my Friends and Relations all my Superiours in this place and all my Fellow-Scholars O Lord vouchsafe us all those graces and blessings which Thou knowest to be most suitable for us Unto Thee O my God do I dedicate this day and my whole life O do Thou so bless and prosper me in my Studies that I may every day grow more fit for Thy service Hear me O Lord and pardon my failings for the merits of Thy Son Jesus in whose holy words I sum up all my wants Our Father which art in Heaven c. Directions for Reading Holy Scripture WHen you have said your Morning Prayer good Phil. you may then go cheerfully to your study and relie upon the Divine Goodness for a blessing But first if you have time I advise you to read before second Peal some short Psalm or piece of a Chapter out of the Gospels or Historical Books because they are the most easie to be understood Remembring the example of young Timothy who was bred up to know the Scripture from a Child But if you want time on ordinary days to read the Scripture be sure to read somewhat of it on Sundays and Holy-days and consider that you have it dayly read to you in the Hall before Dinner and Supper and at night when you are just going to Bed that you may close the day with holy thoughts and if you hearken diligently to it when it is read you do in effect read it your self Now to make your reading the more profitable to you begin with one or more of these Ejaculations Ejaculations before reading Holy Scripture WHerewithal Lord shall a young man cleanse his way even by ruling himself after Thy Word Lord open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things of Thy Law O heavenly Father I humbly beg Thy Holy Spirit so to help me at this time to read and understand and remember and practise Thy Word that it may make me wise to salvation When you are thus prepared good Phil. then begin to read and consider that it is Gods most holy Word you read and that all the while you are reading God is speaking to you and therefore read with attention and humility and endeavour as much as you can to suit your affections to the Subject you read For instance If you read any of Gods commands they should excite in you a zeal to keep them If you read any of Gods threatnings against sinners or his judgments on them they should excite in you a fear to provoke him When you read any of his gracious promises they should encourage and quicken your obedience When you read any of Gods mercies they should excite you to thanksgiving When you read any great mystery recorded in holy Writ you are to prostrate your Reason to Divine Revelation And to this purpose in the midst of your Reading say Lord give me grace to obey this command Or Lord deliver me from this sin or this judgment Or Lord I relie on this good promise Or Glory be to Thee O Lord for this mercy Or Lord I believe and adore this mystery Say any of these according as best agrees with the subject you read and when you have read as much as conveniently you can conclude with one of these Ejaculations Ejaculations after Reading BLessed be Thou O Lord O teach me Thy Statutes Lord make Thy Word a Lanthorn unto my feet and a Light unto my paths Lord make Thy Word my delight and my Counsellour Directions for the Day time O Philotheus you cannot enough thank God for the order of the place you live in where there is so much care taken to make you a good Christian as well as a good Scholar where you go so frequently to Prayers every day in the Chappel and in the School and sing Hymns and Psalms to God so frequently in your Chamber and in the Chappel and in the Hall so that you are in a manner brought up in a perpetuity of prayer Be sure Phil. that you are accountable to God for all these opportunities He gives you of serving Him and think how many blessings for your self and for the Colledge you might obtain if you prayed and praised God rather out of a devout affection then meerly to comply with the custom of the place Prayer good Phil. is the very life of a Christian and therefore we are so frequently commanded to pray without ceasing Not that we can be always on our knees but that we should accustom our selves to frequent thoughts of God that where-ever we are He sees us and when we think on God we should have always an ejaculation ready to offer up to Him and by this means we may pray not only seven times a day with David but all the day long In your reading holy Scripture especially in the Psalms you may easily gather those short sentences which most affect you for they are most proper for this use and when you have learned them without Book say one of them now and then as they occur to your mind or as occasion requires or as your devotion prompts you But be not troubled if being otherwise lawfully imployed or if being indisposed you pass a whole day without saying