this spiritual wine which giveth me an eternal Paradice which returneth me from death to life which giveth me so perfect a recovery that there remaines no scar in my ulcers which conducts me unto an estate wherein I shall not more suffer the temptations and approaches of sinne where I shall be no more subject to change where I shall be a Citizen of the Kingdome of heaven I prostrate my self then before thee my God who art my Judge my Creatour and Redeemer all in one give me I beseech thee both heart and lips and that I may adore thee with all the affections and all the faculties of my soul Drive away my disobedient humours fill me with true zeal and with sincere intentions to thy service and scatter far from me these desires of the world who entangle themselves in my cogitations and thwart my holy resolution I am happy my God Isa 22.7 to enjoy that which so many Kings Nahum 1.15 and so many Prophets desir'd to behold I am happy to possesse that holy Heritage which they having but obscurely seen and saluted by faith they have cryed out with vehement desire Rom. 10. â— 15.5 Oh how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Ghospel I am not Lord in the extremity of the poor Paraletick who attended so many yeares to have the first place in the Bath troubled by thy Angel I receive immediately my recovery of the blood of my Saviour and there is no need that one more sound than my self take me in his armes to embrace and carry me into the water For the Faith which thou hast given me lifts me up even unto heaven She thither conducts my soul which washeth her self in this pretious blood and comes forth clean and white I sinne continually and have cause of humiliation and to dread and apprehend Death and Hell and I am ever cheered with hope by the memory of that Eternal Sacrifice But my God make me so perfect that I receive not thy Manna unworthily that I take it not in contempt of thy Word and thy glory to be punish't in thy wrath as he who was devoured of a Lyon having contrary to thy command eaten bread in the house of the false Prophet to be punish't as he who was bound and cast into darknesse inasmuch as he came to the marriage without being cloathed with a Wedding garment Lord I know that 't is recorded in the Gospel that who so eateth of this bread and drinketh of this cup unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ thy Son But my God Thou art Wonderful in thy mercies Thou rejectest no man Thou abhorrest not the Thief who confest thee nor the sinner who wept nor the Canaanite who accused her self Mary Magdalen nor the Disciple who denied Jesus nor even they themselves who persecuted thee insomuch as they repented And I Lord I confesse my sinnes I condemne them I accuse my self I beg thy pardon I entreat thee to behold thy goodnesse not my demerit Lord Thou hast vanquish't death thou hast raised my soul from the grave thou hast drawn me out of the pit thou hast opened to me the gates of eternal life Supply then my defaults with thy blessings and grant me that in thy Temple in the Assembly of thy faithful ones I may worthily receive with faith this heavenly food and this spiritual drink and that I take with zeal and reverence the bread and wine which are presented to me by him who hath the honour to preach thy Word and whose mouth is the breast of thy Church A Thanksgiving after the receiving of the Sacrament My Soul blesse the Lord who dayly filleth and loadeth thee with his treasures Blesse God who causeth the sweet dew of his Clemency to distill on thee My Soul blesse the Saviour of the World who hath loved us who hath washed our sinnes in his blood who hath made us Kings and Priests to God his Father Blessed be the Lamb who sitteth upon the Throne Apoc. 5 13 to whom shall resound prayses for ever under the Vaults of heaven and his Sacred Name shall be Celebrated and Magnified from age to age Oh my glorious God how much satisfaction do I receive in casting and overthrowing my self at thy feet how happy am I to approach thy holy Table 'T is thou oh my God who hast tamed the Hidra of my miseries who hast preserved me from the devouring knives of the Devil who hast succoured me in my bloody agony who hast recented my afflictions seeing me exposed to the Savageness of the infernal Tygers who had reduc't me to the cruel darts of death I was buried in despair and in the grave swallowed and overwhelmed in the jawes of a miserable servitude overtaken with the storme of so many mis-fortunes But my God by thy singular compassion though I bedewed not my face with tears nor filled the ayre with my complaints Thou hast restored me to my first condition thou hast imbellish't me with-the splendour of the graces of thy countenance and pollish't me with the first lustre of my natural beauty I was overwhelm'd under my proper ruine I was entomb'd in the gulfe di gged with my own hands I had cast my self within the horrible Den of Satan but thou hast restored me thou hast lifted me up and delivered me from my extremities I was captive and now the gate of liberty is open to me my vessel was on every side batter'd with the Tempest It was ready to split it self against the bancks and now saileth gloriously on the water and cuts and divides the waves driven by a prosperous gale I was the prey of Satan and now triumph through thy mercies above all his temptations above all his ambushes and all his powers I cry out now Lord with Simeon let thy servant depart in peace according to thy Word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before all men to be the enlightning of all Nations and glory of thy people Israel Lord I render thee such thanks as I am able not such as I ought I am oblidg'd to magnifie thy Name for ever with a thousand sacrifices of praise to humble my self all contrite at thy feet to enflame my heart with repentance and sacrifice the ashes to thee Thou hast cleansed me wash't me from my offences made me approach thy holy Table and partaker of thy merits there remaines nothing after this Sacrament but to be united to thy glory Grant me Lord that I may submit to thy pleasure the remainder of my dayes Grant me repentance of my offences not for a day but which may last even unto my Sepulchre that I may continually addresse my vowes to thee that I may exalt thee without ceasing and that for ever I may be at thy feet to do thee homage as my God my Soveraign and my Redeemer Grant me Lord that I may be attentive to the reading of thy holy Scriptures to the
