with that constancy and unweariedness that was fitting till brought to an end our Refections and Recreations were they used with that sobriety as was meet and broken off with cheerfulness to go fresh to our Masters service again 3. Were all things done in their due and set time or did we fail otherwise than for necessity or charity out of inconstancy in good things or tediousness of our proper business 4. Lastly have we done what we might have done by the means afforded us by the opportunities offer'd us such hints given such impulsions moving such occasions inviting Or have we done contrary have we fail'd in any one kind or more in our duty or manner of doing it by omission not doing what we ought And how often and how deeply and why did we so Then sum up readily what comes to mind in every kind with ordinary intention of mind and without study such hath been our Lords blessings such his provisions for us such his scourges if any such temptations to prove our faithfulness and for return of service thus and thus have we done no better in answer to all his love and care for us All his talents helps means opportunities impulsions restraints upon us and these our rebellions if any gross sin these failings that we know of and for our secret sins who can tell how oft he offendeth and worse than thus we had done had not he upholden us with his hands prevented supported restrained us by his grace Lord I know I have done amiss I have done evil in thy sight thou alone knowest how much how evil Thou seest my Soul wherein thy discharge lies in a peace-offering of Praise a sin-offering of sorrow and contrition for offences committed with a promise of better obedience These make up the Evening Sacrifice and with these prepare to meet thy God A Prayer against Afflictions HEavenly Father seeing thou art willing so to have it let the cup of thy wrath and displeasure pass from us and let the cup of thy blessing be ever amongst us expose us not good Father to those bloody and grievous conflicts with the powers of Hell and darkness which thy Son sustained for us Oh lay no more upon us than thou shalt give us strength and patience through him and for him to undergo and vanquish Make us to triumph as conquerors in this victory over Hell and Satan over all the power of the enemy Amen A Brief Soliloquy by way of Admonition FOrasmuch as the violence of sickness which ordinarily goes before death hinders us often from applying our selves in due manner to God in our last duties suitable to that estate to prevent such hinderances it will be to very good purpose O my Soul to make choice of some solemn time of Retirement every year if not every week or day to do such duties in before-hand which then we should but cannot so well perform An Exercise Preparative to a good Death consisting of several Acts of Piety VIZ. I. Submission to the sentence of Death II. Thanksgiving for all benefits of the life past III. Confession of our Sins IV. A Prayer to die to Sin V. A Petition for the Virtues of the dying Jesus with special recommendation of those of our charge to Gods grace and blessing and of our own spirits into the hand of God I. A Submission to the Sentence of Death O Lord my God in most profound humility of Soul and Body I cast my self at the feet of thy Divine Majesty adoring thee as my Soveraign Judg who hast pronounc'd against me and all sinners in the first man that sinned the sentence of death saying Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return In homage of thy Divine Justice I submit from my Soul to the sentence then pronounced against me acknowledging it most just and due to me both for that and infinite other sins of mine that I have since committed against thee As also in homage of the bloody and shameful death of thy Son Jesus Christ who after that he had suffer'd unspeakable sorrows of his soul in his Agony and bloody sweat offer'd up himself a Sacrifice for mine and the sins of the whole World I resign my self wholly to thy Will touching my death at least I desire so to do for the time and place and manner and all circumstances that all be according to the high pleasure of thy holy Will If thou hast ordained that I die a painful death and even a shameful death or that I should be forsaken and cast off by all humane succours so my God be ever with me I submit If I should be void of reason or sense by the extremity of my disease so as to fall into any idle or even evil words any thing against the Catholick Faith thy house or the purity of the Christian profession I yield my self a living sacrifice to thee to do and to be done with as it shall please thee Only I make this protestation that I abhor from my soul and renounce and hereby revoke all or any such words as may be offensive to Christian ears as none of mine humbly begging this my protestation may be entred in thy Book resolved and ready by thy grace if thou shouldst call me to die for the honour of thy name of the Christian Catholick faith and religion to thy glory and the eternal salvation of my poor soul through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen II. Having accepted the sentence of Death the first thing we are to do is to prepare for an holy Death to be thankful to God for all the benefits of this life GRacious God the fountain of all goodness and all Graces out of