but as yesterday seeing that is past as a watch in the night As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep and fade away suddenly like the grass In the morning it is green and groweth up but in the evening it is cut down dried up and withered For we consume away in thy displeasure and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee and our secret sins in the sight of thy countenance For when Thou art angry all our days are gone we bring our years to an end as it were a tale that is told The days of our age are threescore years and ten and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone But who regardeth the power of thy wrath for even thereafter as a man feareth so is thy displeasure O teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Turn Thee again O Lord at the last and be gracious unto thy servants O satisfie us with thy mercy and that soon so shall we rejoyce and be glad all the days of our life Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity Shew thy servants thy work and their children thy glory And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us Prosper Thou the work of our hands upon us O prosper Thou our handy-work Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen The Song of S. Mary MY soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour For he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed For he that is Mighty hath magnified me and Holy is his name And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations He hath shewed strength with his arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away He remembring his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel as he promised to our forefathers Abraham and his seed for ever Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it wrs in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen O Lord God who hast created the light and darkness and by the continual interchanges of day and night puttest us in mind of our transitory condition and the shortness of our abode here Give us grace to set our selves about the work of salvation while the day of salvation lasteth that when the night of death cometh and our Lord shall call us to account we may receive the reward of good and faithful servants and enter into the joy of our Master Jesus Christ Amen NOW our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God even our Father which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace comfort our hearts and stablish us in every good word and work To Him be glory for ever and ever Amen THE SEVENTH HOUR OF PRAYER AT Bed-Time About IX at Night Mark 13. 33. Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know not when the time is Mat. 26. 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation Job 1. 21. Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither Chap. 14. 12. Man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep EVENING I. AS you began so end the day with God in thanks and praise that he hath graciously preserved you hitherto and in prayer to him that he will vouchsafe still to continue his mercy and protection to you II. Remember that your days are but a span long that in the midst of life you are in death and every day brings you nearer to that long night III. Consider that perhaps many others no worse than you have this day been cut off in the midst of their days and sins and cast into the place of darkness yet the long-suffering of God hath spared you until now to make up your accounts IV. Shew your self truly thankful for this inestimable favour by making right use of it spending the time which is given you in doing some good in working while it is called to day before the night cometh wherein no man can work V. The Evening of the day is now come upon you and for ought you know the end of your life may be as nigh at hand when you shall be called to account how you have spent your time here VI. Begin therefore with your self before-hand When you have done with the world and all business and company and are retired to your privacy and quiet sit down and call your self to a strict account how you have spent this day what you have done what you have left undone what good you have neglected what evil you have committed Where you perceive you have done well give thanks to God and ascribe it and all the Honour of it to him alone who hath enabled you to perform it working in you both to will and to do Where you have omitted your duty or otherwise done ill confess and humble your self before him and earnestly desire pardon and reconciliation If you have wronged or offended any one this day desire God to forgive you and resolve to make satisfaction If any one have wronged or offended you freely forgive them and desire God to confirm your pardon by adding his How can he sleep at quiet that is not at peace with God and in charity with the World And consider that if this be done constantly and sincerely every night whensoever it shall please God to call you to judgment you will have but one day to answer for VII The Son of Man cometh as a thief in the night at an hour when you are not aware be careful that he may find you watching and imployed about his Service Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Mat. 24. 46. Evening Prayer IN the night I lift up my hands towards thy Sanctuary and bless thy Name Psal 134. 2 3. The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the day-time and in the night-season also will I sing of him and make my prayer unto the God of my life Psal 42. 10. As long as I live will I magnifie thee in this manner and lift up my hands in thy Name Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of my hands be an Evening Sacrifice Psal 14. 1 2.
