Tribes of the Earth be blessed in him Hast thou not said thy self O glorious Jesu If I be lifted up I will draw all men after me Hast thou not given thy Disciples express Commission to go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature When wilt thou again O infinite Charity choose out burning and shining Lights and send them forth over all the World and send them not alone lest they faint by the way or miscarry in the end If thou wilt go with them thy self and guide them by thy Grace and crown their Labours with thy powerful Blessing Oh then what mighty works would be done by them Then shall the humble Vallies be rais'd up and the stubborn Mountains be brought low So shall the crooked paths be made direct and the rough wayes smooth and plain So shall the Glory of God be every where reveal'd and all Flesh shall joyfully see it together the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the bright face of Jesus Christ Happy the times when this shall come to pass happy the eyes that shall see these times Come glorious days wherein that Sun shall shine which enlightens all at once both the Hemisphears PETITIONS REmember O God the Father God of everlasting Truth thy dear Engagements to the Son Remember O God the Son who art the Author and Finisher of our Faith thy gracious Promises to the World. Come holy Jesu in a plentiful effusion of thy Spirit upon us and make that glorious day of Gospel light which we greatly desire and thy Promises give us leave to expect Come and in the largest sence maintain thy Title and be effectively the Saviour of the universal World. Visit O Lord thine own House first and throughly redress what thou findest amiss Make our Lives holy as thou hast made our Faith and let all that name thy Name depart from Iniquity O thou who art the Author of Peace and lover of Concord who did'st so often repeat the Command that thy Disciples should love one another Inspire we beseech thee thy whole Church with a Spirit of Truth Unity and Concord Bring thou into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived Convince us all that the wrath and fury of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God and hasten the time when there shall be no hurting nor destroying in all thy holy Mountain Kindle O Lord in the hearts of Kings and the great Ones of the World an heroick Spirit to advance thy Glory Inflame the hearts of Prelates and the Priests of thy Church with a generous Zeal for the Conversion of Souls Convince them all it is the End and Duty of their places to endeavour the improving of Mankind in vertue and Religion and direct them to the use of such just and gentle means as are suitable to the End and agreeable to thy Word Send forth thy saving light O Lord into the dark corners of the World and bring them from the power of Satan into the Kingdom of God. Remember thy great Love which thou hast shown and the Mercies which seem yet promised to the Jews Let every people bow their Knees to thy great Name Oh blessed Jesu and all Tongues confess thy Greatness Make all to receive thy Truth in the love of it and mix it with Faith that it may become an engrafted Word able to save their Souls These things we crave for the honour of our Advocate and onely Mediator Jesus the Christ Amen Hymn 30. JEsu whose Grace directs thy Priests To keep alive by solemn Feasts The memory of thy great Love O may we here so pass thy days That they at last our Souls may raise To that long Feast with thee above To that long day of sacred Rest Whereon our happy Souls shall feast On thy celestial Joyes and thee Our Bodies too thy Love shall raise Thy self to see and sing thy praise In a blest Immortality Jesu behold three Kings from far Led to thy Cradle by a Star Bring gifts to thee their greater King O guide us by thy Light that we May find thy lov'd Face and to thee Our selves may for thy Tribute bring O thou the pure and spotless Lamb Who to the Temple humbly came Appointed legal Rites to pay Make our proud Heart and stubborn Will Thine and thy Churche's Law fulfill Whate're relucting Natures say Jesu who on the fatal Wood Pourd'st forth thy life's last drop of Blood For us nail'd to a shamefull Cross O! may we bless thy Love and be Ready dear Lord to bear for thee All present grief or pain or loss Dear Lord who by thine own Love slain By thine own Powe'r took'st Life again And from the Sepulcher did'st rise O may thy Death our Spir'its revive And at our Death a new Life give A lasting Life that never dies Jesu who to thy Heaven again Returnd'st in Triumph there to reign Of Men and Angels mighty King O may our parting Souls take flight Up to that Land of Joy and Light And there with Angels ever sing All Glory to the Sacred Three One undivided Deity All honour blessing power and praise O may thy blessed Name shine bright Crown'd with those Beams of beauteous light It s own eternal glorious Rays Amen FOR THE FEASTS OF THE HOLY GHOST For the Morning MEDITATION I. LOrd we are forced to admire the sweet and natural conduct with which thy Providence governs the Children of men Leading them on from one degree to another 'till thou hast brought them up to their highest perfection Thou puttest them to learn in the School of Virtue and disposest their Capacities into several forms In the first Ages when the World was young thou gavest them for their guide the Book of Nature there thy divine Assistance helpt them to read some few plain Lessons of their Duty to thee They saw this admirable frame of Creatures and as far as these could argue they could conclude Sure there is a God the cause of all things certainly there is a Providence that disposes of all things He must be very powerful that made so vast a World and exceeding wise that contriv'd such excellent works He must be goodness it self that did all this for us and we ingrateful Wretches if we will do nothing for him Thus far some few could say and very few could do with those slender Assistances which they then enjoy'd Afterward thou gavest thy People a written Rule which train'd them up in a set form of Discipline which grew and spread into a publick Religion and which was uniformly profest by a whole Nation They had some weak conceit of the Kingdom of Heaven and some imperfect means to bring them thither But for those high supernatural Mysteries that so gloriously exalt the Christian Faith they all alas were blind or in the dark and dangerously exposed to the effects of their own Ignorance wanting those clear Instructious to know their end and those powerful Motives to love
their God Yet this prepar'd them for the times of Grace to which thy Mercy O Lord reserv'd far greater favours to which thou hast promised by thy Holy Prophets an effusion of Blessings from thine own full hands I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts I will be their God and they shall be my People I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophesie They shall teach no more every one his Neighbour saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest saith the Lord. Hymn 31. COme Holy Spirit come and breath Thy Spicy Odours on the Face Of our dull Regions here beneath And fill our Souls with thy sweet grace Come and root out the poys'nous weeds Which over-run and choak our Lives And in our hearts plant thine own seeds Whose quickening pow'r our Spirit revives First Plant the humble Violet there Which dwells secure by dwelling low Then let the Lilly next appear And make us chast yet fruitful too But O! Plant all the Vertues Lord And let the Metaphors alone Repeat once more that mighty Word Thou need'st but say Let it be done We can alas nor be nor grow Unless thy powerful Mercy please Thy hand must plant and water too Thy hand alone must give th' increase Do then what thou alone canst do Do what to thee so easie is Conduct us through this world of woe And place us safe in thine own Bliss All Glory to the Sacred Three One ever-living Sovereign Lord As at the first still may he be Belov'd and Prais'd Fear'd and Ador'd Amen MEDITATION II. LOok up languishing World look up and see how punctually thy faithful Lord performs his word When he had finisht here that gracious work which his goodness undertook for our Redemption when he had told us what we ought to do and what to suffer for the Kingdom of Heaven when he himself had done more than he requir'd of us and was about to be offer'd up for us by his Death on the Cross and he had wrought our Salvation so far that now his absence from Earth was more expedient for us He first prepares the hearts of his Disciples and comforts their Sorrows with these sweetest words Children I will not leave you Orphans but will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth who shall teach you all things and bring to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Peace I leave with you my Peace give I to you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid I ascend unto my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God I goe to prepare a place for you that where I am there may also my faithful and constant Followers be Thus he gave them to expect that the Holy Spirit should be sent into the World upon his departure from it That this kind Spirit would apply himself to Comfort them by all those wayes wherein comfort could be given That this Spirit should supply his Presence not only for a time but should abide with them never to remove to Heaven again as he did That he should continue in the Christian Church a sufficient Guide and a powerful Comforter to Teach them what is to be done to Comfort them under Afflictions to fortifie and support them in their spiritual Conflicts to assist the application and use of those excellent Instructions which he had left among them to take their