am the prodigal child famish't covered with raggs I have sinned against thee embrace me my Father Extinguish with thy hand these burning Torches which consume me these fire-brands of desolation these so abominable crimes To the intent that these chaines of my captivity being broken I may recover my liberty in thy grace to my salvation to the glory of thy Name and the confusion of Satan Lord my end is certaine if thou stanch'st not the blood which streams from my wounds Banish me not from my presence turne no thy countenance from me with-draw not thy clemency which sheweth it selfe after thy displeasure and which should not be of use if men lived innocently Drive far from me that cursed spirit who from the beginning separated thy creature from thee Chase away that old enemy whose ambushes are so prom't and whose assaults so rude Adorne and Decke my heart with the spoyles of my sinnes dispose me to walke with thee from the dawning facilitate my teares and fill me with a desire of my salvation Cause me to forsake all mundane contagion and plunge me in the pleasant streames of a holy and a peaceable life give me an esteeme of this chast and ravishing penetence which opens me a passage into thy holy habitation which may bury my transgressions and swallow my vanities under an eternal oblivion Lord I lament bitterly before thee I poure forth my teares of complaint which without drying drench my soul in bitternesse and dissolves it in displeasures I present my self to thee with an humbled and frozen spirit a soul afflicted and touch't with true repentance Receive then my God this penetent sinner be thou apt to pardon destroy not thine own worke Approach unto me my God cause to wither in me this multitude of plants of perdition who produce these fruits of iniquity and helpe my Mallady without indignation Manasses prostrated himself before Idols he profaned thy Altars yet never the lesse he being converted unto thee and repenting his impieties he appeased thee Thou delivered'st him from the hands of the Assyrians and from the fetters wherein thou had'st caused him to fall and returnd'st him a glorious King commander of Palestine And I Lord I present thee my homage with a contrite spirit stifle and choke not then my heavynesse and my life Exercise not thy power on me to my destruction who am thine cause not to descend on me thy punishments from heaven stigmatise me not with an eternal infamy but open Lord unto me the gate of thy mercy Dan. 10.12 and give eare to my supplycation as thou did'st unto Daniel from the first day he afflicted himself before thee Thy coming was to call sinners to repentance Luke 5.32 Thou commandest thy Apostles to go unto the lost sheep Mat. 10.6 I am of that number cause me then in the midst of this displeasure to experience thy comiseration Luk. 8.24 the Tempest is descended on the lake my bark leakes I am in hazzard awake thy self my God rebuke the wind appease the waves and make it calm By the example of Daniel with fasting sackcloth and ashes I addresse my face toward thee Thou strong Thou great Thou terrible God I have sinned I have committed iniquity I am estranged from thy Law Lord to thee belongs Justice to me confusion but mercies and compassions are likewise from thee Turne away then thy displeasure and indignation hearken to my supplycations and cause thy holy Spirit to shine on thy desolate servant I belong to thine election I am an inheritor of the merit of thy Son and have my lot and portion in heaven Regard me then Lord in him for in his countenance in his wounds thou canst not deny me pardon The father defers till the last to cut off his members He weeps he grones in severing them Thou art my Father good God suspend thy stroaks restrain them have compassion on my ashes who am lesse then ashes and of the lees and scum of the world Purifie them after such a manner that they be not annihilated let them not be forsaken of thee who have deserted thee If they be reduc't to nought thou canst not extract glory from them for in nothing nought is found but nothing it self I say not my God that thou hast created these eyes to make them endure so much and to dissolve themselves into streames For Lord their eye-lids have exalted themselves against thee They are the reason that thou assistest me not farther with thy favours after such a manner that they ought to distill into teares untill they have encountered the port of thy clemency which now files them and with-drawes it selfe away from their sight Lord wilt thou be stedfast in thy wrath wilt thou wage war with an earth-worme wilt thou regard the weight of my offences and not that of thy goodnesse I am guilty of errours and crimes but I am cover'd with ashes and teares I am a sinner but created with the sweet and fragrant breath of thy mouth I am cover'd with offences but thou art the Father of grace the Father of salvation the Father of compassion and in saving me thou conservest the work of thy hands in blessing me thou repleatest thy selfe with joy and delight Receive then Lord my prayer that it be not lost and vanish into ayre Hearken to my mouth and my throat which consumes with crying and give eare to their groans Give remedy to that distemper whose birth I ought to avoyd stretch forth and abase thy hand here below to succour me drive back by the powerfull motions of thy browes the plagues which threaten me Speak unto me as unto the Paralitick and save me by thy grace I resemble blind Bartimeus Mat. 10.47 who lifted up his voyce to thee and redoubled his intercessions equal to their reproofs and rebuks to the intent he should hold his peace My offences by the brute of their obscure gloominess will drowne the cleernesse of my voyce but being fortified by thy holy Spirit I take courage I reinforce my self and attaine the victory Mat. 5.1 Lord thou hast expelled Legions of unclean spirits out of their bodyes who presented themselves before thee Chase then from the those offences which I cannot tame drive away these miseries which by a divine vengeance vissibly torment me Lord glory not in thy Puissance against me to make thy self Renowned Display not thy force against me since with one glance of an eye thou may'st discomfit me neither can I sustaine thy presence Rifle me dart thy flames from heaven I acknowledge I have deserved more The World But Lord this great City would become desolate if nothing should remain is' t but what thou would'st absolve in the severity of thy justice and thou art the pitiful Father who givest more terrour than stripes and delightest rather to restore than to destroy Thou hastest to receive the cryes of one penitent sinner if he repents himself thou pardonest him and as he addes
infused into him all the treasure of those merits which he acquir'd on the Crosse is conferred on thee by the communion of this holy Sacrament of his Supper which is the Fountain of spiritual sweetnesse by the which God nourisheth sustaineth and conserveth the life he hath confer'd on us in Baptisme and hath united us unto himself making â—s as saith Saint Paul flesh of his flesh bones of his bones and members of his proper body But my God all times are ever present with thee thou mindest not the past nor attendest the future Thou watchest over my cogitations thou art the Judge of my intentions nothing is hid from thee all things to thee are naked and entirely manifest my heart is fast closed in my breast but my bosome is not other than glasse in thy sight and thou beholdest Lord that the fervour of my faith is as it were quite extinct that my brow hath neither sincerity nor candor that I take not repose but under the branches cracking with fruits of iniquity and that my soul is more defil'd than the mire of which my body is form'd I cannot then great God approach thy holy Table till I have in thy presence with a true resentment and entire affection without hypocrisie and with an open and free heart confessed my shame acknowledging thy glory Lord I am oppressed with fear and astonishment I humble my self at thy feet I poure forth in thy sight all my offences which appeal my countenance I accuse I blame and condemne my ingratitude and my failings I acknowledge I am the most infirme the most abject of all thy creatures the very scorn of the earth and the most vile and detestable of all that the heaven covers I have suffered my self to be carried away with the deceitful