what excellencies he preach'd what wisdom he taught what life he liv'd what death he died what Mysteries he hath appointed by what ministeries he conveys himself to thee what rare arts he uses to save thee and after all that he intercedes for thee perpetually in heaven presenting to his heavenly Father that great Sacrifice of himself which he finished on the Cross and commands thee to imitate in this Divine and Mysterious Sacrament and in the midst of these thoughts and proportionable exercises and devotions address thy self to the solemnities and blessings of the day 5. Throw away with great diligence and severity all unholy and all earthly thoughts and think the thoughts of heaven for when Christ descends he comes attended with innumerable companies of Angels who all behold and wonder who love and worship Jesus and in this glorious imployment and society let thy thoughts be pure and thy mind celestial and thy work Angelical and thy spirit full of love and thy heart of wonder thy mouth all praises investing and incircling thy prayers as a bright cloud is adorned with fringes and margents of light 6. When thou seest the holy man minister dispute no more inquire no more doubt no more be divided no more but believe and behold with the eyes of faith and of the spirit that thou seest Christs body broken upon the Cross that thou seest him bleeding for thy sins that thou feedest upon the food of elect souls that thou puttest thy mouth to the hole of the rock that was smitten to the wound of the side of thy Lord which being pierced streamed forth Sacraments and life and holiness and pardon and purity and immortality upon thee 7. When the words of Institution are pronounced all the Christians us'd to say Amen giving their consent confesâ—ing that faith believing that word rejoicing in that Mystery which is told us when the Minister of the Sacrament in the person of Christ says This is my body This is my blood This body was broken for you and this blood was poured forth for you and all this for the remission of your sins And remember that the guilt of eternal damnation which we have all incurr'd was a great and an intolerable evil and unavoidable if such miracles of mercy had not been wrought to take it quite away and that it was a very great love which would work such glorious mercy rather than leave us in so intolerable a condition A greater love than this could not be and a less love than this could not have rescued us 8. When the holy Man reaches forth his hands upon the Symbols and prays over them and intercedes for the sins of the people and breaks the holy bread and pours forth the sacred calice place thy self by faith and meditation in heaven and see Christ doing in his glorious manner this very thing which thou seest ministred and imitated upon the Table of the Lord and then remember that it is impossible thou shouldest miss of eternal blessings which are so powerfully procur'd for thee by the Lord himself unless thou wilt despise all this and neglect so great salvation and chusest to eat with swine the dirty pleasures of the earth rather than thus to feast with Saints and Angels and to eat the body of thy Lord with a clean heart and humble affections 9. When the consecrating and ministring hand reaches forth to thee the holy Symbols say within thy heart as did the Centurion Lord I am not worthy but entertain thy Lord as the women did the news of the resurrection with fear and great joy or as the Apostles with rejoycing and singleness of heart that is clear certain and plain believing and with exultation and delight in the loving kindness of the Lord. 10. But place thy self upon thy knees in the humblest and devoutest posture of worshippers and think not much in the lowest manner to worship the King of Men and Angels the Lord of heaven and earth the great lover of souls and the Saviour of the body him whom all the Angels of God worship him whom thou confessest worthy of all and whom all the world shall adore and before whom they shall tremble at the day of judgment For if Christ be not there after a peculiar manner whom or whose body do we receive But if he be present to us not in mystery only but in blessing also why do we not worship But all the Christians always did so from time immemorial No man eats this flesh unless he first adores said S. Austin For the wise men and the Barbarians did worship this body in the manger with very much fear and reverence let us therefore who are Citizens of heaven at least not fall short of the Barbarians But thou seest him not in the Manger but on the Altar and thou beholdest him not in the Virgins arms but represented by the Priest and brought to thee in Sacrifice by the holy Spirit of God So. St. Chrysostome argues and accordingly this reverence is practised by the Churches of the East and West and South by the Christians of India by all the Greeks as appears in their answer to the Cardinal of Guise by all the Lutheran Churches by all the world saâ—es Erasmus only now of late some have excepted themselves But the Church of England chooses to follow the reason and the piety of the thing it self the example of the Primitive Church and the consenting voice of Christendome And if it be irreverent to sit in the sight and before the face of him whom you ought to revere how much more in the presence of the living God where the Angel the president of prayer does stand must it needs be a most irreligious thing to sit unless we shall upbraid to God that our prayers to him have wearied us It is the argument of Tertullian To which many of the Fathers add many other fair inducements but I think they cannot be necessary to be produced here because all Christians generally kneel when they say their prayers and when they bless God anâ— I suppose no man communicates but he does both and therefore needs no oâ—her inducement to perswade him to kneel especially since Christ himself and St. Stephen and â—he Apostle St. Paul used that posture in their devotions that or lower for St. Paul kneeled upon the shore and our Lord himself fell prostrate on the earth But to them that refuse I shall only use the words of Scripture which the Fathers of the Council of Turon applied to this particular Why art thou proud O dust and ashes And when Christ opens his heart and gives us all that we need or can desire it looks like an ill return if we shall dispute with him concerning the humility of a gesture and a circumstance 11. When thou dost receive thy Lord do thou also receive thy Brother into thy heart and into thy bowels Thy Lord relieves thee
the things themselves too high for us but therefore we are taught three things 1. To walk humbly with our God that is in all entercourses with him to acknowledg the infinite distance between his immensitie and our nothing his wisdom and our ignorance his secrets and our apprehensions he does more for us than we can understand It was an excellent saying of Aristotle which Seneca reports of him Nunquam nos verecundiores esse debere quam cum de Diis agitur we ought never to be more bashful and recollect than when we are to speak any thing of God Timidè de potâ—state Deorum pauca dicenda sunt said Cicero we must speak of his power and glory timorously and sparingly with joyfulness and singleness or simplicity of heart so the first Christians eat their Bread their Eucharist so we understand the words of St. Luke 2. To walk charitably with our disagreeing brother that this may be indeed a Sacrament of charity and not to wonder if he be mistaken in his discourses of that which neither he nor you can understand 3. Though it be hard to be understood yet we must be careful that with simplicitie we admire the secret and accept the mystery but at no hand by pride or ignorance by interest or vanity to wrest this mysteâ—y to ignoble senses or to evil events or to dangerous propositions or to our own damnation 5. Whatever propositons any man shall entertain in his manner of discoursing of these mysteries let him be sure to take into his notice and memorie those great appellatives with which the purest ages of the Church the most ancient Liturgies and the most eminent Saints of God use to adorn and invest this great mysteriousness In the Greek Liturgie attributed to St. James the Sacramental Symbols are called sanctified honourable precious celestial unspeakable incorruptible glorious fearful formidable divine in the use of which Epithets as we have the warranty and consent of all the Greek Churches since they ever had a Liturgy so we are taught only to have reverend usages and religious apprehensions of the Divine mysteries but if by any appellative we can learn a duty it is one of the best waies of entring into the secret To which purpose the ages Primitive and Apostolical did use the word Eucharist the name and the use we learn from Origen the Bread which is called the Eucharist is the Symbol of our thanksgiving towards God But it is the great and most usual appellative for the holy Supper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we find in Ignatius St. Clemens Justin Martyr the Syrian Paraphrast Origen and ever after amongst the Greeks aâ—d afterwards amongst the Latins By him we understand that then we receive great blessings since â—he very mystery it self obliges us to great thankâ—ulness I have instanced in this as an example to the use of the other Epithets and appellatives which from Antiquity I have enumerated 6. He that desires to enter furthest into the secrets of this mystery and to understand more than others can better learn by love than by inquiry He that keepeth the law of the Lord getteth the understanding thereof saith the wise Bensirach if he will prepare himself diligently and carefully observe the dispensations of the Spirit and receive it humbly and treat it with great reverence and dwell in the communion of Saints and pass through the mystery with great devotion and purest simplicity and converse wiâ—h the purities of the Sacrament frequâ—ntly â—nd with holy intention this man shall undeâ—stand more by his experience than the greatest Cleâ—ks can by all their subtilties the commentaries of the Doctors and the glosses of inquisitive men Obey and ye shall understand said the Prophet and our blessed Saviour assur'd us that if we continue in his word then we shall know the truth and if any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or no. For we have not turned from our iniquities that we might understand the truth said Daniel for the love of the Lord saith the wise man passeth all things for illumination 7. Let no man advance the preaching of the word of God to the disparagement or to occasion the neglect of the Sacraments For though it be true that faith comes by hearing yet it is not intended that by hearing alone faith is ingendred for the faith of the Apostles came by seeing and St. Pauls faith did not come by hearing but by intuition and revelation and hearing in those words of St. Paul does not signifie the manner of ministration but the whole Oeconomie of the word of God the whole office of preaching which is done most usefully to babes and strangers by sermon and homily but more gloriously and illustriously to men by Sacraments But however be it so or otherwise yet one ordinance ought not to exclude the other much less to disparage the other and least of all to undervalue that which is the most eminent but rather let every Christian man and woman think that if the word ministred by the spirit is so mightie it must be more when the word and the spirit joyn with the Sacrament which is their proper significatorie He that is zealous for the word of God does well but let him remember that the word of God is a goodly ring and leads us into the circles of a blessed eternity but because the Sacrament is not without the word they are a jewel encha'sd in gold when they are together The Ministeries of the Gospel are all of a piece they though in several manners work the same salvation by the conduct of the sâ—me spirit 8. Let no man in the reception of the Sacrament and in his expectation of blessings and events from it limit his hopes and belief to any one particular for that will occasion a littleness of faith and may make it curious scrupulous and phantastical rather let us adore the secret of God and with simple expectations receive it disposing our selves to all the effects that may come rather with fear and indefinite apprehensions than with dogmatical and confident limitations for this may beget scruples and diminution of value but that hinders nothing but advances the reverential treatments and opinion 9. He that guesses at the excellency and power of the Sacrament by the events that himself feels must be sure to look for no other than what are eminently or virtually contained in it that is he must not expect that the Sacrament will make him rich or discover to him stoln goods or cure the Tooth-ach or Countercharm Witches or appease a Tempest if it be thrown into the Sea These are such events which God hath not made the effects of religion but are the hopes and expectations of vain and superstitious people and I remember that Pope Alexander the third in the Council of Lateran wrote to the Bishop of S.
