may be capable of his refreshings and being encompast with my own tears and truly sorry for my many sins I may be the fitter to be washed in his blood Raise up my dull and earthly mind from groveling here below and inspire it with a holy zeal that I may with a spiritual affection approach this spiritual Feast And let O Lord that infinite Love of Christ in dying for so wretched a sinner inflame my frozen benummed soul and kindle in me that sacrifice of love to him and that so vehement that no water may quench no floods drown it such as may burn up all my dross not leave one unmortified lust in my soul such as may also extend it self to all whom thou hast given me command and example to love even mine enemies as well as friends Finally O Lord I beseech thee to cloath me in the Wedding-garment and make me though my self a most unworthy sinner yet by thy mercy an acceptable guest at this holy Table that I may not eat and drink my own damnation but may have my pardon sealed my weakness repaired my corruptions subdued and my soul unseparably united to thee that no temptation be ever able to dissolve the union but that being begun here in grace it may be consummated in glory grant this O Lord for thy dear Son sake Jesus Christ. Amen Another Prayer for the Receiving of the Holy Communion O Blessed Jesus who once offeredst up thy self upon the Cross for me and now offerest thy self to me in the Sacrament let not I beseech thee my impenitence and unworthiness frustrate these so inestimable mercies to me but qualifie me by thy grace to receive the full benefit of them O Lord I have abundant need of thee but am so clogg'd with guilt so holden with the cords of my sins that I am not able to move towards the. O loose me from these bands wherewith Satan and my own lusts have bound me and draw me that I may run after thee Lord thou seest daily how eagerly I pursue the paths that lead to death and when thou invitest me to life and glory I turn my back and forsake the hopes of mercy How often hath this Feast been prepared and I have with frivolous excuses absented my self or if I have come it hath been rather to defile than to adore thee I have brought such Troops of thy professed enemies and unrepented sins along with me as if I came not to commemorate but to renew thy passion crucifying thee afresh and put thee to open shame and now of what punishment shall I be thought worthy who have thus trampled under foot the Son of God and counted the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing yet O merciful Jesu this is my onely Refuge O let this make my attonement or I perish eternally wherefore didst thou shed it but to save sinners neither can the merit of it be overwhelmed either by the greatness or number of my sins I am a sinner a great one O let me find this saving efficacy Be merciful unto me O God be merciful for my soul trusteth in thee and in the clefts of thy wounds shall be my Refuge until thy Fathers indignation be over past O thou who hast as my High Priest sacrificed for me intercede for me also and plead thy meritorious sufferings on my behalf and suffer not O my Redeemer the price of blood to be utterly lost and grant O Lord that as the sins I have to be forgiven are many so I may love much Lord thou seest what faint and cold affections I have towards thee O warm and enliven them and as in this Sacrament that transcendent love of thine in dying for me is shed forth so I beseech thee let it convey such grace into me as may enable me to make some returns of love O let this Divine fire descend from Heaven into my soul and let my sins be the burnt offering for it to consume that there may not any corrupt affection any cursed thing be sheltered in my heart that I may never again defile that place which thou hast chosen for thy Temple Thou dyedst O dear Jesu to redeem me from all iniquity O let me not again sell my self to work wickedness but grant that I may approach unto thee at this time with most sincere and fixed resolutions of an inward Reformation and let me receive such grace and strength from thee as may enable me faithfully to perform them Lord there are many old habituated diseases my soul groans under here mention thy most prevailing corruptions and though I lye never so long at the Pool of Bethesda come never so often to thy Table yet unless thou be pleased to put forth thy healing vertue they will still remain uncured O thou blessed Physician of souls heal me and grant that I may now so touch thee that every one of these loathsome Issues may immediately stench that my sickness may not be unto death but unto the glory of thy mercy in pardoning to the glory of thy grace in purifying so polluted a wretch O Christ hear me and grant I may now approach unto thee with such humility and contrition love and devotion that thou mayest vouchsafe to come unto me and abide with me communicating to me thy self and all the merit of thy passion and then O Lord let no occasions of Satan or mine own conscience amaze or distract me but having peace with thee let me also have peace in my self that this Wine may make glad this Bread of Life may strengthen my heart and enable me cheerfully to run the way of thy Commandments grant this merciful Saviour for thine own bowels and compassions sake Amen Immediately before Receiving Thou hast said that he that eateth thy flesh and drinketh thy blood hath eternal life behold thy servant O Lord be it unto me according to thy Word At the Receiving of the Bread By thy crucified Body deliver me from the body of this death At the Receiving of the Cup. O Lord let this blood of thine purge my conscience from dead works to serve the ever Living God Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean O touch me and say I will be thou clean After Receiving What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will receive the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and a blessing therefore blessing honour glory and power be to him that sitteth on the Throne and the Lamb for ever and ever Amen I have sworn and am stedfastly bent to keep thy Righteous Judgments O Lord hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not A Thanksgiving for the Receiving the Communion O Thou fountain of all goodness from whom every good and perfect gift cometh and to whom all honour and glory shall be
in the paths of life and sanctity for those blessed waitings and knocking 's at the door of my heart patiently tarrying for me for all the holy Sermons spiritual Books and Lessons for all the good Prayers and Meditations loving and inviting me to repentance without ceasing admonishing me and reproving me with the check of a tender conscience with exteriour and interiour motives and for whatsoever means or incentives of holiness thou hast assisted me withall I Magnifie and praise thy holy Name for thy goodness to all Nations whom thou hast made and sanctified they shall come and worship thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy Name for thou art great and dost wondrous things thou art God alone and great is thy mercy towards me thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell therefore shall every good man sing of thy praise without ceasing O my God I will give thanks unto thee for ever with Cherubims and Seraphims and all the company of the heavenly Host saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath holy is our God holy is the Immortal holy is the Almighty the Father Son and the Holy Ghost to whom be honour and glory dominion and power ascribed of all spirits and all men and all creatures now and for evermore Amen A Prayer preparatory to the Receiving of the blessed Sacrament O Most immaculate and glorious Jesu he hold me a miserable sinner drawing near unto thee with the approaches of humility and earnest desire to be cleansed from my sins and to be united to thee by the nearest and most mysterious union of Charity and Sacramental participation of thy most precious body and blood I presume nothing of my own worthiness but I am most confident of thy mercies and infinite loving kindness I know O Lord I am blind and sick and dead and naked and therefore I come the rather I am sick and thou art my Physician thou arisest with healing in thy wings by thy wounds I come to be cured and to be healed by thy stripes I am unclean but thou art the fountain of purity I am blind but thou art the great Eye of the World the Son of Righteousness in thy light I shall see light I am poor but thou art rich unto all the Lord of all the Creatures I therefore humbly beg of thy mercy that thou wouldest be pleased to take from me all my sins to cure all mine infirmities to cleanse my filthiness to lighten my darkness to cloathe my nakedness with the Robe of thy Righteousness that I may with reverence and faith and holy intention receive thy blessed body and blood in the mysterious Sacrament that it may be unto life and pleasantness and holy nourishment and that I may be firmly and indesolutely united to thy mystical body and may at last see clearly and without vail thy face in glory everlasting who livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen The Second I Adore and bless thy glorious Majesty O blessed Jesu for this great dignation and vouchsafing to me that art pleased for all the infinite multitudes of my sins and innumerable violating of thy holy Laws still to give thy self unto me to convey health and grace and life and hopes of glory in the blessed Sacrament I adore thee O most Righteous Redeemer that thou art pleased under the visible signs of Bread and Wine to convey unto our souls thy holy body and blood and all the benefits of thy bitter Passion O my God I am not worthy thou shouldest come under my roof but let thy holy Spirit with his purities prepare for thee a lodging in my soul. Thou hast knocked often O blessed Jesu at the door of my heart and wouldest willingly have entred behold O Lord my heart is willing ready to receive thee cast out of it all worldly desires all lust and carnal appetites and then enter and there love to inhabit that the Devil may never return to a place that is swept and garnished to fill me full of iniquity O thou lover of souls grant that this holy Sacrament may be light to my eyes a guide to my understanding and joy to my soul that by its strength I may subdue and mortifie the whole body of sin in me that it may produce in me fulness of wisdom and constancy of faith perfection accomplishment of all the Righteous Commandments and such blessed union with thee that I never more live unto my self or to the world but to thee only and by the refreshment of an holy hope I may be lead through the paths of a good life and persevering piety to the communion and possession of thy Kingdom O blessed Jesu who livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen A Prayer after the Receiving of the Sacramental Bread I Give hearty thanks unto thee Almighty God that thou hast not rejected me from thy holy Table but hast refreshed my soul with the salutary refection of the body thy dear Son Jesus Christ. Lord if I had lived innocently and had kept all thy Commandments I could have not expected so transcendent a mercy but since I have lived in all manner of sin and multiplied provocations against thy Divine Majesty thy mercy is so glorious and infinite that I am amazed at the consideration of its Immensity Go on O my dear God to finish so blessed a Redemption and now that thou hast begun to celebrate a Marriage and a holy Union between thy self and my soul let me never throw off the Wedding-garment or stain it with pollution of deadly sin nor seek after other Lovers but let me for ever and ever be united unto thee being transformed into thy will in this life and to the likeness of thy glories in the life to come who livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen After the Receiving of the Cup. O Just and dear God who out of the unmeasurable Abysses of wisdom and mercy hast redeemed us and offerest life and grace and salvation to us by the real exhibition of thy Son Jesus Christ in the Sacrifice of his death upon the Altar of the Cross and by commemoration of the bitter Agonies in the holy Sacrament grant that that great and venerable Sacrifice which we now commemorate sacramentally may procure of thee for thy whole Church mercy and peace and great assistance in all trials deliverance from all heresies schisms sacriledge and persecucutions to all sick people health and salvation redemption from captivity competency of living to the indigent and necessitous comfort to the afflicted relief to the oppressed repentance to all sinners softness of spirit and a tender conscience to the obstinate conversion to the Jews Turk and remedy to all that are in trouble or adversity and grant to us O Lord that this Sacrament and Sacrifice of commemoration by vertue of that painful and proper Sacrifice upon the Cross may obtain for me and for us all who have communicated this day pardon and peace and