part in the World and convert their enemies into friends by convincing them of sin in not believing on Jesus of the righteousness which it appears they may have from him because he is gone to the Father and of Judgment to come for sinful men since the sinning Angels are judged And after their kind Master had said these and other comfortable things to them he led them forth together and gave them his Blessing and parting from them went away into Heaven So loving Mothers when the weaning time is come withdraw from their beloved Children but while they thus deprive their tender little ones of their most dear and all-supplying Presence they still depute some faithful Friend to assist them for though they leave they do not intend to forsake them Such and far greater was the care of our God as his love is far greater than that of tenderest Mothers to their Infants He saw it necessary for so mysterious a Faith to be shown in a clear and supernatural light to the first Believers that they might confidently recommend to others what they knew with infallible certainty themselves He saw it necessary for so perverse a World to infuse into its first Converters a fullness of Charity that with an ardent Zeal they might instruct their Hearers and with a patient courage overcome their opposers He saw it necessary for such varieties of Nations to furnish the Preachers with variety of Languages that they might teach every one in their native Speech and understand their doubts and satisfie their objections MEDITATION III. WHEN the appointed time was come as all the works of God go forth in their fittest season the Disciples having tarried at Jerusalem according to direction to be endued with power from on high when they were gather'd together into one place and with one accord and so were excellently dispos'd for the Visits of Heaven when they had long continued in ardent Prayer and wrought up their Affections to the utmost point of desire suddenly there was a sound from Heaven from whence every good and perfect gift descends a vehement Wind fill'd the whole house for the Grace of God is strong and liberal Behold on the Head of each sate a Tongue as of fire the properest means to inable them for the Conversion of the World While they were all illuminated with a pure light and all enflam'd with a fervent heat and to communicate both to every Nation they were all endued with the gift of Languages Thus were the words of the Prophets fulfill'd and the Promises of our Saviour perform'd and the Faith of the Christian Church was thus miraculously begun Thus were the Messengers of everlasting Peace prepared they were miraculously baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire and were perfectly qualified for their great Commission to Preach to every Creature this happy Gospel He that believes and is Baptized shall be saved When our Lord ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men He did not affright the world again with the Thunders and Lightnings of Mount Sinai but gently infused the pleasant fire of divine Love into the hearts of his Disciples How should we bless the Lord our God who are Members of the Christian Church to which at this time instead of the Law of Moses was given the grace of Christ for the Letter the Spirit for Shadows Truth and for the Spirit of Fear the
justly fears the angry brow of his offended Prince so let my oft-forgiven Soul continually tremble to provoke the wrath of thy dread Majesty Thus temper O Lord my Love with reverence and allay my fear with hope that I may live to thy glory in a chearful Obedience Glory be to the Father c. Amen For Monday Evening MEDITATION I. TO know Thee O Lord is the highest Learning and to see thy face is the only true Happiness Consider now my Soul and thankfully remember what the great God is to us men Thou Lord art the great Beginning of our nature and the glorious end of all our actions Thou art the overflowing source from whence we spring and the Immense Ocean into which we tend Thou art the free bestower of all we possess and the faithful promiser of all we hope for Thou art the strong sustainer of our lives and our ready protection from all our enemies Thou art the merciful Scourger of our sins and the bounteous Rewarder of our Obedience Thou art the only wise God and the only safe Conductor of this lifes pilgrimage Thou art the ever blessed God and the Eternal Rest of our wearied Souls God is the Guide to find my way my strength to walk in it and my rest in the end of it He must draw me or I cannot run after him He must seek me or I can never find him and unless I find and enjoy him I can never be happy Such words our narrowness is constrain'd to use when we endeavour to speak the divine bounties when we would express how many wayes mankind are beholden to him that made them In a few words Lord here is much exprest what may fill our minds with a great many thoughts and afford matter for long Meditation But yet our words are and our highest thoughts must be far short of the goodness and mercy of thy thoughts towards us they are more than can be numbred by Men or Angels MEDITATION II. LEt us now consider my Soul and with great humility remember what we are to the great God We who alas are nothing in our selves what can we be to his Immensity Thou Lord who art all things in thine own rich self what canst thou receive from our poverty This only we are to Thee O Great Cretor the unthankful objects of all thy bounties This only we are to thee O dear Redeemer the unworthy cause of all thy sufferings Guilty we committed the Crime and thou with thine own Innocency undertook'st the Punishment We went astray from the path of life and thy mercy came down from Heaven to seek us to seek us in the wilderness where we had lost our selves and bring us home to the discipline of thy Love. Thou hast sent thy Spirit to gather the lost Sheep and what are we to Thee O holy and blessed Spirit but very stubborn and untractable creatures We are not sheep till thou hast changed our natures Man is born like the wild Asses colt Lord what are we that thou shouldst thus regard such poor vile and inconsiderable wretches What can our good will avail thy Bliss that with so many charms thou wooest us to love thee What can our enmity prejudice thy content that thou dost threaten so severely if we love thee not Is there O my God not felicity enough in the sweetness alone of loving thee Is there not certainly misery enough in living destitute of thy blissfull love Yes Yes Dear Lord so it is and that thou knewest and that is indeed the only cause which moved thy goodness to court our affections Thou knew'st we would else cast away our selves by doating on the follies of this deceitful world Thou knewest the danger of our wilfull nature and therefore strivest by greatest fears and hopes and by all the wisest arts of Love and Bounty to draw us to thy self and endow us with thy Kingdom But Oh unhappy we whose frowardness requir'd so strange proceeding to force upon us our own Salvation Yet happy we are in this that our wants have met so kind a hand that our God is good long-suffering and whose mercy endures for ever His goodness needs but our emptiness to engage him to fill us and nothing but our misery to move him to make us happy MEDITATION III. LOrd without Thee what 's all the world to us but a flying dream of busie vanities It promises indeed a Paradise of bliss but all it performs is an empty cloud Thine are the Joyes that shine fixt as the Stars and make the only solid Heaven Lord without Thee what are we to our selves but the wretched causes of our own ruin We 'till thou gavest us being were purely nothing more remov'd from happiness than the most miserable of thy Creatures Now thou hast made us we wholly depend on thee and perish immediately if thou forsake us Thou who without us art the same All-glorious Essence perfectly full of thy own eternal Felicity Without us thy royal Throne stands firm for ever and all the powers of Heaven obey thy pleasures O Lord how contrary is our imperfect nature in every circumstance to thy excellency and perfection Thou dwellest above in the Mansions of Glory and we below in houses of Clay Thou art from everlasting to everlasting we are but of yesterday and are every moment going downwards to our dissolution Thou art Immense and thy presence fills the Heavens but the greatest of us alas how little are we two yards of Air contain us while we liâ—e and a few spans of Earth suffice us at our death Thou art Almighty power all-sufficient fullness we are poverty and weakness When O when my God shall these vast distances meet together it is in thy power to make these extremities embrace each other we know that by thy amazing power they were once miraculously joyn'd in the sacred person of thy Eternal Son when the King of Heaven stoopt down to earth and grafted into his own Person the nature of man We hope they once again shall be happily united in the blissfull vision of thy glorious self when we shall be like thee by seeing thee as thou art when the children of Earth shall be exalted to Heaven and be satisfied with thy likeness But are there no means here below O thou infinitely high and glorious God! Is there no way for us now to approach towards thee to diminish at least this uncomfortable distance There is none but the way of holy Love Divine Love elevates our meanness Love will bring us near to the blessed God it will make us live in a happy union to him And none can attain this but by thy free gift unless Thou O dearest Lord do first Love us and with thy Love kindle the sacred fire in our breasts we shall never be so happy as to Love thee PETITIONS O Bounteous God! O abundant Goodness add to all thy other favours this of making me love and esteem thee above all things above my self and all
