seek after Thee PETITIONS I Therefore do most humbly and constantly seek after thee my God. For all good I fly to Thee the Father of Lights and giver of every good and perfect gift And at this time Lord I ask of Thee that thou would'st alwaies possess my heart with an awful reverence of thy great Name Chase away all levity and carlesness of spirit from me by putting thy fear into my inward parts Humble my too proud and wilful spirit to a ready submission to thy will in all things Make me I pray Thee so to stand in aw of thee and of thy Judgments that I may not dare to sin Those Judgments thou hast often executed on obstinate and impenitent sinners let them be often call'd to my mind let the thoughts of them meet and antidote the temptations to sin Make my fear of them prevent my feeling the like Still O Lord let a lively sensible Conscience cry out aloud when I am tempted and say Dare you commit this evil and sin against God Dare you commit this evil and run upon the fire of divine Vengeance Are you not afraid to provoke his wrath to plunge you into everlasting torments By thy Judgments in the world thou O Lord expectest that the inhabitants thereof should be moved to learn righteousness Grant Lord that I may alwaies do so that so thy Judgments on others may prove mercies to me And let also thy abundant goodness and mercy shown to the penitent and faithful win me to repent and trust in Thee the merciful and Gracious God. Thus prevent me I beseech Thee from being overawed by the terrors of the Lord. Suffer not the Enemy of my Soul to drive me into despair because I am a Sinner dispose me to lay hold of the mercy offer'd by the Redeemer make me to believe and find that humble and penitent Sinners have an Advocate with the Father the righteous Jesus the Christ That he who suffer'd on Earth for our sins is gone to Heaven to make intercession and to plead that satisfaction in the behalf of those that apply themselves to him for his help Incourage me to a steady practice and further pursuit of Holiness by the favours thou hast shown to good men by assurance that I shall be assisted therein and that thou wilt hereafter if not in this life abundantly reward it Thus Lord let it please thee by my hopes and fears which are the great swayers of our natures here to counterpoise my propensity downwards to this earth to keep me in a constant tendency upwards lift me out of the dirt of this world into a happy converse with thee all my dayes Hymn 6. FAin would my thoughts fly up to thee Thy peace sweet Lord to find But when I offer still the world Layes clogs upon my mind Sometimes I climb a little way And thence look down below How nothing there do all things seem Which here make such a show Then round about I turn my eyes To feast my hungry sight I meet with Heaven in every thing In every thing delight I see thy wisdom ruling all And it with joy admire I see my self amidst such hopes As set my heart on fire When I have thus triumpht a while And think to build my nest Some cross conceits come fluttering by And interrupt my rest Then to the earth again I fall And from my low dust cry 'T was not in my wing Lord but thine That I got up so high And now my God whether I rise Or still lye down in dust Both I submit to thy blest Will In both on Thee I trust Guide thou my way who art thy self My Everlasting End That every step or swift or slow Still to thy self may tend To Father Son and Holy Ghost One Consubstantial Three All highest Praise all humblest thanks Now and for ever be Amen For Wednesday Morning MEDITATION I. COme my Soul let us adore the God that governs us him who is absolute King of Heaven and Earth He sees at once the whole frame of all things and thoroughly comprehends their various natures To every Creature he appoints a fit Office and guides all their motions in a perfect order till he has wrought out his glorious design and that he may finish the world in a beauteous close His councels are deep and his particular wayes may be beyond our reach yet all his wayes are wise and just and merciful And if all things come alike to all now yet he will punish wilful sinners with eternal miseries hereafter and bless his servants with eternal happiness Why then do you laugh and rejoyce unhappy wretches who tire your selves in the wayes of sin wayes they are indeed that seem smooth at first but lead to danger and end in ruine Why do you boast your pleasant life who lye asleep in the arms of Death Awake poor Souls and shake off the golden dreams that delude your crazy heads with empty fancies Awake and fill your eyes with penitent tears sadly reflect on the real miseries to which your sins have exposed you Consider whither alas will your Souls be hurry'd when in cold despair you sigh away your last faint breath they shall fly amaz'd from the sight of Heaven and hide their guilty selves in eternal darkness there they shall dwell with intolerable pains wailing and lamenting for ever their understanding shall sit as in a deep dungeon and think on nothing but its own calamities their will shall be heightned to a madness of desire and perpetually wrackt with despair of obtaining their memory shall serve but to renew their sorrows and their whole Souls be drown'd in a Sea of bitterness there every vice shall have its proper torment prodigiously bred out of its own corruption The Lascivious shall burn with unquenchable sires perpetually flaming in the rage of their own lusts the Glutton and Drunkard shall vainly sigh for a drop of water to cool their tongues the furious Cholerick shall rage like mad Dogs to their own only vexation the spiteful Envious shall have thoughts that only gnaw and torment their own minds the desires of the Covetous shall be as thorns in a mans sides the haughty Proud shall be thrown down to the lowest contempt shall be loaded with utter disdain the Slothful shall miserably deplore their lost time and languish with grief for their stupid negligence But O what horrid pangs shall seize them all and wound and pierce the very center of their Souls anguish and trouble shall infect all the whole spirit when they shall see themselves deprived of the bright and blissful Vision of God! when their offended God shall despise and reject them as if they were not his creatures shall cast them away as offensive to his sight and he that made them will not save them will shew them no mercy When they shall see themselves eternally banisht from the sweet and gracious presence of Jesus that he will not be their Saviour because they would not