Sacramental Symbols as a direct consignation of pardon not that it is them compleated for it is a work of time it is as long in doing as repentance is in perfecting it is the effect of that depending on its cause in a perpetual operation but it is then working and if we go on in duty God will proceed to finish the methods of his grace and snatch us from eternal death which we have deserved and bring us unto glory And this he is pleased by the Sacramental all the way to consigne God speaks not more articulately in any voice from Heaven than in such real indications of his love and favour 14. Lastly since the Sacrament is the great solemnity of prayer and imitation of Christs intercession in Heaven let us here be both charitable and religious in our prayers interceding for all states of men and women in the Christan Church and representing to God all the needs of our selves and of our Relatives For then we pray with all the advantages of the spirit when we pray in the faith of Christ crucified in the love of God and of our neighbour in the advantages of solemn piety in the communion of Saints in the imitation of Christs intercession and in the union with Christ himself Spiritual and Sacramental and to such prayers as these nothing can be added but that which will certainly come that is a blessed hearing and a gracious answer SECT III. Devotions preparatory to this Mystery Ejaculations I. 1. I Will praise thee with my whole heart before the Angels will I sing praise unto thee 2. I will worship towards thy holy Temple and praise thy Name for thy loving kindnesse and for thy truth for thou hast magnified above all thy name the word of thy praise 3. In the day when I call upon thee thou shalt answer and shalt multiply strength in my soul. 4. How precious are thy thoughts unto me O God how great is the sum of them The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me Thy mercy O Lord endureth for ever 5. I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait and in his word do I hope 6. My soul doth wait for the Lord more than they that keep the morning watches that they may observe the time of offering the morning sacrifices 7. O let my soul hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption he shall redeem his people from all iniquitie II. 1. Our Lord is gentle and just our God is merciful 2. The Lord keepeth the simple I was humbled but the Lord looked after my redemption 3. O my soul return thou unto thy rest because the Lord hath restored his good things unto thee 4. He hath snatched my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling I will therefore walk before the Lord in the land of the living 5. I have believed therefore will I speak in the assemblies of just men I will greatly praise the Lord. 6. What shall I return unto the Lord all his retributions are repayed upon me 7. I will bear the chalice of redemptions in the Kingdom of God and in the name of the Lord I will call upon my God III. 1. I will pay my vows unto the Lord I will then shew forth his Sacraments unto all the people 2. Honourable before the Lord is the death of his holy one and thereby thou hast broken all my chains 3. I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments 4. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth yea I will praise him among the multitude 5. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor to save him from them that condemn his soul. 6. His work is honourable and glorious and his righteousnesse remaineth for ever He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred 7. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion he hath given meat unto them that fear him he will ever be mindful of his covenant he hath shewed his people the power of his works blessed be God The Prayers to be used in any day or time of preparation to the Holy Sacrament I. O Thou shepherd of Israel thou that feedest us like sheep thou makest us to lie down in pleasant pastures and leadest us by the still waters running from the clefts of the rock from the wounds of our Lord from the fountains of salvation thou preparest a table for us and anointest our heads with the unction from above and our cup runneth over let the blood of thy wounds and the water of thy side wash me clean that I may with a pure clean soul come to eat of the purest sacrifice the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world II. THou givest thy self to be the food of our souls in the wonders of the Sacrament in the faith of thy Word in the blessings and graces of thy Spirit Perform that in thy Servant which thou hast prepared and effected in thy Son strengthen my infirmities heal my sicknesses give me strength to subdue my passions to mortifie my inordinations to kill all my sin increase thy Graces in my soul enkindle a bright devotion extinguish all the fires of hell my lust and my pride my envy and all my spiritual wickednesses pardon all my sins and fill me with thy Spirit that by thy Spirit thou maist dwell in me and by obedience and love I may dwell in thee and live in the life of grace till it pasâ— on to glory and immensity by the power and the blessings by the passion and intercession of the Word incarnate whom I adore and whom I love and whom I will serve for ever and ever III. O Mysterious God ineffable and glorious Majesty what is this that thou hast done to the sons of men thou hast from thy bosom sent thy Son to take upon him our nature in him thou hast opened the fountains of thy mercy and hast invited all penitent sinners to come to be pardoned all the oppressed to be eased all the sorrowful to be comforted all the sick to be cured all the hungry to be filled and the thirsty to be refreshed with the waters of life and sustained with the wine of elect souls admit me O God to this great effusion of loving kindness that I may partake of the Lord Jesus that by him I may be comforted in all my griefs satisfied in all my doubts healed of all the wounds of my soul and the bruises of my spirit and being filled with the bread of heaven and armed with the strength of the Spirit I may begin continue and finish my journey thorow this valley of tears unto my portion of thy heavenly kingdom whither our Lord is gone before to prepare a place for every loving and obedient soul. Grant this O Eternal God for his sake who died for us and intercedes for us and gives himself daily to us our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Amen CHAP. II. Of
our General Preparation to the worthy Reception of the Blessed Sacrament and the participation of the Mysteries IN all the Scriptures of the New Testament there are no words of particular duty relating to the Blessed Sacrament and expressing the manner of our address to the Mysteries but those few words of St. Paul Let a man examine himself and so let him eat The Apostle expresses one duty and intimates another The duty of preparation is expressed but because this is a relative duty and is not for it self but for something beyond he implies the other to be the great duty to which this preparation does but minister 1. A man must examine himself 2. And a man must eat A man must not eat of these Mysteries till he be examined for that were dangerous and may prove fatal but when a man is examined he must eat for else that examinations were to no purpose SECT I. Of Examination of our selves in order to the Holy Communion THere is no duty in Christianity that is partly solemn and partly moral that hath in it more solemnity and more morality than this one duty and in the greatest declension of Religion still men have fear when they come to receive this holy Sacrament They that have no Religion will fear when they come to die and they who have but a little will fear when they come to communicate But although men who believe this to be the greatest secret and sacrednesse of our Religion do more in their addresses to this than to any thing else yet many of them that do come consider that they are only commanded to examine themselves and that according to the ordinary methods is easily done It is nothing but asking our selves a few questions Do I believe Do I repent and am I in charity To these the answers are ready enough I do believe that Christ gave his body and blood for me as for all mankind and that Christ is mystically present in the Sacrament I have been taught so all my life and I have no reason to doubt it 2. I do also repent according to the measures I am taught I am sorry I have sinned I wish I had not done it and I promise to do so no more and this I do constantly before every Communion and before the next comes I have reason enough to renew my vows I was never so good as my word yet but now I will 3. I am also in charity with all the World and against this good time I pray to God to forgive them for I do This is the usual examination of Consciences to which we add a fasting day and on that we may say more prayers than usual and read some good discourses of the Sacrament and then we are dressed like the friends of the Bridegroom and with confidence come to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But this examination hath it self need to be examined Noah laboured a hundred years together in making the Ark that he and a few more might be saved and can we think in an hour to prepare our souls for the entertainment of him that made all the World This will very hardly be done For although our duty of preparation is contained in this one word of Try or Examine it being after the manner of mysteries mysteriously and secretly described yet there is great reason to believe that there is in it very much duty and therefore we search into the secret of the word and to what purposes it is used in the New-Testament 1. It signifies to try and search to enter into the depths and secrets the varieties and separations and divisibilities of things The word is taken from the tryers of Gold which is tryed by the touch-stone and in great cases is tryed by the fire And in this sense St. Paul might relate to the present condition of the Christians who were often under a fiery tâ—yal For the holy Communion being used by the Primitive Christians according to its intention was indeed a great consolation to the Martyrs and Confessors as appears often in St. Cyprian and this blessing and design was mystically represented to the Church in the circumstance of the institution in being done immediately before the passion they who were to pass through this fiery tryal ought to examine themselves against this solemnity in order to that last tryal and see whether or no they were vessels of sanctification and honour for none else were fit to communicate but they also that were fit to die Christ would give himself to none but to them who are ready to give themselves for him according to that saying of Christ If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into him and sup with him and he with me To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me c. That is those who are tryed by the experiments of a great love and a great patience that out of love are willing to suffer and with patience do suffer unto the end these are the guests at my heavenly Table for labour and affrightment put a price upon the Martyrs Crown while his vertue grows in danger and like the water-plants ever grow higher than the Floods Now the use that we can make of this sense of the word is that we also are to examine what we are likely to be or what we have been in the day of persecution how we have passed through the fire Did we contract the smel of fire or the pollution of smoak or are we improved by the purification of the discerning flames Did we do our duties then and then learn to do them better or did we then only like glasse bend in all the flexures and mobilities of the flame and then mingle with the ashes incorporating with the interests and foulest pollutions of the world or were we like Gold patient of the hammer and approved by the stone of tryal like Gold in the fire did we untwist our selves from all complications and mixtures with impurer drosse certain it is that by persecution and by mony men are in all capacities and relations best examined how they are in their Religion and their Justice Sometimes God tries his friends as we try one another by the infelicities of our lives when we are unhappy in our affliction if we be not unhappy in our friend too he is a right good one and God will esteem of us so if we can say with David though thou hast smitten us into the place of Dragons yet have we not forgotten thee and my soul is alway in my hand that is I am alwayes in danger and trouble and I bear death about me yet do I not forsake thy Commandments This indeed is Gods way of Examination of us but that 's all one for we must examine our selves here in order to our duty and state of being as God will examine us hereafter in order to what we have been and
