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
pleases thy self only let my Portion hereafter be with thy blessed Fix thou O Lord my steps establish my goings in thy Word that I may not stagger at the uneven motions of this world but may steadily go on towards my glorious home not censuring my journey by the weather I meet with nor turning out of the way for any accident that may befall me Thou hast told us O Lord it is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps and therefore bid us not to lean to our own understanding I humbly beg of thee continual direction I desire thou wouldest cause all self-presumption to dye in me let this be the effect of all my disappointments and ill successes and make my whole confidence to rely on thee so shall my frailty make me more strong and thy Power O my God may be magnified in my weakness and thy mercy triumph in the relief of my misery Teach me to begin all my works with fear to go on with obedience and finish them with love and after all to sit humbly down in hope and with a chearful confidence look up to thee All this we may do for men and they may fail us we may fear and obey and they forget our service we may love and hope and they despise our affections only Thou O Lord whom we can no way benefit thou wilt not fail those that trust and serve thee thy promises are faithful thou art unchangeable and thy rewards are Eternal Glory be to c. Amen For Tuesday Evening MEDITATION I. WIth awfull reverance my Soul consider that the Great God is infinite in his power to punish he has been and he can always be very terrible in his Judgments Our God is a consuming fire Let vain dust no more speak proudly against the Almighty nor be so fool-hardy as to provoke the living God. Let all seal up their lips in humble silence when they are witnesses of his terrible Judgments and with fear and trembling always remember them Remember thou my Soul how the Earth opened it self and swallow'd up alive many thousands of his Enemies Call to mind that the Clouds rain'd Fire and Brimstone and buried several rebellious Cities in their own Ashes Remember that a general deluge did once by Gods Commission over-spread the whole world and swept away almost all mankind when the wickednesse of man was great upon the Earth Remember steadily that sin was the cause of all this misery and ruin Sin threw the Angels down from Heaven and chain'd them up in eternal darkness Sin banisht Adam out of Paradise and turn'd the delicious Garden into a Field of weeds O God how terrible is thy mighty arm when thou stretchest it forth to be avenged on thine enimies O Sin how fatal is thy desperate Malice that pulls on our heads all the thunder of Heaven O my Soul how dull and sencelesse are we to sleep secure as if all were safe Can we repeat these amazing truths and not tremble at the wrath of divine Justice Can we consider the deplorable end of Sinners and still dare to go on in the waies of Sin Even when we sing thy praises O glorious Lord it is our duty to rejoyce with trembling before Thee What should corrupted nature then do when it sees it self ready to offend Thee What should a guilty Conscience do when it sees it self upon the brink of ruin by offending Thee MEDITATION II. YEt O my Soul do not give up thy self to despair under a sence of thy sins bring thou to him but a humble and penitent heart and thou shalt find there is forgiveness with him He that is thus infinte in power to punish is full as infinite in goodness to save How often have we broke his Commands yet still his Earth sustains and serves us How oft alas have we abused our fulness of Bread yet still his Clouds shower plenty upon us He is merciful and gracious as well as Long-suffering a God forgiving iniquity transgression and sin He spares us so long that we may have time to repent and to seek and obtain his Pardon Only the proud apostate Angels find no forgiveness because their obstinacy does refuse to seek it Could those rebel spirits disclaim their crimes and turn again to obey their Maker his clemency would soon revoke their sentence and restore them to shine in their first bright seats But O the excesse of mercy vouchsafe't to Adam and to us dust and ashes his contemptible Posterity For whom the soveraign King of Heaven humbled himself to descend upon Earth to lead a poor laborious life and to suffer a painful death He came to be a Prince and a Saviour to us to give us repentance and remission of sins to teach us by an exemplary Life how to live acceptably to God and to satisfie for our sins by his death Thy mercies O Lord are above all thy works and this is above all the rest of thy mercies MEDITATON III. STill my Soul dwell in contemplation of the divine mercies it is good and pleasant to be here When we lay buried in the abyss of nothing it was his own free Goodness that call'd us into being He fashion'd our limbs in our Mothers womb and fill'd our Nurses breasts with milk He enlarg'd our little steps when we began to go and carefully preserv'd our helplesse Infancy He commanded even his Angels to bear us up lest we should dash our feet against a stone How many dangers my Soul consider hast thou escaped and not one of them but was govern'd by a Divine Providence How many blessings dost thou daily receive and there is not one of them which does not proceed from his bounty He provided Tutors to instruct our Youth and to plant in our tender minds the seeds of Vertue He appointed Pastors to feed our Souls and safely guide them in the wayes of Bliss He seal'd his Love with Sacraments of Grace to nourish in us Faith and Charity All this thou hast done O merciful Lord the wise disposer of Heaven and earth All this thou hast done and still thou goest on by infinite waies to gain us to thy Love. Thou commandest us to ask and promisest to grant thou invitest us to seek and assurest that we shall find Thou dost vouchsafe even thy self to stand at the door and knock and if we open thou enterest and fillest our hearts with joy If we forget thee thou renewest our Memories if we fly from thee thou still kindly findest some means to recall us If we defer our amendment thou dost patiently stay for us and nevertheless when we return we find thy arms open to embrace us And if when we were not thou didst freely love us we may be assur'd thou wilt not forsake us when we strive to love Thee If when we had lost our way and were wandring from thee thy matchless kindness did condescend to seek us and give us an effectual call thou wilt not refuse us when we
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
Soul could love thee without limits as thou art infinitely amiable O my Beloved let my thoughts embrace thee all this night while others sleep let wakeful thoughts refresh me by presenting Thee to my mind Let me think how kind thou art how unspeakably good Do thou Lord rest this night in my heart and inspire it with the pure flames of divine Love. Hymn 8. LEt earthy minds court what they please And gain what e're they court For me I find but little ease In all their gayest sport Be Thou alone but with my heart My God my only bliss I shall not murmure at my part Nor envy their success They talk of pleasure talk of gain None must their humour cross But well I know their pleasure's pain Their greatest profit loss Let them talk on and have not we Our gains our pleasures too Pleasures that spring more sweet and free Gains that more fully flow Nay well endur'd our very pains To us a pleasure are And all our losses turn to gains If hopes may have their share And sure they may such hopes as chear The Heaven espoused brest Hopes that so strangely charm us here What will they be possest All Glory to the Sacred Three All Honour Power and Praise As 't was at first still may it be Beyond the end of Dayes Amen For Thursday Morning MEDITATION I. THe good and wise Creator of the world made man at first after his own similitude He form'd a noble Spirit within him and endow'd it with righteousness and true holiness He gave him dominion over the creatures with which he would plentifully stock the Air Earth and Sea He gave to man a perfect dominion over himself and made him able to govern his appetites and passions He made him sole Lord of a beauteous Paradise which Gods own hand had planted Man was to have spent a few pleasant years on Earth and then to have been translated to the Heaven of Heavens But all these priviledges did the foolish creature loose by doing one guilty and needless act by eating of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and therein disobeying the Law of his just Creator Unhappy man has now forfeited all good and exposed himself to the invasion of every misery By this one sinful act according to the tenour of the Covenant our first Parents ruin'd themselves and all their posterity with them From thenceforth our bodies were doom'd to dissolution and condemn'd to return to the dust from whence they were taken From thenceforth brutish and sensual appetites became rebellious against the laws of right reason and the understanding is so blinded with partiality to sence that it is not able to find out those Laws The mind of man is destitute of its moral excellency and the glorious Image of God is defac'd The Apostate spirit that tempted to the sin has infected our