A help to Communicants Ingredere ut Proficias A BOOK FOR BEGINNERS Or a Help to Young Communicants THAT They may be fitted for the Holy Communion and receive it with profit By S. Patrick D. P. Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty 1680. To the READER THere is no Advice more wholesome or more necessary then that of Solomon in the conclusion of his Meditations upon the Vanity of all things under the Sun Remember thy CREATOR in the days of thy youth Which may serve in stead of a Preface to this little Book especially if I change one word and make it run thus Remember thy SAVIOUR in the days of thy youth Be sensible that is how much thou art indebted to Him and do not forget it but carry this always in thy mind that as thou didst receive thy being from Him so thou art bought with a great price and therefore ought'st to glorify God with Body and Soul which are His. 1 Cor. VI. 20. And doe this betime in thy best days before thou art tainted and corrupted by Vice and wickedness Into which dangerous ways if thou art so unhappy as to have entred be advised and leave them presently Betake thy self without any delay to the service of God and let no buisiness much less any vain pleasure hinder thee from acquainting thy self with the Duty thou owest Him or from performing it seriously Particularly that duty which He hath commanded thee to doe in Remembrance of Him The Nature the Necessity and the Ends of which together with the manner of doing it I lay before thee in the following pages Wherein I shall treat onely of such things as are most easy and obvious to every capacity hoping by God's blessing they will be usefull to such as will set themselves to consider them They that would have larger Instructions and Helps may find them in the Christian Sacrifice CHAP. I. Of the Duty WHEN God's Minister declares as he is required to do that he intends on such a day to administer the most comfortable Sacrament of Christ's Body and Bloud and invites you to it beseeching you to dispose your selves religiously and devoutly for it you must consider that it is your duty to prepare your selves to come and partake of so great a Blessing and not to think it enough that you have been present at Divine Service and heard the Sermon and then may turn your back on the Table of the Lord. Which is a very great disrespect to Him and forgetfulness of Him and cannot be excused so easily as mens naughty hearts incline them to believe For though God's Goodness is such that He prefers works of Mercy to your Neighbours before Sacrifice to Himself when one of them must be omitted yet He doth not make the same allowance for your Worldly buisiness which well may be let alone till another time much less for your vain Pleasures or Recreations which never ought to hinder or put by this or any other holy Duty in the season proper for it Come therefore as oft as you are invited and when God's Minister after Sermon ended goes up to the Holy Table to prepare this Heavenly food for you that is to consecrate Bread broken and Wine poured out that it may represent the Death of Christ to you and to give it you saying Take eat and drink this in remembrance of Christ do you stay in God's House and draw near unto his Table and thankfully receive it from him for that end for which he gives it in commemoration of Christ's Death and Passion upon the Cross for your sake It is the duty of God's Minister to set the Bread and Wine apart to present them unto God to break the one and pour out the other to bless them and to give them unto you And then it is your duty to look upon this Bread and Wine thus blessed as representing Christ unto you and accordingly to receive them not as mere Bread and Wine but as things deputed by Christ to be in stead of His Body and Bloud and to communicate them to worthy Receivers CHAP. II. Of the Necessity of this Duty TO doe thus you are ingaged First by the express Commandment of our Lord Christ which you find four times recorded in the New Testament by the three first Evangelists Saint Matthew XXVI 26 27. Saint Mark XIV 22 23. Saint Luke XXII 19 20 and by Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians XI 23 24 25. All which places especially the last you will doe well to reade seriously And then consider Secondly that there is the greater regard to be had to this Commandment Doe this in remembrance of me which Saint Paul saith he received of the Lord because it was his last and dying Commandment in the night when He was betrayed just before the day of his Passion We are wont in other cases to be inclined to remember and carefully perform the last desire of a dying Friend and therefore what other account can we give of it if we live in a neglect of this Duty so solemnly enjoyned but that we are strangers or at best very cold in our love to Him which you had need to quicken because Thirdly your care in this Duty will be a means to make you observe the rest of his Commandments better which now alas are little regarded because little or no regard is had to this last Commandment which our Lord seems to have added when He left the world for the security of all the other that He had delivered before For the doing this hath a mighty power in it to stir up the love of Christ in our hearts And the love of Christ constraineth us as S. Paul teaches 2 Cor. V. 14 15. because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead And that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him that died for them and rose again Doe this therefore in remembrance of Him which is such an efficacious means to make you always doe well Yea more then this Lastly it will be a means to make you observe his Commandments with love and delight which if they be wanting your Obedience will be little worth For without Love all that you doe will not be acceptable to Christ and unless you delight in what you doe it will not be acceptable to your selves But neither of these will be wanting if you religiously frequent this Holy Sacrament where He is represented to you as desirous to save you though it were by dying for you saying when this was first propounded to Him Lo I come I delight to doe thy will O God How can you then refrain when you think of this from expressing the same affection and the same joy when it is so much easier for you to doe God's will then it was for Him to suffer such things as he did in obedience to it CHAP. III. Of the Ends