any for to omit them is no sin nor be you scrupulous in what posture you say them for they being short breathings of the soul to God require not that solemnity as Set Prayer does Now to give you some instances of ejaculatory Prayer take these following At going out Lord bless my going out and my coming in from this time forth for evermore After a sin committed Lord be merciful to me miserable sinner and for the merits of my Saviour lay not this sin to my charge After any blessing or Deliverance Glory be to Thee O Lord for this Blessing or for this Deliverance Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise His Holy name At giving Alms. O Lord who didst not despise the Widows mite Accept of this little I now give to relieve one of Thy poor members After having done any good Not unto me O Lord not unto me but unto Thy Name be the praise In Temptation Lord succour me with Thy Grace that I may overcome this Temptation Directions for the Evening COnsider good Phil. how many that have gone to Bed well over night have been found dead the next morning and therefore it highly concerns you to take care to make your peace with God before you go to sleep I advise you therefore towards night or when you go circum to call your self to an account how you have spent the day Examine your thoughts and discourses and actions and Recreations and Devotions and see what has been amiss in any of them Consider what Idleness or Unchastity what lying or stubbornness you have been guilty of or whether you have had a quarrel with any of your fellows and if you have be sure to be friends with
blessed words Our Father c. Remember good Phil. that when you have received the Holy Sacrament your Greatest Work is then but beginning which is to observe all the promises you have made to God of future Obedience and therefore 't is good for you to read over now and then and to renew your Resolutions and to examine your self How you have kept them that you may preserve in your soul a serious sense of your duty and a conscientious care to perform it A Form of General Thanksgiving WOrthy art Thou O Lord of heaven and earth to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created Thou hast made heaven the Heaven of Heavens with all their Host the earth and all things that are therein Thou preservest them all and the Host of Heaven praiseth Thee Glory be to Thee O Lord God Almighty for creating man after Thine own image and making so great variety of Creatures to minister to His use Glory be to Thee who givest us life and breath and all things who givest us fruitful seasons and fillest our hearts with food and gladness Glory be to Thee O Lord God for all Thy many blessings and deliverances for all Thy forbearance and long-suffering to this sinful Nation Glory be to Thee O Lord who hast made me also share in those publick mercies and for that light of the Gospel Thou vouchsafest us of which the greatest part of the world is totally ignorant Glory be to Thee O Heavenly Father for my being and preservation strength and health understanding and memory friends and benefactors and for all my Abilities of mind and of body Glory be to Thee O heavenly Father for my competent livelyhood for my education in this Colledge for all my known or Unobserved deliverances and for the guard Thy holy Angels keep over me But above all Glory be to Thee for giving Thy only Son to die for my sins and for all the spiritual blessings he has purchast for me for my Baptism and all the opportunities Thou givest me of serving Thee or of receiving the holy Eucharist for whatever sin I have escapt for whatever good I have done or thought for all my helps of grace and hopes of Heaven Glory be to Thee Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise His Holy Name Glory be to Thee O Lord Jesus for Thy inexpressible Love to Lost man Glory be to Thee O Lord for Condescending to take our frail Nature on Thee Glory be to Thee for all Thy Heavenly Doctrine to Instruct us Thy great Miracles to Convince us and Thy unblamable Example to Guide us Glory be to Thee O Blessed Jesus for Thy Agony and bloudy sweat for all the torments and anguish of thy bitter passion Glory be to Thee O Blessed Jesus for Thy Glorious Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven and Intercession for us at the right hand of Thy Father O Gracious Lord Thou that hast done so much for me How can I ever sufficiently Praise and Love Thee Praise the Lord Jesus O my Soul and all that is within me Praise His Holy Name Glory be to Thee O Blessed Spirit Glory be to Thee for all the Miraculous Gifts and Graces Thou didst bestow on the Apostles to fit them to Convert the World and for Inspiring the Sacred Pen-men of Holy Scripture Glory be to Thee for Instilling Holy Thoughts into my soul for all the Ghostly strength