despairing a sight of thy mercies and do thou O Lord for every one abundantly above what they can ask or or think Forgive my enemies persecutors and slanderers and turn their hearts Pour down thy blessings upon all my friends and benefactors all who have commended themselves to my prayers here thou mayest name particular persons and grant O most merciful Father that through this blood of the Cross we may be presented pure and unblameable and unreprovable in thy sight that so we may be admitted into that place of purity where no unclean thing can enter there to sing all eternal praises to Father Son and Holy Ghost forever Amen A Prayer in time of Affliction O Just and holy Lord who with rebukes dost chasten man for sin I desire unfeignedly to humble my self under thy mighty hand which now lies heavy upon me I heartily acknowledge O Lord that all I do all I can suffer is but the due reward of my deeds therefore in thy severest inflictions I must still say Righteous art thou O Lord righteous are thy Judgments but O Lord I beseech thee in Judgment remember mercy although my sins have enforced thee to strike yet consider my weakness and let not my stripes be more heavy or more lasting than thou seest proportionable for my soul Correct me but with the chastisement of a Father not with the wounds of an enemy and though thou take not off thy Rod yet take away thine anger Lord do not abhor my soul and cast not away thy servant in displeasure but pardon my sins I beseech thee and if yet in thy fatherly wisdom thou seest fit to prolong thy corrections thy blessed will be done I cast my self O Lord at thy feet do with me what thou pleasest try my as silver is tryed so that thou bring me out purified And Lord make me even my flesh also to subscribe to this Resignation that there be nothing in me that may rebel against thy hand but that I may suppress all repining thoughts and may cheerfully drink of this Cup how bitter soever thou art pleased to make it Lord let it prove medicinal and cure all the diseases of my soul that it may bring forth in me the peaceable fruit of Righteousness that so these light afflictions which are but for a moment may work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory through Jesus Christ. Amen A Thanksgiving for Deliverance O Blessed Lord who art gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest of the evil I thankfully acknowledge before thee that thou hast not dealt with me after my sins nor rewarded me according to my iniquities my Rebellions O Lord deserve to be scourged with Scorpions and thou hast corrected them only with a fatherly Rod neither hast thou suffered me to lye long under that but hast given me a timely and gracious issue out of my late distresses O Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity Thou hast smitten and thou hast healed me O let these various methods have their proper effects upon my soul that I who have felt the smart of thy chastisements may stand in awe and sin not and that I who have likewise tasted the sweet refreshings of thy mercy may have my heart ravished with it and knit to thee in the firmest bands of love and that by both I may be preserved in a constant entire obedience to thee all my daies through Jesus Christ. Amen A Prayer for a Sick Person O Merciful and righteous Lord the God of health and of sickness of life and of death I most unfeignedly acknowledge that my great abuse of those many daies of strength and welfare that thou hast afforded me hath most justly deserved thy present visitation I desire O Lord humbly to accept of the punishment of the Lord for my iniquity and to bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And O thou merciful Father who designest not the ruine but the amendment of those whom thou scourgest I beseech thee by thy grace so to sanctifie this correction of thine to me that this sickness of my body may be a means of health to my soul. Make me diligent to search my heart and do thou O Lord discover every cursed thing how close soever concealed there that by the removal thereof I may make way for the removal of this punishment Heal my soul O Lord which hath sinned against thee and then if it be thy blessed will heal my body also Restore the voice of joy and health into my dwelling that I may live to praise thee and to bring forth fruit of Repentance but if in thy wisdom thou hast otherwise disposed if thou hast determined that this sickness shall be unto death I beseech thee to fit and prepare me for it Give me that sincere and earnest Repentance to which thou hast promised mercy and pardon Wean my heart from the world and its fading vanities and make me to gasp and pant after those more excellent and durable Joyes which are at thy right hand forever Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and in all the pains of my body in all the agonies of my spirit let thy comforts refresh my soul and enable me patiently to wait till my change come and grant O Lord that when my earthly Tabernacle is dissolved I may have a building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens and that for his sake who by his precious blood hath purchased it for me even Jesus Christ. Amen A Thanksgiving for Recovery O Most gracious Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh in whose hand my time is I praise and magnifie thee that thou hast in love to my soul delivered me from the pit of destruction and restored me to health again It is of thy mercy alone O Lord that thou hast preserved my life from destruction thou hast chastened and corrected me but thou hast not given me over unto death O let this life which thou hast thus graciously spared be wholly consecrated unto thee Behold O Lord I am by thy mercy made whole O make me strictly careful to sin no more lest a worse thing come unto me Let not this reprieve thou hast now given me make me secure as thinking my Lord delayeth his coming but grant me I beseech thee to make a right use of this long-suffering of thine and so to imploy every minute of that time thou hast allowed me that when thou shalt appear I may have confidence and not be ashamed before thee at thy coming Lord I have found by this approach towards death how dreadful a thing it is to be taken unprepared O let it be a perpetual admonition to me to watch for my Masters coming and when the pleasures of sin shall present themselves to entice me O make me to remember how bitter they
yea thy mercy O Lord endureth for ever despise not then the work of thine own hands O God thou art my God early will I seek thee My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh also longeth after thee in a barren and a dry Land where no water is Like as the Hart desireth the water-brooks so longeth my soul after thee O my God My soul is athirst for God even for the Living God When shall I come and appear before the presence of God How amiable are thy dwellings O Lord God of Hosts my soul hath a desire a longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord. My flesh and my heart rejoyceth in the Living God O that I had wings like a Dove for then would I flee away and be at rest O send out thy Light and thy Truth that they may lead me and bring me to thy Hill and to thy dwelling for one day in thy Court is better than a thousand elsewhere I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness I should utterly have fainted but that I believed verily to have seen the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living Thou art my Helper and my Redeemer O Lord make no long tarrying A Prayer at the Receiving of the Communion O Lord I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee for my iniquities are increased over my head and my trespass is grown even unto Heaven I have wrought all these great provocations and that in the most provoking manner they have not been only single but repeated acts of sin for O Lord of all this black Catalogue of sin which I have now brought before thee how few are there which I have not often committed nay which are not become even habitual and accustomary to me and to this frequency I had added both a greediness and obstinacy in sinning turned into my course as a horse rusheth into the battel doing evil with both hands earnestly yea hating to be reformed and casting thy words behind me quenching the Spirit within me which testified against me to turn me from my evil waies frustrating all those outward means whether of judgment or of mercy which thou hast used to draw me to thy self Nay O Lord even my Repentances may be numbred amongst my greatest sins they have sometimes been feigned and hypocritical alwaies so slight and ineffectual they have brought forth no fruit to amendment of life but I have added the breach of resolutions and vows to all my former guilt Thus O Lord I am become out of measure sinful and since I have thus chosen death the lake and brimstone this O Lord is in justice to be the portion of my Cup to me belongs nothing but shame and confusion of face eternally but to thee O Lord God belongeth mercy redemption and forgiveness Though I have rebelled against thee O remember not my sins and offences but according to thy mercy think upon me O Lord for thy goodness Thou sendest thy Son to seek and to save that which was lost behold O Lord I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost O seek thy servant and bring me back to the Shepherd and Bishop of my soul. Let thy Spirit work in me a hearty sense and detestation of all my abominations and true contrition of heart which thou hast promised not to despise and then be thou pleased to look on me to take away all my iniquity and receive me graciously and for his sake who hath nothing amiss be reconciled unto me wash away the guilt of my sin in his blood and subdue the power of them by his grace and grant O Lord that I may from this hour bid a final adiew unto all ungodliness and worldly lusts never once more cast a look towards Sodom or long after the flesh pots of Egypt but consecrate my self entirely unto thee to serve thee in Righteousness and true Holiness all the daies of my life reckoning my self to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord and blessed Saviour Amen The 51 Psalm is fit to be read upon this Occasion Ejaculations O Lord of whom may I seek for succour but of thee who for my sins art justly displeased yet O Lord God most holy O Lord most mighty O holy and most merciful Saviour deliver me not at my last hour into the bitter pains of eternal death Thou knowest Lord the secrets of my heart shut not thy merciful eyes upon my prayer but hear me O Lord most holy O God most mighty O holy and most merciful Saviour thou most worthy Judge Eternal suffer me not at my last hour for any pains of death to fall from the Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am not worthy to be called thy child yet O Lord do not thou cast off the bowels and compassion of a Father but even as a Father pittieth his own children so be thou merciful unto me Lord the Prince of this world cometh oh let him have nothing in me but as he accuseth do thou absolve he laies many grievous things to my charge which he can too well prove I have nothing to say for my self do thou answer for me O Lord my God O Lord I am cloathed with filthy garments and Satan stands at my right hand to resist me O be thou pleased to rebuke him and pluck me as a brand out of the fire Cause mine iniquity to pass from me and cloath me with the Righteousness of thy Son Behold O Lord the Devil is coming towards me having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time O save and deliver me lest he devour my soul like a Lion and tear it in pieces while there is none to help O my God I know no unclean thing can enter into thy Kingdom and I am nothing but pollution My very Righteousnesses are as filthy raggs O wash me and make me white in the blood of the Lamb that so I may be fit to stand before thy Throne Lord the snares of death compass me about O let not the pains of Hell also take hold upon me but though I find trouble and heaviness O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul. O dear Jesus who hast bought me with the precious price of thine own blood challenge now thy purchase and let not the malice of Hell pluck me out of thine hand O blessed High Priest who art able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by thee save me I beseech thee who have no hope but by thy merit and intercession O God I confess I have defaced that Image of thine thou didst imprint upon my soul yet oh thou faithful Creator have pity on thy creature O Jesu I have by many and grievous sins crucified thee afresh yet thou who prayest for thy persecutors intercede for me also and suffer me not O my Redeemer my soul the price
