and the wants of all faithful People which I 〈◊〉 up in the words of thy own beloved Son Our Father which art in Heaven c. After the like manner you may pray at night Evening Prayer Glory be to thee O Lord for my preservation and for all the Blessings of the day past for which all love all praise be to thee Father forgive me all the sins I have this day committed either in thought or word or deed either against thee or against my neighbor for the sake of Iesus my Saviour Amen Amen It grieves me O merciful God that I should daily offend thee But I repent O pitty and pardon me for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen Amen O my God keep and protect and bless me this night and preserve me from sin and danger for the sake of Iesus Amen Amen Lord refresh me this night with seasonable sleep that I may rise the next morning more fit and able to serve thee in my Calling for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen Amen I believe in God the Father c. All love all glory be to thee our God the Father who c. as in the Morning I desire thee O Lord God O Heavenly Father who art the Giver of all goodness to send thy Grace unto me and to my Wife and Children to my Husband and Children Father and Mother Brethren and Sisters Kindred and Friends Master and Mistris you must name these Relations according as you stand related and to all people that we may worship thee serve thee and obey thee as we ought to do And I pray unto thee that thou would'st send us all things that be needful both for our souls and bodies and that thou wilt be merciful unto us and forgive us our sins and that it will please thee to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and bodily and that thou wilt keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death And this I trust thou wilt do of thy meecy and goodness through our Lord Iesus Christ. Amen Lord so be it Lord hear me help me pardon my failings supply all my wants and the wants of all for whom I pray which I sum up in the words of thy own beloved Son Our Father which art in Heaven c. As you are going to bed say I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Psal. 4.9 As you began the day so end it with glorifying God and when you are in bed say Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God blessed for evermore All praise all love be to thee I earnestly beg of God to make you sensible your selves and to give you grace to make your Children and Servants sensible also how Necessary and Happy and Heavenly a Duty Prayer is and how many exceeding great precious Promises God has made to those that devoutly pray to him and if you are thus sensible you will not content your selves with Morning and Evening Prayer onely but you will be desirous if you have Opportunity to retire about Mid-day for a few Minutes that you may imitate the Devotion of Holy David and of Daniel and pray three times a day Dan. 6.10 and that you may not want a help for Noon tide Prayer the Catechism shall supply you Prayer at Noon At evening and at morning and at noon-day will I pray and that instantly Lord hear my voice Psal. 55.19 Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen All love all glory be to thee O God the Father who hast first loved us and hast given thy beloved Son to die for our Sins and to rise again for our Iustification Have mercy upon me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen O Lord God who seest I am not able of my self to walk in thy Commandments and to serve thee be pleased to help and strengthen me by thy special Grace that I may daily and sincerely perform my duty towards thee and my duty towards my neighbor for the sake of Iesus my Saviour Amen O my God give me grace to believe in thee and to love thee with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and with all my strength to worship thee to give thee thanks to put my whole trust in thee to call upon thee to honor thy holy Name and thy Word and to serve thee truly all the days of my life for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen O my God give me grace to love my neighbor as my self to do to all men as I would they should do to me to love honor and succor my Father and Mother this clause must be left out if your Father and Mother be dead to honor and obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him to submit my self to all my Governors Teachers Spiritual Pastors and Masters to order my sâ—â—f lowly and reverently to all my betters to hurt no body by word or deed to be true and just in all my dealing to bear no malice nor hatred in my heart to keep my hands from picking and stealing and my tongue from evil speaking lying and slandering to keep my body in temperance soberness and chastity not to covet or desire other mens goods but to learn and labor truly to get mine own living and to do my duty in that state of life unto which it has pleased thee to call me for the sake of Iesus thy Beloved Amen Lord hear me help me pardon my failings supply all my wants which I sum up in the words of thy Beloved Son Our Father which art in Heaven c. Instead of these two last Prayers you may sometimes say the Ten Commandments which you may turn into a very good Prayer by saying after every one Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Where you not onely beg pardon for the sins you have committed against each Commandment but you also beg Grace to keep it At the end of them you may say Lord have mercy upon me and write all these thy Laws in my heart I beseech thee And so conclude with the Lords Prayer Do not think that this Practice of Prayer will be too hard or too long for young persons or for labouring people for if you cannot say them all say as much as you can or if you are at Day Labour or have not time or convenience to say them offer up to God two or three hearty Ejaculations in their place But
