you will be desirous if you have Opportunity to retire about Mid-day for a few Minutes that you may imitate the Devotion of Holy David and of Daniel and pray three times a day Dan. 6.10 and that you may not want a help for Noon tide Prayer the Catechism shall supply you Prayer at Noon At evening and at morning and at noon-day will I pray and that instantly Lord hear my voice Psal. 55.19 Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen All love all glory be to thee O God the Father who hast first loved us and hast given thy beloved Son to die for our Sins and to rise again for our Iustification Have mercy upon me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen O Lord God who seest I am not able of my self to walk in thy Commandments and to serve thee be pleased to help and strengthen me by thy special Grace that I may daily and sincerely perform my duty towards thee and my duty towards my neighbor for the sake of Iesus my Saviour Amen O my God give me grace to believe in thee and to love thee with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and with all my strength to worship thee to give thee thanks to put my whole trust in thee to call upon thee to honor thy holy Name and thy Word and to serve thee truly all the days of my life for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen O my God give me grace to love my neighbor as my self to do to all men as I would they should do to me to love honor and succor my Father and Mother this clause must be left out if your Father and Mother be dead to honor and obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him to submit my self to all my Governors Teachers Spiritual Pastors and Masters to order my sâ—â—f lowly and reverently to all my betters to hurt no body by word or deed to be true and just in all my dealing to bear no malice nor hatred in my heart to keep my hands from picking and stealing and my tongue from evil speaking lying and slandering to keep my body in temperance soberness and chastity not to covet or desire other mens goods but to learn and labor truly to get mine own living and to do my duty in that state of life unto which it has pleased thee to call me for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen Lord hear me help me pardon my failings supply all my wants which I sum up in the words of thy Beloved Son Our Father which art in Heaven c. Instead of these two last Prayers you may sometimes say the Ten Commandments which you may turn into a very good Prayer by saying after every one Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Where you not onely beg pardon for the sins you have committed against each Commandment but you also beg Grace to keep it At the end of them you may say Lord have mercy upon me and write all these thy Laws in my heart I beseech thee And so conclude with the Lords Prayer Do not think that this Practice of Prayer will be too hard or too long for young persons or for labouring people for if you cannot say them all say as much as you can or if you are at Day Labour or have not time or convenience to say them offer up to God two or three hearty Ejaculations in their place But
if you can get time and convenience say them all and I dare assure you that all the three Forms of Prayer which I commend to you will not in all take up a quarter of an hour and certainly that Person has very little sense of his Duty very little concern for his immortal Soul very little Honour for God or value for Heaven who will not spend one quarter of an hour in the space of four and twenty hours in the Service of God and the Salvation of his own Soul I do by all means exhort you to give your Servants a few Minutes leisure at Noon to Pray after your Example and to use your Children to do the same for they will soon be able to say the Lords Prayer and two or three Ejaculations and teach them to say these at Noon as well as at Morning and at Night and 't is incredible to think how much good this Practice will do them and what great comfort you your selves will reap from the early Devotion of your Children To further this Devotion in your Children instead of Idle Tales and Songs which pollute their Souls and when they come to be serious will cost them great pains to unlearn You must teach them short Psalms by heart which will exercise their Memories and Piety both together and as you teach the Psalms to your Children I exhort you to learn them your selves You cannot imagine the great benefit of learning Psalms by heart for when you are under any Temptation or are in any Affliction or when you lye waking in the Night or when you are Sick these Psalms will come into your mind and the Devout repeating them will yield you most seasonable Consolations The very Common People in the first and purest Ages of the Church were so sensible of the Spiritual advantages of learning Psalms that they learn'd the whole Psalter by heart and sang or said the Psalms in their Shops and at the Plow insomuch that St. Iames