death of sin my good name to be traduced with some scandalous reproaches and make my self liable to all manner of crosses and casualties And I confess Lord that thy mercy is the cause I have not been long ago consumed and confounded But O my God as thy mercy only stayed thy judgments from falling upon me hitherto so I humbly beseech thee in the bowels of thy mercy in Jesus Christ in whom only thou art well pleased that thou wilt not deal with me according to my deserts but that thou wouldest freely and fully remit unto me all my sins and my transgressions and that thou wouldest wash them clean from me with the vertue of that precious blood which thy Son Jesus Christ hath shed for me for he alone is my Physician and his blood only is the medicine that can heal my sickness and is the true brazen Serpent that can cure that poison wherewith the fiery serpents of my sins have stung and poisoned my sick and wounded soul and give me I beseech thee thine holy Spirit which may assure me of mine Adoption and that may confirm my Faith increase my Repentance inlighten my Understanding purifie my Heart and rectifie my Will and Affection and so sanctifie me throughout that my whole Body and Soul and Spirit may be kept unblamable until the glorious coming of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And now O Lord I give unto thee most humble and hearty thanks and praise for that thou hast this day preserved me from all harm and dangers notwithstanding all my sins and evil deserts and I beseech thee likewise to defend me this night from the roaring Lion which night and day seeketh to devour me Watch thou O Lord over me this night to keep me from his temptations and tyranny and let thy mercy shield me from his unspeakable rage and malice and to this end I commit my self into thy hands and almighty protection beseeching thee O my Lord and my God not to suffer Satan or any of his evil members to have power to do me any hurt or harm this night and grant good Lord that whether I sleep or wake live or die I may sleep wake live or die unto thee and to the glory of thy Name and the salvation of my soul. Lord bless and defend all thy chosen people every where Grant our gracious Soveraign long life and a happy Raign over us Bless our gracious Queen Katherine James Duke of York and all the Royal Family together with all our Magistrates and Ministers comfort them who are in misery need or sickness or under any kind of Cross or Calamity give me grace to be one of those wise Virgins which may have my heart prepared like a Lamp furnished with the Oil of Faith and Light of good works to meet the Lord Jesus the sweet Bridegroom of my soul at his second and sudden coming in glory grant this good Father for Jesus Christ his sake my only Saviour Redeedeemer and Mediator in whose blessed Name and in whose own words I call upon thee as he hath taught me Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Morning Prayer for a Family O Lord our God and heavenly Father who art the only Creator of Heaven and of Earth and all therein contained we confess that we are unworthy to appear in thy sight and presence considering our manifold sins and offences which we have committed against Heaven and before thee and how that we have been born in sin and do daily break thy holy Laws and Commandments contrary to our knowledge and consciences albeit we know thou art our Creator who hast made us our Redeemer who hast bought us with the blood of thy only begotten Son and our Comforter who bestowest upon us all the good and holy graces which we enjoy in our souls and in our bodies and if thou shouldest but deal with us as our wickedness and unthankfulness have deserved what other thing might we O Lord expect from thee but shame and confusion in this life and in the world to come wrath and everlasting condemnation yet O Lord in the obedience of thy Commandments and in the confidence which we have in thy unspeakable and endless mercy in thy Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ the Righteous we thy poor servants appealing from thy Throne of Justice to thy Throne of Crace whose mercy reigneth to pardon abounding sin do from the bottom of our hearts most humbly beseech thee to remit and forgive unto us all our sins and our offences and misdeeds that by the vertue of the precious blood of Jesus Christ thy innocent Lamb which he so abundantly shed upon the Cross to take away the sins of the world all our sins both original and actual may be so cleansed and washed from us that they may never be laid to our charge nor ever have power to rise up in judgment against us and we beseech thee good Father for Christ his death and passion sake that thou wilt not suffer to fall upon us that fearful curse and vengeance which thy Law hath threatned and our sins have justly deserved And for as much O Lord as we are taught by thy Word that no Idolaters Adulterers covetous men contentious persons drunkards gluttons and such inordinate livers shall inherit the Kingdom of God pour the grace of thy Holy Spirit into our hearts whereby we may see the filthiness of our sins and abhor them and may be more and more stirred up to live in newness of life and love of thy Majesty so we may daily increase in the obedience of thy words and in conscionable care of keeping thy Commandments And now O Lord I render unto thee most hearty thanks for that thou hast elected redeemed called justified us in good measure in this life and given us an assured hope that thou wilt glorifie us in thy heavenly Kingdom when this mortal life is ended Likewise we thank thee for our life health wealth liberty prosperity and peace especially O Lord for the continuance of thy holy Gospel amongst us and for sparing us so long and granting us so gracious a time of repentance Also we praise thee for all other thy mercies bestowed upon us more especially for preserving us this night past and from all dangers that might have befallen our souls or bodies and seeing thou hast now brought us safe to the beginning of this day we beseech thee protect and direct us in the same Bless and defend us in our going out and in our coming in this day and ever more shield us O Lord from the temptations of the Devil and grant us the custody of thy holy Angels to defend and direct us in all our waies and to this end we recommend our selves and all those that belong unto us and are abroad from us unto thy hands and almighty tuition Lord defend them from all evil prosper them with all graces and fill them with thy goodness Preserve us likewise this day from falling
I might learn thy Statutes O let thy loving mercies come unto me that I may live for thy Law is my delight O let my heart be sound in thy Statutes that I be not ashamed O quicken me after thy loving kindness so shall I keep the Testimony of thy mouth If my delight had not been in thy Law I should have perished in my trouble I will never forget thy Commandments for with them thou hast quickened me I am thine O save me for thy mercies sake for I have sought thy Commandment The ungodly laid wait for me to destroy me but I will consider thy Testimonies I desire to refrain my feet from every evil way that I may keep thy Word I am troubled above measure quicken me O Lord according to thy Word and deliver me for thy mercy sake O God who dost wonders and hast declared thy power amongst all people let the observation of thy mercies and loving kindnesses make deep impression in my heart and memory that when I am in heaviness I may remember the years of thy right hand and call to mind the wonders of old time although thou sometime withdrawest the brightness of thy countenance from me and shuttest up thy loving kindness in sore displeasure yet the experience of thy old mercies which never fail may sustain mine infirmities and the expectation of thy loving kindnesses may cure all my impatience till in thy due time the sense of thy favours may actually relieve all my distresses and thy right hand lead me like a sheep into the folds of eternal rest and security through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen The Collect. GRant unto me O Lord I humbly beseech thee the Spirit to think and do all such things as be rightful that I who cannot do any thing that is good without thee may be enabled to live according to thy Will through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A Prayer for God's free mercy in the the pardon of my sins and a prayer for the continuance and the increase of his mercies to me LET the free-will offering of my mouth please thee O Lord and teach me thy Judgments I have applied my heart to fulfill thy Statutes alwaies even unto the end Thou art my defence and my shield and my trust is in thy Word O stablish me according to thy Word that I may live and let me not be disappointed of my hope Hold thou me up and I shall be safe yea my delight shall ever in thy Statutes I desire with my whole heart to do the thing that is lawful and right O give me not over unto my oppressors O make thou thy servant to delight in that which is good that they which hate me do me no wrong O deal with thy servants according to thy loving kindness and teach me thy Statutes I am thy servant O grant me understanding that I may know thy Testimonies it is time for thee Lord to lay too thy hand for they have destroyed thy Law therefore hold I straight all thy Commandments for all false waies I utterly abhor O look upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy Name O most gracious God who art reconciled unto me in my Saviour Jesus having for his sake forgiven the offences of thy people and covered all their sins with the Robe of his most immaculate sanctity and Righteousness Let thy grace convert and quicken me that I may rejoyce in thee and thy salvation in faith of thy promises in the hope of actual communication and of thy mercy to me and in love to thee for so a great blessing and redemption and when thou hast spoken peace to my soul and reconciled me to thy self in the blood of thy Son give me the grace of perseverance that I may never turn again to folly but may follow mercy and truth all my daies and at last be satisfied with thy Righteousness and peace eternal through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen The Collect. LET thy merciful ears O Lord be open to the Prayers of thy humble servant and that he may obtain his petitions make me to ask such things as shall please thee through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A Prayer for sanctity and preservation ORder my steps in thy Word O Lord so that no wickedness have dominion over me Deliver me from the deceitful dealings of men so shall I keep thy Commandments Shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant and teach me thy Statutes Righteous art thou O Lord and true in thy Judgments Trouble and heaviness have taken hold upon me yet my delight is in thy Commandments Except the Lord build the house their labour is but lost that build it Except the Lord keep the City the watchman watcheth but in vain I looked for the Lord my soul doth wait for him in his Word is my trust O Israel trust in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption for he shall deliver Israel from all his sins Behold how good and joyfull a thing it is to dwell together in unity thy Name O Lord endureth for ever so doth thy memorial O Lord from one generation to another For the Lord will avenge his people and be gracious to his servants O Lord God good and gracious and of great mercy unto all them that call upon thee give ear unto my prayers and ponder the voice of my humble desire whenever I call upon thee in my trouble Let the soul of thy servant be refreshed with thy comforts and defend me from the congregations of proud and naughty men Turn thee unto me with mercy give thy strength unto me teach me thy Law make me to walk in thy Truth give me the fear of thy Name and knit my heart unto thee with the indissoluble bands of charity and obedience that my soul being saved from the neathermost hell I may worship in spirit and truth which thou hast manifested unto me in my deliverance and redemption through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen The Collect. O Lord who declarest thy Almighty Power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity mercifully grant unto me such a measure of thy grace that I running the waies of thy Commandments may obtain thy gracious promises and be made partaker of thy heavenly treasure through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A Prayer in time of Sickness and in danger of Death THE Lord is loving unto every man and his mercy is over all his works The eyes of all wait upon thee O Lord and thou givest them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and fillest all things living with plentiousness The Lord is righteous in all his waies and holy in all his works The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him yea all such as call upon him faithfully He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him he will hear their cry and will help them The Lord will preserve all them that love him but
soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a barren and dry ground I remember thy loving kindness of old time I can but wish at least to see thy power and thy glory as I have known thee in thy Sanctuary There is none in Heaven that I desire but thee nor on Earth besides thee My soul followeth hard after thee O when wilt thou come unto me O hide not thy face from thy servant lest I come to misery Hear me speedily for I am poor and needy Make haste unto me O my God thou art my helper and deliverer O Lord make no long tarrying I am come a great way from my friends and kindred and here is none to pity me O my God be not thou far from me Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it I am poor and sorrowful let thy salvation set me up on high for thou who searchest the heart knowest that I set my heart only to seek thee I desire to leave all the world that I may find my happiness only in thee O heavenly Father with my whole heart I desire to do thy blessed will in all things yea thus far I acknowledge thou hast most gratefully conducted me Hitherto I have been highly favoured and wonderfully helped and preserved by thee and wilt thou now at last abandon me who desire at last to have abandoned all things else for thy sake Hast thou called me from mine own Country and from my Fathers house and now to be forsaken by thee O my God give me leave to plead for a soul that I thought was once dear unto thee Pity O pity an heart which thou hast made too great for all the world and cannot be satisfied with less than thee Canst thou see it die for want of one smile from thee yea canst thou let it die of love to thee for that hath brought me thus far to seek thee and wilt thou suffer it to die at thy feet canst thou endure to behold it in thine arms into which it now throws it self with all the force it hath shall it miscarry full of prayers and longings after thee shall it expire in cries and tears when it calls for mercy O where are thy bowels what is become of thine ancient loving kindness are they all forfeited by one offence against thee O my God I cannot think so hardly of thee I begin to live methinks because thou permittest these addresses to thee it inspires me with some hopes to find these holy breathings in me it rejoyces me much that I feel thee drawing my very heart after