delusions and enticements of the world I am quite over-spread with foul and filthy scales which â—â—â—ke me stumble into precipices and inâ—â—ead that thou hast opened my mouth to the end I should exalt thee and hast given me the knowledge of thy truth to declare it on the earth I am ever backward to that which concerne thy glory and my salvation Lord thou mayest dart thy lightning from heaven thou canst consume and over-whelme me with thy storms but I am nothing and in punishing me thou losest thy labour and thy thunder thou art the Omnipotent God from all eternity and I a fraile man yet the work of thy hands as thou art powerful in thy wrath so art thou Omnipotent in thy clemency Rend not him then who is humbled I am thine now thou canst have no delight in my Funerals I am a great sinner but thou art yet greater in thy mercies thou holdest the lives of men in thy hands 't is thy mouth which pronounces their absolution have pity then on me my God by the infinite number of thy compassions blot out my innumerable iniquities and save by thy grace him whom thou mayst damne in thy justice deliver him who is ransom'd by the precious blood of thy Sonne of thy Sonne who all glittering and resplendent with glory hath so far humbled himself as to be cloathed with our flesh to raise up the mud and refuse of the earth toward the Throne of thy Grandure Cause Lord that my Repentance and Confession may be to thee sweet sacrifices agreeable and of pleasant odour I knock at the gate let it not be closed seeing thou art merciful with thee the word and effect are the same grant me pardon from deserved punishment and mollifie the hardnesse of my heart which is in thy power Lord in times past thou drewest out and deliverest thy people from the fetters of Egypt thou hast divided the Red Sea and formed a Rampart of waters against the waters continue then thy goodnesse towards thine own Deliver me Lord Deliver me immediately by the merits of thy Sonne from the servitude of mine iniquities under the bondage whereof with anguish I emplore thy succours Bow down thy greatnesse over me display upon my soul the rayes of thy holy Spirit and enlighten me with the lustre of thy divinity to the end that I may meditate and fully comprehend how the body of Jesus Christ my Saviour is given and broken for thine elect and his blood spil't on the Crosse is made mine by the communion of thy holy Sacrament I am unable of my self to raise me up from this miserable earth to a subject so High and Excellent But Lord Thou hast cleft the obscurity thence to draw out light Thy divine eye enlightens the darknesse touch my spirit with thy brightnesse as thou didst that of Saint Paul render me uncapable and untractable to the vanities of the World and clear-sighted in the inestimable treasures of thy Gospel Assure my faith establish my faith Lord stay it upon thy promises fortifie me mightly according to the riches of thy divinity so that Christ may abide in me and that I may comprehend with the Saints his love and greatresse Ephes 3.16 which passeth all understanding That we who when enemies having been reconciled by the death of the Saviour of the World may now much rather being justiâ—ed by his blond Rom. 5.10 Shall I be preserved from thine ire Regulate Lord the disordred affections and appetites of my heart mundifie the impure cogitations of my spirit cleanse all the pollutions of my lips and wrench my sins in the blood of thy Son to the intent I may present my self pure at thy Table Grant that my understanding may comprehend Thee that my heart may affect Thee my soul adore Thee and that all my powers and faculties may render and yield thee the obedience which is thy due Father of glory grant me the spirit of wisdome enlighten my eyes Eph. 1.18 to the end I may apprehend what is the excellency of thy Son whom thou hast caused to sit at thy right hand in the heâ—venly places and whom thou hast prefer'd to all principalities and powers and above every name which is invoked not onely in this world but likewise in that which is to come Give eare to me Thou onely object of the Angels through thy Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth in unity with Thee and thy holy Spirit for ever and ever Lord after having formed the light after having stretched out the heavens with thy hands separated the earth from the flood and finishest the creation of such a multitude of starres of so many creeping things of such a variety of Fowles who have a being to thy Glory Thou tookest dust thou embellished it and formed man subjecting the earth under his feet giving him dominion over the fishes of the Sea and over the Fowles of the Ayre And this man good God instead of lifting up without ceasing his vowes to thy honour and praise and to possesse with joy eternally the delights of Eden hath open'd his mouth against thee and contrary to thy expresse command and menaces hath tasted the fruit
of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and with his rebellious throat hath swallowed at once the Apple and Death He hath swallowed the leprosie which hath corrupted the masse of all his blood and the poyson which hath penetrated through all the members issues of his body This Lord this fountaine which hath continued corrupt in all it's streames this is the gloomy and black cloud whence distills not one drop not infected 'T is Lord this cursed rebellion which hath constrained the heavens ever bright and serene before to conspire and confederate against man and to poure forth upon him deluges of blood and universal scourges to extirpate and exterminate the Posterity of this Ancestor 'T is this rebellion which hath caused man to totter from his first estate rendred him a slave of sinne and a prey of that roaring Lyon who graspeth his throat with his foot So soon as the prohibition was made sinne followed and by sinne we have all received a Decree of condemnation But great God thou hast rais'd up and restored thine through thy mercy Thou hast destroyed that cursed spirit who would glut himself with the blood of our entrals and hast born us upon thy wings as an Eagle his Ayry Thou hast brought back and renddred in a flourishing condition our soules who were languishing and abased unto death The deluge of our vices hath drawn a deluge of plagues upon us but the deluge of thy Compassions hath swallowed the deluge of these Maledictions Thou hast cleansed these streames of iniquity in a sorce perpetually flowing into life Thou hast healed these leprosies with a vermillion blood and corrected and abated the force of these poysons by a heavenly Antidote By the offence of one alone death reigned over men and by the merit of onely one men shall reigne unto life The transgression of Adam is fallen upon all to condemnation and the justice of Christ justifying is come also upon all to justification Many by the disobedience of one alone Rom. 5.17 were rendred sinners and by the obedience of one alone many are rendred just To the intent that as sinne reigned unto death grace should also reign unto eternal life 'T is Lord that which Thou hast so often foretold to our Fathers by the mouths of thy Prophets who have declared on the earth that thy Sonne should bear our sorrowes that he should charge on himself our afflictions that he should be pierced for our offences and bruised for our iniquities Thou hast caused all our out-rages to fall upon him and the wounds are come on him