the good name and reputation of another Or hast thou pleased thy self either in inventing or spreading rumors of that kind III. Dost thou willingly give ear to Slanderers and to such as go about with lies or dost thou abhor them both in thy self and others The Examination upon the tenth Commandment I. DOst thou rest contented in that condition or state of life wherein God hath placed thee or hast thou at any time inordinately lusted after that which belongs to others II. Hast thou entertained secret covetings in thy thoughts with any delight or complacency Or hast thou labour'd to restrain them and quench them in their first beginnings When you have consider'd seriously and answered your self in these particulars one by one sum up the Account you have made where you find your self innocent give the glory to God whose Grace hath kept you from falling into those sins but where you find your self guilty humble your self before God in Prayer confessing sadly the evil you have done and imploring mercy in these or such other words as the devotion of your heart shall suggest to you An humble Confession after Examination O The God of my Soul with all humble Reverence I appear this day before thee not as the proud Pharisee to justifie my self but as the poor Publican who striking his breast durst not lift up his eyes towards Heaven nor say any more than this Lord be merciful to me a sinner For I have sinned O Lord I have sinned Wo is me I cannot cast my searching eyes into any corner of thy Commandments but I find my self miserably guilty But in what manner soever I have offended thee O my merciful Lord whether in Thought Word or Deed whether secretly or openly I am now sorry for it from the very root and bottom of my heart beseeching thee to look compassionately upon the frailty and ignorance the wilfulness and presumption of my life and graciously to forgive all that I have done amiss For alas I am neither able to stand thine indignation nor present thee with any thing of mine own but tears and prayers to appease thine anger Be reconciled therefore to me O God in the blood of thy dear Son which was so freely offered up to thee as a full ransom for the sins of the whole World O require not that payment again of me a poor and bankrupt sinner but for his sake for his abundant Satisfactions sake cancel the hand-writings that are against me blot out all my sins past new and old and for the time to come let there be an everlasting tie between my Soul and thee that thou maist be my God and I may live and die thy servant Amen A Protestation to be made after Confession O My great and glorious God I who am less than the grain of dust that hangs upon the balance profess seriously and with the remorse of a wounded spirit that I am not only sorry but ashamed and confounded within my self that I have so many ways sinned against so good a God so gracious a Father But what is past I cannot recal though thy mercy may forgive But for the time to come I call all thy holy Angels to witness that I this day sacrifice my self wholly to thee resolving to break of from all sinful courses and fully purposing never to offend thee more But because thou knowest my failings and my weakness is not hid from thee I beg of thee O my God to shew thy strength in my weakness and to confirm my infirm mind in this holy Resolution That so never repenting of this Repentance nor wavering in those Resolute Purposes which I have now by thy Grace fo deliberately made I may go on constantly in a pure and holy life till in the end of my days I come to everlasting joys which thou hast prepared for them that love thee through Jesus Christ my Lord Amen A Prayer before the receiving the holy Sacrament O My most blessed Saviour who in the bowels of thy Mercy towards Mankind didst not only offer thy self a Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world but didst institute this heavenly and holy Sacrament as the means to convey the Benefits of thy precious death to all such as with humility and repentance come unto thee Accept I beseech thee this my humble Address who here present my self a woful sinner I confess but such a one who am heartily sorry for my sins and penitent for my offences Direct me therefore O my God in this great action with such a reverent and awful fear that all the faculties of my soul may be attentive rightly to apprehend and joyfully to receive this wonderful Mystery of thy Body and Blood O my Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof let thy Holy Spirit therefore before thy coming prepare and dress up a Lodging for thee in my Soul cleansing it from the stains of sin and suffering nothing to abide in it that may keep thee out so that being wholly possest by thee all sinful thoughts and unclean suggestions may not only presently vanish but never find entrance more Grant this O my Jesu and so this day receive me into thy favour that I may with joy receive thee into my soul and being once united with thee thy Grace may never depart from me that so thou maist live in me and I in thee for ever Amen A Thanksgiving after the Receiving of the Sacrament O Lord the only Spring and everlasting Fountain of all good who hast this day revived and quickned my poor Soul by giving thy self unto me after a wonderful way in this Blessed Sacrament I praise and glorifie thy holy Name for this thine infinite mercy beseeching thee to crown what thou hast begun by a continual supply of thy heavenly grace that I may never forget whom or what I have received but being purified by thy Blood and strengthned by thy Body against all future Temptations I may constantly run through all the parts of an holy life to the possession of thy glorious Kingdom World without end Amen Amen Rules of Devotion to be observed toward the Evening or some time of the Afternoon I. THat you fail not unless some extraordinary or unavoidable accidents hinder you to allot some part of the Afternoon or toward the Evening for the advantage of your soul when freeing your self from business and company you may retire into your Closet or private Oratory and there direct your thoughts without disturbance upon God alone II. That being thus retired you constantly make it your business to read some part of the Holy Scripture especially in the Psalms which if all other Books of Devotion were lost are sufficient to supply us in that kind having begun there go on to the reading of some part of the New-Testament not carelesly or in haste as if you had a mind to have done but so attentively as to be able to give some account of what you have read or
