for Confirmation or have I slighted the Prayers and Benediction of God's Priest Have I wholly forsaken Satan or rather am I not still under his power by being a slave to the habits of folly and disobedience Have I ever at any time used Charms or Amulets or consulted Witches or Conjurers Am I not yet in love with the pomps and vanities of the World a great frequenter of sports to the hindrance of Religious Duties and do I delight in profane and lascivious representations and are not my Lusts yet unmortified and have I not derogated from the honour of the Captain of our Salvation by cowardise and negligence Eucharist Have I not profan'd the holy Supper of the Lord by not acquainting my self with the nature of the Mystery and the necessity of preparation or by coming to it without Faith and Repentance without an universal charity and a thorow reconciliation to God and my enemies without examination without a due sorrow and amendment of Life Have I not often received that Sacrament without those ardors of devotion which I am obliged to or without that bodily reverence which the most Sacred and Heavenly Mysteries require Have I not made rash promises when I have received and never minded them afterwards Have I not suffered the House to lye idle when it hath been so swept and garnish'd to encourage Satan to take with him seven other Spirits worse than himself and to come and dwell in my Soul till its later estate be more deplorable than its first To which I subjoyn Lord be merciful to me a sinner and so strengthen me by thy Grace that I may perform my Vows and keep the robes of my Baptism unspotted and tho I have approach'd thy Table without the Wedding Garment yet cast me not into outer darkness whence there is no deliverance Now these and all other Transgressions are either heightned or lessened by their circumstances the Examinant therefore ought to consider 1. The Time when he offended Was it on the Lord's day Here additions and alterations may be made by the devout penitent according to his own state or any other publick Festival on a publick Fasting day or the days of my own private humiliation during the hours of Prayer either at the Temple or in my Closet either at or immediately before or after the receipt of the holy Sacrament and have I often committed one and the same sin for these circumstances argue a perverse frame of mind and that it is not infirmity but wilfulness that makes the offender 2. The place where the sin was committed Was it in the Church at the holy Table or in my Closet or in any publick place where the offence became scandalous incouraging the vicious and offending my weaker brethren 3. The state and condition of the Offender Am I not in Holy Orders one of God's Priests that Minister at his Altar have I not more knowledge and a better acquaintance with my duty hath not God afforded me more convictions greater light and frequenter opportunities of doing good was the sin committed when I was under some affliction of mind body or estate or after some sudden deliverance out of some severe judgement on me for my former failings hath not God by his holy Spirit laid many hinderances in my way to ruine and have I not overcome all difficulties and often been my own tempter have I not continued to be wicked after many checks of Conscience and many solemn Vows to the contrary after the experience of much mercy many deliverances and great tenderness compassion and long-suffering in my Saviour towards me 4. The persons injured Are not my sins committed against my God my Master my Saviour my best and only Friend have I rob'd the House of God of its ho nour or revenue have I ground the face of the Poor or rob'd the Fatherless and Widows have I given evil counsel to the ignorant or those that cannot discern the fallacy have I been unjust to my Children or Relatives who are nearest to me and as it were parts of my self Among all which sins I must particularly mourn over and detest those to which I have been most inclined by natural temper or custome and resolve to avoid all provocations and temptations and whatever hath or may promote such evil habits and to practice the contrary virtues To which I subjoyn Lord I have caused thy Name to be blasphemed among the enemies of Religion and Piety but be thou pleased to pity and pardon me the greatest of sinners and give me thy Grace that I may do so no more Besides all which I am bound to reflect on my many secret sins and forgotten offences and to subjoin Lord who can understand how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults and keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins lest they get the dominion over my Soul so shall I be innocent from the great offence The Collect. ALmighty Lord and everlasting God Grant I most humbly beseech thee to thy distressed Servant Pardon and Peace and vouchsafe to direct sanctify and govern both my heart and body in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever I may be preserv'd in body and soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen To this I add the 38 Psalm or the 51. or some other penitential and after that the 22 Psalm Then follows the Litany much agreeable to