thou hast done me by thy self or others Angels and Men the Ministers of thy providence to me for the good of my soul and body and for all the good thou hast wrought in me and for giving me grace and strength in the discharge of my duty to thee and my neighbour for all and every of thy blessings in every kind which are infinite for number and for worth invaluable and every way unspeakable whatsoever from thy bounteous hand I have received I thankfully return my heart and soul in a most grateful acknowledgment of thy infinite Bounty and my unworthiness with the tribute of all possible love honour and praise beseeching thee to the vast heap of all thy unspeakable blessings to add this one more of a thankful heart that with joyful lips and a glad heart I may praise and bless thee all the days of my life whilest I have any being here and in the land of the living in Heaven hereafter everlastingly Amen III. After Thanksgiving for all Benefits it will do well to make a confession and beg pardon for all our sins and to do it as if it were to be our last LOrd God who didst make me for nothing else but to serve thee and love thee who art most worthy of all love and service and to whom I have infinite obligations so to do With shame and blushing I confess I have not loved nor served thee as I ought nay I have dishonour'd thee and offended thee as I ought not doing what thou hast forbidden and not doing what thou hast commanded In my thoughts in my words in my actions by all the senses of my body and all the powers of my soul and all the Creatures which thou hast given to serve me in thy service transgressing thy Commandments infinite ways by numberless Transgressions O my sins my many sins my grievous sins my ingratitudes my unfaithfulness O that my soul were all sorrow my heart full of Contrition my eyes of Tears and if it might be tears of blood to blot out my offences against a God so glorious so gracious whom having all the reason in the world to love honour and to please I have so little loved so much dishonour'd and offended if all the torments and martyrdoms in the world all the violent and voluntary sufferings that such a wretch could endure were sufficient to expiate my faults sure I would at least I should undergo them to make amends for my Injuries against my God my dear God But alas they cannot repair the least injury nor satisfie for the least of my offences But this is my comfort thy Son my Saviour hath done it for me he hath honoured and pleased thee in all holy obedience in all his thoughts words and actions by all his senses the powers of his soul and members of his body and by all the Creatures of the world he made use of yielding exact obedience to thy holy will for me and by the sorrows and sufferings of his soul and body made full satisfaction for all my sins Him therefore I offer up to thee and all that he hath done and suffer'd for me that as thou hast promised I may be accepted to pardon grace and favour through him in whom thou canst not but be well pleased Holy Father look upon thy Son thy beloved Son and pardon thy ungracious servant Lord set thy sorrows and sufferings between my Sins and thy Fathers wrath that his justice being satisfied I may be received to mercy and as to God so to all Men and Angels and all Creatures whom I have injured do thou satisfie all my injuries and offences that none of them come in against me to accuse me at that day but that I may have a clear and full acquittance through thy blood O my dear Redeemer whereby thou hast fully purchased me that I may be wholly thine Amen IV. A Prayer to die to Sin LOrd Jesus Christ who didst die for me to the end I should no longer live to my self but unto thee who diedst for me and that so I might reckon my self dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God in righteousness and true holiness mortifie in me wholly the life of sin and of the old Adam that all my sins and even the affections and lusts thereof may die before me that I may be perfectly dead to the world and to my self and to all things else but thee Mortifie in such a manner my eyes mine ears my tongue my hands my feet my heart and every member of my body and all the powers of my Soul that I may no more see hear or speak or do or walk or think or wish or make any use of any Member of my body or faculty of my Soul to the service of 〈…〉 service of 〈…〉 may retain 〈…〉 â—…ctions 〈…〉 such 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 course 〈…〉 thy servant in this world to 〈◊〉 when death comes it find me not unprepared but that I may receive and welcome it as my summons to a better life where there is no sin nor temptation nor misery nor want nor pains nor death but bliss and happiness and joy and fulness of pleasure and life for evermore Amen V. A Petition for the Virtues of the Dying Jesus LOrd Jesus teach me when the time of my dissolution shall come to depart this life as thou didst with the like holy affections and dispositions of soul that thou hadst that I may loose hold not only of my sins and all that is sinful but even of all that is in the world the chiefest of the allowed comforts of it my dearest Friends and even my self to be ready at thy call as thou wast at thy Fathers Teach me as thou didst earnestly to commend to