my vain cogitations and head-strong desires and order thou I beseech thee my words and rectifie all my actions O Lord as thou hast of thy bounty raised up my Body from sleep so stir up my drowzy Soul from the sleep of sin and carnal security Let my Body be ever assistant to my Soul in all good actions in this life that they may both be partakers of life everlasting Thou O Lord hast promised to those which shall faithfully ask all things necessary for this life give me I beseech thee if it seem good unto thee such a competent estate as shall be expedient to support my life in a civil modest and religious manner Give unto me that which shall be convenient but especially O Lord a heart and mind contented with whatsoever thou shalt be pleased to allot unto me Grant O Lord that in thy Name I may cast forth my Net into the Sea of this World and diligently carefully and with an upright Conscience follow that vocation in which thou hast placed me that by thine aid and assistance I may prosper and have good success in all my affairs Bless O Lord the Kings Majesty govern his heart in thy fear and guide his understanding to do those things which shall be acceptable to thee and profitable to his Kingdomes Give him loving and loyal Subjects and suppress his open and secret Enemies And together with him bless his Queen and Royal Issue make her as the fruitful Vine on the House-top Bless all the State Ecclesiastical and Civil from the highest to the lowest Comfort the comfortless and helpless Bring all Travellers to their own beings in safety and direct all upon the Seas to their safe Ports Shew the light of thy Truth to those which wander out of the right way Give to all sinnen true and hearty repentance strengthen those which have begun well and give thy assisting grace that they may persevere in goodness To all my Friends Kindred and Enemies and to those which pray for me give all thy good blessings Keep us all from all evil and make us to continue in thy Service to our lives end and after the course of this miserable life ended bring us to thine everlasting Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or thus ALmighty and everlasting GOD I praise and bless thee from the bottom of my heart that of thy infinite goodness thou hast preserved me this night past and hast with the impregnable defence of thy Providence defended me from the power and malice of the Devil and kept me both in Soul and Body from all his devices and snares and raised me from sleep the image of death and not left me to be stifled in the darkness of my sins but hast given me a longer space to repent me of them I humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst not withdraw thy hand of Protection from me but take me into thy Tuition Watch over me with the eyes of thy mercy and direct me in the way of thy Commandements Endue me with those graces of thy Holy Spirit whereby I may pass this day and the rest of my life to the praise and glory of thy Name the benefit of my Neighbour and the salvation of my sinful Soul Keep me O Lord from all sin bridle and mortifie my flesh that I offend not nor fall into any transgressions which may provoke thy wrath against me Direct my Soul and Body my words and actions according to the rule of thy Will. Divert my heart from fastning too much upon transitory pleasures and convert it to the delight of eternal joyes And because I am not worthy O Lord that thou shouldst hear me poor wretched sinner for any worth in me behold I set before the merits of thy only Son who is the propitiation for our sins look upon him and for his Righteousness pardon the offences of me thy servant and grant to me those things by thy mercy which by the strict Rule of thy justice are not due to me Defend me O Lord from all mine Enemies Arm me with thy Spiritual Weapons put on me the Cloathing of Wisdom and Strength the Brestplate of Righteousness the Helmet of Salvation the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may manfully oppose the Enemies of my Soul the Concupiscence of the Flesh the Tentations of the World and Malice of the Devil that so having finished valiently the course of this Terrestial Warfare I may hereafter praise thee in thy Celestial Kingdom And thou O Lord who givest food to every living Creature and feedest the young Ravens which call upon thee be merciful unto me in the supply of those necessaries which I daily want Preserve me in health give me food and raiment and sufficient to maintain me in that course of life to which it hath pleased thee to call me that having sufficient in all things I may abound in good work And grant that I may lead a quiet life in all godly conversation That having and using thy blessings worthily I may pass this life with joy and comfort till it please thee to call me to a better Give thy blessings to the Kings Majesty the Queen the Royal Issue and the whole Estate of this Kingdom and grant that we may all bend our thoughts and studies to please thee that at the last by the merits and intercession of Iesus Christ we may be received to thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Or thus O Almighty Lord God which day after day dost minister to sinful man infinite occasions whereby we may be stirred up to praise thy holy Name and art most plentiful in pitty and favourable to those which with pure hearts and unfeigned faith call upon thee behold me thy poor unworthy servant with the eyes of compassion that at this time am bold to offer up unto thee a Morning Sacrifice of praise and thanks for all thy blessings and amongst the rest for that thou hast vouchsafed after a sufficient and quiet sleep to raise me safe from my bed again which favour thou hast not afforded to many others who in far greater measure have deserved it than my self for which mercy of thine I am not able through my insufficiency and weakness to give unto thee due praise and thanksgiving I pray thee therefore in thy dear Sons Name in whom thou art well pleased to accept these poor and weak thanks and for his sake also to be further aiding and assisting unto me this day following in whatsoever I shall take in hand For thou knowest O Lord how feeble mans nature is insomuch that if he trust to his own strength of necessity he must fall into many miseries errors and dangers Have mercy therefore upon mine infirmities and be propitions and helping to me that by thy illumination I may discern and perceive good from evil and by thy leading and direction may follow the one and avoid the other Lord
yet they have hitherto been so senseless thereof that we fear not to add sin to sin and to multiply iniquity upon iniquity And now O Lord we reap the just reward of our impiety and feel too soon that we are justly plagued for our disobedience O Lord we confess that thy Iudgements are just and withall humbly acknowledge our misdeeds and heartily repent us of them and earnestly beg and crave that thou wouldest in mercy pardon them and remit the punishment which in Iustice is due unto us for them O Lord In thy just anger remember mercy encline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and upon our repentance and humiliation remove this thy punishment which in thy displeasure thou hast begun to inflict upon us Command thy destroying Angel to spare us and not to strike us to utter desolation Be merciful unto us who are every hour in danger of thy Iudgements Take away the unwhilesomeness of the air and purifie our dwellings unto health and safety Keep those that are well release those upon whom thou hast laid the rod of thy afflictions Thou hast promised O Lord That if at any time thou sendest the Pestilence among the People if that people do humble themselves and pray and seek thy presence and turn from their wicked wayes thou wilt hear in Heaven and be merciful to their sin and heal their Land We humbly pray thee O Lord to make good thy promise and ease us of our afflictions For behold O Lord we humble our selves under thy mighty hand we bewail and lament our sinful lives past and humbly beseech thee to give us thy assisting grace that we may henceforth order our wayes to please thee Then shall no Contagion hurt us but we shall live to praise thy Name and all the World shall know that thou art our God and that thy Name is called upon by us Hear us O Lord and be merciful unto us even for Iesus Christs sake the Righteous To whom with thee and the Blessed Spirit be ascribed all honour and praise now and for ever Amen Confession of Faith FAith in general is a full assent to all things written in the Holy Scriptures concerning God his Will and Works not for the evidence of them but even for Gods assertion only Est sperantium substantia cognitio corum quae non videntur tunc est fides quando expectatur in spe quod in re nondum videtur Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen And this is Faith indeed when a man expects that in hope which in reality is not seen Si vides non est fides Faith in special is a firm assent to the Gospel the sum whereof is contained in these three Propositions 1. That Salvation is to be had by Iesus Christ. 2. That there is no other way of Salvation but by the Name of Iesus Christ. 3. That there is no Salvation to be had by Iesus Christ but upon those terms and conditions which are revealed in the Gospel He is the Author of Salvation to those that obey him This Faith therefore must be ushered by Repentance and attended by good works Faith without works is dead It must not be abstracted but concrete with Hope and Charity Sine Charitate fides potest esse sed non prodesse Faith may be without Love but not to do any good We may well have Faith in us it is true but little good it will do us except we have Charity also For Saint Paul saying that a man is justified by Faith without Works is not to be understood that though he live ill we should call him just though he have received the Faith Quomodo ergo justificabitur homo per fidem fine operibus responderet tibi Apostolus Propterea hoc tibi dixi ô homo ne quasi de operibus tuis praesumere videaris merito operum tuorum accepisse fidei gratiam Si fidem quis dicat se habere opera tamen non habeat numquid poterit fides salvare eum The Apostle will answer you how a man may be justified by Faith without Works And therefore O Man whatsoever I have said it hath been lest thou shouldst seem to presume upon thy Works and by the merit of them think thou hast received the grace of Faith But how can that mans Faith save him which professeth that he hath Faith and yet hath no Works If I had Faith to remove Mountains and have no Love I am nothing 1. This Faith is the Foundation of Gods Worship No worshipping of God till we are perswaded that there is one to worship He that cometh to God must believe that he is 2. It is the first Duty that God requireth of us This is his Commandement that we should believe Believe and thou shalt be saved was the first Rule that Saint Paul gave the Keeper of the Prison upon his Conversion The people demanding of our Saviour What they should do to work the works of God were answered with That ye believe as being the principal or first Degree to Salvation Non virtutibus venitur ad fidem sed per fidem pertingitur ad virtutes We attain not to Faith by Vertue but Vertue by Faith The Particulars of this Faith are contained in the Apostles Creed so called because 1 It containeth the sum of the Apostles Doctrine which the Catecumeni were to hold and profess 2. Or because the Apostles delivered it to their Disciples Symbolum fidei nostrae tali ratione institutum majores nostri dixerunt Tradunt enim c. Ne localitur ab invicem discedentes diversum vel dissonum praedicarent i is qui ad fidem Christi invitabantur Omnes igitur in unune positi Spiritu Sancto repleti breve suae praedication is judicium conferendo in unum quod sentiebat unusquisque computabat atque haâ—câ—ita credentibus dandam esse regulam instituerunt Our fore-Fathers tell us that the Creed was made and composed by the Apostles at a meeting before they were to be dispersed And that lest when they were separated they might preach divers and several Doctrines of Faith to those whom they sought to win to the Faith of Christ. And therefore being all assembled together and filled with the Holy Ghost they made a short and summary Collection of what they thought fit to preach and appointed the same to be delivered to Believers as a Rule and Foundation of their Faith Symbolum breve est verbis sed magnum est Sacramentis And though it be short in words yet is it great in Sacraments It is to be daily repeated and professed 1. Because it is a mark whereby Christians are distinguished from Infidels 2. It putteth us in mind of our daily tryal whether we continue in the Faith or not 3. It incites
Father and Holy Spirit world without end Amen Meditations and Prayers after th Sacrament Received IF all the Creatures in the world should offer themselves together with me to praise thee O Lord yet is it certain that we could not give thee sufficient thanks for the least of thy mercies and if together we cannot sufficiently praise thee for the least how much less can I alone perform so great a duty for such inestimable blessings as I have at this time received for vouchsafing to visit me comfort me and honour me with acceptance and admittance to thy blessed Table If Elizabeth the Mother of Iohn Baptist upon the Virgin Maries entrance to her house said Whence is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me What shall I say whom the Lord himself hath visited and united to him by his blessed Sacrament being a vessel and receptacle of all impurity who hath so often offended despited and neglected him King David wondred why God should so esteem of or visit man but I wonder much more why he should be made man for man abide with him suffer death for him and give himself to him for spiritual food Solomon after he had built a Temple to God reasoned thus But will God dwell indeed on the Earth Behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much loss this House that I have builded May not I much more marvel that God will not disdain to come and abide in this my poor and wretched Soul What greater benefit of grace what greater argument of his love is there can there be shewed to me Oh my Soul if thou wouldest but throughly conceive the happiness that cometh to thee by this holy Sacrament then consider and well weigh what benefits it bringeth with it By it the Sons of Men are made the Sons of God and all that is earthly or carnal in us is mortified that the Deity may live and abide with us What therefore O my Lord shall I do What thanks shall I render to thee With what fervency shall I love thee For if thou so mighty a Lord hast vouchsafed to love me poor wretched creature how should it be but that I should return love again to thee And how shall I express my love better than in forbearing those things which thou dost abhorr and following those things which thou dost command Give O Lord to this end thy concomitant grace to me whereby I may return a reciprocal love to thee and love those things which are acceptable and avoid those things which are to thee unpleasing Give me a heart which may love thee with so true faithful and constant affection as that nothing under the Sun may separate me from the love of thee Let me not follow the love of the World or delight in the vanities of it any longer but give me power to kill and quench all other love and desires and to love thee only desire thee only and only think of thee and thy Commandements that all my affections and thoughts may be fixed on thee that in all tentations and adversities I may have recourse to thee only and receive all comfort from thee alone who livest and reignest one God world without end Amen Another I Humbly thank thee O sweet Saviour Jesus Christ that thou hast so plentifully refreshed my drie and fainting Soul with the holy Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood I earnestly intreat thee further that whatsoever is in me vicious or contrary to thy blessed will may by vertue of this blessed Sacrament be rooted out of me that my Soul may become a fit habitation for thy holy Spirit Let it be to me the absolution of my sins the confirmation of my faith and encrease of all thy graces in me the viands of this my peregrination and pilgrimage the only delight of my soul peace and joy in tribulation health and strength in affliction and tentation Let it be a light and guide to my actions and my only comfort in the day of my dissolution Let the Palate of my Soul be so changed thereby that it may relish nothing besides thee Grant also that I may hunger and thirst after this bread of life and cup of salvation and that I may with a pure mind and chast affection receive it often that thereby my soul and body may be preserved to life everlasting to thee be all praise power and dominion ascribed now and for ever Or thus I Yield thee all possible thanks O merciful Lord that of thy own meer goodness and without any merit of mine thou hast so plentifully at this time satisfied me with the extraordinary food of my Soul thy blessed Body and Blood O Lord I heartily repent me of my sins past and am heartily sorry when I consider how unprofitably and wickedly I have spent my life hitherto I desire O Lord to amend what is amiss in me be thou ayding I beseech thee to me that I may not only duly bewail and lament for that which is past but take heed to my wayes for the time to come And to this end O Lord do thou strengthen me with thy spiritual ayd for without thy help and the direction of the Holy Spirit I shall not be able to do any good thing or perform that which is pleasing to thee Grant O Lord that I may hereafter faithfully follow and serve thee who hast at this time so lovingly vouchsafed to come to me And because through my infirmity I cannot follow thee as I would be pleased to assist me with thy power aud draw me after thee Let my Soul be so strengthned by vertue of this Sacrament that it may esteem nothing pleasing or delightful in comparison of thee that it may lust after no transitory thing nor be disquieted with any worldly cross but by thy assisting grace I may overcome all the difficulties of this life and bless thee in the life to come Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus who of thy unspeakable Love hast condescended to my infirmity and vouchsafed in these mysteries to come unto me and hast made me partaker of thy blessed Body and Blood I humbly intreat thee of thy infinite goodness not to look back upon my sinful life past and to give me grace to obey thy Commandements hereafter and not to return to those former sins as a Dog to his vomit Grant that this most holy Sacrament may be to me life and salvation and not turn to my greater punishment and condemnation Grant that it may cleanse my Soul from sin past and strengthen me against all tentations to come Grant that it may be so wholesome and nourishing to me that I may walk in the strength thereof all the dayes of my life and at last be brought by thy merits to that place of Glory where thou dost reign together with the Father and the Blessed Spirit forever Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy