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
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
Cross as strangers unconcern'd Thus we again Crucifie the Lord of Glory and put him afresh to an open shame Is this O wretched we the Duty we pay to the Sacred Memory of our Dear Redeemer Are these the Thanks our gratitude returns to that strange excess of our Saviours Love When we sate in darkness he took us by the hand and kindly led us into his own light We sought not him but he came from far to find us we look't not towards him but his Mercy call'd after us He call'd aloud in Words of melting tenderness Why will you perish O ye Children of Men Why will ye run after empty trifles as if there were no joyes above with me Return O you Dear bought Souls and I will receive you repent and though you had really crucified me I will forgive you Behold O Blessed Jesu to Thee we come on Thee O crucifi'd Love we fasten all our Confidence Never will we unclasp our hold till thy Grace has seal'd the pardon of our Sins Never will we part from this standard of Hope till our troubled Consciences be dismist in Peace There will we stand and sigh and weep and every one humbly say to thy Mercy Jesu my God I am a miserable Sinner O be thou my kind Advocate with the Father MEDITATION II. BElieve in Jesus O my Soul and thou maist be silent for he thy Lord will answer for thee rely on him and he will be thy security love him and thou art united to his satisfaction and merits Be innocent and he will defend Thee be humble and he will exalt Thee Repent and he will forgive thy Sins and purge away all thy foul impurities He will wash away the guilt of those Sins which thy wickedness has ever caused in others and of those also which thy weakness has at any time receiv'd from them The merciful Lord will purge thee from all thy secret faults and from those darling Sins that most abuse our Nature He will pardon what thou hast been and correct what thou art Will order by his good Providence what thou shalt be and in the end crown his own excellent Gifts Direct thy prayers to his tender Mercy and his Bounty will bestow more than thou askest Never let us fear the favour of our God if we can but esteem and earnestly desire it He that so freely gave us himself will he not with himself give us all things else Is not his painful Life and bitter Death sufficient pledge of his Mighty Love to us He has greater tenderness than any Mother and more faithful Love to our true Interest than any Friend O disparage not his great willingness to help by seeking aid of any other Mediatours Surely they have little Faith and far less hope who doubt the Mercies of so Gracious a God Mercies confirm'd by a thousand Miracles and Dearly seal'd with his own precious Blood That Innocent Blood which was shed for us to appease the wrath of his offended Father Is not his infinite love to us sufficient motive of our duty to him A Duty to which we are so many waies oblig'd and wherein our Eternity is so highly concern'd Now my Soul is the time of Acceptance now is the only day of Salvation Seek to Jesus to be washt in the pure Fountain of his Blood and apply thy self to do whatever he as thy Lord requires thee So shall the blessed Jesus be to thee Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption MEDITATION III. SHould'st thou O Lord have dealt with us in rigour we had long since been sentenced to Eternal Death Long since our guilty Souls had been snatcht away from this World and hurried down to everlasting Torments But thy gracious Mercy has yet repriev'd our lives and given us space to work out our Salvation Now is the time of Acceptance with thee Now is the Day of Salvation for us Now O my Soul let us mourn our former Offences and henceforth take care to bring forth fruits worthy of Repentance If we have hitherto persecuted the Lord of Glory and with our sins nail'd the Blessed Jesus on the Tree of Death Now let our whole endeavours attend the Service of our Saviour and loyally conspire to un-crucifie their Lord. Let us ascend the Mount of Calvary and often as we go salute his holy steps We kiss thy steps dear Lord when we love thy wayes and humble our selves and follow thee Let us there on our knees approach him on the Cross and reverently cover his naked Body We cover thee when our Charity cloaths thy Servants and hides the infirmities of thy little ones Let us there with tenderest care unfasten the nails and gently draw them out of his Hands and Feet We draw them out O Lord when we freely obey thy Will and loosen our Affections from cleaving to the World When thou hast thus my Soul rescu'd thy Lord nail thy self in his stead to the Cross Mortifie thy members which are upon the Earth and crucifie the Flesh with all its inordinrte Lusts PETITIONS O Father of Mercies and of our loving Saviour let the love of thee and of thy Son win our hearts entirely to thy self Win them from this vain Life and all the little goods of it to the sole pursuit and hopes of enjoying thee in thy Eternity Let the love of our crucified Redeemer soften our hearts and make them break for our past offences against thee For we have broken the Laws of our Maker we have provok'd the wrath of our Judge we have despised the goodness of our God. O deal not with us according to our fins nor give us the sad desert of our Iniquities We fly O Lord from the Bar of thy Justice to the mild and gracious Seat of thy Mercy Spare us O Lord who are the works of thine hands spare us whom thou hast redeem'd with the blood of Christ Pardon O Lord our sins of weakness and surprize pardon our sins of wilfulness and deliberation pardon our relapsing into the sins we have repented pardon our former living in sin without Repentance Make us so grieve for our sins as to hate them so hate as utterly to forsake them O may the good Spirit mortifie all our corrupt Affections that no principle may ever divert us from loving and serving thee Crucifie O Lord our Flesh with the fear of thee and let us have all our portion of sorrow in this World Crucifie us to the World and the World to us that being dead to it we may live to thee At least live thou in us O holy Jesu Possess thou us who hast bought us so dear as with thy Life's last drop of precious blood Dispose of all our motions according to thy righteous will help us to root out all our Vices with the constant practice of contrary Vertues that so we may bring forth fruits agreeable to a true Repentance And confirm O Lord we beseech thee our resolutions against sin and our courage to fight manfully