thy Father the care of the Catholick Church and especially of this of England my dear Mother to keep her in unity and purity to the end Teach me then and even now and till then to give good spiritual counsels and instructions to those about me as thou didst to thy followers Teach me from my heart to pardon all mine enemies as thou didst thine and to pity and pray for them with all other high and holy lessons of the Cross of submission to the hand of God his heavy hand of patience in pains of body and sorrows and heaviness in soul contempt of the world obedience to the death and all other those virtues which in the last act of thy life thou didst in a most eminent manner practise in thy self leaving the pattern for an example to all and to me in particular that I might practise them in my last Act and leave them as a Legacy to all mine Particularly teach me the art of true love to and of a right care for all mine that I leave behind me that as thou didst commend thy blessed Mother to the care of thy beloved Disciple so may I all my nearest Relations my my Friends to such as St. John was if such be to be had beloved of God and faithful in their trust that they may be so carefully instructed and bred up in piety and virtue as to live in holiness and righteousness all their days that when they come to depart this world as I am now a doing we may meet and enjoy one another in thee in bliss everlasting But if no such there be to whose hands I may leave them or if there be there is none to thee I consign them over unto thee the only friend of the friendless that thou conducting them either by thy self or by the Ministry of such faithful friends of their Souls as thou shalt raise them they may so pass with innocency through the things temporal that finally they lose not the things eternal And that I may not be ingrateful to all other my Benefactors whom thou hast used as thy instruments to convey thy Blessings Spiritual and Temporal to me for what I can make no return to them of I earnestly recommend them to thee to the riches of thy bounty and mercy to reward them sevenfold into their bosom humbly beseeching that they may find mercy in that day and abundant recompence in the day of recompence for all the good they have done to me in thy name and for thy sake Amen And now my God and my all as having nothing in the world left me but my self my sins I have renounced and all my affections to them as none of mine and the dearest pledges of my love which I have past over to thee as no longer mine but thine I cast off from me all the care of my self and cast all the care of me upon thee put off this earthly tabernacle of flesh when and as it pleaseth thee and return it to its ancient dust and commend my Spirit deliver'd from this burden of flesh by the Ministry of thy holy Angels to be presented to thy Father as pure and spotless as thy Divine Blood can make it that among those he hath given thee according as thou hast prayed and thy Father granted it may ever be where thou art And now what have I to do having taken leave of earth and sent my thoughts and desires and hopes and in them my soul to Heaven but to languish and call and cry and not to cease till I breath out my soul into thy hands Come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen and Amen DEus vitae meae quam vane consumpta sunt quam infructuose elapsa sunt tempora mea quae dedisti mihi ut facerem voluntatem tuam in eis non feci quanti Anni quot Dies quot Horae perierunt apud me in quibus sine fructu vixi coram te Quomodo subsistam quomodo levare potero oculos meos in faciem tuam in illo magno examine tuo si omnia peccata mea vel tempora mea fructus requisiveris singulorum Patientissime pater non fiat hoc sed sint in oblivione coram te Et quae perdidi tempora heu multa sunt nimis si quae te juvante utiliter servavi quorum O domine numerus brevis est in memoria aeterna fac permanere Fiat amande Pater saltem hoc residuum temporis mei fructuosum sanctificatum in Gratia tua ut in diebus Aeternitatis inveniat locum computabile sit ante te Amen FINIS
daily by it Grant me by the same spirit therefore to have a right Judgment in all things that I may both perceive and know what I have to do and have grace and power to fulfill the same Give me I beseech thee all the gifts and graces of thy holy Spirit Give me the spirit of wisdom to be sober wise and considerate in all things Give me the spirit of understanding to be quick clear and distinctive in my Apprehensions to distinguish between truth and falshood good and evil Give me the spirit of counsel to consult thy holy will and pleasure before I act any thing Make me meekly to receive all good counsel and prudently to give it Give me the spirit of ghostly strength that I may be modestly confident and impregnably couragious in thy service Give me the spirit of knowledg to know all thy revealed will to me and all my bounden duty to thee that so neither thy Law nor my duty thy mercy nor my sin may ever lie undiscerned in my Soul Give me I beseech thee the spirit of piety that I may ever be devoted unto thee And O my Saviour give me above all things thy holy filial fear that I may never more dare to offend thee Deliver me therefore I humbly beseech thee from all rashness inadvertency and