measures lesse than their determination we cannot go and be innocent but if we will make judgement concerning our love and our desires we must frequent these holy mysteries by the measures and suggestion of something that is within if it be love it will have no measures but it self and nothing can give it limits but the circumstances of things themselves and the possibilities of our persons and affairs 2. Besides this coming upon necessity our desires are very much to be suspected if compliance and custom or reputation be the ingredients and prevail above any better motive that can be observed As force makes hypocrites so favour and secular advantages make flatterers in Religion and when a Prince or a Ruler a Master of a Family or any one that hath power to oblige is heartily religious Religion will quickly be in fashion Those persons which come upon such inducements are by our blessed Saviour signified by the parable of the corn that fell by the high way they presently receive it with joy and it springs quickly if the sun shines but when persecution comes they hang the head and slack their pace and appear seldome and shew that they had no depth of root These men serve God when Religion is rich and prosperous they come to Christ for the loaves but care but little for the mystery As long as the Religion stayes at this port it is good for nothing and the very entry it self is suspicious fear is better than this but if it passe on to create an effective and material love it will be well at last 3. They that are easily diverted from communicating and apt to be excused from the solemnity these men have just cause to suspect their desires to be too cold to kindle the fires upon this altar and to consume this sacrifice they have not love and come against their will some men are hindred by every thing if a stranger come to the house if they be indisposed with a littlehead ach if they have affairs of the world if a neighbour be angry with them if a merry meeting be appointed the day before this is a suspicious indifferency and lukewarmness They that are not desirous to use all opportunities and to take all advantages and long for all the benefits want very much of that hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God which is fulfilled in those mysteries and to which Christ hath promised such ample satisfaction I do not say that every man is bound to communicate every time that he can have it and that it is lukewarmness not to desire it so often as it is in our power but he that refuses it when it is in his opportunity when his circumstances are fitted when by the measures of piety and Religion it is decent and useful to him to do it of which I shall afterwards give account that man is guilty of a criminal indifference and when he does come may fear that he hath not spiritual hunger enough for so divine a banquet 4. They that in their preparation take the least measures that are practised or allowed and rest there and increase not have neither value for the Sacrament nor desires of the blessing nor expectations of any fruit and therefore cannot have this holy appetite in due proportion because they see no sufficient moving cause and they look for little and finde less and therefore can never be true desirers For he that thinks there is no great matter in it will have no great stomach for it and he that will do no great matter for it certainly expects no great excellency in it and such are all they that take the least measures of preparation who therefore shall find the least measures of blessing and in spiritual things that which is called positively the least is just none at all he that shall be called least in the kingdom shall be quite shut out This is an indifferency both in the cause and in the effect They feel no great blessings consequent to their reception and therefore their affâ—ctions are cold and because they are so they shall for ever be without the blessing 5. They only can be confident that their desires are right who feel sharpnesses and zeal in their acts of love For in spiritual things every abatement is by the mixture of the contrary and therefore when things are indâ—fferent we cannot tell which shall be accepted or accounted of and when there is as much evil as good the evil is only abated but the good is destroyed and is not accepted and therefore till the victory be clear and evident we cannot have much comfort but the strong desire is only certain and comfortable to the spirit Great desires are a great pain and the Spouse in the Canticles complains that she is sick of love and then calls upon Christ to comfort her with flaggons of wine Lesse desires than the greatest if they be real and effective of the work are fit for such persons as are not the greatest in Religion but in all spiritual progressions we are sure that our desires shall never cease growing till they be full of God and are swell'd up to immensity and till they come to some greatnesse that they are like hunger and thirst or like the breasts of a fruitful Nurse full and in pain till they be eased we cannot be so confident that things are well with us in this particular Are we in trouble till we converse with our Lord in all the ways of spiritual entercourse Do we rejoyce when a Communion day comes And is our joy fixed upon consideration of that holy necessity of doing good works at that time especially and receiving the aids of Grace and the helps of the Sacrament liberally When it is thus it is well thaâ— we can be sure of All measures of desire which are so little that we can compare them to no natural similitude of earnestnesse and appetite we can only say that they are yet very uncomfortable and if we come often and pray that we may have lively relish and appetite to the Mysteries it may be well in time but as yet we cannot be sure that it is so There is only in this case one help to our examination and our confidence He that comes because God commands him in a direct and certain obedience to the words of Christ or in a deep sorrow for his sins coming hither in hopes of remedy or in a great apprehension of his infirmity addressing himself hither for support and strength this man although he feels no sensual punctures and natural sharpnesses of desire yet he comes well and upon a right principle For St. Austin reckoning what predisposition is necessary by way of preparation to the holy Sacrament reckons hunger and the sense of our sins and our infirmities but if he wants the pleasure of these passionate indications he must be careful that he be sure in the intellectual and religious choice for that is the thing
exchange of shame and indignation thou art vexed peevish and unsatisfied and then thou resolvest thou wilt sin no more But thou wilt find this to be no great matter but a great deception for thou only desirest it not because for the present the appetite is gone thou hast no fondness for it because the pleasure is gone and like him who having scratched the skin till the blood comes to satisfie a disease of pleasure and uncleannesse feeling the smart thou resolvest to scratch no more 3. But consider I pray and examine better is the disease cured because the skin is broken will the appetite return no more and canst not thou again be tempted is it not likely that the sin will look prettily and talk flattering words and entice thee with softnesses and easie fallacies and wilt not thou then lay thy foolish head upon the lap of the Philistian damsel and sleep till thy locks be cut and all thy strength is gone wilt not thou forget thy shame and thy repentance thy sick stomach and thy aking-head thy troubled conscience and thy holy vows when thy friend calls thee to go and sin with him to walk aside with him into the regions of foolish mirth and an unperceived death Place thy self by consideration and imaginative representment in the circumstances of thy former temptation and consider when thou canst be made to desire and art invited to desire and naturally doest desire can thy resolution hold out against such a battery 4. In order to this examine whether there be in thee any good principle stronger than all the Arguments and flatteries of thy sin but above all things examine whether there be not in thee this principle that if thou dost sin again in great temptation that thou wilt and mayest repent again Take heed of that for it is certain no man lives in the regions of temptation to whom sin can seem pleasant but he will fall when the temptation comes strongly if he have this principle within him that though he do commit that sin he may and will repent for then sin hath got a Paranymph and a sollicitor a warrant and an advocate if you think that you can so order it that you shall be as sure of heaven though you do this sin as though you do it not you can have no security your resolutions are but glass they may look like diamonds to an undescerning eye but they will last no longer then till the next rude temptation falls upon them 5. Examine yet further is your case so that you have no reserves of cases in which your sin shall prevail you resolve to leave the partner of your follies and you go from her lest you be tempted It is well it is very well but is not your heart false as water and if you should see her again do you not perceive that your resolution hath brought you to a little shame because it will upbraid thy falshood and inconstancy you resolve against all intemperate anger and you deny the importunity of many trifling occurrencies but consider if you be provoked and if you be despised can your flesh and blood endure it then It may be Calpurnius or Tocca shall not perswade thee to go to the baths of Lucrinus but if Mecoenas calls thee or the Consul desires thy company thou canst resist no longer Thou didst play the fool with poor Calenia and thou art troubled at thy folly and art ashamed when thou doest remember how often thou wentest into the Summoenium and peeped into the titles of those unhappy women whose bodies were the price of a Roman penny but art thou so severe and chast that thou wilt die rather than serve the imperious lust of Julia or wilt thou never be scorched with the flames of Corinna's beauty It is nothing to despise a cheap sin and a common temptation but art thou strong enough to overcome the strongest argument that thy sin hath Examine thy self here wisely and severely It is not thy part saying I will sin no more He that hath new dined can easily resolve to fast at night but when thou art hungry and invited and there is rare meat on the table and thy company stayes for thee and importunes thee canst thou then go on with thy fasting day if thou canst it is as it should be but let not thy resolution be judged by short sayings but first by great considerations and then by proportionable events If neither the biggest temptation nor thy trifling hopes nor thy foolish principles nor weak propositions can betray thee then thou mayest with reason say that you have no affection so strong as the love of God no passion so great as thy repentance no pleasure equal to that of an holy conscience and then thou mayest reasonably believe that there is in thee no affection to sin remaining But something