I sound Live glorious King of Heaven By all thy Heaven ador'd Live gracious Saviour of the World Our chief and only Lord. Live and for ever may Thy Throne establisht be For ever may all all Hearts and Tongues Sing Hymns of Praise to thee Amen MEDITATION II. BEhold our faithful Lord has remembred his word He has raised up in the World the long expected Prophet like Moses and put his word in his mouth and he has kindly and sufficiently taught us Light with him is come into the World to lead us through the Wilderness of Life into the true Canaan that is above Admirable wert thou O Lord in thy merciful Promise but infinitely more in thy wonderful performance Thou didst not depute an Angel to supply the place of a Redeemer nor entrust so great a work to the management of a Seraphim but didst thy self bow the Heavens and come down and with thine own blest hands work our Redemption Thy self didst take upon thee our frail Nature and vouchsafe to be born of a humble Virgin condescending to the weaknesses of a Child a Child whose Parents were poor and of no esteem in the World. So did he make himself of no reputation He did not decline the mean entertainment of a Stable O how unfit was that for the Birth of the King of Heaven He contented himself with a Manger instead of a convenient Cradle and with the homely uneasie lodging of a Bed of Straw refusing the soft Accommodations of the Rich to undergoe the inconveniences of a poor Stranger Thus Lord at the cost of thy own ease hast thou instructed us to despise the World. Only the faithful Joseph stood waiting on thee and provided as he was able for his helpless Family Onely thy pious Mother dearly embrac't thee and wrapt thy tender Limbs in little clouts Wonder O Heavens at this Ye Angels who had seen before many wonders for this surpasses all besides Be amazed O Earth and let every Creature there humbly bow the head and knee Bow all and adore this incomprehensible Mystery the Word was made Flesh and dwelt with us But most of all we who are most concern'd the guilty Children of sinful Adam let us bow down our faces to the low dust and all prostrate adore so unspeakable a mercy Behold my Soul thus low my Saviour stoopt for me to check the aspiring pride of my corrupted Nature Behold thus low he stoopt to take me from the ground and raise me to the felicities of his own Kingdom Rise willingly with him my Soul from base sensuality leave the low Earth with thy desires and seek a better Countrey so shall this God not be asham'd to be call'd thy God. Lift up thy Voice too with Joy O my Soul and sing Hosanna to the new-born Jesus With blessed Angels celebrate his gloriously humble birth and say Glory be to God on high for peace on earth and good will towards men Lift up thy Voice aloud O my Soul lift up your Voices all ye his Saints and joyn the Praises of the Church to the Hymns of Heaven MEDITATION III. REjoyce all you the faithful Nations of the Earth when ye hear the sweet Name of our dear Redeemer Rejoyce and with your bended knees and hearts adore the Blessed Jesus He is the Son of the ever-living God equally participating the glories of his Father He is that great Messias whom the Prophets foretold and all the ancient Saints so long expected At length in the fullness of time he came to visit in person our miserable world He came with his hands full of Miracles and every Miracle was full of Mercy full of miraculous good will to an unkind ungrateful world He made the crooked become strait and the lame to walk and leap for joy He opened the ears of the deaf to hear and gave sight to them that were born blind Happy they in the season of their relief who could then hear the Instructions of the Eternal Wisdom and could see thee the Blessed Saviour of the World He loosned the Tongues of the dumb to speak sure their first exercise was his deserved Praise He cleans'd the Leprous by the word of his mouth and heal'd their Diseases who did but touch his Garment To the Poor he revealed the rich treasures of his Gospel and taught the simple the Mysteries of his Kingdom He cast out Devils by his awful command and forc'd them to confess and adore his Person He rais'd the dead from the very Grave to Life the dead that was four dayes buried and was corrupting Nay even himself being slain for us on the Cross and his Tomb made fast and secur'd with a guard he rais'd again by his own victorious power and carried up our nature into the highest Heavens All these stupendious signs O glorious Jesu were done by the hand of thy Almighty mercy to witness thy truth with the Seal of Heaven and endear thy Precepts with obliging Miracles that thus strongly engag'd we might believe on thee and obey thee to the Eternal Salvation of our own Souls PETITIONS O Kind and Merciful Jesu thou didst when on Earth go about doing good as thou didst purposely come hither to do good Thou hast not lost thy goodness we believe since thou art gone to Heaven O let us find that thou hast not still exercise thy goodness and thy power O God in kind and beneficial Miracles O may it please thee to soften many stony hearts into a tender sence of thy great Goodness and their own Duty Raise our dead spirits from this heavy Earth to dwell with thee in the Land of the Living to mind and love Spiritual and Immortal things Open thou our Eyes that we may behold the wondrous things in thy Law strengthen our feeble faculties O Lord by thy all-sufficient grace that we may steadily run the race which shall be set before us strengthen us to encounter successfully all the Enemies of our Salvation that we do not run in vain nor labour in vain Thus Lord let our experience teach us to admire thy bounteous Power that we may daily sing the wonders of thy grace towards our selves and when our dayes shall be exchanged for Eternity let us eternally sing the wonders of thy Glory Whenever thou doest any of these kind things for us open thou our dumb Lips that our Mouths may shew forth thy Praise Glory be to c. For Tuesday Evening MEDITATION I. GOod God how extreamly ungrateful are Mankind How strangely insensible of our manifest Duty Every Creature performs its Duties but we who alone are made capable to understand and know ours Every Creature lives by rule but we who have reasonable Souls to direct our actions We O Lord are most beholden to thee of all the lower Creation and we alone of all prove rebellious against thee The other Creatures live by thy wise rules and so do serve and attain their particular ends And thus does every Creature reach its true dignity and