inconsideration From a perverse confused unstable Understanding From refusing Counsel or neglecting to give it From ignorance of thy Will and my duty From all confidence of my self or diffidence in thee From all impiety and profaneness From casting off thy holy fear thereby growing bold or careless in offending And now dearest Lord having implored the gifts of thy holy Spirit and deprecated those evils that oppose it I humbly beg of thy divine Majesty the fruits of thy holy Spirit also that by finding those within me I may know thy holy Spirit rules and governs me Give me dear Lord I beseech thee an universal love make me to love thee for thy self my friend in thee and mine enemy for thee Give me joy in thee in thy works in thy ways in thy Laws in thy Saints and Servants in all the friends and blessings which I enjoy Give me O Prince of peace peace with thee my self my friends and enemies Give me patience in all my sufferings mercy to all who offend me or need my mercy Give me meekness in my heart words and behaviour in all to all Give me a true and irreprovable faith Give me modesty in all disputations shamefac'dness amidst all commendations sobriety in the midst of plenty that I never abuse thy bounty And with these give me I beseech thee the four Cardinal Virtues Prudence to govern me Justice to direct me Fortitude to discharge my duty Temperance to be moderate in all things Make me ever mindful Of Death to be prepared for it Of Heaven to desire it Of Judgment to dread it Of Hell to be deliver'd from it O keep me in with bit and bridle when I stick not close unto thee Make me to delight in the Assembly of the faithful to be among them that the holy Spirit which thou didst send upon thine Apostles may descend upon me even me also O my Lord compell I beseech thee my dearest N.N. to come in unto thee Make him to see the felicity of thy chosen Give him a taste and relish of all these Gifts and Graces of thy holy Spirit that he also may be filled with those unspeakable joys which they feel and find who spend their days and hours spirits souls and forces in knowing loving and obeying thee Give me the whole armor of God that I may resist all evil and persist in doing all good O give me the spirit of Grace and Supplication that these and all my other prayers may be acceptable to thee blessed to me and graciously answered for thy mercy sake Amen A Prayer to the Holy Ghost out of St. Augustine O Love of the Divine Power the holy Communication of the Omnipotent Lord and Father and of the most blessed Son come down even now I beseech thee by thy powerful Virtue into my Soul and get into all the corners of my heart and by thy splendor clearly illuminate all the darkness thereof Let thy gracious Visitation and abundant dew make my Soul fruitful in all good works pierce the most retired parts of mine inward man with the keen piercing darts of thy love enflame me with thy holy fires feed me with delicious Viands replenish me with thy Coelestial Graces Give me so to drink of the torrents of thy delights that I may have no taste of vain or sinful pleasures Come O thou comforter of all sorrowful Souls come thou comforter of the weak and strength of the strong come thou supporter of the falling and thou lifter up of the faln come thou cleanser of our sins and curer of our wounds Come thou teacher of the Meek and destroyer of the Proud Come O thou hope of the Poor and reviver of those that faint Come propitious Star of such as sail and haven against Shipwrack Come thou stay and comfort of those that live and thou only hope of all those that die Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me and make me fit for thy self and abide in me for ever And that thou mayst abide with me I do again beg of thee the fear of the Lord because this fear is Beautified by Wisdom Informed by Understanding Directed by Counsel Strengthened by courage Filled with Knowledg And crowned with Piety As this fear advanceth our knowledg so our knowledg brings us to this fear Therefore O thou only spirit of Wisdom give me this knowledg that I may always have this fear Such a fear as may make me wise unto Salvation Give me wisdom to understand thy Word Open mine eyes to see the wondrous things of thy Law Enlighten my Understanding to find out the hidden and glorious treasures thereof Fill me with the love of it With all delight in it Inspire me to meditate humbly of it Make me in every reading or hearing of it to profit by it and in all things to be obedient to it Amen Dearest Lord and most blessed Saviour give me I beseech thee such grace in meditating such divine light in understanding thy sacred sufferings in thy passion for me That by faith I may believe in thee and depend upon thy Merits therein By love feel thy sufferings be crucified to the world and be transformed into thee Make me willing to suffer any thing for thee Enable me to imitate thee in all thy imitable perfections and virtues which thou hast exemplified to me in this thy sacred Passion Give me the vast extensive love which thou didst shew to Almighty God in thy obedience to his Will and satisfaction of his Justice Give me that great Zeal of Souls which thou hadst even to die for their good especially their Coversion as thou didst for their Salvation Give me O Lord I beseech thee thy