Vera Effigies Rev. di in Christo Patris at D. D. Bryan Duppa quondam Episcopi Wintoniensis HOLY RULES and HELPS TO DEVOTION Both in Prayer and Practice IN TWO PARTS The fourth Edition Written by The right Reverend Father in God Bryan Duppa Late Lord Bishop of Winton In the time of his SEQUESTRATION London Printed for vp Hensman at the King's-Head in Westminster-Hall 1683. TO THE Christian Reader THe Name and Memory of the excellent Author of this Treatise needs not borrow or derive a Reputation from any Pen but its own There are already many useful Pieces and Helps to Devotion set forth both by Bishops and others of our Church more solid serviceable and advantagious to true Piety and the power of Godliness than all the gifted Impertinencies to say no worse of some Holy Pretenders For if Noise and Clamour might pass for Inspiration the Apostles must go for Weak-Brethren and mere Novices compared with our new Lights and Improvements That Set Forms of Prayer are altogether necessary in Publick cannot be denied and needs not now be represented They are abundantly useful even for private Christians also since it is not every one that can pray extempore in his Closet and he that can may notwithstanding be defective enough in the matter or manner of his Petitions For though God principally respects the Heart and Affections of his Servants and the Spirit helps our Infirmities with sighs and groans yet we ought even in private to have an awful orderly regard of the Great God to whom we address our selves and the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray as with ardent Affections so with reverend humble minds and not with disorderly confused or unprepared approaches and a rude confidence without just ground or foundation This is not to help or diminish our infirmities but to augment them more He that prays extempore must be one of better Faith and Principles Life and Conversation than many are who so familiarly pretend to it But whatever some mens Graces may be in this particular which God forbid I should seek to diminish or reproach yet for such who I doubt are far the greater number as yet have not attained to so great a Perfection in this holy Duty I cannot but recommend these Rules and Directions which answer the Title and will I hope the Expectation of those that use them to their benefit and comfort God grant us all that Unity of Spirit which intitles us to the Gifts and Graces of of the Spirit that so praying with one heart and mind as becometh Saints we may have our Communion in Glory among the Iust hereafter Ben. Parry HOLY Rules and Helps TO DEVOTION Both in Prayer and Practice But I will give my self unto Prayer O Eternal Wisdom who communicatest thy self unto thy Creatures in such measure as they are capable of vouchsafe to impart to my Soul that Heavenly Gift to be a Guide to me in all my Thoughts my Thoughts my Words my Actions that so being taught by Thy Holy Spirit I may so far know Thee as to love Thee and so far love Thee as ever to fix my thoughts upon Thee Of Prayer what it is THe several Properties and Excellencies of Prayer have afforded matter enough to the Ancient Fathers to mold as many several and different Descriptions of it which like many Stars cast into a Constellation may give all together a full and perfect Representation of it Gregory Nyssen defines Prayer to be the conversing or discoursing of the Soul with God concerning her Salvation Which being done by the outward Expressions of the Voice is called Vocal Prayer but if by the Mind alone Mental In this way of conversing with God the Soul makes use of her Three principal Faculties her Memory her Understanding her Will Her Memory to call to mind what she is to treat of her Understanding to weigh and to judge what she delivers Her Will to perform this Duty feelingly and affectionately For all these Faculties must concur in Prayer elevating the Soul and fixing it upon God as the highest Truth in which we are to believe the Soveraign Happiness which we are to hope for the Supream Goodness which we are to love and the infinite Excellence which we are to adore So that Prayer is principally grounded on a lively Faith of such things as God hath revealed an assured Hope of what he hath promised and a servent Love which serves as the Fire to kindle this Sacrifice and to carry the Soul upward till it arrive at the Throne of Grace From hence it is that Damascen describes Prayer to be an ascending of the Soul to God being therefore compared to the sweet Perfume that ascended from the Incense But as the Incense being cast into the Fire ascends only in the more subtile and delicate part of it which being converted into Air and Smoak leaves behind it the grosser and earthier part turn'd into Ashes So in this ascent the Soul leaves behind it the earthier parts as Abraham left his Servants behind him at the foot of the Mountain while he ascended to the top of it to sacrifice For this is a business that belongs to Eagles which as they fly high so in their flight they look stedfastly on the Sun It is not for those that intrench themselves in the Earth as in their proper Element nor yet for Birds of Prey which though they fly high yet their eyes are still cast downward Sursum Corda was the form in ancient Liturgies the Priest calling out to the People Lift up your hearts which the people as readily answered Habemus ad Dominum This ascending of the Soul by Prayer was figured as St. Austin conceives by that mysterious Ladder whose foot being upon the Earth the top of it reached unto Heaven seen by Iacob in a Vision with Angels ascending and descending on the Rundles of it carrying up our Prayers to God and bringing down Blessings upon him that offers them But because this ascent is not ordinarily by Rapture for the Angels were not seen to fly up the Ladder but to mount by degrees we are to consider the several Steps and Rundles we are to ascend by THe first Step is laid hold on by the Memory which begins this spiritual ascent by putting the Soul in mind to look up to the Majesty of him that stands above the Ladder to remember that though the place we chuse for our Devotion be never so solitary yet we are not alone that God hears what we say sees what we do that the whole Trinity is present as visible to thy eyes of Faith as grosser Objects are to the outward senses For there is God the Father the Fountain of good Thoughts ready to assist through his power and to keep us from distraction in our Prayers there is God the Son the eternal Truth prepared to direct us by his Wisdom and to deliver us from errour and delusion there is God the Holy Ghost the Source and Spring of