and support and comfort and illumination we receive from Thee for all Thy Preventing and restraining and Sanctifying Grace Glory be to Thee Blessed Spirit let me never more by my sins grieve Thee who art the Author of life and Joy to me Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Praise His Holy Name Here Phil. if you recite this Thanksgiving on any great Festival or Saints day you may add Particularly O Lord am I bound to Praise Thee for the great blessing we this day Commemorate Here mention it For instance the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour or the likâ— Or for the Saint whose memory we this day celebrate Here you may name him and add Praise the Lord therefore O my Soul and all that is within me Praise His Holy Name Blessing and Honour and Thanksgiving and Praise more than I can Utter more than I can Conceive be unto Thee O most Adorable Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost by all Angels All Men All Creatures for ever and ever Amen Amen A Form of General Intercession HOly Holy Holy Lord God Almighty I miserable sinner humbly acknowledge that I am altogether Unworthy to pray for my self but since Thou hast Commanded us to make prayers and intercessions for all men in obedience to Thy Command and in Confidence of Thy Unlimited Goodness I commend to Thy Mercy and Divine Providence the Wants and Necessities of all Mankind Lord let it be Thy good pleasure to restore to Thy Church Catholick Primitive peace and purity and to preserve it against the Gates of Hell Particularly O Lord God I implore Thy Mercy for this sinful Nation for the iniquity of the land is exceeding Great Alas alas we are Unthankful for Thy blessings incorrigible under Thy Judgments and unprofitable under all the means of Grace and what can we expect from Thee but to drink deep of the Cup of Thy Wrath And Wretch that I am my sins have increased the heap of the Publick Impieties and made their Cry the louder to Heaven for vengeance But O Lord God in the midst of Judgment Remember Mercy Turn Thou us Lord and so shall we be turned O be favourable to Thy people and give us all Grace to Turn to Thee in Fasting Weeping and Mourning To put a period to our provocations and do Thou put a period to our Punishments O Lord God out of the Multitude of Thy Mercies give us grace to fear Thee and to keep Thy Commandments always that it may be well with us and Thou mayest Rejoice over us to do us good Amen Amen O let it be Thy good pleasure to bless us all from the highest to the lowest in our several stations To defend the Church of England from all the Asâ—aults of Schism or Heresie or Sacriledge and to bless all Bishops Priests and Deacons with Apostolicol graces exemplary lives and sound doctrin O let it be Thy good pleasure to save and defend our Sovereign Lord King Charles from all His Enemies grant him a long and happy reign over us and endue him with all those gifts and graces which may make him a terrour to evil works and a great promoter of Thy Glory Bless Him and all His Royal relations with a great measure of all temporal good things and with eternal Glory in the world to come Lord let it be Thy good pleasure to grant To the Privy Council Wisdom from above To all Magistrates Integrity and Zeal for Religion To
this night and for the time to come give me grace to fly all youthful lusts and to remember Thee my Creatour in the days of my youth Shower down Thy graces and blessings on me and on all my Relations on my Father and Mother on my Brethren and Sisters on all my Friends on all my Governours in this place and on all my Fellow-Scholars and give Thy Angels charge over us to protect us all from sin and danger Lord bless me in my Learning this day that I may every day grow more fit for Thy service O pardon my failings and do more for me then I can ask or think for the merits of Jesus my Saviour in whose holy words I sum up all my wants Our Father which art in heaven c Evening Prayer GLory be to Thee O Lord God for all the blessings I dayly receive from Thee and for Thy particular preservation of me this day O Lord have mercy uâ—on me and forgive whatsoever Thou hast seen amiss in me this day past and for the timk to come give me grace to fly all youthful lusts and to remember Thee my Creatour in the days of my youth Lord receive me and all my Relations and all that belong to this Colledge into Thy gracious protection this night and send me such seasonable rest that I may rise the next morning more fit for thy service Lord hear my prayers and pardon my failings for the merits of my blessed Saviour in whose holy words I sum up all my wants Our Father which art in Heaven c. This good Pbil. is the lowest degree of duty and it should be your dayly endeavour to improve in your devotion as well as in your learning and the more