have they an irascible to resist all obstacles which may be to their detriment It must not be with us as with the sluggard Vult non vult have a desire to it for the excellency but give it over for the difficulty 3. That we be attentive to what we are doing and keep our hearts from vain and wandring cogitations Omni custodia serva cor tuum quia ex ipso vita procedit Keep thy heart with all diligence for there-out cometh life for as our heart is so will all the actions be which proceed from it For it is not a chill and cold Perseverance or Expectation that will serve our turns to prevail with God but a fervent spirit to pursue the same For God heareth not at least regardeth not as not loud crying long babling or many tautologies or repetitions so neither cold faint and drowzy prayers not intending or minding what we pray for which proceed only from the lips but it is the affection and zealous desire of the devout mixed with sighs tears and groans not to be uttered which move and prevail with him For God being a Spirit looketh to be worshipped in spirit To which purpose it is that our Saviour Christ adviseth us when we pray to enter into our Closets and to shut the door intimating to us thereby that we being alone and private should cast away all publique wandering and worldly thoughts which trouble our devotions and hinder us from lifting up our hearts unto God and wholly fervently and considerately bend our thoughts and desires unto him And these retired Soliloquies and private Meditations and Conferences between God our souls and between our selves and our souls have ever been much approved by the Antients Our Prayer saith an antient Father ought to be in such manner as Hanna's was She wept and prayed and her lips only were perceived to move Let every one hear this and imitate it especially they who with extream babling without all modesty yet with loudness of voice make their prayers Let us therefore pray with sighs and groans But withall taking heed as much as we can with Gods assistance and our own endeavours that in the time of our prayers no extravagant thought steal upon us lest happily we have one thing in our hearts and another in our tongues And to this purpose also speaketh S. Basil All our prayers ought to be made not in syllables but in the hearty affection of the soul. For how do or can we think that God will give us that for which we pray when by our behaviour and gesture our faint and weak sollicitation we seem to him that either we do not want what we pray for or that he will upon every slight and cold motion be perswaded to give us what we desire Or how can we expect to be heard of God when we our selves not being serious in our devotions but diverted with other phantasies hear not nor know what we do petition for The wise man therefore giveth us good and wholsom counsel in this matter Before thou prayest prepare thy self and be not as one that tempteth the Lord. Our prayers therefore must not proceed from the lips only for no man can assure himself that God heareth his prayers who is so careless and his thoughts so wandring that he knoweth not himself what he prayeth for Of the Time and Place for PRAYER TAke a little taste of the Time when and the Place where our Prayers are to be offered up to GOD. For the Time in general the Places before-named do and may direct us Pray without ceasing Continue in Prayer And pray alwayes More particularly Twice a day that is Morning Evening the Sacrifices were to be made David prayed thrice In the Evening Morning and at Noon-day And seven times in a day Daniel prayed thrice In the morning before day Christ prayed David prayed early The Apostles at the third hour of the day At the sixth hour The ninth hour And David at midnight For the Place In all places saith God Every where saith S. Paul Christ prayed in the Desert On a Mountain In the Garden Isaac in the Field Peter prayed on the House-top or Tarris In the Congregation saith David To the Temple went S. Peter S. Iohn and S. Paul And Christ bids us when we would be private in prayer and not be molested to go to our Closets So that it appeareth that there is no Time nor Place unseasonable to offer up our Prayers unto God as occasion shall be offered though the chief Place for private Prayer is our Closet and for publick the Temple where one may stir up another by example and where we ought to make publick confession of our Faith and give publick thanks for Gods benefits How to pray aright BUt it may come to pass though we be prepared and fitted with all the former circumstances that we may pray and not be heard if in the last place we do not carefully consider to pray for those things which are fit and requisite for God to give and for us to receive For as Saint Iames saith Many time we ask and receive not because we ask amiss For our better instruction therefore we are to consider that there be two sorts of Blessings to be required of God First Spiritual Secondly Temporal 1. The first part pertains to Gods own honour and the good of our own souls as Faith Hope Charity Thankful Hearts Remission of Sins and other of the same kind which are meerly spiritual and heavenly And these Blessings we may without doubt safely and confidently beg at GODS hands and he will not deny them 2. The Second are temporal and indifferent as Riches Honour Health Peace Seasonable times Children and the like And these are not to be prayed for but according to Christs pattern of prayer with thy Will be done or according to Christs practice with a Not as I will but as thou wilt Or with the Leaper in the Gospel Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Saint Bernard disposeth these into three heads Two for blessings of this life for the body and soul and the third for the life to come And in praying for these he giveth three Cautions with his Reasons First That our prayer for Temporal blessings which the body wanteth be restrained to things needful because many times we pray for things superfluous to satisfie our pleasures Secondly That our petition for the graces of the soul be free from impurity because we oftentimes desire to have them for Ostentation Thirdly That our request for the blessing of Eternal Life be in all Humility because many require it at Gods hands as presuming upon their own merits Our Prayers being thus qualified being preferred only to God in Faith Hope Charity with
so guide me with thy holy Spirit that I may neither do speak nor think any thing this day contrary to thy holy Will Behold O Lord I offer my self a living Sacrifice to thee and humbly pray thee to accept it Good God direct my Soul in the way of thy Commandements increase my Faith strengthen my Hope enlarge my Charity and infuse all the good Graces of thy Holy Spirit into me Give me grace so to remember my sins as that thou mayest forget them and so to forsake them as that thou mayest forgive them Instruct me in all goodness and give me the grace of Perseverance that I fly not back from any good courses in this life but that I may go forward and continue in them to the end of my dayes O Lord who hast promised the necessaries of this life to those which shall first seek thy Kingdom I humbly intreat thee to give unto me this day all things necessary for my sustentation as Food Rayment Health of Body Ioy of Heart Peace of Conscience and a blessing to all my endeavours give me a mind contented with that which shall be sufficient and not desirous of that which is superfluous that I may pass the rest of my dayes on earth religiously honestly and soberly as becommeth thy servant to thy honour and my endless comfort Be gracious to the Kings most Excellent Majesty his Royal Queen the Royal Issue the whole Estate Clergy Nobility Gentry Mastistrates and Commons give us all grace in our several places to do our Duties as in thy sight that at the last by the merits of Iesus Christ our Saviour we may receive the reward thereof in thy eternal Kingdom where thou reignest together with the same our Lord Iesus Christ and the Holy Spirit World without End Morning Prayer for a Family O Almighty Lord God Heavenly Father we give thee most humble and hearty thanks in that thou hast not only of nothing created us after thine own Image but also hast from time to time most graciously preserved us even to this present Morning from all dangers and terrours and hast given us this night past sweet sleep and comfortable rest whereby we are refreshed and fitted to our bodily labour We thank thee O Lord for all thy Spiritual Blessings for our Regeneration Iustification Sanctification in some measure and our Redemption by Iesus Christ. We praise thy Name for thy bountiful supply of all things necessary for this life as also for thy patient and long expectance of us in our Conversion O Lord we confess that we have been so far from the serious consideration of thy favours to us and from rendering due thanks unto thee for them that in stead thereof we have grievously offended thy Majesty with most abominable and vile sins notwithstanding thou hast sought to reduce us to thy obedience by the good motions of thy Holy Spirit As often O Lord as we look about us either with the eyes of our bodies or minds so often do thy fatherly and innumerable benefits appear unto us For all which we tender again and again from the bottom of our hearts infinite thanks unto thee and humbly desire thee for thy mercies sake in Christ Iesus to pardon all our ingratitude and rebellions Enlighten us we pray thee with thy holy Spirit that we may see our imperfections kindle our zeal towards thee rule and govern our minds wills affections and actions that we may not offend thee any more And give us Grace that we may alwayes think speak and do whatsoever shall be pleasing unto thee and abstain from all things which shall displease or ofsend thee It is more than enough O Lord that we have been hitherto so rebellious against thee It is too much that we have been so negligent to serve thee and it is worst of all that we have been so ingrateful to thee for all thy blessings Let all evil and wickedness now depart from us and let new manners new affections and new hearts be renewed in us We commit our selves O Lord wholly into thy protection this day and the rest of our lives and most humbly desire thee of thy infinite goodness that as now thou hast put good thoughts into us thou wilt be pleased to perfect them in us so that being led by thy Holy Spirit we may do that which is acceptable to thee and love serve honour and praise thy holy Name all the dayes of our lives And for a much O Lord as thou hast promised to those that love thee all things necessary for this life we call and cry to thee O our Father which art in Heaven to Give us this day our daily bread even whatsoever is needful and expedient for our sustentation Give us O Lord sufficient for our maintenance lest we take evil and indirect courses or blaspheme or murmur against thee and not too much lest we forget from whose hands we receive it Give not only that which shall be necessary but contented minds also with it Bless O Lord the labour and work of our hands bless us at home and abroad and grant that every one of us may truly as in thy sight walk in our several vocations and diligently and carefully intend the same making a Conscience of all our wayes that by thy gracious favour and our own endeavours we may have prosperous success in all things that we shall undertake Continue O Lord thy Gospel among us Bless our gracious King with the Queen the Royal Issue the Lady Elizabeth with her Princely Off-spring the whole Land and all sorts and conditions of people in it Bless all that travel by Sea or Land and take into thy protection all Orphans Widows and all that suffer wrong Give health and strength to the sick and weak and joy and comfort to the sorrowful and afflicted Bless us O Lord with healthful and sound Bodies keep our good Names unspotted and unblemished Bless the fruits of the Earth and give us wholesome peaceable and seasonable times These and all other thy blessings which thou knowest better to give than we to ask vouchsafe if it seem good to thy Majesty to give us for the worthiness of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord in whose blessed Name and absolute Prayer we close up our imperfect Prayers aud say as he hath taught us Our Father c. Rules for Evening and Night AS we usually twice a day at the least take our bodily sustenance so should we be no less careful for the refreshing our Souls but twice a day likewise Morning and Evening if not oftner dispose our selves to Devotion and Prayer When thou therefore retirest thy self as in the Morning remember 1. To give God thanks that he hath delivered thee from the dangers of the day past prospered thee in thy affairs and given thee necessaries for thy sustentation 2. Examine thy Conscience narrowly and consider wherein thou hast the day past offended God either in thought word or deed