divine Love able to enflame the Will with fervent Affections and keep us from damps of coldness and indevotion And when we have thus put our selves into the presence of God with an awful Reverence and Adoration of him as present we have then mounted the first step and degree of this Ladder O Heavenly Father who hearest the Prayers of all that seek Thee purifie the Intention of my Soul in all the Prayers I make to Thee that I may neither seek nor desire any thing but in relation to Thee through IESUS CHRIST Amen THe second step or act of the Soul is To look to the directing of the Intention to fix it entirely upon God and take it off from all earthly things For as the least Grain and Atom of dust offends the eye so this Intention admits of no mixture no vanity of being seen or heard at your Prayers no curiosity of thinking to climb up by this Ladder into the secrets of God no spiritual Pride in reflecting upon your self as more devout than others for as it must be sincere so it must be humble directed to the Glory of God alone which in this ascent of your Soul must be always in your eye as the Centre in which all the lines of Prayer must meet But then this Intention of the Supplicant must be accompanied with some Offering too For it was Gods Command to his People that none should come into his presence with empty hands Being therefore come into his presence deal generously and freely with him offer him the thing which he most desires even thy heart with all the thoughts and affections of it to be disposed by him not only during the time of Prayer but for all thy life For this Offering of thy Heart to God if it makes way for thy Prayer and breaks through those Clouds which thy sins have interposed between God and thee O Eternal God who for all those Infinite Blessings which thou hast bestowed on me requirest nothing back of me but my Heart Behold I offer up to thee the Heart which Thou demandest And since it is now Thine fill it with Thy Gifts and adorn it with thy Graces that every beating every pulse of it may be a Prayer and every Prayer being kindled by Thy holy Spirit may be a Sacrifice fitted for Thine Altar through Iesus Christ. Amen AFter this Offering the next step is by raising the Understanding and the awakening of our Faith to a due consideration of that which you are about Being therefore retired into thine Oratory make these few Questions to thine own Soul and engage thy self to an answer O my Soul Wherefore art thou retired into this place What is thy Design What thy Pretension Where is thy God whom thou comest to Treat with Is he present Doth he hear thee Or is he merciful Will he help thee What is thy business thou art to negotiate Is it the saving of thy Soul or the satisfying of thine earthly Desires What words wilt thou use to move thy God to hear thee What humble gestures What profound reverence Answer thy self briefly to every one of these Interrogatories as thy own Conscience dictates to thee For by this discourse made with thy self thou shalt be the better prepared to discourse with God But to make this preparation the more compleat the quality of the Persons engaged in this Treaty is necessarily to be weighed Consider therefore first with my self who thou art that makest thy approaches to speak with God That thou art but dust and ashes Abraham himself was no more Consider again the motives that may drive thee to this duty Thy sins many thy strength little thy self nothing thy dangers great thy case the same with the Disciples in the Storm when they cried out Master save us or else we perish For he that really lays these three things to heart 1. The extreme necessity that he is in 2. The small possibility of help either from himself or any other Creature 3. The high importance of that which he is about that it is as much as his Soul is worth will never dare to come coldly and carelesly to a work of that concernment Having thus far reflected on your own condition you are in the next place to raise the Prospect from your self to the Person you pray to to consider that he is no less than God who clothed himself with light as with a Garment A God infinitely wise from whom nothing can be hid infinitely powerful to whom nothing is impossible infinitely good ready to shed and diffuse and impart his goodness to his Creatures that therefore though his Majesty may terrifie thee yet his Mercy may invite thee especially if you consider God as he is in Christ reconciling you unto himself For as the one may strike a reverence into you so the other will infuse a confidence without which our weak Prayers will never have strength enough to reach the Throne of Grace O My Glorious God Thou art the Holy of Holies but I the Impurest of sinners Thou art Mercy it self I Misery even Misery it self What should I seek farther to know either of thee or my self Let my love of Thee make up the knowledge that is wanting For what should Misery be in love withal but Mercy Or where should Mercy exercise it self but where there is so much Misery THe Understanding being awakened with these Considerations the fourth act of the Soul in relation to Prayer is to rouze the Affection which is seated in the Will This being so necessary an Ingredient in your Prayer that is it but a cold Offering without it The understanding may provide for you this Spiritual food but it is the Will that must taste and swallow and digest it into nourishment the one may make you wise but the other must make you holy The Prophet tells you that the Seraphins in God's presence with two of their wings cover their face and with two other their feet leaving only their breast open which is the seat of Love When therefore you present your selves in the sight of God be sure you so far imitate these Seraphins that though your eyes be vaile you cannot look into his Glory you cannot know him as you would your Breast the seat of your Affections be open to receive and emit those beams of divine love which only can kindle devotion to the height and unite your Soul to God by a most intimate Union But alas you will say those blessed Spirits that are in such a nearness to God may well be all fire and love but you at such a distance cannot find the effects of it the wood lies upon the Altar but you want fire to kindle it all that you can do is to search in the ashes for some small spark to blow at But know you not saith Siracides how great a fire a small spark may kindle The same Spirit of God that moved upon the Waters till it had produced the World moves upon
thy heart foments and cherisheth the least spark of the love of God which it finds there and makes it flame out into a servent prayer David found this by experience where he saith of himself while I was thus musing my heart kindled within me and I spake with my Tongue The Devotion of the heart saith St. Bernard is the Tongue of the Soul without this it is silent and shut up but actuated and heated with Love it poures it self forth in Supplications and Prayers and Discourses with God sometimes Praising him for the Infinite Blessings received from him sometimes Praying to him for those which we yet want This is that conversing of the Soul with God which Gregory Nyssen speaks of as a Son Conversing with his Father or a Friend with a Friend into whose bosom he may pour forth with confidence all the Secrets of his Soul as a Favourite with his Prince or a betrothed Virgin with her Lover What the result of these discourses is what words are spoken what secrets discovered what delights enjoyed may easier be felt than spoken of When the Soul being lifted up by the wings of Prayer and rarified into a flame by Love reacheth the very Bosom of God But though every devout Soul mounts not to this pitch this top of the Ladder let none be dismaied at it For God knows whereof you are made he sees the body of flesh which you bear about you and the Plummets which it hangs upon your