more is to be added 6. In the examination of this particular take no accounts of your self by the present circumstances and by your thoughts and resolutions in the dayes of Religion and solemnity but examine how it is with you in the dayes of ordinary conversation and in the circumstances of secular imployments For it is with us in our preparations to the holy Communion as it is with women that sit to have their pictures drawn they make themselves brave and adorned and put on circumstances of beauty to represent themselves to their friends and to their posterity with all the advantages of art and dressing But he that loves his friends picture because it is like her and desires to see in image what he had in dayly conversation would willingly see her in picture as hee sees her every day and that is most like her not which resembles her in extraordinary and by the sophistrie of dressing but as she looked when she went about in the government of her family So must we look upon our selves in the dresses of every day in the week and not take accounts of our selves as we trick up our souls against a communion day For he that puts on fine cloaths for one day or two must not suppose himself to be that Prince which he only personates We dresse our selves upon a day of Religion and then we cannot endure to think of sin and if we do we sigh and when we sigh we pray and suppose that if we might die upon that day it would be a good dayes work for we could not die in a better time But let us not deceive our selves That is our picture that is like us every day in the week and if you are as just in your buying and selling as you are when you are saying your prayers if you are as chast in your conversation as you are in your religious retirement if your temperance be the same every day as it is in your thoughts upon a fasting day if you wear the same habits of virtue every day in the week as you put on upon a Communion day you have more
in their age their Parents and their Priests the laws of the Church and the Religion of the Country make up the demonstration but because their faith is no stronger than to be the daughter of such arguments we find they commonly live at such a rate as if they did neither believe nor care whether it were so or no. The confidence of the article makes them not to leave off violently to pursue the interests of this world and to love and labour for the other Before this faith can enable them to resist a temptation they must derive their assent from principles of another nature and therefore because few men can dispute it with arguments invincible and demonstrative and such as are naturally apt to produce the most perfect assent it is necessary that these men of all other should believe it because it is said to come from God and rely upon it because it brings to God trust it because it is good acknowledge it certain because it is excellent that there may be an act of the will in it as well as of the understanding and as much love in it as discourse For he that only consents to an article because it is evident is indeed convinced but hath no excellency in his faith but what is natural nothing that is gracious and moral true Christian faith must have in it something of obscurity something that must be made up by duty and by obedience but it is nothing but this we must trust the evidence of God in the obscurity of the thing Gods testimony must be clear to him and the thing in all other senses not clear and then to trust the article because God hath said it must have in it an excellency which God loves and that he will reward In order to this it is highly considerable that the greatest argument to prove our Religion is the goodness and the holiness of it it is that which makes peace and friendships content and comfort which unites all relations and endears the relatives it relieves the needy and defends the widdow it ends strife and makes love endless all other arguments can be opposed and tempted by wit and malice but against the goodness of the Religion no man can speak by which it appears that the greatest argument is that which moves love intending by love to convince the understanding But then for others who can enquire better their inquiries also must be modest and humble according to the nature of the things and to the designes of God they must not disbelieve an article in Christianity which is not proved like a conclusion in Geometry they must not be witty to object and curious to enquire beyond their limit for some are so ingeniously miserable that they will never believe a proposition in Divinity if any thing can be said against it they will be credulous enough in all the affairs of their life but impenetrable by a Sermon of the Gospel they will believe the word of a man and the promise of their neighbour but a promise of Scripture signifies nothing unless it can be proved like a proposition in the Metaphysicks If Sempronius tell them a story it is sufficient if he be a just man and the narrative be probable but though Religion be taught by many excellent men who gave their lives for a testimony this shall not passe for truth till there is no objection left to stand against it The reason of these things is plain they do not love the thing their interest is against it they have no joy in Religion they are not willing and desirous that the things shall appear true When love is the principle the thing is easie to the understanding the objections are nothing the arguments are good and the Preachers are in the right Faith assents to the revelations of the Gospel not only because they are well proved but because they are excellent things not only because my reason is convinced but my reason yields upon the fairer termes because my affections are gained For if faith were an assent to an article but just so far as it is demonstrated then faith were no vertue and infidelity were no sin because in this there is no choice and no refusal but where that which is probable is also naturally indemonstrable and yet the conclusion is that in which we must rejoyce and that for which we must earnestly contend and that in the belief of which we serve God and that for which we must be ready to die It is certain that the understanding observing the credibility and the will being pleased with the excellency they produce a zeal of belief because they together make up the demonstration For a reason can be opposed by a reason and an argument by an argument but if I love my Religion nothing can take me from it unless it can pretend to be more useful and more amiable more perfective and more excellent than heaven and immortality and a kingdom and a crown of peace and all the things and all glories of the Eternal God 2. That faith which disposes to the holy Communion must have in it a fulness of confidence and relying upon God a trusting in and a real expectation of the event of all the promises of the Gospel God hath promised sufficienâ— for the things of this life to them that serve him They who have great revenues and full bags can easily trust this promise but if thou hast neither mony nor friends if the labour of thy hands and the successe of thy labour fails thee how is it then Can you then relie upon the promise What means your melancholy and your fear your frequent sighs and the calling of your self miserable and undone Can God only help with means or cannot he also make the means or help without them or see them when you see them not or is it that you fear whether he will or no He that hath promised if he be just is alwayes willing whether he be able or no and therefore if you do not doubt of his power why should you at all doubt of his willingness For if he were not able he were not Almighty if he were not willing to perform his promise then he were not just and he that suspects that hath neither faith nor love for God of all things in the world faith never distrusts the good will of God in which he most glories to communicate him self to mankind If yet your fear objects and sayes that all is well on Gods part but you have provoked him by your sins and have lost all title to the promise I can say nothing against that but that you must speedily repent and amend your fault and then all will be quickly well on your part also and your faith will have no objection and your fears will have no excuse When the glutton Apicius had spent a vast revenue in his prodigious feastings he kill'd himself for fear of starving but if Caesar had promised
Religion as if they were things fit only to be talked on and to be the subject of Theological discourses but not the rule of our lives and the matter of our care It is expresly said by St. Paul He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself Now if we observe what crouds of people in great Cities come to the holy Communion good and bad penitent and impenitent the covetous and the proud the crafty Merchâ—nt from yesterdays fraud and the wanton fool from his last nights lust we may easily perceive that not many men believe these words He that sayes to me drink not this for it is poyson hath given me a law and an affrightment and I dare not disobey him if I believe him and if we did believe St. Paul I suppose we should as little dare to be damned as to be poyson'd Our Blessed Saviour told us that with what measure we mete to others it shall be measured to us again but who almost believes this and considers what it means Will you be content that God should despise you as you despise your brother that he should be as soon angry with you as you are with him that he should strike you as hastily and as seldom pardon you and never bare with your infirmities and as seldom interpret fairly what you say or do and be revenged as frequently as you would be And what think we of these sayings Into the heavenly Jerusalem there shall in no wise enter any thing that defileth or prophaneth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie Do men believe God and yet doing these things hope to be saved for all these terrible sayings Now the works of the flesh are manifest adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness c. of which I tell you before that they which do such thâ—ngs shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Certainly if we did believe that these things are spoken in earnest we should not account fornication such a decent crime so fashionable and harmless or make such a maygame of the fearful lectures of damnation For if these words be true will men leave their sins or are they resolved to suffer damnation as being lesse troublesome than to quit their vain Mistresses surely that 's not it but they have some little subterfuges and illusions to trust to They say they will relie upon Gods mercy Well they may if in well doing they commit their souls to him as to a faithful Creator but will they make God their enemy and then trust in him while he remains so That will prove an intollerable experiment for so said God when he caused his name to be proclaimed to the host of Israel The Lord God merciful and gracious he caused to be added and that will by no means quit the guilty By no means No by no means let us believe that as well as the other For the passion of our Redeemer the intercession of our high Priest the Sacraments of the Church the body and blood of Christ the mercies of God the saying Lord Lord the priviledges of Christians and the absolution of the Priest none of all this and all this together shall do him no good that remains guilty that is who is impenitent and does not forsake his sin If we had faith we should believe this and should not dare to come to the holy Communion with an actual guiltiness of many crimes and in confidence of pardon against all the truth of Divine relations and therefore without faith But then here we may consider that no man in this case can hope to be excused from the necessities of a holy life upon pretence of being saved by his faith For if the case be thus these men have it not For he that believes in God believes his words and they are