effectually to move you to so happy an improvement I advise you on Sundays and Holy-days attentively to read over this following Meditation and to propose to your self the Holy Child Jesus for your example A Meditation on the Holy â—hild Jesus GLory be to Thee O Lord Jesus Glory be to Thee who when Thou wert twelve years old didst go up to Jerusalem with Thy Parents after the custom of the Feast to eat the Passover and to worship Thy Heavenly Father O blessed Saviour give me grace like Thee to make Religion my first and chiefest care and devoutly to observe all solemn times and all holy Rites which relate to Thy worship Glory be to Thee O Lord Jesus Glory be to Thee who when Thy Parents returned home didst stay behind in Jerusalem and after three days wast found of them in the Temple sitting in the midst of the Doctors both hearing them and asking them questions O blessed Saviour who in Thy very Childhood didst triumph over all the vain delights of youth and wouldst choose no place but the Temple to reside in Mortifie in me all inordinate love of sensual pleasure which may pervert me from my duty raise in me an awful reverence of Thy House an early devotion in my Prayers and a delight in Thy Praises O blessed Jesu who didst choose before all others the company of the Doctors and didst both hcar them and ask them Questions give me grace to abhor all lewd company and all filthy communication give me grace to love wise and sober and profitable and religious conversation and to be diligent and inquisitive after learning and whatsoever is good Glory be to Thee O Lord Jesus Glory be to Thee who when Thy Father and Mother had sought Thee sorrowing didst reply to them How is it that ye sought me wist ye not that I must be about my Fathers business O blessed Jesu who from Thy infancie didst make it Thy whole imployment to do Thy Fathers will kindle in me a forward zeal for Thy Glory that I may consecrate my youth to Thy service and make it the great business of my life to know and fear to love and obey my Heavenly Father Glory be to Thee O Lord Jesus Glory be to Thee who didst at last return home with Thy Parents and wert subject to them O blessed Jesu give me grace to honour my Parents and Governours and readily to obey all their lawful commands Glory be to Thee O Lord Jesus Glory be to Thee who in those tender years wert blessed with such Heavenly wisdom that all that heard Thee were astonished at Thy understanding and answers who didst dayly increase in this Heavenly wisdom and in favour with God and Man O Lord Jesu bless me with all abilities of mind and body that may make me daâ—ly increase in my Learning but above all bless me with Wisdom from above and give me Thy Holy Spirit to assist and enlighten me that as I grow in Age I may dayly grow in Grace and in the knowledge of Thee and in favour with God and Man and every day more and more conformable to Thy Unsinning and Divine example Amen Lord Jesus Amen Directions for those that are more grown in years WHen you have attained to more knowledge and proficiencie in grace and are of an Age capable of receiving the Holy Sacrament God then expects more from you and 't is high time for you good Philotheus to lengthen your prayers and to begin to add some ejaculations over and above such as these are which follow Ejaculations at waking or rising AWake O my Soul and Sing praises to God Glory be to Thee O God for watching over me this night Lord raise me up at the last day to life everlasting Morning Prayer EArly in the morning will I cry unto Thee Lord hear my Prayer Glory be to Thee Lord God Almighty Glory be to Thee for renewing Thy mercies to me every morning Glory be to Thee for refreshing me this night with sleep and for preserving me from the perils of darkness O do away as the night so my transgressions scatter my sins as the Morning Cloud Lord forgive whatever Thou hast seen amiss in me this night my Here if you are conscious to your self of any sin committed in the night confess it O Father of Mercies wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin And let Thy Holy Spirit so prevent and accompany and follow me this day that I may believe in Thee and love Thee and keep Thy Commandments and continue in Thy fear all the day long Lord make me chaste and temperate humble and adviseable diligent in my studies obedient to my Superiours and charitable to all men Lord deliver me from sloth and idleness from youthful lusts and ill company from all dangers bodily and ghostly and give me grace to remember Thee my Creatour in the days of my youth Bless and defend and save the King and all the Royal Family and all Orders of men amongst us Ecclesiastical or Civil Lord give them all grace in their several stations to be instrumental to Thy glory and the publick good Together with them I commend to Thy Divine Providence my Father and Mother my Brethren and Sisters all