be the Lord for his Ministers the Stewards of the Mysteries of God especially for those faithfull and wise Stewards whom the Lord hath made Rulers over his houshold to give them meat in due season XXIV Matth. 45. 1 Cor. IV. I. When he begins the Offertory say Let every one of our Prayers together with our Alms and Oblations come up for a memorial before the Lord whose holy Angels I believe are present at these Solemnities A poor Servant may adde The Lord accept of my poor Mite who have little to offer but my self and all that I can doe which I dedicate to his service Then awaken your self to accompany the Minister in the Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church c. and attend diligently to the following Exhortation which begins with these words Dearly beloved in the Lord which the Minister ought to speak and you hear with much affection Then joyn as heartily and earnestly as you are able in the General Confession and receive the Absolution with the comfortable words of Christ and his Apostles that follow after as you would do the most joyfull news in the world stirring up your selves as the Minister exhorts you when he saith Lift up your hearts to bless and praise the Lord together with all the Heavenly host for such everlasting consolation and good hope as He hath given us through his grace in Christ Jesus For those precious Promises ought to be sweeter to you as the Psalmist speaks then the honey and the honey-comb far dearer then thousands of gold and silver And now you may be assured though unworthy to gather the crums under his Table that receiving the Creatures of Bread and Wine according to Christ's institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion you shall be partakers of his most blessed Body and Bloud Unto to which words in the Prayer of Consecration say secretly to your self Amen Amen When the Minister himself Communicates say The Lord hear thee The Lord remember all thy Offerings and accept thy Sacrifice Grant thee thy heart's desire and fulfill all thy mind The Lord fulfill all thy Petitions both for thy self and for us and for all his people When you are going to approach to the Lord's Table Propound to your self by way of Question the Invitation which the Minister hath given you saying Do I truly and earnestly repent me of my Sins and am I in love and charity with my Neighbours and intend to lead a new life following the Commandments of God and walking from henceforth in his holy ways And finding your self able to return the Answer of a good Conscience resolve as it there follows Then I will draw near with Faith and take this Holy Sacrament to my comfort When you are placed there say Lord what am I that Thou shouldst be thus gracious to me What an honour is it that I am invited hither to feast at Thy Table upon the Body and Bloud of my Blessed Saviour To receive the pledges of his Love and to engage my Love to Him which I desire may abound more and more towards Him and towards my Christian Brethren and towards all men When the Minister hath delivered thee the Bread concluding in these words Feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving say I do believe O Lord that Thou art the Bread of life which came down from Heaven by whom we are nourished to eternal Life And I thank Thee with all my Soul that Thou hast both taught us the way of God in truth and also died for our Sins and rose again to give us hope of that immortal Life Blessed be thy Name I have now by thy own appointment received the sacred pledge and earned of it Wherefore my Soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour Whose Grace I trust will be with my spirit that I may rejoyce in the Lord alway and ever delight in all well-doing Amen Or this I believe O Blessed Jesus that Thou art the Lord of all and give Thee most humble and hearty thanks for calling me to the knowledge of thy Grace and to Faith in Thee beseeching Thee that as I have now received this new token of thy Love blessed be thy Goodness so Thou wilt ever be my God and by continuance in well-doing bring me to everlasting Life Amen A shorter after the Bread I thank Thee O Lord for calling me into this state of Salvation and for giving me this new pledge of thy continued Love Assist me with thy Grace to doe my duty to Thee and to my Neighbour so faithfully that I may abide in thy love for ever through Jesus Christ c. After you have received the Cup when the Minister concludes with those words and be thankfull say I thank Thee O Lord of Heaven and Earth that Thou wouldst condescend to take our Nature upon Thee and therein suffer for our Sins yea shed thy precious Bloud upon the Cross for our Redemption Glory honour blessing and praise be unto Thee O Lord to whom in all reason I ought henceforth to live and not unto my self And therefore here I devote my self to thy faithfull service and resolve if need be even to take up my Cross and follow Thee Assist me good Lord and make me partaker of all the Benefits of thy Death and Passion according as Thou seest me sincerely resolved in all things for ever to obey Thee Amen Or this Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Who forgiveth all thy Sin and hath