thee O take it I beseech thee take it quite away from me unto thy self shape it after thine own heart make it such as thou canst embrace it create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore to me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit and all this for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Ejaculations to be used at the Lord's Supper LOrd I am not worthy thou shouldest come under my roof I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Here recollect some of thy greatest sins If thou Lord shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it but with the Lord there is mercy and with him there is plentious redemption Behold O Lord thy Beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased Hearken to the cry of his blood which speaketh better things than that of Abel by his Agony and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion good Lord deliver us O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world grant us thy peace O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Lord for thy mercy sake Amen Devotions for the Help and assistance of all Christian People in all occasions and necessities A Prayer against wandring Thoughts to be said at the beginning of our Devotions ALmighty God who hast commanded us to pray unto thee without ceasing and hast added many glorious promises for our encouragement let thy holy Spirit teach me how to pray Give me just apprehension of my want zeal of thy glory great resentments of thy mercies love of all spiritual employments that are pleasing unto thee and do thou help mine infirmities that the Devil may not abuse my fancy with illusions nor distract my mind with cares nor alienate my thoughts with impertinencies but give me a perfect mind great devotion a heart fixed upon thy Divine Beauties and an actual intention and perseverance in prayer that I may glorifie thy Name do unto thee true and laudable service and obtain relief for all my necessities hear me O King of Heaven when I call upon thee for thou hast promised mercy to them that pray in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen A Penitential Prayer a Form of Confession of sins to God to be said upon daies of publick or private Humiliation O Lord God of mercy and pardon give me a just remembrance and sad apprehension of my many and great sins Teach me to bewail them with as great indignation and bitterness as I have committed them with complacency and delight Let my prayers and my confession come unto thy presence and obtain a mercy for me and a pardon Let not thy Justice and thy severity so remember my sins as to forget thine own mercy and though I have committed that for which I have deserved to be condemned yet thou canst not lose that glorious Attribute whence flows comfort to us and hopes to be saved Spare me therefore O merciful God for to give pardon to a sinner that confesseth his sins and begs Remission it is not impossible to thy Power nor disproportionate to thy Justice nor unusual to thy Mercy and sweetest Clemency Blessed Jesu acknowledge in me whatsoever is thine and cleanse me from whatsoever is amiss Have pity on me now in the time of mercy and condemn me not when thou comest to judgment For what profit is there in my blood Thou delightest not in the death of a sinner but in his conversion there is joy in Heaven And when thou hast delivered me from my sins and saved my soul I shall praise and magnifie thy Name to all eternity mercy sweet Jesus mercy Lord have mercy upon us Christ have mercy upon us Lord have mercy upon us Our Father which art in Heaven c. I Am not worthy O Lord to look up to Heaven which is the Throne of thy Purity for my sins are more in number than the hairs of my head and my heart hath failed me Lord be merciful unto me a sinner I have not lived according to thy will but in the vanity of my own thoughts in idle sinful and impertinent language in foolish actions in blindness of heart in contempt of thy holy Word and Commandments I
have not loved thee with my whole heart nor feared thee with all my soul nor served thee with all my might according to thy holy precepts nor loved my neighbour as my self Lord be merciful unto me a sinner I Have been an unprovident Steward of the good things thou hast given me I have loved them inordinately and sought after them greedily and unjustly dispenced them idly and parted with them unwillingly I have not been so charitable to the poor or so pitiful to the afflicted or so compassionate to the sick or so apt to succour and give supplies to the miseries of my neighbours as I ought but have too much minded things below not seting my affections upon Heaven and heavenly things but have been unlike thee in many things I have been unmerciful and unjust Lord be merciful unto me a sinner MIne Eyes O Lord have wandred after vanity beholding and looking after things unseemly without displeasure despising my neighbours prying into their faults but have been blind not seeing mine own sins and infinite irregularities Lord be merciful unto me a sinner I Have employed all my members and faculties both of soul and body in the waies of unrighteousness I have transgressed in all my relations and in all my actions and traverses of my whole life even when I might have had most confidence I find nothing but weakness and imperfection Lord be merciful unto me a sinner I Have broken my vows and purposes of obedience and holy life I have been inconstant to all good refractory to counsels disobedient to commands stubborn against admonition churlish and ungentle in my behaviour mindful and revengful of injuries forgetful of benefits seeking my own ends deceiving my own soul. Lord be merciful unto me a sinner MY secret sins O Lord are innumerable sins secret to my self through inadvertency forgetfulness wilful ignorance or stupid negligence secret to the world committed before thee only under the witness of mine own conscience I am confounded with the multitude of them and the horrour of their remembrance Lord be merciful unto me a sinner O Son of David blessed Redeemer Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Jesu be a Jesus unto me thou that savedst thy servant Peter that denied thee thrice thou that didst cast seven Devils out of Mary Magdalen and forgavest the woman taken in adultery and didst bear the converted Thief from the Cross to the joyes of Paradice have mercy upon me also for although I have massed together more sins than all these in conjunction yet not their sins nor mine nor the sins of all the world can equal thy glorious mercy which is as infinite and eternal as thy self I acknowledge O Lord that I am vile but yet redeemed with thy precious blood I am blind but thou art the Light of the world I am weak but thou art a strong Rock I have been dead in trespasses and sins but thou art my Resurrection and my Life thou O Lord lovest to shew mercy and the expressions of thy mercy the nearer they come to infinite the more proportionable they are to thy essence and like thy self Behold then O Lord a fit object for thy pity my sins are so great and many that to forgive all will be but an act of glorious mercy and all the praises which did accrew to thy Name by the forgiveness of David and Manesseh and St. Paul and the Adulteress and the Thief and the Publican will be multiplied to thy honour in the forgiveness of me so vile so unworthy a wretch that I have nothing to say for my self but that the greatness of my misery is a fit object for thy miraculous and infinite mercy Despise me not O Lord for I am thy Creature Despise me not for thou didst die for me Cast me not away in thine anger for thou comest to seek me and to save me Say unto my soul Thou art my salvation Let thy Holy Spirit lead me from the errours of my waies into the paths of Righteousness to great degrees of Repentance through all the parts of a holy life to a godly and a holy death grant this O blessed Jesus for thy mercy for thy pity sake Amen A penitential Prayer for the Morning with particular Confession of sins desiring God earnestly to free him from the guilt and punishment that is due unto him for his many and great sins and to give him grace to lead a new life O Eternal God most gracious and merciful Father look not upon me as I am in my self but look upon me in the face of Jesus Christ in him and through him be merciful unto me according to thy Word for I have done amiss and dealt wickedly I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am not worthy to be called thy Son or numbred amongst the meanest of thy servants yet my sins are but the sins of a mortal man but thy mercy is the mercy of an Infinite God therefore have mercy on my sinful soul pardon and forgive me all my known and secret sins which in thought word and deed I have done and committed against thy Divine Majesty for it repenteth me of my evil deeds therefore O Lord have mercy upon me pardon and forgive the sins of my youth and age which are many and great namely the wicked sins of my pride anger dissimulation lying lust unjust dealing too much love of the world and the vanity thereof too little love of thee and thy Kingdom but empty and void of all spiritual grace be merciful unto me O Lord for these are the sins wherewith I have grieved thy Holy Spirit O Lord the remembrance of them is grievous unto me and the burthen of them is intollerable too heavy for me to bear therefore O Lord God be merciful to me according to thy tender compassion bury them all in the burial of Christ set the weight of thy mercy upon them so that they may never rise up in this world to shame me nor in the world to come to condemn me O Lord give me an assurance of the free pardon and forgiveness for these many sins that I may rejoyce in the greatness of thy mercy and magnify thy holy Name to all Eternity for the future give me greater measure of grace to serve honour and humbly obey thee with all the strength of my heart soul and body Mortifie and kill all vice in me that my life may express all faith in thee Mercifully hear the humble supplications of thy poor servant and grant me thy peace all my daies graciously pardon all mine infirmities and defend me from all dangers of soul and body this day and for ever more O Lord guide me in this world with thy counsel and after this bring me to thy glory O Lord bless all thine all the world over all mankind especially this sinful Land and Nation wherein we live turning from us those plagues which the sins of this
end everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen A Thanksgiving O Thou Father of mercy who art kind even to the unthankful I acknowledge my self to have abundantly experimented that gracious property of thine for notwithstanding my daily provocations against thee thou still heapest mercy and loving kindness upon me all my contemnings and despisings thy spiritual favours hath not yet made thee withdraw them but yet in the riches of thy goodness thou still continuest to me the offers of thy grace and life in thy Son and all my abuses of thy temporal blessings thou hast not punished with an utter depravation of them but still art pleased to afford me a liberal portion of them the sins of this day thou hast not repayed as justly thou mightest by sweeping me away with a swift destruction but hast spared me and preserved me according to the greatness of thy mercy here mention the particular mercies of this day What shall I render unto the Lord for all these benefits he hath done unto me Lord let this goodness of thine lead me to hearty repentance and grant that I may not only offer thee thanks and praise but may also order my conversation aright that so I may at the last see the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. Amen Here use the Prayer for grace and that Intercession appointed for the morning For Preservation O Blessed Lord keeper of Israel that neither slumberest nor sleepest be pleased in thy mercy to watch over me this night keep me by thy grace from the works of darkness and defend me by thy power from all dangers grant me moderate rest and sleep such as may fit me for the duties of the next day following and Lord make me ever mindful of that time when I shall lie down in the dust and I know neither the day nor the hour of my Master's coming grant me grace that I may alwaies fear thee and that I may never live in such a state as I shall fear to die but that whether I live I may live unto the Lord or whether I die I may die unto the Lord so that living and dying I may be thine through Jesus Christ. Amen Let thy Bed put thee in mind of thy grave and when thou lyest down say O Blessed Saviour who by thy precious death and burial didst take the sting of death and the power of the grave grant me the joyful fruits of that victory and be thou to me in life and death advantage I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou O Lord only that makest me dwell in safety into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed it O Lord thou God of Truth Collects for several Graces For Faith O Blessed Lord seeing without Faith it is impossible to please thee let thy Spirit I beseech thee work in me such a Faith as may be acceptable in thy sight even such as worketh by Love O let me not rest in a dead ineffectual Faith but grant that it may be such as may shew it self by my works that it may be that victorious Faith which may enable me to overcome the world and conform me to the Image of that Christ on whom I believe that so at the last I may receive the end of my Faith even the salvation of my soul by the same Jesus Christ. Amen For the Love of God O Holy and gracious Lord who art infinitely excellent in thy self and infinitely bountiful and compassionate towards