forsaking the confidence or strength of all other things I may flee wholly to thy mercy in Christ Iesus whereby I may be protected from the terrours of thy Iudgement Grant unto me distressed sinner these graces even for the same Iesus Christ his sake who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth for ever Or thus ALmighty and everlasting God whose years fail not and who hast determined the dayes of man which he cannot pass yet thy self endurest for ever and thy Throne from generation to generation Remember that I am but dust like grass and my dayes as the flower of the field which flourisheth in the morning and in the evening is dryed up and withered O let me know my end make me mindful of my mortality I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were and cannot promise my self one hour much less any dayes or years in this my Pilgrimage I am like a tottering wall and a broken fence give me grace therefore that I trust not in the uncertainty of this life like the rich Fool in the Gospel but I may every hour prepare my self in thy fear to pass out of this frail mansion and to expect thee with a solid Faith and firm Hope waiting chearfully for the day and time of my dissolution And looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Saviour Iesus Christ. Make me like the faithful and wise servant ever ready and prepared for the coming of my Lord lest being suddenly prevented I be taken like a Bird in the snare of the Fowler O Lord thou hast by this gentle correction put me in mind of my mortality give me also grace that I may make good use of it that I may cast off all the cares of this world and wholly betake my self to make my peace with thee And I humbly pray thee that thou wouldest not forget me in my pains and miseries in all my infirmities be not far from me when by reason of the terrors of Death and assaults of the Enemy I have most need of thy help but strengthen my soul with thy holy grace against all sensations that my faith fail me not but that thy holy Spirit assisting me I may overcome my spiritual Enemies and at the hour of death Lord I beseech thee let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word Or thus BLessed Lord Iesus Christ the only comfort of the living and the eternal life of those which dye in thee I wholly submit to thy blessed Will whether it please thee to suffer my Soul any longer to live in this Earthly Tabernacle to serve thee or to have it depart out of this transitory world being certainly assured that it cannot perish if committed to thy keeping O Lord I put off this frail Flesh with a willing mind in hope of the Resurrection of it at the last day together with my Soul when it will become much more glorious and happy than now it is I beseech thee O Lord Iesu strengthen me with thy grace against all temptations and defend me with the shield of thy mercy against all the assaults of the Devil I know that of my self I have no strength wherefore my whole confidence is in thee I have no merits of mine own to allege for I see many yea too many of my sins to stand up against me but by thy mercy I trust that thou wilt repute me amongst the just Thou wert born for me didst hunger thirst fast and pray for me thou didst many good works and sufferedst many bitter things for my sake Let thy Blood wash away the spots of my Offences let thy Iustice cover my Unrighteousness and thy Merits plead for me before the great and severe Iudge And as many sickness increaseth let thy grace increase that my faith fail not my hope waver not nor my love to thee wax cold Let me not be cast down or dejected with the terror of death but when death shall seize on the eyes of my body let the eyes of my soul look to thee and when the use of my tongue shall fail me let my heart cry unto thee I commend my spirit into thy hands O Lord who livest and reignest c. Although thou kill me yet will I trust in thee and though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death yet will I not fear because thou Lord art with me FINIS A short Table of the chief Heads contained in this Book A General Exhortation to Gods Service Pag. 1 To Prayer 50 In regard of Gods Precept 51 Promise Ibid. Christs Example 52 The Necessity ib. The Dignity 54 The Benefit ib. Directions how to Pray 1. To God only 58 In Christ. 60 2. Faith ib. 3. In Hope 61 4. In Charity 62 5. In Humility 64 Of Spirit 65 Of Body ib. 6. In Perseverance 68 With Fervency Diligence and Attention 70 The Time for Prayer 74 The Place for Prayer 75 How to Pray Ariight 76 Prayer divided into Parts 78 The Use of the Lords Prayer 82 The Lords Prayer Analysed 85 Prayers for Spiritual Graces 142 A Prayer before Prayer 145 Before a Sermon 147 Petitions for Temporal Blessings 148 Rules for the Morning 150 Morning Prayer private 151 For a Family 160 Rules for the Evening and Night 165 Evening Prayers private 167 For a Family 176 Prayers upon the Life and Death of Iesus Christ. 180 Prayers for several Persons For a Married Man 196 For a Married Woman 198 For a Child 200 For a Woman with Child 201 For a Young Man or Maid 202 For a Servant 205 Before a Iourney 206 After a Iourney 207 Intercession 209 Deprecation 211 In Affliction 216 In Time of Pestilence 218 The Creed Analysed 221 Confession of Gods Glory 242 Motives to Repentance 246 The Duty of Repentance 284 Confession of Sins 287 Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased 318 Direction before the Sacrament 362 Meditations and Prayers Before the Sacrament 365 Meditations and Prayers After the Sacrament 376 Motives to Thanksgiving 383 Thanksgivings 386 Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased 399 Imprecation 432 The Ten Commandementts Paraphrased 438 Meditations of Death 469 Meditations for the Sick 472 Prayers for the Sick 479 FINIS Cicero Esa. 55.6 Job 37. 16.11.17 Mat. 5.48 Tert. 1. Psal. 139. 6 c. Esa. 66 1. Jer. 23. 24. Wisd. 1.7 S. Hier. S. Aug. Deut. 31.4 Dan. 4 34. Apoc. 4 9 1 Tim. 6. 16. S. Hier. Ps. 90. 2. 102. 27. Dan. 7.13 Ps. 102.26 Mal. 3. 6. Jam. 1. 17. Pro. 19. 21 Esa. 46. 10 Heb. 6. 17. Tit. 1. 2. S. Hier. Psal. 1. 7 94. 11. 147 5. Esa. 40 28 Joh. 21. 17 Act. 15 18 Rom. 11. 33. 1 Co. 2. 10 Heb. 4. 13 1 Joh. 3. 20 Ex 15. 11. 1 Sam. 2. 2 Esa. 29. 23 40. 25. Abac. 1.13 Esa. 6. 3. Apoc. 4. 8. Josh. 24. 19. Lev 11. 44. Jer. 10.10 Joh. 17.3 Rom. 3.4 1 Thes. 1.9 Apoc. 15. 3. 16. 7.
God and our Neighbour Humility of body and soul Perseverance Fervency of Spirit our souls and bodies attending to what we pray for and in due Time and Place praying aright both for temporal and spiritual blessings we shall no doubt by the mercy of God through the mediation intercession and merits of Iesus Christ obtain in his good time all things which shall be needful and expedient for us Prayer divided into parts DEvotions and Prayers are either publick or private 1. Private prayers are whereby every particular Man prayeth to God for those things which he wanteth In which kind of devotion we ought at all times to exercise our selves because at all times we stand in need of Gods particular assistance and therefore we are tyed or limited herein neither to time nor place for whether it be in the night or morning mid-day or evening at home or abroad in the City or Country in our beds or at our work if we call upon him faithfully he will hear us 2. Publick Prayers are whereby the whole Congregation meet in a place Dedicated to Gods honour as well to praise his Name as to pray for those things which shall be needful For although Christians ought to pray privately yet ought they not in the mean time to neglect the publick worship and service of God in the Church For from the beginning it was held and observed as a duty required and therefore before the erection and dedication of Temples and Churches the Patriarchs and holymen erected Altars in certain places where at set times of the day they might offer Sacrifices and publick Prayer to God In the second of Ioel you shall find a set and prescribed Form of Prayer for the Minister to use together with the place and the Congregation that were to assist In the New Testament also our Saviour Christ himself to encourage this holy duty of publick Prayer hath promised his presence amongst those that shall be assembled and gathered together after this manner Therefore whosoever shall neglect these publick Assemblies sheweth and discovereth thereby how little he regardeth Christs company or presence These Prayers are also distinguished into these parts 1. Invocation 2. Confession 3. Thanksgiving Invocation consisteth of 1. Petitions for the good of our own Souls in Spiritual things Bodies in Temporal things 2. Intercessions either in praying for the good of others or against the evil of others 3. Deprecations against evils Spiritual Temporal Confession is threesold 1. Of our Faith 2. Of the Glory of God 3. Of our own Sins Thanksgiving is either 1. For deliverance from evil 2. For benefits received To these may be added Imprecation either 1. Against the enemies of God incorrigible and irreconcileable 2. Against the enemies of our Souls incorrigible and irreconcileable So that these Rules be observed 1. That it be not used for private hate or revenge 2. That we rejoyce not in any mans Destruction 3. That we aim at their Correction The use of the Lords Prayer BEcause that our Saviour Christ hath taught us how to pray and hath put the very words as it were into our mouths which we should use in praying I think it necessary to begin with the same which he hath left unto us 1. In respect of the Excellency of the Author of it who was no less than God 2. In respect of the Perfection of the work it self the Prayer for it comprehendeth in it Petitions for all things which we stand in need of 3. In respect of the Efficacy of this Prayer in working for it cannot choose but prevail and work much with God for none knew the mind and disposition of God better than he which composed it which was God And let it not lose any part of the due praise which belongeth to it in regard of the compendiousness or shortness of it for it deserveth the more honour because though it be short yet it is also copious and plentiful in matter and therefore the more absolute and perfect It is not therefore without cause that the Antients have given so many excellent Attributes to it As the Abridgement of the Gospel and our Faith The Interpretation of our Desires and Hopes The very Bond of Charity And an inexhaustible Treasury Yet let not any Man think that our Saviour prescribed us this Prayer as that we should use no other but be tyed to the very words contained in it but this we must conceive that he made it to bridle our desires that though we make our Petitions and frame them according to our several necessities yet to keep us in compass that we exceed not the limits nor vary from the extent and bounds of this Prayer The Use of it is twofold 1. That we might be instructed by it what is necessary in general to require of God and not without need seeing we being naturally blind in spiritual things know not what is fit to ask and many times we crave those things as Zebedees Children did which are unworthy both of God and our selves and might prove hurtful also to us if they should be granted And therefore under certain general heads he hath bounded the desires of the flesh and taught us after what manner and rule we should square all our Petitions For whatsoever we shall desire against the directions therein contained dis-a-greeth from the will of God and therefore is neither good holy nor profitable 2. That we may be able thereby to conceive frame and make all our Prayers according to our several necessities and after that Petition which sitteth us as our occasions shall alter The Lords Prayer Analysed A Father not a Lord. One being a name of love The other of dignity A Father not a Iudge One being a name of Goodness Comfortable O 〈◊〉 sub quo nomini desperandum The â—â—her of Power Terrible Who is able to resist his Power It is too proud a salutation For how much are we By Nature Dust and Ashes By Sin Bond-slaves to Satan So much are we below him Who then durst be so bold as to call the Father but that Christ did command it For exceeding great is thy Majesty And exceeding great is our Poverty He is exalted above the Heavens and his glory is above all the Earth He humbleth himself when he beholdeth the things in Heaven And we are but worms and leaves driven to and fro with the wind A wind that passeth away and commeth not again Yet we are bold to call thee Father for we come not of our selves thy Son Christ hath taught us the form Take notice of the words they are thy Sons 1. Father of all Creatures In their Creation Preservation Governing 2. Of Mankind which he formed after his own Image Other Creatures are but as a shadow to Man For he endued him with understanding And the Creatures not so To him he gave precepts to order his life To the Creatures only by blind
merits and cast nor those from thy favour and grace whom by Nature thou of thy goodness hast vouchsafed to make thy Brethren Who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Spirit now and for ever Amen Petitions for Spiritual Graces OH that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes O LORD Blessed is the man whom thou teachest out of thy Law Open mine eyes that I may see the wonderous things of thy Law Teach me to do thy will for thou and my GOD let thy good Spirit lead me into the Land of Righteousness Give me Grace O LORD To know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing To abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the Soul To keep in mind alwayes Thou the World passeth away and the desire thereof And that the benefit which a Man getteth by the World is nothing but Destruction Truly to say I have remembred thy everlasting Iudgements and my Son receiveth comfort thereby O thou that givest Grace to the humble give me Grace to be humble Give me a good heart which hearing thy Word may keep it and bring forth fruit with patience O Lord Let me find Grace in this eyes Let me find a place and time of Repentance Let me not receive thy Grace in vain Let me not fail or fall from it But let me continue in it And let me grow in it To the end of my dayes Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Carefulness Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Defence or clearing my self Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Indignation Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Fear Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Vehement Desire Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Zeal Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Revenge Give me Grace to think upon and do Whatsoever things are True Give me Grace to think upon and do Venerable Give me Grace to think upon and do Honest Give me Grace to think upon and do Iust Give me Grace to think upon and do Pure Give me Grace to think upon and do Lovely Give me Grace to think upon and do Of Good Report Give unto me O LORD Humility of Heart Give unto me O LORD Charity to my neighbour Give unto me O LORD Patience of Mind Give unto me O LORD Temperance of Life Give unto me O LORD Chastity of Body Give unto me O LORD Contentedness of Mind Give unto me O LORD Alacrity of Spirit Give unto me good Lord Perfect knowledge of my Sins Give unto me good Lord Hearty sorrow for them Give unto me good Lord Perfect hatred against them Give unto me good Lord Fervent love to all Goodness Give unto me good Lord True obedience to thy Will Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Faith Vertue Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Vertue Knowledge Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Knowledge Temperance Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Temperance Patience Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Patience Godliness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Godliness Brotherly Kindness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Brotherly Kindness Charity Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Love Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Ioy Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Peace Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Long