and torments of the Damned in the life to come Miserable wretch that I am that ever I should transgress that Law of Thine O God which is so Just and Holy and good and perfect and so condescending to my infirmitiâ—s and in keeping of which there are so great so Unconceivable Rewards O that with Mary Magdalene I could weep much and love much having so much to be forgiven O Gracious Lord look on me as Thou didst on Peter and let Thy Compassionote look so pierce my heart that I may weep bitterly for my sins O Lord God Break this hard heart for Thou only canst do it and melt it into tears of Contrition Miserable wretch that I am that I should sin so much and yet grieve so little Wo is me Miserable wretch wo is me that ever 〈◊〉 should offend so Indulgent so Liberal so tender a Father Wo is me that ever I should repay the infinite love and the intolerable Sufferings of my Saviour for me with Nothing but those sins which occasioned those very sufferings Wo is me that ever I should grieve the Holy Spirit by rejecting so many of His good Motions from whom only I derive Grace and Consolation O Lord God every slight worldly trouble is apt to draw plenty of tears from mine eyes but when I should weep for my sins which are the greatest calamities that can possibly befal me either my eyes are dry or my tears too few to bewail so many Provocations O Blessed Spirit instil true penitent sorrow into my soul Make my Head Waters and my Eyes Fountains of tears Or do Thou supply the want of them with sighs and groans Unutterable But alas I know all the tears I can possibly shed can never wash away the least of my sins 'T is Thy blood only Lord that can do it O Blessed Saviour how can I ever sufficiently lament the guilt of my sins which was so great that nothing but Thy own inestimable bloud could expiate O Heavenly Father in the defect of my own tears I offer Thee the bloud of Thy own well-beloved Son for His sake Have mercy upon me Amen Amen Resolution O Lord God with shame I confess that Other Lords besides Thee have hitherto had dominion over me I have been in the Snare of the Devil and have been led captive by Him and Sin hath reigned in my Mortal body and I have obeyed it in the lusts thereof But henceforth I resolve to serve none but Thee and from this very moment I utterly forsake all my sins and turn to Thee O my God I do from my heart Renew my Baptismal Vow which alas I have hitherto so often violated I do for ever Renounce the Devil and all His works and all His temptations I do for ever Renounce all the vanities of this wicked World which may pervert me from Thy Service and all the sinful lusts of the flesh O my God I do stedfastly believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith and I will keep Thy Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life All this am I bound to do and believe and by Thy help so I will and I heartily thank Thee O Heavenly Father who hast called me to this state of salvation through Jesus Christ my Saviour and I humbly pray Thee for His sake to give me grace that I may continue in the same to my lives end Oblation Blessed be Thy Name O Lord God who hast set before me life and death and hast bid me chuse life Behold Lord I do with all my heart chuse life I chuse Thee O my God for Thou art my life Save Lord and Hear me O King of Heayen and accept my Sacrifice even the Sacrifice of my whole heart which I now give Thee O my God I offer Thee my Senses and passions and all my faculties I offer Thee all my desires All my designs all my studies all my endeavours all the Remainder of my life All that I have or am I offer up all entirely to Thy service Lord sanctifie me wholly that my whole Spirit Soul and Body may become Thy Temple O do Thou dwell in me and be Thou my God and I will be Thy Servant Amen Amen Acts of Charity O Lord God I do from henceforth Resolve to love my Neighbour as my self and to love him not in word only but in deed and in truth I do from my heart forgive all men their trespasses Do Thou Lord forgive them also Lord bless them that Hate me and do Good to them that have any way despitefully used me O Repay them Good for Evil O my God bless all those that I have any way wronged Have mercy on All those to whose sins I have been any way accessory and give them all grace to forgive me Amen Amen Petition for Pardoâ— O Thou Father of Mercies and God of all Consolation be merciful to me a miserable sinner Lord Remember all Thy Gracious calls of sinners to Repentance All Thy Protestations that Thou delightest not in the death of him that dies and that Thou wouldst have all to be saved Lord Remember all the exceeding great and pretious promises which Thou hast made to Penitent sinners Lord Remember that Thy