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
rather forget such impertinent things What have we seen but distracting Vanities and what brought home but unprofitable Fancies How often have we felt our Minds disturb'd how often endanger'd by unhappy accidents Sometimes we frowardly throw our selves down and like sullen Children will not stand Sometimes the tempest throws us down and like weak Children we cannot stand Yet are we venturing still among the snares entic'd by the Appearance of some present delight We weary out our selves with running after flies which are hard to catch and trifles when they are caught This we pursue and follow that but nothing we meet can fill our Hearts till we have found out Thee O Gracious Lord our only full all-satisfying good Till we have found out Thee not by a dark belief but clearly as thou art in thine own bright self Remember O my Soul this truth of the World we live in which our own experience too evidently proves The Eye is not fill'd with seeing it's varieties nor the Ear with hearing all its harmony Remember also this Truth of the World we hope for which is made sure to our Faith by the Word of Christ The Eye has not seen such beauteous glories nor has the Ear ever heard such ravishing charms nor can the Heart it self conceive such incredible joyes as our God has provided for them that love him As our Blessed Jesus has purchas'd for his Servants and even for Thee my Soul if thou art one of them Then thou may'st in Peace lay down thy Head and rest secure in the protection of thy God Whose Mercy has so graciously singled thee out from among the race of guilty Mortals To give thee the Peace which passes all understanding and the hopes that are strongly establisht on himself PETITIONS O Infinitely mild and unexhaustible source of Mercy and Compassion have Mercy upon me poor miserable Sinner Have Mercy Lord and help me for I spend my daies in Vanity though I am continually hasting down to the Grave I do not improve as I might in Vertue by the occasions I meet with but they often make me guilty and improve in Vice. O Lord enter not into Judgment with thy poor Creature for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Lord make me judge my self lest I be condemn'd by Thee and frequently chastise my self lest I be punisht by thee Make me mortifie my senses with discreet austerities that I may reduce my Body into Subjection to my Mind and bring my Mind at length into a due Subjection to thee O Lord of thy great Mercy pardon my daily Sins and let thy Grace make even them occasions of improvement in Vertue Let thy Provident Mercy O God make every day a new Branch of Knowledge to me from whence the Evening may gather fresh variety of Fruits to nourish my Soul to an Eternal Life fruits that may strengthen me against those occasions by which I have been most frequently overcome that may render me steady in the wayes of Vertue Grant I beseech Thee that no experience of Good or Evil which this day has afforded may be lost upon me Make me more skilful by all to discern the true value and use of the present state in all its various postures wean me more from this world since thou hast made me for a better Make me more ready to offer up with our Saviour my whole Concerns and Being here to thy will and the sole advance of thy Glory that I may at length be Crown'd with bliss among the rest of thy resign'd and devoted Servants through Jesus Christ thy well-beloved Son. Amen Hymn 26. 'T is not for us and our proud Hearts O Mighty Lord to chuse our parts But act well what thou wisely giv'st 'T is not in our weak pow'r to make One step o' th' way we undertake Unless thou kindly us reliev'st What thou hast given thou canst take And when thou wilt new gifts canst make As all things flow from thee alone When thou didst give it it was thine When thou retook'st it 't was not mine 'T is fit thy will in all be done It might perhaps too pleasant prove Too much attractive of my love And so make less my love of thee Some things there are 〈◊〉 Scriptures say And reason proves that Heaven and they Can very seldom will agree Lord let me then sit calmly down And rest contented with my own That is with what thou here allow'st Keep thou my mind serene and free Often to think on Heaven and Thee And those great things thou there bestow'st There let me have my portion Lord There all my losses be restor'd And then no matter what falls here Is' t not enough that we shall sing And love for ever our blest King Whose glorious goodness brought us there Great God as thou art One may we With one another all agree All in thy thankful praise conspire May Men and Angels joyn and sing Eternal Hymns to Thee their King And make up one Adoring Quire. Amen For Saturday Morning MEDITATION I. IF we rejoyced for our selves in the Sufferings of our Lord let us now rejoyce for him that his Sufferings are ended Now that the Fowlers Net is broken and the meek and innocent Dove escap'd Now that the Cup of bitterness is past away and never possible to return again Never again O dearest Jesu shall those blest Eyes weep nor thy holy Soul be sorrowful unto Death Never shall thy precious Life be subject any more to the bloody Malice of ambitious Hypocrites Never shall thy Innocence any more be expos'd to the barbarous fury of an ingrateful multitude But thou shalt live and reign for ever and all created Nature shall perpetually adore thee O happy end of well endur'd Afflictions O blessed Fruits that spring from the Cross of Jesus Look up my Soul and see thy Crucified Lord sit gloriously enthron'd at the right hand of his Father Behold the ragged Purple now turn'd into a Robe of light and the scornful Reed into a royal Scepter The wreath of Thorns is grown into a sparkling Diadem and all his Scars polisht into brightness His Tears are all now chang'd into Joy and the Laughter of his Persecutors into sad Despair Herod long since perisht in miserable conntempt and Pilate still trembles with everlasting fears the impenitent Jews are scatter'd over the World to attest his Truth and their own obdurate blindness But himself is crown'd with eternal Triumphs and the Souls he redeems shall sing his Victories for ever Live glorious King of Men and Angels live happy Conquerour of Sin and Death Our Praises shall alwayes attend thy Sufferings and our Patience endeavour to bear our own Through fiercest dangers our Faith shall follow thee and nothing wrest from us our hope at last to see thee We will fear no more the sting of Death nor be frighted at the darkness of the Grave since thou hast chang'd our Grave into a Bed of rest and made Death it self but a