Suffering Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Gentleness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Goodness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Faith Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spririt Meckness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Temperance Give unto me good Lord Contempt of the World Give unto me good Lord Hatred of Sin Give unto me good Lord Loathing of the flesh Give unto me good Lord Desire of Heaven Give unto me ô Lord A right Faith to live well Give unto me ô Lord A sure Hope to persevere well Give unto me ô Lord A perfect Humility to obey well Give unto me ô Lord A true Charity never to be divided from thee Give me grace O Lord to be content with that which is necessary To despise that wich is superflous Grant O Lord That I may so live that I repent not to have lived That I may so live that no man may know I have lived amiss That I may so live that I may alwayes live That dying I may live and living I may dye and say with a chearful Spirit Lord now leitest thou thy servant depart in peace I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Amen Prayers for Spiritual Graces O Blessed Lord Jesus Christ who art my only Tutor and Instructer and from whom I have learned whatsoever I know I beseech thee that thou wouldst further teach me those things whereof I am ignorant and which are necessary for my Salvation that thou wouldst keep me in things which I have already learned and rectifie me in those matters wherein as a man I erre Strengthen me and make me firm wherein soever I waver and am doubtful and keep me from that which is erronious and hurtful Above all things O Saviour strengthen my Faith and give me grace daily to prosit in the knowledge and understanding of thy Holy Word and so govern all my actions by thy Holy Spirit that my life may be answerable to my knowledge and that I may shew the fruits of whatsoever I have learned by my good and religious conversation Give me a firm and assured hope in thee and thy gracious promises that in all my troubles and necessities I may be evermore confident in thy mercy Be unto me a strong Tower of defence against mine Enemies that whether the World allure me the Devil assail me or the Flesh rebel I may fly unto thee for refuge And although thou presently put not forth thy hand to help me but defer thy comfort according to thy good pleasure yet keep me from doubting or despairing of thy aid because thy promises are sure Give me a fervent Love and perfect Charity to my Neighbour that I may be as kind to him and as careful of him as of one who is a Member with me of the same Body whereof thou O sweet Saviour art the Head Let my love to him be sincere and unfeigned which may charitably relieve him in his wants patiently bear with his infirmities and willingly forgive him all his trespasses against me Create in me I beseech thee a pure mild peaceable and humble heart which may think harm to no man nor recompense evil for evil but good for injuries Cleanse me from all unclean and earthly desires and lift up my heart to thee and Heavenly things and so write thy Laws in it that I may wholly bend my self to keep them and please thee persevering in the same to my
lives end Give me O Lord true compunction of heart and so water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may in the bitterness of my Soul with abundance of tears sighs and groans bewail and lament all my hainous and grievous transgressions against thee Give me grace O Lord that I may not boast in any merits or works of mine own or have any confidence in them but let me glory in this alone that I am a Member of that Body of thine which was crucified for me and did sufficiently satisfie for all the Sins of the World If thou O Lord look or expect any merits from me behold I tender unto thee thine own merits the merits of thy Death and Passion which thou hast vouchsafed to make me partaker of by vertue whereof alone I dare boldly appear before thy Tribunal These merits I set between my sins and thy Iustice and otherwise or in any other manner I dare not I will not contend with thee O sweet Iesu I desire thee to offer them to the Father as a propitiatory Sacrifice for all my great and grievous Offences that when my Soul shall depart from this Body it may by the same be freed and delivered from all the judgements and punishments which are due unto it for sin and be carried to that blessed place where there is no sorrow but endless felicity where thou together with the Father and the blessed Spirit livest and reignest for ever Before Prayer O Almighty and everliving GOD Heavenly Father to whom it is manifestly known how inconstant and wandring the minds of men are in any good actions and how easily we suffer our selves to be carried away from the contemplation of thee by diversity of distractions and unseasonable thoughts which take hold of us in the time of our Devotions and Prayers unto thee who also by thine only begotten Son Christ Iesus didst prescribe unto his Disciples a Form of Prayer to be offered up to thee and hast derived the same from them to us Behold me most wretched sinner wholly depraved and corrupt intreating thee by the same Son that for his sake thou wouldst infuse thy Holy Spirit into me which may adopt me into the number of thine Elect that it may teach me how I ought to pray according to thy Holy Will that it may allay all troublesome and wandring thoughts in me while I offer up my prayers and praises unto thee Suffer me not to serve thee with my lips and be absent in heart from thee but create a right Spirit within me that I being sensible of all thy graces and comforts may with joyful and holy zeal perform my duty to thee that so my prayers and desires may appear before thee and in thy Sons Name I may effectually be heard and my petitions may be granted to the glory and honour of thy most holy Name and the endless comfort of mine own Soul through the same our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Before a Sermon O Most loving SAVIOUR I most humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst be pleased at this time to enlighten my understanding and to open my inward ears with the grace of thy Holy Spirit that I may hear that sacred Word with an humble heart and rejoyce in it in the obedience of the Spirit That I may be fully instructed thereby how to do good and avoid evil and bring forth the fruit thereof in my life and conversation That thy Honour and Glory may be thereby increased the Devil and all other the Enemies of my Soul may be vanquished my Soul may be saved and at the last I may appear with boldness before thy Tribunal and receive the reward of a good and faithful servant even his Masters joy everlasting blessedness and that by thy merits only O blessed Saviour Petitions for Temporal Blessings in which we are to desire of God THat he would be pleased to continue unto us The blessing of a good King just and religious To give unto us Magistrates and Iustices upright and careful to see good Laws duly executed Teachers to direct us in the Truth That he would bless us with Length and Goodness of Dayes Health of Body Contentedness of Mind Competency of Estate Food and Rayment Conveniency of Dwelling Wholesomeness of Air. Fruitfulness of Cartel Fruitfulness of Soyl. That he would make us happy In Wedlock In Children In Faithful Friends In Peaceable loving Neighbours In Honest Servants In Skilful Physicians That he would preserve our Goods Good Name Our Senses and Understanding That he would protect us From Trouble From Enemies From Dangers From Losses From Sicknesses That he would give Peace To all Nations Peace To our Land Peace In our private Dwellings Rules to be observed in the Morning WHen thou awakest in the Morning shut and close up the entrance to thy heart from all unclean prophane and evil thoughts and let the consideration of God and goodness enter in When thou art risen and art ready retire thy self to thy Closet or other private place and offer to God the first fruits of the Day and in praying to him and praising him remember 1. To give him Thanks for thy quiet rest received for delivering thee from all dangers ghostly and bodily and for all other his benefits to thee 2. Offer unto him thy self and all things that thou dost possess and desire him to dispose of thee and them according to his good pleasure 3. Crave his Grace to guide thee and to strengthen thee from and against all Tentations that so thou mayest do nothing the day following contrary to his will 4. And Lastly Beg of him according to the Rules before prescribed all things needful for the Soul and Body To which purpose pray as followeth Morning Prayer I Thank thee O Heavenly Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy Blessings which I underservedly have received from thee that thou gavest a being from honest Parents and in that part of the World where thy Son Christ Iesus is purely professed that thou didst endue me with Reason and Understanding and didst also give me perfect Members and Senses that thou hast preserved me ever since my birth vouchsafed me health and liberty and a competency of means to maintain me and those whom thou hast placed under me That thou hast Elected me in thy Love Redeemed me by thy Son Sanctified me by thy Spirit and kept me this night past from all perils of Body and Soul and given me a sweet and comfortable rest O Lord I commend into thy hands my Soul and Body thoughts words and actions and humbly beseech thee that thou wouldst guide and order them all to thy honour and glory and my endless and eternal happiness Enlighten my mind that the darkness and cloudy mists of mine offences being dispelled I may walk before thee in my vocation without offence as in the day clean unspotted and unblameable Give unto me thy Holy Spirit which may bridle
chearful heart And because O Lord that this life hath not one certain hour I beseech thee to Enlighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death and grant that after I have rested quietly I may by thy grace and mercy arise to serve thee in singleness of heart Lighten O Saviour my darkness and mercifully keep me from all dangers of this night Save me waking and keep me sleeping that I may watch in thee and rest in peace There is nothing that more resembleth our Life than the Day nor the Grave than our Beds O Lord therefore when I am laid down and by sleep made unable to help my self being like unto a dead man defend me then by thy power from the crafts and assaults of the Enemy that he do me no harm so that though my Body sleep my Soul may watch unto thee and contemplate of the life to come And grant that having passed the night quietly I may arise as well from the sleep of sin as from my natural sleep and with all alacrity pass the day following in thy service and in the end of my pilgrimage by thy merits receive the Crown which thou hast promised to those that love thee in that day which no night shall follow and in that Heavenly Kingdom where thou reignest together with the Father and the blessed Spirit world without end Evening Prayer LEt my prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of my hands be an Evening Sacrifice In the Evening Morning and at Noon-day will I pray and that instantly and thou Lord shalt hear my prayer Blessed be thou O Lord Who hast preserved me from the Arrow that flyeth by day and from the Sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day Who hast not cut off my life like a Weaver nor made an end of me O Lord I confess that as my dayes have increased so hath my sin multiplied The just man falleth seven times a day But I miserable sinner seventy times seven times But I return to thee O Lord and repent Let not the Sun go down in thy wrath O Lord whatsoever good I have done this day I acknowledge that thou hast wrought it in me and desire thee graciously to accept of me for it as thy Instrument only O Lord whatsoever evil I have committed this day I confess it to be the work of mine own hands and heartily pray thee to pardon it O Lord which givest the sleep of health to them that love and causest those that fear thee to sleep confidently Lighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death Keep me from the terrours of the night aud from the works of darkness Lord though I sleep yet let my heart watch to thee and when I wake let me be present before thee let my thoughts ascend to thee Grant that I may alwayes remember that the night is no night with thee and that darkness and light are to thee alike Grant that I may alwayes meditate upon the long and last sleep the sleep of Death the Bed of my Grave and the Covering of Worms and Dust. Let my sleep be a cessation from sin and let me not in my sleep do or think any thing that may offend thee or defile my self And grant that after the sleep shall depart from mine eyes I may remember thee search my reines and try my heart O Lord I commend my self and all that of thy bounty is mine to thee In thee I put all my trust and confidence Thou seest in what dangers we are what snares the Devil layeth for us I humbly therefore pray thee to defend me from him And grant me so to order and end my life that I may sleep in peace and take my rest with thee for the merits of Iesus Christ c. I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Evening Prayer for a Family O Almighty and everlasting God who hast appointed all times and seasons to succeed in their due course and hast ordained the day for the works of the day and bodily labour and the night to take our quiet rest refreshing by whose providence and mercy we have been preserved this day from all dangers have been furnished with all things necessary for this life we humbly pray and beseech thee that now in this time of night and darkness wherein we poor and miserable sinners stand in most need of thy help and aid thou wouldst be pleased to keep us from all dangers spiritual and temporal O Lord we confess that we have not deserved the least of thy favours nay if thou shouldst with strict eye examine our actions how we have spent this day and the rest of our dayes past we should not be able to stand in thy sight much less beg any further blessings of thee For notwithstanding thy manifold and daily favours we have in all things been rebellious and repugnant to thy blessed Will and obedient and conformable to the command of our Enemies the Flesh the World and the Devil Insomuch as we have lost our liberties and are become servants and slaves unto them For we have wholly given ourselves to serve the pleasures of the Flesh in Concupiscences and other carnal Acts We have hearkned too much to the delights of the World in covetous desiring that which is not our own in abusing the Creatures thereof which were created for our necessary use and not for our wanton and insatiable desires And we are become the servants of Satan in not opposing and resisting his unclean and wicked Tentations Our sins are infinite and our iniquities are numberless so that we cannot nor are any way able to recount them unto thee We have fled from thee seeking us neglected thee loving us stopped our ears to thee speaking to us turned our backs to thee reaching thy hand to us forgotten thee doing good to us and despised thee correcting us Yet O Lord we humbly intreat thee to shew thy accustomed mercy to us poor and miserable sinners who in grief and anguish of soul confess these our offences and earnestly and bitterly bewail them Look upon us with the eyes of compassion not for any thing in us but for the love and respect which thou bearest to thy Son CHRIST JESUS in whom we verily believe that thou art fully reconciled unto us Take away our sins and the punishment due unto us for them Let thy wrath be turned from us and destroy us not together with our manifold transgressions Lord thou seest our wickedness and withall how and in whose name we crave thy mercy Turn thee O Lord from thine anger which thou mightest justly pour upon us and be gracious unto us according to thy wonted goodness who abhorrest nothing which thou hast made Create also we beseech thee in us new hearts hearts fit to serve thee and write