indignation against my self in hearty confession that I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies to deplore my weakness to implore thy assistance to lay before thee all my wants to beg thy supplies to meditate upon thy life death and passion and to be thankful for the admirable work of our Redemption to shew thee my wounds and to creep into thine for cure to judg condemn and deny my self that I may not be judged condemned and denied by thee I correct my self that thou mayest spare me I abhor my self that thou maist pity me and I desire to die to the world to live with thee I desire not only to fast for sin but above all from sin so to meditate upon thy Life Death and Passion as to make most grateful returns of love and obedience In serious care to imitate all thy Virtues truly conforming my self to all thy imitable perfections Since if our Humiliations produce not these effects it may well be suspected they have more of formality humour or hypocrisie than true sorrow and integrity Therefore I earnestly crave thine Almighty aid and grace for my sincere performance Help me dear Lord to search and try my heart to discover discern and eradicate all my sins to empty my self of all vanity and do thou plant in me true sanctifying grace and constant piety Help me to overcome all my Infirmities and especially those which by my corrupt nature careless and evil customs inadvertency or condition of life I am most subject unto Help me also dear Lord to make worthy preparations for the holy Sacrament that having chastised my self in this time of willing and obediential Humiliation I may come out so cleansed healed and restored by thy Death and Passion that I may partake of all the joys of thy glorious Resurrection Give me therefore I beseech thee blessed and happy opportunities of Retirement and Introversion with the grace of profitable Meditation and a lively faith for effectual Application Give me the blessing of health and strength to perform the same make me so earnestly to implore all thy Graces as to attain them so to deprecate thy Judgments that thou maist ever withhold them deliver me from all vain and sinful company from great disturbances and from all destraction that may impede my duty to thee Give me a discerning Spirit that I may know the duties of my calling that I may neither be negligent of it nor too solicitous in it Give me opportunities of doing good to all but especially to those of the Houshold of Faith for both the Will and power comes from thee Make me a comfort to the afflicted a help to the poor and needy an encourager and example of virtue a discountenancer of Vice a meet help for my individual Relation in all things but especially in the best Help me to bear injuries patiently to take contradictions easily to forgive all freely Make me a true a prudent and a faithful friend a kind neighbour a good Master or Mistress in my Family liberal to the poor and truly loving to my Relations Tender and compassionate meek humble and courteous to all Make me as much to honour thee as ever I have dishonoured thee as much to please thee as ever I have displeased thee O that thou wouldst make me a great instrument of thy glory and though without thy grace I can do nothing enable me so that I may experimentally say and evidence to all the world that through thy grace I can do all things That thy strength may be seen in my weakness and that from the greatness of my sin and misery the greater glory may arise to thine infinite goodness and mercy Lord do thy work of Grace speedily and mightily upon me and make thy servant unalterably constant in thy faith and service to which end bless all the means of grace unto me Let my private devotions so fit and prepare me for thy publick Worship that all thine Ordinances may be profitable to me that so by thy Grace derived from them my whole life may be acceptable in and through my blessed Lord and Saviour A Daily Thanksgiving I Praise thee for electing me before all time For creating me in time For redeeming me in the fulness of time For all the parts and mysteries in my Redemption For thy patient forbearance of me so long a time For giving me a time to repent and repentance in that time For justifying me in thy good time For my Sanctification at all times And for my hope of Glorification when time shall be no more I praise thee for thy wonderful mercy in preserving me from a thousandfold dangers miseries diseases falls and troubles which without thy mercy had befaln me For delivering me from those calamities I have so particularly feared and so much deserved For delivering me out of all the mire of iniquity and those sinks of sin in this evil world which without thy grace and mercy I had faln into and perisht in if thou hadst not snatched me as a firebrand pluckt out of the fire For all the blessings of thy bounty which we daily receive from thy mercy For thy supply to me in all my wants Thy relief in all my necessities My comforts in all my sadness For the kindness affection ability support and comfort of my dear H. For preserving him in health and safety For thy miraculous preservation of us from the late Plague in time of eminent danger For keeping us from drowning and from all hurt and loss by fire For preserving