for the Transgressions of thy people As a Lamb is led to the slaughter neither hath he opened his lips Dan. 9.26 he is set as an oblation for the transgressions of them who have known him is cut off not for himself but for us Oh admirable Architect of the World who hast stretched out the heavens sustained the massive foundations of the earth and commanded the waters of the Ocean to distill gently through the veines of the Rocks for the nourishment of men Oh holy streame of our felicity the strength of our Might that the graces of thy divine goodnesse are singular the effect of thy providence marveilous in the conservation of men in having prepared for us by thy mercy this conciliation before the foundation of the World and from the beginning having prefigured this sacrifice by the Tree of life in the Terrestrial Paradise afterwards by the Paschal Lamb by the Manna by the loaves of propitiation by the bread which the Angel brought to the Prophet Eliah in the strength whereof it is said that he went even unto the Mountain to have instructed us that so much blood of Bulls and Goats which was spilt before thee and the ashes of an Heifer wherewith they besprinkled the unclean were prefigurations of that juslifying blood which was requisite to be poured on the earth to blot out our transgressions And lastly Lord after having often spoken to our Ancestors by thy Prophets Heb. 17. Thou wouldst speak to our fathers face to face by thy Son who is the brightnesse of thy glory who as the snow tumbling from heaven scattering it self to whiten our plaines so is he descended from on high to publish peace from the rising to the setting of the Sunne and to save those who were fallen among the precipices for for the punishment due to their offences The woman the first seduc'd sees her self a thousand times happier she did see her self a Virgin-Mother containing in her womb the Saviour of the World Oh happy day that thou art Remarkable among us for having first beheld and having first caused us to see the well-beloved Son of God the Father and the Redeemer of the faithful And you bright Services that you are precious having given growth to the body who hath suffered for our sinnes and who since is risen with so much glory And thou earth thou art happy to have nourish't within thy bosome and seen to march upon thy face the Saviour of the World The Sages conducted by the Star hasted to prostrate themselves at thy feet thy Angel in giving advice to the Shepherds and the multitude of the heavenly Host leaping for joy lifted up their voyces to thy honour saying Glory be to God on High in Earth peace good will toward men Acts 5.3 Then Lord he whom thou hast raised up by thy right hand for a Prince and Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sinnes appeared in the flesh that so the flesh might live and by his humanity thy Clemency might approach us which before was with-drawn Thou hast sent him as a Bright Sun to enlighten all the compasse of the Earth He appeared cloathed with humane flesh but all repleat and all shining with Divinity The Power of His Vertue was manifest to the eyes of all the people The most impetuous stormes and billowes of the Ocean gave way unto the sole power of His word The tempestuous whiâ—le-whinds which troubled the serenity of the aire gave truce to their whistlings roarings at the only waging of his hand and acknowledg'd that they ought him respect and silence and that all things should be prepared to receive His Commands Men captiv'd under the power of the Devil were enlarged with the onely glance of His eye The most inveterate maladies departed at the only touch of His garment and the bodies mouldering under the obscurity of the Coffin rose again at his voyce in the Tombe His life was nothing but an open Book of Doctrine with a multitude of miracles and favours toward men The limits of his Course were so pleasant they were so bright with the beames of his compassion so glittering with his triumphs over the enemy of men The History is therein so rich that the excesse takes away and obstructs the description And that the world as saith his Beloved Apostle is not sufficient to contain that which might
Satan There was none but he alone proper for so great an enterprize He alone who hath drawn us out of the path and slaughter of death to fill us with Triumphs He alone who is the Phaire and the Lanthorne who directs us to arive in a safe harbour and who hath ever his eyes open for our happinesse and watcheth over our affictions He alone who is the channel of perpetual sweetnesse which uncessantly distills on them who cast themselves into the Port of thy Clemency Great God The compasse of the Universs adores thy Grandure but as the glory of thy chiefest benefits are perpetually graved in the hearts of thy faithfull ones in whom by this holy sacrifice thou hast planted thy victorious lawrels Also it is requisite that I be the Temple in which for ever there may be chanting and sounding forth the Hymnes of thy Triumphs and that thou may'st be the sole object of my heart as thou art the cause of my repose and the end of my vowes as thou art the Redeemer and Conserver of my being what more beautyfull object my God can I enjoy then for ever to contemplate that Christ is the inexpugnable wall and Rampart of my life and that his charity heated with his watchfulnesse over me causeth without intermission to spring in thy compassions new sprouts of compassion This is the true Father of men who transported with the love of his children is offered for them in sacrifice and hath embraced their sorrowes and his death Up then my soul let thy thoughts be ravish't in the contemplation of this holy light of the world who shineth over the heaven and the earth and enlightneth with his flame the gloominesse of our most obscure night Up admire his compassion adore this Lamb without spot that holy Burnt-offering that eternal high Priest who hath given himself for thee Rejoyce thou oh my soul since thy clensing is so perfect and so pure since the merit of that death shall carry thee into the heavens Thou hast not my soul Heb. 7. one of those Sacrificers which are subject unto death made after the law of a carnal commandment who have need to offer continual sacrifices first for their own sinnes then for those of the people Thou hast one Sovereign high Priest made according to the power of an uncorruptible life and who hath one perpetual oblation one holy Priest Innocent separate from sinnes exalted far above all heavens who is consecrated for ever offering himself once to obtaine an eternal redemption The light of the world my soul chaseth the night and obscurity farre from thee but the knowledge of this sacrifice dissipateth all darknesse from thy eyes and renders thee capable happily to finish thy course on earth and attain with joy an aboad in Paradice Divine Trinity the only foundation of salvation Holy unity of three persons in whom consisteth all perfection and felicity whereof my soul can be render'd capable Grant me that I may worthily comprehend the majesty of this sacrifice and that all the dayes of my life I may meditate on its greatnesse Lord the Lamb is slain from the beginning of the world and both our fathers and we our selves have washed in one same blood and are redeemed by the same sacrifice 'T is what the Apostle saith our fathers were all under the cloud 1 Cor. 10.1 and have all passed throw the Sea