lasting Interests throwing away thy favour and future Joys for empty shows and shadows and a blessed Eternity for moments of Vanity I reflect on all this O! Merciful God with bitterness and with a Spirit wearied with mine own ways I see and lament my own folly and abhor mine own vileness on account thereof I wish with all my Soul that those Sins had never been done and would take any way to undoe them and most earnestly desire and fnlly purpose by thy Grace that I may do so no more God be merciful to me a self-condemning and repenting Sinner 3. LOrd I am burden'd and heavy laden with my Sins Oh! Do thou who callest out to the heavy laden to seek refreshment at thine Hands give me ease I confess them and desire above all things else that I may utterly forsake them Let me according to my Promise find Mercy From mine Heart I forgive all Persons who have offended me even my bitterest Enemies and most earnestly entreat thee that thou wouldst forgive them Oh! Do thou who offerest forgiveness to those who are ready to grant it for Jesus Christ's sake forgive me I repent unfeignedly of all my Sins and am ready to make all just amends at least as far as I am able to any whom I have ever injured whether they be of low or of high Degree or even the highest of all O! God of all Grace perfect my Repentance and accept it and blot out all my misdeeds as thou engagest to do unto all those who sincerely repent of the same I know O! Blessed Jesus that there is no Name but thine whereby I can obtain Pardon And I trust only to the fulness of thy Merits and to the faithfulness of thy gracious Promises and to the abundance of my Heavenly Father's Mercy and Loving Kindness to me a great and miserable but an Humble Contrite Penitent Sinner Forgive them all O! Blessed Father Remembring not my Deservings but the pityableness of my Weakness and thy Dear Sons infinite Merits and thine own boundless Mercies and most precious Promises Let me here have thy Peace and be admitted hereafter to stand for ever in thy â—resence for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake Amen Our Father c. For carrying on this duty of Repentance the sick person may likewise make use of the Prayer for Profession of Godly Sorrow for Sins and of Resolutions of New Obedience and of the Profession of the Fruits of Repentance and the Conditions of Forgiveness and of the Prayer for Pardon of sins in the Office for Penitents And for comforting and quieting his Conscience against Fears and Scruples he may be supplyed with Hymns and Prayers in the Office for Persons troubled in mind all which are in the Companion to the Penitent II. Prayers for an Heart to be Liberal in Alms-Deeds when any Persons are about to make their Will or to accompany Repentance at any time leaving out the Passages within the Hooks which particularly refer to their last Wills I. O! Almighty Father thou gavest me all my worldly Estate that I should employ it for the convenient support of my self and of my Family and of the â—oor and Needy And when I come to thee I can have nothing to carry along with me but a strict account how I have laid it out Give me Grace therefore I earnestly intreat thee after I have made a wise provision for my Family out of it with a free and glad heart to give good Portions thereof to the poor who are thy Receivers or to Religious and Pious uses that when I can no longer possess my Estate I may come with joy to give up my account of it and that when my worldly Goods can no longer profit me my good disposal thereof may thro the Merits of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. AND whatsoever I give to the Poor or to pious uses for thy sake give me the Heart O! Lord to do it with a good Will and with a Liberal Hand For thou O! My God hast freely given the whole of this Estate to me and therefore it is not for me to be narrow and niggardly in these Returns of a small part thereof which I make to thee And these Pious and Charitable Gifts alas Have been far too few and too poor and slender all my life and therefore I need to supply that Defect by being more liberal therein at my Death And what I thus give out of it O! Blessed Jesu is to thy poor Members who are all my near Kindred and Brethren in the Spirit Yea Lord by such Acts of Mercy I know that iniquity is purged And by this use of the Mammon of unrighteousness I may make my self Friends in thy Presence And the Poors Prayers and Thanksgivings for any relief or comfort which they have received by my means may heap Blessings on my head whilst I live and help much to recommend me to thy mercy and gracious Acceptance when I die So that these Gifts to them O! Blessed Lord are the truest way I have of giving to my self and are much more for my own relief than for theirs And I do and will look upon them as a laying up Treasure for my self in Heaven and making a Return of my wealth for my own use and behoof in another Life And reckon that what I wisely give in this kind I take and carry away with me to stand me in stead in the most needful time of thy mercy thro' Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen â— A Prayer at the Oblation or giving of our Alms or on alloting any sums to charitable or Pious uses O! Blessed Lord I humbly intreat thee Graciously to accept of this poor return of the worldly Substance which thou hast committed unto me I offer it to thee for the use of thy poor Members whom I look upon as my poor Brethren I offer it with an Heart that is truly sorrowful for all my Sins and thankful for all thy Mercies that seeks acceptance for it only for the sake of thy Sons merits and from thy mere Grace and Favour and that is ashamed for its having made the offering no sooner and now for offering no more And all my Alms and Repentance I present and put into thy Hands O! Holy Jesu in the Communion of Saints and in the Unity of thy Holy Church which is thy Body and Spouse and whereto thou hast given the precious Promises of Grace and Pardon and eternal Life O! Father in the Unity of this Body let me find mercy And accept mine Alms as an Oblation of a sweet Savour and supply and perfect all my Wants and purge away all my Sins thro' the merits of my only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ Amen Our Father which art c. III. Prayers for Trust in God in Sickness I. O! Almighty Lord under all my weakness and pains of Body and uncertain Prospects for my self and for
Mercy and open mine Ears again if it may seem good to thee For I acknowledge my former Errors and am resolved by thy Grace to keep them always open to good words and averse to evil Do thou open them good Lord for to thee alone do I look for the same and I know it is as easie for thee to open them as it was to shut them And consider no longer my Sins which deserve to be punished but mine affliction which calls to be pityed For by this Deafness O! my God I am deprived very much of the Comforts of Conversation and of the chief means of Instruction For Discourse teacheth Wisdom and understanding And Faith it self cometh and groweth up by Hearing And in the midst of Discourse I am in great measure as if all kept silence and the World is as if all were dumb to me because I am deaf to them and can seldom let in any Voice that might bring Counsel or Comfort to my Soul or to my Body Oh! therefore Holy Father do thou once more restore me to the benefit and comfort of Company and give me an Ear that can distinguish good from ill and that will be both fit and glad to hear whatsoever may Honour thee or any ways edifie or advantage me thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen II. For Patience under the Want of Hearing 1. AND whilst thou seest fit to continue me under this Deafness O! Almighty Lord Give me Patience Contentedly to want the Conversation of others I know alass and do lament that I am hereby Debarr'd from Hearing Good Words But I will reckon it some Compensation to me that it keeps me from Hearing Evil too and in this naughty world there is much more Evil spoke than Good For if my Ears were open O! God I should Dayly hear much more than I Desire to hear or than I ought to bear Silently And should hear Evil more often than I should find the Heart and Courage to Reprove it or than I should be able to Cure or perhaps to check or any ways hinder it by my Reproof And where I can neither prevent nor Cure Evil Speeches I will account it as a piece of Favour to me to be deaf to them And therefore thy Will be Done O! Holy Father I receive my Deafness Patiently and thankfully as being sent by thee and as Dayly keeping out much that would either Corrupt or trouble and afflict me And am Content whilst thou pleasest to be Deaf to the voice of Sinners till thou shalt either restore that Sense to me again here on Earth or take me hence to hear the Heavenly Halleluiahs and charming voices of Angels and Beatifyed Spirits in thy Presence for the sake of my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 2. ANd Blessed be thy Mercy O! Lord that I was not born Deaf but had mine Ears Open till Faith was ingender'd in me by Hearing For I injoy'd my Sense of Hearing till I had learnt to know thee and the way of my own Salvation Yea and till I had learnt to know much of this World too enough to teach me that I must keep always on my Guard against the Snares and constantly expect to meet and stand prepared to bear the troubles of it And Graunt O! Father that Having lived to hear much before I may now set my self to meditate on what I have heard formerly and to live by memory and still have Recourse to past instructions to Guide and Comfort me And make me Consider Lord that if mine ears were still open'd since there is little new under the Sun I should dayly hear much of the same both Good and Evil over again And that I may profit my self abundantly by thy Grace in fixing those things uâ—on my mind which I have heard already yea that I may likely profit more in recollecting and meditateing thus upon old instructions than by haveing an ear never fill'd with Hearing but dayly hearkning after new ones And that without such Reflection on the knowledge which has allready come by Hearing to make my self Master thereof I shall be allmost as if I wanted it even whilst I have it and shall be loseing it dayly more or less And besides this O! Gracious God thou art still pleased most mercyfully to continue to me the use of my Eyes to supply the want of mine Ears and I can read whatsoever is fit for me to know in Relation to this Life or the next tho I can no longer hear it And Lord make me sensible that this way I can converse with the best Company and in their best and most Studyed thoughts and Discourses And moreover that I can come to them when I need and leave them when I please For at any time without tedious waiting or troublesome Caeremony I may have their Wisdom to Counsell and Comfort me in any Exigence either of my Soul or Body And without upbraiding me with my Dullness or my Troublesomeness or growing impatient thereat they stand always ready to tell me as often as I need or Desire what way I may be most easy to my self or usefull to my Friends or acceptable unto thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 3. For Good Use of Deafness ANd whilst I remain Deaf to the Conversation of others O! Blessed Father give me Grace to converse more with thee and with my self in calling thy Laws and mine own ways to Remembrance And altho the Ears of my Body are shut to others yet Lord let those of my Spirit be always open to thy voice Give me an Hearing Heart that is never Deaf to thy call and if thy Spirit do but whisper to me let mine instantly perceive and embrace the same and carefully and obediently attend to thy suggestion And deliver me from having any Portion among them who have lost their Hearing towards thee tho they still keep it to the world and who having Ears hear not with them And under my Bodily Deafness O! Gracious God Preserve me from being jealous and mistrustful of those who are Discoursing in my Company as if they were Discoursing against me or made themselves sport with mine infirmity And whilst their Discourses can do me no good let not my own evil surmises and suspicions do either my self or them any Hurt But keep me always easy towards them and truly Patient and thankfull towards thee thro Jesus Christ my Blessed Lord and Saviour Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Thanksgiveing on Recovery from Blindness or from Deafness BLessed be thy mercy O! Gracious Lord for Restoreing to me the use of my Eyes Thou hast given me them anew for the Comfort and Convenience of my Life and for the carrying on of thy Service And oh that they may never more be used for Vice or Vanity nor ever willingly open to let in ill much less stay upon it and Delight in it But keep me allways mindfull that to misuse them is the way to