makes it the proper expression of Christian mirth Iamâ— 5.13 If any be merry let him sâ—â—g Psalms This is the way to store your own and your Childrens minds with Ejaculations or short Prayers for all Occasions which I advise both Old and Young to accustom themselves to because it is the true way of Praying without ceasing and it is a kind of Prayer most easie and may be used at any time of the day or in any place and is one of the most efficacious means in the World to keep us in Gods favour 〈◊〉 is of all things most desirable Ejaculations At going out or coming in Lord bless my going out and my coming in from this time forth for evermore Psal. 121.8 At Meals Lord grant that whether I eat or drink or whatever I do I may do all to thy Glory 1 Cor. 10.31 At Work Prosper thou the work of my hands O Lord O prosper thou my handy work Psal. 90.17 In the Shop or Market Lord give me grace to use this World so as not to abuse it 1 Cor. 7.31 Lord grant that I may never go beyond or defraud my brother in any matter for thou art the Avenger of all such 1 Thess. 4.6 In temptation or danger O God make speed to save me O Lord make haste to help me At any time of the day Wherever I am whatever I do Thou Lord seest me O keep me in thy fear all the day long Prov. 23.17 Lord give me grace to keep always a conscience void of offence towards thee and towards men Acts 24.16 Lord teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart to Wisdom Psal. 90.12 O let my mouth be filled with thy Praise that I may sing of thy Glory and Honor all the day long Psal. 71.7 All love all glory be to thee O God who didst first love me Unto him that lov'd us and wash'd us from our â—â—ns in his own Blood be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen Rev. 1.5 O blessed Spirit shed abroad the love of God in my heart Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me Praise his holy Name Psal. 103.1 Praise the Lord O my soul while I live will I praise the Lord yea as long as I have any being I will sing Praises unto my God Psal. 146.1 You that have Families I do further exhort that besides your private Prayers you would offer up to God a Morning and Evening Sacrifice in your Families and that every one of you would take up the Holy Resolution of Ioshua As for me and my House we will serve the Lord Iosh. 24.15 And the Prayers I advise you to use are taken out of the Common Prayer as being most familiar and of greatest Authority withall If any of your Family are gone abroad to their Work before the rest can be ready call that little Congregation about you that is at home and you that are present pray for those that are absent and by this means those that are absent upon necessary Employments will share in the blessings for which you pray Morning Prayer for a Family Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight O Lord our Strength and our Redeemer O God the Father of Heaven have mercy upon us miserable sinners O God the Son Redeemer of the World have mercy upon us miserable sinners O God the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son have mercy upon us miserable sinners O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity three Persons and one God have mercy upon us miserable sinners O Lord we beseech thee mercifully hear our Prayers and spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose consciences by sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. Amen Almighty God who seest that we have no power of our selves to help our selves we give thee humble thanks for thy preservation of us this day past or this night past and for all the blessings thou daily vouchsafest us and we beseech thee to keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen Almighty God whose Kingdom is everlasting and power Infinite have mercy upon the whole Church and so rule the heart of thy chosen Servant James our King and Governor that he knowing whose Minister he is may above all things seek thy Honor and Glory and that we and all his Subjects duly considering whose Authority he hath may faithfully serve honor and humbly obey him in thee and for thee according to thy blessed Word and Ordinance through Iesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth ever one God World without end Amen Unto thy gracious mercy and protection O Lord do we commit our selves this day or this night and all our