now filled thy mouth with good things and who giveth thee hope of better in eternal Life Sanctify me wholly O Lord that I may not fall short of it but my whole Spirit and Soul and Body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Amen A shorter after the Cup. I thank Thee again O Lord for thy wonderfull Love in sending thy Son to lay down his Life and in making me partaker of the Benefits of his precious Bloud shedding for us Preserve in me for ever a sense of thy Love and thereby preserve me holy and without blemish to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Amen After you are gone from the Lord's Table to your seat say Blessed be the Lord for his exceeding great grace and mercy to us in Christ Jesus Blessed be the Lord who hath called me into fellowship with Himself and with his Son Christ Jesus Blessed be his Name that I have now received the tokens of his endless Love in which I ought to rejoyce without ceasing as more valuable then all the goods of this world It is my joy O Lord my highest satisfaction I have in this world that I am beloved of Thee who art able to make me more happy then I can conceive O preserve me for ever in thy Love and for that end preserve in me the same thoughts
as unto Christ Not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart With good will doing service as unto the Lord and not unto men VI. Ephes 5 6 7. Where he four times within the compass of 3 verses puts you in mind of this that you are doing God's will and serving the Lord Christ when you are doing their buisiness which they enjoyn you If you think of this you will not goe about it heavily and discontentedly especially if you consider the motive whereby the Apostle incourages you knowing that whatsoever good thing a man doeth though in the meanest place the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free VI. Ephes 8. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ III. Coloss 24. CHAP. XIII Advices to all Young persons I. IT is of the greatest consequence to begin well And therefore at your first setting out into the World take a special care lest you contract any evil habit especially of Idleness the bane of Youth and lest you entertain any prejudices against things before you be able to judge as we see too many have done against the Common Prayers of the Church which they abhorr they know not why merely from an early disgust they took to them before they could distinguish between good and evil II. And check your desire of Pleasure which now above all other times will intice you and of Novelty also which is comprehended in the youthfull Lusts as we render the words spoken of in 2 Tim. II. 22. unto which mankind is strangely prone in their inconsiderate age loathing ancient forms and craving new entertainment for their fancies III. Avoid Harlots as you would the Plague remembring the repeated cautions and admonitions which the Wise man gives to his Son about this matter Reade them seriously II. Prov. 18 19. V. Prov. 3 4 5. VII the whole Chapter and follow his counsels lest thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed saying How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me IV. In order to Chastity be exactly temperate in meat and drink Drink no wine which will adde fire to fire study hard or use your selves to labour and watchings avoid all provocations to your carnal appetite V. Take heed what Friendships you contract for Youth is prone to familiarity and thereby drawn easily into ill company VI. Reverence your Elders XIX Levit. 32. 1 Pet. V. 5 6. particularly your Tutors and Guardians who are in stead of Parents Which Reverence is to be expressed not merely by your outward Behaviour and in your Language but in desiring their Advice harkening to their Counsels enterprising nothing without their Direction and submitting to their Reprehension VII In order to which be sober-minded as S. Paul exhorts you II. Tit. 6. Whereby he means either Seriousness and the study of Discretion or Humility and Modesty Which Modesty is an exceeding great ornament of Youth an indication also of a good Mind and a hopefull blossom of excellent fruit as one of the Ancients speaks But it doth not consist merely in your Looks but in your low opinion of your selves sense of your imprudence and weakness and in a humble attention to the opinions and counsels of your Elders VIII Finally remember that Youth is like the Spring-time which will soon be over and if you onely play in it and take no care to sow good seeds of Wisedom and Piety you will lose the opportunity of making provision for a happy life Of this you are in great danger because there is nothing to which young men are more prone then to squander away their time Be serious therefore and considerate that you may not be undone by the folly of Youth which as Solomon notes inclines men so eagerly to follow their own humour in every thing that they do not love to have any check in their mirth and jollity That which will check them most is the thoughts of the future especially the remembrance as he there observes XI Eccles. 