lose them again That being made whole once it nearly concerns me to sin noe more lest I fall under something worse And that as I have now received them again from thee I ought above all things to Devote them to thee and that whilst they are in the way of pleasing thee they are surely in the best way of Benefitting and Comforting me And Lord have Pity upon others who are uncomfortable blinde as I was Hear their Cryes and Lighten their Darkness as thou hast Done mine Oh! that seeing what thou hast now done for me they may hold fast their hope and trust in thee And that all thy Servants may Praise and Magnifye thy Goodness which gives Sight to the Blind and raiseth the Poor out of Misery to be a Liveing monument of thy mercy and to Give thanks and Praise to thee thro our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. IV. Prayers for a Sick Child 1. Out of the Office of Visitation of the Sick O! Allmighty God and most Mercyful Father to whom alone belong the issues of Life and Death look Down from Heaven we humbly beseech thee with the Eyes of Mercy upon this Child now lyeing upon the Bed of Sickness Visit him O! Lord with thy Salvation Deliver him in thy good appointed time from his Bodily Pain and save his Soul for thy Mercyes Sake That if it shall be thy good Pleasure to prolong his Days here on Earth he may live to thee and be an instrument of thy Glory by Serveing thee Faithfully and Doing Good in his Generation or else Receive him into those Heavenly Habitations where the Souls of them that Sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy Perpetual Rest and Felicity Graunt this O! Lord for thy mercyes sake in the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth aud reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever one God world without end Amen 2. Another Prayer for the same LOrd Pity the troubles and weakness of this Poor Child and Pity our Sorrows who are afflicted with it and for it Ease it of its Pains and strengthen it when it lyes struggling for Life and raise it up again if it may please thee to grow in years and stature and in Wisdom and thy Fear and thereby to comfort us and Glorifye thee We beleive O! Allmighty Father that thou knowest best what is fit both for it and us and wiâ—t Doe what is best for both And therefore we leave it to thee to dispose of as thou pleasest But whether it be to Life or Death let it be thine in both and either preserve it to be thy true and Faithfull Servant here on Earth or take it to the Blessedness of thy Children in the Kingdom of Heaven thro our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. A Thanksgiving for its Recovery BLessed be thy Name O! Father of mercyes for that thou hast heard us concerning this Child and raised him up for thy Service and our Comfort And Lord fill his Heart with Grace as thou hast done ours with joy Let Wisdom and Goodness still grow up with him and as fast as he grows capable thereof make him willing and carefull to Honor and obey thee Let not Company corrupt him nor youthfull Lusts as they come on prevail against his Soul But as now thou art the Preserver of his Life be ever henceforward the Keeper of his Innocence that whensoever thou shall call him again in thy Due time to meet Death he may have Comfort in the Remembrance of a Godly and well spent Life and sweetly fall asleep in thy Peace thro the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father which art c. V. Prayers in times of common Infection Scriptures THe Lord killeth and he maketh alive he bringeth Down to the Grave and he bringeth up 1 Sam. 2. 6. And is there any Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. 6. But in his Wrath he remembreth mercy Hab. 3. 2. Oh! then let us come and return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal as he hath smitten and he will binde us up Hos. 6. 1. And make thy Dwelling in the secret Place of the most High and thou shalt abide under the Shadow of the Almighty He shall cover thee with his Feathers and his Truth shall be thy Shield and Buckler And then thou shall not be afraid for the Terror by night nor for the Arrow that flyeth by Day Nor for the Pestilence that walketh in Darkness nor for the Destruction that wasteth at Noon Day A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy Right Hand but it shall not come nigh thee There shall noe Evil befall thee nor shall any Plague come nigh thy Dwelling For he shall give his Angells charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways And that because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the most High thy Habitation Ps. 91. 1 4 5 6 7 9 10 11. Glory be to the Father c. Prayers I. O! Almighty God just art thou in visiting us of this place with this infectious Disease which takes away not only the injoyments of Health but alsoe the sweetest earthly Comforts and Supports of Sickness and Deprives us whilst we Live of the Help and Company of our Friends We justifye thee and thy judgements and confess that our miseryes are still far less than our Sins But whilst it comes to chastize our wickedness let it cure it too O! Lord. Take from us the Plague of an Hard Heart and make us tremble at thy word And purge away all our Sins for I fear them more and am more Desirous of their Cure than of the Cure of any Bodily Maladyes And they are truly our Plague which has infected our whole Nature and wherewith we Dayly infect one another And when they have showd us our wickedness let thy judgements cease from us and be intreated from this miserable Land for thy Dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 2. O! Righteous Lord thou hast showed thy People terrible things and Given them a Drink of Deadly Wine Thou terrifyest us with thine Arrows which wound secretly and Walk in Darkness And with a Destruction which wasts at Noon Day But this deadly infection tho it be very spreading can invade none O! God without thy Commission Nor kill those whom it doth invade till thou biddest it Soe that our Life and Health is not left at the mercy of raging infection but is still bound up in thy Hand And they who have thee for their Sanctuarye in the most Contagious time may Dwell in Safety For thou givest thy Angells charge over them that noe infection can touch or Destroy them And under thy wings O! Lord doe I seek for shelter for my self and for my Family We have noe Preservation against these Dangers but thy Good Providence And the
Chief Antidotes whereon we relye are our Prayers to thee and our Faith in thy Mercy Holy Father I seek to thee let thy Care surround me I make thee my habitation let me find it a safe one I Trust thee with my self and with my Friends to Order what is most Desireable for us and best agrees with the wise Ends of thy Good Providence And tho I doe not absolutely promise my self to be exempt from a Common Calamity yet Lord being in thy Hands where I desire to be I know that I shall be exempt if 't is fit I should be soe and if not that thou wilt turn even my falling sick of it to my Good Soe that under thy Wings O! my God my Hope is allways to have a kind and most thankworthy Ordering and to receive from thee either a Continuance of Health or a beneficial and thankworthy Sickness either the Blessing of a longer Life or the Greater Blessing of an Happy Death thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Our Father c. VI. A Prayer to be said by Friends for Natural Fools or Madmen SHall not I spare them who can not discern between their Right Hand and their Left Jon. 4. 11. I was found of them that sought me not Is. 65. 1. I was Eyes to the blind and Feet to the lame Job 29. 15. Bear ye one anothers Burdens and soe fullfill the Law of Christ. Gal. 6. 2. O! Allmighty and most mercyfull Father Pity this thy Poor Creature who knows not his own wants nor how to ask for thy Mercyes But as he is not capable of Doing things to please thee so let nothing which he doth offend thee He is still as an infant O! God not arrived to the use of Reason Oh! Deal with him as thou doest with them and as such admit him into the Kingdom of Heaven He has been received for thy Child in Baptism and has done nothing since to forfeit the Claims of Mercy and Bliss made over to him therein and belonging to that Relation Oh! let them be fullfill'd and made good to him in their time And as his want of understanding unfits him to doe any thing for thee soe doth it likewise to Doe any thing for himself And therefore he needs to have the more done for him by thee and by the Good instruments of thy Providence And let thy Care O! Lord supply the want of his Give thy Holy Angells charge to look to him as they Doe to Helpless Children Give thy Saints and those who are any ways Concerned with him the Heart to be Understanding and Eyes and Feet and Hands to him as to one who is as if he had nothing of these of his own but wants to have them all supplyed out of thy Provision And do thou in thy Wisdom prevent those Evils which he can not foresee and put those by which he wants understanding to Remove Especially O! Lord keep him from Doing any thing that is mischeivous either to others or to himself Oh! thou who art found of them who seek thee not shew mercy to this thy Servant who extremely needs thee tho he can not seek to thee Thou knowest his wants O! Lord tho he is insensible and ignorant of them And tho he can not speak for himself yet his wants speak and Crye aloud for him Oh! Hear their Crye which calls to thee for Pity And hear us for him who is not able to ask for himself And graunt him thy special Care at present and thy Peace at the last thro the merits and mediation of thy Dear Son our only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. VII A Prayer for those who attend about the Sick O! Blessed Lord who callest us to minister and attend about this thy pained and afflicted Servant make us truly compassionate and tenderly Sensible of his Sorrows and studious how to ease them Keep us Gentle and Officious towards him and willing and Diligent to minister to him and above all things to make and continue thee his Friend Oh! that it may be our Care Friendly to admonish him of his Duty and to call upon him to look up unto thee To strenthen his Soul and asswage his Sorrows by Comfortable words to read to him and Pray for him and study in all things to make his sick bed as Profitable to his Precious Soul and as easy and tolerable to his pained and wearyed Body as we can And let us not shew unwillingness O! God in any Services nor be provoked by his impatience or ill reception of our well meant Offices But let us Pity the Disorders of his Spirit under his Anguish and bear the same with that Gentleness and Continued Care to minister Comfort or Relief which his Sorrows call for and which we all Desire may be shew'd towards us when we come as we must expect to come to be tryed with the like weaknesses and Troubles our selves And Grant O! Father that the Sight of his sickness may be a warning to us to prepare for our own Make our Hearts wiser and better by Conversing in the House of Mourning and let it teach us the end of all men and the vanity of all earthly things and put us upon Zele and Diligence in all the ways of qualifying and Dressing of our Souls for a more blessed and everlasting Life thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father c. XIII A Thanksgiving for Recovery from Sickness I. BLessed be thy Name O! God of all Power and Mercy for that thou hast Consider'd my Trouble and known my Soul in my Adversity Thou sentest me all those Helps whereby I was supported and all the intervals of ease wherewith I was releived under my Sickness And now thou hast brought me up again from the Grave and Deliver'd me of my pains and weakness and art become my Health and my Salvation Yea thy Mercy O! Blessed Lord has rectifyed my Spirit and done it Good by my Sorrows which is more to be valued than easing my Body of theâ— For before I was troubled I went wrong but thy Corrections have taught me to see my Folly and this worlds vanity And my Pains which have been my Monitors Day and Night have Caused me to understand Wisdom secretly And for these and all other thy most endearing Mercies I will sing Praise to thee O! Lord my God and Give thee Thanks for ever I will not Conceal thy Faithfullness and thy Salvation but Declare and speak of them that others allsoe may praise thy Name yea in the Presence of all thy People that they may give thee Thanks in the Great Congregation And oh that I may never forget thy Mercyes nor my own Promises of amendment and Holy obedience but cheerfully and Faithfully pay thee my vows and Perform all the Promises and Good Purposes Which I made whilst I was in Trouble And Pity the Pains Good Lord and hear the Cryes