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
conspire with it against us Sometimes surprizing our unwary negligence sometimes defeating even our strongest resolves Not that they can compell our wills unless we yield or make the least wound without our consent Much less prevail against the power of Heaven and frustrate the purpose of the Almighty Wisdom Whose Mercy has us'd more arts to save us than the craft of Vice can invent to destroy us Such a Redemption so miraculously wrought such holy Sacraments so often repeated Such glorious promises so faithfully assur'd and which revives our hope so easily attain'd O infinite goodness how generous is thy Love how liberally extended over all the World Thou invites t little Children to come to thee and the lame and the blind to sit down at thy Feast None are shut out of Heaven but such as will not go in none made unhappy but those who care not to be otherwise Chear then thy self my Heart and let no fears molest thee nor even Death it self abate thy courage Death is a passage that was alwayes short and our Saviours death has made it safe to them that follow him in their lives By the practice of the Saints it is grown familiar and by their happy success become desirable Lose not then thy hope in so glorious an enterprize where Eternity is at stake and Heaven is the reward That Heaven for which the Ancient Hermits sought devout retirement in the Deserts That Heaven for which the holy Confessors spent all their time and innumerable Martyrs laid down their dearest lives That Heaven where Millions of Angels continually sing and all the blessed make one Quire That Heaven where the adored Jesus eternally Reigns and the Immortal Deity shines bright for ever That very Heaven is promis'd to thee my Soul that blest Eternity thou art commanded to hope for Raise now thy head and see those beauteous Prospects that ravish the Hearts of all their beholders Yonder far above the Stars is thy Saviours Kingdom yonder we must dwell when we leave this Earth Yonder must our Souls remove to rest when the stroak of Death shall divide them from their Bodies And when the Almighty Power shall joyn them again yonder must we live with our God for ever PETITIONS O Most Gracious and Bountiful King of Saints It was by thy sufficient grace afforded to them that any of thy Saints were able to do much good and to suffer much evil for thy sake They acknowledg'd it was not they that did any good but it was Christ that lived in them O Lord to whom then should we go but unto thee for assistance to follow those that have been Followers of Thee To thee O Lord we must address our selves and to Thee alone for thou alone art the Dispenser of that Grace we need And we thank thee thou hast given us such assurance of thy good will in taking our nature and dying for us that we know not nor need desire one more tender than thou and more ready to help us O Lord direct us we Pray to find the footsteps of thy Flock and inable us to follow the blessed track that we may come at last to the happy rest thou givest them Pity O Lord the Infirmities of thy Servants and quicken our slowness by the example of thy Saints What we see they have done for the love of Jesus let us be ambitious to do what they patiently suffer'd let us neither sinfully decline nor undergo with murmuring and discontent Make us especially O Lord to remember what thou hast done and suffer'd to set before our selves thy bright example the light of which directed them And make us mindful too of what thou promisest and what they have gain'd by following thee that their Names according to thy Promise are written in the Book of Life and they shall be exalted to sit with thee on thy high Throne O Bounteous Lord the only Author of all we have the only object of all we hope As thou hast prepared a Heaven for us O may thy grace prepare us for it O make us live the Life of the Just and let our last end be like theirs that we may dye the death of the Just and live for ever in that blest Society and in that blest Society may for ever sing thy Praise and say To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Hymn 34. TEll me ye glorious Stars that shine About the Lambs Caelestial throne How from such bodies once as mine Are you to this great brightness grown Hark with one Voice they thus reply This to the Lambs desert is due His humble Death rais'd him so high And us his faithful Followers too With one Voice this too they will say Our Lord taught us the happy Skill By his bright steps to guide our way And follow his best Followers still As we saw they had set their mind And rul'd their course we order'd ours This State alone we both design'd And up towa'rds this strein'd all our powers Taught by wise Temperance we abstain'd From Earths low Joyes for greater goods And slighting little drops we gain'd Full sweet and everlasting Floods Well arm'd with Fortitude we bare All lesser evils worse to flye And mortal-death we durst out-dare That we might not for ever dye Strict Justice we observ'd by giving To every one their utmost due That all in peace and order living All freely might this Heaven pursue But Prudence govern'd all the rest Prudence that made us still apply That which was fittest and was best To advance greatest Charity On these swift golden wheels of Grace That Loves bright fiery Chariot bear We all arriv'd at this bright place O follow us and do not fear O certain Truths O blest Attesters O that all yet on Earth might prove Of both these things such strong digesters That both these things might feed their love Him who hath made us all for this Him who hath made himself our waâ—… Him that will lead us in 't to Bliss May all men Praise and all obey Amen Devotions FOR THE Holy-dayes The Second Part. FOR THE FEASTS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR For the Morning MEDITATION I. COme let us ascend to the house of our Lord and celebrate this day with a holy Joy imploring his Mercy in all we need and blessing his Bounty for all we have He is our God and we are his People Created by his goodness to be happy for ever He is our Redeemer and we his Purchase restor'd by his Death to a forfeited Happiness to day let us adore our God that Redeem'd us Praise our Lord all you Nations of the Earth Praise him with the Voice of Joy and of Thanksgiving Praise him with the well-tun'd strings of your Hearts Praise him with the sweetest Instrument a chearful Obedience Let every one that pretends to felicity sing immortal