the former method LORD let thy Ear be attentive to the Prayer of thy Servant who desires to fear thy name O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him the Father of Mercies have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Son the Redeemer of the World and the lover of Souls have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Holy Spirit of Peace and Love the giver of every Grace and every good Gift have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Holy Powerful and Compassionate Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace Lord hear Lord forgive hearken O Lord and do and defer not for thine own sake O Lord our God From polluting the robes of my Baptisme and making new leagues with Satan from a feigned sorrow and an outside repentance Good Lord deliver me From sin and shame from the paths of folly and destruction from great boasting and little performance and from a vain and empty frame of mind from stoath and idleness and the neglect of my best concerns Good Lord deliver me From Self-Love and love of the World from being busy about nothing and slighting the thoughts of Eternity from deferring my repentance and putting off my accounts to the day of
his Subjects And when in the Wilderness they went from one Nation to another people how did he preserve them that no man could do them wrong And how did he reprove even Kings for their sake One Miracle brought them Bread a second Flesh from Heaven a third Water out of the Flinty Rock and their Cloaths were kept from wearing out by the same extraordinary Power an Angel was their Guide and the Lord of Hosts their King with what terrible and affrighting sounds was the Law given on the top of Mount Sinai With what Wisdom Eloquence and Authority was it explained by the Prophets Who confirm'd it by innumerable signs and wonders and foretold the Incarnation of the Son of God who should fulfil the Law and all the Righteousness of it and yet how obstinate and disobedient how untractable and sullen how stubborn and rebellious is this People Despising the Divine Mercies and denying the Lord who bought them when he had condescended to cloath himself with humane Nature to be born in their Country of an Israelitish Stock and of the Seed of King David whose Name was by them had in Everlasting Remembrance What could God have done more to his Vineyard that he ever left undone He planted it in a fruitful soyl in a Land flowing with Milk and Honey he water'd it with the Dew of Heaven and cheer'd and warm'd it with the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness he fenc't and secured it by an extraordinary Providence and the Guardianship of Angels Michael the Prince of those Blessed Spirits being deputed to the Tuition he manured it by the Ministry of Kings and inspired Men and by the peculiar Husbandry of his own Darling and with infinite Patience waited till it would answer his Expectations and pay him with a Vintage that might recompence his Cost and his Labour but instead of Grapes it brought forth Bryars and Thistles it rewarded the pains of those who cultivated it with nothing but fruitless labour which not only filled them with melancholly Reflections on their unsuccessful Attempts but cost many of them their Lives so cruel and barbarous is ingratitude that it never is at rest till it imbrues its Hands in the Blood of its best Friends and Benefactors so inhumane were the Jewish Nation so bent to the Destruction of those whose sole business it was to save them from Destruction It was the Jewish Synagogue that was Gods Pleasant Plant the Hedg was the Divine Protection the Winepress digg'd in it was the Law which he gave them written with his own Finger and which continually urged them with the necessity of Obedience the Tower which he erected was the Temple the Beauty and Honour as well as the safety of Jerusalem for nothing but Religion and the true Worship of God can make a people safe or happy and when that is secured all other things are bestowed of course the Husbandmen were the Governours of the Nation Spiritual and Civil who upon a just return of God's Portion to him were to have a liberal share of the Fruits for themselves and who could make a wiser Provision Upon this the Lord seems to take a Journey into another Countrey intrusting them with the managery but lest they should forget that they were not Proprietors but only Usetructuaries he frequently takes occasion to send to them his Servants the Prophets to mind them of their Trust and their Obligations but Michaiah and Jeremy they beat and imprisoned Zechary ths Son of Jehciada they stoned Isaiah they sawed asunder another Zechary they slew between the Temple and the Altar Ezekiel was murdered at Babylon for reproving the Idolatry of the Governour of the People Amos was slain with a Sword and John the Baptist beheaded nay who among the men of God escap't their Malice And what Prince is there but resents the ill usage of his Ambassadors as hainously as if himself were in Person affronted But O the depth of the Riches of the Divine Mercy He is not easily provok'd nor does he delight in the Death of a sinner but trys all methods to reclaim and amend him