God The accidents and uneasiness of his Sickness will still alarm his fears and try his Faith and it must be his care to shew no anxious or distracted thoughts under them But as often as any accidents or prospects terrifie him let him remember that they are all in God's Hands and shall have such end only as he pleases That he who sends them will take care they go no further than 't is fit they should and will turn them to the best at last That he is Safer and better in God's keeping and ordering than he could be in his own and therefore may lay aside all painful and mistrustful cares for himself as knowing under all that happens how sure he is to be taken care of Devout Thoughts about trusting God in Sickness 1. About trusting him with ones self AND when he feels much Sorrow and many Difficulties and may fear and foresee worse let him often say Lord I meekly receive all my Sorrows and dangers because thou sendest them And they shall not terrifie me because thou governest them And I am sure thou considerest all that lyes upon me and wilt turn it unto good That thou considerest how much I can bear and wilt in tender mercy take off the rest That thou considerest what strength I have to bear and wilt graciously supply me with what is wanting That thou considerest how long I can bear and wilt give me ease at the fittest Season And since thou wilt ease me in thy due time and support me till thou easest me I will not grow weary O! my Dear Lord or faint in my mind but wait with patience till my ease comes Amen Tho' I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death I will fear no evil for thou art with me and thy Rod and thy Staff they comfort me Ps. 23. 4. Yea though thou killest me yet will I trust in thee and have hope even in my Death to find everlasting Rest and Joy after Death Amen Because I live ye shall live also Joh. 14. 19. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the later day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God Whom I shall see for myself and mine Eyes shall behold and not another Job 19. 25 26 27. 2. About trusting him with ones nearest Relations or Dear Children Friends or Dependants IF it troubles him to leave his Friends or Family perhaps meanly provided for or any good designs unfinished which his heart has been much set upon let him consider that God sees this as well as he and yet he thinks fit to call him away from them And this may make it plain to him that God himself who is more wisely careful for them than he can be has a mind to be trusted with them And therefore let him reckon to set them all safe by recommending them to him As our departing Lord †provided for his disconsolate and destitute Disciples by recommending them to his Heavenly Father and praying to him for them And let him remember also that this is truly to leave all to come to God if we can find in our Heart to go forth readily when all these call upon us to stay And let him often say I Trust thee O! God as with my self so with my nearest Relations my Wife and Family or Children and with my Friends and with all that depend on me I trust them with thee O! Lord for they are more thine than they are mine I trust them with thee in full assurance that there is no way to make them happy and safe like putting them into thy Hands I trust them to thee because thou art the Husband of the Widdow and the Father of the Fatherless and hast promised to take care of them I have always trusted them with thee whilst I was with them and have ever found thy tender love and care of them So that my own experience as well as thy sure promises may engage me to trust and commit them to thee now I may seem to be going from them And though I know not what they will do or how they will be cared for when I am gone yet I know thou doest and wilt order all things kindly both for me and them I leave them not destitute for thou art with them and thy care O! my Dear God is the best Guardian and thy Blessing is the Richest Portion And thou wilt have infinitely a more watchful care of them and canst do infinitely more for them than I can Lord take care of them for I commit them to thy care Yea even all my cares for them I cast on thee Oh! let them always have the special care and Providence which thou takest of the Widdows and Orphans Let them have the Blessing which by thine abundant mercy follows the Children of those that truly fear thee Lord be with them as thou hast been with me to their lives end And keep them always most thankful and Obedient unto thee And let them all have the Blessing of thy tender care at present and of thy Peace at the last Amen When my Father and Mother forsake me then the Lord taketh me up Ps. 27. 10. Leave thy Fatherless Children I will preserve them alive and let thy Widdows trust in me Jer. 49. 11. In God the Fatherless findeth mercy Hos. 14. 3. The Generation of the upright shall be Blessed Amen Psal. 112. 2. Secondly he must set himself to bear them with Resignation of himself to the Will of God And this will be easy after the former For there is no difficulty in giving up our selves to God if we dare trust him And we shall not only be contented but desirous to quit our own Wills for his if we are perswaded that his is better for us and that our true Interest and happiness is safelier lodged and may be infinitely better trusted with him than with our selves And if we have no will to be under what he orders 't is a plain sign that we do not apprehend our selves safe in his but think we should be better in our own Hands Let the Sick man therefore amidst all his pains and perils freely give up himself into Gods Hands and be glad and thankful that he can lodg himself there And let him often say Lord I know I am in thy Hands and that I cannot be in better nor do I desire to be in any other Especially not in my own nor to be the carver of my own condition Not my will O! God but thine be done Amen And do thou allot for me Life or Death Health or Sickness removeal or continuance of my Sorrows as thou seest would really be fittest for me and fâ—r thy Glory not as my mistaken fancy may think to be so Amen Thy Will be done O! my God for it is always a most Blessed and Beneficial Will to those that fear thee It sends Mercies
or any others which his own mind or their Discourses shall supply him with And let the sweet name of Jesus be often in his mouth but oftner in his Heart and let him think that the Blessed name of a Saviour cannot be to much upon the Soul or too deep in the desire of a lost Sinner Let him therefore say Jesu have mercy on me Jesu Thou art the Rock of my Hope Thou art my Love and my Life and the Chief object of my desire Lord Jesu thou alone art my Saviour And that he may still be stored with matter for such devout thoughts and Ejaculations when he is not fit to read himself let them read to him either some of the Scriptures Hymns or Prayers hereafter discribed for the use of Sick Persons or some conveuient Portion out of the Penitential Psalms or something about the Sufferings of our Saviour or some part of any profitable Discourse concerning Repentance or Patience or Trust in God or Thankfulness or concerning Death and Judgment Heaven or Hell Let their Discourses also be Savory and minister thoughts fit for the Seriousness or for the Comfort or Service of men who look upon themselves as taking leave of this World and going to meet their Lord. Let them seek to Spiritualize accidents and take occasion from all that happens to raise up the Sick mans thoughts to devout and Profitable Reflexions So that he may not want the offer of a good thought as oft as he is free and ready for it If he awakes more easie let them Bless God for the ease and observe how Tenderly he proportions Tryals to our weakness considering what we can bear as a Tender Father doth How seasonably he sends Relief and how sweetly we relish it after sharp Sorrows and how from their Experience of the Seasonableness of his Succour in this case they should learn to trust him if he sends upon them more Agonies and quietly to wait for him hoping he will not stay then more then he has done now past the due Time Or if he awakes under more pain and disturbance let them fuggest to him that if t is great 't is like to be the shorter that God knows best how much and how long we can bear that he is in good and merciful hands whilst he is in his and should be quiet under them that he must wait on God who loves to be waited on and Loves to try Faith and Trust before he recompence it with the desired Blessing On all occasions of any Benefits received either by Food or by Physick or by Sleep and likewise on any want of them or on any occurrence or discourse that comes before them they will be acceptable and useful Friends indeed if they can shew dexterity in raising up the Devout Sick mans mind to some Pious thoughts or virtuous Resentments or desires about the same to make him reflect on the Power the Patience the Mercifulness or the Faithfulness of God or upon the Wickedness and Folly of men the vanity of worldly things the Serviceableness of Religion and Holy affections the Happy end of Trust in God the Temptations and Dangers of health and ease the advantage of Sickness the Blessed fruits of Patience and the Recompences that shall crown it at the last And if at any time he Receives not their Discourses or their other Services with that Willingness and Easiness which they would expect from him let them wait another opportunity and not slacken their good Offices but only Study how to time them better or make them more agreeable to him on the next occasion not taking things ill from him in this condition but pitying what would provoke them at another time Or if he seems troubled as ingenuous and kind Natures are apt to be that his Disease makes him so troublesome as he is to his Friends let them suggest to him that Friends are born for Adversity and to bear a part of each others troubles And that the same wise orderer who sends him the trouble of his Pains and Sickness sends them also the Trouble of their Attendance and doth equally expect a willing and cheerful Reception of their Respecttive Troubles from both And in the Visits they pay the Sick let not the Desire they have of seeing him make them any ways incommodious or uneasie to him Sometimes Sick Persons can ill bear noise or would be troubled not relieved by the Presence of others or when their Spirits are a little freer and more refreshed having but little time or free thoughts left they woud have them to themselves and can ill Complement them away to please others And 't is not for wise and kind Friends to break in upon them when they would be alone but only when their company would be acceptable or may be Helpful to them And besides all the Prayers and devout Thoughts which he puts up thus for himself let him also desire the Prayers of others Let him send to desire the Prayers of the publick Congregation And if he send Almes at the same time good prayers will be more like to prevail for him And when he takes his leave of any Friendly Visitants let him desire them to remember him in theirs shewing thus on all occasions that his Eye is unto God in all his sickness and that he looks to reap most benefit from good prayers And by such ways and thoughts as these may the sick person set himself to this second part of his Task viz. The bearing of his Pains and Weakness with Patience Resignation of himself Thankfulness and Trust in God and such Resentment of things and Reflections on them as are fitting for a sick Bed CHAP. V. Of his Carriage in his last Extremities and under the near Approach of Death AND when sickness goes on to Extremities and Death approaches that calls louder to him to Trim up his Lamp and dress his Soul to meet the Bridegroom but 't is only with the same Habits whereof I have been hitherto speaking A Dying Man is not distinguished from a sick Man by the difference of his Habits but only by a greater care and exactness in putting of them on The same Thoughts and Desires befit him but when he is expiring he would be glad if his strength will serve to send them up in a brighter and a hotter flame So that when he comes to die he must hold on the same Exercise of Repentance Patience Faith Thankfulness Devotion and the like but only seek to put forth more Zeal and Fervour in them if he has bodily strength enough so to do or else be content and rest satisfied to do it as his strength will serve him And let him welcome Death when God sends it and say Lord my times are in thy hand and thou knowest best when 't is fit for me to depart this World And thy time shall be mine and I am now willing to come to thee since thou seest fit to call me Amen I willingly