so guide me with thy holy Spirit that I may neither do speak nor think any thing this day contrary to thy holy Will Behold O Lord I offer my self a living Sacrifice to thee and humbly pray thee to accept it Good God direct my Soul in the way of thy Commandements increase my Faith strengthen my Hope enlarge my Charity and infuse all the good Graces of thy Holy Spirit into me Give me grace so to remember my sins as that thou mayest forget them and so to forsake them as that thou mayest forgive them Instruct me in all goodness and give me the grace of Perseverance that I fly not back from any good courses in this life but that I may go forward and continue in them to the end of my dayes O Lord who hast promised the necessaries of this life to those which shall first seek thy Kingdom I humbly intreat thee to give unto me this day all things necessary for my sustentation as Food Rayment Health of Body Ioy of Heart Peace of Conscience and a blessing to all my endeavours give me a mind contented with that which shall be sufficient and not desirous of that which is superfluous that I may pass the rest of my dayes on earth religiously honestly and soberly as becommeth thy servant to thy honour and my endless comfort Be gracious to the Kings most Excellent Majesty his Royal Queen the Royal Issue the whole Estate Clergy Nobility Gentry Mastistrates and Commons give us all grace in our several places to do our Duties as in thy sight that at the last by the merits of Iesus Christ our Saviour we may receive the reward thereof in thy eternal Kingdom where thou reignest together with the same our Lord Iesus Christ and the Holy Spirit World without End Morning Prayer for a Family O Almighty Lord God Heavenly Father we give thee most humble and hearty thanks in that thou hast not only of nothing created us after thine own Image but also hast from time to time most graciously preserved us even to this present Morning from all dangers and terrours and hast given us this night past sweet sleep and comfortable rest whereby we are refreshed and fitted to our bodily labour We thank thee O Lord for all thy Spiritual Blessings for our Regeneration Iustification Sanctification in some measure and our Redemption by Iesus Christ. We praise thy Name for thy bountiful supply of all things necessary for this life as also for thy patient and long expectance of us in our Conversion O Lord we confess that we have been so far from the serious consideration of thy favours to us and from rendering due thanks unto thee for them that in stead thereof we have grievously offended thy Majesty with most abominable and vile sins notwithstanding thou hast sought to reduce us to thy obedience by the good motions of thy Holy Spirit As often O Lord as we look about us either with the eyes of our bodies or minds so often do thy fatherly and innumerable benefits appear unto us For all which we tender again and again from the bottom of our hearts infinite thanks unto thee and humbly desire thee for thy mercies sake in Christ Iesus to pardon all our ingratitude and rebellions Enlighten us we pray thee with thy holy Spirit that we may see our imperfections kindle our zeal towards thee rule and govern our minds wills affections and actions that we may not offend thee any more And give us Grace that we may alwayes think speak and do whatsoever shall be pleasing unto thee and abstain from all things which shall displease or ofsend thee It is more than enough O Lord that we have been hitherto so rebellious against thee It is too much that we have been so negligent to serve thee and it is worst of all that we have been so ingrateful to thee for all thy blessings Let all evil and wickedness now depart from us and let new manners new affections and new hearts be renewed in us We commit our selves O Lord wholly into thy protection this day and the rest of our lives and most humbly desire thee of thy infinite goodness that as now thou hast put good thoughts into us thou wilt be pleased to perfect them in us so that being led by thy Holy Spirit we may do that which is acceptable to thee and love serve honour and praise thy holy Name all the dayes of our lives And for a much O Lord as thou hast promised to those that love thee all things necessary for this life we call and cry to thee O our Father which art in Heaven to Give us this day our daily bread even whatsoever is needful and expedient for our sustentation Give us O Lord sufficient for our maintenance lest we take evil and indirect courses or blaspheme or murmur against thee and not too much lest we forget from whose hands we receive it Give not only that which shall be necessary but contented minds also with it Bless O Lord the labour and work of our hands bless us at home and abroad and grant that every one of us may truly as in thy sight walk in our several vocations and diligently and carefully intend the same making a Conscience of all our wayes that by thy gracious favour and our own endeavours we may have prosperous success in all things that we shall undertake Continue O Lord thy Gospel among us Bless our gracious King with the Queen the Royal Issue the Lady Elizabeth with her Princely Off-spring the whole Land and all sorts and conditions of people in it Bless all that travel by Sea or Land and take into thy protection all Orphans Widows and all that suffer wrong Give health and strength to the sick and weak and joy and comfort to the sorrowful and afflicted Bless us O Lord with healthful and sound Bodies keep our good Names unspotted and unblemished Bless the fruits of the Earth and give us wholesome peaceable and seasonable times These and all other thy blessings which thou knowest better to give than we to ask vouchsafe if it seem good to thy Majesty to give us for the worthiness of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord in whose blessed Name and absolute Prayer we close up our imperfect Prayers aud say as he hath taught us Our Father c. Rules for Evening and Night AS we usually twice a day at the least take our bodily sustenance so should we be no less careful for the refreshing our Souls but twice a day likewise Morning and Evening if not oftner dispose our selves to Devotion and Prayer When thou therefore retirest thy self as in the Morning remember 1. To give God thanks that he hath delivered thee from the dangers of the day past prospered thee in thy affairs and given thee necessaries for thy sustentation 2. Examine thy Conscience narrowly and consider wherein thou hast the day past offended God either in thought word or deed
my Soul pure and clean may make his abode in it and adorn it with his manifold graces and Be merciful to me O Blessed Saviour Who when thou shalt at the last day come to judge the quick and dead wilt render to every one according to his works either reward or punishment Give me grace so to pass this Earthly Pilgrimage according to thy Holy Will that at that Day I may be through thy merits thought worthy to be received into thy Heavenly Mansion there to praise and bless thee with the Holy Company of blessed Saints and Angels for evermore and Be merciful to me Amen Prayers for several Persons For a Married Man O Gracious Father Maker and Preserver of Heaven and Earth who in the beginning didst institute Matrimony foretelling the mystical union of the Church with our Saviour Christ Who also in the time of his being upon Earth did honour Marriage with his first Miracle And hast appointed it also for a means whereby Mankind is propagated for a remedy to avoid unlawful Lust and for the mutual Comfort and Consolation of thy Children I humbly intreat thee to give me the assistance of thy Divine Grace that I may live according to thy Commandements with my Wife whom thou hast given for my help and comfort in this World Mortifie in me all unclean dishonest and fleshly Lusts let not the heat of unlawful Concupiscence take hold of me but make me to be fully pleased and satisfied with her love and to love her as Christ loved his Church to cherish and comfort her as mine own body and to have as great a care of her health as of mine own Grant that we may live in peace without debate in unity without discord like the members of one body equally desirous to praise thy holy Name And as thou hast O Lord bestowed many Children upon us give us discreet hearts and understanding minds to bring them up in thy Faith and Fear in a religious honest and civil manner Give them obedient hearts to thee and to thy Commandements and to all that thou requirest of them to be performed in duty towards us their Parents Keep them from those which are ready to seduce them and so lead them in thy Faith Fear and Knowledge that they prove not a curse but a blessing unto us and thereby attain to that blessing which thou hast promised to those which honour and obey their Parents Grant likewise O Lord that I may guide and instruct the Family which is under me in thy fear and in honest and careful manner provide as well for their bodies as their souls And give them the like Grace O Lord to perform their duties in fear and obedience not as eye-servers but in simplicity of heart as in thy sight And give us O Lord a competency of Estate to maintain our Selves Children and Family according to that Rank or Calling wherein thou of thy goodness hast placed us without excess riot or vain-glory and in singleness and pureness of heart with all humility relying upon thy blessed will who knowest better than we our selves what is needful for us To thee be all Honour and Glory now and for ever For a Married Woman O Merciful and Loving Lord God who in the beginning for the propagation of Mankind didst take Eve out of the side of Adam and gave her to him as an helper I give thee humble thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to call me to the honourable estate of Matrimony Give me grace O Lord that I may lead a life worthy thereof that I may love my Husband with a pure and chast love acknowledge him for my Head and truly reverence and obey him in all good things that thereby I may please him and live quietly with him Grant that I be not carried away with the vain fashions of this World but may put on such habits as shall be agreeable and suitable with the estate of my Husband and may become a modest Woman to wear Help me O Lord that I may under him prudently and discreetly guide and govern his Houshold and Family and carefully look that nothing be either carelesly lost or wickedly committed in my House Fit me with those good Graces which the Wise Man described in a Good Woman and Saint Peter in Holy and Sanctified Matrons Give me such care concerning the Education of my Children as belongeth to my part that I may live to see them prosper in this life and afterwards we may all be received to thy Eternal Kingdom through Iesus Christ c. For a Child O Almighty Lord God to whom the Obedience of Children to their Parents is most acceptable and all Disobedience most displeasing who hast promised a Blessing to the Dutiful and threatned a Curse to the Disobedient Children I beseech thee to put away from me the detestable Sin of Disobedience and Rebellion against my Parents and give me grace to observe them with all kind of Duty to obey them in all their just Commands and to be ayding and helpful to them at all time of their need Give me grace to bear all their reproofs and errours patiently and not to grieve them by stubborn and evil courses Let me not be so far deprived of thy Grace that I scoff or deride them though by age or infirmity they shall fail in their Iudgement or Reason but cause me to supply their wants lest that I having plenty and they being in any need or distress I not supplying it or not succouring them their lives to whom I owe mine may be in danger to be shortned Lord forgive all the Offences which I have heretofore committed against them Increase the number of their dayes keep them safe in body and mind let them see their Childrens Children to their Comfort and thy Glory Let them govern us and the rest of their Family with wholesome Discipline and good Example that at the last they may in their due time depart this life in peace and come to thy Kingdom unspotted through Iesus Christ. For a Woman with Child O Blessed Lord God who for the Offence of the first Woman didst denounce and impose an inevitable Curse upon all her posterity namely that they should conceive in sin and be subject to many grievous pains and should bring forth their Children with great danger Asswage I beseech thee of thy goodness the sharpness of that Decree and preserve me that I may overcome and escape this great danger and be delivered of the fruit of my body without peril of death and that it may safely be brought to the Sacred Font of Baptism and be regenerated and ingrafted into the mystical Body of Christ and made partaker of his Death and Passion And as thou hast of thy bounty given bodily life to it and me so grant us both life spiritual and so sanctifie our Bodies and Souls here that hereafter we may live among thy blessed Saints for ever in the
life to come For a Young Man or Maid O Lord forasmuch as I am at these years in the heat of the flesh and in the most dangerous time of my life I beseech thee take not thy Mercy and Fatherly Providence from me but by how much the greater danger of Tentations I am in with so much the more care let thy Grace preserve me lest happily I become a Prey to mine Enemies who go about to load me with so many sins that if they prevail I shall never of my self get from under the burthen of them But O merciful Father distrusting in mine own strength I betake my self wholly to thy protection and desire thee both now and ever to keep me Let me not get that habit of sinning in my younger years that I be forced in my age if I be not stifled before in my Offences to bewail the sins of my youth and to say with David Remember not O Lord the sins of my youth But rather accustome me from this time forward to all goodness that I may daily more and more profit therein And that serving thee with a pure heart now I may in mine age say with good King Ezechias O Lord remember I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Most loving Father who takest care of all men I commend unto thee my Soul as a Child that can of himself do nothing Defend me I pray thee from all mine Enemies spiritual and temporal keep my Body and Soul pure chast and undefiled that I offend not either in obscene speech impure thought or unclean act My Chastity is a more precious Iewel than I can keep without thy help I therefore beseech thee who hast pronounced a blessing to the pure heart to keep my heart pure be thou my guide and preserver lest in the heat of Concupiscence I forget thee Give me grace O Lord to serve and obey my Parents and those to whose Government I am committed and that in all humility And grant that if thou shalt be pleased to call me to the honourable estate of Wedlock I may be matched with one with whom I may serve thee in peace and holiness all the dayes of my life and at the last rest with thee in thy Heavenly Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. For a Servant BLessed Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ who when thou wert the Son of God and Lord of all the World didst take upon thee the form of a Servant that by thy obedience thou mightest work the salvation of all people as well bond as free I pray thee that since thou hast been pleased to call me to the state of a Servant thou wouldst give me an humble and obedient heart and make me contented with this condition of life as alotted to me by thy providence Grant that I may with gentleness of spirit and singleness of heart and willingness of mind serve those under whom I am placed and that I may not either murmure against them or envy those that are seated in a higher estate that I may obey them in all their honest commands in all fear and true respect not with Eye-service as Men-pleasers but with all my heart and the rather because thy commandement bindeth me so to doe Grant that serving them diligently faithfully and carefully I may avoid their displeasure and obtain thy favour and blessing and at the end of my dayes come to that blessed place where Thou with the Father and blessed Spirit dost raign world without end Before a Iourney ALmighty and everlasting God who art the Way the Life and the Truth behold I beseech thee to how many dangers of the World Flesh and Devil I am subject so that without thy aid I cannot safely pass through this Vale of Misery Lead guide and direct me therefore O Lord in the high and right way whither I would go that I turn neither to the right hand or the left nor become a Prey to mine Enemies O Lord thou hast a general care over thy Creatures I therefore in this my Iourney commend unto thee my Soul and Body Defend me from all perils I beseech thee O Lord which didst send thy Angel as a Companion or Fellow-Traveller with the Son of Tobias and didst preserve Abraham and all other thy Servants in their travels vouchsafe thy blessed Angel to guide and conduct me Be thou my comfort in the way and a defence in all dangers Prosper the business which I go about and make this enterprise successful to me And grant that my affairs being dispatched I may return home safe in body and mind Preserve in my absence my Family and all I possess that I being returned in safety and they securely preserved we may altogether give thanks to thy glorious Name through Iesus c. After a Iourney I Give thee thanks O gracious Lord for thy great mercies to me all the dayes of my Life Thou art he which created me and thou art also he that preservest that which thou hast created How often O Lord hast thou turned thine eyes from my sins and made as though thou didst not see them How often and that justly mightest thou have withheld thy hand of preservation from me And yet thy patience hath been so great towards me that thou hast suffered no harm to befall me And as I owe thee many thanks for thy former preservations so now I am further obliged to thee in that thou hast at this time not only guided me to the place whither I intended to go but hast also brought me back in safety and in my absence hast preserved all things unto me Good Lord give me grace to be alwayes mindful of these and all other thy benefits to me and to be truly thankful to thee for them And grant that as by thy mercy I have well ended my affairs abroad and am safely returned to this Temporal Habitation so my Spirit after this Pilgrimage may return to thy Heavenly Mansion and there abide with thee for ever and that even for the merits of our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen Intercession IN which we are to pray For all Mankind For the conversion of Iews to the Truth For the conversion of Turks to the Truth For the conversion of Heathen to the Truth For all Christians That they may be strengthned that stand That they may be converted that are in errour For the Churches throughout the World that they may be united in Religion For our Church that whatsoever is amiss in it may be amended For the Kings Majesty and his prosperity For all Kingdoms Christian. For Ours and each part of it that it may flourish in peace For the Clergy That they may Teach well That they may Live well For Wisdom in the Council Integrity in the Iudges Strength in our Armies Discretion in the Magistrates Obedience in the People For