many infirmities and even the just Man falleth seven times a day and that Mans life by reason of sin is exposed to many dangers troubles and afflictions it therefore behoveth us much and concerneth us near to seek out some remedy as well to strengthen our selves from the assaults of our several enemies that as much as flesh and blood will permit we fall not as to raise us again when we are cast down and dejected either by the sight of our sins or the crosses and afflictions of this life And in this distress what course shall we think upon to relieve us or what means shall we find to aid and succour us Certainly none other better than that which GOD himself of his goodness hath prescribed and commended unto us and by his word hath commanded us to have recourse unto whensoever we shall be thus afflicted namely Prayer Call upon me saith he in the day of trouble Come unto me saith Christ all ye that labour and are heavy laden Seek ye the Lord saith the Prophet and call upon him Is any afflicted saith he by the Apostle let him pray Be instant in Prayer Continue in Prayer And the better to stir us to this duty God hath added to this Precept a Promise also that we shall not lose our labours or pray to him in vain for No sooner shall we ask but he will give No sooner call but he will answer and deliver Nay more for if God perceive but our inclination to pray to him he will prevent us and before the petition is gone out of our mouths Before we call he will answer and while we are speaking he will hear We may with confidence build upon it that either he will give what we ask or that which shall be more profitable to us And as we have this Precept and Promise to provoke us to pray to him So have we the Example not only of all the Saints of God but of Christ Iesus himself who while he was conversant in the flesh upon earth though he were wholly without spot or blemish wholly innocent immaculate and needing nothing yet often and earnestly prayed for our imitation Among all the Evangelical Precepts or Counsels there is not any one duty upon which our Saviour more earnestly beateth or to which with more fervency he inviteth his Apostles or Disciples than this of Prayer The necessity whereof he enforceth among other places of Scriptures by the Parable of the unjust Iudge and the poor importunate Widow And indeed Mans nature ever since the fall of Adam being become earthly carnal and wretched it cannot keep Gods Law which is spiritual Ego carnal is sum saith the Apostle Again as long as we live in this vale of misery we being compassed with cares tentations and afflictions have no other means to free our selves from them than to beg at the gates of Gods mercy Ego mendicus sum pauper I am poor and needy saith the Psalmist either for grace favour and remission of sins or the mortification of our affections spiritual comfort or lastly for supply of temporal blessings Neither can any so well conceive the necessity of this duty as they who by the illumination of Gods Spirit see the miserable condition they are brought into by reason of sin And what would become of miserable Man if this help were wanting but being carnal be wholly transformed into flesh The contrary effect whereto Prayer worketh in us for it elevateth us from earthly to heavenly thoughts whereby the heat and affections of the flesh are cooled and quenched Prayer being as the refreshing of the lungs to the heat of the heart without which Man could not subsist But admit there were no necessity imposed on us to pray yet the dignity and honour we receive by Prayer should incite us to it For Prayer as a Father well saith Is a familiar conference with God By it we talk with him as it were face to face By other of his Graces as in the Word and Sacraments he vouchsafeth to speak to us by this we have access and speak to him for what we stand in need of And what greater dignity what greater priviledge can be afforded to poor sinful creature dust and ashes as we are than familiarly to talk with so great and powerful a God and to have daily so free and easie admittance to his presence to manifest our necessities to him and to crave his supply and succour Nay more to become his houshold servants the Church being called his House a favour which King David esteemed the fruition of one day more than a thousand elsewhere Then if we consider the profit which ariseth by the performance of this duty we shall be the easilier perswaded to undertake it For if nothing else quicken us yet matter of benefit doth usually work with us And assuredly the benefit which ariseth by it is and ever hath been great for by Prayer we do not only obtain of God all good things pertaining to the sustentation of this life as the necessaries thereof and the life to come as the gifts and graces of the holy Spirit but we also prevent and remove by it all the dangers and evils of both lives as the losses and perils incident to this life and the punishment due to our sins hereafter Prayer enlightneth purgeth and comforteth maketh tribulations seem light breeds servency begets confidence in Gods mercy and overcometh all tentations Take it away and take the Sun out of the world for without we wander in darkness With what Medicines did the Saints heal incurable diseases cast out Devils raise the dead to life tame wild beasts quench the force of fire nay change the course of the Elements powers of Heaven but by Prayer What should I say more By it we may do all things without it nothing If you please you may take a short view of the wonderful effects which have been wrought and the benefits which have been obtained and the punishments which have been averted in former times when recourse was had to God by Prayer By it The Iews overcame the Amalekites Samuel overcame the Philistines Iudith overcame Holofernes The Reubenites overcame the Agarens Asa overcame the Ethiopians Iehosaphat overcame the Ammonites Ezechias overcame Sennacerib Manasses was restored to His Kingdom By it Hanna became fruitful Elias obtaned sire from Heaven as also rain and fair weather By it The rebellious Iews escaped Punishment The Ninivites escaped Destruction Ezechias escaped Death The three Children escaped the fiery Fornace Daniel escaped the Lyons Ionas escaped the Whale The Disciples escaped Drowning Peter escaped Bonds Paul and Silas escaped Imprisonment By it David stayed the Pestilence The Lepers were clensed The Centurions servant was healed The blind received sight The
Womans Daughter were delivered from the Devil The Mans Son were delivered from the Devil The sick were made whole The Widow of Sarepthas Son were revived The Shunamites Son were revived The Rulers Daughter were revived Dorcas were revived The Publican obtained Remission of sins The Thief obtained Paradise S. Stephen obtained Heaven And lastly That it is the surest remedy to the godly in time of affliction appeareth by our Saviours example who when he was in such straits that he said Undequaque trist is anima mea usque ad mortem My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death went aside and fell thrice on his face and prayed warning his sleepy Disciples to do the like Now Seeing that for these respects pray we must in the next place we are to consider How Prayer is to be made that it turn not to sin 1. Prayer must be made to God and to none other 1. Because God hath so commanded For Prayer is a part of his Service and Worship and his Service and Glory he will impart to none else Him only shalt thou serve And Whatsoever you shall ask of my Father not of Angels Saints or the like 2. In regard of his Glory and Majesty wherein he excelleth all others and ought therefore above all to be prayed unto 3. In regard of his singular Knowledge for he knoweth our necessities better than we our selves 4. In regard of his Power and Ability to help us 5. In regard of his willingness and readiness to relieve us 6. In respect of the practice of all the Saints and of Christ himself Of Hanna of David of the Saints of Christ. 7. In regard of the absurdity in praying to those which cannot help themselves much less us For to which of the Saints or Angels can be properly said Our Father which art in Heaven or Hallowed be thy Name c. But to GOD alone is this service to be done for he only saveth us and besides him is no Saviour And all this must be done in Christ Iesus without whom though Moses and Samuel should intercede yet GOD would not pardon but destroy for as no work of devotion can be acceptable to God without Him so our sins are so odious that except our prayes be offered by the mediation of Christ Iesus they will never be accepted by God We have an High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Iesus the Son of God c. Secondly Our Prayes ought to be made in Faith for whatsoever is not of Faith is sin and whosoever desireth to have good success in his Prayers ought to believe and not to pray waveringly This Faith makes our Prayers acceptable For Prayer being the testimony of our Faith how will our Faith appear if we doubt in our Prayers Si Fides deficit oratio perit Our Saviour said to the Petitioner for his deaf and dumb Son If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth And to his Disciples All things whatsoever you shall ask in Prayers believing you shall receive Which lesson St. Iames also teacheth If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God c. But let him ask in Faith Saint Iohn saith This is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us Saint Paul also biddeth us Come with the same confidence that we may obtain mercy Again As Faith is the foundation of all Vertues required in Prayer so Hope certain and assured is to be fixed and setled in us when we pray that God will perform the promises which he hath made and that he will hear and grant those things which we shall desire according to his will for the Devil is apt to perswade us that our Prayers are in vain either because God regardeth them not or that it is needless to pray to Him who knoweth before what we want or that whether we pray or not all things shall come to pass as God hath decreed and in these respects that there is no profit in our Prayers All which are but illusions and clearly against the rule of truth and practice of the Saints In te speraverunt saith David Our Fathers hoped in thee they trusted in thee and thou didst deliver them The Reubenites cryed to God in battel and he was intreated of them because they put their trust in him Indeed as Saint Bernard saith a sinners prayers are hindered two ways either with too little or too much light He hath no light which neither seeth nor confesseth his sins and he hath too much which seeing them despaireth of Gods mercy Neither of these can be said to pray How then The sinner ought so to temper his light that he may not only see and confess his sins but pray that they may and hope that they will be forgiven For it is in Prayer as in Repentance Nemo potest agere poenitentiam qui non speravit indulgentiam No man can truly repent that hath no hope of pardon for that he repenteth of And none can be said to pray well who hopeth not of Gods favour in that for which he petitioneth And that our Prayers may the better ascend they are to put on the wings of Charity which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit For without this quality our Prayers will prove cold heavy and lumpish and will return empty unto us This Charity is two-fold First towards God Secondly towards our Neighbour 1. Towards God in keeping his Commandements for our Saviour saith He that keepeth my Commandements is he that loveth me And the Apostle saith We receive of him because we keep his Commandements that is we love him so that we are both to offend him 2. Towards our Neighbour which Charity is also manifested two ways 1. In forgiving all injuries received from him or by his means after our Saviours rule When you stand praying forgive if you have ought against any that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you our trespasses And again If you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you But if you forgive not men their trespasses either will your Father forgive your trespasses 2. Secondly In praying for his wants and supplying them to oâ—â— powers according to Saint Iames direction Pray for one another And to Saint Paul's I exhort that first Prayers c. be made for all men And to encourage us to relieve them our Saviour pronounceth a blessing â—â— all that are charitable in that kind Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy So that by this we may plainly see that if we be uncharitable our Prayer will be barren and unfruitful Fifthly Humility must accompany these former Vertues We must acknowledge our selves