very terrible to all evil persons For in Christ Jesus nothing can avail but a new creature nothing but keeping the Commandments of God nothing but faith working by charity they are the words of God Wicked men therefore can never hope to be saved by their faith or by their faith to be worthy Communicants for they have it not Who then can He only by his faith is worthily disposed to the Communion and by his faith can be saved who by his faith lives a life of grace whose faith is to him a magazine of holy principles whose faith endears obedience and is the nurse of a holy hope and the mother of a never failing charity He shall be saved by his faith who by his faith is more than conquerour who resists the Devil and makes him flie and gives laws to his passions and makes them obedient who by his faith overcomes the world and removes mountains the mountains of pride and vanity ambition and secular designs and whose faith casteth out Devils the Devil of lust and the Devil of intempeâ—ance the spirit that appears like a goat and the spirit that comes in the shape of a swine he whose faith opens the blind mans eyes and makes him to see the things of God and cures the lame hypocrite and makes him to walk uprightly For these signs shall follow them that believe said our blessed Saviour and by these as by the wedding garment we are fitted to this heavenly Supper of the King In short for what ever end faith is designed whatever propositions it intends to perswade to what duties soever it does engage to what state of things soever it ought to efform us and whithersoever the nature and intention of the grace does drive us thither we must go that we must do all those things we must believe and to that end we must direct all our actions and designs For â—he nature of faith discovers it self in the affairs of our Religion as in all things if we believe any thing to be good we shall labour for it if we think so we shall do so and if we run after the vanities of the world and neglect our interest of heaven there is no other account to be given of it but because we do not believe the threatnings and the Laws of God or that heaven is not so considerable as those sottish pleasures and tâ—ifling regards for which all pains is too much though we think all labour and all passion is too little Plutarâ—h tells that when poverty desired to have a childe she lay with the God Porus their God of plenâ—y and she proved with childe and brought forth Love by which they intended to represent the nature of the Divine love it is born of a rich Father and a poor mother that is it proceeds from a contempt of the world and a value of God an emptiness of secular affections and a great estimate of wisdom and Religion But therefore it is that God and the fruits of his garden and the wealth of his treasure and the meat of his Table and the graces of his spirit are not gustful and
delicious because we dote upon mushromes and colliquintida But as Manna was given in the desart and it became pleasant when they had nothing else to eat So it is in â—he sweetnesses of Religion we cannot live by faith and rejoyce in the banquets of our Saviour unlesse our souls dwell in the wilderness that is where the pleasures and appetites of â—he world may not prepossesse our palates and debauch our reasonings And this was mysterioâ—sly spoken by the Psalmist The broad places of the wilderness shall wax fat and the hills shall be enâ—ircled with joy that is whatsoever â—s barren and desolate not full of the things and affections of the world shall be inebriated with the pleasures of Religion and rejoyce in Sacraments in faith and holy expectations But the love of mony and the love of pleasures are the intrigues and fetters to the understanding but he only is a faithful man who restrains his passions and despises the world and rectifies his love that he may believe a right and put that value upon Religion as that it become the satisfaction of our spirit and the great object of all our passionate desires pride and prejudice are the Parents of misbelief but humility and contempt of the world first bear faith upon their knees and then upon their hands SECT V. Of the proper and Specifick work of Faith in the reception of the holy Communion HEre I am to enquire into two practical questions 1. What stresse is to be put upon faith in this Mystery that is how much is every one bound to believe in the article of this Sacrament before he can be accounted competently prepared in his understanding and by his faith 2. What is the use of faith in the reception of the Blessed Sacrament and in what sense and to what purposes and with what truth it is said that in the holy Sacrament we receive Christ by faith How much every man is bound to believe of this mystery If I should follow the usual opinions I should say that to this preparatory faith it is necessary to believe all the niceties and mysteriousnesse of the blessed Sacrament Men have introduced new opinions and turned the key in this lock so often till it cannot be either opened or shut and they have unravel'd the clue so long till they have intangled it and not only reason is made blind by staring at what she never can perceive but the whole article of the Sacrament is made an objection and temptation even to faith it self and such things are taught by some Churches and some Schooles of learning which no Philosophy did ever teach no Religion ever did reveal no prophet ever preach and which no faith ever can receive I mean it in the prodigious article of Transubstantiation which I am not here to confute but to reprove upon practical considerations and to consider those things that may make us better and not strive to prevail in disputation That therefore we may know the proper offices of faith in the believing what relates to the holy Sacrament I shall describe it in several propositions 1. It cannot be the duty of faith to believe any thing against our sense what we see and taste to be bread what we see and taste and smell to be wine no faith can engage us to believe the contrary For by our senses Christianity it self and some of the greatest Articles of our belief were known by them who from that evidence conveyed them to us by their testimony and if the perception of sense were not finally to be relied upon Miracles could never be a demonstration nor any strange event prove an unknown proposition for the Miracle can never prove the Article unless our eyes or hands approve the miracle and the Divinity of Christs person and his mission and his power could never have been proved by the Resurrection but that the resurrection was certain and evident to the eyes and hands of so many witnesses Thus Christ to his Apostles proved himself to be no spirit by exposing his flesh and bones to be felt and he wrought faith in St. Thomas by his fingers ends the wounds that he saw and felt were the demonstrations of his faith and in the Primitive Church the Valentinians and Marcionites who said Christs body was phantastical were confused by no other argument but of sense For sense is the evidence of the simple and the confirmation of the wise it can confute all pretences and reprove all deceitful subtilties it turns opinion into knowledge and doubts into certainty it is the first endearment of love and the supply of all understanding from what we see without we know what to believe within and no demonstration in the world can be greater than the evidence of sense Our senses are the great arguments of vertue and vice and if it be not safe to rely upon that evidence we cannot tell what pleasure and pain is and a man that is born blind may as well have the true idea of colours as we could have of pain if our senses could not tell us certainly and all those arguments from heaven by which God prevails upon all the world as Oracles and Vrim and Thummim and still voices and loud thunders and the daughter of a voice and messages from above and Prophets on earth and lights and Angels all were nothing for faith could not come by hearing if our hearing might be illusion That therefore which all the world relies upon for their whole Religion that which to all the world is the great means and instrument of the glorification of God even our seeing of the works of God and eating his provisions and beholding his light that which is the great ministery of life and the conduit of good and evil to us we may rely upon for this article of the Sacrament what our faith relies upon in the whole she may not contradict in this Tertullian said that It is not only unreasonable but unlawful to contradict the testimony of our sense lest the same question be made of Christ himself lest it be suspected that he also might be deceived when he heard his Fathers voice from heaven That therefore which we see upon our Altars and Tables that which the Priest handles that which the Communicant does taste is bread and wine our senses tell us that it is so and therefore faith cannot be enjoined to believe it not to be so Faith gives a new light to the soul but it does not put our eyes out and what God hath given us in our nature could never be intended as a snare to Religion or to engage us to believe a lie Faith sees more in the Sacrament than the eye does and tastes more than the tongue does but nothing against it and as God hath not two wills contradictory to each other so neither hath he given us two notices and perceptions of objects whereof the one is affirmative and the other
violence not only to the laws and manners but even to the very nature of men Lions indeed and Tygres do with a strange curiosity eye and observe him that struck them and they fight with him above all the hunters to strike again is the return of beasts but to pardon him that smote me is the bravest amends and the noblest way of doing right unto our selves whilest in the wayes of a man and by the methods of God we have conquered our enemy into a friend But revenge is the disease of honour and is as contrary to the wisdom and bravery of men as dwelling in rivers and wallowing in fires is to their natural manner of living and he who out of pretence of valour pursues revenge is like to him who because fire is a glorious thing is willing to have a St. Anthonies fire in his face 2. He that is injured must so pardon as that he must not pray to God to take revenge of his enemy It was noted as a pitiful thing of Brutus that when his army was broken and himself exposed to the insolencies of his enemies and that he could not revenge himself he cryed out most passionately in the words of the Greek tragedy to Jupiter to take vengeance of young Octavius But nothing is more against the nobleness of a Christian spirit and the interest of a holy communion than when all meet together to pray for all and all for every one that any man should except his enemy that he who prayes for blessings to the whole mystical body of Christ should secretly desire that one member should perish If one prayes for thee and another prayes against thee who knows whether thou shalt be blessed or accursed 3. He that means to communicate worthily must so forgive his enemy as never to upbraid his crime any more For we must so forgive as that we forget it not in the sense of nature but perfectly in the sense of charity For to what good purpose can any man keep a record of a shrewd turn but to become a spie upon the actions of his enemy watchful to do him shame or by that to aggravate every new offence It was a malicious part of Darius when the Athenians had plundered Sardis he resolving to remember the evil turn till he had done them a mischief commanded one of his servants that every time he waited at supper he should thrice call upon him Sr. remember the Athenians The Devil is apt enough to do this office for any man and he that keeps in mind an injury needs no other tempter to uncharitableness but his own memory He that resolves to remember it never does forgive it perfectly but is the under officer of his own malice â—or as rivers that run under ground do infallibly fall into the