me I beseech thee suffer not my heart to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin but let the offers of thy Love make deep impressions on my soul. Lord thou art pleased to require my heart and thou only hast right to it O let me not be so sacriligiously unjust as to alienate any part of it but enable me to render it up whole and entire to thee but O my God thou seest it already usurped the world with its vanities hath seized it and like a strong man armed keeps possession O thou who art stronger come upon him and take this unworthy heart of mine as thine own spoil refine it with that purifying fire of thy Love that it may be a fit habitation for thy Spirit Lord if thou seest it be pleased to make me taste of those Joyes those ravishments of thy Love wherewith thy soul hath been so transported But if in this I know not what I ask if I may not chuse my place in thy Kingdom yet O Lord deny me not to drink of thy Cup let me have such a sincerity and degree of Love as may make me endure any thing for thy sake such a perfect Love as may cast out all fear and all sloth too that nothing may seem to me grievous to suffer or too difficult to do in obedience to thee that so expressing my love by keeping thy Commandments I may by thy mercy at last obtain that Crown of Glory which thou hast promised to those that love thee through Jesus Christ. Amen For Devotion in Prayer O Most gracious Lord God who not only permittest us miserable sinners and needy creatures to present our petitions to thee grant I beseech thee that the frequency of my prayer may be somewhat proportionable to those continual needs I have of thy mercy Lord I confess it is the greatest honour and greatest advantage thus to be allowed access to thee yet sottish and stupid is my prophane heart that it shuns or frustrates the opportunities of it My soul O Lord is possest with a spirit of infirmity it is bowed together and can in no wise lift up it self to thee O be thou pleased to cure this sad this miserable disease to raise and enliven this earthly drowsy heart that it may freely mount towards thee that I may set a true value on this most valuable priviledge and take delight in my approaching to thee and that my approaches may be with a reverence some way answerable to that awful Majesty I come before with an importunity and earnestness answerable to those pressing wants I have to be supplied and with such a fixed attention of mind as no wandring thoughts may interrupt that I may no more incur the guilt of drawing near to thee with my lips when my heart is far from thee or my prayers turned into sin but may so ask that I may receive seek that I may find knock that it may be open unto me that from praying to thee here I may be translated to the praising thee eternally in thy glory through the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ. Amen For the Fear of God O Most glorious Majesty who only art High and to be feared possess my soul with a holy awe and reverence of thee that I may give thee the honour due to thy Name and may bear such a respect to all things which relate to thee that I may never prophane any holy thing or sacriligiously invade what thou hast set
returned I desire with all the most fervent and inflamed affections of a grateful heart to bless and praise thee for those inestimable mercies thou hast vouchsafed me O Lord what is man that thou shouldest so regard him as to send thy Beloved Son to suffer such bitter things for him But Lord what am I the worst of men that I should have any part of this Sacrament who have so often despised him and his sufferings O the height and depth of this mercy of thine that art pleased to admit me to the renewing of that Covenant with thee which I have so often and perversly broken that I who am not worthy of that daily bread which sustains the body should be made partaker of this bread of life which nourisheth the soul and that the God of all purity should vouchsafe to unite himself to so polluted a wretch O my God suffer me no more I beseech thee to turn thy grace into wantonness to make thy mercy an occasion of security but let this unspeakable love of thine confirm me to obedience that since my blessed Lord died for me I may no longer live unto my self but to him O Lord I know there is no concord between Christ and Belial therefore since he hath now been pleased to enter my heart O let me never permit any lust to chase him thence but let him that hath so dearly bought me still keep possession of me and let nothing ever take me out of his hand To this end be thou graciously pleased to watch over me and defend me from all assaults of my spiritual enemies but graciously and specially from my self from the treachery of my own heart which is too willing to yield it self a prey and where thou seest me either by nature or custom most weak there do thou I beseeeh thee magnifie thy power in my preservations here mention thy most dangerous temptations and Lord let my Saviours sufferings for my sins and the vows that I have now made against them never depart from my mind but let the remembrance of the one enable me to perform the other that I may never make truce with those lusts which nailed his hands piercing his side and made his soul heavy to the death but that having now anew listed my self under his banner I may fight manfully and follow the Captain of my salvation even through a Sea of blood Lord strengthen the hands that fall down and feeble knees that I faint not in this warfare O be thou my strength who am not able of my self to struggle with the slightest temptations how often have I turned my back in the day of battel how many of these Sacramental Vows have I violated and Lord I have still the same unconstant deceitful heart to betray me to the breach of this O thou who art Yea and Amen in whom there is no shadow of change communicate unto me I beseech thee such stability of mind that I may no more thus start aside like a broken Bow but that having my heart wholly with thee I may continue stedfast in thy Covenant that not one good purpose which thy Spirit hath raised in me this day may vanish as so many have done formerly but that they may bring forth good fruit unto life eternal grant this O merciful Father through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ my only Saviour Amen A Prayer of Intercession to be used either before or after the Receiving of the Sacrament O Most gracious Lord who so tenderly lovest all mankind as to give thy Son out of thy bosom to be a propitiation for the sins of the whole world grant that the effect of this Redemption may be as universal as the design of it that it may be to the salvation of all O let no person by impenitence and wilful sin forfeit his part in it but by the power of thy grace bring all even the most obstinate sinners to repentance enlightning all in darkness Hereticks Jews Turks and Infidels take from them all blindness hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and so fetch them home Blessed Lord bring them into thy fold that they may be saved among the number of the true Israel and for all those upon whom the Name of thy Son is called grant O Lord that their conversion may be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ that his Name be no longer blasphemed amongst the Heathens through us O blessed Lord how long shall Christendom continue the vilest part of the world a sink of all abominable pollutions which even Barbarians detest O let not our profession and our practice be alwaies at so wide a distance let not the Disciples of the holy Immaculate Jesus be of all others the most prophane and impure let not the subjects of the Prince of Peace be of all others the most contentious and bloody but make us Christians indeed as well as in Name that we may walk worthy of that holy Vocation wherewith we are called and may all with one mind and one mouth glorifie the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have mercy on this languishing Church look down from Heaven the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory where is thy zeal and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy heart towards us are they restrained be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember our iniquities for ever but though our backslidings are many and we have grievously rebelled yet according to all thy goodness let thine anger and thy fury be turned away and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary which is desolate for the Lords sake and so separate betwixt us and our sins that they may no longer separate between us and our God Save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours specially to whom we owe subjection plead thou their Cause O Lord against those that strive with them and fight thou against those that fight against them and so guide and assist them in the discharge of that Office whereunto thou hast appointed them that under them we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty Bless them that wait at thine Altar open thou their lips that their mouth may set forth thy praise O let not the Light of the World be put under bushels but place them in their Candlesticks that they may give light to all that are in the house Let not Jeroboams Priests prophane thy service but let the seed of Aarons Hill minister unto thee And O thou Father of mercies and God of all comfort succour and relieve all that are in affliction deliver the out-cast and poor help them to right that suffer wrong let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before thee and according to thee greatness of thy power preserve them that are appointed to die Grant ease to those that are in pain supplies to those that are in want Give to all presumptuous sinners a sense of their sins and to all
will be at last O Lord hear me and as thou hast in much mercy afforded me time so grant me all grace to work out my salvation to provide Oil in my Lamp that when the Bridegroom cometh I may go in with him to the marriage grant this I beseech thee for thy dear Sons sake Amen A Prayer at the approach of Death O Eternal and everlasting God who breathed into man the breath of life and when thou takest away that breath he dies and is turned again into dust look with compassion on me thy poor creature who am now drawing near the gates of death and which is infinitely terrible the Bar of Judgment Lord my own heart condemns me and thou art infinitely greater than my heart and thou knowest all things the sins I remember fill me with horrour There are also multitudes of other sins which I either observed not at all times or have since carelesly forgotten which are all present with thee Thou settest my misdeeds before thee and my secret sins in the sight of thy countenance and what a mountainous heap those eminent provocations of so many years arise to how long shall so ungodly a sinner stand in thy Judgment or such a sinner in the Congregation of the Righteous And to add more terrour my very countenance and repentance I fear will not abide thy tryal my frequent relapses heretofore have sufficiently witnessed the insincerity of my heart and best resolutions and then O Lord what can secure me that my present dislikes of my sins are not rather the effects of my amazing danger than of any real change And O Lord I know thou art not nor wilt accept of any thing that is not sincere O Lord when I consider this fearfulness and trembling comes upon me and a horrible dread overwhelms me my flesh trembleth for fear of thee and my heart is wounded within me But O Lord who wills not the death of a sinner be merciful unto me One deep calleth upon another the depth of my misery upon the depth of thy mercy Lord save me now or I perish eternally O thou who willest not that any should perish but that all should come to repentance such as thou wilt accept who tryest the heart create in me O God a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me O Lord one day with thee is better than a thousand elsewhere O let thy mighty Spirit work in me now in this my last day whatsoever thou seest wanting to fit me for mercy and acceptation Give me a perfect and an entire hatred of all my sins and enable me to present thee with a sacrifice of a broken and a contrite heart which thou hast promised not to despise that by this I may be made capable of that atonement which thy dear Son hath by the more excellent oblation of himself made for all repenting sinners he is the Propitiation for our sins he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisements of our peace was upon him O heal me by these stripes and let the cry of his blood cry down the clamour of my sins I am indeed the child of wrath but he is the Son of thy Love for his sake spare me O Lord spare thy poor creature whom he hath redeemed with his most precious blood and be not angry with me for ever O let not thy vengeance pursue me to this City of Refuge my soul hangeth upon him Oh let me not perish with a Jesus with a Saviour in my arms but by his agony and bloody sweat by his Cross and Passion by all that he did and suffered for sinners good Lord deliver me deliver me I beseech thee from the wages of sin thy wrath and everlasting damnation in the time of my tribulation in the hour of death and in the day of judgment Hear me O Lord hear me and do not repay me for my former neglects of thy calls by refusing to answer me in this time of my greatest need Lord there 's but a step between me and death but seal my pardon before I go hence and be no more seen Thy loving-kindness is better than life it self Oh let me have that in exchange and I shall most gladly lay down this mortal life O Lord thou knowest all my desire and my groaning is not hid from thee deal