those who charitably attend about me in my sickness Keep me always submissive and devout towards thee and thankful and easie unto them And let thy Blessing go along with all their Means and Medicines and in thy due time asswage and end my pains and either restore me to my strength and send me health and ease and the mercies of a longer and a better life or else a blessed and a comfâ—rtable death for our Lord Jesus Christâ—s sake Amen Out of the Office of Visitation of the Sick O! Lord look down from Heaven â—ehold visit and relieve me thy Servant Look upon me with the eyes of thy mercy give me comfort and sure confidence in thee defend me from the danger of the enemy and keep me in perpetual peace and safety through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen And he may still conclude with the Lord's Prayer on all occasions when he has used as many of these Prayers as he thinks fit for that time Particular Prayers for the Duties and Needs of Sick Persons Prayers for Repentance in Sickness I. RIghteous art thou O! God in all these pains and sorrows which punish my sins and try my patience and I have none to accuse or complain of for the same but my self I receive my sickness as the Chastisement of a Sinner and am willing to bear Chastisement for my sins that I may be thereby reclaimed from them Correct me O! Lord that thou mayest not condemn me and let me be judged by thee for my sins and judge my self for them here that I may have nothing but mercy without judgment to receive at thine hands hereafter But judge me O! My God with Mercy and not in thine Anger Judge me not according as my sins have deserved but according as my weakness can bear and according as thy Compassions are wont to mitigate thy Judgments And let my sickness work my true Repentance and prove an happy means in the hand of thy mercy to expiate my Guilts not to encrease them and to reclaim me perfectly from all the Evils which I have committed formerly not to occasion my committing more and to confer that rest and peace upon my Soul which is denyed to my Body for our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. Thou smitest me O! Gracious Lord that thou mayst cure me and punishest my sin that thou mayest thereby amend and reclaim my person And I am weary of my sins which have brought upon me all these Sorrows and which I know assuredly will bring infinitely worse unless I prevent the same by my timely and true Repentance of them Help me therefore to search them out O! God and to discover every accursed thing And when I see them let me not stop at any one but set my self intirely to renounce and amend all Let thy love make me hâ—te every evil way And make my purposes against them strong and resolute and my care in fulfilling the same vigilant and patient and all the remainder of my days to be one continued defacement of my former Errors and Devotion of my self to thy Service Lord Cure my Folly by my Misery and teach me by the loss of my bodily ease to purchase the Blessing of true Repentance and the comfortable hopes of thy merciful acceptance thereof thro the Merits of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen To make his Confessions and other Acts of Repentance with greater sureness and satisfaction to himself the Sick man must first make a discovery of his Sins by examining himself and trying his ways upon the several Heads and Branches of God's Commandments And thereby inquire into the state of his Soul to see whether he is already safe within the terms of pardon or what he wants to make him so This is a work for all men at all times who would live with safety or die with peace But especially for sick and dying persons who are more sensible their case admits of no delays and who not only ought but also more commonly are wont to make it their earnest desire and care And in their performance of this most important Task with security and comfort I have assisted them as well as I can in the Tryal or Judgment of the Soul c. in a small Treatise intituled A Companion for the Penitent to which I refer them 3. A Confession of Sins taken out of the Office for the Penitent or those who mourn for sin p. 39. c. O! Almighty and most Righteous Lord I do hear with grief of heart and with shame and deep humility confess unto thy Dreadful Majesty that my sins are exceeding many and great and have been frequently repeated I have oft-times transgressed out of Ignorance O! that I could not say careless Ignorance under Opportunities of Knowledge yea or affected Ignorance espoused for Earthly ends against Light and clear Evidence which was enough to shame and silence me though not to gain and convince me But I have transgressed oftner out of Negligence Worldly Fear or Desire yea alas too oft out of presumptuous Wilfulness condemning the Evil whilst I was a doing it and offending wittingly and with Checks and Convictions to the contrary And these Sins I have been drawn to against all the Endearments of thy Mercies and all the Alarms and louder Warnings of thy Punishments against all the Rebukes and Strivings of thy Grace and of my own Conscience and of other faithful and seasonable Admonishers And against all mine own Purposes and Engagements Deliberately made and solemnly profess'd and frequently repeated that I would offend therein no more Lord be merciful to me a Great and Wretched Sinner 2. BUT thou O! Blessed Jesus by making thy self a Sin-Offering for us art come to take away the Sins of all who truly Repent thereof And O! Merciful Lord tho' my Sins are many and grievous yet I do not desire to overlook them but would gladly see and discover them all that I may penitently bewail and forsake them And Oh! That no corrupt Passions nor love of Worldly or Carnal Interests may ever byass me or blind my Eyes from seeing the same whilst there is space left me to repent of them And as for those sins which I do know my self to be guilty of I do not cover but with shame confess them I do not justifie nor excuse but condemn my self for the same I stand thereby guilty O! Lord of highest Disobedience against the strictest Obligations of wretched Disingenuity and Unthankfulness against the most endearing Mercies and of most stupid Folly against my own clearest highest and most
dost in great mercy Pity my weakness and provide for it For 't is thy mercy that lays not too much upon me 'T is thy mercy that I am brought down by degrees and am not consumed suddenly 'T is thy mercy that thou wast not soon nor wilt be long angry with me 'T is thy mercy that makes my Bed in my Sickness that considereth my weakness and supporteth me and considereth my Pains and shortneth them and always in due time gives me ease or intermission from them 'T is thy mercy O! dear God that ordereth Comforts for me continually to sweeten my Distresses to me and that makes thee still to be most near unto me at those times when I stand most in need of thee So that altho' I am Sick O! my God yet I am not forsaken For Blessed be thy Name my Griefs are not beyond measure and my Burden is not without help nor my Sufferings without hope and comfort wherewith in thine abundant Mercy thou daily temperest them and sustainest me thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 3. I Bless thee O! most gracious Lord for sending this Sickness upon me which thou sendest to shew thy Love and Care of me and to do me good For if my Body were not sick thou seest my Soul would be sick Yea alas it has been very Sick and this Sickness of my Body comes to cure it For in thus Correcting me when I had gone astray thou art putting an end O! God to my wandring Thou sendest these Sorrows to open my ears to discipline when Mercies would not open them and to reclaim me and set me in the way of Pardon So that this dealing shows that thou hast not rejected me as an outcast or Alien but still lookest upon me with thoughts of Mercy and treatest me as a Son And Blessed be thy Mercy O! Father of Mercies which by these Pains and Sorrows of my Body hast given my Spirit rest from the wearisome importunity and Sollicitations of Lust and Envy Blessed by thou who hast thereby dullâ—d the edge of my covetous Desires and laid asleep my worldly Cares and brought down my ambitious and aspiring thoughts and humbled Self-conceit by shewing me that I am but sin and folly dust and misery Blessed be thou who hast thereby calld me off from incumbring my self with many things which now I see cannot profit me to mind the one thing necessary and from minding worldly Vanities to spend my thoughts upon thy Laws and Promises and from placeing my confidence in my Self to place it only and wholly in thee And since my Sickness doth thus shew me thy Love and cure my Spirit and set on my Felicity it shall please me O! God when it pains me And I will confess to the Glory of thy Truth and Goodness that thou out of very Faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled even because I need it and because by thy Grace I shall receive much benefit by it thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 4. I Bless thee O! Lord for all the innumerable Mercies which I have received from thee most bountifully and seasonably in all States and Conditions of my Life and thro' all the days and years of it And for that I have long received good at thy hands before I am brought now to receive Evil. I owe thee infinite thanks for a Life of health before this Confinement to my Bed of Sickness and for the long and sweet relish I have had of worldly Comforts before my Disease has rendred them unsavory And my present Pains and Sorrows O my God do not make me forget thy past or present Mercies nor go about to lessen them nor shall they by thy Grace ever make me out of humour with thee or unthankful for them Yea instead of giving thee less thanks for them by reason of this change of my Condition I wll give thee more because my present want of them has taught me better how to prize and value them And I do Bless and I will Bless the Lord that gave and Bless him still after he has taken away I Bless thee for that I still injoy much Good and cannot in the least blame thee that I have some evil but thank thee abundantly that I have no more And above all that under all my present Misery I am comforted with the Sense of thy Love and with the Blessed hopes of everlasting Peace and Joy thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen VII Prayers for Patience under Sickness I. A General Prayer for Patience O! Merciâ—ul Lord now I am called to the State of Sickness which is a Tryal of Patience give me Grace to shew Patience under the same that is not to be wearied and cannot be reproved Enable me O! Father to shew a quiet and composed Patience that is without tumult of troubled Thoughts and discontented Passions A submissive and resigned Patience that is without reluctance to thy Will or Rebellious murmurings A Patience of hope that doth not sâ—â—k under my Burdens nor is driven by â—he smart of my Pains to 〈…〉 Love or Care or 〈…〉 And a Thankful 〈…〉 sensible of my Comforts and Supports as well as of my Sicknesses and that owns all my present Sufferings to be far below my deserts and all my past and present Mercies to be infinitely above them And make me perfect O! my God in this Patience Let me tarry thy leisure and not be hasty Let me wait on thee and not grow weary But bear all whilst I have any thing to bear in comfortable hopes of thy Strength to support my present Weakness and of thy Mercy to ease and deliver me at last either by a more healthful Life or by an happy Death thro' the Merits of Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. For Patience without reluctance or Disquietness LOrd I humble my Self under thy mighty hand and submit to thy Visitation I submit my Self willingly and will not strive or make resistance I kiss the Rod instead of Quarrelling with it and accept of it quietly as of the punishment of mine iniquities Yea thankfully as of the Restorer of mine innocence And in this Patience O! Holy Father do thou still continue and preserve my Spirit composed and quiet and easie to my Self Since it is thy Will thus to afflict me bow my Will to thine and make me willing to bear it And bearing it willingly let it not anger or discontent me Yea O! my God I trust to thee to lay no more upon me than I can bear Oh! let that Trust keep me without Fears and Distractions under my Burdens I bear only what I most justly deserve Oh! let that stop me from complaining Nay I bear infinitely less than I have deserved and still injoy abundance of Mercies after I have deserved to lose all Oh! then let me not fall to accuse thee for thine inflictions but rather to accuse my self for my evil Deserts and to thank thee for my most