the storehouse of whose all-sufficiency Angels and Men and all Creatures have received all the good that is in them that they have and that they can do I bless and adore thy sacred Majesty for all thy goodness to all and especially to me and mine for all thy blessings of my being and well-being from the first hour of my conception to this day from the womb and from the breasts to my riper years to my age of full strength to my gray hairs for all thy blessings in the Ordinances of Nature and Grace and for the hopes of glory for all the Blessings of my Creation Redemption Preservation for all the good things thou hast bestowed upon me and all the evil thou hast saved me from or kept from me bodily or ghostly for the abundant supply of all my necessities of body and soul for all my worldly comforts and ghostly comforts for all thy mercies in forgiving my infinite transgressions for all thy patience in bearing with my follies and for thy long-suffering in my errors and strayings expecting my return and for all thy goodness in receiving thy child thy prodigal Child so graciously for all the gifts of grace for thy holy Spirit and for all the means of Grace and for the good use of it and them For all the good
of the Righteous for all holy and humble men of heart Those Incarnate Cherubims Inflamed Seraphims Strong Powers against Devils Principalities in the midst of contumelies Dominions reigning over all enticements Those Virtues in a miraculous life Those Angels of the Churches and Arch-Angels who by close Communion with thee illuminate and encourage us to serve thee For Ananias Azarias and Misael their courage and miraculous deliverance I praise bless and magnifie thy Name for ever Saying Glory be to the Father c. Thanksgivings for all Persons and Times BLessed art thou O Lord God who sustainest all things by the word of thy Power For by thine Ordinance all things are and do continue Thou givest us Rain and fruitful Seasons and fillest our Hearts with food and gladness With admirable Wisdom didst thou create and dost still govern all things But above all I admire thy Wisdom Power and Goodness shewed unto Man Thou madest him of the mould of the Earth and didst breath into his Nostrils the breath of Life Thou didst honour him and create him after thine own Image giving him a capacious Soul sound Judgment clear Understanding ready Apprehension useful Memory clear Reason a ready and obedient Will so that with these faculties we can by thy Divine aid walk at large in the liberty of our thoughts into all the Regions of Heaven and Earth see thee in all times and before all time in that Eternity wherein thou didst live before Time began to be and in that Eternity also which shall be when Time shall be no more By these powers and faculties of our immortal Souls we can see thee also by thy divine Illumination In all thy works of Grace In thy Government of all Ages And in that most stupendious work of Redemption promised in the beginning and performed in the fulness of time for our Salvation O Lord our God how excellent is thy name in all the World It is thou who givest us well order'd Passions sound Sences Health of Body strength of Limbs and useful Members Thou givest us peace of Mind and tranquillity of Spirit by which only we can happily enjoy thee and all things in thee It is thou alone who givest thine Angels charge over us to keep us from falls fractures of Bones Dislocations Epidemical and noisome Diseases from the hands of the violent and wicked man Having placed Man in Paradise when he fell from thee even then thou didst not despise him but didst open the gate of Life in the promised seed unto him Thou didst write thy Laws in his Heart and instruct him in the service of Sacrifices Strengthen our faith by the Oracles of the Prophets Enliven our Hearts with the Melody of the Psalms Teach us by the Wisdom of the Proverbs Evidently point out the coming of thy Son by Types and Figures And at last recompence all their long waitings and expectations by sending him unto us Who took our nature upon him and sanctified it in his Incarnation Birth and Life Redeemed us by his Death and Passion Quickened us by his Resurrection Exalted us by his Ascension Intercedeth for us in his Session at the right hand of the Father Sent down his holy Spirit for our Illumination Sanctification and hope of Glory O blessed be thy Name for giving this Lord of Life and this Son of thy Love unto us For thy glorious Gospel Evangelizing him For the prospect and benefit of his Life and Death It is thou most holy Father who with thine only Son freely givest us all things By thee Kings reign and Princes decree Justice Thou instructest all our Rulers and teachest our Senators wisdom Thou givest us Pastors after thine own heart to fill us with the knowledg of thee and feed us with true faith and obedience unto thee Thou bringest down our hearts for sin so that we sometimes fall before our enemies and there is none to help us Again upon our Repentance thou raisest us up and breakest our bonds in sunder For it is thou who castest our cords from us Thou dost not leave us in the hardness of our hearts but givest us preventing grace with which if we co-operate O how sweet and heavenly are the glorious effects thereof Then we feel compunction for our sins shame of them hearty indignation