thou with me O Lord according to thy Name for sweet is thy mercy take away the sting of death the guilt of my sins and then though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil I will lay me down in peace and Lord when I awake let me be satisfied with thy presence in thy glory grant this merciful God for his sake who is both the Mediator and Redeemer of sinners even Jesus Christ. Amen PUT me not to rebuke O Lord in thine anger neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure There is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my soul by reason of my sins for my wickedness is gone over my head and are a sore burthen too heavy for me to bear My wounds stink and corrupt through my foolishness therefore is my spirit vexed within me and my heart within me is desolate My sins have taken such hold upon me that I go in mourning all the day long yea they are more in number than the hairs of my head and my heart hath failed me but thou O Lord God art full of compassion and mercy long-suffering plenteous in goodness and truth turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and in misery If thou Lord shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it O remember not the sins of my youth and my offence but according to thy mercy think upon me for thy goodness look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my sins Hide not thy face from thy servant for I am in trouble O haste thee and hear me out of the deep do I call unto thee O Lord hear my voice Turn thee O Lord and deliver my soul O save me for thy mercy sake O go not far from me for trouble is hard at hand and there is none to help me I stretch forth my hand unto thee my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land draw nigh unto my soul and save it O deliver me because of mine enemies for my soul is full of trouble and my life draweth nigh unto hell Save me from the Lions mouth Hear me from among the horns of the Unicorns O set me upon the Rock that is higher than I for thou art my hope and a strong Tower for me against the enemy Why art thou so heavy O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his countenance The Lord shall make good his loving kindness towards me
of thy blood to perish O Spirit of grace I have by my horrid impieties done despight unto thee yet O blessed Comforter though I have offended thee and often grieved thy Holy Spirit be thou pleased to succour and relieve me and say unto my soul I am thy salvation Mine eyes look unto thee O Lord in thee is my trust O cast not out my soul. O Lord in thee have I trusted let me never be confounded O blessed Lord who scourgest every Son whom thou receivest let me not be weary of thy correction but give me such a perfect submission to thee the Father of spirits that this chastisement may be for my profit that I may thereby be partaker of thy holiness O thou Captain of my salvation who wert made perfect by sufferings sanctifie to me all the pains of body all the terrours of mind which thou shalt permit to fall upon me Lord my sins have deserved eternal torments make me cheerfully and thankfully to bear my present pains chasten me as thou pleasest here that I may not be condemned with the world Lord the waters are come in even unto my soul O let thy Spirit move upon the waters and make them like the Pool of Bethesda that they may cure whatsoever spiritual disease thou discernest in me O Christ who first sufferedst many and grievous things and then enteredst into thy grave make me so to suffer with thee that I may also be glorified with thee O dear Jesus who humblest thy self to the death of the Cross for me let that death of thine sweeten the bitterness of mine When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers I believe that thou shalt come to be my Judge I pray thee therefore help thy servant whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood make me to be numbred with Saints in glory everlasting Thou art the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in thee though he were dead yet shall he live Lord I believe help thou my unbelief My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better Lord I groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with that house from Heaven I desire to put off this Tabernacle O be pleased to receive me into everlasting habitations bring my soul out of prison that I may give thanks unto thy Name Lord I am here to wrestle not only with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness O take me from these tents of Kedar into the heavenly Jerusalem where Satan shall be utterly trodden under foot I cannot here attend one minute to thy service without distractions O take me up to stand before thy Throne where I shall serve thee day and night I am in heaviness through many tribulations O receive me into that place of rest where all tears shall be wiped away from my eyes where there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain I am here in the state of banishment and absence from the Lord. O take me where I shall for ever behold thy face and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of glory O blessed Jesu who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood receive my soul. Into thine hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen A Prayer for the Morning O Most mighty and gracious God full of incomprehensible Power and Majesty whose glory the very Heaven of Heavens is not able to contain look down from Heaven upon me thy unworthy servant who here prostrate my self at the footstool of thy Throne of grace not as I am in my self but look upon me O Father through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased for of my self I am not able to stand in thy presence or to speak with my unclean lips to so holy a God as thou art for thou knowest that in sin I was conceived and born and that I have lived ever since in iniquity so that I have broken all thy holy Laws and Commandments by sinful motions unclean thoughts evil words and wicked works omitting many of those duties of piety which thou requirest for thy service and committing many of those vices which thou under the penalty of thy displeasure hast forbidden here thou mayest confess to God thy secret sins which most burden thy conscience with the circumstances of the time place person and the manner how it is committed saying but more especially I do here with grief of heart confess unto thee for these my sins O Lord I stand guilty of thy curse with all the miseries of this life and the life to come namely everlasting torment in Hell fire when this wretched life is ended If thou shouldest deal with me according to my deserts yea Lord I confess thy goodness which endureth for ever is the cause I have not been long ago consumed and confounded but with thee O Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption in the multitude therefore of thy mercies and confidence in Christs merits I intreat thy Divine Majesty that thou wouldest not enter into judgment with thy servant neither be extream to mark what I have hitherto done amiss for if thou dost then no flesh can be justified in thy sight nor any living stand in thy presence but be thou merciful unto me and wash away all the uncleanness of my sins in the merits of that precious blood which Jesus Christ hath shed for me and seeing that he hath born the burden of that curse which was due for my transgression O Lord deliver me from my sins and from all those Judgments which hang over my head as due unto me for them and separate them as far from thy presence as the East is from the West bury them in the burial of Christ that they may never rise up in this world to shame me nor in the world to come to condemn me And I beseech thee O Lord not only to wash away my sins with the blood of thy Immaculate Lamb but also to purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit from the dross of my natural corruptions that I may feel thy Spirit more and more killing my sins in the power and practice thereof so that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee the ever living God in Righteousness and true Holiness this day and give me grace that by the direction and assistance of thy Holy Spirit I may persevere to be thy faithful and unfeigned servant unto my lifes end and when this mortal life is ended I may be made partaker of immortality and everlasting
justly deserved all shame and misery in this life and everlasting condemnation in Hell fire if that thou shouldest but deal with me according to thy Justice and my deserts Wherefore O heavenly Father I humbly beseech thee for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake and for the merits of that bloody death and passion which I believe he hath suffered for me that thou wouldest pardon and forgive me all my sins and deliver me from the Hell and vengeance which is due unto me for them and send thy holy Spirit into my heart which may assure me that thou art my Father and that I am thy child and that thou lovest me with an unchangeable love and let thy good Spirit lead me into all truth and crucifie in me more and more carnal lusts that my sin may more and more die in me and that I may serve thee in Righteousness and true Holiness all the daies of my life and when this mortal life is ended I may through thy mercy in Christ be made partaker of thine everlasting glory in thy heavenly Kingdom And here O Lord from the bottom of my heart I humbly thank thee for all thy blessings bestowed upon my soul and body for electing me in thy Love for redeeming me by thy Son sanctifying me by thy Spirit and preserving me from my youth up until this present day and hour by thy gracious providence I thank thee more especially for that thou hast defended me this night past from all danger and hast brought me safe to the beginning of this day and now good Lord I beseech thee keep me this day from all peril and danger and from all evil that may hurt me and from falling into all sin that should offend thee set thy fear before mine eyes and let thy holy Spirit so rule my heart that all that I shall think do or speak this day may tend to thy glory the good of others and the peace of my own conscience and to this end I commend my self and all my waies and actions together with all that do belong unto me unto thy gracious protection this day praying thee to keep both thine and me from all evil and to give a blessing to all our honest labours and endeavours defend thy whole Church from the tyranny of this world and of Antichrist preserve our gracious King from all conspiracy and treason grant him a long reign in health and happiness over us Bless our gracious Queen Katherine James Duke of York and all the rest of the Royal Family endue them with thy grace and defend them from all evil Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates with all those graces and gifts which thou knowest necessary for their places Be favourable to all those that fear thee and call upon thy Name and tremble at thy judgments Comfort all those that are sick or any way comfortless O Lord keep me in a continual readiness by faith and repentance for my last end that whether I live or die I may be found thine own to thine eternal glory and my everlasting salvation through Jesus Christ my only Saviour in whose blessed Name I beg these mercies at thy hands and give unto thee thy praise and glory in that prayer which he hath sanctified with his own lips saying Our Father c. A Prayer for the Evening O most gracious and loving Father who art about my bed and knowest my lying down and my rising up and art near unto all that call upon thee in Truth and sincerity I a wretched sinner do humbly beseech thee to look upon me with the eyes of mercy and not to behold me as I am in my self for then thou shalt see but an unclean and defiled creature conceived in sin and living in iniquity so that I am ashamed to lift up my eyes unto thee knowing how grievously I have sinned against Heaven and before thee for O Lord I have transgressed all thy Commandments and Righteous Laws not through negligence and infirmity but oftentimes through wilful presumption contrary to my knowledge and the motions of thy holy Spirit reclaiming me from them so that I have wounded my conscience and grieved thy holy Spirit by whom thou hast sealed me to the day of Redemption Thou hast consecrated my soul and body to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost I wretched sinner have defiled both with all manner of pollution and uncleanness mine eyes in taking pleasure to behold vanities that I am ashamed to lift up my eyes unto thee mine ears in hearing impure and unclean speeches my tongue in evil speaking my hands are so full of impurity that I am ashamed to lift them up unto thee and my feet have carried me after mine own waies my understanding and reasonings which are so quick in all earthly matters are only blind and stupid when I come to meditate or discourse of spiritual and heavenly things my memory which should be a treasury of all goodness is not so apt to remember any thing as those things that are vile and vain yea Lord by woful experience I find that naturally all the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are only evil altogether and continually for these my sins are more in number than the hairs of my head and they have grown over me like a loathsom leprosie from the crown of my head to the soal of my feet there remains no part which they have not infected they make me seem vile in mine own eyes how much more abominable must I appear in thy sight the custom of sinning hath almost taken away the conscience of sin and pull'd upon me such dulness of sense and hardness of heart that thy judgments denounced against my sins by the faithful Preachers of thy Word do not terrifie me to return unto thee with unfeigned repentance and if thou Lord shouldest but deal with me according to thy Justice and my deserts I should utterly be confounded and condemned but seeing that of thine own mercy thou hast spared me so long and still waitest for my repentance I humbly beseech thee for the blood death and passions sake which Jesus Christ hath suffered for me that thou wouldest pardon and forgive me all my sins and mine offences and open unto me that ever-streaming fountain of the blood of Christ which thou hast promised to open under the New Testament to the penitent of the house of David that all my sins and uncleanness may be so bathed in his blood buried in his death and hid in his wounds that they never more be seen to shame me in this life nor to condemn me in the world to come before the judgment seat of God And for as much O Lord as thou knowest that it is not in man to turn his own heart unless thou first give him grace to convert And seeing it is as easie with thee to make me righteous and holy as to suffer me to be such O my God give me grace to do what thou hast commanded then