us from Falls Fractures of Bones Dislocations Hurt or loss of any of our members or senses Above all I praise thee for making me a member of thy Holy Catholick Church and the satisfaction I enjoy therein For the miraculous preservation of the King and thy wonderful Restauration of thy Church To some degree of its wonted glory To a full degree of thy saving Truth And to a peaceable possession of our ancient Priviledges For the joy of thy Courts in the beauty of Holiness For the comforts of all our solemn Assemblies For an able pious and learned Clergy For a willing obedient and conformable Laity For the glory of our Festivals and all the glorious mysteries contained commemorated and reduc'd to practice in them For our Weekly Monthly Quarterly and yearly Fasts in our Fridays Eves Embers and Lent For the excellent uses designed in them For the unspeakable benefits derived from them By giving us in holy abstinence Life to our Prayers Light to our Understandings Vigor to our Affections Wings to our Devotions Examination of our Consciences Sorrow for our Sins Acts of penitence for them and charity against them I praise thee for our excellent Liturgy containing penitential Confessions Effectual Absolutions Charitable Intercessions for all Invocating thy Mercies Deprecating thy Judgments I praise thee for the Tears sighs and groans of our Hearts Souls and Spirits at our Prayers to the delight of God and the joy of Angels
For the Musick of our Songs and Praises For the Harmony and unity of our Versicles and Responsals For our strong loud powerful Cries to importune thy mercy For our soft silent dropping Tears to move thy pity For our Regeneration in Baptism Our Renovation in the Eucharist Our daily growth and comfort in the means of Grace For our comforts and increase of grace in the Seals of Salvation For the Infallibility of thy Holy Word For thy Judgments denounced therein to keep us from sinning For thy saving promises to keep us from despairing For thy Righteous Laws Glorious Attributes wonderful works and all the ways of thy divine Providence making our faith and dependance strong in thee I praise thee for the great delight of the Mosaical part of thy Word shewing us thy Wonders Laws and Ordinances enrich'd with thy second Covenant which was believ'd and depended on by all the Holy Patriarchs I praise thee for the Historical part of thy Word declaring to us thy Wisdom Power and Providence in the Oecumenical Government of thy Church and People both under Judges and Kings making Monarchy to succeed Aristocracy because far exceeding it I praise thee for the History and Patience of Job For the Poetical part of thy Word In the Melody of the Psalms The Instructions of the Proverbs The mirrour of Vanity The transporting Raptures of the Canticles The melting Lamentations for our Sins and thy Judgments I praise thee for the stupendious Prophetical part of thy Word whereby we are filled with wonder at the mysteriousness of thy Prophecies and raised to exultation in seeing their Accomplishments And for all those heights and depths not yet revealed but still obscure is thy Wisdom Power and Majesty to be reverenc'd By which springs of Glory thou hast made all our fresh springs to arise in thee But if in thy Law and Prophets thy Gospel lay concealed how glorious in thy Gospel that brings us a Saviour by whom thy Law is fulfilled and thy Prophecies revealed I praise thee therefore with intense and fervent praises for thy glorious Gospel above all which brings us the tydings of a Saviour sent from Heaven to redeem and restore lost undone and faln man I praise thee exaltedly most holy Father for my dear and blessed Saviour For his Miraculous Incarnation Joyful Birth sharp Circumcision Glorious Epiphany painful and concealed life till his Baptism I praise thee for his Prophetical Office then taken and executed in his Sermons of Salvation excellent precepts gracious Promises Miracles Prophesies and works of mercy For all his hard Labours Travels on foot Watchings Tears Fastings Prayers and humble life of pain and poverty for our example and encouragement therein For his Priestly Office in his Life-giving and all-saving death wherein he sacrificed himself for the Sins of the whole World and even for me as if there had been no other I praise thee for his Kingly Office manifested in his Almighty Resurrection Triumphant Ascension Regal Session at the right hand of God and his Intercession for us For the glorious descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost For the blessed presence residence and assistance of the same spirit upon thy holy Church throughout all Ages For the knowledg of an Incomprehensible Trinity in an undivided Unity thy Name be blessed and praised for evermore I praise thee also for the Glorious Acts of the Holy Apostles For the propagation of thy Church by them For the riches of Wisdom and the sacred Mysteries that lie hid in their Epistles The Humility of their Lives Their courage and patience in suffering Their Charity in forgiving Their powerful declamation against Vice Their practice of Virtue Thy spirit of truth in all And for that Map of the Coelestial Canaan in the all-bright and glorious Revelation thy name be blessed and praised both now and for evermore Amen I