against them and our selves for them then the sense of thy Love of thy Mercies and of our moâ—t base and vile ingrateful abuse of thy mercies throws down all the strong holds of sin in us and fortifies us against them Nay sometimes thou dost send thy grace so forcibly upon us that thou dost even compell us to come in unto thee Though thou delightest O thou lover of men to see thy Voluntary goodness shine in our Souls O would we draw nigh unto thee with what infinite joy dost thou draw nigh unto us But thou wilt not always force us because thou desirest a free obedience and lovest to save us in the best of all possible manners The glory of a sinner voluntarily returning being greater than that of Adams Innocence and causing greater joy in Heaven then there is over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance Blessed magnified highly exalted and honoured be thy Name for putting such a power into our hands of turning unto thee such desires into our Hearts such powerful workings in our Souls that every true penitent is always turning more and more unto thee ever moving to thee and aspiring after thee till by thy grace he be wholly throughly and effectually turned unto thee Finding no true satisfaction but in thee no rest no comfort no peace but in thee Thus by degrees dost thou wean us from the world and wed us unto thee Till at last we are fully accepted pardoned and in Jesus Christ justified and by thy Spirit wholly united unto thee So thirsting for and drinking in thy grace that at last thou givest us full satisfaction in all thy Glories Dearest Lord it is thine own self that workest all our works in us And therefore well mayest thou require all good works from us Thou makest that good ours which first was thine That so in us thy whole goodness might shine For thou alone enablest us to do good and to resist evil Thou teachest us how to abound without abusing thy mercy and how to want without repining at thy justice Thou dost help us to overcome yet crownest us for overcoming O wonder of Mercy miracle of Grace It is thou only dost comfort us in our sorrows support us in our trials and take care of our welfare in all estates Thou givest us Songs in the night of affliction and victory in the day of temptation It is only thou canst qualifie our turbulent tempestuous spirits and give us calmness and serenity therein Who could make our impatient natures contented in the midst of all the storms and tempests of a raging world but only thou It is thou alone dost establish our fickle hearts and fix them fast on
Obedience thy Humility thy Meekness thy Purity and Intention thy Patience thy Wisdom thy Silence thy Contentedness thy Sweetness thy Mildness thy Mercy thy Pity thy Fortitude and Courage thy Constancy and Perseverance thy Righteousness to cover me and all thy Merits to save me Glory be to thee O Lord most High Amen A Prayer for the Sixth Hour O Blessed Jesus I now commemorate thy holy Sufferings for me both in thankfulness to thee for them and for the application of them to my poor Soul as also to offer them up to thy holy Father for the full satisfaction of all my sins O dearest Saviour how wert thou led for me as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before the shearer is dumb so thou openedst not thy mouth Thou didst turn thy back to the smiters and thy cheek to the nippers Thou wert mockt and whipt and rent and torn defiled with spittle wounded and scourged harshly and terribly nailed and crucified for me Yet in all thy sufferings thou didst nothing but good to thine enemies and didst pray with loud cries for thy persecutors Have mercy upon me plant in my heart I beseech thee gentleness and patience a meek and long suffering spirit quietness of mind and stability of Soul that I may never more be transported with violent anger or be disordered and discomposed by an offensive peevishness much less ever think of revenge Give me grace dear Lord mildly and rationally lovingly and discreetly to reprehend my Inferiors sweetly and tenderly my Equals and freely to forgive all Give me patience in all injuries and contentedness in all conditions and cross accidents Make me with charity return good for evil Deliver me from an evil tongue and a turbulent mind from an angry spirit and a cross contentious humour Let thy example convert me thy sweetness mollifie me thy gentleness soften me thy sufferings heal me thy blood cleanse me thy death satisfie thy Fathers wrath and save me Fill me with thy Graces that I may imitate thy Virtues and by thy Merits be replenished with thy mercies here and with thy Glories hereafter Amen Blessed Lord thou wert charged with the heavy burden of thy cross O for thy mercy sake discharge me of the heavy burden of my Sins Thou wert led up to Mount Calvary lift me up I beseech thee to the Mount of Heavenly felicity Thou wert nailed betwixt two Thieves be pleased to place me between thy Saints and Angels Thou didst charge Simon of Cyrene with thy Cross make me with him contentedly to take it up and follow thee Let me not by folly make it but with all obedience and chearfulness take it when thou shalt impose it upon me Dearest Lord I see by the light of Faith thy sacred Arms stretch'd and extended upon the Cross for me O by that infinite love of thine that made thee endure all this for me have mercy upon me