and were all baptized in Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea and have all eaten of one and the same spiritual food and have all dranke of one and the same spiritual cup. For they drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them and that Rock was Christ So Lord the Patriarchs and Israelites have eaten and drank the same spiritual substance with us and have participated as we of the Communion of the body of the Saviour of the world The word Prophetick and Apostolick have the same efficacy Christ in the one and the other throw all equal to himself Their Sacraments giving them Jesus Christ to come to assume humane flesh and suffer for their sins and ours give to us the Saviour of the world come having taken flesh of the Virgin endured the Crosse and risen for our Justification The Manna and the water signified to them their future redemption and the bread and wine signifie to us the satisfaction of our Randsome acquitted by Christ come dead and risen after such a sort that we have but one like and same faith under divers signes Christ the only salvation of the Church in all its periods without the law under the law and under Grace He is prefigured in all the sacrifices exhibited in all Sacraments as well Old as New which are in all times unprofitable without Christ which is himself alone both the foundation and the sustance Abraham saw the day of the Lord and rejoyc't This great secret was revealed unto the Prophets who Publish't it through the world they were the signes of salvation to come Or Host and of the holy Bread which should be offered up for their sins and for our sakes the great Saviour of the world would rayse to the heavens at thy right hand the body which he had taken of the Virgin instituting the Sacrament of his body and of his blood to the intent that That which was once offered for the satisfaction of our sinnes should continually be honoured by a mystery Baptisme admitteth us into an allyance with God instead of ciricumcision The holy Supper instead of the Passeover nourisheth and entertaineth us Baptisme is called Regeneration that is to say a new birth The holy Supper The Communion of the body and blood of our Lord to nourish us to life eternal Of Baptisme water is the sign The blood of Christ the thing signified The water which washeth the staines of the body The blood which clenseth the sins of the soul In the holy Supper the bread and the wine are the signes The Body and the blood of Christ the things signified and signified most conveniently and properly by these signes of bread and wine for as much as the nourishment of our souls which is in Christ could not be better express'd than by that of our Body which converteth into their sustance that which they eate and drink So in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the bread which is blest and which is broken and given to eate and the cup which is blessed and given mee to drink represents to me The body and blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for me on the Crosse to me are the sacred Symboles and assured earnests that I am received into the communication of his body and of his blood which I spiritually enjoy by Faith in the Participation of the supper When I see the bread broken in the celebration of the supper I meditate with my self of his body which hath suffered death on the Crosse for the remission of my sinnes When I behold the wine poured into the cup I
call to my remembrance his blood shed for to acquire for me life eternal By the receiving the bread and the wine I enter by faith into a community into the society of the body and blood of the Son of God I draw life I draw absolution and am clothed again with his innocence and with his Justice By the vissible receiving which I performe of the bread and of the wine I am assured that I am spiritually united to Christ and made a Citizen of the Kingdome of heaven that he hath bequeath'd me and possessor of eternal life which he hath given me and in eating and drinking the bread and the wine at thy holy Table I am assured my God that I Participate of the body and of the blood of thy Son which I truely receive by faith and by which I participate of the Treasures and Heritage which he hath acquired by his death and which he hath bestowed on his faithful servants When I receive the bread and the wine I receive not only the Elements which are the figures and sacred signs of his body and of his blood but I receive by faith and in spirit the things themselves which are signified and represented Not that the bread and the wine of the Eucharist communicate to me his body and blood but thy goodnesse my God Thy truth Thy majesty Thy vertue and the efficacy of thy holy Spirit communicate and reach forth this body and blood to my understanding and my soul to be spiritually eaten and drank by faith The bread and wine serving to this purpose being sacred signes of his Body and of his blood which should be eaten by the operation of his holy Spirit without understanding any thing therein of sensual any thing corporeal ☜ any thing carnal and without searching here below and in our corporal mouths His true body with it's proper essentials with it's inseparable accidents with it's quantity and dimentions which is ascended to the heavens and set at the right hand of God where 't is requisite that the heavens contain him even until the restauration of all things Thus Lord I seek the body of Christ in heaven Acts 3.21 by faith I celebrate in the holy Supper the memory of his Death and of his Passion I declare it I esteem it and magnifie it even untill he come and I receive it not with a carnal mouth and corporal throat but after a Divine manner Sacramentally under a signifficant mystery with the mouth of my heart and spiritually by faith By faith which is the substance of things hoped for By faith whereby I really embrace his Body and blood and which bring to passe that in the holy Eucharist I am made partaker of it By faith which is the vessel and the hand whereby I receive thy Graces And as Lord 't is by faith that the Lamb was slaine from the beginning of the world 't is by faith that Abraham saw the day of the Lord 't is by faith that the Galatians have had Christ crucified before their eyes 'T is by faith that the Gospel gives me at this present eternal life Also Lord 't is by faith that in the celebration of thy holy Supper His body and his blood are present and subsistent in my heart in my spirit and in my soul 'T is by faith that I embrace his body and suck his blood which distilleth from his wounds And by means of this Sacramental eating and feeding on the body of the Saviour of the world and this spiritual drinking of his blood I am made bone of his bone flesh of his flesh I am incorporated in him I draw by faith eternal life from his flesh broken for me and from his blood shed for me I live of Christ and in Christ I live of his Justice instead that I should dye of my sinne I am justified by him sanctified in him to be eniivened and glorified in him By this holy Sacrament I am also admonished of my duty toward my Neighbour in regard as we are ransomed with the same blood made members of the same body and Dependants of one and the same Head and consequently one among our selves and by the Commandment of God and natural duty We all draw life from one and the same death nourishment from one and the same food and the self same cup. Up then