nature with his own resemblance Thus are we wretches become liable to all those sicknesses and pains that infest our bodies and thus to those violent Passions and disorders which distemper and torment our minds By this sin the favour of our God was forfeited and we are all by nature the children of his wrath We are exposed to the tyranny of the Devils while we live and lyable to partake in their torments when we dye But when our great guilt had provok'd the divine anger against us our great misery at the same time moved his compassion He pityed the poor creature undone by its own folly and resolved to find help for it by his Wisdom His infinite goodness pityed the many thousands of Souls which one rash act of the first Parents had undone and when they might expect to hear from his Justice an irreversible sentence of Condemnation then did his wonderful mercy condescend to comfort them by making the first promise of a mighty Saviour A Saviour that should conquer him who now had the power of death and who is become ruler in the Children of disobedience For thou O adorable Son of God Son coeternal and equal with the Father Thou didst undertake to redeem us by an amazing way which will be the eternal wonder of all thy most inteligent creatures Blessed Son of God thou didst undertake our help when it was not in the power of any creature to help us Thou didst undertake to ransom us from our misery while the fallen Angels were left subject to theirs In the fulness of time O kind Redeemer thou didst according to that promise descend into this miserable world And while here thou wentest about doing good and diffusing the light of thy saving instructions By taking the humane nature into a personal union thou didst put thy self into subjection under the law and by thy spotless life and patient death thou hast satisfied all the demands of the Law for us so that believing in Thee we are righteous by thy life and our sins are attoned for by thy precious death Thy death upon the cross was our great sacrifice for sin and sufficient at once offering of thy self to take it away Thou hast by thy meritorious life purchased for us all our forfeited good and by thy propitiatory death removed our desert of evil By that death thou didst go again out of this world and art now ascended to the right hand of the Father there thou ever livest to make intercession for us and to dispence the purchases of thy life and death Hymn 9. LOng had the world in gloomy shades Of Ignorance and Sin Benighted sate whilst Hells dark Prince Had tyraniz'd therein Weak Reasons twinkling Tapers long Contended with the night And Prophets strove the shades to chase With beams of borrow'd light But all in vain alas 'till He The Son of righteousness At length with healing beams arose To cure the worlds distress He rose and with his presence brought A bright and glorious day Infernal spirits and their dark works Before him fled away They that in errors fatal chains The captiv'd world had led Were by the mighty Prince of peace His conquer'd Captives made Thus came he whom all Nations had In great desire of old Whose coming faithful Prophesies To Israel long foretold And now ye Nations of the Earth Know and revere your King Gladly submit to him who does Your great Salvation bring Ye Nations of the Earth rejoyce And all your voices raise The wondrous faithfulness and love Of your great God to praise Glory to God the Father give And to the Gracious Son And Holy Ghost henceforth as long As time his course shall run Amen MEDITATION II. LOrd what a happy change has thy coming made in the world what glorious effects have every where been the consequents of it Narrow was once the gate and strait the path to bliss and so cover'd with the mists of Ignorance that but few could find it The whole earth then corrupted their way before God and wickedness increased as fast as people multiplyed Then did but eight persons among a
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
thine Ordinances do thou graciously draw nigh to us and satisfie us with those good things thou hast to bestow make us joyful in thy house of Prayer and renew our strength while we wait upon thee Let every approach to thee in Worship conform us more to thy likeness and fit us more to see thy face in Heaven These things O Lord our God are desired as the purchases of our dear Saviours Blood to whom be Glory and Praise world without end Amen Hymn 10. COme Royal Sion come and sing Thy Soul 's kind Saviour thy hearts King Stretch all thy powers thy Song to raise And since this lofty Theam's above The best ambition of thy Love Call Heavens loud Quires to help thy Praise Sing how his Love from Heavens high throne To Earth's low footstool brought him down For thee a cursed death to dye Sing that when hence he did remove He lest a Legacy of Love His needful Presence to supply Lo here the Bread of Life this day 's Triumphant text provokes thy Praise The living and life-giving Bread See the heart-chearing precious Wine Which Great Love 's pierc't Heart did resign To the Great Twelve distributed Praise him who has thy Pastors bid Ever to do what he once did And thankfully his gifts receive Sing loud that to this bounteous Feast Each hungry Soul may be a guest And from his Death may Life derive The Heav'n-instructed House of Faith Here a mysterious dictate hath Himself to me my Saviour brings With graces which are all divine Under the veils of Bread and Wine Immortal cloath'd with mortal things Lo the life-food of Angels then Bow'd to the lowly mouths of men Lo the full final Sacrifice The ransom'd Isaac and his Ram The Manna and the Pascal Lamb As figures fixt on this their eyes Jesu to thee we sinners sue O Thou our Food and Shepherd too Grant in all good we may improve Still by thy self vouchsafe to keep As with thy self thou feed'st thy Sheep And from us Lord all ill remove Blest be that love which thus makes thee Mix with our low mortality O may it raise and set us up Coheirs with Saints that so all may Drink the same Wine and the same way Convicters all of thy full Cup. Amen For Fryday Morning MEDITATION I. MY God who can complain of doing too much if they consider the labours of the loving Jesus those painful labours that he freely undertook and the humble task he so mildly stoopt to When he might have flown on the wings of Cherubims he chose to walk with us Worms in the dust When he might have call'd for Manna from Heaven in the sweat of his brows he would eat his Bread When he might have made the Angels his foot-stool he rather became the servant of his Parents living with them in their little Cottage and readily obeying even their least Command There in that humble privacy he encreas'd in wisdom and grew in favour with God and man still by his pious candour gaining the love of those happy few that saw his life Happy they that saw thy life O glorious Jesu and heard with joy and wonder thy incomparable sayings that felt a gentle motion stir their hearts to love and imitate so blest a pattern O that the same sweet Spirit of grace might draw our minds dear Lord to thee O that we could my Soul in every passage of our life still actually reflect on the example of His His retirements were fill'd with holy Speculations and in the midst of business his mind was free for Heaven His Converse with others mispent no time but bestowed every moment in excellent Charity sometimes he was imployed to instruct the ignorant sometimes to inform aright those that were deceived He apply'd himself to comfort the afflicted and heal the diseased to convince the froward and absolve the penitent and perswade all the world to be truly happy It was meat and drink to him to do his Fathers will and it should be ours to perform his It was for our sakes that he made himself subject to the Law and to obtain for us an everlasting happiness he perfectly obey'd it Take up thy Cross my Soul and follow thy Lord for his yoke is sweet his burthen is light He humbled himself for us and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross to save us When we had sold our selves to sin and were all become the slaves of Satan our blessed Jesus descended from Heaven and brought a vast price to buy out our freedom The price was no less than his own dearest Blood which he plenteously shed on the ignominious Cross depositing so his inestimable life to rescue us sinners from eternal death Come let us adore our God that redeem'd us Hymn 11. COme let 's adore the King of Love And King of Sufferings too For Love it was that brought him down And set him here in woe Love drew him from his Paradise Where flowers that fade not grow And planted him in our poor dust Among us weeds below Here for a time this heavenly Plant Fairly grew up and thriv'd Diffus'd its sweetness all about And all in sweetness liv'd But envious frosts and furious storms So long so fiercely chide This tender Plant at last bow'd down Its bruised head and dy'd O narrow thoughts and narrower speech Here your defects confess The Life of God the death of Christ How faintly you express O Thou who from a Virgin-root Mad'st this fair flower to spring Help us to raise both heart and voice And with more spirit sing To Father Son and Holy Ghost One undivided Three All highest Praise all humblest Thanke Now and for ever be Amen MEDITATION II. MY God who can repine at suffering too much if they remember the afflictions of Jesus Those many afflictions He so patiently endur'd and bore with Silence all their weight Even from his humble Cradle in the City of Bethlehem to his bitter Cross on the Mount of Calvary How little do we read of glad and prosperous in his Life how much of pains and grief and perpetual affronts sometimes he was abandon'd by his nearest Friends and left alone among all his discomforts sometimes pursu'd by his fiercest enemies and made the common mark of all their spite sometimes they plot to insnare Him in his words and enviously slander his miraculous Deeds sometimes they tumultuously gather about him to gaze at and abuse a man of sorrows Sometimes they furiously seize on his Person and hale and drag him along the streets At last they all conspire to take away his life and condemn him to a sharp and cruel death Have you ever seen a harmless Lamb stand silent in the midst of ravenous Wolves so stood the Prince of Peace and Innocence besieg'd with a ring of savage Jews When they blasphemed Him he reply'd not again and when they injuriously struck him he only observ'd their rashness When they provok't him with their utmost Malice he