iu my Mothers womb that I might come safe into this world and receive the mark and badge of all thine even the Sacrament of Baptism whereby I was cleansed from the guilt of Original sin Amongst a multitude of Infidels dispersed over the face of the Earth thou wouldest have me in the number of the Faithfal even of those to whom so happy a lot hath fallen to be thine regenerated with the water of Baptism From which time I was taken to be thine and that admirable and happy Contract was made between us that thou shouldest be my Lord and I thy Servant thou my Father and I thy Son that thou shouldest perform and shew to me the love of a Father and I to thee the duty of a Son Further O Lord thou didst descend from Heaven to Earth for my sake seeking me in all the ways wherein I had lost my self With thy humanity thou didst ennoble my nature and by thy bonds didst deliver me from bondage Thou didst challenge me from the power of the Devil by delivering thy self into the hands of sinners and didst destroy sin by taking upon thee the form of a sinner With what reverence shall I speak of that other blessed Sacrament which Thou also O Lord hast instituted and ordained for a remedy of all the miseries which have befallen me and the many sins I have committed since my Baptism and for a salve and cure for all my spiritual diseases even the Sacrament of thy most precious Body and Blood And as thou hast bestowed on me all these divine and heavenly blessings so likewise in plentiful manner hast thou heaped on me temporal favours Thou hast from my birth to this hour preserved nourished cloathed and fed me in most abundant manner giving to me the use of all thy creatures for my sustentation Nay what couldest thou have done more for me than thou hast done Or what couldest thou have given me more than thou hast bestowed upon me either of blessings of this world or of the world to come Now having received all these mercies and favours from thee how have I on my part behaved my self in thankfulness to thee for them Have I returned due praise unto thy Majesty for them or carried my self and ordered my life like to one that might any way deserve them O Lord I confess that I have not for such hath been the malice of my heart that instead of shewing my self conformable to thy will I dayly adde sin to sin and iniquity to iniquity heaping up wrath for my self against the day of wrath How can I without tears remember how often thou mightest justly have slain me and yet notwithstanding my sins which call for vengeance no evil hath happened unto me How many souls burn in Hell fire which have sinned far less than I and yet I remain alive What had become of me if thou hadst taken me away with those at the same time How strict had my Iudgement been if thy Iustice had laid hold on me laden with so many sins Who then O Lord hath bound the hands of thy Iustice who hath deprecated for me when I lay thus lulled asleep in the security of my sins What hath pleased thee in me that thou shouldst deal more mercifully with me than with those who in the midst of their dayes in the heat of their youth are taken away from amongst us My sins cryed out against me and thou stoppedst thine ears my offences dayly increased against thee yet thy mercy dayly abounded towards me I sinned thou didst expect me I fled from thee and thou followedst me I was weary in offending thee and thou not weary in expecting me And in the midst of all my sins I ever received many good inspirations and goodly reproofs from thy holy Spirit which checked me in the dissolute course of my life How often hast thou called me with the voice of Love How often hast thou terrified me with threats and fears laying before me the peril of death and the rigour of thy divine Iustice How often hast thou followed me with thy Word preached invited me with thy blessings chastened me with thy scourges compassing me about that I could by no means slee from thee And lastly which is not the least of thy mercies with what patience hast thou waited for my serious Repentance What then O Lord shall I render back to thee for all that thou hast done unto me In that thou hast created me I owe thee all that I am created in that thou hast preserved me and thus long expected my return to thee I owe thee life and all that I am But in that thou hast regenerated sanctified and redeemed me and left those excellent pledges for my salvation I know not what to render unto thee For if the lives of all men and Angels were in my power and that I could offer them unto thee for a sacrifice of praise and thanks yet were it nothing being compared to the least of all thy spiritual blessings bestowed on me VVho therefore will give a fountain of tears to mine eyes that I may lament my great ingratitude and unjust retribution for all these thy manifold blessings heaped upon me Help me thou O Lord and give me grace that I may heartily confess and grievously bewail my hainous offences and transgressions against thee that thou mayest be reconciled to me and in thy abundant mercies shew some pity to me for them I am thy creature O Lord made after thine own Likeness and Image acknowledge thy workmanship for it is thine own In taking away the soyl and filth wherewith it is defiled and stained thou shalt soon perceive it to be thine own handy-work Art not thou a Father of mercies which have neither number end nor measure Although I have shaken off the duty and obedience of a child towards thee yet cast not thou off the love of a Father toward me I beseech thee Although I have done many things whereby thou mightest justly condemn me yet thou hast not lost the means whereby thou mayest mercifully save me If thou forsake me to whom shall I flee who is there to help me besides thy self Acknowledge G Lord a straying sheep Behold I come to thee all wounded thou canst heal me blind thou canst enlighten me full of leprosie thou canst cleanse me and spiritually dead yet thou canst revive me Thy mercy is greater than my sin thy clemency more than my wickedness and thou canst remit more than I can commit Do not then O Lord put me back from thee look not so much upon my sins as upon thy infinite meocies who livest and reignest God of all mercies world without end Another O Almighty Lord God great in thy power and terrible in thy judgements who madest the Heaven the Earth the Sea and all things in them by thy Word whose Power cannot be resisted and whose Mercy is over all thy works All things are under
once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Let not the third Mercy rejoyceth above judgement Let not the fourth If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Christ Iesus the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world Let not thine own words be spoken in vain Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance I came not to judge the world but to save it These things are not cannot be spoken in vain Wherefore in the multitude of the sorrowes that are in my Heart thy comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Which be pleased to grant For thy great and many Mercies Thy Names sake The Glory of thy Name Thy Promise sake Thy Practice sake My Misery My Infirmity Even for thy Son Iesus Christ's sake The Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased Psalm 6. O Lord my God rebuke me not I beseech thee in thy fierce indignation against my sins either in this life or at the day of judgement neither chasten or correct me in thy hot displeasure by condemning me to eternal death 2 Have mercy and compassion upon me according to thy accustomed goodness O Lord for I am weak and frail by nature strengthen me therefore by thy grace O Lord and heal me by curing the infirmities of my Soul for they are multiplied so greatly upon me that my bones and all my inward parts are vexed and disquieted with the remembrance of them 3 My sinful Soul considering my manifold offences and trembling at the thought of thy just anger against them is also like as is my flesh sore troubled and almost at the point of desparation but thou O Lord that desirest not the death of a sinner how long will it be ere thou look upon me and bring me out of this misery 4 Return from the rigour of thy justice O Lord to the sweetness of thy mercy and deliver my Soul from the bondage of sin O Lord save me from the assaults of the Devil not for any merits of mine but for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus my Saviour 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee to praise and glorifie thy Name and who surely none there is that shall give thee thanks or celebrate thy goodness in the grave of Hell where nothing is to be heard but weeping gnashing of teeth and blasphemies 6 I am weary and faint with my groaning and sighing for my transgressions every night when I should take my rest I wash my bed weeping for them and I water my couch the place of my rest with my tears of unfeigned repentance 7 Mine eye of reason and understanding is consumed and groweth weak because of the grief I take fearing thy judgements yea it waxeth old and I continue in sin because of the united Forces of all mine Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil 8 Depart therefore far form me al ye mine Enemies which are and have been the workers and causers of mine iniquity by your tentations and evil examples for henceforth I will have no more to do with you for my Conscience assureth me that the Lord of his infinite goodness hath heard and pitied the voice of my weeping and therefore I should be unthankful to him to return to those sins which he in his mercy hath forgiven 9 The Lord I cannot repeat it too often hath graciously heard my earnest supplication for the pardon of my sins and he the Lord plentiful in pity hath not only now but will also hereafter receive my prayer whensoever I call faithfully upon him 10 Let all mine Enemies therefore who have sought my destruction be ashamed at my Conversion and before vexed and troubled at the consideration os Gods judgements Let them no longer delay but repent and return to the Lord and be ashamed that they have so long deferred their conversion and suddenly without any longer delay make their peace with him by unfeigned repentance Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 32. BLessed is he in this life in assured hope and thrice blessed in full and perfect fruition in the life to come whose transgression by Gods mercy is forgiven in respect of the offence and whose sin by the imputation of Christs righteousness is so covered in this world that it be not laid open at the day of judgement in respect of the punishment 2 Blessed and happy is the man unto whom in regard either of offence or punishment the Lord accepting the merits of Christ imputeth no sin but giveth so ample a remission of them that he taketh no notice of any sin in him and in whose Spirit as well as in outward shew is no guile but penitently without hypocrisie bewaileth his offences 3 When I my self I speak by experience kept silence dissembling and covering my sins wherewith my Conscience was oppressed my bones and inward parts waxed old and feeble through my roaring which God regarded not though I cryed all the day long and that because I confessed not my sins aright unto him 4 For day and night continually thy hard hand of affliction was heavy upon me to punish my obstinacy and to reduce me to repentance and by reason thereof my moisture and vigour which I formerly had is turned like to the drought of Summer and is almost withered and dryed up 5 My sin therefore at the last I being thus handled by thee did I resolve to acknowledge unto thee in contrition of soul and mine iniquity which I formerly concealed I have but any longer hid but humbly confessed unto thee 6 I further said within my self when thy grace began to work in me that I will no longer continue in my rebellion but penitently confess all my transgressions and iniquity unto the Lord gracious and merciful and I had no sooner done it but thou of thy wonted compassion forgavest the iniquity and punishment of my sin committed against thee 7 For this remission of sin as it was necessary for me to pray for it so shall every one of what condition soever that is godly for the just also fall pray unto thee O Lord in a time when thou mayest be found in a fit season But in the greatest danger of floods and swelling of the great waters of afflictions God will so preserve serve the just man that they shall not have power to come nigh unto him to oppose or overwhelm him 8 Thou O God art my hiding place and refuge in all tribulations thou for in none other will I trust shalt preserve me by thy power from trouble and adversity Thou shalt compass me about with thy mercy and I will sing unto thee
before I fully understood how God useth to deal with his Servants I was so confident of my self that in my prosperity when I felt the grace of God abundantly in me I said and presumed that I was so fully setled in Gods favour that I shall never fall or be removed from it 7 Lord by thy favour and goodness thou hadst fixed and made my mountain of grace to stand so strong that I conceived my self so secure that I could not slide back or fall away Yet after a while I found by experience that I was in an errour for thou didst but hide thy face and a little while obscured thy grace from me and being left to my self I found such an alteration and defect in me to do good that I was therewith sore troubled and disquieted 8 I thereupon presently recalled my self and cryed earnestly by prayer to thee O Lord and betook my self unto the Lord who never utterly forsaketh his Servants and to him I made my earnest supplication never ceasing till I obtained his return and thus I said in my prayer 9 What profit O Lord is there can there be in my blood or death when I go down into the pit or if I dye in my sins surely none to thee for thou delighten not in blood or in the death of a sinner Shall the dust or they which are dissolved thereinto before repentance praise thee or shall it declare thy truth and shew thy glory Nay verily they shall rather in the horror of punishment blaspheme thy Name Suffer me not therefore O Lord to be of that reprobate number of which I must needs be one if thou absent thy self or with-draw thy grace any longer from me 10 Hear me therefore O Lord and that right soon for my spirit waxeth faint for want of thy gracious assistance and have mercy upon me in this distress O Lord I renounce all further confidence in mine own strength be thou my only stay and helper Upon this petition the Lord heard my request and thereupon I turned my prayer into a song of praise and said 11 Thou O Lord art worthy of all honour and praise for thou hast turned for me and for my good my mourning for thy absence into dancing and joy for thy gracious presence thou hast made me to put off my sad habit of sackcloath and sorrow and instead thereof hast girded and apparelled me with a vesture of gladness even the peace of conscience And all these things hast thou done for me 12 To the end that all my sorrow being removed and I being delivered from all fear my glory tongue and heart together may sing praise and thanks to thee who hast done so great things for me and that I should not be silent in extolling thy mercy And therefore O Lord my God as thy goodness deserveth and my duty requireth I will with all the affections and faculties of soul and body give thanks unto thee and praise thy Majesty for ever as the only Author and finisher of my salvation Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 34. I Will bless and praise the Lord for all that he hath done unto me at all times as well in adversity as prosperity and his praise as it shall ever be in my mind and heart so shall it be continually without intermission in my mouth by declaring it to others 2 My Soul especially shall make her boast and glory in the Lord and not in any thing that is in me so the humble and they which are any way dejected when they shall hear thereof how gracious God hath been to me shall in hope of the like mercy to them rejoyce and be glad also 3 O ye whosoever hath felt Gods favour as I have magnifie and extoll the mercies of the Lord with me for his goodness and let us joyfully with one accord exalt and praise his Name together 4 I my self when I was in trouble sought the Lord by prayer and humiliation and he rejected not my petition but graciously heard me and granted it and he not only delivered me from the danger I was in but from all my fears also which I conceived at it 5 They also that lived in former ages our fore-Fathers whensoever they were distressed looked up and cryed unto him and were relieved by his mercy and lightned by his grace their faces were not any whit ashamed because they did put their trust in him 6 This poor man even my self cryed by their example in my distress and the Lord plentiful in compassion graciously heard him and saved and delivered him immediately out of all his troubles and calamity 7 The good Angel of the Lord deputed by him for each mans protection encampeth and fortifieth round about them that with an unfeigned heart fear and serve him which Angel preserveth them in all their wayes and delivereth them from all the machinations of the Devil and his Angels 8 O taste ye therefore and see make experience aud you shall soon find that the Lord is good and loving to those that faithfully call upon him and you will also confess with me and say Blessed and happy is the man that layeth aside all confidence in himself and that in all his necessities trusteth in him and his protection 9 O fear reverence and love the Lord all ye that by truly believing in him become his Saints and observe his Commandements for take this as an infallible truth that there is no want to them they shall lack nothing that is needful for them that with an upright heart fear and serve him 10 The young Lyons mighty and worldly minded men although they think themselve 〈◊〉 do they lack true peace of Conscience and suffer hunger and want that which is truly good but they which with a pure heart and humble spirit seek the Lord and desire to please him shall not want any good thing when the Lord in his wisdom shall think it needful for them 11 Come therefore O ye Children that desire to be informed and with attentive minds hearken and give good ear unto me that am experienced in the mercies of the Lord and I will teach and instruct you in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom 12 What man is he among the Sons of men that desireth to live a good life and loveth to spend many daye so in this life that he may see and enjoy good and happy dayes hereafter 13 Keep first of all thy tongue from speaking evil let that member do no man wrong and preserve thy lips from speaking guile or that which is false though to be to thine own prejudice for the Lord abhoreth lying lips 14 Depart from evil avoid all things which thou knowest displeasing to God and yet think not that sufficient except thou also apply thy self to do that which is good and acceptable to him Seek peace between God and thy self thy self and thy Conscience thy self and thy Neighbour and if thou shalt find that