and save me Receive me now into those arms of mercy and secure my Soul for ever unto thee O thou who at the Sixth hour and only the sixth day didst fasten the Sins of the whole world with thy self upon the Cross cancel I beseech thee the hand-writing of our Sins which is against us and take it quite away from us Let all these sufferings of thine satisfie for what I deserve to suffer and deal not with me after my Sins neither reward me after mine iniquities Let the nails of thy Feet nail my Affections which are the feet of my Soul unto thee Let the nails of thy Hands nail all good works unto mine Let the Meditation of the Thorns wherewith thou wast crowned for me pierce mine Eyes unto Tears and my Heart with sorrow for thy Sufferings and my Sins O let the most precious Blood which issued out of all thy Wounds wash me clean before thee and keep me clean Let me not after such a Bathing ever be polluted more O dearest Saviour who didst hang naked wounded wrackt tenâ—…'d tortur'd and bleeding even to death upon the Cross for me to offer up the only propitiatory Sacrifice by which thy Fathers wrath can be appeased have mercy upon me For in this thy alsufficient satisfaction I place my only hope of Salvation O let me ne're confounded be Since all my Hope is plac'd in thee I come dear Lord I come unto thee O take me into the Comprehensions of thine unalterable and everlasting love for thou hast opened thy Heart as well as thine Arms to receive me As thine Arms of Mercy are stretch'd out for me behold my Heart is by the hand of Faith reached up unto thee O let us be joyn'd together and never divided more By thy Sufferings grant me deliverance By thy Stripes let me be healed By thy Wounds let me be cured By thy Blood let me be saved As thou hast the pain O give me the ease of all thy Sufferings Ease me O Jesus of the burden of my Sins By thy Crown of Thorns pricking and wounding thee adorn my Head with a clear Understanding here and the Crown of Glory hereafter For thou hast paid the price of my Redemption that I may get the purchase of thy Kingdom therefore I adore thine unspeakable goodness I delight I rejoyce and glory in thine infinite Mercies I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified O let the powers of the Cross prevail against all the powers of darkness Let thy patience and love on the Cross reconcile me to all persons and sufferings Let the peace of the Cross reconcile me to thy Eternal Father and bring me peace of Conscience Let thy pains on the Cross mortifie all my evil and corrupt affections Let thy Victory on the Cross give me victory over all my spiritual enemies Let thy Patience satisfie for my Impatience Thy Obedience satisfie for my disobedience Thy Humility for my pride Thy Love for all my uncharitableness Give me such Patience Obedience Humility and Love as may make me live conformable to thee and make thy Merits effectual to me By thy Prayer for thine Enemies do thou mediate and intercede for me By thy care of thy Holy Mother and Saint John take care of thy Church and me By thy Mercy shew'd on the Thief have mercy on me powerfully convert me and all sinners unto thee By thy strong loud cries unto thy Father hear my prayers and let my cry come unto thee By thy thirst after my Salvation give me the benefit of this thy Passion By the Vinegar and Gall given unto thee make bitter every sin unto me By thy finishing all things foretold of thee finish my course of sining against thee By thy Recommendation of thy self into thy Fathers hands receive my Soul into thy Almighty protection here and to thy everlasting Glory hereafter By all thine unknown Sufferings felt by thee but not understood by me have mercy upon me By all thy dolors during the three long hours thou didst hang bleeding on the Cross for me have
great in the Kingdom of Heaven Deliver me from the Seven deadly sins Pride Covetousness Luxury Envy Gluttony Anger Sloth Grant me the Seven contrary Virtues Humility Liberality Chastity Gentleness Temperance Patience and Devotion for thy mercy sake Amen A PARAPHRASE upon the Objective Hymn of Praise O My God do all thy works praise thee and shall not I shall not I who am the work of thy hands praise thee whose care over me hath been such as if thou hadst nothing else to care for Yet thy providence is so great over all that it becomes our wonder and joy to see thee so particularly careful over every one and so amiable in thy goodness unto all that the more thou takest care for all thy care is so much the greater over every one All the benefit of thy wisdom goodness and providence being guided to the benefit of every person I praise thee therefore O Lord For the Glory of Angels For the Faith of the Patriarchs For the Inspiration of the Prophets For the labours of the Apostles For the truth of the Evangelists For the Zeal of Confessors For the Blood of Martyrs For the Learning of the Fathers For the Study of Doctors For the Industry of all pious Ministers For the Hope Virtue Faith and Zeal of all thy Saints and Servants For all whom I praise and magnifie thy Name O Lord. I also praise thee for the Heavens and all the Glory of them For the glory of the Sun which comes forth as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber rejoycing as a Giant to run his course I praise thee for its Beams whose light and splendor