my soul 't is here where thou oughts to Anchor and fix thy cogitations stay thy course and cast thy eyes upon the love of thy God 'T is here that thou oughtest to supplicate that Divine heavenly heart who onely bestowes motion upon men That only pulse and life of thy being 'T is the only base whereon thou foundest thy hope to inspire in thee the ardent flames of his Spirit and turn into thy heart the generous boylings of zeale heate and ardour toward him to the intent that thou mayest be a worthy partaker of that holy Sacrament which is the most singular consolation the most effectual remedy and greatest guift which he hath communicated to his upon the earth It 's the entyre Summe and Soveraign abridgment of his benefits it 's the certaine token of his infinite love the true treasure of his bounty Lord Eph. 1.7 thou hast ransomed me by the blood of thy Sonne according to the rickes of thy grace which thou causest plentifully to abound over me Instructing me in the secret of thy pleasure Thou hast informed me that 't is the bread of life by the which my soul is sustained That 't is the true Vine whereof I am a branch The gate of Honour and the rich assent which conducts me to the mount of Glory Thou hast called me to the communication of his body Hast applyed his merits to me made me his Co-heritor partaker of his Riches enjoying his celestial heritage In time-past I was not of thy people but now am I of the chosen generation of the Royal Priest-hood of the holy Nation of thy purchased people To th' intent I should set forth and magnifie thy grace and vertue my God who hast called me out of darknesse into thy merveilous light Thy Sonne is my only sacrifice my only oblation my onely Holocost by the vertue and merit whereof the heavens and all the treasures of heaven are open to me 'T is the onely remedy of my sin the onely spunge capable to efface my crimes 'T is the Sanctuary the Assillum of my salvation my heritage the joy and the Divine chaine sufficient to rayse me from these miserable places 'T is the tongue of succour who undertaketh my defence 'T is the sacred Anchor which stayeth my vessel and secureth it from ship-wrack and the prosperous Gale which freeth and delivereth me from the depths and Gulfes of the world If the food Lord which will sustaine me but one day obligeth me to praise thy Fatherly goodnesse how much more ought to be excited and enflamed my Devoyre to render thee thanks for the bread of life and for
Temple of my God Rev. 3.12 and he shall never go forth more and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is the new Jerusalem Who overcometh Rev. 3.21 I will cause to sit with me upon my Throne even as I also have overcome and am set with my Father in his Throne What hinders us now what doth obstruct us then to bear afflictions and miseries with constancy who hinders to surmount and overcome these things Is it this World are they our riches Alas why change we not chearfully and willingly our lands our habitations and our lives for repose for felicity for eternal beatitude Our life is short wherefore for so short a time do we renounce a perpetuity of blessednesse of the ages of Paradise Our life passeth in an instant why for to preserve a few dayes do we precipitate our soules in the Abisme Our life is precious to God he holds it he keeps it in his hands i◠he dispose it 't is for his honour 't is for our preservation ☞ why deny we him this glory and to our selves this profit Do we dread torments there is more of grief and anguish to finish ones life by a long and continued distemper than by a violent stroak death is more languishing and tormenting in a bed than in the sight of heaven in an assembly The Feavers Convulsions Catarrhs are more insupportable and fatal than torments Christ is present he exhorts us he offers himself to us he invites us he spreads his armes to receive us he will open the heavens for our consolation as to Saint Steven than when the enemies of the Gospel stoned him He will assist us with his strength and augment our courage as he hath done to so many Martyrs who have endured for his name Let us not then loyter any longer committing our selves into his hands The Lawrels and the Palmes never cast their leaves the true Children of God never quail The love of heaven doth so ravish them they are after such a manner fil'd with that divine fury so that when nothing remaines to them but their heart wherewith they are accustomed to contemne the most dreadful things that continues sound even to the end of their lives their souls are invincible untameable free and generous Let 's suffer then with patience lifting up our hearts to heaven Let those savage Beasts which are not satisfi'd but with blood and wounds who are not asswaged but with murthers who are not delighted but with the sounds of racks having nothing agreeable but to dismember Christians Let us suffer if it be the pleasure of God to deliver us into the hands of these Butchers if they cause our bodies to stoop under the weight of Martyrdome Let us suffer if they redouble their rage if they do not forbear any kind of cruelty and as Lyons Whelps fil'd with flesh they feed their eyes on our dead bodies and dabble their hands in our bloody effusions God will assist us with his power and will raise us by his Omnipotent Spirit when 't is for the honour of his Name above the racks and flames The most cruel torments shall not be considerable to us the greatest most ponderous punishments shall be pleasant unto us these cruelties cannot astonish us death it self shall be life Our faith shall sustain our bodies seeing them torn it shall the more encourage us to suffer Our holy zeal shall delude the most sowre afflictions will cause us to advance into flames without amazement we shalconsume our selves with satisfaction embracing Martyrdome We shall imitate those Martyrs who for such a subject have endured a thousand afflictions have a thousand times spilt their blood have sustained a thousand flames These Martyrs whose Names and Renowns have found the earth too narrow to comprehend them These Martyrs who have magnifi'd Christianity by their blood who have accepted Martyrdome for their Crown These Martyrs who by a few torments are gone for ever into Supreme felicity Up then Barbarians what havock and slaughter soever you make of our bodies we remain firme and resolv'd to die Our bodies are vanquish't our spirits remain Conquerors You shall behold us languish full of delight in a divine Martyrdome You shall see our blood boyling with devotion to distill and trickle into the flames That our death shall be lovely and beautiful to be for ever famous to Christianity That our bodies shall be blessed to be consumed for the glory of the Saviour of the World That our blood shall be precious to witnesse and trace out the way to heaven That those flames shall be exquisite which set a lustre on the truth in the eyes of a throng and croud of poor Ignorants That our ashes shall be pretious to celebrate publish and to spread the Gospel among men If the earth be glutted with our blood the example of our Martyrdome will make us re-created by Miriads if they consume us as the Phenix we shall be renewed within our ashes Meditations for one that is sick FRail Creature in the midst of thy imaginations thou wastest and consumest thy self thou straglest thou wanderest and losest thy self amongst the vanities of the World Thou runnest