unworthy to receive any thing we are not to arrogate any thing for any merit of our own but confess that we are nought but dust pollution and a masse of corrupption that we brought nothing into this world nor have gathered any therein but uncleanness We must say with Iacob Minor sum Domine omnibus tu is beneficiis I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies And with the Publican whom our Saviour commended to us for a pattern deny our own unworthy 〈◊〉 deserve any favour Which Humility of his as appeareth by that Story or Parable made his prayer more acceptable to God than the vaunting and boasting of the proud Pharisee And with David saith A broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise And the Son of Syrach The Prayer of the Humble pierceth the Clouds And lastly the Virgin Mary He hath exalted the Humble and Meek This Humility is likewise two-fold 1. Of the Spirit 2. Of the Body 1. For by the First we acknowledge the impurity of our souls and confess our selves wicked miserable and wretched in our own eyes and that our strength is not worth the coasting of which kind or manner of prayer hath ever wrought effectually with God The Prophet Esay witnesseth it To this man I look even to him that is of a poor and of a contrite spirit And the Psalmist testifieth how propense and propitious GOD is to such kind of Petitioners The Lord is nigh to them that are of a contrite heart and will save such as are of an humble spirit And the blessed Virgin acknowledgeth that she found the fruits of her Humility He hath regarded the lowsiness of his Hand-maiden Secondly We are to use an outward gesture answerable to our inward devotion We must manifest our Humility by a reverend posture of the body too God is as well Creator of the body which is the souls temple as of the soul and therefore expecteth to be honoured by both And as it is not to be denyed that the inward affections are to be regarded in the prime place yet it will not be unnecessary to observe with what postures the holy men in sacred Story powred out their petitions Abraham speaking to God fell on his face and bowed to the ground Solomon at the Dedication of the Temple stood before the Lord and spread forth his hands to Heaven The Publican stood and smote his breast Moses held up his hands to Heaven Daniel Stephen Peter and Paul kneeled David kneeled and lifted up his eyes Lastly our Saviour Christ every one of whose actions ought to be a rule to us sometimes fell on his face sometimes kneeled and sometimes lifted up his eyes when he prayed Not that Gods worship is absolutely or universally tyed to these outward Ceremonies but that they serve to stir up the inward intentions and affections for while we kneel and lift up our eyes and hands to Heaven we shew our humility and declare our ardent desire and confidence that all our aid and help we expect from God and none else Therefore the acts of humiliation of casting dust on their heads putting on sack-cloath rending of garments mentioned in holy Writ are there set down to no other purpose but to make their Humility that used them appear and to be a pattern for us in after times Neither is it without reason that Man being a creature consisting of body and soul should serve his Creator with both which makes us a perfect Holocaust or Sacrifice And as we have yielded our members servants to uncleaness and to iniquity unto iniquity so we should yield our members servants to righteousness unto holiness And to this reverend gesture of the body must be added the uncovering of the head Our heads must be bare and we must not pray so familiarly as if we were speaking to our equals For the higher and more eminent the person is whom we petition the more reverend and submiss ought our behaviour be to him in our petitions In the next place We must resolve with our selves not to be impatient of delayes as we call them if God seem not to hear us presently But we must pray with Perseverance Our Saviour himself immediately after he had prescribed to his Disciples that absolute form of prayer taught them also and us in them the effects of this vertue by the Example of the Friend which came in the night to borrow Loaves And shortly after by that of the Importunate Widow Which effects also David and the Woman of Canaan felt Wherefore not without good reason did St. Paul so often counsel this assiduity and servency in prayer And though we make our conclusions by events which we usually take notice only by that God is not moved by our prayers nor we bettered by them we must resolve that the fault is ours and not Gods For either we ask things not to be prayed for Or coldly not intending what we desire Or not with due reverence and patience Or else GOD yieldeth not either to inflame our zeal Or to set an edge on our desires Or to humble us Or to prove us by adversity as well as by prosperity Or to try whether we serve him for our own ends or his glory Or else the time is not come which he knoweth meetest to grant what we pray for Elias being persecuted by Iezabel prayed that GOD would take away his life which GOD granted not presently yet afterward took him into Heaven Deus multos non jam exaudiat ad voluntatem sed paulo post ad salutem God hears not many men presently according to their desire but after a while he gives ear to them to their good and salvation Therefore we must not give over at the first second or third time For no doubt but he which said Ask and ye shall have will also give what he promised when he thinketh expedient that we should receive it O tarry thou the Lords leisure saith David And let not us prescribe to God either time place or manner but in all modesty humility patience and perseverance attend his good pleasure Three other Qualities there are which seem to depend upon this last Vertue of Perseverance for as the difficulty to pray aright ariseth of three causes 1. The Corruption of our Nature depraved by sin 2. Evil custom or habit in suffering our hearts to wander when we are at our Devotions 3. The malice of Satan who out of his inveterate hate to mankind intangles our thoughts with other matters when we should intend this act The Remedies therefore fit to oppose these are 1. A fervent desire to the action for what we zealously affect we soonest compass 2. That we be diligeut and couragious to overcome all difficulties for as all Creatures have a concupiscible nature to obtain things necessary to preservation so
my vain cogitations and head-strong desires and order thou I beseech thee my words and rectifie all my actions O Lord as thou hast of thy bounty raised up my Body from sleep so stir up my drowzy Soul from the sleep of sin and carnal security Let my Body be ever assistant to my Soul in all good actions in this life that they may both be partakers of life everlasting Thou O Lord hast promised to those which shall faithfully ask all things necessary for this life give me I beseech thee if it seem good unto thee such a competent estate as shall be expedient to support my life in a civil modest and religious manner Give unto me that which shall be convenient but especially O Lord a heart and mind contented with whatsoever thou shalt be pleased to allot unto me Grant O Lord that in thy Name I may cast forth my Net into the Sea of this World and diligently carefully and with an upright Conscience follow that vocation in which thou hast placed me that by thine aid and assistance I may prosper and have good success in all my affairs Bless O Lord the Kings Majesty govern his heart in thy fear and guide his understanding to do those things which shall be acceptable to thee and profitable to his Kingdomes Give him loving and loyal Subjects and suppress his open and secret Enemies And together with him bless his Queen and Royal Issue make her as the fruitful Vine on the House-top Bless all the State Ecclesiastical and Civil from the highest to the lowest Comfort the comfortless and helpless Bring all Travellers to their own beings in safety and direct all upon the Seas to their safe Ports Shew the light of thy Truth to those which wander out of the right way Give to all sinnen true and hearty repentance strengthen those which have begun well and give thy assisting grace that they may persevere in goodness To all my Friends Kindred and Enemies and to those which pray for me give all thy good blessings Keep us all from all evil and make us to continue in thy Service to our lives end and after the course of this miserable life ended bring us to thine everlasting Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or thus ALmighty and everlasting GOD I praise and bless thee from the bottom of my heart that of thy infinite goodness thou hast preserved me this night past and hast with the impregnable defence of thy Providence defended me from the power and malice of the Devil and kept me both in Soul and Body from all his devices and snares and raised me from sleep the image of death and not left me to be stifled in the darkness of my sins but hast given me a longer space to repent me of them I humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst not withdraw thy hand of Protection from me but take me into thy Tuition Watch over me with the eyes of thy mercy and direct me in the way of thy Commandements Endue me with those graces of thy Holy Spirit whereby I may pass this day and the rest of my life to the praise and glory of thy Name the benefit of my Neighbour and the salvation of my sinful Soul Keep me O Lord from all sin bridle and mortifie my flesh that I offend not nor fall into any transgressions which may provoke thy wrath against me Direct my Soul and Body my words and actions according to the rule of thy Will. Divert my heart from fastning too much upon transitory pleasures and convert it to the delight of eternal joyes And because I am not worthy O Lord that thou shouldst hear me poor wretched sinner for any worth in me behold I set before the merits of thy only Son who is the propitiation for our sins look upon him and for his Righteousness pardon the offences of me thy servant and grant to me those things by thy mercy which by the strict Rule of thy justice are not due to me Defend me O Lord from all mine Enemies Arm me with thy Spiritual Weapons put on me the Cloathing of Wisdom and Strength the Brestplate of Righteousness the Helmet of Salvation the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may manfully oppose the Enemies of my Soul the Concupiscence of the Flesh the Tentations of the World and Malice of the Devil that so having finished valiently the course of this Terrestial Warfare I may hereafter praise thee in thy Celestial Kingdom And thou O Lord who givest food to every living Creature and feedest the young Ravens which call upon thee be merciful unto me in the supply of those necessaries which I daily want Preserve me in health give me food and raiment and sufficient to maintain me in that course of life to which it hath pleased thee to call me that having sufficient in all things I may abound in good work And grant that I may lead a quiet life in all godly conversation That having and using thy blessings worthily I may pass this life with joy and comfort till it please thee to call me to a better Give thy blessings to the Kings Majesty the Queen the Royal Issue and the whole Estate of this Kingdom and grant that we may all bend our thoughts and studies to please thee that at the last by the merits and intercession of Iesus Christ we may be received to thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Or thus O Almighty Lord God which day after day dost minister to sinful man infinite occasions whereby we may be stirred up to praise thy holy Name and art most plentiful in pitty and favourable to those which with pure hearts and unfeigned faith call upon thee behold me thy poor unworthy servant with the eyes of compassion that at this time am bold to offer up unto thee a Morning Sacrifice of praise and thanks for all thy blessings and amongst the rest for that thou hast vouchsafed after a sufficient and quiet sleep to raise me safe from my bed again which favour thou hast not afforded to many others who in far greater measure have deserved it than my self for which mercy of thine I am not able through my insufficiency and weakness to give unto thee due praise and thanksgiving I pray thee therefore in thy dear Sons Name in whom thou art well pleased to accept these poor and weak thanks and for his sake also to be further aiding and assisting unto me this day following in whatsoever I shall take in hand For thou knowest O Lord how feeble mans nature is insomuch that if he trust to his own strength of necessity he must fall into many miseries errors and dangers Have mercy therefore upon mine infirmities and be propitions and helping to me that by thy illumination I may discern and perceive good from evil and by thy leading and direction may follow the one and avoid the other Lord