giveâ—t me better things than thou takest away The bringing down my Body is for the inrichment of my Soul which is my better part And this smiting and wounding of my Flesh is for the healing and binding up my Spirit which is the truest way to do me good Oh! then that instead of dreading thy Visitation as my Scourge I may receive it as my Medicine That I may not repine at its making me weak in Body but rather rejoyce that it makes me strong in Spirit And give thee thanks for thy kindness and my comfort in thy Corrections which are to make me good that thou mayest make me happy and give me everlasting Rest and Bliss with thee thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen IX Prayers for the Bodily Needs and Desires of Sick Persons 1. For Ease when Sickness grows very painful or troublesome 1. LORD look upon mine Adversity and Misery which call aloud to thee for ease For I am wither'd like grass and my Bones will scarce cleave to my skin My heart panteth and my strength faileth me and mine eyes are grown dim And there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger nor rest in my bones because of my sin Yea my bones are burnt as an Hearth and I go mourning all the day long and wearisom nights are appointed to me and I am full of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day This thou knowest O! My God for my groaning is not hid from thee Oh! Be not wroth very sore nor remember iniquity for ever Cast me not off when I need most to seek to thee nor forsake me when my strength faileth me But hear me and ease me O! Lord for thou delightest in Mercy Hear me for I cry unto thee yea I cry unto thee all the day Hear me speedily for I am brought very low and make no long tarrying for mine eyes long sore for thy word saying when wilt thou comfort me And though my flesh and my heart fail me yet let not thy Mercy and thy Word fail me For I still resign and trust my self to them and in my greatest weakness and extremity thou O! Father art my strength and my portion for ever thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. O! Most Gracious God my pains are extreme and too heavy for me have pity upon me and lighten them Correct me in measure and consider that I am but a feeble and frail Creature In thine anger remember mercy for I humbly submit my self and return to thee And Oh! Give me that tractableness and ingenuity of Spirit that will be check'd with a word and easily call'd off from evil and will not need any long or sharp methods of correction to reclaim me I have waited for thy Relief O! Father give me the comforts of it Yea Mine eyes long sore for thy word and are even wasted away with looking for thy saving health let them see it and be satisfied therewith Oh! shew me thy mercy and that soon for my need thereof is great And think upon me as concerning thy word for I trust to it to lay no more upon me than I can bear and to send me seasonable help and ease at present and everlasting Rest with thee in the end thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A short Prayer on receipt of Ease or abatement of Pain or Sickness BLessed be thy Mercy O! my God which pitieth me in my Misery As a Father pitieth his Children when they cry out in the extremity of their pain so hast thou pityed me Thou hast chastned me sore but thou hast not given me over unto death thine anger is turn'd away and thou hast eased and comforted me Lord my Soul shall love thee and sing of thy Mercy And in my Distress I will always trust thee and not be afraid For thou art our strength whilst we suffer and our most merciful Deliverer when we are able to bear no more for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. A Prayer for Strength under the same GIVE me strength O! Lord to strive with my Disease and to bear the weakness of Nature And strengthen my Spirit to withstand all its Temptations as well as my Body to bear its Diseases O! Enable me to resist the Devil and to suppress all stirrings of sin and folly To beat back all motions of corrupt Passion and not to lose the due Government of my self thro excess of pain but to shew my self mighty thro thee to bear all patiently and to fortifie my weakness by a firm Faith and unshaken Trust in thy Grace and sure Promises Lord if I have no strength but my own every weight will bear me down But if thou wilt support me nothing will be too heavy for me because nothing is too hard for thee But thy strength will be made perfect in my weakness and thy Grace is sure to overcome my Corruptions and thy Comforts to give me Ease thro' my most Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. A Prayer for Deliverance from them DEliver me O! my God for I seek unto thee to help me yea I seek unto thee early and continue seeking all the day long Thou delightest in Mercy deliver me for thy Mercies sake Thou hast promised to be with us and help us in trouble Deliver me for thy Righteousness Thou art Glorious in might to help our weaknesses Deliver me in thy strength Thou hast formerly been my succour Oh! be so still And our Fathers hoped in thee and were delivered let not my hope in thee perish or be put to shame more than theirs was Save me O! Almighty Lord and make hast to my help And mâ—n shall know that it is thy hand and that thou hast done it and learn thereby both to give thee Praise and to make thee their strength and confidence thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. Prayers for longer Respite and Recovery from Sickness 1. O! Almighty Lord in whose Hands are the Issues of Life and Death look in Mercy upon these Decays of Nature which my Diseases hath made and repair them and spare me a little that I may recover my Health and Strength again I do not desire Health O! my God to consume it in Idleness Nor out of Fondness for the gay Pleasures and Pomps of this World that I may be strong to pursue them For I believe and know them all to be Vanity and Vexation of Spirit I lift my Heart above them and do by no means desire to have this Earth for my home or to take up with them for my Portion For I love thee and thy ways O! Dear Lord above them and their Delights and will harbour no love of them but what is ready to submit them all to thee when thou art pleased to take them away and which will never sin against thy Laws to secure them to my self
nor use and injoy them as the Treasures of my home but only as the helps of my Pilgrimage But I desire it if it may seem fit to thee O! God that I may be fitter for thy Work and more able to labor in thy Service And that I may be more perfect in my obedience before I am calld to give up my Accounts And because I am still willing if it may please thee to be an instrument of thy care and good Providence towards those who by Nature or Friendship are committed unto me And the guift thereof I shall thankfully ascribe unto thee and praise thy Power and Mercy for the benefits of my Recovery thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. I know O! Lord that thou canst soon restore me when thou pleasest and that if thou do but say the word I shall be whole And I believe that thou wilt restore me if it is best for thy Glory and for my good and for the wise ends of thy Providence in this World And therefore tho' I do heartily desire it yet I humbly submit the same to thee For I am no where so safe as in thy choice and therefore I leave thee to determine still whether thou shalt be honour'd and my poor Soul benefitted by my Life or by my Death whether by me in a state of Health or in a state of Sickness But when thou hast chosen and fixt my condition for me then Lord I beg of thee and I beg it earnestly that I may receive it willingly and thankfully and that I may have Grace wisely and faithfully to discharge all those Duties which thou requirest from us under the same And that I may always find both my Tryal temper'd to my weakness and my self still comforted and supported under it by thy Grace thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 5. Prayers on taking Physick 1. O! Gracious Lord direct the Counsels of those who prescribe to me and prosper the Medicines which are to give me ease or strength But let not my confidence in them take off any thing of my eye or dependance upon thee For Man lives not by bread nor recovers by Physick alone but by every word out of the mouth of God to give a Blessing unto both And if thou biddest them the things or Accidents which I do not think of or set least by shall recover me Oh! therefore as their part is the care so let thine O God be the Blessing and mine the Comfort And as I shall love them as thy instruments so I shall own thee for the Author of my Mercies and to thee shall I give Thanks and pay my Vows and Services thro' my dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. LORD let not my desires of Health ever make me yield to seek Remedy from Charms or suspected means or apply my self to Dealers with Familiar Spirits Let me not resort to thy utter Enemy who sets up this way against thee nor fall again to seek him after I have solemnly renounced him in my Baptism nor fondly flatter my self with hopes of receiving good from the Grand Author and Plotter of all evil who then only seems to cure when he ceases to kill and doth not cease to torment a Body but when he hopes thereby to ensnare or destroy a Soul But give me patience to wait for Life and Health in thy ways that I may always owe the same to thee and wholly devote them to thy Service thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 6. Prayers on want of Sleep 1. O! Righteous Lord thou holdest mine eyes waking and in the Night Season I take no rest I seek sweet Sleep to ease my pains and to recruit my Spirits I seek it earnestly but I can not find it and if I seem to have it fast it suddenly breaks from me But O! Merciful God let it not always flee away but let my wearied eyes at length lay hold of it and make my sleep sweet unto me Consider my weariness which calls aloud for rest and my weakness which greatly needs refreshment And give my labouring Spirits ease that restless agitations or incessant pains may not always keep me awake Or if my Spirits must not be allured by ease into sound sleep or at least into soft Slumbers let them however be born down into it by the weight of my Sorrows and their own weariness that I may a little forget my Troubles and recover strength to bear any new returns thereof till thy Blessed time shall come of sending me deliverance from the same either by the Blessing of Health or the infinitely greater Blessing of Heaven thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. AND whilst thou keepest mine eyes awake O! Lord keep my Heart watchful and make me seek both to divert my Sorrows and to ease and comfort my self by employing my Thoughts well Oh! That I may fall to remember thee on my Bed and meditate on thy ways and Promises in the night Watches That I may Commune with mine own Heart and diligently search out my own Spirit That I may remember thy tender Mercies and Gracious Dealings towards and call to mind the Blessed end of Patience and how carefull thou art sometimes to give us ease whilst thou denyest us sleep at others to send us sleep too when we are not fit any longer to subsist without it Yea that in thy due time thou wilt bring us to that Blessed State where they sleep away no happy Minutes but wake continually to injoy the same as Angels do and where their Eyes never take sleep nor ever need or desire it And let these Thoughts comfort me till thy Grace and Mercy sees fit to give sleep to my Eyes and deliverance from my Sorrows thro' my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 7. A Prayer of Friends for the sick under excess of Sleep and when they apprehend danger by it O! Merciful God let not this deep Sleep which is fall'n upon thy Servant prove the Sleep of Death Make it the Sleep of a recovering Person to relieve and revive him not to carry him off and awake him out of it in thy due time to offer thee praise and to labour still among us in doing thee Honour and Service But if thou hast order'd thereby to take him to thy self Lord remember and accept of all his former Prayers and Repentance Faith and Patience Look not upon his sins but to pardon them nor on his weaknesses but to pity them And when he awakes in the next World let him find himself surrounded with Light and Bliss instead of his Sick-bed Sorrows and awake to Eternal Life with thee in Glory Lord hear us for this thy weak Servant in Distress Hear our Prayers for him who seems not able now to offer up any Prayers to thee for himself And accept both him and us to the Blessed injoyment of thy Love and hopes of thy Mercies thro Jesus Christ our Lord.