under the Banner of thee our Crucified Saviour that we may withstand the shock of all Temptations and conquer the Assaults of all our spiritual Enemies And make us watch as well as pray lest we enter into temptation that so we may be delivered from evil So guide and govern us dear Lord by thy great Wisdom and Love that nothing may be able to separate us from the love of thee our Glorious Redeemer who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen Hymn 12. AND now my Soul canst thou forget That thy whole life is one long debt Of love to him who on a Tree Paid back the Flesh he took for thee Lo how the Streams of precious Blood Flow from five wounds into one Flood With these he washes all thy stains And buys thy ease with his own pains Thy Cross dear Lord does clearly now That doubt of former Ages show It was this wood should make the Throne Fit for a more than Solomon Large Throne of Love royally spread With purple of too rich a red Strange costly price thus to make good It s own esteem with its Kings blood Jesu best plant of Paradise To thee our hopes lift up our eyes O may aloft thy branches shoot And fill the Nations with thy fruit O may all reap from thy increase The just more strength the Sinner peace While our half-withered hearts and we Engraft our selves and grow on thee Live O for ever live and reign Blest Lamb whom thine own love has slain And may thy lost sheep live to be True lovers of thy Cross and thee All Glory to the sacred Three One undivided Deity As it has been in Ages gone May now and ever still be done Amen For Saturday Morning MEDITATION I. A Wake all ye Powers of my Soul and come pay your homage to the Prince of our Salvation cast your unworthy selves at his sacred feet and renew your vows of following his steps He triumpht over death in his own body and will enable us to conquer it in ours He chang'd the corrupted government of the world and establisht a new and holy Law that as we were Vassals to sin before we might now become the free subjects of Grace Let us live and dye in his blest Obedience and let no temptation ever separate us from him who if we resist will make us overcome and when we have overcome will crown us with peace Come let us adore our victorious Redeemer Thou hast O Lord triumpht over all thy enemies and ours but we alas are yet conversing in the midst of our enemies Prostrate before Thee we will confess our misery To how many dangers is our life expos'd with how many tentations are we round besieged tentations in meat tentations in drink tentations in conversing tentations in solitude tentations in business tentations in leisure tentations in riches tentations in poverty all our wayes are strew'd with snares and even our Sences conspire against us Whither O my God shall our poor Souls go encompast with a body so frail and a world so corrupt Whither but to thee the justifier of sinners and to thy grace the sustainer of the weak Thy Grace instructs us what we ought to do and breeds in us the will to endeavour what we know Thy Grace inables us to perform our resolves and when all is done thy Grace must give success We that of our selves can do nothing may through Christ strengthning us be able to do all things and gain the sentence of approbation that shall be pronounc'd upon his steadfast followers Well done good and faithfull Servants enter you into your Masters Joy. Hymn 13. LOrd we again lift up our eyes And leave our sluggish beds But why we wake or why we rise Comes seldom in our heads Is it to sweat and toyl for wealth Or sport our time away That thou preserv'st us still in health And giv'st us this new day No no unskilful Soul not so Be not deceiv'd with toyes Thy Lords commands more wisely go And aim at higher joyes They bid us wake to seek new grace And some fresh vertue gain They call us up to mend our pace 'Till we the prize attain That glorious Prize for which all run Who wisely spend their breath Who when this weary life is done Are sure of rest in death Not such a rest as here we prove Disturb'd with cares and fears But endless joy and peace and love Unmixt with grief and tears Glory to Thee O bounteous Lord Who giv'st to all things breath Glory to Thee Eternal Word Who sav'st us by thy Death Glory O blessed Spirit to Thee Who fill'st our Souls with Love Glory to all the mystick Three Who reign one God above Amen MEDITATION II. LOrd with what admirable Wisdom dost thou govern the world and order the several conditions of Men thy wise Providence orders some to be poor and appoints them their task of innocent work Thy Providence is pleased to make others rich and give them leisure for their better improvements Thou hast made both poor and rich to be some way needful to one another that all may live in love and unity and apply themselves to mutual assistance Happy are they O Lord who have so much employment that there remains no room for idle thoughts Happy are they who have so little business that they want not space to attend their Souls Happy yet more are they who in the midst of their work can think sometimes of the wages above whom nothing diverts from that chief concern of seeking to make their Election sure But while their backs are bow'd down with labour they freely can raise up their minds to Heaven And while they are ty'd to their Beds with sickness can yet move on towards their Eternal rest Often they rejoyce with themselves alone and silently say in their contented hearts Here we alas are narrowly confin'd and our time entertain'd with trivial affairs But hereafter we expect an unbounded enlargement and the same glorious office with the blessed Angels Here we are subject to a thousand miseries and the most prosperous life is vain and short but hereafter we expect an infinity of Joy and the solid Pleasures of Heaven for ever We too my Soul let us Pray to be guided in the middle Path and take care that we decline to no vicious extream to avoid the stormy sea of too much business and the dead water of a slothful life lest we be cast away by forgetting God or become corrupted by neglecting our selves Sometimes at least recollect thy thoughts how much soever thy condition distracts thee In all thy works remember thy last end when thou must bid a long farewel to all this World Remember that dreadful Day of the Universal Judgment when thou must give an account for every idle word Remember the Joyes prepar'd for the Innocent and the miseries that attend the wicked Remember how nearly it concerns thee to
end of our being Hymn 15. A Wake my Soul rise from this Bed Of dull and sluggish Earth Quickly arise lift up thy head And see thy Lords new birth Once did he come O Blessed He Born of a Virgin-womb Lo now he comes and still for thee Sprung from a Virgin-tomb See thy Lord rises fresh and bright Incircled round with Stars Which all from him receive their light And from his glorious Scars And thus as he his Progress makes Up to his Heaven again Each risen Saint his Musick takes And follows in his train Thus all together they ascend 'Till at Heavens gate they come Where wondering Angels do attend To bid them welcome home The Angels know again their King And soon his Call obey All the glad Quires come forth to sing And crown with mirth the day Come thou my Soul let us rejoyce Us too our consort bring Up to high Heaven let 's lift our voice And with the Angels sing Glory and Honour Power and Praise To the mysterious Three As at the first beginning was May now and ever be Amen MEDITATION II. RAise thy head O my Soul and look up and behold the Glory of thy Crucified Saviour He that was dead and laid in the Grave low enough to prove himself Man He is risen again and ascended into Heaven and is in exaltation high enough to prove himself God. He arose and made the light his Garment and commanded the Clouds to be the Chariot of his Triumph The gates of Heaven obeyed their Lord and the everlasting Doors opened to the King of Glory Enter bright King thy glorious Palace attended with thy shining Angels enter with the glad train of thy new delivered Captives the first Fruits of