into any gross sins especially those whereunto our natures are most prone set a watch before the door of our lips that we offend not thy Divine Majesty by any rash or false oaths or by any leud or lying speeches give unto us patient minds pure and chast hearts and all other graces of thy Spirit which thou knowest to be needful for us that we may be the better enabled to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the daies of our life and seeing that all mens labours are in vain without thy blessing bless every one of us in our several places and callings direct thou the works of our hands upon us even prosper thou our handy-works for except thou guide us with thy grace our endeavours can have no good success and provide for us all things which thou O Father knowest to be needful for every one of us in our souls and bodies this day and grant that we may pass through the pilgrimage of this short life that our hearts being not settled upon any transitory things which we meet with in the way our souls may every day be more and more ravished with the love of our home and thine everlasting Kingdom Defend likewise O Lord thy universal Church and every particular member thereof especially we beseech thee to continue the peace and tranquility of these Churches and Kingdoms wherein we live preserve from all evil and dangers our most gracious King Charles endue his Royal heart with more and more grace wisdom and understanding and grant that his daies may be long prosperous and happy Bless our gracious Queen Katherine James Duke of York and all the Royal Family multiply their daies with bliss and felicity and afterwards crown them with everlasting joy and glory Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates with all graces needful for their places govern thou them that they may govern us in peace godliness and true Religion and of thy mercy O Lord comfort all our Brethren that are distressed sick or comfortless especially those who are afflicted either with an evil conscience because they have sinned against thy Word or for a good conscience because they will not sin against the Truth make the first to know that not one drop of the blood of Christ was a drop of vengeance but all drops of grace powerful to procure pardon upon repentance for the greatest sins of the chiefest sinners in the world and for the other let not O Lord thy long sufferance either too much discourage them or too much incourage their enemies but grant them patience in suffering and a gracious and speedy deliverance which may stand best with thy glory and their comfort and give every one of us grace to be alwaies mindful of his last end and to be alwaies prepared with faith and repentance as with a weding garment against the time thou shalt call for us out of this sinful world and that in the mean while we may in all things and above all things seek thy glory that when this mortal life is ended we may then be made partakers of Immortality and Life eternal in thy heavenly Kingdom these and all other graces and blessings which thou O heavenly Father seest to be necessary for us and for thy whole Church we humbly beg and crave at thy hands concluding this our imperfect prayer in that most perfect form of prayer which Christ himself hath taught us saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. Evening Prayer for a Family O Eternal God and most merciful Father we thine unworthy servants here assembled do cast down our selves at the foosttool of thy grace acknowledging our selves that we inherit our Fathers corruption in thought word and deed transgressing thy holy Commandments so that in us naturally there dwelleth nothing that is good for our hearts are full of secret pride anger impatience dissembling lying lust vanity prophaneness distrust too much love of our selves too little love of thee and thy Kingdom but full of enmity and void of love patience and every spiritual grace if thou therefore shouldest enter into judgment with us and search out our natural corruptions and observe all the cursed fruit and effects that we have derived from thence Satan might justly challenge us for his own and we could not expect any from thy Majesty but thy wrath and our condemnation which we have long ago deserved But good Father for Jesus Christ his sake who is thy dear Son in whom only thou art well pleased and for the merits of that bitter death and passion which we believe he hath suffered for us have mercy upon us and free us from the shame and confusion which is due unto us for them that they may never seize upon us to our confusion in this life or to condemnation in the world which is to come And for as much as thou hast created us to serve thee as all other creatures to serve us so we humbly beseech thee inspire thy Holy Spirit into our hearts that by his illumination and effectual working we may have the inward sight and feeling of our sins and natural corruptions and that we may not be blinded in them through custom as the Reprobate are but that we may more and more loath them and be heartily grieved for them endeavouring by the use of all good means to overcome them and get out of them O let us feel the power of Christ's death killing sin in our mortal bodies and the vertue of his Resurrection raising up our souls to newness of life convert our hearts subdue our affections regenerate our minds purifie our natures and suffer us not to be drowned in the streams of those filthy vices and sinful pleasures wherewith thousands are carried headlong to eternal destruction but daily frame us more and more to the likeness of thy Son Jesus Christ that in Righteousness and true Holiness we may so serve and glorifie thee that living in thy fear and dying in thy favour we may in thy appointed time attain to the blessed Resurrection of the Just unto eternal life in the mean while O Lord increase our faith in the sweet promises of the Gospel and our repentance from dead works the assurance of our hopes in thy promises our fear of thy Name the hatred of all our sins and our love unto thy children especially whom we see to stand in need of our help and comfort that so by the fruit of piety and a righteous life we may be assured that thy Holy Spirit doth dwell in us and that we are thy children by grace and adoption and grant us good Father the continuance of health peace and maintenance and all other outward good things so far forth as thy Divine Wisdom shall think meet to be requisite and necessary for every one And here O Lord according to our bounden duty we confess that thou hast been exceeding merciful unto us all in things of this life but infinitely more merciful in the things of
from that curse and judgment which is due unto me for them Thou that didst justifie the contrite Publican for four words of confession and receivedst the prodigal Child when he had spent all the stock of grace into favour upon his repentance pardon all my sins likewise O Lord and suffer me not to perish for my transgressions O spare me for thy mercy sake and receive me unto favour again Wilt thou O Lord reject me who hast received all Publicans and sinners that upon repentance sued unto thee for grace Shall I alone be excluded from thy mercy far be it from me to think so for thou art the same God of mercy unto me that thou wast unto them and thy compassion never fails wherefore O Lord deal not with me after my merits but according to thy great mercy execute not thy severe justice against me a sinner but execute thy long-sufferance in forbearing thine own creature I have nothing to present unto thee for a satisfaction but only those bloody wounds bitter death and passion which thy blessed Son my only Saviour hath suffered for me him in whom only thou art well pleased I offer up unto thee for all my sins wherewith thou art displeased he my Mediator the request of whose blood speaking better things than that of Abel thy mercy can never gainsay illuminate my understanding and sanctifie my heart with thy holy Spirit that it may bring to my remembrance all those good and profitable lessons which this day or at any other time hath been taught unto me out of thy holy Word that I may remember them thy Commandments to keep them thy Judgments to avoid them and thy sweet promises to rely upon them in time of misery and distress and now O Lord I resign my self to thy most holy Will O receive me into thy favour and so draw me by thy grace unto thy self that I may as well be thine by Love and Implantation as by Calling and Creation and give me grace so to keep holy thy Sabbath in this life as that when this life is ended I may with all thy Saints and Angels celebrate an eternal rest of joy and praise to the honour of thy most holy Name in thy heavenly Kingdom for ever more Amen Devotions for several Occasions In the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Morning Prayer O Eternal Son of Righteousness who camest from the bosom of the Father to enlighten the darkness of the world I praise thy Name that thou hast preserved me from the danger of this night and hast continued to me still the opportunities of serving thee and advancing my hopes of a blessed eternity let thy mercies shine brightly upon me and dissipate the clouds and darknesses of my spirit and understanding rectifie my affections and purifie my will and all my actions that whatsoever I shall do or suffer this day or in my whole life my words and purposes my thoughts and all my intentions may be sanctified and be acceptable to thy Divine Majesty Amen Grant that my understanding may know thee my heart may love thee and all my faculties and powers may give thee due obedience and serve thee preserve me this day from all sin and danger from all violences and snares of mine enemies visible or invisible let thy holy fear be as a bridle to my distemperatures and thy love so enkindle and actuate all my endeavours that no pleasures or allurements of the world may draw me from thy service nor any difficulty or temptation may be my hinderance let the profound humility and innocence of my blessed Saviour keep from me all pride and haughtiness of mind all self-love and vain-glory all obstinacy and disobedience all fraudulency and hurtful dissimulation and let the graces of the Holy Ghost take such absolute possession and seisure of my soul and all his faculties that I may bring down and east out the spirit of uncleanness and intemperance of malice and envy idleness and disdain that I may never despise any of thy creatures but my self that so being little in my own fight I may be great in thine Amen An Evening Prayer In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Our Father which art in Heaven c. O Lord God who art the light and splendor of souls in the brightness of thy countenance is eternal day that knows no night in thy arms and in thy protection is all quietness tranquility and everlasting repose while the darkness covers the face of the earth receive my body and soul into thy custody let not the spirits of darkness come near my dwelling neither suffer my fancy to be abused with the illusions of the night Lord I am thy servant and the sheep of thy pasture let not the Devil who goeth up and down seeking whom he may devour abuse my body or make a prey of my soul but defend me from all those calamities which I have deserved and protect my soul that it consent not to any work of darkness lest mine enemy say he hath prevailed over me or do mischief to a soul redeemed with thy most precious blood Amen Pardon and forgive me all the sins and offences of my youth and age the errours of mine understanding the inordination of mine affections the irregularity of all my actions and particularly of whatsoever I have transgressed this day in thought word or deed Lord let not thy wrath arise for although I have deserved the extremest pressure of thine indignation yet remember my infirmity and how thou hast sent thy Son to reveal thy infinite mercy to us and convey pardon and salvation to the penitent I beseech thee also to accept the heartiest devotion and humble acknowledgment of a thankful heart for all thy blessings and preservation of me this day for unless thy providence and grace had been my defence and guide I had committed more and more grievous sins against thee and had been swallowed up by thy just wrath and severest judgments mercy sweet Jesus Amen Grant unto thy servant true humility great contrition a tender conscience and obedient heart an understanding alwaies busied in honest and pious thoughts a wiling tractable heart and ever prone to do good affections even and moderate a watchful custody over my senses that by those windows sin may never enter in nor death by sin make me to watch over my tongue and keep the door of my lips that no corrupt or unseemly communication proceed out of my mouth that I may never slander calumniate or detract from the reputation of my neighbour that I be not busie in the faults of others but careful to correct my own being gentle and merciful to others severe towards my self that I may speak much of thy praises and what I can for the edification of my Brethren Amen Give me a soul watchful in the service of Religion constant in holy purposes