one or other whereof may still be recited by her Self or read to her by her Friends as often as she pleases 1. LOrd now my Sorrows have got hold upon me let thy strength come in to support me Oh! let not my Burdens come faster upon me than thy Succours do But give me Patience to bear my Pains and quietly to wait thy time of easing them Give me Faith to relye upon thy Mercy and Promises and to believe that they will be shewn towards me and fulfilled upon me in their Season Give me Comfort under my pangs and after them And as thou hast enabled me to conceive a Child and to bear it hitherto in my Womb so now to Crown those Blessings give me strength to bring it forth at its full time and if it may please thee neither let my Pains be too sharp nor too long before I am happily delivered of the same for my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 2. O! Almighty God do thou direct the Counsels and Endeavours of those who charitably Minister about me Guide them to ways that are most for mine and my Childs safety and ease and of quickest dispatch Oh! let thy Counsel and thy hand go along with theirs for they can do nothing without thee Let me now be thy Care for thou art my Confidence And save and deliver me for now is the hour of my extreme need and of thy shewing Pity and Mercy on me thro' the Merits and Mediation of my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 3. LOrd I receive these Pangs as the Sorrows which thou hast justly laid upon our Sex for being first in Disobedience I accept them as the punishment of mine iniquity Oh! let that appease and pacifie thee I resist not but submit my self to them meekly Oh! then smite not too sore nor lay too much upon me But proportion both their Degrees and continuance not according to my Sins but according to my weakness and as may best suit with thy tender Mercies thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 4. SUpport me O! dear God for I am weak Support me for I am one that fears thee Support thou me for I trust my Self unto thee and wait on thee and long sore for thy Mercy and my safe Delivery for Jesus Christ's sake Amen 5. MAke hast to help me O! Lord and deliver me speedily for my Spirit waxeth faint This speedy ease my Flesh earnestly desires if thou seest it fit for me But yet I humbly submit the same to thee For be it quicker or â—lower thy time I acknowledge is always best Oh! then deliver me when thou pleasest and give me Patience to wait for my Delivery And delay it no longer O! my dear God than suits best with my weakness and with thy Goodness for my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen Short Ejaculations which she may use in time of her Travel LOrd my Groans are not hid from thee let not thy mercy be hid from me Thy Terrours come about me and threaten me on every side but what time I am afraid I will still put my trust in thee Consider O! my God that I am made of Flesh very sensible of Pains and short in Patience Oh! lay not too much upon me Help me Lord for thou art my hope Make hast to my help for my Spirit waxeth faint Oh! Jesu who wast thy self born of a Woman help this tender Babe strugling for Birth Amen IV. Prayers after Delivery The Collect in the Office of Churching of Women which may be said by some Friend there present O! Almighty God we give thee humble Thanks for that thou hast vouchsafed to deliver this Woman thy Servant from the great Pain and Peril of Child-birth Grant we beseech thee most merciful Father that she thro' thy help may both faithfully live and walk according to thy Will in this Life present and also may be partaker of everlasting Glory in the Life to come thro' Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Other Prayers which may be read to her for her devoutly to offer up to God her Friends heartily concurring and saying Amen with her 1. A Thanksgiving for safe Deliverance O! Father of Mercies what Thanks can I worthily give unto thee for thine unspeakable Goodness to my helpless Babe and me and for the wondrous things which thou hast now done for my Soul For the Pangs and Terrors of Death got hold of me and the mouth of the Pit was opened and ready to shut it self upon me But thou hast Graciously asswaged those Pains and wrought Deliverance and turned my Sorrows into Joys Lord I will ever adore and magnifie thy Mercy which hath dealt so lovingly with me and praise thy Truth and Faithfulness which have not suffered thy Promises or my Hopes to fail I will never forget how mindful thou hast been of me in my low Estate and how thou hast been a present help in the time of my greatest need For I have felt thy Power O! my God in my greatest weakness and have been enabled thereby above my strength I have tasted thy Goodness in the midst of all my piercing Pangs and Sorrows for thou didst comfort and support me under them and dist measure them out to me according as I could bear them and in tender Pity didst send ease yea hast turned those Sorrows into Joys when I could bear no more And oh that all thy Saints may praise thee for the Glories of thy Power and Mercy That they may be encouraged to fear and trust thee for the wonders which thou host wrought for me And that I may never grow weary of waiting on thee remembring how gracious thou art still in the end to me nor despair of thy most seasonable help and merciful Deliverance in my greatest Streights and Difficulties thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 2. A Prayer for Grace and Assistance under the remaining Sorrows and Tryals of Child-bed PErfect Good Lord that Deliverance both to my child and me which thou hast most graciously begun and let us not be â—ost after the Wonders which thou hast already done for us for want of thy doing a little more Continue my Patience O! Father and my Humble dependance and comfortable hope in thee under any further pains and Accidents of my Child-bed Support my Spirit under them and if thou pleasest bring me safely thro' the same and raise me up again in thy due time Thy Mercy and Power are still the same and will be the same for ever Oh! Let them still be shewn for my Recovery as they have already been for my Delivery Let them be shewn upon me that I may still more and more praise thee and because I place my safety in thy love and care and put my hope and trust in thee But if in thy Paternal Providence whereto I willingly commit my self thou hast determined otherwise concerning me thy Blessed Will O! my God be done Dispose of me either
submit to thee but will still thankfully adore and praise thy Name thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. AND I will consider O! Gracious Lord that if my Blindness makes my Soul to have less pleasure in this World it makes it also to have less danger from it For in this World I should see more that is fit to insnare than to benefit my Mind and my Eyes would let in more Tryals than true Injoyments and meet with more to afflict than to delight me And I will thankfully remember O! Father that by thy Mercy I was not born Blind but had long injoyed the use of my Eyes before I lost them yea and after I had most justly deserved to lose them Thou wast graciously pleased to lend them to me till I had been conversant in thy Holy Word to direct and comfort me And till I had seen much of what was to be seen in this World and till more Days would have brought little but the same Sights over again And by thy Grace I had first dispatch'd such Business and Affairs as are of most importance and concern to me in this Life and was come to have much less need of my Eyes before they were taken from me and I was call'd from beholding Vanity to mind thee and make sure the one thing necessary thro my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. YEA and still thro' thy Mercy O! Dear God I have my Hearing perfect to supply the want of my Eye-sight And altho' I have now no use of my own Eyes yet I have of others and can still see any thing with theirs And what I once learn from them I now remember much better by thy help than I used to do whilst I had my own Eyes to trust to and am in less need of any Eyes to see it for me over again And therefore instead of repining that I have lost my Eyes I will adore and thank thy Goodness O! Blessed Lord which has so well provided me for this loss and doth now so comfortably make it up to me otherways But above all which gives me an Heart that can still look up to thee and take comfort in thy Promises when my Eyes can no longer look upon this World or delight in its Gayeties And which supports me in my dark estate with the Blessed Hope of receiving Eyes at the Resurrection of the Just which always see clear and never grow dim and which can bear the brightness of thy Presence and shall always Feast themselves in beholding thee and all Heavenly Glories thro' Jesus Christ my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen 3. For Good use of their Blindness and proper Helps under it AND whilst thou takest from me the use of my Eyes O! Merciful Lord take from me also the Lust of my Eyes And let me by no means doat any more on Riches or on Beauty or on the Pomp and Gayety of any Earthly things since now I can no longer Feast my Eyes therewith But instead of coveting and greedily hearkning after the same make me as a Dead Man to them For Death has already invaded my Earthly Tabernacle and is come up at the Windows And I have out-lived my Eyes which as they had commonly been the first inlets of sin so now thy justice has made them the first inlets of Death too And since my Eyes are kept from looking abroad keep my mind from looking abroad too Let my thoughts busie themselves at home in searching out and setting straight mine own ways and in meditating on thy Laws and Promises I cannot say as others may that I am still called off from this good Employment of them by the sight of outward Objects or by the Cares of men of Business Oh! then that I may be more intent therein as wanting much of other Persons hindrances and excuses And make me remember O! my God that thus to know and behold thee is to see with Angels eyes And that altho' Flesh and Blood cannot see God yet Faith doth And that whilst thou art pleased to clear up my Faith which is the eye of my Soul and to make it strong and lively to discern what will please thee and what will save and comfort me in the next World it matters less tho' I remain dark to what is apt to insnare and afflict me in this World And whilst I want my Eyes to inform me at every turn what passes Lord quicken my Attention that I may give the more heed when I am told of the same and strengthen my Memory that I may not need still to be told of it again And now my own Eyes are no longer serviceable to me give me faithful Friends and Servants about me that I may safely trust to theirs And let thy Care and good Providence be to me instead of my Eyes and of all other Comforts and Conveniences which my Blindness deprives me of thro' Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour Amen Our Father c. III. Devotions on the loss of Hearing Scriptures WHO hath made mans mouth or who maketh the Dumb or Deaf have not I the Lord Exod. 4. 11. The hearing Ear and the seeing Eye the Lord hath made even both of them Prov. 20. 12. In that day the Ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Isa. 35. 5. And the deaf shall hear the words of the Book Isa. 29. 18. He said be opened and straightway his Ears were opened Mark 7. 34 35. But above all O! Lord give thy 〈…〉 Heart 1 King 3. 9. And that is better whilst the Ears of my Body are shut than to have Ears and not to Hear Ezek. 12. 2. Or Hearing to hear but not to understand Act. 28. 26. And when the Ears of the Body are open the Ear is not fill'd wâ—th hearing nor the Eye satisfied with seeing And the thing which has been heard or seen it is that which shall be heard or seen again and that which is done is that which shall be done and there is no new thing under the Sun Eccl. 1. 8 9. Yea and in hearing much evil is much trouble and just Lot in hearing vexed his righteous Soul from day to day with the unlâ—wful Deeds and filthy Conversation of the wicked 2 Pet. 2. 7 8. Thou shalt not curse the Deaf nor put a stumbling-block before the Blind but fear the Lord Lev. 19. 14. Glory be to the Father c. Prayers I. For Recovery of Hearing O! Righteous Lord mine Ears have been too much inclined and delighted to hear things which dishonour thee and corrupt me And where they were less bent upon evil yet however they were tâ—o easie and complying with it And therefore thou art just in stopping them because I have misused them and I must clear and glorifie thee in taking away my Hearing from me both in deserved Punishment of my having provoked thee and in careful Prevention of my further corruption of my self thereby But Lord in thy just Displeasure remember