thy Victory and the earnests of more Enter and repossess thy ancient Throne and reign eternally at the right hand of thy Father May every Knee bow low at thy exalted Name and every Tongue confess thy Glory May all created Nature adore thy Power and the Church of thy Redeemed exult in thy goodness Whom have we in Heaven but thee O Lord who didst expresly go thither to make way for thy followers What have we on Earth that yields us any comfort and delight but our hope by following thee to arrive at last where thou art gone before us And worth our while O Lord it is to follow thee in the greatest labour of doing well and in patience under the greatest Adversities since the end of all is that where thou art we shall be We shall be there and shall be like thee for we shall see thee as thou art We shall be exalted and glorify'd and rest from our labours O glorious Jesu our Strength and our Joy and the immortal Life of all our Souls Thou art worthy to be the principal Subject of our Studies and the daily entertainment of our most serious thoughts MEDITATION III. WHat mighty cause O God hast thou given poor Mankind to rejoyce and praise thee in that thou hast raised our Saviour from the Grave He died for our sins and rose again for our Justification In this we see a full satisfaction made for our sins by his death Hereby he ever lives to make intercession for us sinners O let all the World rejoyce in the Victory and Triumph of our Lord over all the Enemies of our Salvation I bless thee O my Saviour for thy Death and I praise and adore thee for thy Resurrection The one a work of infinite condescending Mercy the other of infinite Power And now my Soul how art thou conformable to thy kind Lord if when he is risen thou lye dead in trespasses and sins If thou be not risen with Christ to a new and spiritual Life certainly thou art none of his Will he not draw all his own thus after him Will he suffer any of them to lye entangled in earthly desires If he has not drawn thy heart from the World and from thy self and made thee value him most and delight to run the way of his Commandments thou hast no part in him And if thou be risen with Christ thou should'st seek those things which are above Why should our Hearts dwell on Earth when the best Treasure of our Hearts is return'd to Heaven Since our glorified Jesus is ascended above to prepare us a place in his own Kingdom A place of rest and secure peace where we shall see and praise and adore him for ever a place of joy and everlasting fruition where we shall love and possess and delight in him for ever O happy we and our poor Souls if once admitted to that blissfull Vision If once those heavenly Portals unfold their Gates and let us in to the joyes of our Lord how will our Spirits be ravisht within themselves to reflect on the fullness of their own Beatitude How shall we all rejoyce in one anothers felicity but infinitely more in the infinitely greater felicity of God. O Heaven towards thee it is meet that we frequently lift up craving eyes and with out-stretcht hands reach at thy Glories It is fit that with languishing Hearts we often say When O when shall we behold that incomparable light with which our exalted Saviour is cloathed as with a Garment That Glory which illuminates the eyes of Angels and eternally renews the youth of immortalized Saints That light is thy very self O Lord our God whom we shall there see face to face whom we shall there know as we are known In thy light we shall see light PETITIONS O Divine Immense Original Light shine thou perpetually in our eyes that thy brightness may for ever darken all the false lustre of this World. O light that delightest to diffuse and communicate thy self shed so many of thy powerful Beams into our Hearts as that thy heat may burn up all other desires Make us burn continually with the pure Love of thee and let that resining fire purge us from the love of this World. Let thy light shine in our Hearts and be a guide to our wayes till we be call'd from this vale of darkness into the glorious presence of the living God To see him that made the Heavens and the Earth and gave to all things their Lustre and Beauty To see him that first gave us our Being then govern'd us in our way and brought us to so bless'd an end Mean while O glorious Jesu who art the foundation and finisher of all our hopes do thou make us entertain our life with the comfort of this hope and our hope with the assurance of thy promises Let thy Triumphs and Glories ever shine in our eyes to animate our Labours and comfort our Sufferings Let them confirm our Faith in this comfortable point That if we are thy faithful followers in this Life we shall hereafter be partakers in thy Glory Make us also Lord every day more perfectly understand our own great Duty and thy infinite Love. Make us especially on this thy Day meditate the advancement of thy
not so much the number of years as the faithful endeavours and prayers of a pious Mind Would we bestow on the improvement of our Souls the time we vainly trifle away our day would be short enough and not seem tedious and yet would be long enough to finish our appointed task And what O Glorious Lord is our business here but to trim our Lamps and await thy coming To sow the Immortal seed of Hope and expect to receive the happy encrease It is no matter how late the fruit be gather'd if still it go on in growing better No matter how soon it fall from the Tree if it be not blown down before 't is ripe PETITIONS O Thou most just but secret Providence who governest all things by the Counsel of thine own Will whose powerful hand can wound and heal lead down to the Grave and bring back again Behold to thee we bow our heads and freely submit our dearest concerns Strike as thou pleasest our Health our Lives we cannot be safer than at thy dispose Onely these few requests we humbly make which O! may thy Clemency vouchsafe to hear Cut us not off in the midst of our folly nor suffer us to expire impenitent and with our sins unpardon'd But make us Lord first ready for thy self and then take us to thy self in thine own fit time Thou dost frequently O Lord put us in mind of our own and the World's last end by burying every day in the dark silent Grave of Night Sweeten we humbly beseech thee and render familiar to our expectation those terrible Periods of time by our constant due use of night and sleep Grant that our yielding so often and so easily at the Summons of our drowsie humours to suspend a while the operations of the whole man may teach our Souls to reflect themselves into a more reasonable willingness when ever thou callest to leave our Bodies in the Bed of dust and pass into the state of their own perfect and ever-waking Activity and Bliss Do thou Lord in whose indulgent hands are both our Time and our Eternity whose Providence gives every minute of our Life and governs the fatal period of our Death make us every Evening still provide to pass with comfort that important hour Make us still balance our accounts for Heaven and strive to encrease our Treasure with thee That if we rise no more to our acquaintance here we may joyfully waken among thy blessed Angels there to unite our Hymns with theirs and joyn all together in one full Quire. Amen Hymn 18. NOw O my Soul the day is gone Which in the morn was thine It 's emptied Glass no more shall run It 's Sun no longer shine 'T is true alas the day is gone O were it onely so Is it not lost as well as done Cast up thy Counts and know Art thou got so much nearer Heaven As nearer to the Grave Has thy Hearts grief a fitness given Sin 's pardon to receive From what base Vice hast thou refrain'd To break the course of sin Or what new Vertue hast thou gain'd To make thee rich within Their time is well bestow'd on those Who well their time bestow Whose main concern still forward goes Whose hopes still riper grow Who when the warning Clocks proclaim Another hour is past Have the wise art to set their aim And thoughts upon their last This sad Life's last and happiest hour Which brings them to their home Where they shall sing and bless the power That made them thither come O my dear Lord of Life and Death The ever-living King Since thou dost give to all their breath May all thy Glory sing Glory and Honour Power and Praise To the mysterious Three As at the first beginning was May now and ever be Amen For Tuesday Morning MEDITATION I. BE thou eternally adored O God of our Salvation and may thy Praises be sung by thy Servants for ever When our first Parents had disobey'd thy Precepts to the ruine of themselves and their whole Posterity thy wondrous mercy did immediately provide a remedy Thou didst provide and promise a powerfull Redeemer Thou didst commit the helping us to him that is able to save to the uttermost A Redeemer that could conquer Sin and Death and crush the Serpents head who drew us into misery A Redeemer that could fully repair the breaches our sin had made and render our condition better than before That could satisfie for our sins by his Death and merit the Beginning and Perfection of happiness for us in our present Holiness and future Glory He can enlighten our eyes with a clearer view of those excellent Truths that belong to our peace can support our feeble Nature with a stronger Grace to carry us on safely