relations and friends Lord prosper us in our callings Lord bless us and keep us Lord make thy face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us Lord lift up thy countenance upon us and give us Peace both now and evermore for the sake of Iesus thy beloved in whose own blessed Words we sum up all our wants Our Father which art in Heaven c. The same form changing but one word is proper for the Night as well as the Morning to make Family Prayer the more easie to you That Prayer which I have set down wherein you pray for the King and pray for your selves also that you may be good Subjects I exhort you never to omit because you know that the Countrey wherein you live was the onely seat of the late Rebellion and the Tares of Sedition have been Industriously sown among you and you have the greater reason to pray that you may continue firm in your Allegiance besides St. Paul teaches you that to Pray for Kings is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2.2 3. To your Family Prayers you may add as you see occasion one of these following Almighty and everlasting God give unto us the increase of Faith Hope and Charity and that we may obtain that which thou doest promise make us to love that which thou doest command through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen Lord we beseech thee Grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen Prevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favor and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen These and â—he like short Prayers may be said alone in the Closet as well as in the Family by changing onely the number and for we saying all along I and for us saying me As for Example when you read any part of the Holy Scripture either alone by your selves or with your Families both which you should do daily if you have leisure but if you have not see that you do both on the Lord's days and on Holy days and before Reading say this Prayer Blessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning Grant that we I may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word we I may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which thou hast given us in our Saviour Iesus Christ. Amen God of his infinite Mercy bless these Instructions to his Glory and to the furtherance of your Devotions through Jesus the Beloved Amen Amen FINIS See the Rubrick after the Catechism * Am. 1.1 John 21.15 16. * James 2.23 †Gen. 18.19 | 2 Tim. 1.5 * 3.15 †Eph. 6.4 * Phil. 1.6 †Heb. 13.17 The Happiness of a Christian. The Christian's Choice a Deut. 30.19 b Ezek. 23.11 Hos. 13.9 His Duty is Love c Luk. 10.27 28. The nature of Love The method of Love Expulsion of contrary Loves in our Baptismal Vow Repentance for our Vow broken d Rom. 2.4 e Psal. 51.17 f Ier. 9.1 g Luke 7.47 Our Vow renew'd h Psal. 38.18 1 Cor. 10.20 Eph. 2.2.12 k Iohn 13.2 l 2 Cor. 4.4 m Mat. 4.3 n Acts 19.19 o 1 Tim. 3.6 p Iohn 8.44 q 6.70 r Acts 13.10 s Iude 6. t Tit. 2.12 v 1 Cor. 7.30 31. w Rom. 12.2 x Prov. 1.10 1 Cor. 15.33 y Iohn 17.15 1 Iohn 5.19 z Iames 4.4 * Luke 14.26 †Rom. 7.18.25.8.7 a 1 Pet. 2.11 1 Iohn 2.15 Gal. 5.19 b 2 Cor. 7.1 c Pro. 15.9 d Psal. 97.10 e Ier. 31.18 f 2 Cor. 3.4 Iohn 15.5 g Phil. 4.13 h 1 Eph. 3. 1 Pet. 1.3 i Rev. 2.10 k Ps. 119.106 l 1 Cor. 12.13 27. m Eph. 1.23 n 4.15 2 Col. 19. o Luke 15.18 p Gal. 3.26 27. q Rom. 8.16 17. r Mat. 3.17 The Motives of Love Faith wâ—â—king by loâ—â— It s Object The Vnitâ— of God The Trim in Vnity * Gal. 5.6 Faith working by love †Deut. 32.4 Heb. 6.18 | Psal. 25.8 * Iam. 2.20 Its Objects * Deut. 4.35 Isa. 44.6.45.5 6. The Vnity of God The Trinity in Vnity †Mat. 3.17.28.19 Ioh. 1.5 7. * 2 Cor. 13.14 The first Person of the Trinity †Ioh. 1.18.5.18 His distinctive Property Father | Ioh. 3.16 His Attributes a Ioh. 4.23 24. b 1 Pet. 1.16 c Ps. 145.3 d Ps. 115.3 * Isai. 40.28 f Mat. 19.17 g Ps. 90.2 h Iames 1.17 i Psal. 139.1 c. k Ps. 147.5 l Rom. 2.6 m Psal. 16.11 n 1 Tim. 6.16 o 2 Cor. 12.9 p Tit. 3.4 Eph. 2.4 Psal. 51.1 q Cant. 5.16 1 Ioh. 4.8 16. His Works * Gen. 1.1 Heb. 11.3 Psal. 33.6 †Deut. 10.14 Psal. 89.11 | Acts 17.28 * Reade the 145 Psalm * Psal. 104.24 †Mat. 6.26 28.10.30 | Gen. 50.20 * Gen. 1.26 * Psal. 8. †Ps. 91.11 * Psal. 111.2 3 4. * Ps. 68.19 †Reade the 103 Psalm The second Person in the Trinity God the Son His Offices * Mat. 1.21 †1 Cor. 16.22 a Ioh. 1.41 Dan. 9.26 b Gen. 3.15 c Luk. 2.25 d Acts 10.43 * Col 2.17 f Hag. 2.7 g Acts 10.38 Heb. 1.9 h Ioh. 3.34 k 1.16 k 1 Sam. 15.1 l Lev. 4.3.5.16 m 1 Kings 19.16 n Mat. 3.16 o Ioh. 4.25 Acts 7.37 Luk. 4.18 p Luk. 1.33 q Act. 3.26 r Isa. 53.10 Eph. 5.2 Heb. 9.14 s Rom. 8.34 Heb. 7.25 His two Natures 1. Of God His Eternal generation t Heb. 1.5 Isa. 53.8 Iohn 1.1 v Heb. 1.3 w Ioh. 1.14.18.5.18 Rom. 8.32 Mat. 3.17 x Phil. 2.6 y 1 Io. 5.1 His Deity a Tit. 2.13 b 1 Io. 5.20 c Ier. 23.6 d Rom. 9.5 v Isa. 63.1 x Iohn 1.3 y Heb. 1.3 10. z Heb. 1.6 Phil. 2.10 Ioh. 5.23 a Rev. 19.16 b Eph. 1.21 22.2.10 c 1 Cor. 6.20 d Luk. 6.46 2 Of Man in his state of Humiliation His Conception e Luk. 1.31 34 35 42. His Birth f Luk. 2.6 7. g Luke 1.48 h 1 Iohn 2.1 2. i Iob 14.4 k Ioh. 1.29 l 1 Tim. 2.5 m Eph. 4.5 n Ioh. 1.14 His Life of sorrow a Luke 2.21 b Mat. 2.13 16. c Isa. 53.3 d Mat. 8.20 e Heb. 4.15 f Acts 10.38 g Mat. 4.17 Luke 4.18 h Mat. 10.1 5. i 11.5 k 2 Cor. 5.14 l Rom. 8.29 Phil. 2.5 His Sufferings previous to his Crucifixion Heb. 5.7 m Mat. 26.38 Luke 22.43 44. n Mat. 26.47.52.57 Iohn 18.4 o Mat. 26.49 56 70. p Iohn 18.12 q Mat. 26.57 59. Luke 22.66 r Mat. 26.67 Luke 22.63 s Mat. 27.2 t Luke 23.6.11.12 v Luke 23.14 18 19 21. Mat. 27.3 4.5 x Iohn