forsaking the confidence or strength of all other things I may flee wholly to thy mercy in Christ Iesus whereby I may be protected from the terrours of thy Iudgement Grant unto me distressed sinner these graces even for the same Iesus Christ his sake who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth for ever Or thus ALmighty and everlasting God whose years fail not and who hast determined the dayes of man which he cannot pass yet thy self endurest for ever and thy Throne from generation to generation Remember that I am but dust like grass and my dayes as the flower of the field which flourisheth in the morning and in the evening is dryed up and withered O let me know my end make me mindful of my mortality I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were and cannot promise my self one hour much less any dayes or years in this my Pilgrimage I am like a tottering wall and a broken fence give me grace therefore that I trust not in the uncertainty of this life like the rich Fool in the Gospel but I may every hour prepare my self in thy fear to pass out of this frail mansion and to expect thee with a solid Faith and firm Hope waiting chearfully for the day and time of my dissolution And looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Saviour Iesus Christ. Make me like the faithful and wise servant ever ready and prepared for the coming of my Lord lest being suddenly prevented I be taken like a Bird in the snare of the Fowler O Lord thou hast by this gentle correction put me in mind of my mortality give me also grace that I may make good use of it that I may cast off all the cares of this world and wholly betake my self to make my peace with thee And I humbly pray thee that thou wouldest not forget me in my pains and miseries in all my infirmities be not far from me when by reason of the terrors of Death and assaults of the Enemy I have most need of thy help but strengthen my soul with thy holy grace against all sensations that my faith fail me not but that thy holy Spirit assisting me I may overcome my spiritual Enemies and at the hour of death Lord I beseech thee let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word Or thus BLessed Lord Iesus Christ the only comfort of the living and the eternal life of those which dye in thee I wholly submit to thy blessed Will whether it please thee to suffer my Soul any longer to live in this Earthly Tabernacle to serve thee or to have it depart out of this transitory world being certainly assured that it cannot perish if committed to thy keeping O Lord I put off this frail Flesh with a willing mind in hope of the Resurrection of it at the last day together with my Soul when it will become much more glorious and happy than now it is I beseech thee O Lord Iesu strengthen me with thy grace against all temptations and defend me with the shield of thy mercy against all the assaults of the Devil I know that of my self I have no strength wherefore my whole confidence is in thee I have no merits of mine own to allege for I see many yea too many of my sins to stand up against me but by thy mercy I trust that thou wilt repute me amongst the just Thou wert born for me didst hunger thirst fast and pray for me thou didst many good works and sufferedst many bitter things for my sake Let thy Blood wash away the spots of my Offences let thy Iustice cover my Unrighteousness and thy Merits plead for me before the great and severe Iudge And as many sickness increaseth let thy grace increase that my faith fail not my hope waver not nor my love to thee wax cold Let me not be cast down or dejected with the terror of death but when death shall seize on the eyes of my body let the eyes of my soul look to thee and when the use of my tongue shall fail me let my heart cry unto thee I commend my spirit into thy hands O Lord who livest and reignest c. Although thou kill me yet will I trust in thee and though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death yet will I not fear because thou Lord art with me FINIS A short Table of the chief Heads contained in this Book A General Exhortation to Gods Service Pag. 1 To Prayer 50 In regard of Gods Precept 51 Promise Ibid. Christs Example 52 The Necessity ib. The Dignity 54 The Benefit ib. Directions how to Pray 1. To God only 58 In Christ. 60 2. Faith ib. 3. In Hope 61 4. In Charity 62 5. In Humility 64 Of Spirit 65 Of Body ib. 6. In Perseverance 68 With Fervency Diligence and Attention 70 The Time for Prayer 74 The Place for Prayer 75 How to Pray Ariight 76 Prayer divided into Parts 78 The Use of the Lords Prayer 82 The Lords Prayer Analysed 85 Prayers for Spiritual Graces 142 A Prayer before Prayer 145 Before a Sermon 147 Petitions for Temporal Blessings 148 Rules for the Morning 150 Morning Prayer private 151 For a Family 160 Rules for the Evening and Night 165 Evening Prayers private 167 For a Family 176 Prayers upon the Life and Death of Iesus Christ. 180 Prayers for several Persons For a Married Man 196 For a Married Woman 198 For a Child 200 For a Woman with Child 201 For a Young Man or Maid 202 For a Servant 205 Before a Iourney 206 After a Iourney 207 Intercession 209 Deprecation 211 In Affliction 216 In Time of Pestilence 218 The Creed Analysed 221 Confession of Gods Glory 242 Motives to Repentance 246 The Duty of Repentance 284 Confession of Sins 287 Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased 318 Direction before the Sacrament 362 Meditations and Prayers Before the Sacrament 365 Meditations and Prayers After the Sacrament 376 Motives to Thanksgiving 383 Thanksgivings 386 Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased 399 Imprecation 432 The Ten Commandementts Paraphrased 438 Meditations of Death 469 Meditations for the Sick 472 Prayers for the Sick 479 FINIS Cicero Esa. 55.6 Job 37. 16.11.17 Mat. 5.48 Tert. 1. Psal. 139. 6 c. Esa. 66 1. Jer. 23. 24. Wisd. 1.7 S. Hier. S. Aug. Deut. 31.4 Dan. 4 34. Apoc. 4 9 1 Tim. 6. 16. S. Hier. Ps. 90. 2. 102. 27. Dan. 7.13 Ps. 102.26 Mal. 3. 6. Jam. 1. 17. Pro. 19. 21 Esa. 46. 10 Heb. 6. 17. Tit. 1. 2. S. Hier. Psal. 1. 7 94. 11. 147 5. Esa. 40 28 Joh. 21. 17 Act. 15 18 Rom. 11. 33. 1 Co. 2. 10 Heb. 4. 13 1 Joh. 3. 20 Ex 15. 11. 1 Sam. 2. 2 Esa. 29. 23 40. 25. Abac. 1.13 Esa. 6. 3. Apoc. 4. 8. Josh. 24. 19. Lev 11. 44. Jer. 10.10 Joh. 17.3 Rom. 3.4 1 Thes. 1.9 Apoc. 15. 3. 16. 7.
the end of the Earth From the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same let thy Name be great among the Gentiles Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy Name give the glory Thou art worthy O Lord and thou alone to receive honour and glory And His Name ought to be sanctified by us above all things for all other things are for us and we for His glory only Not that God shall get any thing thereby or that He hath need of our sanctifying but in regard of the benefit which will accrew to us by it For this honour will be an honour to him that giveth it And this praise and glory only is profitable to the glorifier It is not so any where or in any thing else He that glorifies God him will God glorifie Him that honours me I will honour saith God Let thy Name therefore O Lord be Hallowed And thine only Let it be Hollowed Inwardly By Word By Us. Outwardly By Profession By all Others Let us not only salute thee in word but imitate thee in deed that we may be fit to glorifie thee and be worthy to be called thy Sons Give us a filial affection The Spirit of Adoption The Grace of Contrition That we may say from our hearts each one of us Father I have sinned I 'am no more worthy to be called thy Son And This humble Confession is one of the wayes to honour God My Son said Iosuah to Achan give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him And let us also do it by refraining our tongue from irreverent speeches and leading our lives carefully by the rule of Gods Laws So shall we truly hallow his Name So shall we truly glorifie him and say O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the world We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thy holy Name For thou only art holy Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Quaerite primum Regnum Coelorum Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven GODS Name is more precious and dear to him than his Kingdom But after his Name his Kingdom In Name He is alone without us Sole and Singular In his Kingdom He communicates himself and what is his with us In his Will We dedicate our selves wholly to him And therefore in respect of Gods bounty to us this is the chief Petition of our good and happiness For In it we pray First for the comming of Gods Kingdom That GOD may only rule over us Secondly For the destruction and eversion of the Kingdom of Satan That he may have no more dominion over us The Kingdom of GOD is threefold First of Glory Secondly of Grace Thirdly of Power 1. Of Glory hereafter which indeed should be the scope of our desires For we ought so to live here that we may desire without fear the coming of this Kingdom So to be affected at our death that we may joyfully and without fear say Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace So to be affected in our life that we may often say and pray When shall I appear before the Lord I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Come Lord Iesus come quickly 2. Of Grace in this life in us That we be not of their minds who said We will not have this man to reign over us But subject us O Lord to this Kingdom that easie yoke of thine that in all things we may be obedient to thee Govern us and reign in us that Satan or Sin reign not in our members If thou be pleased so to rule in us here we shall reign with thee hereafter Cast Satan under our feet 3. Of Power for there are many Rulers in this world which oppose thy Kingdom Arise O Lord and take the Rule into thine own hands Reign thou therefore only over us Govern us within and without For as we are vexed inwardly by our selves with civil warr and domestick tyranny so without also by others And that it may come in us let it come into our Rulers Make them like to thee in their Government Let them rule to thee not to themselves Let thy Kingdom come within them for in thy Kingdom only are proper and fit Laws and Conditions to rule by And because when this Earthly Government is at the best it is laborious and unperfect hasten thy Kingdom of Glory we beseech thee wherein will be no cause of complaint but all things will be absolute and perfect For which all the Creatures together with us earnestly wait even with groans For all the votes and desires of the Old Testament were pitched upon the first coming of Christ and all of the New upon the second looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great GOD and our Saviour Iesus Christ. Let it come to us but not upon us Certainly come it will will we nill we Let it come to us not against us Let us feel the happiness of it O Father in coming not the violence of it in rushing upon us In the mean time let it come to us here though not in the full fruition yet in the certain hope and expectation Say unto your souls I am your salvation It is not Let us do thy will Nor Do thou thy will But Thy will be done Thy absolute and eternal will which none can oppose Which will take effect though all the world resist Which will be done because thou wilt have it done Who hath resisted his will It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks Thy revealed will holy and saving which perswadeth us to be humble in Conversation firm in Faith just and charitable in Works true in Words to love thee with all our hearts as a loving Father to fear thee as a revenging God to prefer nothing before Christ who preferred us before all things and the like This we may contradict Let that be done as much as may be Let both be done Let us shew our obedience to thee here as the Angels do in Heaven All other Creatures obey thy will The Sea passeth not its bounds The Earth alters not its station And all things else are obedient to thy will only Man is disobedient to it Thy will and all thy will without contradiction Thy will and all thy will without exception Thy will and not our will The Lords will be done If the Lord will Thy will be done in all things as well pleasing as displeasing to us Let not us argue or dispute what is profitable what is unprofitable what pleasant what hard to flesh and blood but what thou wilt let it be done Let our blind and perverse will be led by thy most holy will Graft thy will by thy Spirit into ours as into barren stocks If our wills be refractory to thine
he makes us also acceptable to himself and substitutes us as it were in his own place gives us power to forgive offences Blessed therefore be Thou O Lord for dealing thus mercifully and wonderfully with us in teaching us daily to pray thus and daily to forgive and to be forgiven And that dost bind us by this condition of mutual forgiveness For he that forgiveth not prayeth against himself and in effect thus prayeth Lord forgive not me for I do not forgive If we perform not what we say we do we shall never be forgiven And it is but due on our parts to forgive others For God hath already forgiven us for Christs sake we promise then no more than we owe to him already Grant us therefore grace O Lord to follow thy example fully and freely to forgive the offence and not to retain the punishment or any malice to those whom we seem to forgive We petition well and rightly let us do it effectually henceforth That thou mayest not have cause to say Ex ore tuo te judico Thou hast not nor shalt be forgiven When we say as we we promise not a pari but a simili not so much in quantity but the like in quality For we God help us miserable sinners forgive imperfectly but God freely and absolutely Neither do we say it O Lord as challenging or meriting any forgiveness by our forgiving but to shew our conformity to Thee in forgiving We cannot better discover our selves to be thy Disciples or Children than by being pittiful and ready to forgive and pass by offences There are two sorts of Tentation 1. Of Tryal 2. Of Deceit or Seducing 1. That of Tryal is when God doth any thing to prove the constancy and affection of his servants and this is good As were the tryals of Abraham Iob and his People 2. That of Seducing is when we are tempted by the Devil his Ministers or our own Flesh to forsake God and his Commandements and this Tentation we pray against For what benefit shall we reap by forgiving our old sins if we contract new O Lord not only be pleased to pardon that which is past but prevent and keep us from committing the like Let us not be encouraged to sin because of thy bounty in blotting out our former offences but rather to thankfulness for thy mercy and to care that we offend no more Deliver us from that which is past Subvention Keep us from that which is to come Prevention Lest we turn with the Dog to the vomit or the washed Sow to the mire It is enough that we have spent the time past in the works of the flesh For the enemy is never readier or nearer to us than when the house is swept clean Therefore the danger being so near us give us grace O Lord to be the more wary of him Behold O Lord the roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour He is at hand to ensnare us either with his own malice the delights of the world or the pleasures of the flesh If he cannot prevail by fair means he endeavours by force to compel us If he cannot puff us up with delight then he attempts to deject us with sorrow if thou be from us Wherefore O Lord forsake us not and by forsaking us lead us into tentation For of our selves without Thee we have no power to resist him nor hath he without Thee any power to tempt us Let us not