and Fasts of thy Church as in the number of those happy days set apart for the remembrance of thy love Glory be to thee O Lord God who didst command the Sabbath or seventh day to be kept holy and strictly observed by the Jews as thy Sabbath in memory of the Creation of thy making Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and of thy resting the seventh day of thy blessing the seventh day and hallowing it We Christians O Lord God following the moral equity of thy Command and authorised by Apostolical Practice celebrate the Lord's day the first day of the week in memory of our Redemption in memory of thy Resurrection from the dead O most beloved Jesu when thou didst rest from the labours and sorrows of the New Creation O may I ever remember thy day and thee Glory be to thee O my God my Love who hast under the Gospel delivered us from the Rigours but not from the Piety of the Jewish Sabbath Lord since the blessing of everlasting Salvation which we Christians on thy day commemorate does wonderfully exceed the Creation commemorated by the Jews O let our love and praise and devotion and zeal proportionably exceed theirs also O my God O my Love let thy All-powerfull Love abound in my heart and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name that in all these and all other possible instances of thy love our Souls may be continually employ'd to praise and to love thee O my God O my Love I renounce and detest c. as p. 39. All profanations of thy hallow'd Day and of all other holy Times dedicated to thy praise and thy love All Jewdaizing Severities all Worldly-mindedness and unnecessary business or not allowing those under my care liberty and leisure for thy service on thy day All unmercifulness to my very Beasts All indevotion or forgetfulness of thee All the least tendencies From all these and the like c. as p. 39. Next to thy glorious self O my God O my Love and for the sake of thy supreme independent Love thou hast commanded me to love my Neighbour allied to me by nature or by grace all Strangers and Enemies as well as Friends To honour all men as being made after thy likeness and the greater likeness they retain to thee to honour them the more Glory be to thee Thou O my God O my Love hast commanded me to love my Neighbour as my self O for the sake of thy love give me love to relieve and assist him in all instances wherein he may need my help as freely as fully as affectionately as I my self would desire to be treated were I in his condition O my God O my Love for the sake of thy dearest Love give me grace to love my Neighbour not in word and in tongue onely but in deed and in truth to wish well to all men and to contribute my hearty prayers and endeavours and to give them for thy sake all lawfull and reasonable and necessary succours Glory be to thee O my God O my Love who by commanding me to love my Neighbour as my self dost imply the regular love of my self that I should doe all I can to preserve my self free and vigorous to glorify thee in my station 'T is for thy sake onely I can love my self and he does not wish or endeavour his own happiness he really hates himself that does not love thee Thou Lord by enjoining me to love my Neighbour as my self hast intimated my duty of loving those best which either in bloud are nearest my natural self or in grace nearest my Christian self O let thy love teach me to observe the true order of Charity in loving others O thou eternal source of Goodness give me grace to imitate that boundless Goodness let thy love work in me an universal propension to love and to doe good to all men to be mercifull to others as thou Lord art mercifull Q. Shew me how the love of your Neighbour is in the Second Table divided A. The love of my Neighbour which is the fulfilling of the Law of all the Commands of the Second Table is divided according to those different conditions of our Neighbour wherein we most exercise our love or hatred to him Q. In how many ruling Instances may we exercise that love or hatred A. Either in outward acts or inward disposition Q. How in outward acts A. Five several ways in respect of his superiority in the Fifth Commandment His Safety in the Sixth His Bed in the Seventh His Propriety in the Eighth or His good Name in the Ninth Q. How in our inward disposition A. By regulating our very Desires in relation to him as the Tenth obliges us to doe Q. Let me hear how Divine Love moves in each of these Commands A. It moves in such acts as follow The Fifth Commandment Let thy reverential Love O my God teach and incline me to shew respectfull Love to all my superiours in my inward esteem in my outward speech and behaviour Glory be to thee O Lord who hast comprehended all that are above me under the tender and venerable Names of Father and Mother that I looking on them as Resemblances and Instruments of thy Sovereign Power and Paternal Providence to me may be the more effectually engaged for thy sake to reverence and love them O my God give me grace to imitate thy Paternal Goodness and for the sake of thy Love to love and cherish and provide for to educate and instruct and pray for my Children to take conscientious care to give them medicinal correction and good example and to make them thy children that they may truly love thee O my God give me grace for the sake of thy love to Honour my Father and Mother to render them all love and reverence and thankfulness and all that regard which is due from a Child that I may pay obedience to their commands submission to their corrections attention to their instructions and succour to their necessities and may daily pray for their welfare Thou O Lord hast set our most Gratious King over us as our Political Parent as thy Supreme Minister to govern and protect us and to be a terrour to those that doe ill O grant Him a long and happy Reign that we may all live a peaceable and quiet life under Him in all godliness and honesty Defend Him from all His Enemies let Him be ever beloved by thee and let Him ever love thee and ever promote thy love Multiply O Lord God the blessings of thy love on our most Gratious Queen Mary Catharine the Queen Dowager their Royal Highnesses Mary Princess of Orange and the Princess Anne of Denmark and on all the Royal Family Give them grace to exceed others as much in Goodness as in