praise thee also for the successful Ministry of thy Word in all Ages since For the Learning of the Fathers The Holiness of their Lives Their zealous Devotions For the Tears Watchings and Prayers of all Christians For their patience in suffering and courage manifested in the Primitive Times For thy saving truth shining more or less in all times For the excellent Preaching of thy Word in our times For the co-operation of thy Spirit with it To the awakening of our seared Consciences The melting of our hard Hearts To the dividing between the Soul and Spirit the Heart and Reins For the discovery of our Sins The quickening of our Spirits The fear of thy Judgments The hope of thy Mercies For the Reformation of our Lives I praise thee also for all those who have benefited me by their Writings Sermons Discourses Prayers Books Rebukes and Advices and for all other helps unto Heaven I praise thee for all thy sanctified afflictions to chastise my rebellions For all the unkindness of Friends ingratitude and contempt of enemies Thereby to wean me from the World Scowre me from my rust Refine me from my dregs And unite me closer unto thee For raising me up many comforts and Friends I neither deserved nor thought upon For giving me the grace of Penitence The super-exalted love of a Redeemed and the care and piety of a regenerated person For upholding me from falling For lifting me up when I was down For strengthening me in my weakness For confirming me in goodness For the Conversion of all Sinners For thy patience in waiting for their Conversion For thy pardon of the Penitent For thy Justice on the Obstinate For thy preventing and initiating Grace Thy illuminating and co-operating Grace Thy restraining and restoring Grace Thy renewing assisting and quickning Grace For thy many great strong loud calls by thy Judgments For thy soft melting whispering calls in our Consciences to turn unto thee For alluring us by thy Word read and preached Thy Mercies and thy Judgments Thy Divine Inspirations The stings of our Consciences in sinning The humility and fear of a pardoned person For making Sin bitter unto us The burden intollerable I praise thee for giving us any hunger or thirst after Righteousness For any power thou givest us to do good works and for thy blessing upon those we do For a good and right understanding A ready unloosed Tongue A clear apprehension and a little comprehension of divine things A serviceable Memory An obedient will at any times to thy calls For giving me a great love to thee my friend in thee mine enemy for thee For the comfort and delight thou givest me in my Prayers and Praises For the fidelity of my Friends The love of my Neighbours The good acceptation thou givest me with all kind of persons For the interest thou givest me in the souls of men For any love care or Conscience that is in my servants For giving me a Heart to pardon mine enemies For the gratitude thou dost enable me to pay to my Friends For my compassion of others and theirs on me For giving me grace to leave the
World a little before I was by thy Judgments forced to leave it altogether I praise thee for all the Ministry of Angels For my Guardian Angel For all the faithful departed For thy great Graces given to them Their good example given to me For the Suffrages and Prayers of all Saints For my Communion with them and with all those who are at Prayers with me now in this holy hour For the large capacity and extent of my Soul that can be in union with all Ages past present and to come worshipping praising and adoring thee For enabling me so to rejoyce in thy Glories to dilate upon thy Excellencies to delight in thy Service so as if all our affections were united in one holy individual oblation of our Souls and Bodies unto thee As if all Souls were in one and one so in all that we could never more be divided from thee nor cease from the love and service we bear unto thee nor be separated from each other in thee I praise thee for preserving me from all perils and dangers either by day or night For that portion of Health I now enjoy For the contentedness and thankfulness thou givest me in all estates For all the necessaries of this life Healthful dwelling quiet safety plenty of food and raiment For all the retirements and happy opportunities thou givest me of Reading Praying and enjoying thee For assisting me to overcome in any measure any of those great Infirmities I am subject to by nature For all thy gifts of Grace and nature infused or acquired attain'd by study or experience in the world For any good use I make of them For all thy wonderful Mercies to me and mine blessing us in all good things For thy great preservation of us in many dangerous Journeys and deliverances out of very many great troubles which my Soul recounteth unto thee For all these and for all other thy Mercies known or not known manifest or secret willingly or unwillingly received I praise thee I bless thee I give thee thanks and I desire to praise bless and give thee thanks all the days of my life What am I that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me especially in that he hath spared and forborn me until now Holy holy holy thou art worthy to receive Honour Worship and Praise now and for evermore Amen A Prayer for Christmas-Day HOly