secur'd of the enjoyment of our God who by the sole perfection of his own free Goodness can never deny himself to those that love him else would their very loving him be a cause of great misery since the misery of a Soul is the want of what it loves Indeed he that is possest with love is so far already a partaker of a divine nature for thou hast told us O Lord that God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him He then that loves must needs be proportionably happy too for so much as he has of God so much he possesses of his true good Thus Lord Jesus whatever thy holy books do record of thee in expressions suited to our low capacities Whatever they say of thy restoring all things and repairing again the ruines of Mankind All is exactly verified with this one line which our thankful Hearts should repeat with joy Heaven is attain'd by Love alone and Love alone by thee MEDITATION III. STill my Soul let us repeat a few Lines more to the praise of him whose Mercies are no fewer than infinite Of him whose pity took us by the hand and kindly led us into his own light Of thee O Blessed Jesu our Lord our God who alone art the source of all our Happiness The World till thou camest sate wrapt in darkness and few discern'd so much as a shadow of thee They follow'd the Appetites of Sense and Humour and plac'd their felicity in being prosperous here Little considering the Life to come and less the joyes that entertain that Life This was alas their miserable State and which was worse than this they had no power to help it How could they believe what they never heard of or love what they never believed How could they desire what they never lov'd or be glad to receive what they never desir'd It was thou O Lord didst first teach us our true end the blissful Vision of the Eternal Deity It was thou didst first teach us the true means to attain that end by a hearty love and desire to attain it O the blest change which thy hand has wrought the happy improvements which thy coming has produc't Now every Woman and illiterate Man can discourse familiarly of the highest Truths The Creation of the World and the fall of Adam the Incarnation of God and Redemption of Man the mystery of the Trinity and Miracle of the Resurrection the day of Judgment and State of Eternity All these we know but it was thou O Lord who taught'st us and by thy holy Church first spread them over the World. Now thou hast opened our Eyes we plainly see what unassisted nature could never have reacht We see the framing right of our Affections here is both cause and measure of our Happiness hereafter If we supreamly esteem the goods of the future life we shall find them there and be happy If we love Heaven with our whole Soul and press on strongly with all our force we shall enter its Glories with a strange surprizing delight and possess them for ever in a perpetual extasie We see our Souls are made to know and perfect themselves by the worthiest objects We see their Nature is free and unconfin'd and nothing can fill them but that which is infinite All other knowledges enlarge our faculties and breed new desire to know still more which if unsatisfi'd we yet are miserable since none can be happy who want their desire Only the sight of God fills us to the brim and infinitely overflows our utmost capacities It fills and overflows all the powers of our Souls with joy and wonder and inconceivable sweetness O blest and glorious sight when will the happy day appear and open to my Soul that beauteous prospect When dearest Lord shall I fee thee face to face when shall I heartily at least desire to see Thee Thou art my full and high felicity and only and alone sufficient for me PETITIONS O Most Gracious and adorable Jesu who so lovedst this sinful World as to die for us we cannot think thou wilt deny us any thing that we humbly ask of thee according to thy will. Those that believing come unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast out Let me then obtain I beseech thee these important favours and whatever else thou seest conducing to my Happiness Teach me I pray effectually that this low world can never make me happy that I must set my affections on things above Make me seek therefore in the first place the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof to love with my whole affections the enjoyment of God since nothing but love can qualifie me for that enjoyment and nothing without that enjoyment can ever render me happy O my God make me ardently love thee that I may eagerly desire thee and eagerly desire thee that I may with joyful transport enjoy thee Make me O Blessed Jesu so meditate on thy infinite Mercies that my whole Soul may be fill'd with the memory of thy love that the frequent remembrance of it may diffuse a vigorous love of thee into all my powers let the mark and badge which they all bear be the love of Jesus Let every step of thy love dear Lord in redeeming lost Mankind confirm my Soul in Love and Duty fortifie me thereby against all Persecution and discouragement and so effectually draw me into thine own Kingdom of Glory by thy Holy Life and precious Death and glorious Resurrection Make me to persevere in thy obedience to the end that I may die in thy favour and rise again to rejoice with thee for ever Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest one God World without end Glory be to c. Amen For the Evening MEDITATION I. REtire now my Soul from thy common thoughts that are permitted to entertain thy less serious hours Retire and call thy wandering Fancies home and speedily range them in peace and order that thou may'st be so prepar'd to hear thy Lord who invites thee among the rest to taste his sweetness The Prince of Love and Bounty sayes Come to me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest to your Souls For my yoke is easie and my burthen is light Enough dear Lord enough is said to draw all the World to thy holy Discipline What can be offer'd so agreeable to our Natures too much alas inclin'd to pleasure and profit What can be offer'd so powerfully attractive as to make our work delightfull and then reward it As to propose an Employment like the Musick of Churches devout sweet and gainful to the Performers Whither O my God should we go but unto thee Thou alone hast the words of eternal Life Thou art our wise Instructor to know what to do and our onely Enabler to do what we know Thou