World Heavenly-mindedness gratious Condescention ardent Zeal for thy Father's Glory and unbounded Love and that for the sake of that dearest Love which inclined thee to become incarnate for me Under Pontius Pilate I believe O my Lord and my God that though thou didst suffer all thy life long yet thy greatest sufferings were under the Roman Governour of Iudea Pontius Pilate I believe all those mighty sufferings but am as little able to express the greatness of them as I am the greatness of thy love which mov'd thee to suffer All I can doe is to love and to praise thee How great were thy sufferings O Saviour of the World when the very apprehension of them made thy Soul very heavy exceeding sorrowfull even to death made thee offer up prayers with strong crying and tears that if it were thy Father's will the Cup might pass from thee threw thee into an agony and bloudy sweat insomuch that there was an Angel sent from Heaven on purpose to strengthen thee O thou agonising Love impress on my heart so tender a sense of thy sufferings for me that I may agonise with thee that I may feel all thy sorrows that though I cannot sweat bloud like thee I may dissolve into tears for thee that I may love and suffer with thee throughout every part of thy Passion O suffering Jesus when my Meditations follow thee from the Garden to Mount Calvary I grieve and I love all the way I grieve and I love when I see thee O Incarnate God who couldst command more than twelve legions of Angels for thy rescue out of love to Sinners and in particular to me one of the vilest of all that number humbling thy self to be apprehended and bound by the rude Souldiers as a Malefactour I grieve and I love when I see thee O gratious Lord for my sake betray'd by the treacherous kiss of Iudas deny'd by Peter and forsaken of all thy Disciples I grieve and I love when I see thee O spotless innocence out of love to me dragg'd to Annas and Caiaphas the High-priest when I see thee accus'd by â—alse Witnesses arraign'd and condemn'd I grieve and I love when I see thee O divine Majesty out of love to me spit upon and blindfolded and buffeted and mockt sent to Pilate an Infidel Judge then to wicked Herod who with his men of war set thee at naught array'd thee in a white Robe of Mockery and sent thee again to Pilate I grieve and I love O injur'd Goodness when I see thee though declar'd innocent by the very Traytour Iudas who out of horrour for his Crime went and hang'd himself though declar'd innocent by Pilate himself the Judge to whom thine Enemies appeal'd yet worried to death by the clamours of the Rabble that cry'd out Crucify Crucify when I see Barabbas a Traytour and a Murtherer preferr'd before thee I grieve and I love when I see thee O lover of Souls for my sake most unjustly given up into the hands of infidel Souldiers to be stript naked and tied to a Pillar and scourg'd to see the Plowers plowing on thy back and making long furrows I grieve and I love O King of Heaven when I see thee out of love to me humbling thy self to be array'd in Purple with a Reed in thy hand when I see thee crown'd with Thorns to multiply thy torments when I see thee mockt by barbarous Wretches with their bended knee and with hail King of the Iews I grieve and I love when I see thee O Lord God whom the Angels worship spit upon again and buffeted and for my sake made the exâ—treme scorn and contempt and sport of thy insolent and insulting Enemies and though still declar'd innocent by Pilate yet surrender'd to the unrelenting Cruelty of the multitude to be crucified My Lord my God my Saviour with all my heart I love and adore thy infinite love and benignity to Sinners with all my heart I lament and detest the hatred and outrage of Sinners to thee Was crucifyed I grieve and I love O sorrowfull Jesus when I see thee for my sake opprest with the weight of thy own Cross till thy tender Body quite spent with sufferings sank under it I grieve and I love O thou great Martyr of Love when for my sake I see thy virgin Body stript naked thy Hands and thy Feet nail'd to the Cross when I see thee crucified between two Thieves and numbred with the Transgressours when I see Gall given thee to eat and Vinegar to drink I grieve and I love when I see thee O incarnate Deity hanging on the Cross and for my sake by thy own People in the height of thy anguish derided reproacht and blasphem'd with wagging of their heads mockt by the Souldiers and by the impenitent Thief I grieve and I love when I see thee O God blessed for evermore O Fountain of all blessing hang bleeding on the Cross and made a curse for me How does my indignation swell against the injustice and ingratitude and inhumanity of the Iews who could thus cruelly treat so unreproachable an Innocence so amiable a Charity so compassionate a Saviour Alas alas it was the Sinner O Love incarnate rather than the Jew that betray'd and derided and blasphemed and tortur'd and crucify'd thee the sins of lapst mankind and particularly my sins they were thy Tormentours and therefore from my heart I bewail detest and abjure them My Lord and my God instill penitential love into my Soul that I may grieve for my sins which griev'd thee that I may love thee for suffering for us Sinners who occasion'd all thy griefs O may I always love thee O may I never grieve thee more Dead I grieve and I love O bleeding Love when I see thee on the Cross quite spent with pain and anguish when I see thee in thy dying pangs commending thy Spirit into the hands of thy heavenly Father bowing thy head and giving up the Ghost Thou O Lord of life didst for us Sinners humble thy self to death even to the death of the Cross a death of utmost shame and ignominy and of torment insupportable all love all glory be to thee Was ever any sorrow O crucify'd Lord like that sorrow my sins created thee Was ever any love O outrag'd Mercy like that love thou didst shew in dying for Sinners All the frame of Nature O dying Saviour fell into convulsions at the crucifixion of their great Creatour The Sun was darkned the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom the Earth quak't the Rocks clave asunder the Bodies of dead Saints rose out of their Graves insomuch that the Centurion and infidel Souldiers acknowledg'd thee to be the Son of God thou wast lovely and glorious and adorable in thy lowest humiliation all love all praise be to thee Thy