Soul and therefore when you cannot rise high enough to him he comes down to you for so you find in this Vision there were descending as well as ascending Angels We do not read that St. Paul was often rapt into the third Heaven Notwithstanding his Raptures the Angel of Satan that buffeted him made him remember that he was still upon the Earth For one foot of the Compass will unavoidably be fixed there when the other moves in the circumference of divine contemplation Iacob himself was but at the bottom at the foot of the ladder when his Soul was at the highest and saw God at the top of it O Most wise God the Unction of whose Spirit can teach me all things teach me the Rules I am to observe in this Heavenly Exercise of Prayer Stir up my Memory to remember that thou art present fix my intention upon Thee upon Thee alone Awake my Understanding to consider what I am about and who I am to speak to But above all inflame my Affections that my heart being set on fire with Thy Love my Prayers may participate of that Fervency and be accepted of Thee for his sake who came to send this Fire upon the Earth even Iesus Christ my Saviour Amen Of the Excellencies and Fruits of Prayer as they may be drawn out of the Lords Prayer THere is no clearer glass to see the excellencies of Prayer in than that very Prayer which our Saviour thought fit to teach his Disciples Where the first entrance presents you with that unvaluable Priviledge to call God your Father that therefore you come not to treat with him as a Slave with his Master or a Vassal with his Prince but as a Son with your Father God infusing into you by Prayer that Spirit of Adoption by which you cry to him Abba Father This being saith St. Chrysostome the highest excellency of the Creature to treat familiarly as a Son with his Creator A Dignity that raiseth us poor Worms of the Earth to a kind of equality with the Angels themselves for though in Nature they are above us yet this duty makes us equal For Quid potest inveniri sanctius iis qui cum Deo commercium habent Saith the same Father What can be more holy than he who is admitted to treat familiarly with God Moses by talking with God had such a brightness shed upon his face that they who looked upon him were dazled with it For if they who have the ear of Princes as Favourites having freedom of access and opportunity at all times of presenting their Petitions cannot want the splendor of Worldly things which consequently will follow them much less can the beams of an higher glory be wanting unto them who live as if they were always in the presence of God talking with God by Prayer and God with them by holy Inspirations What can they want who are admitted to this Privacy And it is your fault if you are not For there are neither doors nor locks nor any greater Favourite to keep you out He that gives you leave to call him Father cannot exclude his Son that cries Father I have sinned O Gracious Father what thanks what praise can we offer to Thee for raising us to that honour of entring into thy presence as Sons and conversing with Thee on the Earth with the same Freedom as the Angels do in Heaven O grant us the Grace so to make advantages of so Divine a Priviledge that our sins may never make us forfeit it but rather by a devout and humble use of it acquire to our selves daily new degrees of Thy Favour till Thou hast brought us Thy unworthy Sons to that incorruptible Inheritance which can neither have encrease nor end Amen THe second Excellency of Prayer is That it is a means by which the name of God is hallowed both by us and in us We pray that his Name may be Sanctified and we Sanctifie his Name by praying so Our Tongues but much more our Lives being made Instruments to glorifie him God is glorified by our believing in him by our knowing him by our adoring him and in Prayer we do all this By Prayer we bring to light those graces and gifts of God which he hath hid for us in his eternal Predestination as we may see in that Prayer of Christ to his Eternal Father And now O Father glorifie thou me with thy own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was From whence the School infers That Prayer is the principal means ordered by providence for the execution of what God hath decreed on our behalf God had decreed the Incarnation of his Son for the saving of the World he had promised and could not vary from it Yet this kept not Moses from his Petition Send him whom thou wilt send nor the Prophet from praying O that thou wouldest bow the Heavens and come down The Father had decreed to give his Son being Incarnate the Nations for his inheritance but the execution of this Decree was to be by Prayer the Son of God himself was to pay for it for Postula Dabo Ask of me and I will give them thee If therefore the Decree of your Predestination be yet dark to you and you would willingly know whether your name be written in the Book of Life there is no way of obtaining this but humble Prayer Do but pray fervently that God would glorifie himself in thee by making thee a Vessel for his Honour and
we look for pardon of our Trespasses against God Prayer helps you in the fulfilling of this condition too and though your hearts be as hard as Iron Prayer is of the nature of Fire and is able to soften that Iron and melt you into that compassion toward your enemies as to pray for them with the same earnestness as you do for your selves But then when our past sins are pardoned where shall we find a Remedy against future Temptations Our Saviour tells you where when he saith to his Disciples Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation If the fire of Lust begin to kindle in your hearts Prayer can extinguish that fire Or if a whole Sea of worldly Afflictions breaks in upon you Prayer can set a Bank to that Sea If you are compassed about with Enemies Temptations on all sides and are ready to be swallowed up by them remember that Moses's Prayer prevailed more against Amalek than Ioshuah's Arms. And then again in the close as Prayer hath the nature of a Charm to keep Temptations from you so when by Humane Weakness and the Arts of the Tempter you are led into them Prayer is as the thread to bring you out of this Labyrinth Or when you have unwarily taken in the poison of sin Prayer is the Antidote against the venom of it it doth not only remove the guilt but the evil of Punishment which is due to it whether it be in this Life or in the next And of this David was very sensible when he cryes out in a kind of Extasie of Thankfulness Blessed be God which hath not cast out my Prayer nor turned his Mercy from me Intimating by this as St. Austin understands the words that there is a kind of Contract or Bargain made between Prayer on Man's part and Mercy on God's That where Prayer led the way Mercy should always follow O Father of Mercies Give me that gift of Prayer by the means of which Thou dost use to dispense those Mercies suffer me never to be weary of praying lest that make Thee weary of forgiving For this I am sure of that if I cease not to pray Thou