mercy is over all Thy works that in mercy Thou delightest and that all the Holy Angels seeing Thee well pleased in the exercise of that Mercy Rejoice at the Conversion of a Sinner that the greater my sins are the more will that Mercy be magnified in my forgiveness Lord Remember that Thou didst so love the world as to give Thy only beloved Son a Ransome for it O Heavenly Father Thou that sparedst not Thy only Son but deliveredst Him up for us wilt thou not with Him also freely give us All things and if all things wilt Thou not also give us the pardon of our sins O my God I firmly believe Thou wilt on that ransome my Saviour hath paid for me and on all Thy gracious promises of pardon which for his sake Thou hast made to me I wholly rely Here only is the sure and stedfast anchor of my soul to which my Faith and Hope shall for ever adhere All this Lord do I plead to implore Thy forgiveness Behold Lord though my failings are many yet to the utmost of my power I have confest and bewailed and forsaken my transgressions Behold Lord I come at Thy Call and I come weary and heavy laden with the burthen of my sins Be it unto me according to Thy Word O Thou that art faithful and just forgive me my sins and cleanse me from all Unrighteousness Lord do Thou in no wise cast me from Thee but Heal my Backslidings and love me freely Ease me of my Burthen that I may find rest in Thee and say unto my Soul Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee O Heavenly Father for thine own Infinite Mercies sake for Thy truth
and Promise sake for all the merits and sufferings of the Son of Thy Love in whom Thou art always well pleased Pardon all my sins and fa lings and receive me into Thy favour Amen O Lord God Amen Amen A Petition for Grace in General O Lord God I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep Thy righteous Judgments But alas I am able of my self to do nothing that is good not so much as to think one good thought and I no sooner shall rise from my knees but I fear I shall be tempted to those very sins I have now so solemnly renounced and those temptations will certainly overcome me unless Thou Lord dost seasonably interpose Thy grace to with-hold me But I can do all things through Thee strengthening me Do Thou then O blessed Saviour perfect Thy strength in my weakness for in Thee only is my trust O my God Thou hast promised to give Thy Holy Spirit to those that ask it Behold Lord I do humbly I do earnestly ask Thy Holy Spirit now of Thee O fulfil Thy gracious promise to me O vouchsafe me that Holy Spirit I pray for to purifie my corrupt nature to strengthen my weakness to comfort me in troubles to support me in discouragements to succour me in temptations and to assist me in all parts of my duty that I may ever hereafter live in Thy fear and in constant sincere and universal obedience to all Thy righteous Laws Thou O searcher of hearts knowest the sin or sins I am most inclined to here name it or them and herein will lie my greatest danger of back-sliding But O my God I beg a double portion of Thy invisible aid against it or them Hold Thou up my goings in Thy paths that my Footsteps slip not O work in me that victorious Faith by which I may overcome the World the Devil and my own corrupt Nature True it is O Lord God that there are many sins which upon examination I find through Thy grace I have not yet committed and therefore not unto me Lord but to Thy name be the glory but alas there is in my corrupt nature so great a proneness to evil so great a curiosity to try what sin is that without Thy restraining Grace every temptation when I shall have more age and liberty and opportunity to enforce it will be apt to draw me from my obedience and to overthrow all my present Resolutions But my Help standeth in Thee O great Creatour who hast made Heaven and Earth and I commit my Soul to Thy keeping O Thou that art faithful as well as Almighty keep that safe which is committed to Thy trust watch over me that I may not be beguiled by the deceitfulnes of sin or betrayed by my own treacherous heart or surprized by my ghostly enemies and give me grace to watch and to pray incessantly my self lest I enter into temptation Hear Lord from Heaven and succour me for the alone merits of Jesus my Saviour Amen Amen Petition for particular Graces O That my ways Lord were made so direct that I might keep Thy Statutes for then shall I not be confounded when I have respect unto all Thy Commandments Vouchsafe me Thy Holy Spirit therefore O Lord God to work in me whatever is well-pleasing in Thy sight that for the time to come I may bring forth fruits meet for repentance O let it be Thy good pleasure to create in me a saving Knowledge of Thee and of my duty justifying Faith true sanctifying Grace and a purifying Hope an ardent Love and a filial fear of