flee to the Enemy O Lord being overcome either by his insulting over us nor suffer us to descend to conditions of peace with him to pacifie him with our yielding hoping thereby to make him more mild for that will not be Let us rather look up to Thee lest we yield to his violence or give credit to his craft presuming either upon our own strength or destitute of thy help Let us perceive his snares by thy light Let us resist his assaults by thy strength and power Let us neither do evil or omit that which is good by being tempted Let no Tentation but such as is common to Man take hold on us Let it be as Christs Vanne winnowing that which is evil from us and not the Devils Sieve casting through it that which is good Let us come out of Tentation as purified silver and not be burnt as dross Give us a happy issue with our Tentations Let it be to the tryal of our Faith and the confusion of Satan Lead us not further in than thou wilt bring us out again If in thy Iustice thou lead us in yet in thy Mercy lead us out Lead us not to leave us Thou O Lord temptest no Man thou leadest none in but those that first led in themselves nor hardnest any but those who first hardned themselves Leave not give us not over to Satan nor our own wills Let us not be rebellious and provoke the Tempter nor love danger lest we perish therein It is a dangerous thing to be tempted for the uncertainty of the victory It is Presumption to desire it but Humility to decline it It is joyfully to be endured but by no means to be desired Lead us not or rather bring us not in do not necessitate us There is difference between tempt and lead into tentation The first is Satans act the other oft-times is Gods GOD led Christ into the Wilderness but he was tempted by the Devil If it be thy pleasure to suffer us to be led in yet bring us back as thou didst our Saviour The Tempter often assayles us O Lord do not thou deliver us into his power to be sifted but if thou loosest his reins for a time as thou didst sometimes in Iob's case yet moderate the combat between us we pray thee and either lessen the tentation as our strength abates or increase our strength as the tentation grows strong that we may have a joyfull issue from it For if we neither overcome nor being vanquished become more humble and cautious thereby the tentation will be to our destruction not to our tryal Let it therefore be to our correction not to our condemnation we beseech thee Not only Lead us not in that is not sufficient except thou deliver us also If we cannot be free from tentation yet deliver us from the evil of it From tentation that is evil All things are Evil which divert us from thee but especially that evil enemy of thine and for thy sake our enemy for he is not our enemy in respect of our selves we are not of such strength as that he should desire to oppose us but he is our enemy because we are thy Children and belong to thee Deliver us O Lord from the evil of his bondage Let GOD arise and let his Enemies be scattered Let not the Enemy be able to do us violence nor the Son of wickedness hurt us Deliver our Souls O Lord From the neithermost Hell
We thy poor Children whom thou hast preferred before the rest of thy Creatures do from the bottom of our hearts wish and desire that thy Name may be Hallowed glorified and magnified from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof even through all parts of the World And that it may the better spread from one Nation to another give us grace who have received the Adoption of Children so to walk before thee in holiness and righteousness that the Heathen who have not known thy Name seeing our good works may glorifie thy Name together with us Thou seest O Lord that we have many Tyrants amongst us in this life as the Devil malicious and cruel the World vain and curious the Flesh frail and deceitful and our own Will vile and corrupt all which do impetuously tyrannize over us and oppose themselves against thy Kingdom Arise therefore O Lord and suppress these Tyrants and rule over thine and our Enemies by thy power and in us by thy grace that we may hereafter be Subjects in thy Kingdom of Glory Let thy Kingdom come and govern us by thy Providence defend us by thy Might lead us by thy Spirit and teach us by thy Word Drive far from us the Prince of this World and do thou only Rule in us Give us grace to follow the example of thy blessed Angels and all other thy Creatures who readily and joyfully do thy will Let our wills follow thine in all things and let nothing be displeasing to us which thy Will hath decreed either for our prosperity or adversity Let us do nothing contrary to thy Will but let the performance and execution of thy Will be the whole scope and aim of our thoughts words and actions And to this end give unto us thy holy Spirit which may direct our wills enlighten our understandings mollifie our hearts and make them obedient to thy Will We further cry unto thee O Lord who givest food to every living creature and feedest the young Ravens that call upon thee and pray thee that thou wouldst likewise give unto us this day our daily Bread First and above all the Bread of Life which may nourish us spiritually and after that Bread for our bodies to sustain Nature Give us we beseech thee all things necessary not superfluous for this life and grant that we using thy blessings as becometh us may be strengthned and enabled to pass this life quietly and soberly and at the end of these our dayes by the merits and intercession of our Saviour Iesus Christ obtain life eternal And for as much O Lord as we know thou hearest not unrepentant sinners and that our sins have long since prevented our prayers and ascended into thy preiuce to stop the current of thy mercies and to call for vengeauce against us O Lord behold that we earnestly repent us of them and are heartly sorrowful for them Wherefore we humbly pray thee for thy great mercies to mankind in thy Son Christ Iesus that thou wouldst be pleased to be reconciled unto us and to forgive us our Trespasses Enter not into Iudgement with us for if thou do no man is able to abide the mildness of thy Iustice much less the severity of it Give us also grace to follow the example of our blessed Saviour who forgave his Enemies and prayed for them that we may forgive them that trespass against us Lest when thou comest to Judgement thou dealest as severely with us as thou didst with him who had much forgiven and would not forgive a little Thou knowest O Father how unapt we are of our selves to think a good thought much less to resist so great Enemies as are hourly ready to assail us Suffer us not therefore to be tempted above our abilities neither by forsaking us or with-drawing thy hand of protection from us Lead thou us into Tentation but Lord so strengthen us that although it be not good for us to be altogether free from Tentation yet by thy aid and grace we may have a happy issue and joyful deliverance from it And as we have humbly prayed thee not to lead us in So we further desire thee to deliver us out of all evil For as long as we remain in this flesh we shall have contiuual strivings and wrestlings with divers evils but especially with the evil Spirit the Enemy of Mankind who omitteth no opportunity to bring us into his bondage But we are comforted O Lord with the assurance of thy mercy which can effect and work more to our salvation than his Malice to our destruction Grant therefore O Lord that we may be delivered from all evil and from all our Enemies spiritual and temporal that so we may serve thee ever hereafter in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of our life All these Blessings we have been the more confident to beg of thee O Lord because we know assuredly that thou art King of Kings none hath absolute power within thy Dominions but thy self and that thou hast power also without resistance to maintain thy right and defend thy Subjects being able to give those things which are necessary for those who call upon thee faithfully And we lastly pray thee that seeing it will be for thy glory to grant those things which we have desired that with the bestowing of them thou wilt also give us thy grace that we may use and employ them to that end for which thou gavest them even thy Honour and Glory That so being thy true servants here we may be glorified with thee hereafter who art Lord of all glory to all Eternity Having thus discovered and laid open our necessities to thee O Lord in that form and manner which thy Son directed us we humbly pray thee to say Amen to all our Petitions In his Name and for his merits sake we pray thee to grant them For though we have no deserts to challenge them yet his merits are numberless by which we plead for them And with this Sacrifice and Oblation we are bold to come unto thee not only craving pardon for our sins but supply of our necessities We come not to thee of our selves presuming of any thing in us but we are sent by thy Son Iesus Christ who hath commanded us with confidence to press unto thy Throne and in his Name to ask whatsoever we shall need either for this life or the life to come And as he hath sent us so hath he also put into our mouths words meet for our request O Lord take notice of the stile it is his own and for his sake say to what we have required Amen So be it And thou O blessed Saviour God and Man intercede we beseech thee for us for thou only art our Advocate Mediator and Intercessor to the Father Cover our imperfections and nakedness with the robes of thy righteousness and supply our poverty with the riches of thy
lives end Give me O Lord true compunction of heart and so water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may in the bitterness of my Soul with abundance of tears sighs and groans bewail and lament all my hainous and grievous transgressions against thee Give me grace O Lord that I may not boast in any merits or works of mine own or have any confidence in them but let me glory in this alone that I am a Member of that Body of thine which was crucified for me and did sufficiently satisfie for all the Sins of the World If thou O Lord look or expect any merits from me behold I tender unto thee thine own merits the merits of thy Death and Passion which thou hast vouchsafed to make me partaker of by vertue whereof alone I dare boldly appear before thy Tribunal These merits I set between my sins and thy Iustice and otherwise or in any other manner I dare not I will not contend with thee O sweet Iesu I desire thee to offer them to the Father as a propitiatory Sacrifice for all my great and grievous Offences that when my Soul shall depart from this Body it may by the same be freed and delivered from all the judgements and punishments which are due unto it for sin and be carried to that blessed place where there is no sorrow but endless felicity where thou together with the Father and the blessed Spirit livest and reignest for ever Before Prayer O Almighty and everliving GOD Heavenly Father to whom it is manifestly known how inconstant and wandring the minds of men are in any good actions and how easily we suffer our selves to be carried away from the contemplation of thee by diversity of distractions and unseasonable thoughts which take hold of us in the time of our Devotions and Prayers unto thee who also by thine only begotten Son Christ Iesus didst prescribe unto his Disciples a Form of Prayer to be offered up to thee and hast derived the same from them to us Behold me most wretched sinner wholly depraved and corrupt intreating thee by the same Son that for his sake thou wouldst infuse thy Holy Spirit into me which may adopt me into the number of thine Elect that it may teach me how I ought to pray according to thy Holy Will that it may allay all troublesome and wandring thoughts in me while I offer up my prayers and praises unto thee Suffer me not to serve thee with my lips and be absent in heart from thee but create a right Spirit within me that I being sensible of all thy graces and comforts may with joyful and holy zeal perform my duty to thee that so my prayers and desires may appear before thee and in thy Sons Name I may effectually be heard and my petitions may be granted to the glory and honour of thy most holy Name and the endless comfort of mine own Soul through the same our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Before a Sermon O Most loving SAVIOUR I most humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst be pleased at this time to enlighten my understanding and to open my inward ears with the grace of thy Holy Spirit that I may hear that sacred Word with an humble heart and rejoyce in it in the obedience of the Spirit That I may be fully instructed thereby how to do good and avoid evil and bring forth the fruit thereof in my life and conversation That thy Honour and Glory may be thereby increased the Devil and all other the Enemies of my Soul may be vanquished my Soul may be saved and at the last I may appear with boldness before thy Tribunal and receive the reward of a good and faithful servant even his Masters joy everlasting blessedness and that by thy merits only O blessed Saviour Petitions for Temporal Blessings in which we are to desire of God THat he would be pleased to continue unto us The blessing of a good King just and religious To give unto us Magistrates and Iustices upright and careful to see good Laws duly executed Teachers to direct us in the Truth That he would bless us with Length and Goodness of Dayes Health of Body Contentedness of Mind Competency of Estate Food and Rayment Conveniency of Dwelling Wholesomeness of Air. Fruitfulness of Cartel Fruitfulness of Soyl. That he would make us happy In Wedlock In Children In Faithful Friends In Peaceable loving Neighbours In Honest Servants In Skilful Physicians That he would preserve our Goods Good Name Our Senses and Understanding That he would protect us From Trouble From Enemies From Dangers From Losses From Sicknesses That he would give Peace To all Nations Peace To our Land Peace In our private Dwellings Rules to be observed in the Morning WHen thou awakest in the Morning shut and close up the entrance to thy heart from all unclean prophane and evil thoughts and let the consideration of God and goodness enter in When thou art risen and art ready retire thy self to thy Closet or other private place and offer to God the first fruits of the Day and in praying to him and praising him remember 1. To give him Thanks for thy quiet rest received for delivering thee from all dangers ghostly and bodily and for all other his benefits to thee 2. Offer unto him thy self and all things that thou dost possess and desire him to dispose of thee and them according to his good pleasure 3. Crave his Grace to guide thee and to strengthen thee from and against all Tentations that so thou mayest do nothing the day following contrary to his will 4. And Lastly Beg of him according to the Rules before prescribed all things needful for the Soul and Body To which purpose pray as followeth Morning Prayer I Thank thee O Heavenly Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy Blessings which I underservedly have received from thee that thou gavest a being from honest Parents and in that part of the World where thy Son Christ Iesus is purely professed that thou didst endue me with Reason and Understanding and didst also give me perfect Members and Senses that thou hast preserved me ever since my birth vouchsafed me health and liberty and a competency of means to maintain me and those whom thou hast placed under me That thou hast Elected me in thy Love Redeemed me by thy Son Sanctified me by thy Spirit and kept me this night past from all perils of Body and Soul and given me a sweet and comfortable rest O Lord I commend into thy hands my Soul and Body thoughts words and actions and humbly beseech thee that thou wouldst guide and order them all to thy honour and glory and my endless and eternal happiness Enlighten my mind that the darkness and cloudy mists of mine offences being dispelled I may walk before thee in my vocation without offence as in the day clean unspotted and unblameable Give unto me thy Holy Spirit which may bridle