of God sustains our Life and mercifully allows us space to repent that by well employing the time he lends us we may wisely provide for our own Eternity Wisely then thou actest O my Soul when thou settest apart some time every day wherein to meditate on God and his Word and works by which thou maist be sitted for a happy Eternity Consider then further the Divine Providence and say within thy self Thus do we depend O Lord on thee and happy we are in that dependance did we but know our own true interest We and our whole concerns are deposited with God and where can we find a better hand to ensure them Is he not wise enough to chuse safely for us who disposes all nature in such admirable order Has he not power to go through with his purpose who commands the will of men and Angels Wants he perhaps an inclination to favour us who desires our felicity more than our own Hearts do He feeds the Fowls of the Air and cloaths the Lillies of the Field Without his Providence not a Sparrow falls to the ground and shall we mistrust his care for his Children Under his Government we have liv'd all this while and can we now suspect hee 'l forsake us He has shown his bounty in extraordinary favours and will he deny us his lesser blessings He has freely bestow'd upon us his dearest Son how shall he not with him freely give us all things else All that are useful to carry us on our way and bring us at length to his Eternal Rest If our necessities be the effects of our folly we must not presume that he will maintain us in our sins Rather we should strive to moderate our appetites and correct our vices that have bred these miseries But if our wants be innocent and pressing he will sooner do a miracle than break his word This he has often solemnly engag'd and often made good by his Providence Ask but the former ages and they will tell you the wonders which he wrought in them in favour to his faithful Servants He multiplied the Oyl in the Poor Widows cruse and fed his banisht Prophet by a Raven He dryed the Sea into a Path for his People and melted the Rocks into streams of Water to quench their thirst He made his Angels Stewards of their Provision and nourisht them in the Wilderness with the Bread of Heaven Still O my God thy Eternal Charity retains the same affections for those that rely on thee Still thy all-seeing Wisdom governs the World with the same immense unalterable goodness Nay surely now the streams of thy Mercy run more strong and have wrought to themselves a larger channel Since thou broughtest down the Waters from above the Heavens and openedst in thine own Body a Spring of Life A Spring of Joy and Bliss to revive our Hearts and overslow them with a torrent of everlasting Pleasures MEDITATION III. LEt us sit down in Peace O my Soul and rest secure in the bosom of Providence Let us not disturb the order of those mercies which our God has design'd us in his eternal Councels Every accident may be turn'd into vertue and every vertue is a step towards our glorious end If our affairs succeed let us praise our great Benefactor and think what he will give us hereafter who does so favour us here if they miscary let us yield to the will of Heaven and learn by our crosses in this world to love the other Whatever happens to us this ought to be our constant rule to provide for the other life and be contented with the present Shall we not patiently accept a little evil from him that has given us much good Shall the being without some one thing that we need not more sensibly affect us than the having all that we need Ingrateful wretches the common benefits that we all enjoy deserve the thanksgiving of a whole life the air we breath in the bright Sun that shines on us the water and the bounteous earth that do so faithfully serve us the exercise of our senses and the use of our wits if not in excellency at least to some degree All these things O Lord thou generally affordest both to the good and to the bad and for the least of these none can praise thee enough What shall we say then can we yet with any justice complain because some few perhaps are more prosperous than we should we not rather look down on the many below us and be thankful to see our selves more favoured than they should we not do well my Soul to reckon over the several miseries of mankind and bless our God that has so farr preferr'd us Had we some desperate Canker breeding on our face or noisom Leprosie spreading over our skin these we must all confess are incident to our nature and much more than these is due to our sins what would we then give to be as we now are how gladly would we exchange them for a moderate affliction It is but to interpret our worst condition well and we shall sind motives enow to excite our gratitude to God It is but interpreting our best condition frowardly and we shall imagine defects enow to make us think our selves miserable My Soul do thou alwayes adore the wisdom of God and leave it to him as he pleases to rule his own world All his works shall certainly praise him and his Saints shall bless him He scatters these temporal things with a seeming negligence as trifles of so little importance that they signifie not either love or hatred Nothing but Heaven is indeed considerable nothing but Eternity deserves our esteem But if we could understand the secret character of the divine Decrees we should read in each syllable a perfect Harmony PETITIONS TEach me I pray Thee O thou the blest Enlightner of our minds teach me to expound thy actions alwayes in a fair sense alwayes to believe they are well becoming thy infinite perfections and therefore adorable Suffer me not to follow my own fancy in doing this lest I create to my self a voluntary misery Lord let all thy dispensations design favour and good to me and let me understand that they do so then shall I heartily praise thee for them of what nature soever they be Let me interpret the afflictions which thou sendest as meant to correct and not to destroy me to prevent some sin or teach me the practice of some vertue and that when I shall need crosses no longer thou wilt then remove them In the mean while O gracious Lord I beseech thee to give me Patience according to my burden inable me to wait thy time of deliverance without prescribing limits to thee and without contracting either a froward discontented Spirit or a mean and dejected one Make me Lord to rejoyce that my lot is in thy hands while I see thy Mercy favourably chusing for me And willingly I say do thou dispose of my condition here as it
take him for their King When they shall see that God who made them to enjoy his glory will now cast them into thick deep shades of eternal darkness and the blessed Jesus who came into the world to redeem sinners will say to them Depart from me I know you not Then shall they curse the day of their birth and the unfortunate companions that inveigled them to sin they shall curse this vain deceitful world that draws them on in the wayes of perdition and by a fatal mist cast before their eyes hinders them from foreseeing the perdition they are going to Are these alas they will say the effects of those fond desires whose gratifications we made our chief felicity Alas what do now our wanton liberties avail us what the fugitive pleasures that we so eagerly pursued What comfort receive we from those empty honours from those faithless riches that tempted us to sin they are all of them vanisht away like a shadow and gone as a cloud of smoak that is scattered with the wind But the remorse and punishment of these endure for ever and torture our spirits with perpetual anguish Thus shall they cry and none will regard them thus mourn and there will be none found to pity Such will be the dismal end and consequence of a sinful and impenitent Life Be thankful to God O my Soul whose gracious Providence has given thee warning to avoid these miseries Hymn â— OPen thine Eyes my Soul and see Once more the light returns to thee Look round about and chuse the way Thou mean'st to travel o're to day Think on the dangers thou maist meet And alwayes watch thy sliding feet Think where thou once hast fall'n before And mark the place and fall no more Think on the helps that God bestows And cast to steer thy life by those Think on the sweets thy Soul did feel When thou didst well and do so still Think on the pains that shall torment Those stubborn Souls that ne're repent Think on the joyes that wait above To Crown the head of holy Love. Think what at last will be thy part If thou go'st on where now thou art See life and death set thee to chuse One thou must take and one refuse O my Dear Lord guide thou my course And draw me on with thy sweet force Still make me walk still make me tend By thee my way to thee my end All Glory to the sacred Three One undivided Deity As it has been in ages gone May now and ever still be done Amen MEDITATION II. AS the day will come wherein God will destroy all the workers of Iniquity so the day will come my soul the day will certainly come when the gracious God will reward and crown all that love his commandments and seek the Glory he has made us for Why do you mourn ye children of the light to whom belong the promises of Bliss you who feed on the pleasant Fruits of Piety and the continual feast of a good Conscience Who taste already the sweetness of Hope and hereafter shall be satisfied with the fulness of Fruition What can molest your happy state whom the God of glory has chosen for himself whom He has adopted into his honourable family and design'd for heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven That Blessed Kingdome where all Delights abound and sorrow and tears are banisht away Where none are sick or grow old or