out of knowledge in these slippery paths without understanding thy feeblenesse without considering that at the first step upon the first advance thou mayst stumble that a sprain may turn thee quite short and that thou hast no sooner weighed anchor than thou art in danger of Ship-wrack thy health hath puft thee up thy courage hath raised thee up precipitating thee into pleasures and delights and suddenly a chilnesse surpriseth thee some heat a pain in the head thou art dejected thou tremblest thou doubtest whether it be some light distemper or rather a disease tending unto death O Lord the World to this moment hath possessed me her delusions have intoxicated me at this instant my sinnes stare in my face as if I were awaked from a prosound slumber I begin to recover my spirits my eyes retort their looks upon my self to behold my weaknesse and my body tyred and consum'd with the feavour which is mixt with my blood and with the pain which torments it is constrain'd to acknowledge her misery to reject her Presumption Lord these fogs which obscure heaven to me begin to fall off my Soul so long blinded recovers some glimmering I have lived to this very instant swimming and floating at the pleasure of the Tide give me grace that I may arrive at the Port I have passed my time in darknesse give me light in the rest of my dayes Poor Carcasse thy Original is in infection thy habitation in a station fil'd with tempests with diseases with torments with bloody wars in a place common to the savage beasts upon an ingrateful earth out of which thou can'st extract nothing but with the Plow-share and edge of the Iron For thy end thy flesh is the prey and triumph of wormes thy
which shall Harp before the Saviour of the world who shall gloriously descend from the vaults of heaven all those whom the Sea hath overwhelm'd or the earth received to the intent that being clothed with their bodyes before the great Judge they may receive their definitive sentence of life or death O Lord that I may be of their number who shall arise to their glory and not of them who shall arise to their infamy that I may be of them who shall rejoyce with perpetual Triumph and not of those who shall for ever remain slaves of that horrible Monster That I may be of that number that may be borne into the brightnesse of heaven and not of those that shall be tumbled down into gloomy places and to eternal night That I may be a Citizen of thy heavenly habitation that I may inherit thy Paradice that my seat may be near my Saviour that my place may be there designed that I may not be of those victims prepar'd for Hell that I may not be of that number that shall be precipated into the abism of death which shall have their abode in darknesse and their habitation in the grave O good God suffer not my Barke to fall into so cruel so sad and dismal a storme It should be more expedient for me never to have been born than be ranck't in the number of them who were created to their destruction Bring to passe then at that great day that my rotten cossin may be listed up enlighten this extinguish't carcase cause it to live and shine with my soul make them to flourish together for ever and ever I am nothing Lord but a lump of mud yet never the lesse thy hands have compast me I am nothing but corruption but I bear on my brow thine Image drawn to the life I am all vice all sinne all abomination in thy sight Thy love makes no impression farther than my lips Thy Divine flame pierces not within my soul But Lord I have been washed with the water of holy Baptism I have participated of thy Sacraments I have received a seal a token a sacred testimony of my pardon I have sucked that powerful antidote that immortal Ambrosia that heavenly nourishment which shall concerve me against the poyson and venome of my sinnes and against the power of Satan Lord A lively Description of the last Judgment it seems to me that I already behold thee descending from on high set on thy Throne of Glory filling all with astonishment environed with a Million of Angels holding the sword of vengeance in thy hand It appears to me that I now behold an infinite company of scatter'd men delving the earth to hide themselves not daring ot sustain the bring flames of thy countenance that I behold the flock of thy chosen postrate at thy feet crying out that the squadrons of thy holy Angels dare not appears in reverence of thy just severity crying out that their souls were purchase by the precious blood of thy body That their sinnes are surmounted by thy grace that the honour of thy goodnesse is manifest in their salvation that thou wilt not cut and prune off thy members and reject those whose names are written in thy book of life It seems that I behold thy countenance turn'd toward them standing at thy right hand and thy mouth pronouncing their absolution and saying to them Come ye blessed of my Father possesse for heritage the Kingdome which was prepared for you from the foundation of the World Methinks I behold them rejoycing and filling themselves with splendour while thou art speaking beholding them transported by a sweet and delightful ravishment by an ardure full of zeal for thee and for thy glory to remain there for ever O good God 't is thither that we must direct all our vowes and confine all the desires of our soules 'T is the lustre of that glorious and holy day that should dazle our eyes and not the riches of this world 'T is the remembrance of these extream bright and perfect beauties which should ever entertain our thoughts and not the dark shadowes of our cares Bestir thee then let 's not longer stay on these earthly cares which are so many spiritual Divorces and Adulteries My Soul entertain not other discourse my heart have no other wishes my mouth pronounce no other name than that of our Saviour and thy salvation Let 's up and anchor here our bark in these fair desires let 's perfect this man finish this body let 's forbear to corrupt and ulcerate our wounds to encrease our woes to open again our miseries that our dolors that our convulsions that our fleames if it seem good to them hail us quick and drag us alive to the Tomb that our carcasses be consum'd with wormes that our bones may be reduc't to dust it matters not seeing that the Saviour of the world renders as possessors of the fruit of so signaland happy a victory that he bestowes on us our share and lot in his land that he covers us with Lawrels and with Palmes O God this Crown is very high 't is above this aspiring rock whose way is narrow and uneven incumber'd with thornes and bryars I lye tumbling on my Bed I cannot pull up my feet not raise my head above my bolster my carcasse is nothing but dung and my Soul then corruption I am laden with a counter-wait which ever presseth me down my offences are bolts and shackles on my feet which makes me ever stumble The Devil places them near the avenues to close up the passage to render the way dreadful and to drive me to despair of my salvation But what shall I say good God! I must not require the endeavours of my attenuated legs and my carcasse half benum'd to climb this Mountain to pierce the thicknesse of the clouds and raise my self even to the heighth 'T is onely requisite that I dive into the contrition of my heart the confession of my month I need but lift up my eyes and taise up my cogitations toward the great Saviour of the World who openeth his armes to transport me O my Rock thou art not then any longer hard for me to prevail with Christ the object of my faith Christ the only medicine who can close and consolidate my wounds Christ in whom I establish all my present and future felicity Christ my guide and my Bare star who must conduct me to the light of his ensign he shall open to me the way shall make my faith to surmount all despaires he shall deliver me from these hindrances he shall raise me up free and conduct me even into heaven making me mount by his divine degrees and shall guide by the might of his holy Spirit my blessed and happy soul into his high place where the seasons passe eternally I will leave to him this Triumph I will leave to him the accomplishment of this great work the honour shall be to his blood to his blood