Jesus who being infinitely higher than the Heavens didst condescend to look on the Earth to come down and visit us with the saving Presence of thine Eternal Godhead clothed with our Manhood in the Virgins Womb let this miraculous grace of thine effect another miracle in me Let it raise me by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and change me by a new Birth and exalt me to a Divine and Heavenly life that I may forsake the world and live unto thee O thou who didst assume thy Body and Soul for me that we might be members of thy Body and of thy flesh and of thy bones unite me unto thee make me sensible of thee my head fill me with the joy of thy Nativity and give thy self unto me who wast born for me that I may be thine and my beloved mine for evermore O Eternal Glory of the Father vail'd over with mortal flesh remove the vail from off my heart clarifie my understanding and draw me near unto thee that I may know the mystery which was hid from Ages and Generations but is now revealed for our Glory Receive me to thy self make me one with thee and be thou more dear unto me than all the world O thou who didst vouchsafe to dwell in the dark Cloysters of a Virgins womb thou who didst vouchsafe to close thine infinity within the confines of Humane shape and advance our Humanity to the Throne of God Prepare the Temple of my Soul make it bright with knowledg and wisdom come and dwell in my understanding take possession of my will reign within my heart let thy Scepter of Righteousness be exalted over me and become the rule of my thoughts and actions O reign over all the World and let the Righteousness and true Holiness wherein thou delightest prevail and prosper in the Earth let the Souls be saved which thou hast redeemed Amen Amen A Prayer for Easter-Day ETernal Son of the eternal Father who wast a man of sorrows and art now the Lord of Joys look down from Heaven thy dwelling place upon me thy Servant who rejoyce in thy glorious and blessed Resurrection Thou hast broken the Bars of Death and Hell for it was impossible that he that was innocent should be holden of them Thou hast broken down the gates of the prison of the Grave because thou hast satisfied thy Fathers Justice He knew thy ability and therefore he trusted thee with so great a debt He knew thy Power and therefore did commit so weighty an employment to thy sacred Hands O cause me to know thee my Saviour to be the Son of God by this glorious Resurrection Let it quicken me and raise me up who am dead in sins and trespasses Our Surety has paid the debt and is come abroad let all the Earth rejoyce and be glad in him Sing O Mountains and break forth into singing all the valleys in the World for our Redeemer and our Saviour hath conquered Death Hell and the Grave Let the light of his Resurrection transform the World into Heaven and turn the Wilderness into Eden let it restore a better Paradise than the old one unto us Let the power of his Resurrection quicken all the dead in sins and convert all the Kingdoms upon Earth and make them the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ wherein Truth and Peace and Righteousness may reign for evermore O my Soul thy lover and thy friend that was killed dead and buried is alive and he is able to save unto the utmost all them that come to God through him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for us He by and for whom the Worlds were made loved thee to the death O let his Love enflame thee and turn thee all into Love and let the love of God which passeth all understanding possess thy Soul and Body for ever Let the Love of Christ constrain thee to forsake iniquity and to esteem nothing easie honourable or delightful but that which is so to him Love all that he loveth hate all that he hateth O Jesus the love and life of my Soul be thou my sovereign Lord and Friend my only treasure and possession be thou my Wisdom and my Glory my Kingdom and my Crown my Life and Blessedness be thou all in all to me Let thy will be my will and thy pleasure mine As thou camest to do the Will of thy Father let it be my meat and drink to do thy Will to glorifie thy Name and finish the work which thou hast given me
to do O give me the Image of thy Soul and let the same mind be in me that was in Christ Jesus both towards thine Eternal Father and towards all thy Creatures Let me despise all the vanities which thou didst contemn that I may enter into thy Joys and live in Communion with thee for ever Amen A Prayer upon the Day of Pentecost O Lord my Light my Life and Confidence my Love and my only Happiness I place my whole hope and trust in thee I now expect from thine infinite Bounty thy Holy Spirit which thou hast promised in thy mercy O send out thy Light and thy Truth unto me Thy Word is Truth thy Spirit is Truth thou O God art the God of Truth Inspire me with thy Truth and make me to know the Truth embrace love live in the Truth believe and speak the Truth serve obey and praise thee in Truth now and for evermore O blessed Jesus all the Treasures and Joys thou gavest us in thy Birth all the Mercies and mysteries of thy Life all the Benefits of thy Death and Passion all the Victories and Joys of thy Resurrection all the Triumphs and places thou givest us in thy Ascension all the advantages of