sea and mingle with the salt waters so is the injury that is remembred it runs under ground indeed and the anger is head but it tends certainly to mischief and though it be sometimes lesse deadly for want of opportunity yet it is never lesse dangerous 4. He that would communicate worthily must so pardon his enemy that though he be certain the man is in the wrong and sinned against God in the cause yet he must not under pretence of righting God and Religion and the laws pursue his own anger and revenge and bring him to evil Every man is concerned that evil be to him that loves it but we cozen our selves by thinking that we have nothing to do to pardon Gods enemies and vile persons It is true we have not but neither hath any private man any thing to do to punish them but he that cannot pardon Gods enemy can pray to God that he would and it were better to let it all alone than to destroy charity upon pretence of justice or Religion For if this wicked man were thy friend it may very well be supposed that thou wouldest be very kind to him though he were Gods enemy and we are easie enough to think well of him that pleases us let him displease whom he list besides 5. He may worthily communicate that so pardons his enemy as that he endeavour to make him to be his friend Are you ready to do him good Can you relieve your enemy if he were in want Yes it may be you can and you wish it were come to that And some men will pursue their enemy with implacable prosecutions till they have got them under their feet and then they delight to lift them up and to speak kindly to the man and to forgive him with all the noblenesse and bravery in the world But let us take heed lest instead of shewing mercy we make a triumph Relieve his need and be troubled that he needs it Rescue him from the calamity which he hath brought upon himself or is fallen into by misadventure but never thrust him down that thou mayest be honoured and glorious by raising him from that calamity in which thou art secretly delighted that he is intangled Lycurgus of Sâ—arta in a tumult made against him by some Citizens lost an eye which fact the wiser part of the people infinitely detesting gave the villain that did it into their Princes power and he used it worthily he kept him in his house a year he taught him vertue and brought him forth to the people a worthy Citizen To pardon thy enemy as David pardoned Absalom that 's true charity and he that does so pardon needs no further inquiry into the case of conscience It was an excellent saying of Seneca When thou doest forgive thy enemy rather seem to acquit him than to pardon him rather excuse the fault than only forbear the punishment for no punishment is greater than so to order thy pardon that it shall glorifie thy kindness and upbraid and reproach his sin 6. He that would be truly charitable in his forgiveness and with just measures would communicate must so pardon his enemy that he restore him to the same state of love and friendship as before This is urged by St. Bernard as the great imitation of the Divine mercy God hath so freely so intirely pardoned our sins that he neither condemns by revenging nor confounds by upbraiding nor loves lesse by imputing He revenges not at all he never upbraides and when he hath once pardoned he never imputes it to any evil purposes any more And just so must our reconciliation be we must love him as we loved him before for if we love him lesse we punish him if our love was valuable then he is forgiven indeed when he hath lost nothing I should be thought severe if I should say that the true forgiveness and reconciliation does imply a greater kindness after than before but such is the effect of repentance and so is the nature of love There is more joy over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance and a
unreasonable fears and nothing but a single ray from heaven can give them any portions of comfort and these men never trust to any thing they do or to any thing that is done for them and fear by no other measures but by consideration of the intolerable misery which they should suffer if they did miscarry and because these men can speak nothing and think nothing comfortable of themselves in that agony or in that meditation therefore they can make use of this rule by the proportions of that judgment of charity which themselves make of others and in what cases and in what dispositions they conclude others to die in the Lord if they take those or the like measures for themselves and accordingly in those dispositions address themselves to the holy Sacrament they will make that use of this rule which is intended and which may do them benefit 5. As there are great varieties and degrees of fitness to death so also to the holy Sacrament he that hath lived best hath enough to deplore when he dies and causes enough to beg for pardon of what is past and for aids in the present need and when he does communicate he hath in some proportion the same too he hath causes enough to come humbly to come as did the Publican and to say as did the Centurion Lord I am not worthy but he that may die with most confidence because he is in the best dispositions he also may communicate with most comfort because he does it with most holiness 6. But the least measures of repentance less than which cannot dispose us to the worthy reception of the holy Mysteries are these 1. As soon as we are smitten with the terrors of an afflicted conscience and apprehend the evil of sin or fear the Divine Judgments and upon that account resolve to leave our sin we are not instantly worthy and fit to communicate Attrition is not a competent disposition to the blessed Sacrament because although it may be the gate and entrance of a spiritual life yet it can be no more unless there be love in it unless it be contrition it is not a state of favour and grace but a disposition to it He that does not yet love God cannot communicate with Christ and he that resolves against sin out of fear only or temporal regards hath given too great testimony that he loves the sin still and will return to it when that which hinders him shall be removed Faith working by charity is the wedding garment and he that comes hither not vested with this shall be cast into outer darkness But the words of St. Paul are express as to this particular In Christ Jesus nothing can avail but faith working by love and therefore without this the Sacrament it self will do no good and if it does no good it cannot be but it will do harm Our repentance disposing us to this Divine feast must at least be contrition or a sorrow for sins and purposes to leave them by reason of the love of God working in our hearts 2. But because no man can tell whether he hath the love of God in him but by the proper effects of love which is keeping the Commandments no man must approach to the holy Sacrament upon the account of his mere resolution to leave sin untill he hath broken the habit untill he hath cast away his fetters untill he be at liberty from sin and hath shaken off its laws and dominion so that he can see his love to God entring upon the ruines of sin and perceives that Gods Spirit hath advanced his Scepter by the declension of the sin that dwelt within till then he may do well to stand in the outward Courts lest by a too hasty entrance into the Sanctuary he carry along with him the abominable thing and bring away from thence the intolerable sentence of condemnation A man cannot rightly judge of his love to God by his acts and transports of fancy or the emanations of a warm passion but by real events and changes of the heart The reason is plain because every man hath first loved sin and obeyed it and untill that obedience be changed that first love remains and that is absolutely inconsistent with the love of God an act of love that is a loving ejaculation a short prayer affirming and professing love is a very unsure warrant for any man to conclude that his repentance is indeed contrition for wicked persons may in their good intervals have such sudden fires and all men that are taught to understand contrition to be a sorrow for sins proceeding from the love of God and that love of God to be sufficiently signified by single acts of loving prayer can easily by such forms and ready exercises fancy and conclude themselves in a very good condition at an easie rate But contrition is therefore necessary because attrition can be but the one half of repentance it can turn us away from sin but it cannot convert us unto God that must be done by love and that love especially in this case is manifestly nothing else but obedience and untill that obedience be evident and discernable we cannot pronounce any comfort concerning our state of love without which no man can see God and no man can taste him or feel him without it 3. A single act of obedience in the instance of any kind where the scene of repentance lies is not a sufficient preparation to the holy Sacrament nor demonstration of our contrition unless it be in the case of repentance only for single acts of sin In this case to oppose a good to an evil an act of proportionable abstinence to a single act of intemperance for which we are really sorrowful and as we suppose heartily troubled and confess it and pray for pardon may be admitted as a competent testimonial that this sorrow is real and this repentance is contrition because it does as much for vertue as in the instance it did for vice alwaies provided that whatsoever aggravations or accidental grandeurs were in the sin as scandal deliberation malice mischief hardness delight or obstinacy be also proportionably accounted for in the reckonings of the repentance But if the penitent return from a habit or state of sin he will find it a harder work to quit all his old affection to sin and to place it upon God intirely and therefore he must stay for more arguments than one or a few single acts of grace not only because a few may proceed from many causes accidentally and not from the love of God but also because his love and habitual desires of sin must be naturally extinguished by many contrary acts of virtue and till these do enter the old love does naturally abide It is true that sin is extinguished not only by the natural force of the contrary actions of vertue but by the Spirit of God by aids from heaven and powers supernatural and Gods love hastens ouâ— pardon and acceptation