and having set thine Offences before thee confess them to him and in the bitterness of thy Soul repent thee be sorry for them and crave pardon for them and desire his grace that thou offend no more in the like 3. Pray to God to continue his care ever thee the night following and to defend thee from all perils and dangers So that going to thy rest with these good action and thoughts thou shalt do like to those which rake up Fire in the Embers over night that they may the more readily find it in the Morning In the Night VVHen thou awakest in the Night call upon God likewise for the Night was not made wholly for sleep praise him contemplate and meditate upon his works Sometimes weep for thy sins according to the practice of DAVID For as the nightly dew refresheth and tempereth the Earth so do our nightly tears asswage our Concupiscences And sometimes rejoyce in the Lord according to that of the Psalmist for the great benefits thou hast received from him By these means keeping thy self to one holy Exercise or other thou shalt be sure to avoid the Devils Tentations whose chief time of setting upon us fitteth best with his works which are usually stiled The works of darkness Evening Prayer The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the ` Day therefore in the Night will I sing of him and make my Prayer to the God of my life O Lord God Father everlasting I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast not only averted thy punishments from me which my grievous sins have deserved but instead thereof hast preserved me from all dangers and supplyed me with all necessaries of this life O Lord I confess that I have so highly offended thee this day that all the punishments which may be inflicted upon vile and miserable sinners are due to me I confess O Lord that I have offended thy Majesty in And not only these do I acknowledge but all the rest which I have committed from my infancy to this present hour wittingly or ignorantly in thought word or deed against Thee my Neighbour and my Self O Lord I confess my weakness I do not that which I should and would do but that which I should not and am unwilling to do I do Not regarding or fearing thy incomprehensible Glory venerable Presence terrible Power exquisite Iustice nor thy Goodness unspeakable for which if thou shouldest enter into judgement what would become of me But O Lord for as much as thou art a Father of mercies and dost not desire the death of a sinner if he return unto thee by unfeigned repentance I most humbly in the Name and Mediation of our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus crave pardon for them Lord I repent help my impenitency and hear my request Be merciful to me a sinner and pardon all my offences whereof thou O Lord knowest me to be guilty And I beseech thee O Lord for the time to come to mollifie my heart water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may not alwayes bring forth thornes and weeds fit for nothing but the fire Convert me O Lord and I shall be converted open my eyes direct my heart and wayes Draw me after thee and being converted suffer me not to return again with the Dog to his vomit And forasmuch O Lord as thou hast appointed the Night to refresh our bodies I humbly pray thee to defend me as well sleeping as waking from the snares of the Devil O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious death and passion Suffer it not to sleep in sin and in it lye languishing unto death and so be buried in the grave of thy judgements but watch over it I beseech thee and defend it under the shadow of thy wings Let me not be oppressed with unnecessary sleep but raise me in due time to thy Service and Praise Thou knowest O Lord that of my self I have no strength waking much less when I sleep I humbly therefore pray thee to defend my Soul Body Goods and all things which thou hast bestowed upon me this Night from all evil and damage and so dispose of me that I be not troubled with any terrours terrified with any vain phantasies weakned by any sickness or impoverished with any casualties or crosses Keep me O Lord from all evil dreams and unclean thoughts and compass me with a wall of thy mercies that the Tempter approach not to my Bed so that being preserved by thy protection and refreshed with comfortable rest I may arise and offer unto thee my daily bounden duty and service even praise and thanks to thy most holy Name Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus Christ to whose inexhaustible bounty we owe all honour and praise I give thee all possible thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to keep me this day from all evil so that none of thy fearful judgements to which I was justly lyable have fallen upon me but of thy unspeakable mercy thou hast preserved me from them and hast also liberally and with a bountiful hand supplyed me with the necessaries of this life notwithstanding my great and manifold sins committed against thee O Lord I confess that I have wasted the time which thou hast given me for repentance altogether idlely vainly and unprofitably not so much as considering or taking notice that this day might have been the last of my life but have added and heaped up sin upon sin in thy All-seeing sight as if I had stood in no fear of thee at all daily renewing as much as in me lay thy torments and passions for which I have deserved that the Earth should open unto me and Hell devour me which that it is not come to pass I ascribe with all thankful acknowledgement to thy infinite mercy and goodness O Lord I acknowledge that it is of thy goodness alone that I am thus preserved from all thy judgements seeing that many calamities have befallen divers others who have less deserved them than my self That some have therefore perished by water some by fire some by sword others by sudden and violent death and that I live That some have been taken blind some lame some distracted in their senses That others have sustained much damage in their worldly estate and I have escaped and not been punished in any of these kinds To what shall I ascribe and attribute the cause surely to thy mercy alone for which I cannot give unto thee sufficient thanks But O sweet Saviour as thy mercy exceedeth so do our necessities increase thou canst not want matter for thy mercy to work upon by reason of our inabilities to help our selves Wherefore I further pray thee that this night following may be also safe and prosperous unto me that by a sweet sleep and comfortable refreshing I may be fitted when I awake to serve thee with a thankful
chearful heart And because O Lord that this life hath not one certain hour I beseech thee to Enlighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death and grant that after I have rested quietly I may by thy grace and mercy arise to serve thee in singleness of heart Lighten O Saviour my darkness and mercifully keep me from all dangers of this night Save me waking and keep me sleeping that I may watch in thee and rest in peace There is nothing that more resembleth our Life than the Day nor the Grave than our Beds O Lord therefore when I am laid down and by sleep made unable to help my self being like unto a dead man defend me then by thy power from the crafts and assaults of the Enemy that he do me no harm so that though my Body sleep my Soul may watch unto thee and contemplate of the life to come And grant that having passed the night quietly I may arise as well from the sleep of sin as from my natural sleep and with all alacrity pass the day following in thy service and in the end of my pilgrimage by thy merits receive the Crown which thou hast promised to those that love thee in that day which no night shall follow and in that Heavenly Kingdom where thou reignest together with the Father and the blessed Spirit world without end Evening Prayer LEt my prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of my hands be an Evening Sacrifice In the Evening Morning and at Noon-day will I pray and that instantly and thou Lord shalt hear my prayer Blessed be thou O Lord Who hast preserved me from the Arrow that flyeth by day and from the Sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day Who hast not cut off my life like a Weaver nor made an end of me O Lord I confess that as my dayes have increased so hath my sin multiplied The just man falleth seven times a day But I miserable sinner seventy times seven times But I return to thee O Lord and repent Let not the Sun go down in thy wrath O Lord whatsoever good I have done this day I acknowledge that thou hast wrought it in me and desire thee graciously to accept of me for it as thy Instrument only O Lord whatsoever evil I have committed this day I confess it to be the work of mine own hands and heartily pray thee to pardon it O Lord which givest the sleep of health to them that love and causest those that fear thee to sleep confidently Lighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death Keep me from the terrours of the night aud from the works of darkness Lord though I sleep yet let my heart watch to thee and when I wake let me be present before thee let my thoughts ascend to thee Grant that I may alwayes remember that the night is no night with thee and that darkness and light are to thee alike Grant that I may alwayes meditate upon the long and last sleep the sleep of Death the Bed of my Grave and the Covering of Worms and Dust. Let my sleep be a cessation from sin and let me not in my sleep do or think any thing that may offend thee or defile my self And grant that after the sleep shall depart from mine eyes I may remember thee search my reines and try my heart O Lord I commend my self and all that of thy bounty is mine to thee In thee I put all my trust and confidence Thou seest in what dangers we are what snares the Devil layeth for us I humbly therefore pray thee to defend me from him And grant me so to order and end my life that I may sleep in peace and take my rest with thee for the merits of Iesus Christ c. I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Evening Prayer for a Family O Almighty and everlasting God who hast appointed all times and seasons to succeed in their due course and hast ordained the day for the works of the day and bodily labour and the night to take our quiet rest refreshing by whose providence and mercy we have been preserved this day from all dangers have been furnished with all things necessary for this life we humbly pray and beseech thee that now in this time of night and darkness wherein we poor and miserable sinners stand in most need of thy help and aid thou wouldst be pleased to keep us from all dangers spiritual and temporal O Lord we confess that we have not deserved the least of thy favours nay if thou shouldst with strict eye examine our actions how we have spent this day and the rest of our dayes past we should not be able to stand in thy sight much less beg any further blessings of thee For notwithstanding thy manifold and daily favours we have in all things been rebellious and repugnant to thy blessed Will and obedient and conformable to the command of our Enemies the Flesh the World and the Devil Insomuch as we have lost our liberties and are become servants and slaves unto them For we have wholly given ourselves to serve the pleasures of the Flesh in Concupiscences and other carnal Acts We have hearkned too much to the delights of the World in covetous desiring that which is not our own in abusing the Creatures thereof which were created for our necessary use and not for our wanton and insatiable desires And we are become the servants of Satan in not opposing and resisting his unclean and wicked Tentations Our sins are infinite and our iniquities are numberless so that we cannot nor are any way able to recount them unto thee We have fled from thee seeking us neglected thee loving us stopped our ears to thee speaking to us turned our backs to thee reaching thy hand to us forgotten thee doing good to us and despised thee correcting us Yet O Lord we humbly intreat thee to shew thy accustomed mercy to us poor and miserable sinners who in grief and anguish of soul confess these our offences and earnestly and bitterly bewail them Look upon us with the eyes of compassion not for any thing in us but for the love and respect which thou bearest to thy Son CHRIST JESUS in whom we verily believe that thou art fully reconciled unto us Take away our sins and the punishment due unto us for them Let thy wrath be turned from us and destroy us not together with our manifold transgressions Lord thou seest our wickedness and withall how and in whose name we crave thy mercy Turn thee O Lord from thine anger which thou mightest justly pour upon us and be gracious unto us according to thy wonted goodness who abhorrest nothing which thou hast made Create also we beseech thee in us new hearts hearts fit to serve thee and write
thy Law in them with the finger of thy Holy Spirit that all our desires and actions may be conformable to thy blessed Will And now again O Lord we desire thy Majesty to take our Souls and Bodies into thy protection this night following Suffer us not to sleep in sin but watch over us and defend us under the shaddow of thy wings Let not our sleep be excessive or immoderate but raise us again in due time that after a quiet and moderate sleep we may arise to serve and praise thee joyfully begin and perfect our works justly labour in our vocations truly and seek thy Kingdom earnestly that at the last by thee with thee and in thee we may come unto the same Kingdom by the merits of our Saviour JESUS CHRIST in whose Name and Prayer we are bold to call further upon thee saying Our Father c. Prayers upon the Life and Death of our Saviour Iesus Christ. O Sweet SAVIOUR Who for the love of Mankind didst vouchsafe to descend from thy Royal Throne from the bosom of thy Father into this vale of misery and to take on thee the form of a sinner even humane flesh in the sanctified womb of the most chast and pure Virgin and be born without impeachment to her Virginity Be pleased of thy great clemency to make my heart thy habitation adorn it to that end with all Spiritual Graces and be daily born in me by renewing in my Soul a fervent love to thee and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who being God Almighty didst not disdain at thy Birth to be wrapped in swadling clouts and to be laid in a Manger Grant that I may be ever in thy fight a little Infant in Humility and Lowliness of Spirit take from me all ambitious Thoughts and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who at thy Birth wouldst be received into this World with the joyful Hymns of blessed Angels and be found to the great delight and admiration of poor Shepheards Give thy Grace unto me thy poor unworthy servant continually to persevere in thy praises to seek thee with the Shepheards affection by seeking to find thee and finding thee alwayes to retain and enjoy thee and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who wert pleased upon the eight day to be circumcised and in that most tender age of thine didst begin to shed thy blood meerly for the love of me and mankind Cut off I intreat thee all superfluities from my Soul and take from me all evil thoughts words and works and Be merciful to me O Blessed Christ Who to the unspeakable comfort of me and all thine Elect wouldst be called by the saving Name of Iesus Grant that the memory of this Name may ever cause a reverend respect in me toward thee and that by it I may be preserved all my life and at the hour of death and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord God Who wouldst be found in the Wise men which sought thee with Faith and Devotion and who having found thee fell before thee with Oblations of Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe Be pleased I beseech thee that I may find thee in Spirit and worship thee in Spirit and Truth Offering unto thee the Gold of bright shining Charity the Incense of pure Devotion and the Myrrhe of perfect Mortification and Be merciful to me O Blessed Saviour Who to leave Mankind an example of Obedience and Humility wouldst become subject to the Law and be brought to the Temple and there have offered for thee the Oblations of the Poor and not the rich Give me the Grace of Obedience to subject my self willingly to my Governours Suffer not the least thought of pride to reign in me but quench in me all haughtiness of Spirit with inordinate love and conceit of my self and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who whilst thou wert yet young and tender wert contentted to suffer persecution and flee with thy blessed Mother into AEgypt Grant me such ability by thy grace whereby I may not only suffer persecution and affliction when it shall please thee but also persecute and punish all wickedness within my self before it grow too strong for me and Be merciful to me O Blessed Jesu Who being sought for by thy blessed Mother three dayes wouldst be found of her in the Temple Suffer me never to be severed from thee give me such a devotion toward thee that I may never be weary in serving thee nor satisfied with praising thee either in Church or private Closet and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who wouldst enter the River Jordan and there be Baptized by thy Fore-runner John the Baptist Be pleased that I may be purified in this life by thy merits and thereby washed from all my sins and Be merciful to me O Gracious Saviour who didst continue fasting and praying forty dayes and nights together in the Desert and after divers Tentations didst overcome Satan Grant that I may chastise my flesh and exercise my self in Fasting Watching Prayer and other Spiritual Excercises and subdue all evil Affections which rebel against the Spirit and Be merciful to me O Blessed Redeemer Who for my sake didst subject thy self to many Sorrows and Necessities to Heat Cold Hunger Thirst Weariness Sweat Iourneys Persecutions and Tribulations Strengthen me with the aid of thy Holy Spirit that I may willingly bear all Adversities as coming from thy hand and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who while thou wert upon Earth didst vouchsafe to comfort the Sons of Men and heal their Infirmities Replenish my heart with all pious Affection that I may account the miseries of others as mine own and supply their necessities in whatsoever I may according to my ability and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who for thy love to Mankind didst eudure infinite Miseries Injuries Calumnies Blasphemies and Revilings even of those to whom thou hast done much good Create in me a heart pure and innocent which may forgive mine Enemies and love them rendring good for evil whereby I may shew my self a true follower of thy perfect Charity and Patience and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who to abrogate the Ceremonial Law didst eat the Paschal Lamb with thy Disciples and giving them an example of Humility upon thy knees didst wash their feet Grant that this example may take deep impression in me give me perfect Humility true Obedience and fervent Love whereby I may love thee sincerely and all others unseignedly and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who of thy great love didst institute the blessed Sacrament of thy Body and Blood whereby thou mightest continue with us to the end of the World Stir up in me an earnest desire and longing after this holy Sacrament and grant that I may ever receive it with a chast love deep affection and a pure heart and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who when thou wert to leave this World didst comfort thy Disciples and with