Thee a constant desire of pleasing Thee and a great tenderness of offending Thee Lord create in me a penitent heart a resigned will and mortified affections an habitual mindfulness of Thy presence and a steddy devotion in my Prayers sincere intentions and Zeal for Thy Glory Perseverance in all Holy purposes and constancy in all trials and temptations Lord create in me a Reverential awe of Thy Name a delight in Thy service a sacred regard to Thy day and house of Prayer and a great attention to Thy Word a dayly care of my time and diligence in my studies Lord make me chast and temperate humble and adviseable and patient of reproof and create in me a chearful and meek a contented and considerate a quiet and peaceful spirit Lord bless me with Health and Competency of living with a good understanding a retentive memory and a ready apprehension and with such a measure of temporal good things as Thou seest fit for me and give me grace to make a right use of all those blessings I have already receiveâ— Lord Purifie my thoughts Bridle my tongue Guide all my actions Guard all my senses Stop my ears and turn away my eyes from sin and vanity Lord give me grace to be just in all my dealing to do to all men as I would they should do to me to be subject to my Parents and to all my Superiours to the King as supreme and to all Civil Magistrates To the Pastors of Thy Church and to all my Governours in this place O grant that I may render due honour and obedience to them all in their several stations Lord make me willing to forgive injuries and unwilling to offer any Make me grateful to my Benefactors friendly to my equals condescending to my inferiours compassionate to the afflicted charitable to the Poor according to my ability a Lover of good men and kind to my enemies and give me grace to keep always a Conscience void of offence towards Thee and towards men and to continue in the Communion of Thy Church without wavering O Merciful God keep Thy servant from all wilful deliberate or presumptuous sins and let no wickedness have dominion over me From stubbornness and pride idleness and sloth intemperance and youthful lusts inconstancy and lying Good Lord deliver me From irreligious principles and false Teachers unruly passions and violent temptations from contracting vitious habits or taking pleasure in sin from prophaneness and ill company envy and malice detraction and uncharitableness Good Lord deliver me From the erros and vices of the Age and all remanent affections to sin from the sin or sins my corrupt Nature is most inclined to Here name it or them from whatsoever is offensive to Thee or destructive to my own Soul Good Lord deliver me Hear me O Heavenly Father and conform my whole life to the Example of my Blessed Saviour and that for his sake in whose holy words I sum up all my wants Our Father which art in heaven c. You have now Good Phil. by Gods help gone over the hardest part of your preparation for the Holy Sacrament the next thing you are to do is to examine your self whether you do sufficiently understand what the Sacrament is then to ask your self with what intentions you do approach it and to pray for Gods grace to dispose you for Worthy Receiving and
all these particulars together with all that you are to know and believe concerning the Blessed Sacrament are contained in these following Meditations which I advise you to read over devoutly at several times till you are in some measure affected with them Meditations on the Holy Eucharist On the ouâ—ward Elements I Adore Thee O Blessed Jesus My Lord and my God when I consider what that Sacrament is to which Thou now invitest me and of what parts it consists Of an Outward and visible sign and of an Inward and spiritual Grace For Thou Lord who knowest our Infirmities and how little able we are to conceive things heavenly and spiritual In pity to our dark and feeble apprehensions hast Ordained Outward and Obvious and Visible signs to represent to our minds Thy grace which is Inward and Invisible Thou hast ordained bread and wine which is our Corporal food to picture out to our Faith the food of our Souls On the Inward Part or Thing signified I know O my God that I must look through the Outward Elements and fix my faith on that which they signifie and which is the Inward and Invisible Grace even Thy own blessed Body and Bloud which is verily and indeed taken and received of the faithful in the Lords Supper But tell me O Thou whom my Soul loveth How canst Thou give us Thy flesh to Eat Lord Thou hast told me that Thy words they are Spirit and they are life and are therefore not Carnally to be understood Lord I believe Help Thou my Un-Unbelief I believe Thy body and blood to be as really present in the Holy Sacrament as Thy Divine Power can make it though the manner of Thy Mysterious presence