after so many messages that failed of success he resolves to try the last Experiment he had one only Son the Darling of his Bosom and him he deputes to this Embassy believing that if their malice were not desperate and incurable they would reverence him who was the Heir to the Vineyard but when Jesus came into the World a Preacher of the glad Tidings of Peace all their malice that before vented it self in parcels upon the Prophets concenter'd and fixt in him tho they knew him to be the Messiah and the only begotten of the Father now they join all their Forces summon their Councils unite their different Factions and determine to murther him and then the Inheritance would be their own their Dignity their Reven es their Authority secured to themselves and their Descendants for ever But how empty and insignificant are the Councils of men when they oppose themselves to the Wisdom of God How easily does the Lord confound the Craft of the Wise and bring to nought the Understanding of the Prudent Their very hopes are baffled and they are punish'd in kind according to the nature of their sin for did ever any man fight against Heaven and prosper instead of securing their Title they ruined â—t and instead of an imaginary greatness which they expected to last for ever the fatal period of their Jurisdiction was fix'd their power dwindled into the pageantry of Dominion their supposed indefesable right to the Divine Favour was swallowed up of Vengeance and made a prey to an Indignation that will not be easily atoned their Patrimony was alienated the Title transfer'd to the Gentile World in expectation that they would amend when they saw the Example and avoid the sins that brought down the Judgments It would melt a Tyrant into compassion and soften the most obdutate Temper to view or but hear of the miseries of that distracted City whom their own Iniquities and Gods Vengeance had devoted to ruin To hear of the destruction of the Temple made the Apostles pity the dissolution of that insensible Fabrick but to view the beautiful Pile all in a flame the Holy of Holies polluted and the Blood of the Priests mingled with the Blood of their Sacrifices this would force Tears from a Heart of Flint as it raised a strong compassion in the mind of their very Conqueror and at the same time to see Mothers cramb their ravenous Stomachs with the Flesh of their own Children to see Brethren sheath their Swords in one anothers Bosoms nothing but Rapine and Sacriledg Civil Dissentions and Murders among men of the same Faith and Country till the common Enemy broke in upon them and involved the several parties of a great and populous Nation in the same common desolation These are Reflections that puzzle Belief and create Astonishment Did ever any of thy words O my Redeemer fall to the
That my past sins may be intirely forgiven and the rest of my life spent in the works of repentance I beseech thee c. That the end of my life may be Christian without pain and without shame if thou seest fit and that I may be able to render a good account when I shall stand before thy dreadful Tribunal I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. From mine enemies defend me O Christ Graciously look upon my afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart Favourably with mercy hear my Prayers Mercifully forgive the sins of thy Servant O Son of David have mercy upon me Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear me O Christ Graciously hear me O Christ graciously hear me O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon me As I do put my trust in thee Pardon O Lord the guilt of my sins remove the punishment and wash out the pollutions keep me from the shame and the suffering due to them and rescue me from the dominion of Satan the tyranny of my own Lusts and from everlasting destruction Amen Bp. Andrews BLessed Jesu Interpose between God and my Soul thy Priesthood and Sacrifice between my self and Satan thy Kingdom and Conquest between my Soul and my Sins thy Innocency between my Soul and my Concupiscence thy Charity between my Soul and the punishments due to a Sinner thy Passion and the satisfaction of thy Blood between my Soul and my Conscience and God's Tribunal thy Advocateship between my Soul and its want of Righteousness thy absolute and complete Obedience between my Soul and its want of desert thy alsufficient Merits between my Soul and its want of fervour in Devotion thy Intercession between my Soul and its want of sâ—rrow and repentance thy Agony and bloody Sweat for what thou did'st and what thou suffered'st O my dearest Saviour O my best of Masters was done and suffered in my stead and for my benefit Amen Id. LET the Soul of Christ sanctify me the Body of Christ strengthen me the Blood of Christ redeem me the Water that came out of his side cleanse me the Stripes of Christ heal me the Sweat of Christ refresh me the Wounds of Christ save me the Poverty of Christ enrich me and the Sufferings of Christ preserve me from eternal damnation Amen Bp. Taylor GIve me the beauties of Wisdom the brightness of Chastity the health of Temperance the peace of Meek persons and the reputation and joy of the Charitable Amen A