or to speak nothing but what is pertinent for a day or for a day not to be angry and then sometimes for two daies and so diet your weak soul with little portions of food till it be able to take in and digest a full meal Or 6. Meditate often every day of death or the day of judgment By these and the like instruments it will happen to the remains of sin as it did to the Aegyptians what is left by the Hail the Catterpiller will destroy and what the Catterpiller leaves the Locusts will eat These instruments will eat up the remains of sin as the poor gather up the gleanings after the Carts in harvest 9. But if at any Communion and in the use of these advices you do not perceive any sensible progression in the spirit of mortification or devotion then be sure to be ashamed and to be humbled for thy indisposition and slow progression in the discipline of Christ and if thou beest humbled truly for thy want of improvement it is certain thou hast improved And if you come with fear and trembling it is very probable you will come in the spirit of repentance and devotion These exercises and measures will not seem many long and tedious as the rules of art if we consider that all are not to be used at all times nor by every person but are instruments fitted to several necessities and useful when they can do good and to be used no longer â—or he that uses these or any the like advices by way of solemnity and in periodical returns will still think fit to use them at every Communion as long as he lives but he that uses them as he should that is to effect the work of reformation upon his soul may lay them all aside according to his work is done But if we would every day do something of this if we would every day prepare for the day of death or which is of a like consideration for the day of our Communion if we would every night examine our passed day and set our things in order if we would have a perpetual entercourse and conversation with God or which is better than all examinations in the world if we would actually attend to what we do and consider every action and speak so little that we might consider it we should find that upon the day of our Communion we should have nothing to do but the third particular that is the offices of Prayer and Eucharist and to renew our graces by prayer and exercises of devotion SECT IV. Devotions to be used upon the morning of the Communion 1. O Blessed Lord our gracious Saviour and Redeemer Jesus King of Kings and Lord of Lords thou art fairer than the children of men upon thee the Angels look and behold and wonder what am I O Lord that thou who fillest heaven and earth shouldst descend and desire to dwell with me who am nothing but folly and infirmity misery and sin shame and death 2. I confess O God that when I consider thy greatness and my nothing thy purity and my uncleanness thy glory and my shame I see it to be infinitely unreasonable and presumptuous that I should approach to thy sacred presence and desire to partake of thy Sacraments and to enter into thy grace and to hope for a part of thy glory But when I consider thy mercy and thy wisdome thy bounty and thy goodness thy readiness to forgive and thy desires to impart thy self unto thy servants then I am lifted up with hope then I come with boldness to the throne of grace Even so O Lord because thou hast commanded it and because thou lovest it should be so 3. It was never heard O Lord from the beginning of the world that thou didst ever despise him that called upon thee or â—orsake any man that abides in thy fear or that any person who trusted in the Lord was ever confounded But if I come to thee I bring an unworthy person to be united unto thee if I come not I shall remain unworthy for ever If I stay away I fear to lose thee If I come I fear to offend thee and that will lose thee more and my self too at last I know O God I know my sins have separated between me and my God but thy love and thy passion thy holiness and thy obedience hath reconciled us and though my sins deter me yet they make it necessary for me to come and though thy greatness amazes me yet it is so full of goodness that it invites me 4. O therefore blessed Saviour who didst for our sakes take upon thee our passions and sensibilities our weaknesses and our sufferings who wert hungry after the temptation of the Devil weary and thirsty in thy discourse with the woman of Samaria who didst weep over Lazarus wert afflicted in the garden whipt in the Consistory nail'd on the Cross pierc'd with a spear wrapp'd in liâ—nen laid in the grave and so art become a 〈◊〉 High Priest and pitiful to our infiâ—â—â—â—ieâ— be pleased to receive a weary sinner 〈◊〉 overburdâ—neâ—â—â—nscience an afflicted polluted soul iâ—to thy câ—re and conduct into thy custody and â—â—re I know that a thousand years of tears and sorrow the purity of Angels the love of Saints and the humiliation of the greatest penitent is not sufficient to make we worthy to dwell with thee to be united to thy infinity to be fed with thy body and refreshed with thy purest bloud to become bone of thy bone and flesh of thy flesh and spirit of thy spirit 5. But what I cannot be of my self let me be made by thee I come to thee wounded and bruised and bleeding for thou art my Physician arise then with healing in thy wings I am thirsty and faint as the Hart longeth after the water brooks so longeth my soul after thee O God thou art the eternal fountain from whence spring the waters of comfort and salvation I am hungry and empty and weak and I come running after thee because thou hast the words of eternal life O send me not away empty for I shall faint and die I cannot live without thee O let vertue go forth from thee and heal all my sickness do thou appear to my soul in these mysteries heal my sores purifie my stains enlighten my darkness turn me from all vain imaginations and illusions of the enemy all perverseness of will all violence and inordination of passions sensual desires and devillish angers lust and malice gluttony and pride the spirit of envy and the spirit of detraction let not sin reign in my members nor the Devil lead my will captive nor the world abuse my understanding and debauch my conversation 6. O Jesus be a Jesus unto me and let this Sacrament be a savour of life and thy holy body the bread of life and thy precious bloud the purifier of my sinful life Grant I may receive these Divine mysteries for the amendment of my
of thy Cross reconcile me to thy eternal Father and bring to me peace of Conscience let the victory of thy Cross mortifie all my evil and corrupt affections let the triumph of thy Cross lead me on to a state of holiness that I may sin no more but in all things please thee and in all things serve thee and in all things glorifie thee 7. Great and infinite are thy glories infinite and glorious are thy mercies who is like unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on high and yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and earth Heaven it self does wholly minister to our salvation God takes care of us God loves us first God will not suffer us to perish but imployes all his attributes for our good The Son of God dies for us the holy Spirit descends upon us and teaches us the Angels minister to us the Sacrament is our food Christ is married to our souls and heaven it self is offered to us for our portion 8. O God my God assist me now and ever graciously and greatly Grant that I may not receive bread alone for man cannot live by that but that I may eat Christ that I may not search into the secret of nature but inquire after the miracles of grace I do admire I worship and I love Thou hast overcome O Lord thou hast overcome Ride on triumphantly because of thy words of truth and peace load my soul in this triumph as thy own purchase thy love hath conquer'd and I am thy servant for ever 9. Thou wilt not dwell in a polluted house make my soul clean and do thou consecrate it into a Temple O thou great Bishop of our souls by the inhabitation of thy holy spirit of purity Let not these teeth that break the bread of Angels ever grind the face of the poor let not the hand of Judas be with thee in the dish let not the eyes which see the Lord any more behold vanity let not the members of Christ ever become the members of a harlot or the ministers of unrighteousness 10. I am nothing I have nothing I desire nothing but Jesus and to be in Jerusalem the holy City from above Make haste O Lord Behold my heart is ready my heart is ready Come Lord Jesus come quickly When the holy Man that Ministers reaches the consecrated Bread suppose thy Lord entring into his Courts and say Lord I am not worthy thou shouldest come under my roof but speak the word Lord and thy servant shall be whole After receiving of the Bread pray thus Blessed be the Name of our gracious God Hosannah to the Son of David Blessed is he that cometh in the name of our Lord. Hosannah in the highest Thou O blessed Saviour Jesus hast given me thy precious body to be the food of my soul and now O God I humbly present to thee my body and soul every member and every faculty every action and every passion Do thou make them fit for thy service Give me an understanding to know thee and wisdom like as thou didst to thy Apostles ingenuity and simplicity of heart like to that of Nathanael zeal and perfect repentance like the return of Zacheus Give me eyes to see thee as thy Martyr Stephen had an ear to hear thee as Mary a hand to touch thee as Thomas a mouth with Peter to confess thee an arm with Simeon to embrace thee feet to follow thee with thy Disciples an heart open like Lydia to entertain thee that as I have given my members to sin and to uncleanness so I may henceforth walk in righteousness and holiness before thee all the days of my life Amen Amen If there be any time more between the receiving the holy Body and the blessed Chalice then add O immense goodness unspeakable mercy delightful refection blessed peace-offering effectual medicine of our souls Holy Jesus the food of elect souls coelestial Manna the bread that came down from heaven sweetest Saviour grant that my soul may relish this divine Nutriment with spiritual ravishments and love great as the flames of Cherubims and grant that what thou hast given me for the remission of my sins may not â—y my fault become the increase of them Grant that in my heart I may so digest thee by a holy faith so convert thee into the unity of my spirit by a holy love that being conformed to the likeness of thy death and resurrection by the crucifying of the old man and the newness of a spiritual and a holy life I may be incorporated as a sound and living member into the body of thy holy Church a member of that body whereof thou art head that I mâ—y abide in thee and bring forth fruit in thee and in the resurrection of the Just my body of infirmity being reformed by thy power may be configured to the similitude of thy glorious body and my soul received into a participation of the eternal Supper of the Lamb that where thou art there I may be also beholding thy face in glory O blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Amen When the holy Chalice is offered attend devoutly to the blessing and joyn in heart with the words of the Minister saying Amen I will receive the Cup of salvation and call upon the Name of our Lord. After receiving of the holy Cup pray thus It is finished Blessed be the name of our gracious God Blessing glory praise and honour love and obedience dominion and thanksgiving be to him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever I bless and praise thy Name O eternal Father most merciful God that thou hast vouchsafed to admit me to a participation of these dreadful and desirable mysteries unworthy though I am yet thy love never fails and though I too often have repented of my repentances and fallen back into sin yet thou never repentest of thy loving kindness Be pleased therefore now in this day of mercy when thou openest the treasures of heaven and rainest Manna upon our souls to refresh them when they are weary of thy infinite goodness to grant that this holy Communion may not be to me unto judgment and condemnation but it may be sweetness to my soul health and safety in every temptation joy and peace in every trouble ligâ—t and strength in every word and work comfort and defence in the hour of my death against all the oppositions of the spirits of darkness and grant that no unclean thing may be in me who have received thee into my heart and soul. II. Thou dwellest in every sanctified soul she is the habitation of Sion and thou taâ—est it for thine own and thou hast consecrated it to thy self by the operation of glorious mysteries within her O be pleased to receive my soul presented to thee in this holy Communion for thy dwelling place make it a house of prayer and holy meditations the seat of thy Spirit the repository of graces reveal to me