revives mine eye beautifies and quickens all the Earth digesteth Minerals animates the Air enlivens Trees perfects Flowers excites the influences of the Heavens raiseth exhalations dissolveth Ice causeth the Rivers to flow begetting propagating and cherishing all the Creatures which are the life and beauty of this habitable World By it I am warm'd and refresh'd By it I see all thy works in this glorious World By it I am exhilerated and excited to praise thee O thou eternal Sun of Righteousness who didst rise upon us with healing in thy Wings purchasing this glorious light and restoring it to me when by my sins I had forfeited the same O let not this Sun ever behold me doing any work of darkness O thou Eternal Sun who art the Light of this make me to remember that thine Eye which is ten thousand times brighter than the Sun is ever upon me that I may always walk as a child of the light before thee I praise thee O most blessed Lord for the shady glittering and Majestick Light of the Moon For its weaker and milder Beams For all its Revolutions and wonderful effects By which our Days are refreshed and our Nights enlightened By which we know Times and Seasons By which our Air is tempered our Droughts are moistened and all Productions hastened O blessed be thy Name for the precious things put forth by the Sun and for the precious things put forth by the Moon For the blessed Interchanges of our Days to travel and our Nights to rest in for the comfort of our lives continued by their constant Motions and Returns I praise thee for the illustrious Stars in all their order which govern things below by thine appointment while thou governest them in all their ways I praise thee for their powerful and precious influences I praise thee for the Waters above the Firmament and for thy Clouds that drop down fatness For the Coelestial Waters of Repentance which I beseech thee evermore to drop down upon me I praise thee for the winds thou sendest out of thy Treasuries to purifie the Air qualifie the heat and refresh our Spirits by which all living Creatures breathe and live I praise thee for the comfort light and warmth with all other benefits we receive from fire For the blessings of Winter in its healthful Airs wholsome Winds candid Frosts warmer Snows curling Floods and abounding Waters For the verdure life and beauty of the Spring for all the lovely Blossoms knitting Fruits Grain and Grass sweetly growing and springing in the same For the might and beauty of the Summers glory in the fuller growth and increase of all For the blessing of time and happy length of days to contemplate thy Glory and enjoy thy rich blessing in these in all our pleasant Fruits joyful harvests and various delicates of soft Wool Milk Butter Honey Balm and Spices and for all the Refreshments thou givest us in these thy good Creatures I revere thy Majesty which with such terror thou dost manifest to us in the Lightenings I adore thy greatness appearing in the Thunderings Thine Omnipotency in all Thy wonderful Providence over all Thy Goodness to all I praise thee for our Temperate Seasons Autumnal fruits rich and wholsome Wines Oyls and Siders For all the precious things of the Earth For the chief things of the ancient Mountains for the precious things of the lasting Hills For our Stately Woods and lovely Trees which afford us Wine Oyl and Spices fruits both for profit and pleasure yielding Timber also fuel shade and medicine I praise thee for the beauty fragrancy benefit variety and delight of all the curious Flowers the least of them shewing us a God Creator and Preserver For our fruitful Valleys wherein our Corn stands so thick that they laugh and sing thy Praises For the excellent Bread and daily food thou givest us therewith For thy blessings on all our several labours in raising and preparing it For thy continual blessing upon us in our daily use thereof For all the wonders of thy goodness and wisdom comprised in it For all our rich and beautiful Gardens stately Walks fruitful Fields pleasant Pastures rich Meadows Roots and Plants all sorts of Grain for Food Health Pleasure and Medicine I praise thee for all our Mines of Gold Silver Brass Iron Tin Copper Lead and Coal For all the Riches Lustre Virtue Use and Benefit of precious Stones For all our soveraign and wholsome Wells Springs and Fountains marvellous and healing Waters deep Seas and Treasures that lie in the Deep For bounding the Sea by thy Laws which though written in sand stand fast for ever For the magnitude of the Whale and all the wonderful Fishes of the Deep For subduing all things to the service of Man I magnifie thy name for ever For all the Fowls of the Air in all their warbling Melody delightful food pleasure variety and beauty For all the Insects and creeping things that are subject to thy care and providence the provident Ant the industrious and curious Bee in its marvellous working and delicious Honey For all the Beasts and Cattel upon a thousand Hills in all their strength use service food and pleasure But most of all do I praise thee for the Children of Men for the Israel of God for the Priests that serve at thine Altar for all the Spirits and Souls
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
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
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