wherein I have offended thee and grieve for my offences that I may bewail all my commissions of sin all my omissions of duty Teach me O Lord by this thy Law which is the rule of Love and of all my Actions to examine not onely my several sins but also all their several aggravations whether they have been wilfull or known or frequent or obstinate or habitual or ensnaring to others that Love may shed the more tears and in some measure proportion my contrition to my guilt 8. Glory be to thee O Lord God who givest us Christians higher obligations to keep thy Commands than thou didst to the Jews they had onely the memory of their temporal deliverance out of the Land of Egypt and the House of Bondage set before them we are deliver'd out of spiritual Egypt from the bondage of Sin the power of Satan and the torments of Hell O give us grace to exceed them as much in our love and thanksgiving and obedience as we do in our blessings 9. Glory be to thee O great Iehovah who to constrain us to love and obey thee art pleas'd to honour every faithfull Soul with a near and intimate propriety in thy self and gratiously to declare I am the Lord thy God O mercifull Lord what is it possible for me to desire more than to have thee for my God If thou be my God the relation ought to be mutual and I must be thy Servant Lord be thou mine and I will be for ever thine My Beloved is mine and I am his My God my Father my Friend my Love whatever is thine I will love and particularly thy Law will I love for teaching me to love thee thy Law I will highly esteem and diligently read and study thy Law shall be daily my delight my consellour and my meditation O my good God keep me always thine and let nothing ever divorce me from thy love Q. You have laid down proper rules for interpreting the Commandments shew me now how they are divided A. Into two sorts or Tables suitable to the two respects they have to God and to our Neighbour Q. Begin with the first Table and shew me the number and order of the Commands which it contains A. It contains the four first Commands which relate to God and teach us the Worship of God even that reverential Love we are to pay to God which naturally arises from a true sense of his infinite both goodness and greatness This Worship of God is either inward or outward The inward Worship being that of the Heart is the nobler of the two and this together with the right object of our worship is taught in the First Commandment as the foundation of all the rest The outward is compris'd in the three following which teach us the regulation of God's Worship in reference to our Gestures in the Second to our Tongues in the Third to our Time in the Fourth Q. Which are the duties of the Second Table A. They are the six remaining Commands which do all relate to our Neighbour of which I shall speak in their due place Q. What have you farther to observe of the Commandments in general A. 'T is observable that those which refer to God are put first to teach us that the love of God is the chief and original Command and ought chiefly to be studied and to teach us also that all the duties of the Second Table must yield to the First whenever they stand in any competition Q. Go over all the Ten Commandments in particular and shew me how they are all the genuine fruits and effects of Divine Love exercis'd either in doing good or eschewing evil A. I shall gladly doe it and as distinctly as possibly I can taking every Commandment apart The First Commandment O thou who onely art Iehovah if thou be my God and if I truly love thee I can never suffer any creature to be thy Rival or to share my heart with thee I can have no other God no other Love but onely thee O infinite Goodness thou onely art amiable whatever is amiable besides thee is no farther amiable than it bears some impressions on it of thy amiableness and therefore all Love all Glory be to thee alone O my God O my Love instill into my Soul so entire reverential a Love of thee that I may love nothing but for thy sake or in subordination to thy Love O Love give me grace to study thy Knowledge that the more I know thee the more I may love thee O my God O my Love do thou create in me a stedfast Faith in the veracity a lively Hope in the Promises a firm trust in the Power a confident reliance on the Goodness and a satisfactory acquiescence in the All-sufficiency of thee my Beloved O my God O my Love do thou create in me an ardent desire of the presence an heavenly delight in the fruition of thee my Beloved O my God O my Love fill my heart with Thanksgiving for the Blessings Praise of the Excellence Adoration of the Majesty Zeal for the Glory of thee my Beloved O my God O my Love fill my heart with a true Repentance for offending with a constant fear of provoking thee my Beloved O my God O my Love fill my heart with an affective Devotion in Prayer and with a profound Humility in ascribing all Honour to thee my Beloved O my God O my Love create in me a sincere Obedience to all the commands a submissive Patience under all the chastisements an absolute Resignation to all the disposals of thee my Beloved O my God O my Love let thy All-powerfull Love abound in my heart and in the hearts of all that profess thy name that in all these and in all other possible instances of thy Love our Souls may be continually employed to praise and to love thee O my God O my Love let me ever be seeking occasions to excite all I can to adore and love thee O my God O my Love I renounce and detest and bewail as odious and offensive to thee as directly opposite to thy Love and to thy Glory All self-love and inordinate love of things below All wilfull and affected ignorance All Atheism or having no God and Polytheism or having more Gods than one All Heresie Apostasie and Infidelity All presumption and despair distrust and carnal security All voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels Reliance on the creature or recourse to evil spirits All unthankfulness and irreligion lukewarmness and indifference All impenitence and disregard of divine wrath All indevotion and pride disobedience impatience and murmuring All the least tendencies to any of these Impieties From all these and the like