ardent and affectionate prayer didst commend them to the Father thereby shewing what love thou didst bear to them and all others who should believe in thee Make my heart sensible of this love and raise in me an earnest affection to thee that I may be wholly transformed into the love of thee and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who praying in the Garden didst wholly resign thy self to thy Fathers good pleasure desiring that not thy will but his should be wholly done Give me grace that in all adversity and tribulation I may flee to thee by prayer and ever commit my self to thy providence and good pleasure and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who didst suffer thy self to be taken and bound as a Malefactor neither didst lamont nor murmur whilst thou wert shamefully entreated by thy Enemies Give me strength after thine example willingly and patiently to endure all adversity and tribulation which shall at any time befall me and Be merciful unto me O Blessed Saviour Who wouldst be forsaken of thine own Disciples in the midst of thy troubles and afflictions Pardon me thy fugitive servant and receive me into thy favour Suffer me not to wander from thee any more But give me such constancy and perseverance that I may continue in thy service to the end of my dayes and Be merciful to me O Merciful Jesu Who standing in the presence of the High Priest didst patiently endure a cruel blow Mortifie in me all angry affections that I be not disquieted when I am injured nor think of revenge but for thy sake may bear all things patiently rendring good for evil and Be merciful to me O Gracious Redeemer Who in the night of thy Passion wouldst be mocked derided and many wayes be despightfully handled Help mine infirmities lend me aid that I faint not under Tentations or Tribulations but give me grace to be thankful to thee for them and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who wouldst not reply to the unjust Accusations of thine Enemies but mildly with a deaf ear wouldst let them pass Grant that no Slanders may move me to impatience but that by thine example I may patiently overcome all that any way defame or injure me and Be merciful to me O Loving Saviour Who being denied by thy Apostle St. Peter didst look on him with the eye of compassion and cause him to bewail his offence with bitter tears Look also on me miserable sinner with the same gracious and moving aspect that I may wash away my sins with the tears of repentance and never deny thee my Lord and Saviour by word or deed and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who being stripped wouldst be bound to a Pillar and scourged whereby thy blessed body was torn and wounded Heal my wounds by thy stripes take all evil thoughts from me and grant me patience to endure the stroakes of thy Fatherly Visitation and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who after so many wounds received and so much precious blood shed wert mooked and crowned with a Crown of thorns Grant that the remembrance thereof may be imprinted in my heart and that I may love thee for thy exceeding Charity and wholly think of thee wholly contemplate on thy bitter pains and Be merciful to me O Bountiful Jesu Who wert pleased with great pain labour and weariness to carry thine own Cross to Mount Calvary and there to comfort the lamenting Women exhorting them to weep not for thee but themselves and Children Give me grace with a chearful mind to bear any cross thou shalt lay upon me and to bewail with tears my sinful life past and Be merciful to me O Merciful Redeemer Who didst suffer thy sacred hands and feet to be pierced with nails and fastned to the Cross and there didst with great effusion of blood suffer unexpressable torments Grant that I may alwayes with a saithful and thankful heart bear in mind thy exceeding great love who wouldst endure so great and grievous things for me Purge and wash my Soul with those streams of thy most precious blood from all uncleanness and offer them to the Father for a full and plenary satisfaction of all my transgressions and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who in thy bitter pains didst intercede with the Father for thine Enemies which crucified thee saying Father forgive them for they know not what they do Give me grace that according to thy Precept and Practice I may love mine Ememies pray for them and do good to those which do evil unto me and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who being crucified between two Thieves didst promise to the one of them confessing thee the fruition of Paradise Look upon me with the eyes of pitty wherewith thou beheldest that good Thief and grant I may live so that at the end of my dayes I may be found worthy to hear that joyful speech This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who for the grievousness of torments and exceeding loss of blood didst faint and cry I thirst and wert pleased to drink Gall and Vinegar Let the remembrance of this CuP extinguish in me all inordinate riot and excess Give me the Vertue of Sobriety that all inordinate passions being quenched in me I may wholly thirst after thee and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who when thou wert so pleased didst call for death and bending thy head didst commend thy Spirit into the hands of thy Father Grant that the uncertainty of my death may be ever in my thoughts and that I may be ever willing and ready to leave this transitory life when it shall seem good to thee to whose blessed protection I commend my Soul praying thee to Be merciful to me O Blessed Saviour Who with great sorrow of thy friends wert taken down from the Cross laid in the Sepulcher Bury with thee all my evil desires that I may seem dead to those things which displease thee and be wholly delighted in thee my Redeemer and Be merciful to me O Glorious Lord Who after three dayes having overcome and triumphed over Death and Satan didst rise again out of the Grave and visit thy Disciples and Friends Revive me from the death of sin cause me to walk in newness of life and to seek after Heavenly things that when thou comest again I may appear with thee in Glory and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who forty dayes after thy Resurrectiou didst gloriously and triumphantly ascend into Heaven in the sight of thy Disciples Let it please thy goodness to infuse a longing desire and love of thee into my Soul that it may be elevated in affection to thee and seek those things which are above and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who according to thy Promise before thy Ascension didst send thy Spirit upon thy Disciples and other thy Elect Servants Purifie I beseech thee my heart that the same Spirit finding
thy power and rule both in Heaven and Earth Thou shewest mercy on whom thou wilt art pitiful to whom thou pleasest and wouldst not the death of a sinner neither delightest in the destruction of any O God rich in mercy who out of thy extraordinary love to Mankind even when we were thine Enemies didst send thine only Son into the world that every one that believed on him might not perish but have life everlasting Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me according to thy mercy and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away my offenses Holy Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son I have turned from thee and have broken all thy Commandements I have not walked aright but have gone after mine own lusts choosing those wayes which thou hast forbidden me to tread in Neither O Lord have I feared thine anger but have been in all things disobedient unto thee and have hardned my heart against thee I have hated instruction and cast thy sayings behind me Truth hath found no place in me and my hands have been the workers of much wickedness I have spoken vainly idlely and wickedly I have brought forth deceit and meditated the way of untruth I have provoked thy wrath against me by accustoming my self to do the work of the flesh and rejecting the good motions of the Spirit Woe unto me rebellious wretch that I have committed these wicked acts against thee so loving so good so gracious a God to the utter destruction of my soul without thy mercy in Christ Iesus In remembrance and confidence whereof O Lord I come to thee and humbly intreat thee that thou wouldest not reject a contrite humble miserable and repentant sinner who at this time earnestly invocateth thy Name Return a little O Lord and be intreated for my manifold sins do not unto me according to the multitude of them neither reward me according to my transgressions Let my humble Prayers sighs and groans come into thy presence and according to thy promises receive me again into thy favour For O Father I am one of those whom thy only Son redeemed with his most precious blood O Lord my soul doth loath my life by reason of my manifold sins and I humble my self under thy mighty hand because I know that in thine anger thou shewest mercy and in time of trouble thou dost forgive offences And behold O Lord that I confess my sins beseeching thee for thy goodness to do unto me according to thy wonted mercy I am confounded and ashamed to lift up mine eyes unto thee because my sins have prevented my prayers and have ascended up to thee before them Against thee O Lord have I sinned and done much evil in thy sight Yet wherefore should I dye in my sins seeing it is not thy pleasure that any sinner should dye but turn unto thee and live For thou art good and gracious and savest those who are altogether unworthy out of the abundance of thy mercy in Christ Iesus the Righteous For although thine anger against sinners is unsufferable and who may abide it Yet thy mercy towards offenders is unsearchable and who can find out the depth thereof or describe it Our Fathers in their troubles cryed unto thee and thou didst deliver them they put their trust in thee and were not confounded And though they by their offences have justly provoked thine anger yet upon their humiliation thou didst remember thy Covenant and ease them of their afflictions O Lord be merciful also unto me for I am miserable and wretched Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee My soul is very much disquieted within me How long Lord will it be ere thou look upon me and deliver it Lighten mine eyes for I have too long slept in death and my sins have too long had dominion over me Return O Lord at the last and be gracious unto me O deliver my soul and have mercy upon me And all my bones shall say Lord who is like unto thee To thee be all Honour Praise and Glory World without end Another O Lord Iesus Christ the only Physician of sick souls who in the fulness of God came into this World not to call the just but sinners to Repentance Behold me the most wretched of all sinners who with as much humility as I am able in the confidence of thy great goodness cast my self before the foot-stool of thy Majesty confessing my great and grievous offences And if the Publican in the Gospel durst not lift up his eyes to heaven but stood a far off and smote his brest saying Lord be merciful to me a sinner what shall I doe whose sins surpass the greatest sinners offences For all my inward and outward parts are wholly depraved and nothing that is good remaineth in me And when I look into the book of my conscience I find that I have abominably polluted the garment of innocency which I received at my Baptism I have put all my strength to offend thee with all the members I have For my feet have been swift to evil and flow to good mine eyes open to vanity and shut to that which is truly amiable My hands stretched to covetousness and closed from the works of mercy mine ears ready to hear evil and stopped to the good motions of the Spirit and my soul the noblest part in me which hath eyes to contemplate the glory of thy Majesty I have turned away from the consideration of thy Excellency to the vain and transitory things of this life I have given liberty to whatsoever mine eyes have desired and have not resisted the unclean passions of my heart so that the whole course of my life hath been a continual warfare against the. How often have I returned as a dog to the vomit and as a sow washed to the myre I am that Fool which hath said in his heart there is no God For I have lived so dissolutely that I have made plain demonstration by my behaviour That I believed thou either wert not at all or else couldst do nothing at all Thou O Lord hast often called me and I have neglected thy voice Thou hast expected me and I have abused thy patience Thou hast given me the treasure of a long time to repent and I have consumed it wastefully Thou hast stricken me and I have not been sensible of thy hand Thou hast afflicted me and I have made no use of thy correction Thou didst sweat to make me clean and I still remain in my pollution I am hardned as well with thy punishments as with thy blessings being rebellious to the one and unthankful for the other And what shall I further say but that my heart soul thoughts and body are all impure and defiled and that of all sinners I am the chief unworthy Earth
should any longer sustain me or that I should expect any thing from thee but thy severest Iudgement For if thou sparedst not Lucifer and his Angels for one only sin Pride but didst cast them from Heaven to be reserved for everlasting chains of darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day what can I hope or look for that have offended thee not in one offence alone but in all kind of transgressions For my sins are in number numberless insomuch that I hate my self for my madness that from so noble a liberty I am fallen into so base a servitude and find my self overwhelmed with the horrible dread of thy fearful Iudgements Yet when I behold and consider that infinite mercy of thine which surpasseth all the rest of thy works I am a little refreshed and my Soul is a little comforted and revived For as by the examination of the hainousness of my sins and the strictness of thy Iustice I did almost despair So considering and weighing the testimonies of thy Servants left upon record for the comfort of poor distressed souls I am somewhat again cheared and raised up For besides those places of consolation and many more I find by divers Parables and Similitudes of thine own how ready and propense thou art to receive and pardon the Penitent As by the lost Penny the lost Sheep and by the Prodigal Son whose Image I find in my self and whose life mine doth fully parallel Wherefore O Lord I humbly intreat thee to restore me thy lost Son to thy favour and withall to give me the true sense and knowledge of the innocency I have lost I do not desire that thou shouldest deal so kindly with me as that Father did with his Son but I shall be happy and glad if thou wilt entertain me as one of the meanest of thy hired servants My hope and confidence is that thou wilt pitty me because thou art the fountain of pitty and compassion Behold me therefore with the eyes of pitty look on me and ease me who come unto thee laden with the heavy burden of my sins pardon them and save me for thy infinite mercy and remember not my sins but thine own sufferings think not on me as a proud and rebellious Malefactor but as an humble and penitent Convert Look on me with those eyes of compassion wherewith thou didst sometime behold Mary Magdalen Peter and the good Thief Give me true knowledge of my sins with the first true contrition with the second and receive me with the third into thy Heavenly Paradise Let thy obedience satisfie for my rebellions thy innocency for my guilt thy humility for my arrogancy thy fasting for my intemperance and thy justice for my iniquity Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole and restore me to thy former grace Purifie purge and cleanse me from mine offences and open mine eyes that I may clearly see mine own pollution and make me to grieve that I have not grieved for my sins as I ought to have done And as thou hast by thy long-suffering hitherto expected my repentance so of thy infinite mercy and goodness pardon me repenting and grant me grace that I may be afraid to offend thee hereafter Hear me O sweet Saviour make intercession for me to the Father with whom and the Holy Spirit thou dost live and reign coequal and coeternal Lord God world without end Amen Confession of Sins I confess O Lord That I was shaped in wickedness and in sin my Mother conceived me That I was brought forth in uncleanness That I am a root of bitterness A wild vine of Sodom A branch of the wild olive The child of wrath A vessel of dishonour and perdition That my heart is rebellious like a starting bow That my throat is an open sepulcher venting all folly That I am of polluted lips That my tongue talketh nothing but vanity That mine eyes are evil prone to lust That mine ears are uncircumcised and like to the deaf Adder That I have a forhead of brass and a neck of iron That my hands are slow to good That my feet are swift to evil I have sinned against thee O Lord and in thy sight not fearing thy Majesty My Sins are In quantity Large and of a great size Of long continuance From my Mothers breasts Deep Heavy Like a burden Like lead Stretching to Heaven with their cry Many in number Like the Stars More than the hairs of my head The sands of the Sea Oftentimes reiterated As a Fountain casting out water Till they became as a habit As red as scarlet and crimson I am sold under sin Till they become natural to me Like the AEthiopians skin The Leopards spots In quality The worst of sins Strong like cords and cart-ropes Gaining nothing thereby For a handful of barley a little bread Committing sin with greediness Sin upon sin With impudence Not being ashamed Knowing it to be sin Giving offence thereby Unthankfully Like the Dog to the vomit Like the Sow to the mire Therefore O Lord because thou art just and thy judgements true I reap the fruit of my foolishness For what fruit have I in those things whereof I am ashamed My dayes are consumed in vanity and my years in the bitternesse of my soul. And now there is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sin My heart trembleth also with remembrance of thy Iudgements I feel bitterness above the bitterness of death in that I have forsaken thee O God and that thou hast forsaken me Woe unto me rebellious Wretch for thus doing See and consider O Lord how vile I am become for my Soul abhorreth to live I have roared for the disquietness of my heart And what shall I now say or wherein shall I open my mouth What shall I answer seeing I have done these things Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me out of this body of death When I have not what I can further say or do this only remaineth this is my last refuge that I direct mine eyes to thee Out of the deep have I called to thee O Lord Lord hear my voice If thou Lord shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Enter not into judgement with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Wherefore O Lord I appeal from Thee to Thee From Thee a just Iudge To Thee a merciful Father From the Throne of thy Iustice To the Seat of thy Mercy O Lord be pleased to admit of this appeal If thou do not I perish And O Lord carest thou not that I perish