through all Encounters till we arrive at the Land of Rest and be received for ever into the glorious Kingdom O Blessed Jesu our Strength our Guide who knowest and dost pity our weak Capacities and in thy tender care hast so contrived the way to our happiness that nothing can undoe us but our own perverseness nothing but the wilful love of Sin and Death How easie hast thou made the way to Heaven how light is the burthen thou lay'st on thy followers It is but to believe in thee the God of Truth but to love thee our greatest Benefactor but to desire earnestly the seeing thee that thou requirest and doing thus we are sure to possess an Eternity of Joy. Eternal Praises be given to the admirable wisdom of God who knows how to bring good out of evil Eternal praises to that infinite Goodness which graciously condescended to do this Let all the admiring World join together in this and say O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Goodness of God! How unsearchable are his Attributes and his wayes how much past finding out Man guiltily threw away the happiness his God had given him God takes occasion thence to give him greater He not only restores us to our first degree but makes even our fall rebound us to a greater height This is the Love of God the Father to Mankind This is the Love of Jesus the Christ this is the love of the eternal Spirit of Love. Hymn 19. LET others take their course And sing what name they please Let Wealth or Beauty be their Theam Such empty Sounds as these For me I 'l ne'r admire A lump of burnisht Clay Howe're it shines it is but dust And shall to dust decay Sweet Jesus is the Name My Song shall still adore Sweet Jesus is the Charming word That does my life restore When I am dead in grief Or which is worse in Sin I call on Jesus and he hears And I to live begin Wherefore at this bright Name Behold thus low I bow And thus again yet is all this Much less than what I owe. Down then down both my knees Still lower to the ground While with mine Eyes and Voice lift up Aloud these lines
Crucified Redeemer I cannot question the love of the Father to Mankind God the Father it appears did so love the world as that he gave his only begotten Son to dye for them God the Son I see is willing that many should be partakers in his Death since he has Instituted this Blessed Sacrament and Invites all men to it With Angels then and Archangels and all the glorious host of Heaven I Praise and admire the Love of God the Father and God the Son I Praise and adore the ever blessed Trinity for the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ And I come O Saviour to take and eat thy Body which was broken for me I come joyfully to drink that Cup which is the New Testament in thy Blood which Blood thou hast shed for the remission of the sins of many and invited all believing Souls to partake of I desire I long to partake of this my necessary Food I desire I long to receive these incomparable dainties As the Hart pants after the water-brooks so thirsteth my Soul after thee O Christ I will open my mouth wide O Lord for thy fullness can suffice my largest desires When O my Soul thou seest the Holy Bread broken and the Consecrated Wine apart from it say I remember thy sufferings O crucified Love and that bitter passion which ended in Death it self I call to mind how thy Blessed Body was scourg'd and bruised How thy Sacred Head was prick't with the sharp Thorns How thy Hands which had wrought many a kind Miracle were bored through and torn with great Nails How thy Feet which had carryed Thee about to do good were now by ungrateful men nail'd to the Cross How thy tender Heart was pierc't by the Souldiers Spear and at these wounds thy Blood and thy Life forsook Thee I must grieve and I must love O thou great Martyr of Love when I consider all this was undergone for me I must needs detest my self and abhor my Sins when I consider thou wast made a curse for me My numerous Sins increas'd thy heavy load my Sins were some of the procuring causes of thy bitter Death With a broken and contrite Heart I deeply lament my past transgressions and resolve that from henceforth every Sin shall be very odious to me I resolve to sight against it with all possible care and industry and will not allow any known Sin to be quiet in me When the Bread and Wine my Soul are by Christs Ministers given to thee say These kind Lord are thy Instruments of conveyance and they make over to me the Blessings of the New Covenant Welcome dear signs of my Saviours presence Welcome sure pledges of his love and of my Happiness Open ye everlasting doors of my Heart and let this King of Glory enter in Welcome dear Lord to my poor Soul and sit thou as sovereign of my Heart I shall be very happy under thy Dominion and very safe under thy protection My Beloved is mine and I am his I will live to my Love that dyed for me When the Bread and Wine are given to others in thy sight thou must look upon them as members of Jesus Christ Thou must look with love upon those whom he loves and resolve to practise all the kindness to them that thou canst Conclude the solemnity with hearty Joy and Thankfulness and say What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits O matchless love of God to a poor Sinner O Love beyond Degree O Love that passes Knowledge I can never sufficiently show my self grateful Yet bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy Name Praise him who graciously forgiveth all thy Sins and justifies thee freely by his Grace Praise him who healeth all thy diseases Study to make as liberal returns to thy Lord as thou canst for thy Lord has dealt very bountifully with Thee PETITIONS O Lord thou art the great searcher of Hearts and thou know'st us altogether O assist my serious examinations of my self that I may overlook no secret Sin. Thou Lord know'st how to influence and turn our Hearts even as pleaseth thee O prepare my Heart according to thine own will to draw nigh to thee Breath O Divine Spirit upon my Soul and then the grateful odours of my Grace will flow forth O Lord I would with all due affections commemorate and receive my Saviour and I earnestly desire that every Grace may renew its strength Let every Grace O Lord be so improv'd as that I may bring forth more fruit in doing well and may more steadily resist the assaults of all temptation to evil Lord I believe help thou my unbelief and fill me with all Joy and Peace in believing Inflame my Heart with a more ardent Charity let my love be stronger than Death let me be rooted and grounded in love Make me to mind more the things above and despise the things below to be more patient in adversity and more humble and fruitful in prosperity To be strictly just and honest in a deceitful World and charitable to those that injure me and set themselves against me Increase in me the Love of all thy Commands and the hatred of every Sin. O God the Father our Creatour and Sovereign Lord regard I beseech Thee thy Son's death which we shall now commemorate before Thee remember how well he pleased thee in all things and when I am united to him regard me with favour too When I partake of his Sacrifice accept it as a propitiation for my Sins and pardon for his sake all my transgressions O Spotless Lamb of God once slain for us Sinners on the Cross have Mercy upon me O Christ hear me and be my powerful Advocate with the Heavenly Father Solicite by thy merits his Mercy for my poor Soul. Offer thy sacred Body before his Throne and turn away the wrath that my sins have deserved If thou wilt O Eternal Merciful God one God in three persons do all these kind things for me for the sake and merits of the Redeemer and out of thy great love to Souls then since I can never have given thee praises enow grant that I may ever live to praise Thee Glory be to the Father c. Amen For Thursday Evening MEDITATION I. HAst thou my Soul been Feasting at the Table of the Lord Has he given thee himself and his rich blessings What thou hast done signifies the renewal of that Covenant that was made in Baptism between the Lord and Thee Thou hast in coming to this Feast profest thy self a Christian and declar'd a resolution to live and dye so Thou hast pretended to account nothing so precious to thee as thy Saviour and that no other Lord but he shall have dominion over thee The Loving Jesus must now have full possession of thy Heart and thou maist not be govern'd by the love of this World. Thou hast bound thy self my Soul to be the Servant of Jesus Christ