9. of the account they must make And therefore I conclude with that advice Rejoyce O young man in thy youth c. But know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment CHAP. XIV Directions about them that cannot reade I. AS for those who cannot reade themselves which in our days are but few blessed be God in comparison with former Ages their Masters or their Mistresses or their Fellow-servants or some good Neighbour or Relation are desired to be so charitable as to reade to them their duty about this matter shewing them the necessity and the ends of it and praying them to mark and observe what is read II. Or if their Memories be very weak tell them in short that they are bound by their Vow in Baptism to doe God's will and keep his Commandments and that this is one of his Commandments that they should commemorate his Love by coming unto the Holy Communion which will help them to doe the rest of his will better III. Reade to them also their Baptismal Vow together with their Duty to God and their Duty to their Neighbour as it is laid down in the Catechism and ask them if they intend to doe all this by God's gracious assistence IV. If they consent to it tell them they ought to go and receive Confirmation as was said before and then go to the Holy Communion to thank God for calling them into this state of Salvation by Jesus Christ and for working such a good will in them and to promise Him that they will continue his faithfull Servants to their lives end V. And let them know that if they can doe no more at the Holy Communion but onely give God thanks heartily for sending his Son to die for them and devote themselves unto Him in resolution of sincere Obedience it will be acceptable to Him and in time they will understand more and doe this Duty better VI. Therefore teach them that the thoughts of their imperfections and ignorance ought not to discourage them from coming to the Communion for the very doing of that which Christ commands I mean the Minister's taking Bread and Wine blessing them breaking the one and pouring out the other giving them to his people and their receiving these in remembrance of his Death and Passion is a thing in it self gratefull to Him And if they know thus much and with honest hearts give thanks to God and promise Him to be his faithfull Servants He will take it kindly and increase his Graces in their hearts VII And that He may tell them that since they cannot reade they must be the more diligent in attending to what is read in the Church or in private and to the Sermons they hear preached laying
Lesson therefore as He advises of becoming like little Children throughly be planted in the hearts of Children and then Knowledg in other parts of Scripture will grow up with them and Faith thus planted in humility while their hearts are tender and easy to be wrought on by this plain and familiar Precept will take deep root and increase more and more as they do in strength and stature For though at the first their Faith be but as a grain of Mustard-seed yet having in the Spring time got the start of Pride and desire of worldly wealth or greatness it will afterward flourish in all heavenly knowledge and fructify in every good word and work VI. And above all other pieces of Humility it is absolutely necessary that Children be brought up to a great reverence of God's Ministers and a high opinion of their Calling Place and Persons If Parents or Guardians would teach them to honour them as their spiritual Fathers and to look upon them as men appointed by God to take care of their best part their immortal Souls and to bring Divine blessings to them If they would tell them Children these are the men by whom you are baptized and made Christians by these you must therefore be instructed and confirmed also in Religion and assured more and more of God's blessing it would have a mighty effect upon them and dispose them for all the good they may hereafter reape by them Whereas those words of reproach or undervaluing which they now daily hear must needs have the quite contrary effect or at least for want of such Admonitions and frequent inculcating the respect honour and esteem which is due to God's Ministers they mind so little what they say that when they become capable of it they receive no benefit by them A short Prayer tor the Morning ALmighty God and most mercifull Father I most humbly bow down my self before Thee to worship thy Divine Majesty by whom I was brought into the world and have been preserved and provided for all my life long and now this last night blessed be thy Goodness protected from all Dangers and raised up in health and safety to see the light of another day I thank Thee O Lord for these and all the rest of thy Mercies especially for thy singular Love in Christ Jesus beseeching Thee to awaken and preserve in me such a lively sense thereof that I may never prove ungratefull to Him but constantly doe Him all faithfull service Particularly this day I earnestly implore the assistence of his Holy Spirit to inable me to keep those Vows that are upon me not to follow nor be led by worldly and carnal Lusts but to obey thy holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life Help me Good Lord in my place and condition to perform my Duty towards Thee and towards my Neighbour with such care fidelity and chearfulness that I may with some confidence present my self again before Thee in the Evening and comfortably hope for thy continued good Providence over me To which I humbly recommend thy Church and Houshold beseeching Thee to keep it in thy true Religion and to defend it evermore by thy mighty Power through Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose most blessed Name and words I still beseech Thee to be mercifull to me and to all thy people saying Our Father c. A short Prayer for the Evening I Thank Thee O Lord of Heaven and Earth that by thy mercifull Providence I am here prostrate again before Thee not onely in health and safety of body but in integrity of heart I hope and with sincere purposes to continue always thy faithfull Servant Pardon O most mercifull Father whatsoever I have done or omitted this day contrary to my resolutions and obligations Pitty my great weaknesses and accept of my honest endeavours to keep a good Conscience void of offence towards Thee and towards Man Which that I may doe every day better and better vouchsafe me the assistence of thy special Grace to strengthen me in the performance of all my Duty That where I have been wont to slip I