thy Law in them with the finger of thy Holy Spirit that all our desires and actions may be conformable to thy blessed Will And now again O Lord we desire thy Majesty to take our Souls and Bodies into thy protection this night following Suffer us not to sleep in sin but watch over us and defend us under the shaddow of thy wings Let not our sleep be excessive or immoderate but raise us again in due time that after a quiet and moderate sleep we may arise to serve and praise thee joyfully begin and perfect our works justly labour in our vocations truly and seek thy Kingdom earnestly that at the last by thee with thee and in thee we may come unto the same Kingdom by the merits of our Saviour JESUS CHRIST in whose Name and Prayer we are bold to call further upon thee saying Our Father c. Prayers upon the Life and Death of our Saviour Iesus Christ. O Sweet SAVIOUR Who for the love of Mankind didst vouchsafe to descend from thy Royal Throne from the bosom of thy Father into this vale of misery and to take on thee the form of a sinner even humane flesh in the sanctified womb of the most chast and pure Virgin and be born without impeachment to her Virginity Be pleased of thy great clemency to make my heart thy habitation adorn it to that end with all Spiritual Graces and be daily born in me by renewing in my Soul a fervent love to thee and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who being God Almighty didst not disdain at thy Birth to be wrapped in swadling clouts and to be laid in a Manger Grant that I may be ever in thy fight a little Infant in Humility and Lowliness of Spirit take from me all ambitious Thoughts and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who at thy Birth wouldst be received into this World with the joyful Hymns of blessed Angels and be found to the great delight and admiration of poor Shepheards Give thy Grace unto me thy poor unworthy servant continually to persevere in thy praises to seek thee with the Shepheards affection by seeking to find thee and finding thee alwayes to retain and enjoy thee and Be merciful to me O Sweet Jesu Who wert pleased upon the eight day to be circumcised and in that most tender age of thine didst begin to shed thy blood meerly for the love of me and mankind Cut off I intreat thee all superfluities from my Soul and take from me all evil thoughts words and works and Be merciful to me O Blessed Christ Who to the unspeakable comfort of me and all thine Elect wouldst be called by the saving Name of Iesus Grant that the memory of this Name may ever cause a reverend respect in me toward thee and that by it I may be preserved all my life and at the hour of death and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord God Who wouldst be found in the Wise men which sought thee with Faith and Devotion and who having found thee fell before thee with Oblations of Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe Be pleased I beseech thee that I may find thee in Spirit and worship thee in Spirit and Truth Offering unto thee the Gold of bright shining Charity the Incense of pure Devotion and the Myrrhe of perfect Mortification and Be merciful to me O Blessed Saviour Who to leave Mankind an example of Obedience and Humility wouldst become subject to the Law and be brought to the Temple and there have offered for thee the Oblations of the Poor and not the rich Give me the Grace of Obedience to subject my self willingly to my Governours Suffer not the least thought of pride to reign in me but quench in me all haughtiness of Spirit with inordinate love and conceit of my self and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who whilst thou wert yet young and tender wert contentted to suffer persecution and flee with thy blessed Mother into AEgypt Grant me such ability by thy grace whereby I may not only suffer persecution and affliction when it shall please thee but also persecute and punish all wickedness within my self before it grow too strong for me and Be merciful to me O Blessed Jesu Who being sought for by thy blessed Mother three dayes wouldst be found of her in the Temple Suffer me never to be severed from thee give me such a devotion toward thee that I may never be weary in serving thee nor satisfied with praising thee either in Church or private Closet and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who wouldst enter the River Jordan and there be Baptized by thy Fore-runner John the Baptist Be pleased that I may be purified in this life by thy merits and thereby washed from all my sins and Be merciful to me O Gracious Saviour who didst continue fasting and praying forty dayes and nights together in the Desert and after divers Tentations didst overcome Satan Grant that I may chastise my flesh and exercise my self in Fasting Watching Prayer and other Spiritual Excercises and subdue all evil Affections which rebel against the Spirit and Be merciful to me O Blessed Redeemer Who for my sake didst subject thy self to many Sorrows and Necessities to Heat Cold Hunger Thirst Weariness Sweat Iourneys Persecutions and Tribulations Strengthen me with the aid of thy Holy Spirit that I may willingly bear all Adversities as coming from thy hand and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who while thou wert upon Earth didst vouchsafe to comfort the Sons of Men and heal their Infirmities Replenish my heart with all pious Affection that I may account the miseries of others as mine own and supply their necessities in whatsoever I may according to my ability and Be merciful to me O Gracious Lord Who for thy love to Mankind didst eudure infinite Miseries Injuries Calumnies Blasphemies and Revilings even of those to whom thou hast done much good Create in me a heart pure and innocent which may forgive mine Enemies and love them rendring good for evil whereby I may shew my self a true follower of thy perfect Charity and Patience and Be merciful to me O Merciful Saviour Who to abrogate the Ceremonial Law didst eat the Paschal Lamb with thy Disciples and giving them an example of Humility upon thy knees didst wash their feet Grant that this example may take deep impression in me give me perfect Humility true Obedience and fervent Love whereby I may love thee sincerely and all others unseignedly and Be merciful to me O Blessed Lord Who of thy great love didst institute the blessed Sacrament of thy Body and Blood whereby thou mightest continue with us to the end of the World Stir up in me an earnest desire and longing after this holy Sacrament and grant that I may ever receive it with a chast love deep affection and a pure heart and Be merciful to me O Loving Lord Who when thou wert to leave this World didst comfort thy Disciples and with
are strong to do evil and they also that hate me because they see my Conversion wrongfully and without cause are multiplyed and exceedingly increased 20 They also that unthankfully render evil to me for the good which I have done unto them are also become mine Adversaries and do unto me all the mischief they can and why because they perceive my conversion and that I follow and love the thing that good is which they hate 21 Forsake me not either in tentation or tribulation O Lord the Author of my salvation O my God whom I desire to serve be not far from me by with-drawing thy grace from me 22 Make haste lest I faint under the burthen of my sins to help me against my Enemies O Lord who art my only stay in this life and my salvation in the life to come Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 51. HAve mercy upon me miserable sinner O God full of mercy and compassion according to thy loving and infinite kindness to the Sons of men and as my sins are infinite so according to the multitude of thy tender mercies which thou hast ever shewed to penitent sinners blot out of the book of thy remembrance my innumerable transgressions 2 Wash me thorowly with the blood of thy dear Son from mine iniquity whereby I have so often offended thy Majesty and cleanse me in the fountain of thy mercies from my sin whereby I have also offended my Neighhour 3 For behold O Lord I hide not nor excuse but in the bitter tears of repentance acknowledge and confess my horrible transgressions against thee and my grievous sin in which I did for a time take delight is grown odious to me and is ever before me in remorse of Conscience 4. Against thee most mercifull Father only have I sinned and though I were ashamed to commit sin in the sight of men yet I have done this great evil in thy all-seeing sight yet O Lord be mercifull to me and pardon it that thou mightest be justified and found true and faithfull when thou speakest as thou hast often done of mercy and forgiveness to the penitent and be clear from the imputation of injustice when thou art arrogantly and falsly judged for severity thy punishments being just though the eyes of our understanding be not so clear as to perceive the justice of them 5 Behold O Lord that I as all man-kind was shapen in the iniquity of original sin from which fountain springeth my misery and in sin and concupiscence did my mother conceive me from whence groweth the infirmity of my flesh 6 Behold also O Lord I know that thou desirest Truth Faith and integrity in the inward parts of my conscience and in the hidden parts of me my soul Thou shalt make me by the illumination of thy Holy Spirit to know wisdom to eternal life 7. Purge me leprous sinner with spiritual Hisope the blood of thy Son instead of the Hysope which was wont to clense the leprous in the law and by that blood I shall be clean and purified from the leprosie of sin Wash me in the fountain of Grace and then by tears of repentance and the merits of my Saviour I shall be whiter in thy sight than Snow 8. Make me poor wretch to hear and sensibly feel the joy and comfort of remission of my sins and let me find gladness in the promise of life eternal that the spiritual bones of my soul which thou hast broken with tentations and afflictions may rejoyce and give thee thanks and praise 9 Hide and turn away thy face and wrathfull countenance from my sins lay them not to my charge and blot out of thy Register all mine iniquities that they never appear to condemn me 10 Create in me polluted a clean and pure heart O God the Creator of all things and renew by thy Grace a right and sanctified Spirit in me 11 Cast me not away into the pit of desperation by debarring me from thy presence where only is fulness of joy and take not for ever thy Holy Spirit of comfort from me 12 Restore unto me rather the unspeakable joy of thy Salvation in Christ Jesus which they feel in their consciences whose sins thou remittest and when I am reinstated in thy favour uphold and keep me from falling again with thy free powerfull and saving Spirit 13 Then even when I shall be restored I will by word of exhortation and example of conversation teach transgressors how they shall keep thy wayes and Commandements and by that means thy Grace assisting they which now are sinners shall forsake their wickedness and shall be truly converted unto thee 14 Deliver me and quit me from my former bloody offences and keep me henceforth from blood-guiltiness and carnal corruptions O God my Protector Thou God which art my Redeemer and the Author of my Salvation and all the dayes of my life my tongue for joy thereof shall sing unto thee and that aloud and chearfully and praise thy Name by extolling of thy righteousness who dost justifie sinners and art merciful to the penitent 15 O Lord that givest wisdom to the simple open thou my lips which are closed by sin from doing any service unto thee and then with boldness my mouth shall utter and shew forth thy praise For to thee alone belongeth all Honour and Glory 16 For thou O God desirest not that I should offer the Sacrifice of Goats and Calves to expiate my offences else would I willingly give it and lay it on thy Altar but thou having by sending thy Son Christ Jesus abrogated the Ceremonies of the Law delightest not any longer in burnt Offerings but in obedience to thy Commandements 17 The Sacrifices accepted of God and whereby we are in Christ reconciled to him are a broken and humble Spirit dejected with the sight of sin a broken and contrite heart truly mortified and repentant O God thou hast promised that thou wilt not despise but lovingly accept 18 Do good O God in thy good pleasure and be favourable and gracious unto Sion thy Catholick Church Build thou upon a sure Foundation of Religion and establish the hearts of thy Saints and Servants the walls of thy Church Ierusalem 19 Then shalt thou in Christ Jesus be pleased with us and with the Sacrifice of Righteousness in thy Congregation And with burnt Offerings and Oblations of our hearts Then shall they thy Servants thus established offer Bullocks the Sacrifice of praise upon thine Altar in thy presence to the honour of thy most holy Name Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 102. HEar my Prayer which in the bitterness of my Soul I make to thee O Lord whose mercy is the Sanctuary of distressed sinners and let nothing stand between that mercy and me which may hinder my cry to come to thee 2 Hide not thy face turn not away thy countenance from me as if thou wert offended at me but rather in the day of adversity when I am in trouble
them in glory hereafter and enjoy everlasting happiness before thee in thy blessed presence Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 130. OUt of the depth of tentations dangers and sorrow for my sins wherein my Spirit is almost overwhelmed have I by fervent prayer cryed and called unto thee O Lord who only art able to give me relief 2 Lord of thy mercy haste thee and hear my voice and petition and deliver me from my misery O my God let thine ears of pity and compassion be attentive to consider and well weigh the lamentable voice of my humble supplications and let not my prayer return unpitied or unheard of thee 3 If thou Lord contrary to thy disposition shouldest be so exact and extreme as in the rigour of thy justice to mark the iniquities which we by our natural corruption daily fall into and punish us accordingly O good Lord who none not the most upright shall be able to answer one for a thousand or stand before thee without much horrour at the Judgement Seat 4 But for the comfort of poor wretched sinners and to keep us from utter desperation we find it recorded by the holy Spirit that there is forgiveness of sins and mercy toward sinners repenting with thee by Jesus Christ who came to save them and yet this mercy of thine is tyed with such conditions that thou who also art just mayest be also feared lest thy lenity be abused 5 I for my part wait and confidently expect for the Lord to receive mercy from him My sinful but repentant Soul waits to receive consolation and in his Word whereby he promiseth mercy to repentant sinners do I hope and place my whole confidence because I know that he which hath promised is just 6 My sinful Soul in this expectation waiteth for the Lord and tarryeth his good pleasure to comfort it more earnestly than they that in a disconsolate long night watch for the morning Yea I say it again more zealously than they that are weary of the night and watch for the light of the morning 7 Let Israel and all Gods faithful people hope still and put their trust in the goodness of the Lord and not without cause for with the Lord though he justly take vengeance on us for our sins yet there is ever was and will be found mercy towards penitent sinners and with him by Jesus Christ is not only forgiveness for a few sins but plenteous redemption from the captivity of the Devil and Sinne. 