do thee faithful Service I own O Lord the Justice and Equity of being so obliged I account it my Interest to be intirely thine I am saved by being Devoted to thee and honour'd in admission to thy Service It is the greatest Preferment I can attain to serve him who is Lord of Heaven and Prince of the Kings of the Earth Thy Service O Lord is perfect Freedom and they have great Peace that love thy Law There are no riches comparable to thy rewards nor any Pleasures so sweet as thy Consolations I am asham'd O Lord and have great reason to be so for that I have liv'd no more suitable to such a Devoted State That I have presum'd to dispose of my self so much according to the devices and desires of of my own heart I have often wander'd from the safe and pleasant Path of thy Commandments and often stept into the dangerous uneasie wayes of sin I have greatly disparaged my self hereby in thy sight and in the sight of thy Holy Angels O it is fit that thou and they who have seen my sins should see my repentance that have seen me most basely breaking my Covenant with my God should see me heartily renewing again so just a Covenant I thank thy Love Dear Jesu for 't is by what thou hast done for us that our Repentance may be accepted I thank thee O gracious Saviour for Instituting thy Supper for the Renewal and Confirmation of our Baptismal Covenant that thou hast commanded us at that to reinforce our resolutions and that thou art ready to confirm them by thy Grace It is Lord the sincere desire of my Soul never to revolt from Thee any more I believe there is no greater happiness than to be a firm Confederate with the faithful Jesus By which I shall become a Temple to the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Light and Love the Spirit of Grace and Glory Now Lord that I have had a fresh sight of thy Love and have sate under thy Shadow with Delight thy blessed Name shall be deeply engraven in my heart I will allow no affection but the Love of Jesus and all my powers and all their motions shall be subject to that I will say to all the Vanities of the world Be gone I have no room in my heart for you whom I cannot love too little I will reserve it all for my Saviour whom I can never love too much I will say to those Temptations that would draw me into sin cease your base Solicitations for I cannot willingly grieve my loving Saviour If it be difficult to serve him I will steadily conflict with those difficulties If it will cost me the loss of all worldly Conveniencies I will gladly forsake all to adhere to him If it expose my Life I will let that goe rather than deny my loving Lord. Now that I have receiv'd the Blessed Jesus at his Supper and thou Lord art come to make thy abode with me I will study to give thee such kind Entertainment as may please thee and keep thee with me I will indeavour in my thoughts words and actions to set alwayes before thee what I think will be acceptable I will watch against every thing that is impure and would be offensive to thy holy sight I will often retire from the World to converse with thee Worldly cares and business shall not keep me from thy Company I have been praising thee O Lord in thy House and at thy Table but I have not praised thee enough And who can praise thee enough for what I there saw for what I there received Oh! how low are my Conceptions of thy Love how vastly below it are all my words I will try O Lord what my deeds can do in praising thee and every part of my Life shall endeavour thy honour Thus Lord I may and ought to resolve but my Practice depends entirely on thy Grace PETITIONS O Lord our kind and gracious Redeemer Thou art exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins I beseech thee O Lord as thou hast enabled me to repent and to confess the folly of my backsliding heart do thou graciously give me thy pardon Forgive me O Lord that I have been so false to former Vows and have so often contradicted my Covenants with thee O deal not with me as I deserve cast me not away from thy presence take not thy Holy Spirit from me I have been weakly striving against my sins and could not so far conquer them as I would And therefore Lord I came to thy Table to receive greater strength against them O let such a vertue come from thy Death at this Remembrance of it as may lay all my sins utterly dead and let the Influence of that power so remain as that they may never revive that I may never be hinder'd in my Duty by any sin easily besetting me that I may serve and please thee in all purity heavenly-mindedness integrity in Charity Humility and Contentedness in whatever condition it shall please thee to place me Enable me perfectly to overcome my Passions and keep them all subject to the Laws of thy Love. Let thy Love which is represented in this Sacrament so deeply affect me that I may delight to think and to speak of it and may endeavour as far as I can to imitate it Keep me mindful of my Vows make my Endeavours successful and my Obedience perfect and compleat in all things So possess me with the Love of thee my kind Redeemer as to make me ardently desirous of seeing thee face to face Refine me at length by that holy fire from all the dross of my Corruptions and to such a degree of holiness and purity that I may be fit to fly away from this World to the Habitation of thy Holiness and Glory Amen Hymn 24. DO I resolve an easie life With plenty stor'd and free from strife When my dear Lord thy days and nights Were past in poverty and fights Do I design a gentle Death Just singing out my aged Breath When my Love cruel tortures tore Thy dear Soul out all drown'd in gore Oh no our Christian Sacrifice Acting in a sweet disguise My Saviours Passion o're again Shall all such fond Conceits restrain This must keep lively in my mind How I ought still to be resign'd This humble pattern should destroy My sensual Grief and worldly Joy. Are Sufferings Ills No Goodness chose His and our way to Bliss through those Are Pleasures Goods No Wisdom scorn'd Their dalliance and has us forewarn'd This Lord this make my Song to be At least whene're I meet with thee Thee its glad ground so oft repeating As may prevent my Souls forgetting Jesu thus arm'd no terrours shall E're make my vertuous Courage fall No flatteries here my blest hopes drown Since thy sad Cross led to thy Crown O live for ever glorious Lord Live by all Heaven and Earth ador'd May both their joyful praises give They
the other World and soon returns again and brings us light And so dost thou dear Lord and more Thy very darkness is our light 'T is by thy death we are made to live and by thy wounds our sores are heal'd O my ador'd Redeemer who took'st upon thee all our miseries to impart to us thine own Felicities Can we remember thy Labours for us and not be convinc't of our Duty to thee Can our cold Hearts recount thy Sufferings and not be inflam'd with the Love that suffer'd Can we believe our Salvation cost thee so dear and live as if to be sav'd were not worth our pains Ingrateful we how do we slight the kindness of our God! how carelesly comply with his gracious designs For all his gifts he requires no other return than to hope still more and desire still greater Blessings For all his favours he seeks no other praise than our following his steps to arrive at his Glory PETITIONS O Glorious Jesu behold to thee we bow and humbly implore thy blessing in whom all fulness dwells Accomplish in us we pray those gracious purposes for which thou didst assume the humane Nature and suffer a painful and ignominious Death Teach us O Lord by thy Word and thy example the sole way to that Bliss for which we were created Give us an assur'd pardon of all our sins and the priviledge of becoming the Sons of God Possess us with the joyful hope of an eternal Life purchas'd for us by our Redeemer's Death O Almighty Redeemer destroy in us the works of the Devil Deliver us for none else can from the power of every sin Set us at liberty to run the wayes of thy Commandments thy Service is perfect freedom Give us the special Assistance of thy Grace that we may wean our Affections from all vain desires and clear our thoughts from all impertinent fancies that our lives may be intirely dedicated to thee and all the Faculties of our Souls to thy holy Service That our minds may continually study thy Knowledge and our Wills grow every day stronger in thy Love Our Memories may faithfully lay up thy Mercy and both Tongue and Heart be continually disposed and often employ'd to praise thee to praise thy incomparable Love which has done and suffer'd so much for lost Mankind O let the continual memory of thy bitter Passion and Death make us despise the Goods or Ills that we meet with here compar'd to the advancing our selves or others in the esteem of what we hope hereafter through the Sufferings and Merits of thee our Lord Jesus Christ Glory be to c. Amen For Friday Evening MEDITATION I. COme let us now call off our thoughts from ranging abroad where they but lose themselves Let us diligently examine the Accounts of our Time and summ up the profit we have made to day What have we gain'd by all we have seen or heard For nothing is so barren but it may yield some fruit had we the Art to cultivate it right and fitly apply it to our own advantage If we have spy'd some good Example which our gracious God has presented to instruct or quicken us did we immediately entertain the motion and resolve in our heart effectively to follow it If we have fallen among vicious Company which O! too often engages into folly did the danger encrease our care and the sin of others breed Vertue in us We have heard perhaps some melancholy news of sudden sicknesses or unexpected Deaths But did we fear to be surprized our selves and provide betimes for that day of Trial We meet with accidents enow to disparage this World but do we really feel it lose credit in our Hearts Does our esteem of the other grow strong and high and every one faithfully tell his own Soul 'T is not in this poor World thou must expect content It is not here you must hope to enjoy a perfect rest Order thy whole affairs with utmost skil and which is