dye where all flourish in perfect health and live an immortal Life in all the beauty and vigour of an Eternal Youth Where none are perplext with cares or fears but all dwell secure and free for ever Where we shall no more be subject to chance no more be expos'd to the danger of temptation No more shall we be cross'd by others nor ever disquieted with our own Passions There a serene tranquility shall alwaies dwell within us and innumerable Joyes be round about us Joy in the Excellencies of our glorified Bodies joy in the perfections of our enlarged Souls Joy in the sweet society of Saints joy in the glorious company of Angels Joy in the ravishing sight of our beloved Jesus joy in the blissful Union with the adorable Deity All shall be joy and love and peace and all endure for eternal ages Let then the servants of our Lord rejoyce and sing sweet is the yoke of thy Love dear Lord and light is the burthen of thy Commands But O how far more rich are thy faithful Promises how infinitely greater thy glorious rewards When every divine vertue in us shall there be rewarded with its proper Crown and Glory The humble there shall be highly exalted and the poor in spirit shall be prefer'd to be Kings The meek shall possess that holy Land and the Mourners be comforted with eternal refreshments The clean of Heart shall see the God of purity and the lovers of Peace shall have the priviledge of his Children They who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled and the merciful will be entertain'd with the kind embraces of mercy They who suffer persecution for Righteousness sake shall receive a great Reward they that are Teachers and enlighten others shall shine bright as the Stars They who relinquish any thing for God shall receive an hundred-sold and all the Just shall be in glory for ever Then shall they bless the true Friend that at any time reproved their foolish courses and so was instrumental to convert them to the waies of Bliss they shall bless each charitable hand that was assistant to their happiness They shall praise and admire the provident mercies of their God and sing aloud the victories of his grace With joyful wonder they shall say Is this the effect of those little pains we took are these the Repairs for the petty losses we suffer'd Happy we who deny'd our selves a few Toyes and are now advanc'd to these high felicities Millions of years shall pass away and our Glory shall but then seem to begin Yea when millions of millions are past our glory shall not for all that be nearer to its end Thus shall they all rejoyce and none shall disturb them and all the Hosts of Angels shall joyn with them in the high praises of God. O be very thankful my Soul to the Gracious God whose favourable Providence to thee has brought this felicity to thy knowledge that it may allure thee to the pursuit of it MEDITATION III. AND now my Soul consider what thou hast to do Consider what it is likely to profit thee to gain the whole World and lose thy self See Life and Death here set before thee the rewards of Saints and the pains of Sinners Consider these things and make thy eternal hearty choice choose wisely and thou shalt not need to choose again Choose while thy gracious Lord allows thee time and day lest the night of darkness overtake thy neglect Make a Choice but remember that all Eternity is concern'd and consider well thou hast reason before thou settle
Life confirming and encreasing that happy union with himself which is begun even while we live below on earth and shall be perfected when we come to Heaven PETITIONS O God the Father of mercies Father of our blessed Saviour Jesus the Christ We believe that having given us thy dear Son thou wilt with him also freely give us all things that whatever we ask of thee O Father in thy Sons name believing we shall receive it I humbly beceech thee therefore O Lord to have mercy upon me a poor miserable sinner And as thou hast sent thy Son into the World send him also to take possession of my Heart Let this great light of the world enlighten my dark mind with a saving knowledge of thee and of himself Direct me to discern my true happiness from the false flattering goods of this world that I may not spend my time here in worldly cares and pursuits but in seeking thee my End by him the only true Way to thee Let him teach and convince me of the great excellency of thy Laws and make me consider my wayes and turn my feet unto thy Testimonies Let the glad tidings of the Gospel O Lord by joyful tidings to me by thy giving me an assured interest in them Give me the pardon of all my sins by the Death of Christ and a right to Life and Happiness by his meritorious Life In me I pray that the mighty Redeemer may effectually destroy all the works of the Devil deface the ugly image of the Apostate spirit and restore the glorious likeness of thee my God. Make me Lord diligently and reverently to use thy appointed Means of Grace and let thy blessing alwaies make them means of grace to me And while I thankfully use them and am duly fruitful under them let me enjoy the means of Grace till thou hast brought me to glory Grant this O Father for the sake of thy beloved Son our compassionate Saviour Glory be to the Father c. Amen For Thursday Evening MEDITATION I. THe kind Master of this blessed Feast sends his Embassadors to make a general invitation He that is the divine Food puts the kindest words into their mouths that their invitation may not fail of good success He has said Come to me all ye that labour for Holiness and are oppress'd under the weight of your sins Come and I will give you the end of your Labour and will ease you of that intolerable burden Come you that hunger after Angels spiritual Food and thirst to drink at the fountain of bliss Come to me I will refresh you with the Wine of gladness and the bread of life Come you that are weak and you shall be strong come you that are strong lest you become weak Come you that have leisure and here entertain your time to your great advantage And you also that are busie and here sanctifie and devote your Employment Our glorious God did not only make a visit but is willing to dwell perpetually with us men upon earth He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain will make his residence in our little Tabernacles He whom the Seraphims prostrate adore and fly with all their wings to perform his commands He who came down to die for us sinners and ascended again above the highest Heavens Himself is there with all his precious blessings to the Soul that does desire and believe To such a Soul this blessed Sacrament applies all the vertues and merits of our Saviours Death and Passion When he receives the consecrated Bread and Wine from the hands of Christs Minister in his stead he is made a partaker in the Satisfaction of his death and the Pardon of all his sins is seal'd and confirm'd By eating the Bread and drinking the Wine the good Soul is more firmly united to the Redeemer And as a member of his mystical body shall be quickned and guided by his good Spirit The indwelling Spirit shall teach him his duty and inable him to run in the way everlasting He shall communicate power to conquer difficulties and temptations and to persevere with patience till he reach the Crown By this is such a soul united also to that Jesus who rose again from the death he submitted to And as it is assuredly risen to a new life of Grace it shall hereafter rise to an eternal life of Glory It may look on these signs as certain pledges that it shall be advanced to the happy mansions above Thus as our Lord himself when on Earth contain'd under his outward poverty all the glorious fulness of the Godhead so these signs that represent him to us are but poor in themselves in comparison to the rich blessings they bring along with them Whatever faintness we feel if we hunger after Christ and come hither to receive him he can refresh us Whatever fears dwell in our guilty minds and trouble us this Wine of true Consolation will chase them away O How great is thy Love Dear Lord that invites us miserable sinners to partake of thee That invites our emptiness to be united to thy fulness and our weakness to be cured by thy al sufficient power O how should the sons of men flock in when he sends out his invitations to this Feast when he calls us to a Feast of peace and love A feast of joy and incomparable sweetness What should the Captive wish but Liberty and the weary Pilgrim but rest What should the Sick desire but health and the depending Creature but to be near its God All are welcome to this Feast that have but Desire to partake and Faith to receive MEDITATION II. LOrd who are we unworthy wretches that thou thus regardest our sinful dust what is all the world compar'd to Thee that thus thou seemest for our sakes to disregard thy self It is for our sakes and to make us rich in Grace that thou so graciously condescendest to come among us More unworthy yet do we make our selves if we neglect to come where thou wilt be present O how insensible of their own true interest are those that neglect to approach this Sacred Feast Is it a small matter with you O careless wretches to ly under a great load of guilt that you come not to receive the pardon of your sins Is the Great God willing to be reconcil'd to sinners and to give them sure pledges of his reconcilement And should not all Mankind then earnestly seek his favour and gladly receive the pledges of his love None of us can be assur'd that he will not turn us into Hell till we are assur'd of our title to Heaven Where are all they that have been baptized and pretend that they account themselves Christians Why do they not come and own the Covenant then made by renewing it again at this Supper They that neglect this do in effect renounce that Covenant and despise the incomparable blessings it promises Well may they be impotent towards all good and enslaved to the tyranny of evil