8 And he even Jesus Christ by his merits and intercession shall redeem and save Israel and each of his faithful servants from all his iniquities and the punishment due for them Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 143. HEar my earnest and humble prayer O Lord which in my misery I make unto thee Give ear and be not deaf to my supplicatious in the time of my distress but in thy faithfulness and truth which endureth for ever answer me and grant my petition which I make not trusting in any merits of mine own but in thy righteousness 2 And my further petition to thee is that thou enter not into the Throne of thy Iudgement by strictly examining my mis-deeds and dealing rigorously with me thy poor servant who hath mis-spent his talent for in thy all-seeing sight shall no man living in this vale of misery be justified or found innocent 3 For the Old Enemy of mankind the Devil hath by his malice persecuted and sought to entrap my Soul to separate it from the love of thee he hath smitten and cast my life and Soul down to the ground and filled me full of earthly desires he hath made and caused me to dwell and take pleasure in the darkness of of my sins as those that are without sense and have been long dead 4 Therefore O Lord considering my desperate estate is my spirit overwhelmed with grief within me and my heart is disquieted within me and is also desolate and sore troubled 5 I yet in the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart do remember what I have read and heard what thou hast done in the dayes of old how that thou hast been gracious to the penitent and severe against the unrepentant sinner I meditate also on all thy works but especially on that of thy mercy and I muse and exercise my self in contemplating on the works of thy hands admiring thy Power and Wisdom in the Creation of all things 6 I stretch forth and lift up my hands in my prayers unto thee O Lord my Soul which is dry for want of the dew of thy grace thirsteth after thee for the water of life as a thirsty land in a time of drought 7 Hear me and answer me speedily delay not O Lord for my spirit waxeth faint and faileth me in my devotion Oh hide not thy face and loving countenance from me miserable sinner lest it come to pass that I be like in condition unto them that go down headlong after their own inventions into the pit of destruction and perdition 8 Cause me by thy Spirit to hear and feel thy loving kindness and mercy in the morning speedily lest I perish for in thee only and not in the help of Men or Angels do I place my whole trust and confidence Cause me by thy grace to know and learn the way of thy testimonies wherein I should and ought to walk without declining to the right hand or the left For I lift up my soul by prayer and repentance unto thee who only canst direct me aright 9 Desiver me O Lord by thy power from all mine Enemies visible and invisible for I flee and make haste for succour unto thee as to my Protector to hide and defend me from their violence 10 Teach and instruct me that am ignorant to do thy Will and those things which thou commandest for thou art thy God and Director Thy Spirit is good and all-sufficient for me Lead me therefore by it into the right way which bringeth into the Land of Righteousness and Truth 11 Quicken me again O Lord and revive me from the death of sin for thy Names sake which is Jesus and for thy Righteousness sake and love to goodness bring my Soul by thy grace out of the trouble and anguish whereinto my sins have brought me 12 And of thy tender mercy and compassion cut off and kill in me mine Enemies the concupiscences of the flesh and destroy and confound all them that with injuries and tentations afflict and disquiet my Soul which is wholy devoted to thee for I am thy servant and Son of thy Handmaid and desire to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life Glory be to the Father c. Directions before Receiving the Holy Communion AS many as desire to be partakers of the holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as of necessity every one must be that intendeth to receive benefit by him ought before the
long after is not only meat for those that are in health but Physick also for the sick and doth not only refresh the righteous but cleanseth those that are sinners also If I be weak by it I shall be strengthned If in health in health by it I shall be preserved and if dead in sin by it I shall be revived I humbly therefore intreat thee O Father that as as David did admit Mephibosheth to his Table for his Fathers sake so thou wouldest suffer me to be partaker of thy heavenly Table for thy Sons sake who with so great labour and sorrow did regenerate us by his death on the Cross and liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit for ever Prayers before the Communion O Almighty Lord God Father of all mercie and consolation I humbly beseech thee to behold with the eye of pity my poor and wretched soul which though thou didst create after thine own Image and washedst with the blood of thy dear Son yet I have so abominably defiled and defaced with the stain of sin that it can hardly be known O Father I was thy sonne whom thou didst to lovingly imbrace and load with blessings and who was in thy house in great honour and dignity In the Sacrament of Baptisme thou didst adopt me and gavest me the inheritance of a sonne and heir but I unthankfully and prodigally by my evil life have wasted my Patrimony I have wickedly abused the flower and prime of my youth and the good parts and faculties of my soul and body with the pleasures of the flesh pride surfetting envy lust covetousness ideness rebellion and disobedience and now at the last I find that all the temporal delights of the flesh and the World are altogether vain and vanish like smoak For all flesh is grass and all the Glory of man is but like the flower of the field and is suddenly gone He that is rich to day to morrow becommeth poor and miserable he that walketh in health and strength of body to day to morrow is by sickness made feeble and weak he that liveth to day the next day dieth and he which to day glorieth in the greatest pomp to morrow is laid in his Coffin and carried to his Grave Therefore O Lord consider the weakness and frailty of man and turn away I pray pray thee thy face from my sins and remember not them so in thine anger that thou forget either thine own mercy or my weakness By mine own fault I confess O Lord and by my evil conversation I have made my self unworthy of thy favour and by my evil concupiscences I have grievously wounded my conscience I have often grieved thy holy Spirit by not hearkning to the good motions thereof but yeilding to my sensual lust and beastly appetite Yet O mercifull Father cast me not utterly from thy sight for from the beginning of the world it was not heard that thou didst reject any sinner that with a contrite heart came unto thee Behold I come unto thee in great necessity and cast my self at thy feet confessing the greatness and multitude of my sins They have brought me into that evil state and condition that I am not worthy to be called thy Son yet I pray thee receive me into the number of thy hired Servants Give me grace heartily to repent me of my sins feed and cherish me with the bread and drink of the Body and Blood of thy Son Christ Iesus that by thy mercy I may be received to grace and restored to the former dignity from which I am worthily cast and to the inheritance of thy everlasting Kingdom through the same our Saviour Iesus Christ. Another O Blessed Saviour I poor unworthy sinner have a great desire and earnest longing to come to thy Table but considering my many and grievous sins tremble and fear to approach unto it For when I consider thy words to thy Disciples Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you And on the other side the words of the Apostle whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord I am in such a streight that I know not what to do For gladly would I receive this Sacrament being desirous to live but fearful I am to take it unworthily trembling at thy Comination I come therefore to thee the Fountain of Mercy hoping that thou wilt wash me I come to thee the good Samaritan hoping that thou wilt cleanse my wounds I open my grief and discover my iniquities to thee I look upon my sins great and grievous and thereupon tremble yet beholding thy mercies great and plentiful I am therewith again refreshed Remember O Lord how many drops of Sweat and Blood thou didst shed how many Pains and Sorrows thou didst sustain to expiate my sins I intreat thee therefore by them to purge and purifie me that I may worthily be incorporated into thy body which is thy Church and may worthily also receive this blessed Sacrament that so together with thy whole Church I may give thee praise everlastingly Or thus O Merciful Lord Iesus I confess my self to be a most grievous and wretched sinner not worthy to approach into thy presence altogether unfit and unmeet to receive thee under the roof of my Soul in respect of the stains and pollutions thereof and that it is not decked and fitted with such good graces as thy Majesty and Presence requireth and therefore am afraid to come near unto thee Yet O Lord considering thy comfortable saying that Thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but that he should turn unto thee and live and thy blessed invitation how lovingly with the armes of thy mercy stretched out thou hast called all that are heavily oppressed with the burden of their sins to come to thee for comfort and ease And lastly thy usual practice in pitying and relieving those which were cast down with the thought of their misdeeds as the Thief on the Cross Mary Magdalen the Woman taken in Adultery the Publican Peter and Paul all of them grievous sinners I am comforted and emboldned to come unto thee assuredly trusting that thou wilt of thy goodness supply my defects and make me a worthy receiver of the high mystery and benefit of thy blessed Sacrament whereof of my self I am altogether unworthy Stretch out thy right hand O sweet Iesu to me thy poor servant and give out of thy rich store-house of mercy what I want that thereby I may be made a living Temple to thee and an acceptable habitation for thine honour to abide in And grant that being cleansed by thy mercy and goodness I may by thy grace and power persevere in all godliness and holiness of conversation to the end of my days and attain to that blessed place where thou reignest with the
Father and Holy Spirit world without end Amen Meditations and Prayers after th Sacrament Received IF all the Creatures in the world should offer themselves together with me to praise thee O Lord yet is it certain that we could not give thee sufficient thanks for the least of thy mercies and if together we cannot sufficiently praise thee for the least how much less can I alone perform so great a duty for such inestimable blessings as I have at this time received for vouchsafing to visit me comfort me and honour me with acceptance and admittance to thy blessed Table If Elizabeth the Mother of Iohn Baptist upon the Virgin Maries entrance to her house said Whence is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me What shall I say whom the Lord himself hath visited and united to him by his blessed Sacrament being a vessel and receptacle of all impurity who hath so often offended despited and neglected him King David wondred why God should so esteem of or visit man but I wonder much more why he should be made man for man abide with him suffer death for him and give himself to him for spiritual food Solomon after he had built a Temple to God reasoned thus But will God dwell indeed on the Earth Behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much loss this House that I have builded May not I much more marvel that God will not disdain to come and abide in this my poor and wretched Soul What greater benefit of grace what greater argument of his love is there can there be shewed to me Oh my Soul if thou wouldest but throughly conceive the happiness that cometh to thee by this holy Sacrament then consider and well weigh what benefits it bringeth with it By it the Sons of Men are made the Sons of God and all that is earthly or carnal in us is mortified that the Deity may live and abide with us What therefore O my Lord shall I do What thanks shall I render to thee With what fervency shall I love thee For if thou so mighty a Lord hast vouchsafed to love me poor wretched creature how should it be but that I should return love again to thee And how shall I express my love better than in forbearing those things which thou dost abhorr and following those things which thou dost command Give O Lord to this end thy concomitant grace to me whereby I may return a reciprocal love to thee and love those things which are acceptable and avoid those things which are to thee unpleasing Give me a heart which may love thee with so true faithful and constant affection as that nothing under the Sun may separate me from the love of thee Let me not follow the love of the World or delight in the vanities of it any longer but give me power to kill and quench all other love and desires and to love thee only desire thee only and only think of thee and thy Commandements that all my affections and thoughts may be fixed on thee that in all tentations and adversities I may have recourse to thee only and receive all comfort from thee alone who livest and reignest one God world without end Amen Another I Humbly thank thee O sweet Saviour Jesus Christ that thou hast so plentifully refreshed my drie and fainting Soul with the holy Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood I earnestly intreat thee further that whatsoever is in me vicious or contrary to thy blessed will may by vertue of this blessed Sacrament be rooted out of me that my Soul may become a fit habitation for thy holy Spirit Let it be to me the absolution of my sins the confirmation of my faith and encrease of all thy graces in me the viands of this my peregrination and pilgrimage the only delight of my soul peace and joy in tribulation health and strength in affliction and tentation Let it be a light and guide to my actions and my only comfort in the day of my dissolution Let the Palate of my Soul be so changed thereby that it may relish nothing besides thee Grant also that I may hunger and thirst after this bread of life and cup of salvation and that I may with a pure mind and chast affection receive it often that thereby my soul and body may be preserved to life everlasting to thee be all praise power and dominion ascribed now and for ever Or thus I Yield thee all possible thanks O merciful Lord that of thy own meer goodness and without any merit of mine thou hast so plentifully at this time satisfied me with the extraordinary food of my Soul thy blessed Body and Blood O Lord I heartily repent me of my sins past and am heartily sorry when I consider how unprofitably and wickedly I have spent my life hitherto I desire O Lord to amend what is amiss in me be thou ayding I beseech thee to me that I may not only duly bewail and lament for that which is past but take heed to my wayes for the time to come And to this end O Lord do thou strengthen me with thy spiritual ayd for without thy help and the direction of the Holy Spirit I shall not be able to do any good thing or perform that which is pleasing to thee Grant O Lord that I may hereafter faithfully follow and serve thee who hast at this time so lovingly vouchsafed to come to me And because through my infirmity I cannot follow thee as I would be pleased to assist me with thy power aud draw me after thee Let my Soul be so strengthned by vertue of this Sacrament that it may esteem nothing pleasing or delightful in comparison of thee that it may lust after no transitory thing nor be disquieted with any worldly cross but by thy assisting grace I may overcome all the difficulties of this life and bless thee in the life to come Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus who of thy unspeakable Love hast condescended to my infirmity and vouchsafed in these mysteries to come unto me and hast made me partaker of thy blessed Body and Blood I humbly intreat thee of thy infinite goodness not to look back upon my sinful life past and to give me grace to obey thy Commandements hereafter and not to return to those former sins as a Dog to his vomit Grant that this most holy Sacrament may be to me life and salvation and not turn to my greater punishment and condemnation Grant that it may cleanse my Soul from sin past and strengthen me against all tentations to come Grant that it may be so wholesome and nourishing to me that I may walk in the strength thereof all the dayes of my life and at last be brought by thy merits to that place of Glory where thou dost reign together with the Father and the Blessed Spirit forever Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy
