Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	sin_n	soul_n	13,963	5	5.3517	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88797	The penitent lady: or Reflections on the mercy of God. Written by the fam'd Madam La Valliere, since her retirement from the French king's court to a nunnery. Translated from the French by L.A. M.A.; Reflexions sur la misericorde de Dieu. English. 1685	La Vallière, Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, duchesse de, 1644-1710.	1685 (1685)	Wing L623H; ESTC R179362	31,041	152

vicissitudes of these sublunary things cannot deprive me of I mean the Joy to see my self redeem'd from the slavery of sin in a state of salvation and led by the hand of thy Divine Providence to my Heavenly Canaan Season also my Heart with thy Grace that Spirit and Principle of Action which having-wash'd us clean in the Blood of our Saviour furnishes us with strength to persevere to the end in the way of his Commandments For alas what will become of those Vows which I made unto thee when I was surrounded with Fear and in danger of losing my Soul I say what will become of them unless thou O Lord out of the abundance of thy Mercy art-pleas'd to imprint them on my mind fix them in my thoughts and enable m● to conquer the Temptations of my visible and invisible Enemies who use all means possible either to terrifie or to decoy me into sin O Lord who succourest the poor and takest pleasure in those that come unto thee with Faith and with an humble and contrite Heart We acknowledge our selves to be weak and miserable Creatures and relie wholly upon thy Grace the proper Medicine to heal and comfort us Search my Heart and try my Reins and grant me that infallible Medicine which dispels the most contagious fumes of sin which will sanctifie my Soul and preserve it safe unto Everlasting Life But grant me also O my God that whilst I beg these Blessings of thee I may be endow'd with such a frame of mind and such other qualifications as encline thee to say Amen to my petitions Prepare your selves O my Body my Spirit and my Soul by the assistance of God's grace to appear before your Master and your God to the end that he may apply that Divine Medicine which will make you whole For how dare I approach the Holy of Holies without preparation and intrude my self a most miserable sinner into the presence of my God Therefore O Lord make me sensible of my want and misery and of thy Majesty and Love before I come to this Heavenly Banquet where I shall eat and drink either my Eternal Health or Damnation REFLECT III. Vpon those Vertues which are necessary for our approaching unto Christ from the Example of the Canaanite the Samaratan and Mary Magdalen TEach me in the trouble of my Spirit and anguish of my Heart with what degree of grief my Soul ought to be affected for its Offences against so great so good a God and what Purity of Body and Soul is required that it may be filled with Divine shame How I may offer up a pure and agreeable Sacrifice too thee having now a mind too much delighted in the vanities of the world and a heart too much led away by them How I may lodge thee in the Temple of my Breast from whence with difficulty I have just now chas'd thy most inveterate Enemies In short the Way for a Notorious Sinner who is without Repentance and without Love to be made Partaker of that Christ who was crucified for him is to defer coming to the Table of the Lord until he is duly prepared lest he commit the most hainous Sacriledge Inspire me then with such a hatred of sin as may confirm my resolutions to abstain from every thing that displeaseth thee and with Passionate desires to love thee alone Give me that humble and contrite spirit whose groans thou dost never refuse I would say Inspire me by thy Grace with the self-same dispositions with which the poor Canaanite prostrated her self at thy feet Look upon me O Lord whilst I approach unto thee as thou didst that humble stranger I would say as a poor Dog who is sufficiently happy when permitted to pick up the Crumbs which fall from the Table where thou feastest thine Elect. Look with compassion upon this poor sinner who like the Samaritan woman being inflamed with a sense of her sins beseeches one drop of Living Water to quench the fervor of her soul and thirst of sin But above all incline me to Imitate Mary Magdalen with that holy penitent let me wash thy Feet with my Tears and by indeavouring to love thee much in some measure answer thy love in forgiving me much Deal with me as with these three Holy Women whom thou hast made the living Witnesses of thy Mercy that by these Examples I may be taught what trust ought to be put in thy Goodness Fit me O Lord for the approaching thy Table and participating of thy Divine Mysteries Give me a lively humble and constant Faith which may produce an Universal Obedience to thy Law the solid foundation of my Eternal Welfare REFLECT IV. Concerning the Constancy and St●●bility of the Faith necessa●● to a Penitent Soul GIVe me therefore O Lord a lively Faith which ma● animate all my Actions and notwithstanding my weakness no●rish thy Love and thy Grace i● my Soul A stedfast Faith whereby I may sincerely believe th● Holy Word and when th● World allures me with its temptations put me in mind that n● man can serve two Masters A humble Faith whereby I may discern that conformity to this World is the greatest impediment of my conformity unto Jesus Christ In fine an enlightned Faith which may render the Grandeur of this World contemptible to me and demonstrate that the fashion of this World passes away and that there is nothing solid and lasting but God alone For alas my best desires are fleeting and unconstant like the flowers of the field which to day are and to morrow are cut down and wither O Lord who art delighted in acts of Mercy and who alone canst change the heart turn my inconstancy into a steady resolution of serving thee and my irregular passions into an earnest persuit of thy love Let it not suffice me that I am disgusted with worldly things or perhaps estranged from them this may proceed from a spirit of pride or be the effort of my reason But direct my ways and purifie my thoughts that at the same time I am convinc'd of the vanity and emptiness of earthly things I may be also assisted with thy grace to teturn unto thee that my Heart being cleans'd instead of those Legions of Vanities which have formerly possess'd it it may be consecrated a Holy Temple and dedicated to the Service of my God Preserve me from the sweet poyson of the pleasures of this World that sun-shine of Fortune which sooner disrobes us of our Innocence than the most severe blasts of Adversity Let me look up unto no other God or Providence than thine alone Correct me O Lord but with the chastisement of a Son which in the midst of the most glittering prosperity afflicts and humbles us brings our hearts home unto thee and convinces us that we are but Men that is to say weak feeble creatures blinded by our passions and subject to all sorts of misery Take away from me that inordinate love of my self and that original corruption from