of the world the executioners of my life I have been immoderate and excessive in every thing which is contrary to thy pleasure without having other bound than an imbicility to advance farther My memory Lord is not sufficient to comprehend and enumerate such a multitude of crimes and I now have more bashfulnesse to nominate them than I had shame to act them Also Lord what need the trouble to recount them seeing they present themselves they oppose themselves against me accusing and confounding me seeing that the least but lately committed is sufficient for my damnation without the trouble to search after the past which serve not but for astonishment how the nature of man could invent and commit so many mischiefs Behold them Lord they fail not to passe into my remembrance and as an heavy burthen presse me so sore that I am ready to yield to give my self up to dispayre and to lose my self Lord I cannot so much as deny them I have committed them they were acted in thy sight in thy presence with a feeble fearful and astonish't voyce I acknowledge them and am vanquish't the fear that I have beholding their great number hath frozen my heart and appaled my countenance And on the contrary considering the rigour and strictnesse of thy judgments my sense fails me and I attend nothing but the hour of punishment I will willingly lye down instantly half quick in my grave and in expiring draw the earth over me to the intent I may remove my self from before thy Justice so much do I dread that thy hand will wax heavy against me to destroy me I am like the poor Publican who durst not lift up his eyes towards thee I dare not so much as entertain any imagination of remission for a criminal so culpable I dispayre to avoid them even as undergoing the exemplar-punishment of my abominable practises The depravity of my manners renders the severity of thy censures sharp against me and I know that no man hath place in thy eternal felicity but those that are clensed from sin who are not fullyed with the spots of iniquity who have submitted and dedicated to thy service their hearts and their toungs as for me I have done quite otherwise Neverthelesse Lord thou wilt not bruise in thine indignation those whom thou hast created after thine own Image Thou wilt not precipitate into the gulf and forsake abandoned to the roring Lyon those who are graffed and regenerated in that great Mediatour in the grand Saviour of the world On the contrary Good God! Thou hast commanded us to pray to thee in his name Thou hast promised to hear us in his name Thou hast assured us that when our sins are as red as vermillion nevertheless thou wilt make them as white as wool seeing we have recourse to that Treasure of our Justification to that only Redeemer to that only Authour of our salvation Now O Saviour of the world O Precious Stone O Spirit of my Spirits I embrace thee I discharge the burthen of my sins upon thee I ease my self upon thee Thou art purposly descended here below thou art clothed with out flesh thou hast made thy self man to the intent that I might be able to speak to thee Thou hast stretc'h forth thy limbs on the Crosse thou hast shed thy blood thou haft seen it distil from thy wounds all vermillion to heal my mortal sores to dround my sinnes to cloath me again with innocence Thou hast suffered death to give me the life Thou hast made thy self the oblation and most immaculate offering to take upon thy self the pains which I have meritted Thou hast yielded thy self captive to set me at liberty of immortal thou hast made thy self mortal to the intent that of mortal to render me immortal Thy vertue ever flourisheth that never waxeth old display it over me approach touch my sins and they shall dissolve away as wax before the beames of thy Sun they cannot remain near thee thy sight shall be their flight thy presence their dissipation Thou shalt efface their steps and their straglings Thy hand can bruise the gate of hell thy hand can lift me up into the heavens and make me to ascend by the ladder that appeared to Jacob Lord I cannot sufficiently comprehend thy infinite goodnesse towards persons so vile and unworthy If I contemplate the excellence of thy Divinity in thy descent unto the earth or whether I consider them to whom thou art come I admire the Grandure of thy charity and farther Ruminating thereon I call to mind the happinesse of thy humane condition The Creatour of heaven and of earth The Omnipotent who is not displeas'd but with man is descended for man and made himself man is come to save him from the torture of the fire and the horrors of hell and hath taken his forme the Physitian is hasted to the succour of the diseased the Master to ransome the slaves the streight path presents it self to the straglers Life offers it self to the carcasses enclosed under the Tombs the Shepheard is descended from the top of the mountain to seek the straying sheep He hath again lifted them up on high and enclos'd them in his Fold The Hen hath gathered her chickings under her breast hath made a shield with her wings to protect them from the Ravenous Kite Now good God drive far from me those doubts which Satan goes about to frame in me assure me comfort my spirit fortifie my faith redouble it's strength make her to vanquish all fears all the dispayres which he would suggest unto her Enable her to repel all allutements and assaults of all his temptations She must not longer be affraid she may not longer tremble hell can have nothing against me seeing thine only Sonne hath taken my sinnes upon him because he hath wash't me with his pure blood after it hath pleas'd thee to allow on mine account the value of his satisfaction If thou art pleas'd Lord to proceed with me according to my deserts I should be far distant from any such happinesse my salvation would be desperate There was never any contention with so much disproportion the weapons are too unequal my fault is extreame so is thy Justice But Lord thy mercy is infinite thy goodness surpasseth my mallice Thou coverest my faults with the body of thy Son by his merit thou hast satisfied thy Justice Thou hast given me life there thou concervest me I hold of thy clemency Lord Thou hast spoken by the mouth of thy Prophets that thou art nigh to such as are of a broken heart and that thou deliverest such which have contrite spirits Lord thou contemnest not the afflicted thou hidest not thy face from them forget not then my oppression forget not my afflictions which are violent and permanent forget not the sorrowes of my heart which are augmented Lord my Soul is consumed even to the dust my belly cleaves to the earth Hear then my God myclamour and my supplication and