thy mysteries and communicate to me thy gifts and love me with that love thou bearest to the Sons of thy house Thou hast given me thy Son with him give me all things else which are needful to my body and soul in order to thy glory and my salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. III. An act of Love and Eucharist to be added if there be time and opportunity O Lord Jesu Christ Fountain of true and holy love nothing is greater than thy love nothing is sweeter nothing more holy Thy love troubles none but is entertained by all that feel it with joy and exultation and it is still more desired and is ever more desirable Thy love O dearest Jesu gives liberty drives away fear feels no labour but suffers all it eases the weary and strengthens the weak it comforts them that mourn and feeds the hungry Thou art the beginning and the end of thy own love that thou mayest take occasion to do us good and by the methods of grace to bring us to glory Thou givest occasion and createst good things and producest affections and stirrest up the appetite and dost satisfie all holy desires Thou hast made me and fed me and blessed me and preserved me and sanctified me that I might love thee and thou would'st have me to love thee that thou mayest love me for ever O give me a love to thee that I may love thee as well as ever any of thy servants loved thee according to that love which thou by the Sacrament of love workest in thy secret ones Abraham excelled in faith Job in patience Isaac in fidelity Jacob in simplicity Joseph in chastity David in religion Josiah in zeal and Manasses in repentance but as yet thou hadst not communicated the Sacrament of love that grace was reserved till thou thy self shouldst converse with man and teach him love Thou hast put upon our hearts the sweetest and easiest yoke of love to enable us to bear the burden of man and the burden of the Lord give unto thy servant such a love that whatsoever in thy service may happen contrary to flesh and bloud I may not feel it that when I labour I may not be weary when I am despised I may not regard it that adversity may be tolerable and humility be my sanctuary and mortification of my passions the exercise of my daies and the service of my God the joy of my soul that loss to me may be gain so I win Christ and death it self the entrance of an eternal life when I may live with the Beloved the joy of my soul the light of my eyes My God and all things the blessed Saviour of the world my sweetest Redeemer Jesus Amen An Eucharistical Hymn taken from the Prophecies of the Old Testament relating to the blessed Sacrament Praise ye the Lord I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the Assembly of the upright and in the Congregation He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred the Lord is gracious and full of compassion He hath given meat unto them that fear him he will ever be mindful of his Covenant His bread shall be fat and he shall yield royal dainties Binding his Foal unto the vine and his Asses colt unto the choice vine he washed his garment in wine and his cloaths in the bloud of grapes In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things a feast of wine on the lees He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth for the Lord hath spoken it And the Lord their God shall save them as the flock of his people for how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty Corn shall make the young men chearful and new wine the virgins The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in He shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity Take with you words and turn to the Lord saying Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips for in thee the Fatherless findeth mercy The Lord hath said I will heal their backslidings I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away They that dwell under his shadow shall return they shall revive as the corn and blossom as the Vine the memorial thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon The poor shall eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord that seek him your heart shall live for ever for he hath placed peace in our borders and fed us with the flower of wheat For from the rising of the Sun even unto the going down of the same the Name of the Lord shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto his Name and a pure offering for his Name shall be great among all Nations Who so is wise he shall understand these thiâ—gs and the prudent shall know them for the waies of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them but the transgressors shall fall therein Glory be to the Father c. A Prayer to be said after the Communion in behalf of our souls and all Christian people 1. O most merciful and gracious God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory thou art the great lover of souls and thou hast given thy holy Son to die for our salvation to redeem us from sin to destroy the work of the Devil and to present a Church to thee pure and spotless and undefiled relying upon thy goodness trusting in thy promises and having received my dearest Lord into my soul I humbly represent to thy divine Majesty the glorious sacrifice which our dearest Jesus made of himself upon the Cross and by a never ceasing intercession now exhibites to thee in heaven in the office of an eternal Priesthood in behalf of all that have communicated this day in the Divine Mysteries in all the Congregations of the Christian world and in behalf of all them that desire to communicate and are hindred by sickness or necessity by fear or scruple by censures Ecclesiastical or the sentence of their own consciences 2. Give unto me O God and unto them a portion of all the good prayers which are made in heaven and earth the intercession of our Lord and the supplications of all thy servants and unite us in the bands of the common faith and a holy charity that no interests or partialities no sects or opinions may keep us any longer in darkness and division 3. Give thy blessing to all Christian Kings and Princes all Republicks and Christian Governments grant to them the
Spirit of mercy and justice prudence and diligence the favour of God and the love of their people and grace and blessing that they may live at peace with thee and with one another remembring the command of their Lord and King the serene and reconciling Jesus 4. Give an Apostolical Spirit to all Ecclesiastical Prelates and Priests grant to them zeal of souls wisdom to conduct their charges purity to become exemplar that their labours and their lives may greatly promote the honour of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus O grant unto thy flock to be fed with wise and holy shepherds men fearing God and hating covetousness free from envy and full of charity that being burning and shining lights men beholding â—heir light may rejoyce in that light and glorifie thee our Father which art in heaven 5. Have mercy upon all states of men and women in the Christian Church the Governors and the governed the rich and the poor high and low grant to every of them in their several station to live with so much purity and faith simplicity and charity justice and perfection that thy will may be done in Earth as it is in Heaven 6. Relieve all oppressed Princes defend and restore their rights and suppress all violent and warring spirits that unjustly disturb the peace of Christendom Relieve and comfort all Gentlemen that are fallen into poverty and sad misfortunes Comfort and support all that are sick and deliver them from all their sorrows and all the powers of the enemy and let the spirit of comfort and patience of holiness and resignation descend upon all Christian people whom thou hast in any instance visited with thy rod And be graciously pleas'd to pity poor mankind shorten the days of our trouble and put an end to the days of our sin and let the Kingdom of our dearest Lord be set up in every one of our hearts and prevail mightily and for ever 7. I humbly present to thy Divine Majesty this glorious Sacrifice which thy servants this day have represented upon earth in behalf of my dearest Relations Wife Children Husband Parents Friends c. Grant unto them whatsoever they want or wisely and holily desire keep them for ever in thy fear and favour grant that they may never sin against thee never fall into thy displeasure never be separated from thy love and from thy presence but let their portion be in the blessing and in the service in the love and in the Kingdom of God for ever and ever 8. Have mercy upon all strangers and aliens from the Kingdom of thy Son let the sweet sound of thy Gospel be heard in all the corners of the earth let not any soul the work of thy own hands the price of thy Sons blood be any longer reckon'd in the portions of thy Enemy but let them all become Christians and grant that all Christians may live according to the Laws of the holy Jesus without scandal and reproach full of faith and full of charity 9. Give thy grace speedily to all wicked persons that they may repent and live well and be saved To all good people give an increase of gifts and holiness and the grace of perseverance and Christian perfection To all Hereticks and Schismaticks grant the Spirit of humility and truth charity and obedience and suffer none upon whom the Name of Christ is called to throw themselves away and fall into the portion of the intolerable burning 10. For all mankind whom I have and whom I have not remembred I humbly represent the Sacrifice of thy eternal Son his merits and obedience his life and death his resurrection and ascension his charity and intercession praying to thee in vertue of our glorious Saviour to grant unto us all the graces of an excellent and perfect repentance an irreconcilable hatred of all sin a great love of God an exact imitation of the holiness of the ever blessed Jesus the spirit of devotion conformable will and religious affections an Angelical purity and a Seraphical love thankful hearts and joy in God and let all things happen to us all in that order and disposition as may promote thy greatest glory and our duty our likeness to Christ and the honour of his Kingdom Even so Father let it be because it is best and because thou lovest it should be so bring it to a real and unalterable event by the miracles of grace and mercy and by the blood of the everlasting Covenant poured forth in the day of the Lords love whom I adore and whom I love and desire that I may still more and more love and love for ever Amen Amen SECT III. An Advice concerning him who only Communicates Spiritually THere are many persons well disposed by the measures of a holy life to communicate frequently but it may happen that they are unavoidably hindred Some have a timerous conscience a fear a pious fear which is indeed sometimes more pitiable than commendable Others are advis'd by their spiritual Guides to abstain for a time that they may proceed in the vertue of repentance further yet before they partake of the Sacrament of love and yet if they should want the blessings and graces of the Communion their remedy which is intended them would be a real impediment Some are scandalized and offended at irremediable miscarriages in publick Doctrines or Government and cannot readily overcome their prejudice nor reconcile their consciences to a present actual Communion Some dare not receive it at the hands of a wicked Priest of notorious evil life Some can have it at no Priest at all but are in a long journey or under a Persecution or in a Country of a differing perswasion Some are sick and some cannot have it every day but every day desire it Such persons as these if they prepare themselves with all the essential and ornamental measures of address and eanestly desire that they could actually Communicate they may place themselves upon their knees and building an Altar in their heart celebrate the death of Christ and in holy desire joyn with all the Congregations of the Christian world who that day celebrate the holy Communion and may serve their devotion by the former Prayers and actions Eucharistical changing only such circumstantial words which relate to the actual participation And then they may remember and make use of the comfortable Doctrine of S. Austin It is one thing saith that learned Saint to be born of the Spirit and another thing to be fed of the Spirit As it is one thing to be born of the flesh which is when we are born of our mother and another thing to be fed of the flesh which is done when she suckles her Infant by that nourishment which is chang'd into food that he might eat and drink with pleasure by which he was born to life when this is done without the actual and Sacramental participation it is called spiritual Manducation Concerning which I only add the pious advice of