thy Session and Intercession are lockt up and seal'd in this promise of sending the Holy Ghost Till he unlock and open these Treasuries to us till he illuminate us in and fit us for them till he reveal and apply them to us we cannot enjoy them O send thy Spirit then into us and seal all thy Mercies by him upon us now and evermore Amen Confession of Sin out of Bishop Andrews I Confess O Lord that I was shapen in wickedness and in sin hath my Mother conceived me That I was brought forth in uncleanness That I am a root of bitterness A wild Vine of Sodom A branch of the wild Olive A child of wrath a vessel of dishonour My heart is rebellious like a starting bow My throat an open sepulchre venting folly My lips so polluted that my tongue talketh nothing but vanity Mine eyes and my tongue uncircumcised I have a forehead of brass and a neck of iron My hand slow to do good and my feet swift to do evil I have sin'd against thee O Lord and trespassed in thy sight not fearing thy Majesty My sins are in quantity large of long continuance from my Mothers womb deep heavy like a burden like lead reaching to Heaven with their cry Many in number like the Starrs More than the hairs of my head or the sands of the Sea oftentimes reiterated as a fountain casting out waters till they become as a habit as red as scarlet and crimson For I am sold under sin I sin till they become natural to me like the Aethiopian's skin and the Leopards spots In quality sins as strong as cords and cart-ropes gaining nothing therby For a handful of Barley and a little Bread Committing sin with greediness sin upon sin with impudence not being ashamed knowing it to be sin Giving offence thereby unthankfully like the dog to the vomit Like the Sow to the mire Therefore O Lord because thou art just and thy Judgments true I do or may reap the fruit of my foolishness For what fruit have I in those things whereof I am now ashamed My days are consumed in vanity and my years in the bitterness of my Soul and now there is no health in me because of thy displeasure nor any rest by reason of my sin My Heart trembleth also for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments I feel bitterness beyond the bitterness of death for ever forsaking thee or being forsaken by thee Wo unto me rebellious wretch for so doing by which I become so vile I loath and abhor my self I have roar'd for the very disquietness of my heart And what shall I now say or how shall I open my mouth What shall I answer seeing I have done these things Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death When I have not what I can farther say or do this only remaineth this is my last refuge that I direct mine eyes unto thee Out of the deep have I cried unto thee O Lord Lord hear my vâ—ice If thou Lord shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss who may abide it Enter not into Judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Wherefore O Lord I appeal from thee unto thee From thee a just Judg to thee a merciful Father From the Throne of thy Justice to the seat of thy Mercy O Lord be pleased to admit of this appeal if thou do not I perish and carest thou not that I perish who wouldst have all to be saved and none to perish I am thine O save me Despise not the works of thine own hands who hatest nothing that thou hast made I am thy servant the Son of thine handmaid I am called by thy name I am the price of thy Blood O spare thy workmanship spare thy child Thy name the price of thy Son's Blood But I am a sinner and God beareth with sinners be pleased to bear with me and remember of what I am made Remember that I am but dust Frail flesh light wind loose dust and wilt not thou O Lord break a leaf driven to and fro by the wind wilt thou pursue dry stubble Behold O Lord though I have sinned I humble my self before thee Spare the humble and contrite David spared Shimei that railed on him and David was a man after thine own heart therefore do thou spare me Ahab forgave the King of Assyria his offences upon his humiliation Was there ever King of Israel so merciful as thou art Thou therefore whose very nature is to have mercy have mercy upon me spare me and be not angry with thy servant for ever but for the sake of Jesus Christ turn away thy wrath from me and be reconciled to me Accept the sacrifice of a contrite heart and grieved Soul a wounded spirit a troubled conscience pity me and spare me though I have so grievously sin'd against thee It hath ever been thy practice to be merciful They trusted and were not confounded Thy Mercies have been ever of old When I look at the Generations of old I see never any trusted in thee and was confounded and thou never didst despise those that called upon thee Remember thy word unto thy servant in which thou hast caused me to hope Thou hast blessed the man that trusteth in thee my whole trust is in thee let me never be confounded Thy Mercies O Lord are comfortable better than life many plentiful and tender superabundant wonderful and infinite preventing us following us compassing us pardoning iniquity transgression and â—…n Thou art the Father of Mercies Thou sparest when we deserve punishment and in thy wrath thinkâ—… upon mercy Gently correcting in the midst of wrath remembring mercy It being of thy mercy that we