Pit I humbly also beg mercy for my Child grant a comely body and an understanding soul life and an opportunity of Baptism and thy grace from the cradle to his grave that it may increase the number of Saints in that holy fellowship of Saints and Angels where thou raignest and livest Eternal God world without end Amen Before a Journey O Lord who didst lead thy servants Abraham and Jacob thy people Israel thy servant Tobias and wise men of the East in their several Journies by thy providence by thy Ministry of Angels by a Pillar of Fire and by the guidance of a Star vouchsafe to preserve us thy servants in the way that we are now to go be O Lord a guide unto us in our preparation a shadow in the day and covering by night a rest to our weariness and a staff to our weakness a portion in adversity a protection from danger that by thy assistance we may perform our Journey safely to thy honour to our own comfort and last bring us to the everlasting Rest of our heavenly Country through him who is the way the truth and the life our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen For Afflicted persons O Lord God merciful and gracious Father whose compassion extends to all that are in misery and need that takest delight in relieving the distresses of the afflicted give refreshment to all the comfortless provide for the poor give ease to all them that are tormented with sharp pains health to the diseased liberty and redemption to the captives chearfulness of spirit to all them that are in great desolation Lord let thy Spirit confirm all them that are strong strengthen all them that are weak and speak peace to the afflicted conscience that the light of thy countenance being restored to them they may rejoyce in thy salvation and sing praises unto thy Name who hast delivered their souls from death their eyes from tears and their feet from falling grant this for the honour of thy mercy and the glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer against Temptations O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ thy Name is great thy Essence infinite thy Goodness is Eternal and thy Power hath no limit thou art the God and Father of all blessed for ever more look down in mercy and compassion from thy dwelling hear my prayers and supplications and deliver me from all temptations of the world the flesh and the Devil take not thy grace from me let me never want thy help in my need nor thy comfort in the day of my danger or calamity never try me beyond my strength nor afflict me beyond my patience nor smite me but with a fatherly Rod I have no strength of my own thou art my confidence my Rock and my strong salvation save me O God from the miseries of this world and never let me suffer the calamities of the next rescue me from the evils I have deserved and preserve me from the punishment of this world that living before thee with a clean heart and undefiled body and a sanctified spirit I may at the day of Judgment be presented pure and spotless by the blood of the Lamb that I may sing eternal Hallelujahs in heavenly places to the honour of God our Saviour who hath redeemed our souls from death our eyes from tears and our feet from falling grant this in the riches of thy mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A General Confesson ALmighty God I a miserable sinner do humbly confess that I am truly sorrowful for my many and great my innumerable and intollerable crimes of which my conscience does accuse me by night and by day and by which I have provoked thy severest wrath and indignation against me I have broken all thy Righteous Laws and Commandments by word or deed by vain thoughts or sinful desires I have sinned against thee in all my Relations and capacities in all places and at all times I can neither reckon their number nor bear their burden nor suffer thine anger which I have deserved but thou O Lord God art merciful and gracious have mercy upon me pardon me for all the evil I have done judge me not for all the good I have omitted take not thy favour from me but delight thou to sanctifie and save me and work in me to will and to do of thy good pleasure all my duty which thou O Lord requirest of me that being sanctified by thy Spirit delivered from my sins I may serve thee in a religious and holy conversation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer used by His late Majesty in the time of his trouble and restraint O Most glorious Lord God Father Son and Holy Ghost I here humbly adore thy most sacred Majesty and I bless and magnifie thy Name for that thou hast been pleased so often and strangely to deliver me from the striving of my people Father forgive them who have thus risen up against me and do thou yet turn their hearts both unto thee and unto me and do thou afford me help that I being firmly established in the Throne thou hast placed me in may defend thy Church committed to my care and keep all this thine and my people in truth and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer for pardon of Sin ALmighty and most merciful Father look down upon me thy unworthy servant who here prostrate my self at the footstool of thy Throne of Grace yea look upon me O Father through the mediation and in the merits of Jesus Christ in whom only thou art well pleased for of my self I am not worthy to stand before thee or to speak with my unclean lips unto thee most holy and eternal God for as in sin I was conceived and born so likewise I have broken all thy holy Laws and Commandments by my sinful motions unclean thoughts evil words and wicked works omitting my duties I ought to do and committing many vices which thou hast forbidden under pain of death of thy heavy displeasure As for my sins O Lord they are innumerable wherefore I stand here liable to all the miseries of this life and everlasting torment in that to come if thou shouldest deal with me according to my deserts I confess Lord that it is thy mercy which endureth for ever and thy compassion which never fails which is the cause I have not been long ago consumed but with thee there is mercy and plenteous redemption in the multitude therefore of thy mercies and by the merits of Jesus Christ I intreat thy Divine Majesty that thou wilt not enter into judgment with thy servant nor be extream to mark what is done amiss but be thou merciful unto me and wash away all my sins and transgressions with that precious blood that my Saviour shed for me and I beseech thee O Lord not only to wash away all my sins but also to purge my heart by thy holy Spirit from the dross
of my natural corruption and as thou dost add daies to my life so good Lord I beseech thee to add repentance to my daies that when I have past this mortal life I may be partaker of thy heavenly Kingdom through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer and Confession in and for the time of Affliction ALmighty and most merciful Father it is only thy goodness that admits of my imperfect prayers and the knowledge that thy mercies are infinite which can give me any hope of thy acceptance or granting them for it is my bounden and necessary duty to confess my sins freely unto thee and of all men living I have need of and most reason so to do no man living hath been so much obliged by thee for that degree of knowledge which thou hast given me adding likewise the guilt of my transgression for it is through failing and imperfection that I have so many waies provoked thy gracious Majesty to wrath and indignation against me but with shame and grief I confess that I have done amiss and dealt wickedly that therein I followed the perswasion of worldly wisdom forsaking the dictates of a right informed conscience wherefore O Lord I have no excuse to make no hope left but in the multitude of thy mercies for I know my repentance is weak and my prayers are faulty grant therefore O most merciful Father so to strengthen my repentance and amend my prayers that thou mayest clear the way for thine own mercies to which O let thy Justice at last give place putting a speedy end to my deserved afflictions In the mean time give me patience to endure constancy against temptations and a discerning spirit to chuse what is best for thy glory and my comfort and the good of others grant this O most merciful Father for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake our only Saviour Amen A Prayer in time of Captivity O Powerful and Eternal God to whom nothing is so great that it may resist or so small that it is contemned look upon my miseries with the eye of mercy and let thy infinite power vouchsafe to limit out some proportion of deliverance unto me as to thee shall seem most convenient let not injury O Lord triumph over me and let my falls by thy hand be corrected and make not my unjust enemies the Ministers of thy Justice but yet my God if in thy wisdom this be the aptest castisement for my inexcusable transgressions if this ungrateful bondage be fittest for my over high desires if the pride of my not enough humble heart be to be thus broken O Lord I yield to thy Will chearfully embracing what sorrow thou wilt have me suffer only thus much let me crave of thee Let my craving O Lord be acceptable unto thee since it even proceeds from thee that by goodness which is thy self thou will suffer some beam of thy Majesty so to shine in my heart that I who acknowledge it my noblest title to be thy creature may still in my greatest affliction depend confidently on thee let calamity be the exercise but not the overthrow of my vertue O let not their prevailing power be to my destruction and if it be thy will that they more and more vex me with punishment yet O Lord never let their wickedness have such a hand but that I may still carry a pure mind and a stedfast resolution ever to serve thee without fear or presumption yet with that humble confidence which may best please thee so that at the last I may come to thy eternal Kingdom through the merits of thy Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen A Prayer to be said for the Sick by them that visit him O Merciful Father who art the Lord and giver of life to whom belongeth the issues of death we thy children here assembled do acknowledge that in respect of our manifold sins we are not worthy to ask any blessing for our selves at thy hands much less to become suiters to thy Divine Majesty in the behalf of others yet because thou hast promised that the prayers of the righteous shall avail much with thee in the obedience therefore of thy commandment and in confidence of thy gracious promise we are bold to become humble suiters to thy Divine Majesty in the behalf of this our dear Brother or Sister whom thou hast visited with the chastisement of thy own fatherly hand we could gladly wish the restauration of his health and a longer continuance of his life and Christian-fellowship amongst us but for as much as it appeareth as far as we can discern that thou hast appointed by this visitation to call for him out of this mortal life we submit our wills to thy blessed will and humbly entreat thee for Jesus Christ his sake and the merits of his bitter death and passion which he hath suffered for him that thou wouldest pardon and forgive unto him all his sins as well that wherein he was conceived and born as also the offences and transgressions which ever since to this day and hour he hath committed in thought word and deed against thy Divine Majesty cast them behind thy back remove them as far from thy presence as the East is from the West blot them out of the book of thy remembrance lay them not to his charge wash them away with the blood of Christ that they may never be more seen and deliver him from all the Judgments which are due unto him for all his sins that they may never trouble his conscience nor rise in judgment against his soul and impute unto him the Righteousness of Jesus Christ whereby he may appear righteous in thy sight and in his extremity at this time we beseech thee look down from Heaven upon him with those eyes of grace and compassion wherewith thou art wont to look upon thy children in their affliction and misery pity thy wounded servant like the good Samaritan for here is a sick soul that needeth the help of such a heavenly Physician O Lord increase his faith that he may believe that Christ died for him and that his blood cleanseth all his sins and either asswage his pain or else increase his patience to endure thy blessed will and pleasure in all things And good Lord lay no more upon him than thou wilt enable him to bear heave him up unto thy self with those sighs and groans that cannot be expressed make him now to see what is the hope of his calling and what is the exceeding greatness of thy mercy and power towards them that believe in thee and in his weakness O Lord shew thou thy strength defend him against the suggestions and temptations of the Devil who as in all his life-time will now in his weakness seek to assail him and to devour him oh save his soul and reprove Satan and command thy holy Angels to be about him and aid him and chase away all evil and malignant spirits far from him make him