Father Almighty though thou fillest all places yet thy Glory is most manifested in Heaven and there thy Majesty does most Illustriously dwell and to thy Throne there are we to lift up our hearts when we Pray O let my soul fly up to thee when I pray in Heavenly Thoughts and Desires and Love O let me savour nothing of the earth whenever I treat with thee in Heaven Glory be to thee O Gratious Lord who in the Petitions of thy most Divine Prayer hast taught us for what we are to Pray for all blessings Temporal and Eternal for all things lawful and acording to thy will Glory be to thee O Jesu who in ranking the Petitions for Spiritual blessings first hast taught us to seek Heaven in the first place grant Lord that I may always beg thy blessings in their due order that I may pray for blessings Spiritual with holy violence with importunity and resolution not to be denyed as being the proper ingredients of thy Love and absolutely necessary to my eternal welfare and for Temporal with Indifference and Resignation to thy will since I may Love thee and be eternally happy without them Hallowed be thy Name O Lord God may Thy Name thy own Glorious and Amiable self have a Love and Honour separate and incommunicable May thy infinite Goodness and Greatness be for ever by all Men and all Angels Confest and Admired and Adored and Magnified both in Private and Publick in our Hearts our Mouths and our Lives All Creatures share in thy Goodness O God O let all Creatures help us to Glorifie thy Name O may every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Thy Kingdom come O thou King of Kings may Thy Kingdom of Grace the Church Militant the Catholick Seminary of Divine Love come to its utmost Evangelical perfection in this life O may thy Gospel Lord be dayly propagated Unbelieving Nations Converted and the number of thy Saints augmented Grant O Lord God that thy true Religion thy Word thy Conveyances of Grace all the Holy Institutions Laws and Governours fixt by thee in thy Spiritual Kingdom may be Loved and Honoured and Obeyed and that thy faithful Subjects may be protected against all the malice of wicked men or the powers of darkness O my God let it be thy good Pleasure to put a period to sin and misery to infirmity and death to compleat the number of thine Elect and to hasten thy Kingdom of Glory that s and all that wait for thy Salvation may in the Church Triumphant eternally Love and I Praise thee Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven O my God thy Will and thy Commands are most Holy Iust and Good and condescending to our weakness and by no means grievous O give me Grace Conscientiously to observe them Thy blessed Angels O Lord always behold thy Face in Heaven They have the Beatifick Vision of thy incomparable Amiableness they cannot but unalterably choose thee they must needs to their utmost capacity Praise and Love thee they cannot possibly offend thee they ever perfectly obey thee and are always upon the Wing at thy Command Lord give me Grace in imitation of the blessed spirits above to set thee always before me O six my serious Contemplation on thee Ravish my soul with a lively sense of thy infinite Amâ—ableness O vouchsafe me one short glimps of thy Goodness O may I once tast and see how Gratious Thou art that all things besides thee may be tastless to me that my desires may be always flying up towards thee that I may render thee Love and Praise and Obedience Pure and Chearful Constant and Zealous Universal and Uniform like that the Holy Angels render thee in Heaven Give us this day our dayly Bread Glory be to thee O Heavenly Benefactor who openest thy hand and fillest all things living with plenteousness O let it be thy good pleasure to give me and all the wait on thy Beneficent Love our food in due season Give us Bread and all that is comprehended by it Health Food Raiment and all the necessaries of Life Give us O Heavenly Father Dayly Bread nothing to gratifie our Luxury but such a competence as thy Divine wisdom sees fittest for us Give us O bountiful Creatour Dayly Bread this day Teach us to live without covetous anxiety for to morrow with a fiducial dependance on thy Fatherly Goodness and to be content and thankful for the present portion thy Love has indulged us O merciful Lord give us Our Bread that which is our own Bread by honest Labour or a lawful Title and grant that we may never eat the Bread of Idleness or of deceit Do Thou Lord Give us our Bread for unless thou givest it we cannot have it and together with our Bread give us thy blessing otherwise our very Bread will not nourish us Above all O Lord God give us the Bread of Life the Bread that came down from Heaven the Body and Blood of thy most Blessed Son to feed our Souls to Life eternal Blessed Jesus O that it might be my meat as it was thine to do the will of thy Heavenly Father And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us For thy own inâ—inite mercies sake and for the Merits of the Son of thy Love Forgive me and all penitent sinners Our trespasses our sins Known or Secret of Omission or Commission which are the vast debts we owe to thy vindictive justice Forgive us O Lord as we forgive all them even our greatest Enemies that tâ—â—esâ—â—ss against us their trespasses which are infinitely inconsiderable in comparison of our trespasses against thee Glory be to thee O Lord who to teach us Charity hast made our forgiveness the condition of obtaining Thine O Easie O Gratious condition of Pardon who would not forgive his Brother a few pence in this Life to have ten Thousand Talents forgiven in the next O let my love Lord learn from thine not only to forgive my Enemies but to be Zealous also to do them good And lead us not into temptation O Lord God thou seest how our Ghostly Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil are every moment soliciting inticing alluring or tempting us to evil O be merciful to us save and help and deliver us Thou seest O my God how infirm I am and how ready my own deceitful heart is to surrender it self to the Tempter and I know that Satan cannot tempt me without thy permission O lead me not if it be thy good pleasure suffer me not to fall into violent or lasting Temptations that may endanger my perseverance I know O heavenly Father that to be tempted is no sin for thy own beloved Son God incarnate was tempted to the most horrid of all Sins to fall down and worship the very