Glory and invite all the World to sing thy deserved Praises Inspire our he arts O Lord with such loving wishes as these Praise our Lord O you holy Angels Praise him O you happy Saints Let the Faithful Souls departed from this Life by his Grace ever praise him Let all the living on Earth who subsist by his mercy praise him Let one Gone-â—â—â—ion after another carry on the Duty of praise till Generations shall be no more and say Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen For Sunday Evening MEDITATION I. O Sin how hast thou disturbed and confounded this our miserable World. Before Sin entred nothing but Happiness dwelt here Sin has disordered the Nature of Mankind and of every thing else The Righteous Vengeance of God has laid a deserved Curse upon the whole Creation Now is unhappy man born to trouble as the sparks of Fire are to fly upward Poor Mankind this is not the place of thy rest because thy Sin has defil'd it Thou art liable to receive hurt and trouble from all things here below and thou canst never be happy till thou art translated into Heaven Heaven only is the Place of true and lasting Joy the place of ease and secure rest Who will give my weary Soul the wings of a Dove that I may fly away and be at rest That I may leave this dangerous dark uncomfortable vexatious world That I may fly away from the troubles of this Life and be at rest Dear Lord with Thee Here we alas are forced to utter many a deep Sigh to bear with grief the burthen of weighty Miseries Often we encounter chances that endanger us and divert our progress in the way of Bliss Often we are assaulted with temptations that overcome us and set us back in the accounts of Eternity How many times O my Soul have we plainly concluded that this Earth affords no real Joy. When we have observed by our own experience or by the carriage of others that the enjoyment never preforms that which the expectation promises How many times have we fully agreed that Heaven alone is the place of Happiness When we have found all places and conditions here encombred with Vanity and Vexation Yet these false allurements do again and again deceive us and seduce our Hearts to dote on folly We have found that which glitter'd like Gold to be but dross and yet we are caught again with something else that glisters Thus do we foolish and unconstant Creatures forget our wisest resolves and the mean-while we neglect our true felicity My Soul to be Wise and Happy thou must only Thirst and Sigh after thy God He is the living Fountain of the true Rivers of Pleasures Thou must despise all other delights and set thy affections entirely on the joyes which the blisseful enjoyment of him affords Nothing can ever satisfie thy desires but He and he alone can do this O then seek nothing so much as him seek nothing be sure that stands in competition with him To seek him is to save thy self for thou shalt find him but by seeking other things in neglect of him thou wilt lose him and thy self and them Nothing but labour disquiet and unrest will attend thy seeking other things and the enjoyment of them will not render thee free from those MEDITATION II. IF my Gracious God afford me but the Innocence of the Dove I shall need none of its Wings If my Soul Lord be fill'd with thy mild Spirit Heaven it self will dwell in my Heart 'T is on the proud thou lookest afar off but inclinest thine Ear to the humble and meek Those who delight in the Peace of a contented mind and limit their thoughts to their own little Sphear Who never intermedle with the actions of others unless where Justice or Charity to men or Piety to God does ingage them Whose lov'd employment is to sit in silence and meditate on the Happiness that they expect hereafter To contemplate the joyes of Saints and Angels and the blissful Face of our Glorified Jesus O how secure and sweetly do they sleep who go to bed with a quiet Conscience Who after a day of honest painful industry in a course of just and pious living lay down their wearied Heads in Peace and safely rest in the Bosom of Providence If they awake their Conscience Comforts them in the Dark and bids them not fear the shadow of Death No nor even Death it self but confidently look up and long for the dawn of that Eternal day that succeeds it This too my Soul should be our care to note and censure and correct our selves To strive for Mastery over our passions that molest us and dismiss from our thoughts what does no way concern us Are not our own occasions business enough to fill as much time as this Life deserves Does not the other at least deserve every Minute of leisure that we can spare from this Let then the worldly men pursue their fancied liberties and say and do as they think fit What 's that to Thee my Soul who shalt not answer for others unless thou some way make their faults thine own Thy pity may grieve and thy charity endeavour but if they will not hear follow thou thy God. Follow the way that leads to Truth follow the Truth that leads to Life Follow the steps of thy beloved Jesus who alone is the Way the Truth and the Life Follow his Holiness in what he did follow his Patience in what he suffer'd Follow him that calls thee with a thousand bounteous Promises kindly condescending to invite when he might only command and who will crown those that follow him with unconceiveable Rewards Follow thy faithful Lord O my Soul to the end and thou maist be sure in the end to enjoy him for ever MEDITATION III. LEarn of me sayes our kind and wise Master for I am meek and humble of Heart and you shall find rest to your Souls Thou Lord were 't wondrously meek a glorious pattern of Humility and Patience And in that meekness and Patience didst alwaies possess a well-composed Soul. A mind regular in all it's motions alwaies easie to it's self and alwaies ready to do the will of him that sent Thee Meekness of Spirit is indeed to us the Heaven of this Life but the Heaven of Heavens O Lord is above with Thee Meekness may qualifie our miseries here and make the tedious time of this Life pass the gentlier away It fortifies the composed Spirit to bear the present burdens But to be fully happy we must stay till hereafter when all burden shall be removed till thy Mercy bring us to our last great end That Glorious end for which our Souls are made and all things else to serve them in their way It is not to sport away our time in Pleasures that thou O Lord hast plac'd us here on Earth 'T
by a day than it was in the Morning of this So much more of this short life is spent and can never be recalled again My Soul there is so much less time left us to enjoy the good things of this life that we have or hope for and so much less wherein we shall be exposed to the evils that we feel or fear Time has set us nearer to the Grave from which no priviledge can exempt any of the Sons of Adam The rich are nearer the time when they must go hence and leave all their Wealth behind them The great Ones of the World are nearer to their dark lodging in the dust into which they must e're long be thrown The beauteous Face is nearer to be turn'd into noisom rottenness and the pamper'd Bodies to become the food of Worms This day has set all the living nearer to the Grave and tumbled a great many into it The longer we live the shorter does our Life become and in the end all our Vigour Strength and Beauty turns to a little lump of clay The Portion of the wicked is so much less and the time of their punishment is nearer approacht The Sufferings of the Patient are so much diminisht and their hopes of Delivery so much encreased They who have spent this day in sin and folly see all their thoughts now vanisht like a Dream They see all the pleasure of their guilty Actions is past and there is nothing remains but the just fears of a sad revenge The best consequence that can be of their course is the sadness of a bitter Repentance But such as have wisely bestow'd their time and made another new step towards Heaven they see their joyes come to meet them in their way and still grow bigger as they come till by a holy Death they join in one and dwell together for eternal Ages For our bounteous God has made our Souls immortal And when this house of Clay shall fall into the dust and this narrow Cottage be broken down they shall soar alost on their own free wings and enter into the beatifick Vision of God If they have train'd themselves up whilest they were here to a fitness for Heaven and its joys they shall instantly fly to those blessed Objects But if their terrene thoughts have flagg'd below and delighted most to hover near the base Earth If they have not lov'd above all things and sought most the Enjoyment of their God They must sit down in the shades of Sorrow and be confin'd in the Vale of Darkness and despair for ever MEDITATION II. WE are nearer indeed to the end of our Life but what are we nearer the end for which we Live What have we done my Soul this day that has given Glory to God and advanced us towards our future Blessedness Have we encreas'd our esteem of Heaven and settled its love more strongly in our hearts Have we avoided any known Temptation or faithfully resisted what we could not avoid Have we interrupted our customary faults and checkt the Vices we are most inclin'd to Have we embraced the Opportunities of doing good which the Mercy of Providence has offer'd to our hands Have we industriously contriv'd occasions to improve as we are able our selves and others Tell me my Soul how stand our great Accounts Are we prepar'd to meet our strict and righteous Judge Who without respect of persons judges all men and will dispose them