canst not cease to have mercy For because Thou art good Thou wilt always deliver me from evil Not for mine but for Thine own Goodness sake BY this which hath been said may be inferred the necessity of Prayer both in respect of your spiritual Life which it preserves And in regard of spiritual Enemies which otherwise would destroy you For as the Body without the Soul is dead loathsome and overspread with Worms so fares it with the Soul saith Chrysostome that doth not use to pray and consequently hath no spiritual Life in it For as soon as the Breath of Prayer fails the Soul putrifies and the Worm of Conscience gnaws upon it Daniel therefore chose rather to hazard his life than to omit his exercise of Prayer thrice a day as being willing that his Body should suffer rather than his Soul Would you know further how precious Prayer is devout Men will tell you That Prayer pierceth the Clouds reacheth the Heavens rejoyceth the Angels appeaseth God obtains whatsoever it sues for O Grace of Grace holy and heavenly FATHER what shall I say of thee either to express thy Excellency or the Necessity my Soul hath of thine help I am the Fountain of all Misery and thou art to me the Source and Spring of Mercy With thee I live without thee I die With thee I am able to do all things without thee I can do nothing O Divine Spirit whose Gift alone it is to know how to speak to Thee Give me the Spirit of Wisdom by which I may sanctifie Thy Name the Spirit of Understanding by whose Light I may see the secrets of Thy Kingdom the Spirit of Counsel which may guid me to do Thy Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven the Spirit of Knowledg to discover and to ask what is Necessary either for Body or for Soul the Spirit of Charity to move me to pardon my Enemies as I desire Thou shouldst pardon me the Spirit of Fear to avoid all Occasions and Approaches to sin and the Spirit of Might and Courage to overcome all Evil. Amen Of the Impediments and Enemies of Prayer HAving considered the glorious Fruits and admirable Efficacy of Prayer we are to look about and to discover what Enemies we are like to meet with to oppose and hinder us in the exercise of this Heavenly Duty For Prayer is in its own nature a kind of Wrestling and Striving for a Victory which presupposeth an opposition And rather than it shall be wanting God himself will enter into the Lists as he did with Iacob in that famous Wrestling when to shew the power of Prayer he that was invincible was content to be overcome by him who had no other weapons but Tears and Prayers When therefore you find your selves afflicted make use of our Saviour's Parable Arise though it be at Midnight repair speedily to the Gates of your true Friend God himself for you have no Friend like him though you find the doors shut and your Friend asleep begin your Battery and give not over knocking with importunate Cries and Prayers till he open to you as Iacob would not let the Angel go till he had blessed him O Omnipotent and Invisible GOD who lettest thy Self down to my Weakness and givest me strength to wrestle with Thee for a Blessing strengthen my Prayer to that height that when Thou seemest most to set thy Self against me I may prevail with Thee as Jacob did For my overcoming Thee is but the effect of Thy overcoming thy Self in me so that the glory of the Victory which I get over Thee will be intirely Thine Wrestle on therefore O my Soul give not over thy hold take no answer that brings not a Blessing with it For it is Thy God who strengthens thee and through him thou shalt at last be more than Conqueror Amen AS Prayer therefore is a Wrestling with God we look not upon this opposition as an hindrance but as an advantage to Devotion The true Enemies of Prayer exercise a more dangerous Hostility where the Van is led by those damned Spirits who being fallen from Heaven themselves endeavour the more enviously to obstruct the ways that may lead us thither and because nothing conduceth more to this than Prayer they order all their Temptations to this end chiefly either to divert us from it or disturb us in it If they tempt us to excess in Meats and Drinks their aim is not only to make us guilty of Intemperance but by it to render us the more unfit for Prayer Or if they prompt us to Anger and Impatience their design terminates not in that sin but rather makes use of it to a further end that the mind being thus disquieted may not be able easily to compose and settle it self to Prayer For the effecting this they
the feet As if he should say to thee Here I am even I thy God but come not near me till thou hast put off thine earthly Affections till thou hast devested thy self of whatsoever is displeasing in my sight if not take heed No man can see me and live that is saith St. Gregory None can see me spiritually that lives carnally It was an high expression of him who was so great an Admirer of Euripides that he was wont to say That if he were sure there were any sense in death he could be content to die only that he might see Euripides But then to see God who would not mortifie himself Say therefore with that earnestness as St. Austin did Moriar ut te videam O Thou Fountain of Life Make me die that I may see Thee Mortifie me that I may enjoy Thee Strangle me take away my breath that I may speak to Thee But then again Videam te ut Moriar Let me in some measure see Thee first that I may value Thee that I may be content to die to the end I may see Thee further For if I know not at all how to contemplate Thee I shall as little know how to mortifie my Affections so as to fit my self for Prayer THE third Assault that is made upon the Soul is by the Cares of this Life which like so many Thorns are ready to choak the seeds of Grace as soon as they are sown For overmuch solicitude and anxiety of Mind in worldly things casts such an heap of Earth upon our Prayers as will not suffer them to ascend taking up the Mind and all the Faculties of it and hardly admitting so much as a Thought of Heaven But as they say of Thorns That they may do well in an Hedg but ill in a Garden so is it with these Cares which being kept within their bounds and measures hurt not the Soul but if we admit them among our Prayers they corrupt the very nature of them and turn them into Sin When thou art therefore setting thy self to thy Devotions imagine that thou hearest thy Saviour calling to thee as he did to Martha Why art thou so careful why art thou troubled about many things One thing is only needful the saving of thy Soul Since therefore thou art come to treat about it dismiss whatsoever may disturb thee lay aside thy Cares as Mary did place thy self at my feet hear me in my Word that I may hear thee in thy Prayer O Gracious Iesu I am come at this time to humble my self at thy Feet and to beg Mercy for my Soul which ought to be dearer to me than a thousand Worlds O suffer not then any Worldly Cares to divert or hinder me Root out this Bed of Thorns and sow holy Thoughts instead of them Let me not be like Martha troubled about many things but fix