Eccl. 12. 7. But there the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at Rest and they hear not the voice of the Oppressor Job 3. 17 18. Yea I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave saith the Lord I will redeem them from Death O! Death I will be thy Plague O! Grave I will be thy Destruction Hos. 13. 14. For he shall change this Vile Body and fashion it like unto his own Glorious Body Phil. 3. 21. And this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. 53. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all Faces and there shall be noe more Sorrow nor Crying nor Pain but Death shall be swallowed up in Victory Is. 25. 8. Rev. 21. 4. 1 Cor. 15. 54. 3. Against Fear of Death FEar not the sentence of Death remember them that have been before thee and that come after for this is the Sentence of the Lord over all Flesh Ecclus. 41. 3. It is but a going to Rest Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Jo. 11. 11. And tho therein I leave Dear Friends yet I go to my Fathers Gen. 15. 15. And am gather'd to my People Gen. 49. 33. And the Righteous hath Hope in his Death Prov. 14. 32. For God hath begotten us again to a lively Hope thro the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead 1 Pet. 1. 3. And by his Death he hath destroyed him who had the Power of Death and Deliver'd them who all their Life Time were in Bondage to the Fear of Death Heb. 2. 14 15. Sâ—e that now whether we Live or Dye we are the Lords Rom. 14. 8. For he died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him 1. Thes. 5. 10. The Sting of Death is Sin 1 Cor 15. 56. But he is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins Act. 5. 31. And we have such an High Priest as will have Compassion on our infirmities He can mercifully Consider and be touched with them in us having in all points Sin only excepted been tempted like as we are himself Heb. 4. 15. c. 2. 17 18. And therefore Thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory of Death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15. 57. And Blessed are the Dead from henceforth which Dye in the Lord Yea saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works follow them Rev. 14. 13. 4. Against Presumption LEt him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 1 Cor. 10. 12. Thou standest by Faith be not high-minded but Fear Rom 11. 20. Happy is the man that feareth always but he that hardneth his Heart against Fear shall fall into mischeif Prov. 28. 14. Work out therefore your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling For it is God that worketh in you of his Good Pleasure Phil. 2. 12 13. Likewise since you must stand before him who without Respect of Persons judgeth according to every mans work pass the time of your Sojourning here in Fear 1 Pet. 1. 17. Tho I know nothing by my self yet am I not hereby justifyed 1 Cor. 4. 4. The Heavens are not clean in his sight Job 15. 15. He put noe trust in his Servants and his Angels he charged with folly Job 4. 18. When I consider I am afraid of him Job 23. 15. I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever Psal. 52. 8. But will keep withall an humble Spirit that trembleth at his word Is. 66. 2. And serve him with Reverence and Godly Fear Heb. 12. 28. 5. In the last Agonies LOrd now let thy Servant Depart inâ— Peace Luc. 2. 29. Say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation Psal. 35. 3. This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradice Luc. 23. 43. Lord Jesu receive my Spirit Act 7. 59. Into thine Hand I commit it for thou hast redeemed me O! Lord God of Truth Psal. 31. 5. Be with me and Conduct me thro the Valley of the shadow of Death Psal. 23. 4. Send thy Holy Angels to Carry me into Abrahams Bosom Luk. 16. 22. And into the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that Day 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. For if we beleive that Jesus Dyed and rose again even soe them allsoe which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess. 4. 14. And I know whom I have Believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have Committed to him against that Day 2 Tim. 1. 12. Prayers 1. Prayers on the Prospect of ones own Death Drawing near 1. GRaunt O! Lord that I may end my Life in thy Fear and Favor and that I may Receive my Death which now threatens me not as my Curse but as my Deliverance Let me find it a Rest from my Labors and an Entrance upon a Life without Trouble and without Sin And Blessed be thy Mercy which tho it has seen fit and needfull to Discipline me with Sorrows yet has not made my Sorrows Endless but all to be laid down with this mortal Life and even in my Death has given me hopes of joys without end in a better Life through my Dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. O! Blessed Lord now I am hasting on to the End of my Life Remember not against me the Great and manifold errors thereof but let them all be wholly done away by thy Mercyes and my Blessed Saviours merits and my own true Repentance Let me come to my Change without Guilt and foresee its near approach without Fear or impatience And Oh! that I may allways stand ready to give a Good account of my Life unto thee And that I may fight out the Good Fight of Faith with Constancy and Perseverance and finish my Course with joy and never Sleep in Sin nor lye Down in misery and Sorrow And since my Soul is now summon'd to meet the Bridegroom Dress it O! Lord in a Wedding Garment fit to appear in his train Give me Oyl in my Lamp and Grace to trim and light it and keep it allways burning sending up a pure and holy Flame that when the Door opens I may be ready to Enter in with him And enable it to strip it self of all Fleshly affections before it leaves my Body and to be of like mind and Disposition with the Holy Angels and Beatifyed Spirits before it goes to keep them Company And O! my God let me never forgeâ— that this is like to be the last Tryal which thou wilt afford me of renouncing mine own will and resigning my self up to thine and of shewing forth Devotion of Spirit and all Holy Obedience and Patience and Faith and humble Confidence in thee And therefore
of our state and of a frail and forgetfull Creature in the midst of a tempting World can bear Oh! then that I may consider thy Mercy to fortifye my minde against Fear And fix my Soul upon the tenderness and Clemency of my judge and Saviour which will embolden me to stand before him without Horror And upon the Condescentions of thy Gospel and the needfull Deductions and Forbearance which it promises to our weaknesses that in this Hour of my necessity I may be guarded against all the suspicions of my own melancholy or mistrusts of thy mercy and may be strenthend with a comfortable Hope in thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. BUt if after all my Fears shall by times return upon me and prove troublesom to me let it however Comfort me O! Lord to thinke that thou art wont to make better of Humble Souls than they are wont to make of themselves and wilt judge me not according to my Fears but according to thy mercyes A truely Contrite Heart O! God is Safe in thine Eyes even when it gives it self up for lost in its own And as my Fears will be noe Prejudice to my safety soe Grant Good Lord that they may be an Help to my Duty and may quicken and increase my Care and Endeavours to obey thee Make them the Guards of my innocence and a constant Spur to thy Service And then O! Holy Father tho they trouble and Discomfit me at Present Yet they will happily Conâ—ute themselves and recompence me in the end and my sincere Obedience shall make sure thy Gracious acceptance tho I my self dare not beleive it till I come to find and hear it from thee in the other World thro the merits of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen IV. A Prayer against Presumption LEt not my Heart Deceive me O! Blessed Lord in judgeing of my self but keep me from Pride and vain Confidence in setting too little by thy Grace and thinking too well of mine own ways Oh! that I may never flatter my self into an Evil Security and an insensibleness of the Great need I have of thy Mercy For thou O! Lord resistest the Proud but givest Grace unto the Humble Thou rejectest the Proud Pharisee who justifyes himself and sees not his own nakedness and Poverty But the very best of us all Doe absolutely need repentance and have but too many Sins to humble us We must throw our Selves upon thy Mercy and can not stand in thy judgement shouldest thou be Rigorous in exacting what we have Done amiss nor appear before thee when thou art angry Thy justice is terrible to the Greatest Saints yea and before thee even the Angels themselves doe cover their Faces And as we can not come off clear in thy judgement but merely thro Mercy Soe neither Can we stand in Obedience to qualifye us for it but only thro Faith 'T is thy Help O! Lord that must support and keep us in thy ways And if it were not for thy Grace and our own Caution and holy jealousy over our Selves we are as lyable to fall as others Oh! then that I may not be high minded and place my Confidence in my self but learn to Fear and shew Care and humble Dependance upon thee and with Godly Reverence look for thy Promises of Grace and Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen V. Prayers in the last Agonies Ejaculations DVst thou art and to Dust shalt thou return Gen. 3. 19. Lord Jesus have mercy upon me O thou Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World Be merciful to me a Sinner Luk. 18. 13. Tho I often offend thee yet Lord thou knowest I sincerely Love thee and hate my self for having displeased thee And can any who sincerely Loves thee Perish Eternally Lord receive me for I am hasting apace to thee I stretch forth my Hands unto thee my Soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty Land Ps. 143. 6. Lord remember me when thou Comest in thy Kingdom Doe with this frail and wearied Body what thou pleasest Only receive my Spirit to thy Mercy in Death and raise up this Corruptible to incorruption after Death And forsake me not O! God now my strength faileth me Ps. 71. 9. Besides which the Dying Persons may use the Scriptures Collected for this Case p. 127. Prayers 1. LOrd Wash my Soul in thy Blood that it may be presented without Spot unto thee And let me Dye in thy Favour and rest in Peace and rise again in Glory Amen 2. STrenthen me O! my God in my Agonies As my strength fails let my pains wear off But when my Strenth fails let not my Faith fail Even in Death let me trust in thee And the nearer I am drawing to thee the more Doe thou manifest thy mercy unto me thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. DEliver me O! Lord from Fear of Death and from all violent Disorders of a troubled Fancy or painful Delusions of my Ghostly Enemy Oh! let not him be able now to disturb and terrifye me or any way to prevail against me but Guard thou thy Servant comeing unto thee Amen 4. HAve me in thy Custody O! holy Father for nothing can can take me out of thy Hands And Give thy Holy Angels Charge to stand about me to guard and receive my poor Soul at my Departure and to Conduct and Carry it to the Blessed Receptacles of Rest and Peace Amen 5. COme Lord Jesu Come quickly I Desire and Groan earnestly to be dissolved and to be with thee Into thy Hands I Commend my Spirit and lay Down my wearyed Flesh to Rest in Hope of a Blessed Resurrection to eternal Peace and joy at the last Day Amen 6. LOrd if it be thy Gracious will make my Pains short and my Death Easy at least not extremely tedious or Greivous to me But if thou hast otherwise ordered thy Blessed will be done Only Give me Patience to bear them and Spiritual Comforts under them and at thine own time make my Death my Passage to a Blessed and Eternal Life through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Out of the Office for Burial ANd O! Lord most Holy O! God most mighty O! Holy and Mercifull Saviour thou most worthy Judge Eternal Suffer me not at my last Hour for any pains of Death to fall from thee Amen And these Prayers may be said for the Dying Person as occasion requires by his Friends who are about him only altering the Persons we for I him for me our for my c. as is requisite upon the change of Persons Likewise they may use for him the recommendatory Prayer for one at the Point of Departure in the Churches Office for Visitation of the Sick O! Almighty God with whom doe live the Spirits of just Men made perfect after they are Deliverd from their Earthly Prisons We humbly commend the Soul of this thy Servant our dear Brother into thy