Who wouldest have all to be saved none so perish I am thine O save me Despise not the work of thy hands Who hatest nothing which thou hast made I am thy Servant and Son of thy Handmaid Thy Name is called on by us Thou art not ashamed to be called our Lord. I am the price of thy Sons blood O spare thy Workmanship Thy Child Thy Name The price of thy Sons blood But I am a sinner and God heareth not sinners Yet I pray thee remember of what I am made That I am but flesh and a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Take notice of the matter of which I am made Remember that I am but dust Frail flesh Light wind Loose dust And wilt thou O Lord break a leaf driven with the wind too and fro and wilt thou pursue dry stubble Behold O Lord though I have sinned yet I humble my self under thy mighty hand Spare the humble and contrite David spared Shimei that railed on him And David was a man according to thine own heart Therefore do thou spare me Ahab King of Israel forgave the King of Syria his offence upon his humiliation Was there ever King of Israel more merciful than thou Thou forgavest the same Ahab who had sold himself to sin when he humbled himself Spare me also I beseech thee O Lord how long wilt thou be angry with thy Servant which prayeth Surely Lord I hide not my sins like Adam but confess them Behold I judge my self Accept O Lord the Sacrifice of a troubled Spirit A contrite heart A grieved Soul A wounded Conscience Though I have sinned against thee It hath ever been thy Practice to be merciful Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and were not confounded Thy mercies have been ever of old Lord where are thy former loving kindnesses Look at the Generations of old and see did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded Or whom did he ever despise that called upon him It is due by thy Promise Remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope Let thy mercy come unto me O Lord even thy salvation according to thy word God hath promised which cannot lie He is a God of truth And confirmed it with an Oath Which promise the unbelief of men cannot make void If we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself There will arise no benefit by my destruction For what profit is there in my blood if I go down into the pit For in death is no remembrance of thee and in the grave who shall give thee thanks Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead Or shall the dead arise and praise thee Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave Or thy faithfulness in destruction The grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee the living the living he shall praise thee I will not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him Thy mercies O Lord are Sweet Comfortable Better than life Many A multitude of them Plentiful Tender Superabundant Wonderful Infinite Great Broad From the East to the West Long. Deep High To the Heavens High Above the Heavens Past knowledge Eternal of old For ever Preventing Following Compassing Pardoning Crowning Over all thy works Our sins Thy justice Thou art the Father of mercies Thou art patient and slow to anger Thou winkest at the sins of men because they should repent Sparing thy people forty years Many times thou didst turn thy wrath away and wouldest not suffer thy whole displeasure to arise It is of thy mercy that we are not consumed Gentle in correcting insomuch as thy justice is not without mercy I will visit their offences with the rod and their sin with scourges Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him He hath not dealt with us after our sins How shall I smile thee O Ephraim Placable and easie to be pacified He will not alway be chiding neither keepeth he his anger for ever His wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In anger he remembreth mercy David said I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David The Lord hath also put away thy sin thou shalt not dye The Lord waiteth to be gracious unto us Compassionate Thy Compassions are called bowels of mercy When thou didst see the misery of thy people thou hadst compassion on them Then the Lord of the servant moved with compassion loosed him and forgave him the debt Not only ready to forgive but profuse in mercy With thee is plentious redemption The Father of the Prodigal not only pardoned him but put on him the best Robe and a Ring and killed the fat Calf for him He will have joy in Heaven for a sinner repenting Thy pardon extendeth not only to small but great sins and sinners Such as Pet. who forsware thee Paul who blasphemed thee The Thief on the Cross. The Adulteress Mary Magdalen They say If a man put away his Wife and she go from him and become another mans shall he return unto her again shall not the Land be greatly polluted But thou hast played the Harlot with many Lovers yet return again to me saith the Lord. He is kind to the unthankful and evil But all these are recapitulated and summed up in Christ Iesus In whom he hath given us great and precious promises And in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen In naming of whom it will be sufficient Iesus thou Son of David have mercy on me Which Name Jesus was given unto him because he saveth us from our sins Lord Do not so earnestly mark our sins as that thereby thou forget thine own Name Thou Son of David who forgave Shimei his sworn Enemy reviling him Forgive me O Christ hear me Intercede for me Make thy Father propitious to me Say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation Let not thy Apostle comfort me in vain when he saith This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners Where sin hath abounded there grace hath super-abounded God hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all When we were Gods Enemies we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son Let not another of thy Apostles say in vain Christ
taking of it to prepare his Soul and fit it for the due receiving of it and not come to it carelesly without due examination of himself and respective consideration of the excellency and worth thereof And therefore before the time of communicating we ought to spend some hours or dayes the more the better in meditating upon the great and unspeakable love and mercy of God towards us miserable sinners in ordaining so powerful a means to purge and cleanse us and bring us to him in believing all his promises made to us in Christ Iesus in applying them to our selves in performing the works of charity in examining in what estate our Souls do stand in calling to mind our sins and confessing them to God in grieving and repenting for them and that in all humility and godly sorrow in returning with the Prodigal smiteing our breasts with the Publican weeping with Mary Magdalen begging mercy with the Thief on the Cross and lastly in promising to God to lead a better life for the time to come Thus if we do no doubt but we shall be welcome Guests to this Feast as being of that number for whom it was prepared For by how much the more we come prepared to take this Sacrament so much the greater shall be the grace which we shall receive by it There are four Duties required in every Communicant First Faith to believe that Iesus Christ did and suffered all things which are written of him in the Holy Scriptures for the Redemption of Mankind Secondly Repentance by which a man confessing his sins to God with a purpose to lead a new life is reconciled to him Thirdly Reverend Behaviour that in all humility we make our selves fit Guests for such a Feast Fourthly Meditation and Attention that we during tht time of the administration of the Sacrament attend no earthly thoughts but wholly fix our Souls upon our Saviour Christ and meditate on nothing but this great and high benefit and thereby be enflamed with a hearty love and thankful mind to God not only for his infinite love in suffering so great things for us but also for instituting this blessed Sacrament to remain to the end of the World as a sure pledge of his continuance among us and perpetual care over us After we have communicated and are refreshed we ought also to be thankful to God for so great a benefit Thankfulness being not the least Duty of this Service The Sacrament it self being called Eucharistia which is Thanksgiving and to strive to imitate him as well in life as death to live purely and not to defile our Souls again being purged and cleansed by the powerful operation of this blessed Sacrament that so by Examination Meditation Thanksgiving and constant Resolution of Amendment We may worthily receive Christ into our Souls and be made members of his mystical body Meditations and Prayers before the Communion VVHat am I O Lord that I should be so bold as to come near to thee what am I that I should attempt to receive this so great and high mystery what is man by nature but a vessel of corruption unapt to any good propense and most ready to any evil What is man but a creature of all others most wretched blind in judgement inconstant in his actions unclean in his desires and though small in desert yet proud and great in his own conceit Thou seest O Lord what I am But thou O Lord art great good wise and eternal omnipotent in strength wonderfull in wisdom deep in thy counsells terrible in thy judgements and absolutely perfect in all thy works How then dare I that am so base and unclean a creature approach to the Feast of so great a God and a Lord of so great a Majesty Behold the Heavens are not clean in thy sight and the Pillars of Heaven shake and tremble at thy word Saint Iohn the Baptist who was sanctified in his Mothers Womb professed himself not worthy to unloose the latchet of thy shooes Saint Peter cryed out to thee to depart from him a sinfull man How then can I the chief of all sinners but tremble at thy presence O Lord I fear that being thus wretched and unfit I shall not be admitted to this Feast but rather be repelled for want of a wedding garment even the garment of a sanctified Soul For my whole life hath been so wretchedly and lewdly spent and my dayes have been so wickedly wasted that I hourly seem to renew thy passion Many a time I have with Iudas sold thee for a small sum of pleasure or profit and now in coming to receive thee unworthily what doe I else but with him betray thee with a kiss How then shall I dare to receive thee in so desperate and wicked estate How canst thou abide or dwell in so loathsome a Dungeon wherein there is no part room or corner clean O Lord I acknowledge mine unworthiness and yet withall thy mercies are not hid from me and by them I am encouraged to come with confidence unto thee for by how much the unworthier I come unto thee by so much the more will thy mercy be glorified if thou do not reject me Lord thou art not wont to put sinners back but to call and set them forward to repentance Wherefore O Lord animated by thy calling and invitation I come unto thee overburthened with the weight of my sins hoping to find ease and relief of thee Thy custome while thou wert upon earth was to receive sinners and to eat with them and thy delight was to be with the Sons of men If thou O Lord be still pleased with such guests behold one here at this time of that kind a notorious sinner I verily believe thou tookest more pleasure in the tears of the sinfull Woman than in the great feast of the proud Pharisee and for a few tears of hers didst forgive many sins unto her Behold O Lord new matter offered for thy great mercy to work upon Here lyeth a sinner who hath many more sins than she but fewer tears by many who though he hath more grievously offended yet doth more carelesly bewayle his offences than she did She was neither the first nor the last whom thou in thy mercy didst receive to favour O Lord let me also be one of the subjects of this thy mercy and although I have not tears sufficient to wash thy feet yet thou hadst shed drops of blood more than sufficient to cleanse my sins I read O Lord in the Gospel that all that were diseased flocked to thee and by that vertue which came out of thee were healed and I verily perswade my self that thy Nature is not changed for in thee is and will be to the end of the world health and remedy for all griefs and thou art readier to make us whole than we are to ask health of thee I know O Lord that this Sacrament which I so earnestly
daily sinned and not repented considering that from the Infernal pit there is no redemption Be thou merciful to me O Lord and save me for thy Names sake and in thy strength deliver and comfort me I know O Lord that thy judgements are just and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled Oh let this light affliction which will quickly be gone cause unto me afterward a more excellent and eternal weight of glory In the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts O Lord refresh my soul. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Hast thou not powred me out like milk and curdled me like a cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit O Lord thou numberest my steps and dost set a watch over my sin My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the grave is ready for me I have said to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worm Thou art my Mother and Sister Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling My dayes are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good I know thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living Woe is me therefore O Lord that I have sinned What shall I do Whither shall I flee but to thee O Lord my God Be merciful to me in the last day My Soul is very much disquieted within me But Lord I require thy aid and comfort Be mindful O Lord of thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and let thy mercy come unto me according to thy Promise For thou art my Maker and I am the work of thy hands Deliver me O Lord from eternal death in that day wherein Heaven and Earth shall be dissolved when thou comest to judge the Earth I am affrighted when I consider that day the day of thy wrath the day of misery that great and exceeding bitter day O Lord in that day where shall I hide my self from the face of thine anger O Lord when thou comest to Iudgement condemn me not I beseech thee but deliver from the Gates of Hell my poor Soul which I commend unto thee Acknowledge then O Lord thy Creature not made by any strange Gods but by thee the true and living God Make my Soul joyful with thy presence and remember not my sins but according to thy great mercy think upon me in that day for the merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Prayer for the Sick ALmighty and most merciful Lord God who by the infirmities of this life dost put us in mind of our mortality and by these outward afflictions dost call us to inward Repentance I cry unto thee with my whole heart Rebuke me not in thine anger neither chasten me in thy displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Thou art He O Lord That woundest and healest again that killest and revivest that leadest to the Gates of Hell and bringest back again If this my sickness O Lord be not unto death help me on this my bed of infirmity and strengthen me If thou thinkest expedient rather that I should dye than live do with me according to thy good pleasure and receive my spirit to thy peace which I commend into thy hands who livest and reignest God of all mercy world without end AMEN Or thus O Merciful Lord God who of thy great mercy dost forgive the offences of those who truly repent mercifully look upon me thy poor servant and hearken unto me who humbly crave of thee remission of my sins Renew O Lord in me whatsoever is corrupt and decayed by the Devils malice or mine own frailty Pity my sighs pity my tears pity my groans vouchsafe to be reconciled to me that have confidence in nothing but thy meer mercy O Lord it grieveth me that I have offended thy Majesty and it grieveth me much that I can grieve no more than I do And I humbly pray thee by the Death Passion and Intercession of thy Son Christ Iesus to pardon my offences promising that if I recover my former health thy grace assisting me to abstain from displeasing thy Majesty hereafter I willingly O Lord and freely from my heart for thy sake forgive all offenders and offences against me and I heartily desire all those whom I have any way offended to forgive me O Lord though my natural man trembleth at the thought of death yet I profess that I am willing to dye if it be thy good pleasure I. have received life and all the blessings of this life from thee What shall I render back to thee for them I will willingly receive this Cup of Death and praise thy Name I commend into thy hands my Spirit And whether thou disposest of me to live or dye I resign it to thy good will and disposition and humbly pray thee that if thou seest it good for me to prolong my dayes on Earth that thou wouldest renew my conversation by the direction of thy Holy Spirit that I may pass those dayes in thy fear If thou be otherwise pleased to dispose of me take me I beseech thee into the armes of thy mercy for Iesus Christs sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or Thus. O God of all Consolation who hast promised to hear all those that faithfully call upon thee and not to reject any that with a contrite heart and penitent soul shall humble himself before thee I humbly intreat thee in the Name and Mediation of thy Son Iesus Christ that thou wouldest be pleased to be merciful to me thy poor servant at this time afflicted with sickness O Lord pardon forget and blot out of thy remembrance whatsoever I have committed against thee in the whole course of my life Seal and confirm unto me by thy Spirit a pardon unto me for all my offences that I may thereby receive such comfort in my soul that I may with all joy and willingness depart out of this life unto thee Let me be certified That there is no condemnation to those which are united and ingrafted into Iesus Christ by Faith That I may be confident That neither my Sins Death the Devil nor ought else can draw me away or separate me from thee And that I may be assured that thy Throne will not be to me a Barr of Severity but a Haven of Safety and a sure Sanctuary and Refuge for me to flee unto Strengthen this Faith in me which may serve as a Buckler to defend me from all tentations and that