me upon that One thing needful which I am come about that so having chosen the better part it may never be taken from me Amen BUt the Conflict is not yet done when these former Enemies are overcome there may be a swarm left of busie vain impertinent thoughts of which we may complain as David did that they have compassed us about like Bees For the Imagination being naturally unquiet and tumultuous interposeth it self many times without asking leave of us casting thoughts in our way and forcing the Understanding to reflect upon them And these she either fetcheth from Objects without from something that we have either seen or heard or done or if it fail of new plies from thence it presently busies it self within in forming of various Images Figures and Forms which like so many Atoms casting themselves into several Schemes trouble and vex the Soul in the midst of her Devotions not unlike the Birds which would have hindered Abraham in his Sacrifice And happy it were if we could as easily chase away these thoughts from us as Abraham drove away those Birds But their pertinacy is such that when you drive them out of one Form they assume another and are so importunately troublesome as makes many think it a thing impossible to be freed from them Cassianus confesseth of himself that he was brought very near to a dispairing of it till opening himself to a devout man of more experience himself being then but young he was brought off by this Similitude Should you ask saith he one that could neither swim himself nor ever saw others swim Whether he thought it possible that the heavy body of a Man could spread it self upon the water without sinking Would not he answer peremptorily That it was not possible But let the same man see once with what ease the Swimmer keeps his head above the water Would he not as suddenly change his mind upon the sight of this Experiment and apply himself to practise it You say it is impossible but you do not try whether it be so or no. For either holy Men have deceived us or some of them by the Grace of God assisting them have attained such a degree of Power over themselves as the Centurion in the Gospel had over his Souldiers they could have given the Law not only to their outward senses as Iob did to his eyes that they should not so much as look on Vanity but to their more inward Faculties they could command their Appetite to love or hate their rational Faculty to meditate their imaginative to think on this or not to think on that For the same St. Paul who humbled himself so low as to say that of himself he could do nothing could say too without arrogancy That he could do all things but then it was in Christ that strengthned him All things in Christ nothing of himself The Centurion whom we spake of that had his Souldiers so absolutely at his Command confesseth ingenuously that he himself exercised his Authority under another For in all powers subordinate the way to be obeyed is to obey Nor can these Imaginations be possibly subdued to Reason till Reason be subdued to Faith Submit thy self therefore to God O my Soul and there will follow a glorious Victory But you must strive for it for this unruly swarm of thoughts hurt none but those that yield to them When they buz about thee like Flies in a hot day drown their noise with the louder cry of thy Prayers And as Spiders cannot easily weave their Nets in a High Wind so neither shall whole Armies of vain Imaginations be able to ensuare thee as long as thy earnest Prayers like a vehement wind shall blow against them O Most mighty God who seest my Weather-beaten Soul tost and driven by vain and various Imaginations like a torn Bark by contrary Winds and not suffered to sail on in a straight Course towards Thee send thy Holy Spirit to calm this Tempest and to lay these Winds that they may no longer hinder me in my way to Heaven or disturb me in my Prayers
in the very first motions and approaches of my Devotions and so order the beginnings of my Prayers as they may go on and never end till they are accepted of Thee Amen Of the Reverence and Adoration that is to be used in Prayer AMong all the Duties that relate to Prayer whether of Preparation to it or of Deportment in it there is none of more prime Concernment than to consider that when we pray we do place or set our selves in the immediate presence of God whose eyes though they are at all times over us yet then we must imagine them more particularly and earnestly fixed upon us And as from this Consideration flows all the care and solicitude of fitting our selves by the former preparatives so besides it suggests to us with what reverence we should present our selves before so infinite a Majesty not only because God expects it from us though this were enough to oblige For if I am your Father where is mine honour If I am your Master where is my fear The words of him that looks for Reverence but because our Prayers are then only effectual when they are presented with acts of Adoration For so saith Siracides The Prayer of him that humbleth himself goes through the Clouds and ceaseth not till it come near and will not depart till the most High have respect thereunto Nor doth the Son of God himself disdain to be a President to us in this whose prayers upon the Cross being offered with strong cries and tears were heard as St. Paul saith Propter Reverentiam importing as Aquinas observes not so much the Reverence due to his own Person but rather the Reverence which he did in his own Person to God the Father But because the Reverence which was done there was only the act of his Mind for his Body being then nail'd unto the Cross was not in a Capacity of performing outward Adoration he gave us before that pattern in the Garden where St. Luke saith that he kneeled St. Matthew that he fell on his face when he prayed Having shewn this of the Son of God Incarnate of whom it is said Let all the Angels of God Worship him It were much to descend to tell you of the four Beasts or the twenty four Elders that fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever But then if this lowly Reverence was done by them who were in such a nearness to God when they offered up to him the Prayers of the Saints what posture can be low enough for us miserable men whose Prayers those are and who in comparison of those heavenly Spirits are viler than the Worms we tread upon That Adoration therefore is necessary none will deny that either know the Excellency of God or their own baseness But because this may be done either by the mind alone or by the Body alone or by both conjoyned which makes the compleat Adoration let us inform our selves first what the inward act of it is For as our Saviour taught the Woman of Samaria God who is himself a Spirit must be worshipped in Spirit for the most profound outward Reverence if not accompanied with this is but a Body without a Soul a Pharisaical Ceremony or an Adoration of Complement of which God sadly complains when he saith of his people That they drew near to him with their lips but their heart was far