tormented with any long Fears thereof And that the suddenner the stroke was the less he was like to feel it Or should he have felt it more yet he might not have felt a painfull Disease less had it been his Executioner For altho that would have been more slow it might not have proved less Cruel nor have smarted lighter but only lasted longer And if my Dear and Deceased Friends Paine was more violent O! Lord it was short and thro thy mercy I hope it is the last he had to endure And far be it from us O! God to repine that he was thrown hastily and Headlong into Death especially haveing a Comfortable Hope that the effect thereof is to pass with less Pain and more Dispatch into a better Life and more easily and speedily to take possession of immortality thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. Prayers on the Death of Friends who had lead ill lives and Gave noe Comfortable Proofs of Repentance at their Deaths â—N this Case we may put the surviveing Friends in minde of the many other Things which they have to take Comfort in and this I think is all the Ground we have here of speaking Comfort unto them But we can not fetch Considerations of Comfort from their Deceased Friends For such Sinners as would have nothing to do with the Fear and Service of God have noe Reason of Comfort in themselves nor can afford any good Reason of it to their well-wishers And with Relation to them we must not pretend to Preach Comfort I conceive but Submission To help them meekly and patiently to submit themselves to God in these sad Cases the surviving Friends may use Prayer 1. When a Friend Dyes especially if they leave out the Paragraph within the Hooks p. 307. They may allsoe use this Prayer following to Comfort them ANd Blessed be thy Mercy O! most Gracious God which in this sad Case doth not leave me comfortless For if this Deceased Friends Case suggests things full of Greif I have many other Friends who give me great Cause of joy And to Compensate my Trouble in Pity for others by thy Grace I have something to Satisfye and Please me in reflecting on my self For I can look with Comfort on my own Soul and hope thro the merits of my Blessed Saviour to finde Mercy for it and take Comfort in it both Living and Dying I have thee O! Lord for my Portion and nothing Can make my Case Comfortless whilst I am thinâ— and thou art mine and whilst I have thy Power to trust to and thy Love to rejoyce in And under all this Sorrow at present I am sustain'd by the Blessed Hope of being received at last into thy Presence where all Remembrance of former Troubles shall be quite effaced by the abundance of my Present Bliss where I shall have noe Sorrow from the miscarriage of Friends but unspeakable Satisfaction in their well-being and well-doing and where I shall ever Delightâ—in thee and in the Continual Emanations of thy surpassing Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen 5 A Prayer on the Death of a Child O Almighty Father thou art pleased now to turn my joys into Sâ—rrows and to take away from 〈◊〉 that sweet Babe which thou lately gavest me for my Delight and Comfort But I humbly Bow my will to thine and submit my Self to 〈…〉 and without murmuring 〈◊〉 it is thy Doing Thou hast sent this poor Child into the World O! Lord to See and to â—ast Life but hast not allowed it to Stay till it Could rightly understand the end and busyness or relish the Comforts and Satisfactions thereof But I will Consider O! my God that thou wilt not require from it any Services of Life whilst it was not Capable to understand them And that if it Stayed not here to enjoy Pleasure soe neither did it Stay to be pined away with Sorrow and Care It lived not long enough to be versed in all the Vexations of our State nor to run thro that Great variety of miseryes and misfortunes which are incident here to our Nature But went off before it had time to trye how much Evil is to be Endured in this Life yea before it was come to aggravate any afflictions by imagination or to anticipate the same by Fear or to reflect in bitterness of Spirit and lay to heart what it did endure And as it Dyed young O! Lord Soe I have the Comfort to think and hope that therefore it Dyed innocent For it is taken back to thee before it knew Good or Evil or had done any thing to offend thee It has left the World ere it was made the worse by it or had Contracted any of the Wickedness thereof to follow it and fright it at thy Judgement By thy Mercy O! Father it Stayed till it was received for thine own Child by Baptism and was therein assured by thee of remission of Sin and made an Heir of thy Kingdom And by the same Mercy it is now Call'd away ere it had done any thing to fall from that Relation or to forfeit that Blessing So that in this takeing it away froâ— me thou hast translated it O! Father of Meâ—â—yes from the miseryes of this World to the joys of Paradice it is taken from me to be at thy Provision and to be kept for ever safe and Happy in those Blessed mansions which thou hast Provided for thy Children And therefore if I have lost the Comfort of haveing a Child to train up in thy Service in this World it is for the far greater Comfort O! my God of haveing sent one to live with thee and attend for ever about thy Throne in Heaven And there I my self allsoe hope thro thy mercy to be received in thy due Time not only to see and injoy it but what is infinitely above all for ever to see and injoy thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 6. A Prayer when one is made Childless or is like to Dye without Children O! Blessed Lord thou art pleased in thy Wisdom to beleave me of my Children and to leave me 〈◊〉 appearance of issue to Sweeten the Cares of Life and to keep up my Memory to Posterity I am content therewith O! my God because it pleaseth thee and comeing from thy Wisdom aâ—d Care of me I will not only own it to be just but Esteem it to be most wise and fit for me And if by haveing noe Children I have fewer Delights I will remember withall O! Father that I have lighter Cares and fewer Sorrows I have not the Torment of seeing them take ill wayes nor of Fearing continually lest they should fall to take them nor shall have the Pains and Trouble of parting with them which Commonly is quicker and more affecting than the Pleasure of haveing them And I may now fix my Love and Care more intrely upon thee haveing no Cares for them to call me off And I have less Temptation to Descend to mean
to Life or Death as thou pleasest only in both to thy Mercy And whether living or dying let me still please thee and be thou my Portion Oh! Perfect my Repentance and purge away all my sins And give me Patience whilst I live and Peace when I die and after that the happiness to see thy Face in a Blessed Eternity which thou hast prepared and promised to all that truly fear thee thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 3. A Prayer for her Child PReserve my tender Child O! Father and let its own weakness and my Cries commend it to thy Blessed Care Preserve it to be regenerated and born again by Baptism and thereby made thine own Child by Adoption which is infinitely a greater Blessing both to it and me than thy making of it mine Keep it also afterwards in Health and Safety And as it increases in Years and Stature let it increase withal in Wisdom and in thy Fear I beg not for it Wealth or Greatness but Wisdom to know and serve thee For O! Lord I do not desire Life either for my self or it but that we may live to thee and grow daily in Love and Thankfulness for all thy Mercies and in Faith and Patience and all holy Obedience which may fit us both for ever to injoy thee thro' Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Redeemer Amen Afterwards when she comes to be Churched besides the accustomed Offering to the Minister she may add a Gift of Alms to the Poor as a proper and acceptable Tribute of Thanks and Praise Alms being as fit to attend and recommend our Thanksgivings as they are to inforce our Prayers And let her not forget the Churches Admonition to compleat her giving Thanks by Receiving the Holy Sacrament if there be a Communion that day or so soon as there shall be one II. Devotions on the Loss of Eye-sight to be read to them by some Friends for them to Meditate upon or to joyn in Scriptures I. WHO hath made the Seeing and the Blind Have not I the Lord Ex. 4. 11. And the Lord openeth the eyes of the Blind Ps. 146. 8. He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor and recovering of Sight to the Blind Luk. 4. 18. Lord I grope for the wall and stumble at Noon-day as in the Night I wait for Light but behold obscurity for brightness but I walk in darkness Is. 59. 9 10. Lord I beseech thee that I may recover my sight Receive thy sight thy faith hath saved thee Luk. 18. 41 42. But if I must not receive it in my Body however open the Eyes of my Soul that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law Ps. 119. 18. 2. The Light of the Eyes indeed rejoyceth the Heart Prov. 15. 30. For truly the Light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the Eyes to behold the Sun Eccl. 11. 7. But the Eye is not satisfied with seeing Eccl. 1. 8. For as Hell and Destruction are never full so the Eyes of Man are never satisfied Prov. 27. 20. And the Lust of the Eyes is not of the Father but of the World 1 Jo. 2. 16. So that we need to make a Covenant with our Eyes Job 31. 1. And if thine Eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee It is better for the to enter into Life without Eyes rather than having Eyes to be cast into Hell-fire Mat. 18. 9. Besides in seeing much we see much evil and it may be thou shalt be mad for the Sight of thine Eyes which thou shalt see Deut. 28. 34. And just Lot in seeing vexed his Righteous Soul from day to day with the unlawful deeds of the wicked 2 Pet. 2. 7 8. 3. Moreover tho' the Body be dark yet the Eyes of our understanding may be inlightned Eph. 1. 18. For the Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly Prov. 20. 27. And we walk by Faith and not by Sight 2 Cor. 5. 7. And tho 't is pleasant to see the Sun yet 't is pleasanter to see those things which the Angels desire to look into 1 Pet. 1. 12. And to supply our want of Bodily Eyes our Friends and Neighbours may be to us instead of eyes Num. 10. 31. For I was Eyes to the Blind and Feet to the Lame Job 29. 15. And cursed be he that maketh the Blind to wander out of the way Deut. 27. 18. Or putteth a Stumbling-block before him Lev. 19. 14. Glory be to the Father c. PRAYERS I. For Recovery of Sight LORD pity me who have my Eyes always closed and all my Days turned into Night I cannot see what I eat or what I drink and I grope for the wall and stumble in the Light as in the Dark For the Light which maketh all things manifest about us and reviveth and maketh glad both Man and Beast is no Light to me but I am Dark at Noon-Day Oh! Support and comfort me in this my Adversity and restore my Sight to me again if it may seem fit to thee Consider Lord how greatly it serves for my comfort and safety And restore it to me for I seek to thee and thou art prone to pity me and thou only who gavest it canst restore it Yea do thou restore it O! my God that I may again behold the marvelous Greatness and the rich and various Beauty of thy Creatures and devoutly admire and praise the Glories of thy Wisdom Power and Goodness which they set forth daily before our eyes And above all that I may return to read thy Holy Word to instruct and comfort me and to make me perfect in the way of my Duty and of obtaining thine everlasting Mercy thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen II. For Patience under the want of it 1. AND in this state of Bodily Blindness O! Righteous Lord I do not in the least complain of thee for laying it upon me For thou hast continued the use of my Eyes much longer unto me than I have been careful to use and employ them for thee And because I would not take care to govern them virtâ—ously and wisely nor shut them up or restrain them my self thou hast shut them up in Darkness For they had taken me off O! Holy Father from minding thee to mind Worldly Pomp and show and to fix themselves in Clay They were grown greedy and unsatisfied in beholding Vanity They had often made me to offend And 't is better to want Eyes than to be made to offend by them and to enter into Life being Blind rather than having Eyes without Innocence to be cast into Hell fire So that I humbly submit to this Blindness O! my God and meekly accept of it both as the punishment of mine iniquities and as a means to cure and prevent them And if it be thy Pleasure to have me rest under it or whilst it is so thy Blessed Will be done And I will not only