Bondage I. Thou shalt have none other Gods but me II. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the water under the Earth Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my Commandments III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day Six days shalt thou labour and doe all that thou hast to doe but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt doe no manner of work thou and thy Son and thy Daughter thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant thy Cattel and the stranger that is within thy Gates For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it V. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee VI. Thou shalt doe no Murther VII Thou shalt not commit Adultery VIII Thou shalt not Steal IX Thou shalt not bear false Witness against thy Neighbour X. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's House thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Q. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments A. I learn two things my duty towards God and my duty towards my Neighbour Q. What is thy duty towards God A. My duty towards God is I. II. To believe in him to fear him and to love him with all my heart with all my mind with all my Soul and with all my strength to worship him to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him to call upon him III. To honour his holy Name and his Word IV. And to serve him truly all the days of my life Q. What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour A. My duty towards my Neighbour is To love him as my self and to doe to all men as I would they should doe to me V. To love honour and succour my Father and Mother To honour and obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him To submit my self to all my Governours Teachers spiritual Pastours and Masters To order my self lowly and reverently to all my betters VI. To hurt no body by word or deed VII To be true and just in all my dealings VIII To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart IX To keep my hands from picking and stealing X. And my tongue from evil-speaking lying and slandering XI To keep my body in temperance soberness and chastity XII Not to covet and desire other mens goods but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living and to doe my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me Q. You have shew'd me how the Creed presents to us the Motives shew me next how the Ten Commandments contain the Fruits or Effects of Divine love A. Jesus our Love the great Prophet of Love has given us this trial of our love If ye love me keep my Commandments Q. Are there not some general Rules very usefull to be observ'd in expounding the Commandments A. Divine Love does suggest to us the best Rules and is the best Expositour to teach us the full importance of every Command Q. Shew me how A. The Love of God does necessarily include these two things a tenderness to please and a fearfulness to offend our Beloved and this Love will be a sure guide to us in both the affirmative and the negative part of each Command Q. Express this more distinctly A. I shall doe it in these following Particulars 1. O my God when in any of thy Commands a duty is enjoin'd Love tells me the contrary evil is forbidden when any evil is forbidden Love tells me the contrary duty is enjoin'd O do thou daily increase my love to good and my antipathy to evil 2. Though thy Commands and Prohibitions O Lord are in general terms yet let thy love direct my particular practice and teach me that in one general are imply'd all the kinds and degrees and occasions and incitements and approaches and allowances relating to that good or evil which are also commanded or forbidden and give me grace to pursue or to fly them 3. O my God keep my love always watchfull and on its guard that in thy negative Precepts I may continually resist evil keep my love warm with an habitual zeal that in all thy affirmative Precepts I may lay hold on all seasons and opportunities of doing good 4. Let thy love O thou that onely art worthy to be belov'd make me carefull to persuade and engage others to love thee and to keep thy Commands as well as my self 5. None can love thee O Lord and endeavour to keep thy holy Commands but his daily failings in his duty his frequent involuntary and unavoidable slips and surreptions and wandrings afflict and humble him the infirmities of lapst nature create him a kind of perpetual martyrdom because he can love thee no more because he can so little serve thee But thou O most compassionate Father in thy Covenant of Grace dost require sincerity not perfection and therefore I praise and love thee O my God though I cannot love and obey thee as much as I desire I will doe it as much as I am able I will to the utmost of my power keep all thy Commandments with my whole heart and to the end O accept of my imperfect duty and supply all the defects of it by the merits and love and obedience of Jesus thy Beloved 6. Glory be to thee O thou supreme Law-giver for delivering these Commands to sinfull men they are the words which thou thy self O great Iehovah didst speak O let me ever have an awfull regard for every word thou hast spoken O let me ever love thee for speaking them and for giving us the Laws of Love 7. Glory be to thee O Lord God who to make every one of us sensible of our obligation hast given all thy Commands in the second Person and by saying Thou hast spoken in particular to every Soul that every Soul might love and obey thee Glory be to thee O my God who in this short abstract in these Ten Commandments hast compris'd the full extent of our Duty all the effects of Divine Love Teach me O Lord to examine my Love by thy Commands that I may know how to please thee that I may know