from him The inward Adoration therefore is the humbling of our spirit to God in regard of the excellency that is in him submitting our very Soul with all the powers and faculties of it to his Divine Disposal as being the necessary Homage of the Creature due to the Greatness and Majesty of the Creator The exercise of this Adoration consists in several acts partly of the Understanding partly of the Will For first there is an act of Reverence required before you begin your Devotions in an humble Recognition of your unworthiness of which the Patriarch Abraham hath left you so excellent a pattern when being about to beseech God that he would spare Sodom he doth not only acknowledg himself to be dust and ashes but upon every return of speaking to God in that Cause he doth it with that fear and reverence as to ask leave and to deprecate his anger before he spake O let not the Lord be angry and I will speak I Confess O Lord it is an excess of holdness in me that I so poor a Worm so vile so contemptible a Creature should presume to speak to Thee Yet be not angry with me for this for it is not because I value my self more than Abraham did for if he were but dust and ashes what am I but because I dare not under value Thy Mercy that I make my humble approaches to Thee Behold I am nothing in mine own eyes O let me be something in Thine and disdâ—in me not when I speak unto Thee for Christ his sake Amen THis humble Recognition being made of your own vileness there is a second way of spiritual Adoration when the Soul humbled by this Reflex upon it self changeth the Object and raiseth a further Reverence by the consideration of the Excellencies and several perfections that are in God sometimes crying out in such Ejaculations as these O most excellent God I adore Thee for Thine Infinite Wisdom I reverence Thee for Thine Incomprehensible Goodness I glorifie Thee for Thine Immense Charity Sometimes again by a profound silence making a tacite acknowledgment that all that can be said by thee is nothing For not only the tongues of men but of Angels must fail in the expression of his Glory Besides there is a Reverence to be used to God in the Stile or Titles which you give to him and these you may vary according to the variety of the matter of your petitions wherein the Psalms of David are admirable and afford you no less than forty several ways of Compellation of him some relating to his Power as when he calls him by the names of The King of Heaven the King of Glory The God of my Strength The God that doth Wonders the very stile striking a kind of fear and reverence into the Soul Others again relating to his Goodness My Saviour My God My Might My Hope My Refuge in the time of trouble Which though they run in a stile of Confidence yet are not without reverence too But then as Gerson observes the stile that is best fitted for all persons on all occasions to use is the compellation of Father which our Saviour first taught his Disciples to make use of in that excellent Prayer never to be disus'd nor laid aside by us Before the time of Grace published to the World we do not find this Title in the prayers of Holy Men either Patriarchs or Prophets But after the Son of God by taking our Nature upon him became our Brother then was the boldness given to call God our Father given even
to single at least some one passage or more out of it to be laid up in your Memory and to be made use of in the practice of an holy life III. That in this time of retirement you lay all things aside that may divert you from Holy and Heavenly thoughts considering that you set your self in the presence of God that you are to give him an account of what you are doing w ch that you may the better do you may begin with this Prayer A Prayer upon the Entrance into your Closet O My great and gracious God whose infinite mercy it is that I have this minute of my life left me I here appear in thy presence lamenting sadly that so much of my time is already lost either in doing ill or doing nothing or in doing that which hath been unprofitable and vain O grant that I may redeem the hours that are past dispose of those that are to come in serving thee hereafter with a devout heart earnest and passionate affections draw me off more and more from the pleasures and vanities of this life that I may the better settle my wavering and divided Soul upon thee alone and since at this time I have here retired my self that I might the more freely commune with my own heart and meditate on thine only Word let thy Blessed Spirit assist me that I may not only barely remember what I read but digest it into the practice of an holy Life to the comforts of my soul and the Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ Amen Prayers towards Bed time I. LET my Prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifâ—ing up of my hands be as an Evening Sacrifice For thou O Lord hast granted me thy loving kindness in the day-time and therefore in the night-season I will think on thee and make my prayer to the God of my life O thou that saidest Let therebe light and there was light open mine eyes that I sleep not in death Make me to commune with my own heart upon my bed and to search out all my ways That I may lament my sins as thy servant David did and cry unto thee for mercy Consider and hear me O God and hide me under the shadow of thy wings and let my soul rest in thee Amen II. Blessed art thou O God who makest the out-goings of the Morning and Evening to praise thee Who hast not cut off my life this day nor shut me up in the grave where all things are forgotten I will not suffer therefore my eyes to sleep nor my eye-lids to slumber till I have prepared my heart for my God to rest in For thou art my God from my youth thou hast numbred out my days and nights that I might serve thee thou givest thy beloved sleep and makest them that fear thee to rest in safety Thou deliverest me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Return then unto thy rest O my soul for God taketh care for thee Amen III. Lord let me make my Prayer unto thee in an acceptable time Teach me to remember thee in my bed and to think of thee when I am waking O thou Watchman of Isreal that neither slumberest nor sleepest watch over me this night Give thy Angels charge over me that the spirits of darkness may not come near me That no evil thoughts may betray me nor any sad or sinful dreams disturb my quiet For into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O keep then what thou hast redeemed and let not thy servant for whom thou hast died perish for ever Amen A short Prayer O GOD my everlasting keeper blessed be thy Name for evermore for thou madest me when I was nothing thou redeemedst me when I was worse than nothing thou hast so multiplied thy mercies on me through all the minutes of my life that the Sun hath never yet rose or set upon me without new Blessings from thee And as thou hast done so much for me already for which I pour out my very Soul in thankfulness so in the same degree of lowest humility I humbly beseech