before I fully understood how God useth to deal with his Servants I was so confident of my self that in my prosperity when I felt the grace of God abundantly in me I said and presumed that I was so fully setled in Gods favour that I shall never fall or be removed from it 7 Lord by thy favour and goodness thou hadst fixed and made my mountain of grace to stand so strong that I conceived my self so secure that I could not slide back or fall away Yet after a while I found by experience that I was in an errour for thou didst but hide thy face and a little while obscured thy grace from me and being left to my self I found such an alteration and defect in me to do good that I was therewith sore troubled and disquieted 8 I thereupon presently recalled my self and cryed earnestly by prayer to thee O Lord and betook my self unto the Lord who never utterly forsaketh his Servants and to him I made my earnest supplication never ceasing till I obtained his return and thus I said in my prayer 9 What profit O Lord is there can there be in my blood or death when I go down into the pit or if I dye in my sins surely none to thee for thou delighten not in blood or in the death of a sinner Shall the dust or they which are dissolved thereinto before repentance praise thee or shall it declare thy truth and shew thy glory Nay verily they shall rather in the horror of punishment blaspheme thy Name Suffer me not therefore O Lord to be of that reprobate number of which I must needs be one if thou absent thy self or with-draw thy grace any longer from me 10 Hear me therefore O Lord and that right soon for my spirit waxeth faint for want of thy gracious assistance and have mercy upon me in this distress O Lord I renounce all further confidence in mine own strength be thou my only stay and helper Upon this petition the Lord heard my request and thereupon I turned my prayer into a song of praise and said 11 Thou O Lord art worthy of all honour and praise for thou hast turned for me and for my good my mourning for thy absence into dancing and joy for thy gracious presence thou hast made me to put off my sad habit of sackcloath and sorrow and instead thereof hast girded and apparelled me with a vesture of gladness even the peace of conscience And all these things hast thou done for me 12 To the end that all my sorrow being removed and I being delivered from all fear my glory tongue and heart together may sing praise and thanks to thee who hast done so great things for me and that I should not be silent in extolling thy mercy And therefore O Lord my God as thy goodness deserveth and my duty requireth I will with all the affections and faculties of soul and body give thanks unto thee and praise thy Majesty for ever as the only Author and finisher of my salvation Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 34. I Will bless and praise the Lord for all that he hath done unto me at all times as well in adversity as prosperity and his praise as it shall ever be in my mind and heart so shall it be continually without intermission in my mouth by declaring it to others 2 My Soul especially shall make her boast and glory in the Lord and not in any thing that is in me so the humble and they which are any way dejected when they shall hear thereof how gracious God hath been to me shall in hope of the like mercy to them rejoyce and be glad also 3 O ye whosoever hath felt Gods favour as I have magnifie and extoll the mercies of the Lord with me for his goodness and let us joyfully with one accord exalt and praise his Name together 4 I my self when I was in trouble sought the Lord by prayer and humiliation and he rejected not my petition but graciously heard me and granted it and he not only delivered me from the danger I was in but from all my fears also which I conceived at it 5 They also that lived in former ages our fore-Fathers whensoever they were distressed looked up and cryed unto him and were relieved by his mercy and lightned by his grace their faces were not any whit ashamed because they did put their trust in him 6 This poor man even my self cryed by their example in my distress and the Lord plentiful in compassion graciously heard him and saved and delivered him immediately out of all his troubles and calamity 7 The good Angel of the Lord deputed by him for each mans protection encampeth and fortifieth round about them that with an unfeigned heart fear and serve him which Angel preserveth them in all their wayes and delivereth them from all the machinations of the Devil and his Angels 8 O taste ye therefore and see make experience aud you shall soon find that the Lord is good and loving to those that faithfully call upon him and you will also confess with me and say Blessed and happy is the man that layeth aside all confidence in himself and that in all his necessities trusteth in him and his protection 9 O fear reverence and love the Lord all ye that by truly believing in him become his Saints and observe his Commandements for take this as an infallible truth that there is no want to them they shall lack nothing that is needful for them that with an upright heart fear and serve him 10 The young Lyons mighty and worldly minded men although they think themselve 〈◊〉 do they lack true peace of Conscience and suffer hunger and want that which is truly good but they which with a pure heart and humble spirit seek the Lord and desire to please him shall not want any good thing when the Lord in his wisdom shall think it needful for them 11 Come therefore O ye Children that desire to be informed and with attentive minds hearken and give good ear unto me that am experienced in the mercies of the Lord and I will teach and instruct you in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom 12 What man is he among the Sons of men that desireth to live a good life and loveth to spend many daye so in this life that he may see and enjoy good and happy dayes hereafter 13 Keep first of all thy tongue from speaking evil let that member do no man wrong and preserve thy lips from speaking guile or that which is false though to be to thine own prejudice for the Lord abhoreth lying lips 14 Depart from evil avoid all things which thou knowest displeasing to God and yet think not that sufficient except thou also apply thy self to do that which is good and acceptable to him Seek peace between God and thy self thy self and thy Conscience thy self and thy Neighbour and if thou shalt find that
Chiding Hatred And all other things of this nature which may be as provocations to slaughter And on the contrary he enjoyneth us To love our Neighbours as our selves To live peaceably and quietly with them To do good for evil And all this because Man is the Image of God Flesh of our Flesh. The thing that Christ paid so dear for The Seventh Commandement Thou shalt not commit Adultery THe chief aim and scope of this Commandement is to preserve the marriage bed inviolate And with great reason it is placed next to the prohibiting of homicide because that next and dearest to a man after his own life is the preservation and honour of his Wife for they two are but one flesh And by this Commandement is also implicitely and secretly forbidden Whoredom Incest Sodomy Sins against Nature Unlawful Desires and Affections Uncleanness Evil Talk Obscene Songs And Impudent Behaviour Uncivil Sight Lascivious Pictures Intemperance of Diet. Delicacy and Excess in Apparrel And the like Being provocations to the Sin here forbidden And as we are prohibited these things so are we commanded hereby To live Chastly Temperately Modestly And purely in Heart For by these Vertues as our Saviour telleth us we shall come to the Beatifical Vision of God and enjoy that Blessedness which he hath promised to those that in pureness of heart love and serve him The Eighth Commandement Thou shalt not Steal THat is thou shalt not take from another any thing which is not thine own And against this Commandement we may offend divers wayes By committing Sacrilege taking any thing from the Church By with-holding that which is due to King or Prince By robbing on the high way or out of houses By deceiving any man In bargaining In false weights and measures In being bankrupt without cause By oppressing the Poor or keeping his pledge By encroaching upon the possessions of any other either by violence openly or by fraud in removing Land-marks c. By keeping that which is found from the true Owner By denying or concealing a trust By detaining the Labourers hire By living idlely and eating out of another mans labour By neglecting a Masters service and mis-spending his goods The Ninth Commandement Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour THou shalt not give false evidence before a Iudge against any man Whosoever doth so is not only guilty of the breach of this Commandement but of the Third also in committing Perjury Neither is false Testimony with an Oath forbidden only but also without an Oath 1. Thou shalt not accuse thy Brother unjustly Slander him Revile him Backbite him Abuse him by uncivil jests 2. Thou shalt not lye or equivocate Either for sport Or to avoid danger or loss For though some seem to approve Of Iacob in lying to his Father that he was Esau. The Midwives to save the Children Rahab the Harlot to save the Spies Michol to save David her Husband Iudith to deceive Holofernes Yet it is safer with Saint Augustine to hold that all lyes being directly opposite to truth must needs be sin The Tenth Commandement Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours House THis Commandement is directly against Coveteousness or evil Concupiscence the issue of Original Sin which was derived to all Mankind after the fall of Adam No man ought to covet or desire no not so much as in his heart any thing which belongeth to another man and whereby he may receive any damage or detriment Neither his House which is his inheritance and his defence against the heat of the Sun and the sharpness of the cold Nor his Wife which is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh His Partner as well in sorrow as pleasure Nor his Servants without whose help and labour he cannot dispatch his affairs Nor his Cattel which do his work In conclusion nothing which may any way prejudice him Now seeing that He which is guilty in breaking one part of the Law offendeth in all And that to the keeping of it the whole inward and outward man is required And that the Flesh while we are in this world is wholly opposite to the Spirit It is impossible for us to fullfil the same by our own endeavours For it is with us as it was with Saint Paul In our flesh dwelleth no good thing and the good that we would we do not but the evil which we would not that we do And seeing also That by the deeds of the Law no man can be justified Not that the Law is in fault being good of it self but our own Flesh The carnal mind being enmity with God And they which are in the flesh not being able to please him For the comfort therefore of all when as neither the works of the Law could justifie us nor we were able to fullfil the same God of his infinite mercy sent his Son Christ Iesus into the World That he suffering death for us might redeem us from the curse of the Law that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith For in him all the Promises Ceremonies and the Law it self were fulfilled and ended 1. The Promises As The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head In thee shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed 2. The Ceremonies The Priesthood by his Eternal Priesthood The Sacrifices by his own Oblation Circumcision by his Circumcisiou and Baptism Passover by the Eucharist 2. The Law By his Satisfaction and absolute fulfilling of it in whom was no sin nor spot but an absolute and perfect Righteousness which Righteousness he hath of his free will and mercy imputed to us and made ours if with a lively Faith we apprehend him and believe on him And in this respect it may be said that he observeth and fulfilleth the Law of God who not trusting to himself or his own works commendeth himself wholly to the Grace of God and seeketh all his Righteousness by Faith in Christ Iesus So that we are to rely on those words which Saint Paul spake in his Sermon at Antioch Be it known unto you therefore Men and Brethren that through this man Christ Iesus is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses But yet we must take this along with us That this Faith whereby we believe that Christ satisfied the Law and is become our Righteousness and Perfection is meerly by Gods grace and favour infused into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which stirreth up in us a love and desire to keep the Law of God which though the same desire never attaineth to perfection while we live in these Earthly Tabernacles for the frailty and indisposition of the Flesh yet God in his mercy accepteth the same for Christs sake For