art the free Bestower of all we have the faithfull Promiser of all we hope for Thy kind Saviour my Soul has given thee a gracious Call to thee has he sent the Invitations of the Gospel Shall he call and wilt thou not hear his voice and constantly follow it till thou come to him Wilt thou be so foolish as still to go astray like a lost sheep wandering up and down in thine own By-wayes Wandering out of his wayes and the wayes of Happiness pursuing only thine own Perdition By seeking our selves in this World of Vanity we lose both thee O Lord and our own Souls By seeking our selves in thee and in thy Love we find both thee and our own Happiness O how unspeakable are thy sweetnesses O Lord which thou hast hid for those who fear thee which thou hast partly reveal'd to those who love thee and keep their taste uncorrupted with the World. But O! what are they then to those who see thee and in that sight see all that is necessary to their Happiness to those who rejoyce perpetually before thee and in that joy find all joyes beside O beauteous Truth which known inforces Love and which well lov'd begets Felicity Live thou for ever in my faithfull Memory and be my constant Guide in all my wayes Still my Soul let us think of the Joyes above and undervalue all things compar'd with everlasting Salvation Still contemplate thy dear Saviour's Love that purchased for thee all those unutterable joyes MEDITATION II. MY God when I remember those Words of thine Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand When I consider they were the first thou spakest in publick the chosen Text of the Eternal Wisdom I cannot think but they contain a very important Precept and that I ought to be deeply affected with the power of the Motive My Soul did Christ begin his publick work with this Command Apply then those searching Words to thy self and bind them fast upon thee Repent O my Soul for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand repent for the Kingdom of Heaven depends upon thy Repentance Unhappy me that I cannot live without sin but blessed be our God that I may obtain Pardon by my Repentance Practise then my Soul that safe and easie method of censuring thy self to be acquitted by him Every night sit as an impartial Judge and lay before thee all thou canst of the past day Severely examine every thought and word and strictly search every Deed and Omission And since thou art not strong enough to be perfectly innocent at least endeavour to be humble enough to be truely penitent Say Woe to the day and hour wherein I sinn'd woe to the many dayes and hours I have foolishly mispent Or rather Woe to me who abuse my dayes and hours allow'd by thy goodness to work out my Salvation Be heartily sorry for what thou hast done amiss and make firm and wary resolutions not to do again what will make thee sorry Implore for the past the Mercy of Heaven and for the time to come the same indulgent Mercy Ask it in the Name of Jesus Christ for 't is only by his Blood that our Repentance can obtain the remission of our Sins If perhaps thou find in thy Examination that some little thing has been well done return to God all the Glory for this and beg his Grace to continue thy good and improve it His is the hand that sowes the seed his is the Blessing that gives the Increase Thus I will once in a day at least look home and seriously inquire into the state of my Soul Whate're my Malice or weakness may have done I should now undo it as it were by a hearty Contrition Let not the Sun go down upon thy Wrath nor upon any other unrepented Sin. O happy man that can write at the foot of his Account Reconcil'd to my God and in Charity with all the World. Such an one may go to Bed with a quiet Conscience and fall asleep in peace and hope MEDITATION III. LOrd e're I take my leave of this Day which thy Church has devoted to the honour of thy Memory I would repeat some few words more of those incomparable many that thou hast left among us I would attentively meditate their substantial sence and settle them as Principles of my Life and Actions Thou hast said I remember O divine Wisdom and well worthy it is to be remember'd Lay not up for your selves treasures on Earth where moth and rust do corrupt and Thieves break through and steal But lay up for your selves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust do corrupt nor Thieves break through and steal For where your treasure is there will your heart be also Go now you curious and study what you please for me I 'l stay and listen to my Saviour He will teach me high and sure and useful Truths he 'll teach me Truths that will bring me to Happiness Only I must receive and keep the Truths he teaches me and obey their direction in my course of Life In vain am I told this Instruction if I will still dote on the uncertain Goods of this World utterly in vain if I will not be concern'd for the more durable and certain possessions of a better Notwithstanding this wise instruction I shall be a fool if I suffer my heart to six below if I set my Affections on that which is not All our few dayes we live here my Soul are full of Vanity and our choicest pleasures are sprinkled with bitterness The things here perish in the using and our transitory joyes vanish like a Dream Besides consider there is no reason thy Heart should six here when thou thy self art design'd for a removal Thou art but a meer Sojourner and Stranger on Earth and art passing hence to an eternal home Already I am dead to all the years I have lived and shall never live them over again All must go down to the same dark Grave and none can tell how soon he may be call'd To day we are in health among our friends and neighbours and to morrow Arrested by the hand of Death Nature may faintly struggle for a time but must yield at last and be buried in the Earth At last we must take our leave of nearest Relations and bid a long Farewell to all the World. And how sad a thing my Soul will it be in that day to have no Treasure but what thou must leave and to leave the onely Treasure that thy heart is set upon Let thy chosen Treasure then be in Heaven since where the treasure is the heart will be also Ye careless Worldlings hear but this one word more which our great Master has also spoken and then I expect you will stay and observe his Instructions too if any sense of your eternal good can hold you Heark he tells us this new and glorious secret We shall be hereafter like the Angels in Heaven O precious word to them