seldom seen let all thy designs succeed Still thou shalt find something to trouble thee and even thy pleasures will be tedious to thee Wheresoever thou goest still Crosses will follow thee because where-ever thou goest thou carriest thy self Who then my God is truely happy in this World or rather I should ask who comes the nearest to happiness He that with patience resolves to suffer whatever his endeavours are not able to avoid Happy yet more is he that delights to suffer and glories to be like his Crucify'd Saviour When thou art come to this my Soul that thy Crosses seem sweet for the love of Jesus think then thy self sublimely happy for surely thou hast found a Heaven upon Earth at least the best Heaven that this Earth can afford and take it as a pledge of a better to come MEDITATION II. MY Soul when thou art thus retir'd alone and fitly dispos'd for quiet thoughts never let the greatness of another molest thy Peace nor his prosperous condition make thee repine Say not in thy Heart had I that fair Estate or were I intrusted with so high a place I should know how to contrive things better and never commit such gross mistakes Tell me how dost thou manage thine own Employments and fit the little room thou holdest in the World If thou hast leisure art thou not idle and spendest thy precious time in unprofitable follies If thou art busie art thou not so too much and leavest no time to provide for thy Immortal Soul Do thy riches make thee more wise and generously assist the innocent poor Does thy poverty make thee humble and faithfully labour for thy little Family Dost thou in every state give thanks to Heaven and contentedly submit to its severest decrees Canst thou rejoicingly say to God O my ador'd Creatour I am glad my Lot is in thy Hands Thou art all Wisdom and seest my wants thou art all goodness and delightest to relieve me Under thy Providence I know I am safe whatever befalls me thou guidest to my advantage If thou wilt have me obscure and low thy blessed will not mine be done If thou wilt load my back with Crosses and imbitter my daies with Grief or Sickness still may thy Blessed Will O Lord be done still govern thy Creatures in thine own best way Place where-ever thou pleasest thy other favours but secure to my Soul a Portion in thy love Take what thou wilt of the things thou hast lent me but leave I beseech thee in my Heart the Possession of thy self Let others be preferr'd and me neglected let their affairs succeed and mine if thou pleasest miscarry Onely one thing I cannot chuse but desire and may my Gracious God vouchsafe to grant me that That thou cast me not away from thy presence for ever nor wipe my Name out of the book of Life But let my Eternal hopes remain and still grow quicker as they approach their end MEDITATION III. MY Thoughts run over the passages you have met to day or
Inhabitants of Jerusalem shall look on me whom they have pierced and mourn But O you holy Prophets what was the dismal cause that shed the blood of this spotless Lamb He had they quickly answer done no Iniquity neither was guile found in his mouth He was cut off from the land of the living For the transgression of the people was he stricken He hath poured out his soul to death and he was number'd with the Transgressors He bore the sins of many and made intercession for the Transgressours All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our sins The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed Thou wert for us O Lord obedient to the Death even the cursed Death of the Cross wherefore God also has highly exalted thee and given thee a name above every name Live glorious Jesu and reign for ever eternal King of Heaven and Earth may all thy Blessed above perpetually adore thee and all thy Servants here continually praise thee PETITIONS O Most blessed and adorable Jesu who ha st graciously vindicated our Nature from the Contempt and Tyranny of the Devil by taking it into a personal Union with thy Godhead I earnestly beseech thee deliver me in my person from the dominion of that my great adversary let not the Prince of Darkness rule in me as a Child of Disobedience Make me always a watchful Enemy against any thing that may debase my Nature which thou hast so much honoured To hate all sensual and devilish sins abstain from all appearance of evil and not willingly enslave my self to any base Lusts Make me Lord duly to adore thee as God who art Lord of Heaven and Earth and teach me to imitate thee in the excellent pattern thou hast set us of a holy harmless and beneficent Man. Thou did'st take upon thee O blessed Jesu our innocent Infirmities to bestow on us thy perfections to cure us of our guilty Infirmities Heal me then I pray thee O thou great Physician of Souls and as thou wert free from sin make me so O cleanse me from all unrighteousness Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Let every step thou took'st in the working of our Redemption which thy Servants have recorded in thy Life and Actions to be consider'd by us men be often and alwayes profitably consider'd by me Let each have some good influence upon my Heart and Life and by thy powerful Grace tend to the healing my sinfulness and the fitting me for eternal Happiness Heal me O Lord and advance me in Holiness by the Mystery of thy holy Incarnation instruct me by the meanness of thy humble Birth Heal and save me by the precious blood of thy Circumcision When thou took'st upon thee the sweet and ever blessed name of Jesus a name signifying thy kind design which was the saving thy people from their sins Strengthen my Faith in thee O Lord by thy wondrous Miracles confirm my Hope and inflame my Love by thy kind and meritorious Passion Help me by the joyes of thy victorious Resurrection and the Triumph of thy glorious Ascension So effectually rule me here O Lord that I may always obey thy Grace and do thou so favour me hereafter that I may enjoy thy Glory Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen For the Evening MEDITATION I. LEt us be willing to learn of the Blessed Jesus and he will teach us his waies let us follow him who is the light of the world He that followeth him shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of Life The Law and its Types were given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ Lift up thy Voice O Jerusalem and be not afraid say to the Cities of Judah Behold your God Behold the Lord your God is come with a strong hand his Reward is with him and his Work before him He is come to bring Redemption to all the world and Graciously offers it first to you his People But ye deny'd the Holy One and the Just and desir'd a Murtherer to be granted to you Heark with how sweet and elegant a Compassion thy kind Redeemer complains of thy ingratitude O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto Thee How often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen gathereth her brood under her wings and ye would not Heark with how tender and charitable a reproof thy Lord unwillingly withdraws from thee his favour O hadst thou known in this thy day the things that belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes Hearken once more and if his kindness cannot move thy Love he will try how his anger can work upon thy Fear Hearken then and tremble at those terrible threatnings with which thy Provident Lord forewarns thee of thy danger O Daughter of my People gird thee with Sackcloath and wallow thy self in Ashes make thee mourning as for an only Son most bitter Lamentation For the daies shall come upon thee when thy Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee they shall compass thee round and keep thee in on every side They shall lay thee even with the ground and thy Children in thee and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another Thy People shall fall by the edge of the Sword and shall be led away captive into all Nations They shall abide many daies without a King and without a Prince they shall mourn without Sacrifice or Altar And Jerusalem shall be troden down by the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled But O how long Lord Holy and Merciful how long Wilt thou be angry with them for ever Hast thou not said he that scatters Israel will gather them again and keep them as a Shepherd does his flock When thou wilt remember thy ancient Promises O Lord and resolve to save the remnant of thy once lov'd Israel When thou wilt take away the veil from before their Eyes that they may see thy Truth and embrace it Take away the hardness from their stony Hearts that they again may be thy People and thou again their God Then shall they lay aside the Garment of Mourning and put on the brightness which comes from Thee They shall celebrate the Jubilee of this their greatest deliverance and every one sing in that day of Joy Come let us ascend to the Mountain of our Lord to the house of the God of Jacob he will teach us of his wayes and we will walk in his paths As it was our wickedness to go astray from our God so now return'd let us seek him ten times more Too late have we believed on thee O thou ancient Truth too late have we lov'd thee O
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