thee to continue thy care of me this night and so to shadow me under the Wings of thy Protection that neither visible nor invisible Enemies neither sin nor danger may approach to hurt me That so when the joyful Light of the day shall return again I may rise in safety with an unspotted Soul and a Body fitted to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost even so Lord Jesu Amen Amen Is any afflicted let him pray The Complaint of an afflicted Soul I. BEhold O Lord I am as a bruised reed before thee O break it not I am as smoaking flax O Lord quench it not Send down from on high and visit me Save me out of many waters that are come into my Soul For I have been left unto thee ever since I was born Thou hast been my God even from my Mothers womb O go not then far from me for trouble is near at hand and there is none to help me The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of all my troubles Thou hast formerly been my succour leave me not now neither forsake me O God of my salvation For from the ends of the Earth will I call unto thee when my heart is in heaviness O forgive all the offences of thy servant which have justly brought these bitter things upon me Take away at last all thy displeasure and turn away from thy wrathful Indignation Arise and help me and deliver me for thy Mercies sake O God make speed to save me O Lord make hast to help me II. IN the time of my trouble I will call upon thee O God in my heaviness I will cry unto thee and unto thee alone For whom have I in Heaven but thee or whom shall I desire on earth in comparison of thee My flesh and my heart fails me but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever But how long wilt thou forget me Lord for ever How long wilt thou hide away thy face from me How long shall I seek counsel in my soul and my spirit be thus troubled within me In my Prosperity I said I shall never be moved But as soon as thou didst hide away thy face from me I was troubled But will the Lord absent himself for ever Will he be no more intreated Hath God forgotten to be gracious or will he shut up his loving kindness in displeasure Alas innumerable troubles are come upon me They have laid such hold upon me that I am not able to look up There is no strength left in me O my God neither know I what to do but mine eyes are towards thee I am troubled above measure help me O God or else I shall sink under the burthen O consider what thou hast laid upon me forsake
me not when my strength fails me But in the multitude of my sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts be the refreshing of my soul. O my God the more weak I am the more let thy strength be made known in my weakness And suffer no temptation to seize upon me but such as thou shalt give me grace to overcome O Lord hear my Prayer And let my cry come unto thee Amen sweet Jesu Amen Amen The Prayer O My dear God and most merciful Father who hast not only directed but encouraged me in all my troubles to call upon thee Hear I beseech thee the complaints that I now make and the Prayers which I pour forth in the anguish and bitterness of my spirit for thou hast shewn me heavy things O God And in the midst of all my prosperity hast been pleased to mingle a bitter Cup for me What the troubles of my heart are how heavy they lie upon me how deeply they wound me I need not labour to express to thee for all my comfort is that nothing is hid from thee For not only the Blessings which thou hast poured upon me through all the minutes and moments of my Life but the Afflictions which I now groan under come from the same hand to rouse me and awake me to a more devout and earnest way of serving thee And since it is thy own work look down with the more pity on this wounded Soul of mine See O my God how I pant and labour under the heavy scourge of thy displeasure a scourge which my own sins have twisted and mine own iniquities have drawn down upon me But O my dear Father to whom it is more easie to do all things than for me to ask any thing that is good Thou that hast promised to all them that love thee that they shall not be tempted farther than they are able Give I beseech thee that measure of grace and patience to thy sad and afflicted Servant that I may not only endure what thou layest upon me but entirely willingly and chearfully submit my will to thine And O thou God of Comfort and Spirit of all Consolation be not only with me but with all of my Relations that mourn in secret either for their own sins or sufferings or whatsoever Bitterness thou shalt think fit to lay upon us O teach us all to look up to the hand from whence these Judgments come to kiss and to adore it And when thou hast done so let thy mercy go one step further with me and compose my troubled mind into such a calm that none of my Sufferings whatsoever they are or may be may either make me repine at thy Judgments or despair of thy mercies but rather let all that is afflictive to me serve only to wean me from the World and to draw me the nearer to thee but because this cannot be done without thee O thou Preserver of the Children of Men behold I throw my self and all that is dear to me clearly and intirely into thine arms to do with me whatsoever shall be good in thine eyes And therefore amidst all the unquiet thoughts which now trouble and disorder me say unto me as thou didst to thy Disciples in the Storm Fear not for it is I. Or else if thou shalt find it better for me that I should find no calm abroad in the midst of the various changes and chances of this World let me find it at least in my own breast and bosom and possess my soul in patience whatever other storms thou shalt please to raise against me that so placed under the shadow of thy wings and refreshed here with the comforts of thy Spirit I may long earnestly for that blessed day when all tears shall be wiped from mine eyes and all sorrows shall be forgotten Grant this O my God for thy Son's sake who sits at thy right hand to meditate for me Grant it for thy Holy Spirit 's sake who pleads for me and all that love thee with Groans that cannot be expressed Grant it for thy own sake O my God who art never more thy self than when in the midst of Judgment thou remembrest Mercy Amen Amen Amen FINIS Joh. 17. 5. Psal. 2. 8. Luke in 21 22. Luke 9. 28. Mat. 17. â— Mark ix 3. Mark ix 5. Psal. lxvl. 13. Mat. xvil Dan. 6. Gen. xxxii 24. Hos. xii 4. Luke xi 5. Ephes. vi 12. 18. Matth. xvii 16. 21. Tob. viii 3. Lam. iii. 44. Isa. i. 13. 14. 15. 16. 18. Exod. xxxiii 20. Dan. vi Luke x. 41. Gen. XV. 11. Matth. viii 9. Eccles. xvlli 22. Lam. iii. 44. 1 Kings xviii Esther ii 12. 1 Kings XIX 13. Matth. vi 6. Mark XIV 15. Psalm lxxxvili l. Cxli. 2 xxviii 2. xiii 1 2. xxviii 1. Mal. i. 6. Ecclus. xxxv 17. Heb. v. 7. Luke xxii 41. Matth. xxvi 39. Heb. i. 6. Rev. v. 8. 14. John iv 24. Isa xxix 13. Matth. xv 8. Gen. xviii 29. 30. 1 Cor. VI. 19 20. Gen. xvii 3. Deut. ix 18. 1 Kings xviii 42. 1 Kings viii 22. Acts vii 60. 20. 36. Matth. xxvi 30. Isa. xiv 23. Mark vi 5 Luke xviii 13. 2 Chron. vi 13. Exod. xvii 11.