accordingly to their eternal abodes Alas dread Lord what do we see when seriously we reflect upon our too careless lives Many hours and dayes we spend in nothing and many we abuse in that which is far worse than nothing We sacrifice our Youth to sport and folly and our manly years to Lust and Pride We spend our old Age in Craft and Avarice and think then of beginning to live when we apprehend we shall shortly die Thus we lead a negligent life and Death steals upon us unawares We are apt to bewail the shortness of our time when yet we do prodigally throw much of it away We lose the time of working out our Salvation in the busie pursuit of very Trifles and so we lose our neglected Souls for ever They must in eternal anguish lament our present careless Liberties and suffer unspeakable pains for our gratifying the passions and Appetites of our Flesh O my Soul consider the mighty work thou hast to do to fit thee for a happy departure out of this world Do that work diligently while it is called to day because the night constantly approaches wherein none can work Every one of these nights sets us nearer to our last and longest which if we have spent the day of life in diligence reserves for us eternal wages MEDITATION III. COme my Soul let us make our peace betimes with our God before the evening of our Life approach too near Let us endeavour to find favour with our Judge before we shall be brought to his awful Tribunal Confess the follies and sins thou findest in thy Life and charge them all entirely on thy self Confess them with a penitent and contrite heart for a broken and a contrite heart our gracious God will not despise Thy Repentance my Soul will come too late to meet with mercy if thou deferr it till this life is at an end Seek the favour of God in the Name of his beloved Son he is pleased that we should make mention of him For his sake he will readily bestow a pardon to them that humbly seek it for he desires not the death of a Sinner Moreover my Soul all the good that thou hast done to thy self or others thou must ascribe to his free Grace as the only principle of it Such humility will be very acceptable to him and dispose thee to receive larger Benefits from his bounty Say then to him if thou hast found any good in thy course Little O Lord thou knowest is the good we do and every grain of it derived from thee We could not have sav'd our selves from any dangerous temptation unless our God had powerfully sustain'd us We could not have carried on any pious purpose unless thy hand had blest our endeavours No to thy self O Lord take all the praise if thy Creatures have perform'd the least good work Take to thy self all the glory O Lord if they have not committed the worst of sins Thy hand alone directs us to do well and the same blest hand restrains us from ill 'T is not in us to esteem thy unseen Joyes nor to despise the charming Flatteries of this deceitful World 'T is not the work of corrupted Nature to mortifie our Senses and patiently bear the Crosses we meet Of our selves we are inclin'd to none of these but the Grace of God inables us for all Grace gives us strength to overcome our Passions to make the World and the Flesh subjects to us Grace gives us Faith to fortifie our reason and helps us to take Heaven by violence O how
who can see we who believe Praise to the glorious Three in One Let Time ascribe till Time be done Then let the work continued be By an endless Eternity Amen For Friday Morning MEDITATION I. COme let us glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is our Life and Health and Resurrection Shall we rejoyce my Soul to day Shall we not rather mourn at the Funeral of our dear Redeemer Such O my Lord was the Excess of thy Goodness to derive joyes for us from thine own Sorrows Thou forbad'st thy followers to weep for thee and reserved'st to thy self alone the shame and grief Thou invitest all the World to glory in thy Cross and command'st us to delight in the memory of thy Passion Sing then all you dear-bought Nations of the Earth sing Hymns of Glory to the holy Jesus Sing every one who pretends to Felicity sing immortal praises to the God of our Salvation To him who for us endur'd so much scorn and patiently receiv'd so many Injuries To him who for us sweat drops of Blood and drank off the dreggs of his Father's wrath To the Eternal Lord of Heaven and Earth who for us was slain by the hands of the wicked who for us was led away as a Sheep to the slaughter and as a meek Lamb opened not his Mouth Whither O my God did thy Compassion carry thee how did thy Charity too far prevail with thee Was it not enough to become Man for us but thou must expose thy self to all our Miseries Was it not enough to labour all thy life but thou must suffer for us even the pains of Death No gracious Lord thy Mercy still observ'd some wants in our condition as yet unsupply'd Thou saw'st our too much fondness of Life needed thy parting with it to reconcile us to Death Thou saw'st our fear of Sufferings could no way be abated but by freely undergoing them in thine own person Thou saw'st our Souls so deeply stain'd with Guilt that without thy Blood we could have no Remission O Blessed Jesu whose Grace alone begins and perfects all our hopes How are we bound to praise thy Love how infinitely oblig'd to adore thy goodness At any rate thou would'st still go on to heal our weak and wounded Nature Even at the price of thine own dear Blood thou would'st accomplish for us the purchase of Heaven Hymn 25. TUne now your selves my Heart-strings high Let us alost our Voices raise That our loud Song may reach the Skie And there present to thee our Praise To thee Blest Jesu who cam'st down From those bright Sphears of Joy above To purchase us a dear-bought Crown And wooe our Souls to ' espouse thy Love. Long had the World in darkness sate 'Till thou and thy all-glorious Light Began to dawn from Heavens fair Gate And with thy Beams dispel their Night We too alas still there had stood As common Slaves in the same shade But Mercy came and with his Blood Our general Ransome freely paid Not all the Spite of all the Jews Nor Death it self could him remove Still he his blest design pursues And gives his Life to crown our Love. And now my Lord my God my all What shall I most in thee admire That power which made the World and shall The World again dissolve with fire Oh no thy strange Humility Thy Wounds thy Pains thy Cross thy Death These shall alone my wonder be My Health my Joy my Staff my Breath To thee Great God! to thee alone Three Persons in one Deity As former Ages still have done All Glory now and ever be Amen MEDITATION II. AWake my Soul and speedily prepare thy richest Sacrifice of humble Praise Awake and summon all thy thoughts to make haste and adore our great Redeemer To him let us reverently go and offer our devout hearts at his sacred Feet Thither let us fly from the Troubles of the World with him let us dwell among the Mercies of Heaven Under the shade of that happy Tree let us fix our abode A Tree of safe defence and delicious fruit Let us remember every passage of our Saviour's Love and desire that none may escape our thanks Let us compassionate every stroke of his Death and one by one salute his sacred Wounds Blest be the Hands that wrought so many Miracles and were bor'd with cruel Nails Blest be the Feet that so often travell'd for us and at last were unmercifully fastened to the Cross Blest be the Head which was crowned with Thorns the Head that so industriously studied our Happiness Blest be the Heart which was pierc'd with a Spear the Heart that so passionately lov'd our peace Blest be the entire person of our Crucifi'd Lord and may all our powers joyn in his praise In thy eternal praise O gracious Jesu and the ravishing thoughts of thy incomparable Sweetness O what excess of Kindness was this what strange extremity of Love and Pity The Lord is sold that the Slave may be free the innocent condemn'd that the guilty may be sav'd The Physician is sick that the Patient may be cur'd and he who was God dies that man may live Tell me my Soul when first thou hast well consider'd and lookt about among all we know tell me Who ever wisht us so much good Who ever lov'd us with so much tenderness What have our nearest Friends done for us or even our Parents in comparison of this Charity No less than the Son of God came down to redeem us no less than his own dear Life was the price he paid for us What can the favour of the whole World promise us compar'd to this miraculous Bounty No less than the joyes of Angels are become our hope no less than the Kingdom of Heaven is made our Inheritance MEDITATION III. TO thee O God we owe our selves for making us after thine own Image To thee O Lord we owe more than our selves for redeeming us with the Death of thine onely Son. Nor were our Ruines so soon repair'd as at first our Being was easily produc'd Thy Power to Create us said but one word and immediately we became a living Soul But thy Wisdom to Redeem us both spake much and wrought more and suffer'd most of all To redeem us he humbled himself to this low World and all the infirmities of our miserable Nature He patiently endur'd hunger and thirst and the malicious affronts of enraged Enemies How many times did he hazard his life to sustain with Courage the Truths of Heaven how many Tears did he tenderly weep in compassion of his blind ungrateful Country how many drops of Blood did he shed in the doleful Garden and on the bitter Cross the Cross where after three long hours of grief and shame and intolerable pains he meekly bow'd his fainting Head and in an Agony of Prayer yielded up the Ghost So sets the glorious Sun in a sad Cloud and leaves our Earth in darkness and disorder but goes to shine immediately in