to adore thee the kind Saviour of us all who with the Father and the Spirit art one God blessed for ever Glory be to c. Amen For the Evening MEDITATION I. ALL things do live to thee O Lord thou sole preserver of universal nature the blessed Saints rejoice in thy glory and our imperfect Souls are here sustain'd in hope We know that thou wilt bring us to the Grave which is the house appointed for all the living and from thence thou wilt raise us again to an universal Judgment and then dispose of us to our Eternal Portion O happy they whom our Lord shall honour on that day of his solemn triumph and rising from his seat of Judgment go gloriously before them and with these sweet and gracious words invite them to follow him Come you blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World. The reward of your labours I will give you I my self will be your reward you have firmly believ'd you have readily obey'd you have constantly suffer'd Come enter now into your Masters joy They that are careful my Soul to dye the death of the righteous will with them be thus caress'd at the day of judgement Now thou hast pass'd another day another step towards thy long home thou hast seen the Sun a few hours more and this day is gone and lost in its own night But hast thou lost it too and made no use of it while it shin'd then let the dew of thy penitent tears for shame lament its departure Thou art nearer thy death but no more prepar'd for it if thou hast made no advance towards perfection Examine thy self to know the truth and ask thy self these useful Questions Am I grown devout as the Saints of God were Am I chaste temperate and resign'd as they yet Do I despise now the World with a Zeal like theirs and value Heaven at the same high rate with them Would I give all I have just now to be there And part with Life it self just now to go thither Has the consideration of their blissful reward brought me to a full resolution to aim at the highest imitation of them At least have I learnt to humble my self and check the vanity of my proud conceits To mourn and blush at my own many Infirmities when I consider their excellent Lives and Vertues If thou canst not equal my Soul such glorious patterns yet let it be thy hearts desire to do it and what they really did do thou really wish to do MEDITATION II. LET us humble our selves we that are yet in this low state but not grow faint at the sight of others so far before us Rather let us quicken our sloth by considering their swift pace and encourage our fears with their happy success We who profess the Religion of all these Saints who liv'd and dy'd Members of the same Church with us We who partake of the same holy Sacraments and eat the same celestial Food who may partake of the same holy and powerful Spirit if we diligently seek and readily receive him Why should we fear but that one day we may shine above and rejoyce together with the glorified Saints Are we not all redeem'd by the same rich price and the same eternal Crowns propos'd to us all Are we not bred in the same Apostolick Faith and taught of God by his appointed Ministers The Lessons I see and Teacher is the same but the hand is dull and the Instrument out of tune They liv'd in a dangerous World like this and were ty'd to Bodies frail as ours But by a constant vigilance they overcame the World and subdu'd those Bodies to the service of their Minds They overcame with a joyful Heart and we thus congratulate the Triumph of their victories They overcame but not by their own strong hand and now they triumph but 't is by the bounty of their God. Chear then thy self my Soul and raise thy Head and open thy bosom to the hopes of Heaven Fear not our God has a blessing too for us if we have a love and obedience for him If we delight in the wayes of Piety and diligently attend the Offices of Devotion If we refrain from the liberties of the World and curb the loose suggestions of the Flesh If we can look on Gold and Honour and their flaming beams not dazle our Eyes if we perform with them the part of faithful Servants we shall surely with them have the portion of Children MEDITATION III. PRecious in thy sight O Lord is the death of thy Saints which finishes thy greatest Work the perfecting of Souls whom thou esteemest as the Jewels of Heaven and choicely gatherest into thine own Treasury Precious to themselves O Lord is the death of thy Saints which takes off the dusky cover that hides their brightness which shapes and polishes them to a beauteous lustre and sets them as Stars round about thy Throne Precious O Lord to us is the death of thy Saints from whence we are furnisht with such means of Vertue Some teach us courage to encounter dangers and not for fear make shipwrack of our Conscience Others by their Example instruct us to converse with meekness and patiently bear neglects and injuries From some we may learn how to use this world wisely and make it serve us in our way to the next From others we may learn how more generously to despise it and pass our dayes in Peace and Prayer By all with thy blessing we may learn this best of arts to live and dye like Saints and do this in the best of methods thy glorious Example O gracious Lord whose Love still looks about and searches every way to save us sinners who camest thy self bright Sun of Glory to enlighten our darkness and warm our frozen Hearts Who with thy fruitful Beams still kindlest others to burn as Tapers in thy Church's hand and by their near proportionate distance stand fit to shine into every corner of our lives We will ever bless thy Name for all these Mercies and take care to pass by not one with Ingratitude We will not consider in vain the Crown at the Race's end and sit down lazily in the shades of ease nor keep in vain the memory of thy Saints without endeavouring to imitate them which would be to the reproach of our unprofitable lives We will strain all our Powers and pursue to the mark for the glorious prize that is set before us Still with our utmost speed we will follow them whose travel ended in so sweet a rest PETITIONS O God of infinite adorable Goodness who after thy faithful Servants had spent their day of life in a course of steady and laborious Piety and Vertue did'st graciously close their Evening with a comfortable death and give them instead of this an eternal day of Glory O grant to us below we beseech thee so to imitate thy Saints in the wise bestowing our allotted time on our Earth that we may follow them in their happy passage out of this World and be admitted with them to thy everlasting Glories in the other When our Life's last day O Lord begins to fall and bids us hasten to prepare for night then send thy willing Angels to watch about us and suffer not the Enemy to disturb our passage Send them to receive in peace our departing Souls and to bear them safely to thy presence Then O thou dear Redeemer of the World and sovereign King of Life and Death thou who despisest not the Tears of the Penitent nor turnest away from the sighs of the Afflicted Thou who preservest all that rely on thee and fulfillest their desires that long to be with thee Do thou hear our cries and pardon our sins and graciously deliver us from all our fears Call us to thy self with thine own blest Voice Call us O dearest Jesu in thine own sweet words Say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World. Then will our happy Souls immediately obey and go forth with gladness to meet their Lord and Love to live with him and behold his Glory and partake of his Happiness and sing his Praise These things O Lord we humbly expect from the merit of thy humble Death and the power of thy glorious Exaltation O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us have mercy upon us and grant us thy eternal peace Amen Hymn 40. TOO hasty night forbear our Praise And our yet young beginning Hope Set to encrease on these blest dayes So faint and dull requires more scope Night will not hear but sullen flies And summons all the World to sleep Commands us close our Books and Eyes What we have gain'd content to keep O happy Saints this broken rate Our slowness bids to ply its wings While your unwearied active state Does alwaies wake and alwaies sings Yet eve'n our state your School too was And those your now unweary'd Laies By such a change of sing and pause Here among us you learn'd to raise Here you thus often too took breath And yet have climb'd those hills of light O may your good success bequeath A Hope to reach that glorious height Though now our Notes be short and few Our rests too frequent are and long If we but keep in tune with you We shall at last sing your glad Song If with our utmost humble powers We here our daily Praye'rs attend These poor Devotions shall like yours There in a nightless fervour end Glory O Lord to thee alone Be here below as there above O may thy joyes Great Three in One Ever attract and Crown our Love. Amen FINIS ERRATA These few mistakes of the Press the Courteous Reader is desir'd to Pardon and Correct PAge 6. line 7. for talk read task p. 17. l. 20. f. beautified r. beatified p. 28. l. â—8 f. seel r. feel p. 72. r. Hymn 7. p. 96 f. Son r. Sun. p. 204. l. 6. f. potion r. portion p. 282. last l. r. thus acting p. 302. first l. of the Hymn r. ' T is not for us p. 319. l. 7. f. adventures r. adventurers p. 358. r. H. 31. p. 442 443. 445 446. at the top f. Even r. Morn p. 452. l. 17. f. fire r. flame