that relish it and thoroughly digest it 's strong nourishment to them that feed on it as often as their daily bread We shall be hereafter like the Angels in Heaven Those that now set their Affections on things above shall be hereafter like the Angels in Heaven And what O dearest Lord are those blest Angels but Spirits that know and love and delight for ever Such O my soul we shall be if we follow now the Instructions of our Saviour We shall lead that sweet life and be and live like the Angels in Heaven We shall know all that is true and love all that is good and delight in that Knowledge and Love for ever No ignorance shall darken us nor errour deceive us for we shall be like the Angels in Heaven No Cares shall perplex us nor Crosses afflict us for we shall be like the Angels in Heaven Our joyes shall be full and pure and everlasting for we shall be like the Angels in Heaven Chear thee my Soul and bless thy bounteous Lord by whom thou shalt be exalted to that dignity Comfort thy self and raise thy hopes yet gloriously higher raise them to the expectation of more than thou canst conceive for so much yet more is intended for thee so much more is included in those wonderful words We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is PETITIONS O Blessed Jesu whose Sacred Body was laid in a Sepulcher after thou hadst finisht in it the work of our Redemption Make me so frequently to renew in my Mind the memory of thy Death and burial as may put me upon a serious preparation for my own Since thou didst not design to abide long on this Earth let not my Heart be set on any condition here make me to grow daily less affected to this transitory life and more in love with thy eternal joyes Give me O thou that art the only giver of repentance a truly penitent Heart for all my past neglects of thee Deliver me O Lord from the punishments my Sins deserve and deliver me from the Sins which deserve those Punishments Make thy self O my ador'd Redeemer the Master-wish of my Heart the scope and end of all my time Wherever I am in this unconstant World and whatever business entertains my hand still let my inward eye look up towards thee and fix it's sight on thy glorious face Soon as I awake let me look up towards thee and when I rise first bow my knees to thee Help me often in the day to call in my thoughts to thee and when I go to rest close up mine Eyes in Thee Suffer me not O Lord to be any longer distracted about many things from thee who art the one thing Necessary but gather me up from the World into my self and then take me up from my self into thee there to be ravisht with thy kind embraces there to be feasted with the Antipasts of Heaven So shall my time be govern'd by thy Grace and my Eternity be crown'd with thy Glory Grant these things the purchases of thy precious blood O Lord for thine own Eternal Honour and Glory Amen Hymn 36. LOrd now the time returns For weary man to rest And lay aside those pains and cares With which our day 's opprest Or rather change our thoughts To more concerning cares How to redeem our mispent time With sighs and tears and prayer's How to provide for Heaven That place of rest and peace Where our full joyes shall never wain Our pleasures never cease Blest be thy Love dear Lord That taught us this sweet way Only to love thee for thy self And for that Love obey O thou our Souls chief hope We to thy Mercy fly In ev'ry place thou canst protect And all we need supply Whether we wake or sleep To thee we both resign By Night we see as well as Day If thy light on us shine Whether we live or dye Both we submit to thee In Death we live as well as Life If thine in Death we be Glory to Thee Great God One Coeternal three To Father Son and Holy Ghost Eternal Glory be Amen FOR THE FEASTS OF THE HOLY GHOST For the Morning MEDITATION I. COnsider now my Soul the Mercies of thy God consider the wonders he has wrought for the Children of Men The Eternal Father created us of nothing and set us in the way to everlasting Happiness the Eternal Son came down from Heaven to seek and restore us again to it when we had lost our selves the Eternal Spirit sends his Grace to sanctifie us and gives strength to walk that holy way Thus every Person of the Sacred Trinity has freely contributed his peculiar Blessing and all together as one co-infinite Goodness have graciously agreed to compleat our Felicity But O Ingrateful we was it not enough to receive of our God all we have and are was it not enough that the Son of God should come down and live here to teach us and dye to redeem us was not all this enough to make us Love And Love is all he aim'd at and Love is all we needed We will confess to thee O Lord our miserable condition and to the Praise of thy necessary merciful relief Such alas was the corruption of our nature and so many and so strong the Temptations round about us that without this thy last miraculous favour of sending the Holy Ghost to guide and quicken us we should still have remain'd in our old dull pace slow to understand and slower to obey We should have quite forgotten our God that made us and neglected the service of our Lord that bought us had not thy fulness been furnisht with one Blessing more and thy goodness ready to bestow it on thy poor Creatures hadst thou not providently reserv'd a better Blessing than the dew of the Clouds and fatness of the Earth better than Plenty of Corn and Wine or the multitude of Posterity or Dominion over our Brethren These were the great Rewards of the old Law but behold far greater than these are here Divine Refreshments from the Heaven of Heavens and the rare delicious fruits of the Holy Ghost Meekness and Peace and Joy diffus'd in our Breasts Strength and undaunted Courage kindled in our Hearts The strong and sweet Ardours of Divine Love that make every Duty in our way delightful and every Cross tolerable A thousand sweet Embraces of the Spouse of Souls a thousand dear Pledges of his everlasting Love These are the great Rewards of the Law of Grace and are given to prepare us for the Kingdom of Glory Hymn 37. COme Holy Spirit send down those beams Which gently flow in silent Streams From thy bright Throne in Heaven above Come thou Enricher of the Poor And bounteous source of all our Store Come fill our Souls with thy pure Love. Come thou our Souls delicious Guest The weary'd Pilgrims sweetest Rest The injur'd Suffe'rers best relief Come thou our Passions cool allay Whose Comfort wipes all tears
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