Collect for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit O God who knowest that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers that the Temptations of Satan are very prevalent the vanities of the World very deceitful and our own corruptions very strong help and assist me and all thy servants with the succours of thy holy spirit Give me the spirit of Truth of Wisdome and Understanding to keep me from all error and infidelity the spirit of Counsel to guide me in all difficulties the spirit of Might and Power to preserve me from all Apostacy the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord to keep me from all sin and wickedness Let the Holy-Ghost be my comforter in my distresses the assistant of my devotion the quieter of my conscience and let it bear witness with my spirit that I am one of the Sons of God that neither the wiles nor frowns of the Devil the fears of suffering or the hopes of wealth and honour may sway me to neglect my duty but that I may continue thine for ever and that thou mayst be my protector and guide my friend and advocate now and in the agonies of death and at the day of judgement Amen OUR Father which art in Heaven c. MAY the Power of God the Father protect me the Wisdom of God the Son inlighten me the operations and assistances of the holy Spirit quicken me and may the holy Trinity keep me under the shadow of their wings till I come to the palace of Glory Amen Amen The Epistle Heb. 12.1 WHerefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds The Gospel Luke 22.41 AND being withdrawn from them about a stones cast he kneeled down and prayed saying Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be dene And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground The MEDITATION THO every thing that is good and virtuous hath its attractives yet when virtue is attended with power it is in its exaltation and makes as many Votaries as it hath spectators and every one looks on it with admiration and surprize and addresses to it with resolutions either to become good or to beg its protection from evil because Piety so assisted proves a great exemplar and a puissant shelter And such was the holy Jesus who was wonderful in all his atchievements for nothing less than unspotted Innocence and Omnipotence conjoin'd could furnish the World with a Saviour The whole Life of Jesus was a miracle of Love and Compassion and the attempts of the Patriarchs appear mean and inconsiderable when compared with the transcendent performances of the Son of God for if to consult the wants of mankind and to relieve them if curing their Bodies and instructing their Souls if feeding them with temporal food and giving them the Bread of Heaven be demonstrations of a large and a divine Soul then that title is peculiarly to be ascribed to the Redeemer of the world whose actions were one continued series of benefits and mercies I will therefore love the examples of good men but I will admire and adore Jesus I will make reflections on their excellent lives but I must fix my thoughts on the conversation of my Saviour who when he requires my adverting to his Pattern and his Laws enjoins me to look off from all other objects and to settle my eyes on him who loved me and bought me with his own most precious blood for they are but a cloud of witnesses but Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness and as when the Sun arises the little handful of Clouds and dusky vapours dwindle and vanish so when the glorious God appears in competition he eclipses all humane perfections For that which sustained the great Apostle when he was ready to be poured out as a drink-offering for the truth of the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 and what excited
dragg'd by the rude and incensed multitude into the City and there hurried up and down to all the Judicatories in it he was buffeted and scourg'd the Plowers plowed long furrows on his back he was Crown'd with Thorns and loaden with his Cross having been condemned by clamour and importunity by restless and unsatisfied malice when Pilate his proper Judge had confest him Innocent To his Cross both his hands and feet which by reason of their being full of Nerves are the most sensible parts of the Body were fastened being pierc'd through with sharp Nails the whole weight of his Body stretch'd out as on a Rack resting on his expanded Hands there he languished under an insufferable thirst occasioned by his being so violently transported from place to place by his cruel Agony in the Garden by his loss of so much Blood in that Sweat in his scourging in his being Crown'd with Thorns and nailed to his Cross to which both his hands and feet were fastened that he could no way relieve himself he was exposed to the Sun and the Wind which search'd his wounds and made his pains more grievous his Mother and his beloved Disciple were standing by his Cross in the posture of persons distracted by their sorrows and this increased his torment not only as they were his near Relations but as they represented his Widowed and disconsolate Church And when it might have been expected that his Soul should have received comfort while his body was