mind was born to know and love What this life ne're can see Malicious world how dost thou lay And cover thy false Baits Here those of pleasure there of gain Each for our ruine waits Unhappy we it is our fault 'T is we our Life abuse The world presents a furnisht Shop And we the tools misuse So have I seen a little Child If Nurse but turn her Eye In stead of haft take hold o' th' blade And cut it self and cry This little Child alas am I Self-will'd Self-wounded too But Lord turn not thy face away Lest I my self undoe O make me still so use this world That I the other gain O make me so the other love That this its end attain It s end to breed up Souls for Heave'n Then be it self new drest No more corruption no more change But one perpetual rest To Father Son and Holy Ghost The undivided Three One equal Glory one same Praise Now and for ever be Amen Devotions FOR THE Holy-dayes The First Part. FOR THE FEASTS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR For the Morning MEDITATION I. BRing to our Lord all you his Servants bring to our Lord the Sacrifice of Praise Bring to our Lord all you Nations of the Earth bring Hymns of Glory to his great Name at the Name of Jesus let every knee bow of things in Heaven and things on Earth and let his whole Church Militant and Triumphant gladly adore our God that Redeem'd us Come now and hear you that fear our Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Hear and I will tell you what he has done for yours and the wonders of his bounty towards all the World. When we lay asleep in the shades of nothing his mighty hand awak'd us into Being Not that of Stones or Plants or Beasts o're which he has made us absolute Lords but an accomplisht Body he has given us and an immortal Spirit and has made us little inferiour to his glorious Angels He printed on our Souls his own similitude and promised to our Obedience that we should partake of his own felicity He endu'd us with Appetites to live well and happily and furnisht us with means to satisfie those Appetites Creating a World furnish'd with excellent Creatures to serve us while we abode on Earth and providing a Heaven of Bliss to glorifie us when we remov'd hence Thus didst thou favour us O Infinite Goodness But we what return did we make thee Blush O my Soul for shame at so strange a weakness and weep for grief at so extream an Ingratitude We childishly preferr'd a trivial Apple before the Law of our God and the safety of our own Lives We fondly embrac'd a little needless Satisfaction before the Pleasures of Paradise and the eternal Joyes of Heaven Behold the unhappy source of all our Miseries which still encreas'd its streams as they went farther on 'Till they exacted at last a deluge of Justice to drown their deluge of Iniquity And here alas had been an end of Man a sad and fatal end of the whole World had not our wise Creator foreseen the danger and in time prevented the extremity of the ruine reserving for himself a few choice Plants to replenish the Earth with more hopeful Fruit Yet they quickly grew wild and brought forth sour Grapes and their Childrens teeth were set on edge Quickly they aspir'd to an intollerable Pride of fortifying their wickedness against the power of Heaven Justice was now provok'd to a second deluge and to bring again a Cloud over the Earth but Mercy discover'd a bow in the Cloud and our faithful God remembred his Promise allaying their Punishment with a milder Sentence and only scattering them from the place of their Conspiracy which yet his Providence turn'd into a Blessing by making it an occasion of Peopling the World. Still their rebellious Nature disobey'd again and neither fear'd his Judgments nor valued his Mercies but with a graceless emulation they propagated sin as far as his Goodness propagated Mankind Then he selected a private Family and increas'd and govern'd them with a particular tenderness giving them a Law by the hands of Angels and engaging their Obedience by a thousand favours But they neglected too their God and Heaven and fell in love with the wayes of Death When thou hadst thus O dearest Lord used many Remedies and our Disease was beyond their power to cure when the light of Nature proved too weak a guide and the general Flood too mild a correction when the Miracles of Moses could not soften their Hearts nor the Law of Angels bring any to perfection when all was reduc'd to this desperate State and no imaginable hope was left to recover us Behold the Eternal Wisdom finds a strange Expedient the last and highest Instance of Almighty Love Himself he resolves to cloath with our Flesh and come down among us and dye to Redeem us Wonder O my Soul at the Mercies of our Lord how infinitely do they transcend even the utmost that we could have wished Wonder at the admirable Providence of his Councels that they are so exactly fitted to their great design Had our Saviour been less than God we could never have believed the sublime Mysteries of his Heavenly Doctrine Had he been other than Man we must needs have wanted the powerful motive of his holy Example Had he been only God he could never have suffer'd the least of those Afflictions which he so gloriously overcame Had he been meerly Man he could never have overcome those Infinite Afflictions which he so patiently endur'd In thee O blessed Saviour the two Natures of God and Man were so mysteriously united without either change or confusion that they made in thee but one Person one Mediator and Lord. Hymn 29. JEsu who from thy Fathers Throne To this low vale of Tears cam'st down In our poor nature humbly drest Oh may the charms of that sweet love Draw up our Souls to thee above And six them there on thee to rest Jesu who wert with Joy Conceiv'd With Joy wert born while no pain griev'd Thy Blessed Mothers Virgin-womb O may we breed and bring thee forth In our glad hearts for all is Mirth Where thou kind Lord art pleas'd to come Jesu whose high and humble Birth In Heaven the Angels and on Earth The faithful Shepherds gladly sing O may our Hymns which here run low Shoot up aloft and fruitful grow In that more warm Eternal Spring Jesu how soon didst thou begin To bleed and suffer for our sin Cut by the Circumcising Knife O may thy grace by making good Our Souls just cause ' gainst flesh and blood Cut off for us that dange'rous strife Jesu who took'st that heave'nly Name Thy blessed Purpose to proclaim Of saving self-destroy'd Mankind O may we bowe our Heart and knee Bright King of Names to Glorious thee And thy hid sweetness ever find Jesu who thus began'st our Bliss Thus carry'edst on our happiness To thee
Praises to the God of our Salvation He is our full and all-sufficient Redeemer he has perfectly finisht what he graciously undertook for all our Trespasses he has made satisfaction for all our forfeitures he has paid the ransome We by our Disobedience were banisht from Paradise and he has received us into his own Kingdom He has set up a Kingdom of Grace on Earth to prepare us for his Kingdom of Glory We wandred up and down in the wilderness of Errour and he has guided us into the wayes of Truth We were by nature Children of wrath and he has mediated our Peace with his offended Father We were become the Slaves of sin and he has bought our Freedom with his own Blood We were in bondage to the dominion of Satan and he has overcome and confin'd his Power We were in danger of sinking into Hell and he has sav'd us from that bottomless Pit The gates of Heaven were shut against us and he went up himself and opened them to all Believers dissolving for ever the terrours of Death and rendring it now but a passage into Life O dearest Lord who mad'st us first of nothing and restor'dst us again when we had undone our selves Who wouldst at any rate redeem us from Misery at any rate procure our Felicity How came we wretches to be so consider'd How came we Sinners to obtain such Favour that from thy Throne of Glory where Seraphims ador'd thee thou should'st descend on our Earth where Slaves would affront thee That thou should'st lead a Life of poverty and labour and in perfect Innocence dye a Death of shame and sorrow That thou should'st do all this for such contemptible worms as we without the least concern or benefit to thy self only to raise us up from our humble dust and set us to shine amongst thy glorious Angels O infinite Goodness the bounteous Authour of all our hopes What shall we say to thy excessive Charity O gracious Lord and mighty deliverer from all our fears What shall we render for thy unspeakable Mercies We cannot chuse but search over all we have but we can find nothing to return but what thou hast given us We will therefore use the gifts thou hast bestowed on us according to thy direction and give the Praise to Thee of what we do well All the Glory of our Salvation we will ascribe to thee and to thee alone as the great cause who hast begun alone as and wilt at length finish it By thee we will alwayes say we do good and not lean to our own understandings by thee we will expect our Reward and never rely upon our own Merits Hymn 35. SWeet Jesu why why dost thou love Such worthless things as we Why is thy Heart still towards us Who seldom think on thee Thy Bounty gives us all we have And we thy Gifts abuse Thy bounty gives us ev'n thy self And we thy self refuse My Soul and why why do we love Such worthless things as these These that withdraw us from our Lord And his pure Eyes displease Break off and be no more a Child To run and sweat and cry While all this stir this huge concern Is only for a Fly Some silly Fly that 's hard to catch And nothing when 't is caught Such are the toyes thou striv'st for here Not worth a serious thought Break off and raise thy manly Eye Up to those Joyes above Behold all those thy