take Heavenly delight in thy Gracious Presence that with Praise and Thansgiving with Jubilation and Triumph I may receive thee into my Heart there I will have Love only Love always Love to entertain thee Lord when I present my self and my Love as all the Gift I have to offer at thy Altar next to my Love to thee and for the sake of thy infinite Love to me which I there remember give me Grace to love my Neighbour and to be in Charity wiâ—h all men and to walk in Love as thou hast loved us and hast given thy self for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour for which all Love all Glory be to thee O most Reconcileable Jesu in this Memorial of thy Sufferings I see how thou didst forgive me and didst love me when I was thy Enemy O for thy dearest Love to me give me Love to forgive all my Enemies and to be at peace with the world as I desire to be Loved and Forgiven and to be at peace with thee All that have any way injured me O my God I freely forgive for thy sake O do thou also forgive them incline them to Brotherly Charity and let them at last feel the comfort of that Reconciliation thou didst make upon the Cross for which I will ever Adore and Love thee O my God if I have wronged or injured my Neigbour O give me Grace to beg his pardon and as I have opportunity to make him satisfaction and restitution according to my power O crucified Love whenever I see thee in any of thy poor Members Hungry or Naked or in Distress O let the Remembrance of thy Love in Dying for me engage me to contribute all I can to thy relief O may I ever be liberal in my Alms to thee who wert so liberal of thy inestimable Blood for me It is very adviseable that persons before they Communicate should read over the whole Communion-Office or at least the exhortations there which they will find to contain very proper and plain and excellent Instructions It were much to be wish'd that people would make more use of their Common Prayer Books than they do and apply the Prayers they meet with there to their own particular conditions for the Book is always at hand and the Prayers are most safe and familiar and devout and the more they affect us in our Closet the more they will affect us in the Congregation and well meaning souls will reap great spiritual advantage from this practice For example an humble poor Christian who it may be has no other Book but his Common Prayer Book and who intends to come to the Holy Communion may learn to turn the Communion-Office to his own private use after this manner Almighty God unto whom all hearts be open all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that I may perfectly love thee and worthily magnifie thy Holy Name through Christ our Lord. Amen I give most humble and hearty thanks to thee O God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both God and man who did humble himself even to the death upon the Cross for us miserable sinners who lay in darkness and the shadow of death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to everlasting Life Glory be to thee O Jesus our master and only Saviour who to the end that we should always remember thy exceeding great Love in thus dying for us and the innumerable benefits which by thy precious Blood-sheding thou hast obtained to us hast Instituted and Ordained Holy Mysteries as Pledges of thy Love and for a continual remembrance of thy Death to our great endless Comfort To thee therefore O blessed Saviour with the Father and the Holy Ghost I will give as I am most bounden continual thanks I submit my self wholly to thy Holy Will and Pleasure and will study to serve thee in true Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things Judg of all men I acknowledg and bewail my manifold sins c. I lift up my heart unto thee O Lord I give thanks unto thee O Lord our God it is meet and right so to do it is very meet right and my bounden duty that I should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee O Lord Holy Father Almighty everlasting God But chiefly am I bound to praise thee for giving thy only Son Jesus to dye for my Sins and to rise a-again for my Justification Therefore with Angels and Archangels and with all the Company of Heaven I laud and magnifie c. I do not presume to come to thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in my own righteousness c. Glory be to God on high and on earth Peace good will towards men I praise thee c. To these as you see occasion you may add many very good Prayers short and plain and pertinent to your purpose which you may collect out of the Common Prayer and which will much further your Devotion such as these O Lord who never â—ailest to help and govern them whom thou doest bring up in thy stedfast Fear and Love keep me I beseech thee under the protection of thy good Providence and make me to have a perpetual Fear and Love of thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O God who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass Mans understanding pour into my heart such Love toward thee that I loving thee above all things may obtain thy promises which exceed all that I can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Lord of all power and migâ—t who art the Author and Giver of all gooâ— things graft in my Heart the Love of thy Name encrease in me true Religion nourish me with all goodness and of thy great mercy keep me in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O Lord who hast taught me that all my doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into my Heart that most excellent gift of Charity the very bond of Peace and of all Vertues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee Grant this for thy only Son Jesus Christs sake Amen Almighty God who hast given thy only Son to be unto us both a Sacrifice for Sin and also an example of Godly life give me grace that I may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable Benefit and also daily endeavour my self to follow the blessed steps of his most holy Life through the same Jesus Christ our Lord Amen They that are ignorant or that cannot read should go to their Parish Priest or to some