may be more watchfull and where I have been negligent I may use the greater diligence and so continue thy Child a lively Member of Christ and an Inheritour of thy heavenly Kingdom And hear the Prayers of thy whole Church which have been made this day for every member of the same especially for our Sovereign Lord the KING for all that minister under him in holy or civil things for all that are distressed in mind body or estate beseeching Thee to dispense thy Graces and Blessings to every one of them sutable to their several necessities And be my mercifull Protectour all this night and after a refreshing Rest raise me up again in the morning with a thankfull heart to Thee for thy care over me fully resolved continually to mortify all my evil and corrupt Affections and daily to proceed in all Vertue and Godliness of living through Jesus Christ our Saviour In whose Name and words I commend my self to thy mercy saying Our Father c. A Prayer for one of riper years before the receiving of Baptism O Lord the Creatour of the World and Redeemer of Mankind I fall down before Thee to acknowledge that I am thine and to beseech Thee though I have offended Thee to receive me into thy service again Pardon good Lord all the Follies of my Childhood with all the Sins Negligences and Ignorances of my riper years Let them all be done away in that Fountaïn which Thou hast set open for us to wash in and be clean I desire to be admitted thither and intend there to devote my self intirely to Thee renouncing the Devil the World and the Flesh and resolving obediently to keep thy holy will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life Vouchsafe me O Lord the assistence of thy Holy Spirit that I may both seriously make and faithfully keep those holy Vows and Promises Preserve in me a perpetual remembrance of them that I may never by any Sin lose so great a Grace as Thou intendest to bestow upon me but always continue a lively Member of Christ and an Heir of his heavenly Kingdom To which I beseech Thee at last to bring me through the Merits of Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer for one that intends to be Confirmed O Most Blessed God by whose grace I was called into a state of Salvation when I was Baptized and from whom cometh every good thought desire and purpose which I have since felt in my heart Assist me I beseech Thee in the new dedication which I am going to make of my self unto Thee whose I am and resolve to be to the end of my days Fill me O Lord with such a lively sense of the honour Thou doest me in admitting me into thy Service that I may give up my self not onely with the full but with the most chearfull consent of my heart to believe and doe whatsoever Thou wouldst have me And then be pleased to confirm me in thy Grace and to strengthen me with might by thy Holy Spirit in the inner man that I may ever discern and chuse and follow those things which are acceptable in thy sight Arm me good Lord against all the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil with a will stedfastly resolved never to yield to any of them but to persist faithfully in the performance of my Vow which was made in my name when I was baptized and which I now intend with my own mouth to ratify openly before 〈◊〉 Church Whose devout Prayers I beseech Thee to hear for me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer after Confirmation ALmighty and everliving God who hast vouchsafed to regenerate me by Water and the Holy Ghost and also 〈◊〉 farther certified me 〈…〉 the hands of thy Minister lately laid on me of thy Favour and gracious Goodness towards me Accept I most humbly beseech Thee of my hearty thanks for such great and undeserved Benefits and continue in me those good thoughts desires and purposes which I found then in my heart to persist in faithfull Obedience to Thee for ever For which end be pleased daily to impart unto me more and more of the Holy Spirit to preserve me in thy fear and love and to inable me to doe all the rest of my Duty not onely towards Thee but towards my Neighbour Especially to those by whom as thy Stewards thy heavenly Mysteries are conveyed to us that reverently attending to their Instructions and receiving their godly Admonitions and obediently following their Guidance and direction I may be finally owned for one of thy good and faithfull Servants at that Day when the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls shall appear again to our Salvation To Him with Thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be eternal praises Amen They that need Prayers for other particular occasions may be furnished in a Book called the Devout Christian c. THE END The Contents Chap. I. Of the Duty pag. 1. Chap. II. Of the Necessity of this Duty p. 7. Chap. III. Of the Ends for which it was instituted p. 14. Chap. IV. Of Preparation for it p. 23. Chap. V. A Prayer for that morning when you intend to receive Which may be used any time before p. 39. Chap. VI. The manner of Receiving p. 46. Chap. VII Meditations and Prayers afterward p. 81. Chap. VIII Directions for a godly Life sutable to this holy Communion p. 99. Chap. IX Touching Doubts and Scruples p. 114. Chap. X. Directions in case of frequent Relapses into Sin p. 127. Chap. XI The Duties of Children p. 138. Chap. XII The Dutier of Servants p. 147. Chap. XIII Advices to all Young persons p. 158. Chap. XIV Directions about them that cannot reade p. 168. Chap. XV. Directions to those that can reade p. 179. Chap. XVI A necessary qualification to receive benefit by all this p. 203. A short Prayer for the Morning p. 213. A short Prayer for the Evening p. 216. A Prayer for one of riper years before the receiving of Baptism p. 221. A Prayer for one that intends to be Confirmed p. 224. A Prayer after Confirmation p. 227. The End