Lord prepares To wooe and crown thy Love. Alas Dear Lord I cannot love Unless thou draw my Heart Thou who thus kindly mak'st me know O make me do my part Still do thou love me O my Lord That I may still love Thee Still make me love thee O my God! That thou may'st still love me Thus may my God and my poor Soul Still one another love Till I depart from this low World To ' enjoy my God above To thee Great God to thee alone One Coeternal three All Pow'r and Praise all Joy and Bliss Now and for ever be Amen MEDITATION II. PRoceed my Soul to celebrate the Praises of thy Lord go on with fresh attention to remember the Mercies of thy God whose Wisdom has contriv'd to save Mankind by so compendious a method as may be exprest in one short word He saw the only cause of all our ruin was our Love misplac'd on this present World He saw the only remedy of all our Misery was to fix our Love on the World to come This therefore was his great intent and in this concentred all his Merits to possess us with Love the end of Faith and greatest of divine graces to change the byass of our wrong-set hearts by establishing among us new motives of Charity such as might strongly incline our Affections and efficaciously draw us to Love our true Good such as might gain by degrees upon all Mankind and render Salvation easie and universal For this he came down from his Fathers Bosom to teach us the rules of Eternal Life that we might firmly believe those Sacred Truths which God himself with his own mouth has told us For this he Converst so long on our Earth to encourage and provoke us by his own example that we might confidently embrace those unquestionable Virtues which God himself in his own Person had practised For this he endur'd so sharp and many Afflictions and became at last obedient to the Death that we might patiently suffer whatever should befall us when God himself was so treated by his Creatures For this he so often Preacht of the Joyes of Heaven and set them before us in so clear a light that seeing so rich a Prize hang at the end of our Race we might run and strive with our utmost force to obtain it For this he ordain'd all the means of Grace and left us the Sacraments of his Body and Blood that he might breed and nourish in us the Life of Charity and ravish our Hearts with the sweetness of his Presence For this he establisht a perpetual Church and sent the Holy Ghost to Inspire and govern it that it might be maintain'd through all Ages in Truth and Sanctity and plant the same heavenly Seed over all the World For this he assum'd those strange endearing Names of Friend and Brother and Spouse to us Wretches doing far more for us O wondrous Love than all those Names import than all our hearts can wish Blessed O Glorious Jesu be the Wisdom of thy Mercy that has found so sweet and short a way to save us Thou art O Lord the cause of all our Love and Love the cause of all our Happiness By Love we fulfil all thy Commands and in keeping thy Commands there is great reward By Love we are reconcil'd from Enemies to Friends by Holy Love we are translated from Death to Life by Love we are deliver'd from the fear of Hell by Love we are the regenerated Heirs of Heaven by Love we are dispos'd for that blissful Vision by Love we are
Truths thy Will to follow his divine Inspirations Thy Memory to treasure up his sacred Instructions and all thy Powers to acknowledge his glorious Attributes The blessed Spirit will not only visit but dwell in thee if thou entertain and obey him as he justly requires He will never forsake thee unless thou chase him away but will guide and comfort thee with his holy Inspirations Resolve then that the Flesh shall deceive thee no more nor draw thee to disoblige the Holy Spirit If the Flesh grow bold and insolently demand How can you live without sinful Liberties Hear thou the Spirit and he will tell thee they are base Slaves that serve sensual Lusts and the Service of God is the only true Freedom If the Flesh alleadge What joy is there in suffering Ills or doing contrary to our own Inclinations Hearken to the Spirit who will tell thee the Cross of Christ is sweet and nothing is so glorious as the conquest of our selves If the Flesh insist What do you see or hear or exercise any sense in but the things of this World Regard the Spirit rather who will enter his protest and make every devout Soul subscribe this Truth I see the vanity of this World and its vexations and meet in every thing danger and falshood Say then according to the dictates of the Spirit Away Flesh and Blood with your foolish Inclinations away deceitful World with thy bewitching Vanities You were onely created to serve me in the way to my Father's house and to set me down at my journey's end Away with all your fond deluding dreams be banish'd for ever from my awakened Soul. MEDITATION III. HAppy were we O God could we be still thinking on thee and could we raise our thoughts into desires to be with thee Happy were we could we alwayes feel those fervours of which sometimes thou inspir'st a little spark If that spark were kindled into a Fire and that Fire blown up into a continual Flame But we alas are hot and cold by fits and which is worse our cold fit is the longer Some few half hours we spend in Prayer and many whole dayes in Vanity and Idleness Sometimes we bestow a little on the poor and often throw a great deal away on our Passions Sometimes we deny and mortifie our selves but far more often obey our sensual Appetites Sometimes we follow thy Grace and are drawn by it to do one good Work but we are again seduc'd by our Nature to a thousand Iniquities and then we resist and grieve the Holy Spirit Thus we confess to thee O Lord our God who perfectly seest every corner of our hearts Thus we confess to thee not that thou maist know us but that we may know our selves and thou maist cure us To thee Lord I may go on confessing for many are the Graces I want and none can give them but thy Bounty Many are the sins and miseries thy poor Creature is exposed to and none can deliver me but thy Providence Such an occasion often endangers me and such a Temptation too often overcomes me My own infirmities are too strong for me and my ill customs prevail against me Every day I resolve to amend and every day I break my resolutions Often am I unhappily engag'd and blindly running on in the wayes of Death and then I need thy Grace O Lord to check my desperate speed and to make me stay and look before me To shew me the horrid downfall into that bottomless Pit where impenitent sinners are swallow'd up for ever To strike my too regardless Soul with fear and trembling at the dreadful sight of so sad a ruine I need thy powerful Grace O Lord to turn my eyes from the allurements of sin to a safer Prospect To make me sensibly Meditate on the Peace and Pleasure and great advantage of a Pious Life To make me look steadily on this and well consider it and besides to look through and see beyond it To make me delight in the hope it enjoyes a hope of Joyes that are unconceivable and glorious Joyes which none O Lord but thou canst give and none but thou canst make us capable to receive O Lord all our Springs are in thee and all our Happiness depends on thee In thee our Sorrows have a Comforter to allay them our Sins an Advocate to plead against them In thee our Ignorances have a guide to direct them and all our Frailties a God to relieve them To thee therefore we will continually address our selves and rely only upon thy care and conduct To thee we will with humble confidence direct our Petitions who promisest to help the Infirmity of our Prayers we will not doubt the graciousness or bounty of thy goodness but hope thou wilt grant whatever thy Word gives us leave to ask And above all things we will seek thy self being assur'd that the Holy Spirit shall be given to them that ask him PETITIONS O God the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son have mercy upon me miserable sinner O God of infinite compassion and comforter of penitent minds have mercy upon me sorrowfull sinner I lament O Lord and beseech thee to pardon my sins past and to prevent the repetition of my sins and follies for the future Cure me O thou great Physician of Souls cure me of all my sinful distempers Cure me of this aguish intermitting Piety and fix it in an even constant Holiness O make me use Religion as my regular Diet and not only as a single Medicine in a pressing necessity So shall my Soul be possest of a sound health and disposed for a long even an everlasting Life Come to all thy servants O blessed Spirit of Faith and govern our Lives with thy holy Maxims subdue our Sense to the dictates of Reason and perfect our Reason with the Mysteries of Religion Teach us to love and fear what we see not now but what we are sure will be our Bliss or Misery hereafter Shew us the narrow way which leads to Life which few without thee can find or follow Guide on thy Church in the middle path of Vertue that we never decline to any vicious extream Let not our Faith grow wild with superfluous branches nor be stript into a naked fruitless trunk Let not our hope swell up to a rash presumption nor shrink away into a faint despair Let not our Charity be cool'd into a faint indifferency nor heated into a furious Zeal Give us O Gracious Lord the free Beginner and Finisher of all good actions give us a right Spirit to guide our intentions that we may constantly aim at our true end give us a holy Spirit to sanctifie our affections that what we rightly design we may piously pursue give us an heroick Spirit to confirm our Hearts that what we piously endeavour we may couragiously atchieve Grant these things O Lord for thine own Glory to whom all Glory is due for ever Amen Hymn 38. COme my vain thoughts that