I cannot comprehend Lord I believe that the Bread that we break and the Cup that we drink are not bare signs only but the real Communication of Thy Body and Thy Bloud and pledges to assure me of it and I verily believe that if with due preparation I come to Thy Altar as certainly as I receive the Outward Signs so certainly shall I receive the thing signified even Thy most Blessed Body and Bloud to receive which inestimable Blessing O merciful Lord do Thou fit and prepare me Amen Amen Who Instituted it I Adore Thee O Blessed Jesus my Lord and my God when I consider that this Holy Sacrament was Thy own Institution For it was Thou Lord who in the night Tâ—ou wast betrayed didst take Bread and after that the Cup and didst bless them and give them to Thy Disciples O blessed Saviour let Thy Divinity thus stampt on it strike into my Soul an Holy Awe and Reverence in approaching it O Create in me Heavenly dispositions to celebrate so Heavenly an Institution Amen Amen For what end I Adore Thee O Blessed Jesus My Lord and my God when I consider for what end Thou didst institute the Holy Sacrament implied in Thy own Command Do this in Remembrance of Me. But what need This Command O Gracious Lord is it possible for me ever to forget Thee my Saviour who hast done so great things for me Alas alas my own sad experience tells me it is wo is me every temptation every vanity is apt to make me forget Thee though Thy own Dying words bid me remember Thee But O Blessed Lord for Thy infinite Mercies sake Pardon all my stupid forgetfulness and ingratitude hitherto and do Thou now Create in me such a thankful and lively Remembrance of Thy Dying for me that may excite me to give up my self entirely to Thee as Thou didst give up Thy self on the Cross for me Amen Amen A Thanksgiving for Christs Sufferings O Thou my crucified Saviour Glory be to Thee for causing Thy sufferings to be registred in the Gospel There I have read and Remember the Wonders and Triumphs of Thy Almighty Love for which I will always Adore and Praise Thee I Remember O Gracious Lord How Thou who thoughtst it no robbery to be equal with God wast made in the Fashion of frail man of the vilest and most contemptible of men for Thou tookest on Thee the form of a very Servant I Remember how many reproaches and contradictions and blasphemies and persecutions Thou didst endure from a wicked and perverse generation and all this to save us sinfulmen O Lord Jesus was ever sorrow like unto Thy sorrow Worthy art Thou O Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing I Remember O gracious Lord How Thou didst indure a most bitter Agony and didst sweat great drops of blood falling to the ground How Thou who art God above all Blessed for ever wast treacherously betrayed and apprehended and bound as a Malefactor How Thou wast set at nought by Herod and his men of war and forsaken of all Thy Disciples and denied by Peter and all this to save us sinful men O Lord Jesus was ever sorrow c. I Remember How Thou O God of Truth wast accused by false witnesses How Thou whom all the Angels adore wast blindfoldâ—d and buffeted and â—ocke and spit upon and stript naked and scourged and all this that we might be healed by Thy stripes and to save us sinful men O Lord Jesus was ever any sorrow c. I Remember Lord How Thou that art the great Judge of Heaven and Earth wast Thy self dragged to the Judgment-Seat and condemned How Thou O King of Heaven wast crowned with thorns and opprest with the weight of Thy own Cross and all this to save us sinful men O Lord Jesus was ever any sorrow c. I Remember O blessed Saviour How Thou who art the Lord of Glory and the sole Author of life wast put to a most ignominious death How Thy hands and Thy feet were nailed to a Cross How Thou wast Crucified between two Thieves and numbrâ—d with the Transgressors How Thou hadst a potion given Thee to imbitter Thy very last gasp and all this to save us sinful men O Lord Jesus was ever any sorrow c. I Remember O Gracious Lord How when Thou wert hanging on the very Cross Thou wast scoffed at and reviled How infinitely then Thou wert afflicted and bruised for our transgressions when the Iniquities of us all were laid on Thy shoulders How Thou didst then express an anguish greater then all the tortures of Thy Crucifixion when Thou didft cry out My God my God why hast Thou forsaken Me and how Thou didst at last give up the Ghost and die Thy self that we might live O Lord Jesus was ever any sorrow c. I Unfeignedly believe O Gracious Lord that Thou didst suffer all this for sinful men and in particular for me when we were all Thy utter enemies and had nothing in us to move Thee to pity us but our extream misery Nothing to move Thee to save us but our great Unworthiness and Thy greater Mercy O the depth of the Riches of Thy Love Blessed Lord