on this rack this was so far from being the portion of Jesus that his Soul felt more fearful convulsions than his tortured Body when all his bones were out of joint all the anger of God was upon him at once now was the Curtain drawn between the rational faculties of his Soul and God whereas before there was only a skreen between his sensitive faculties and his Father now was the beatifical Union suspended and his God had forsaken him when he stood in most need and when he cryed aloud to his Father for help the rude Soldiers study to encrease his sorrows they give him Vinegar to drink which was proper to stop his bleeding and to lengthen his life and torments and that Vinegar mingled with the bitter juice of Hyssop to make the draught more irksome and unpalatable unless we may believe a modern ‖ Heins Arist in Jo. 19 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Critick That they gave him the Vinegar on a Spunge of the coarsest Wooll to do him the greater dishonour Almost a whole day and night was he under continued tortures from his entry into the Garden to his yielding up the ghost whereof six whole hours he was hanging on the Cross and then he died while his Spirit was whole within him and while being in the vigour of his youth his heart within him was like melting wax for in the heighth of all his acute pains he cried with a loud voice and yielded up the ghost his Body being more sensible of pain than usually malefactors are for he had a beautiful shape and was of a fine and pure make and of a delicate constitution born of a Virgin not subject to and so never harrast with diseases and the pains of his Soul bore proportion to his bodily sufferings for he well knew how grievous and insupportable the anger of God is which we are insensible of he dreaded the burthen of those sins which we delight in and the severity of those punishments which we deride his notions of things were clear his apprehension quick and the bent of his mind most strongly inclinable to pity and compassion Thus were his sorrows augmented and his sufferings made intollerable while the rigour of his enemies left no sound part in him for he suffered in his Soul in his bitter Agony in his whole Body in his Sweat his Head was crowned with Thorns his Eyes were a fountain of tears his Ears inured to mockings his Palate disgusted vvith the Vinegar and the Wine mixt vvith Myrrh his Face spit upon his Neck and Shoulders loaden vvith the burthen of a heavy Cross his Back and Sides scourged his Heart pierc'd vvith the Spear his Hands and Feet nailed to the accursed Tree his Flesh torn and his Blood spilt that he might most justly exclaim I am the man that hath seen affliction by the Rod of God's Wrath Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see was there ever sorrow like my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger Nor were these all his sufferings for the consideration and foresight that all these mercies should be bestowed on an ingrateful and rebellious World the greatest part of which would be hypocrites and unbelievers would trample on his Blood as an unholy and profane thing and would frustrate the end of his death and the designs of his mercy this doubtless made his sorrows exquisite and so transcendent as nothing could parallel but his Love and his Patience Here the devout Christian may put a stop to his Meditations for a while and subjoin this COLLECT O Lord who wert pleased in the fulness of time to send thine only begotten Son into the World made of a Woman made under the Law that he might become a curse for us and reconcile the World unto thee our Father by his bitter Agony and cruel Death and who hast assured us that thou scourgest every son whom thou receivest grant that I may be conformable to the image of thy beloved Son and our dearest Saviour that his sufferings may be the propitiation for my sins his Blood may cleanse my Soul and I may have life through him and grant that as Jesus offered up himself to thy justice so I may offer my self and all my enjoyments a Sacrifice of praise for the Mercies of God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost now and for evermore Amen After which the devout Christian at what time his strength and occasions will best permit may continue his Meditation Proportionate to the torments which Jesus endured was his shame and ignominy than which nothing is more insufferable to an ingenuous nature His birth was mean his Mother a poor Virgin he was born in a Stable and Cradled in a Manger he was brought up at the mean and laborious Trade of his reputed Father Joseph his many Journies were performed on foot he had no setled habitation and very few Friends and those poor ignorant and contemptible Galilean Fishermen whose very Country was ominous and at his last essay was he not apprehended as a vile malefactor and that not by a party of men of Honour not by the Guards of the Captain of the Temple or the Roman Governor but by the Rabble the meanest of the people tumultuously gathered together arm'd with Clubs and Swords the hasty weapons their fury could lay hold on He was treated as a publick Nusance tho as free from sin as truth and innocence could make