other discreet and learned Minister of Gods Word and desire him to teach them their Duty in private and they that thus sincerely seek the Law at the Priests mouth shall find that the Priests Lips do preserve Knowledge and shall not go away without a Blessing To God the Father who first loved us and made us accepted in the Beloved to God the Son who loved us and wash'd us from our Sins in his own Blood To God the Holy Ghost who sheds the Love of God abroad in our Hearts be all Love and all Glory for time and for eternity Amen FINIS To the poor Inhabitants within the Diocess of Bath and Wells THOMAS their unworthy Bishop wisheth the knowledge and the love of God Dearly beloved in our Lord THe Catechism truly teaches all Christians that they are not able of themselves to do those things they have vow'd in their Baptism to do namely To walk in the Commandments of God and to serve him without his special Grace oâ— favorable Assistance and this they are to learn at all times to call upon God for by diligent Prayer How good and seasonable this advice is you will all see if you consider what helpless and needy Creatures the very best of Men are Alas our weakness is very great our wants are very many our dependance on God for all things all our lives long is entire and absolute and necessary and there is no way in the World to gain help and supplies from God but by Prayer so that it is as easie and as possible to preserve a natural Life without daily Bread as a Christian Life without daily Prayer It was for this reason that our Saviour himself took a particular care to teach his Disciples to pray Luke 11.1 and it is for the same reason and in imitation of our Heavenly Master that I have joyn'd these directions for Prayer to the Catechism Sure I am the Zeal I ought to have for your Salvation can suggest to me nothing more conducing to the good of your Souls than to exhort and beseech you all of either Sex to learn how to Pray This is the first general Request I shall make to you and I am the more earnest in it because my own sad experience has taught me how strangely ignorant common People usually are of this duty insomuch that some never Pray at all pretending they were never taught or that their memories are bad or that they are not Book-learn'd or that they want mony to buy a Book and by this means they live and die rather like Beasts than Men nay their condition is much worse than that of Beasts for the misery of a Beast doth end at death but the misery of a wicked man does then begin and will endure to all Eternity To prevent then as much as lies in me the damnation of those Souls which God has committed to my care and to cure that lamentable ignorance and forgetfulness of God which is the cause of the damnation of so very many I do not only incessantly pray for you my self but I beg of you all to pray for your selves and I beseech you to read the following Instructions or if you cannot read your selves to get some honest charitable Neighbors to read them often to you that you may remember them and God of his great mercy reward the Charity of such Neighbors If any of you either by your own negligence or by the negligence of your Parents or for want of Catechising in your Parish are wholly ignorant of your duty though it be a most shameful and dangerous thing for one who calls himself a Christian to know nothing of Christ or Christianity yet if you are willing to learn and beg paâ—don of God for your wilful ignorance hitherto and will sincerely do your endeavor to get saving Knowledge and heartily pray to God to assist you you shall find that the very entrance of Gods word giveth light that it giveth understanding unto the simple Psal. 119.130 I must warn you before-hand that corrupt Nature will be very busie in hindering the learning of your duty and thoughts will arise in your mind that the task will be too hard and too tedious for you to undertake but I faithfully promise you to impose no hard or tedious task on you but such as you your selves shall confess to be very complying with your Infirmities for our most compassionate Saviour teaches me to say no more to you then you can bear Iohn 16.11 All I shall exhort you to is to learn your Catechism which you may do by degrees If you learn but a line or two in a day you will by Gods blessing in a very short time learn it all over and you will rejoice and thank God for the sudden and happy progress you have made God forbid you should ever think your selves too old to learn to serve God and to be saved both which are taught in the Catechism and therefore the Catechism is of necessity to be learned For how can you go to Heaven if you never learn'd the way thither How can you be sav'd if you do not know your Saviour 'T is a great Error to think that the Catechism was made for Children only for all Christians are equally concern'd in those saving Truths which are there taught and the Doctrine delivered in the Catechism is as proper for the study and as necessary for the salvation of a great Doctor as of a weak Christian or a young Child But you will be the more encouraged to learn your Catechism when you see how excellent a help it will be to Prayer for it will at the same time further your Knowledge and your Devotion both together and the Prayers I intend to commend to you are chiefly the very Answers in the Catechism which being daily repeated will be the better fix'd in your memory and you cannot imagine any advice for Prayer can be more easie and familiar than that which directs you to turn your very Catechism into Prayers You are by this time I hope satisfied that the Duty to which I exhort you is no hard task and yet I will endeavor by Gods assistance to make it more easie by putting you into an easie method to attain it If you are wholly ignorant of your Catochism let it be your first care to learn such Ejaculations such short Prayers as these and say them often and heartily Lord have mercy upon me Christ have mercy upon me Lord have mercy upon me Lord pardon all my wilful ignorance and gross â—arelessness of my duty for the sake of Iesus my Saviour Amen O my God assist me in the learning of my Duty Lord help me to know and to love thee Lord pity me Lord save me Father forgive me Glory be to thee O Lord who hast hitherto spared me O that I might at last learn to glorifie and love and serve thee Such short Prayers as these you may easily get by heart and the method