my own Diversion For thou knowest Lord how insensibly those things which I frequently behold make impressions upon my mind how conformable I am to the company with which I converse and how wonderfully good or bad Examples influence my Life and Conversation Grant therefore O my Lord and my God that I may take delight in the Company of Vertuous and Religious Men that instead of talking about the World and it vanities my discourse may be concerning Eternity thy Grace thy Greatness and those infinite Mercies which thou hast been pleased to bestow upon my Soul and if those impressions which sin has left upon my mind should for the present render me averse to these innocent pleasures if the taint of my corrupt Nature should disrelish these Diversions which yield more solid satisfaction than the most sensual enjoyments of this World then I beseech thee to enlighten my Understanding with thy Grace and strengthen my Faith to withhold me from gratifying my inordinate Appetites to work in me a repentance for those sins which render me incapable of the sweet Comforts of thy Holy Spirit For O Lord if thou dost not expect that I should exercise much Rigour on my Body 't is because I should be more fervent in Spirit and mortifie my corrupt Appetites the more for a deep sense of thy Death and Sufferings is absolutely necessary to restore the health of my Soul Now seeing the best way to rectifie my warp'd desires is to bend them towards the contrary extream Grant that the by as of my corrupt Nature may never p●evail on me to bestow so much as one favourable look on my divorced Lusts for 't is but reasonable that I should punish my self for my too earnest pursuits of sensual pleasure by mortifying those Irregular Appetites and denying my self even Lawful Diversions it is but just that I who have trifled away so much time on the Stage of the World should retire my self from those pleasures which are the fewel o● my inordinate lusts and den● my self the World and all its pleasures that I may be truly the Disciple of the Lord Jesus Let the certain assurance of a future Life O my God demonstrate to me the Frailty and Vanity of those things which we call State Wealth Fortune and Grandeur Let me not with the greatest part of the World engage all the force of my Affections in the pursuit of them as if there were no future Life Happiness or Eternity Let me esteem them according to their true value but let me place my Affections only upon that solid good where true Joys are to be found For how can any real Contentment proceed from such empty Trifles How can any lasting satisfaction be built upon such fading Enjoyments which make themselves wings and fly away when we think we have the surest possession of them Lastly Let me contemplate thy Works in the Government of the World in which as in the Scene of a Comedy Providence orders the Persons disposes the Riches and Honours and lulls asleep the generality of Mankind who being rouz'd up at the end of the Act stand amaz'd that they have been all the while in a Dream that the gaudy Apparitions are vanish'd and nothing left but dust and smoak Yea Lord I confess that after I have throughly ransack'd all the stores of sensual Enjoyments I cannot find any real satisfaction or lasting pleasure but only in thy Love and thy Service REFLECT XVII That Charity towards our Neighbour obliges us carefully to avoid not only every Action which may be injurious to his Life Goods and Reputation but also detracting Speeches and foolish jesting O That my Soul might be inspir'd with thy Love O my God that it might be my only Treasure my Glory and my Delight that those chaste and Divine Pleasures which flow from it might enlighten my Understanding and allure my Will ●o cleave unto thee that it might work in me a hearty sorrow for my past Offences and a holy fear of thy Divine Majesty that it might take possession of my Soul and not endure the most darling lust to lurk therein O that my love to my Neighhour might in some measure answer thy love to me that I might love his Soul above my own Life and never be prevaild upon for the gain of the whole World to wound my Conscience by injuring him either in estate or good name But since generally nothing is esteem'd a breach of Charity towards our Neighbour but such open Violence or abusive Language as a sober Heathen would blush at since few persons make a conscience of those Jears which touch a man to the quick those Genteel ways of less'ning his Reputation by insinuating his Frailties and ridiculing his Humour because 't is done in sport and for diversion of the Company Therefore I beseech thee O Lord open my eyes and convince me that these sins which I am apt to call pardonable Infirmities displease thee the more in that they are agreeable to our corrupt Natures and the genuine off spring of self-love Let me heartily detest this mischievous diversion to which I have been too much given up let my sorrow for this sin in some measure equal the pleasure I took in it and let that which was the great Incentive of my Guilt produce a Fountain of Tears to blot it out For is it not highly reasonable O Lord that I should bewail that Mirth whereby I have injur'd my Neighbour and undone my self and that Laughter which has cost me my Soul and the Favour of my God Is it not just that seeing I cannot make any extraordinary demonstrations of my Repentance and Love to thee I should testifie the sincerity of my Intentions by abstaining from every thing which gratifies my Natural Corruption that by a discreet reservedness in my discourse for the future I should endeavour to make amends for the former lavishness of my Tongue and by casting out all those sins which have offended thee invite thy return into the Temple of my Soul Whensoever therefore O my God I have any desires to conform my self to the World to gratisie my depraved Appetites or to shew the gayety of my Humour whensoever these sinful delights come into my mind and begin to blow up the sparks of my corruption whensoever I perceive these motions of complacency towards my self and envy against my Neighbour these ferments of my passions and melancholy distemper of my mind which if in the least encouraged will easily get the better of me Then let me consider O Lord that if I do not carefully suppress these first motions to sin I resign up my Soul to its most inveterate Enemies and on the contrary if I nip them in the bud if I sacrifice my passions and my pleasures unto thee I shall encline thee to have Mercy upon me and to blot out my Offences I shall give thee the Homage of a contrite and penitent Heart In which thou art well pleased Shew me therefore