not die but live to praise thy mercy I confess O Lord that I was even conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity and though thou hadst wash'd me from that Original Pollution of Nature in the holy Fountain of Baptism yet have I since again defiled my self with all manner of actual Abominations O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face unto thee for mine iniquities are increased over mine head and my trespasses are waxed great unto the Heavens Since the days of my youth I am in a great trespass and my whole life is nothing else but a continued transgression of thy Law and provocation of thy wrath I have but slightly performed or neglected and wholly omitted and even contemned those Duties and Services which thou requirest of me but have greedily committed and carelesly and even presumptuously continued in those sins which thou hast strictly forbidden and severely threatned So that if thou shouldst enter into judgment with thy Servant I could expect nothing but to receive my portion with hypocrites and unbelievers and to be cast out into utter darkness in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for evermore But thou O Lord which desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live turn thou me O good God turn me from all my transgressions and let not iniquity be my ruine Open thou mine eyes and awaken my dull and stony heart that I may see and understand the vileness and misery of my sinful state that I may hate and abhor and forsake all my evil ways and turn to thee with all my heart and with all my strength Give me that Godly sorrow which worketh true repentance forgive and put away all my sins and offences nail them to the Cross of Jesus Christ and bury them in his Grave that they may never rise up in judgment against me Receive me O my Father and be reconciled unto me in the mercies and merits of thy dear Son for his sake restore me again to thy grace and favour and the light of thy countenance and establish me with thy free Spirit Psal 51. 12. Send down the dew of thy heavenly grace the light of thy Holy Spirit into my heart to lead me in thy way and enable me to walk in it Give me strength to resist all temptations and to stand against all assaults of the World the Flesh and the Devil that no Allurement may draw no Terror may drive me from the streight path of thy Service but that I may persevere in it to the end of my days that having lived in thy fear I may die in thy favour rest in thy peace rise in thy power and reign with thee for ever in thy Glory And thou O Lord which hast promised to add all other necessaries to them which seek first thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof remember me also with thy temporal blessings as shall seem best unto thee and may be most for the advancement of mine Eternal Interest Give me health of Body soundness of Mind competence of means comfort of Friends peace in this world and contentment of mind what state soever thou shalt please to call me to Give me grace to set my heart not on things below but on things above that I may chearfully expect when it shall please thee to translate me from thy blessings in this world to the joys of thy Eternal Kingdom And thou O Lord which hast commanded us to make prayers and supplications for all others as well as our selves we beseech thee to extend thy mercy and goodness to all mankind in all the corners of the Earth Open and enlighten the eyes of them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death and guide their feet into the way of peace that thy way may be known upon earth and thy saving health among all nations Psal 67. 2. Inlarge the bounds of thy Catholick Church Unite and sanctifie all that are already received into her bosom and restore her to her ancient purity and prosperity Send such Priests whose lips may preserve knowledge and make the People diligent to seek thy Law at their mouth and so direct and rule both Priests and People that by their holy conversation they may shine as Lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation And thou who hast promised to make Kings and Queens the Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers of thy Church protect all the Governments of the world especially Christian Kings and Princes and more particularly Him whom thy particular Providence hath placed over us Preserve and prosper him in all his ways give him success in all his undertakings and actions that having lived and ruled here in justice piety prosperity peace and happiness he may quietly pass from this earthly and transitory to a heavenly and eternal Crown Bless his Illustrious Family and the whole State under him Distribute thy blessings to every one as thou shalt judge most meet and as may best fit and enable and encourage them in their several Places and Callings in the performance of their duties of Worship and Obedience to thee and of justice and Honesty and Charity to their Brethren Bless all those to whom I am bound by any special Relation Parents Freinds Kindred Benefactors Family Thou O Lord knowest the Name and place of every one Thou knowest our several desires and wants We beseech Thee to proportion thy reliefs and blessings to every one that we may be mutual helps and comforts to each other in our passage through this vale of misery and tears Have mercy and compassion upon all that are under any calamity in body or mind or outward condition especially those that suffer for righteousness sake Give them Patience to bear and Prudence to make a right use of all their Afflictions and in thine own good time relieve and restore them here or take them away from these temporal miseries to thine eternal rest in Heaven And let not my Lord be angry and I will speak but this once and that in obedience to thy command for our Enemies Slanderers and Oppressors especially those that have caused or increased the publick Distractions Lord restrain their malice and open their Eyes and Hearts that they may see the crookedness of their own ways and return into the streight path of meekness and Charity that we may live together in Peace here and reign together in thy Glory hereafter And that our Ingratitude for Thy former Blessings may not make us more unworthy and uncapable of the future we humbly desire to offer up our sacrifice of Praise and Thansgiving for all thy goodness and loving-kindness multiplied and continued upon us That Thou hast been pleased to create us men after thine own Image the most excellent of all the works of thy hands And when by our own sin and fall we had made our selves worse than the vilest of all
eating of Bread and drinking of Wine are in themselves actions so very ordinary that they are also very inconsiderable yet in this they are made use of to signifie to us the most extraordinary and excellent mercy that ever the Great King of Heaven bestowed upon his poor Subjects and Servants here on earth For I. It is the Commemoration of the death of his own only Son for the redemption of lost Mankind the wounding of his body signified by the breaking of Bread and the shedding of his Bloud by the pouring out of Wine II. Besides this it is also an Evidence of Gods reconciliation and favour to us and demonstration that we are in League and Amity with him in that we are admitted to his own Table to eat of his Bread and drink of his Cup. III. It is a means and instrument of conveying grace and strength to the Souls of Worthy Receivers IV. It is our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all his mercies and blessings particularly temporal the good things of this World the fruits of the Earth which we here offer unto him under these two Principal of Bread and Wine Of Frequent Receiving THis then being a Service so acceptable to God and so beneficial so necessary for men it were but reason to expect that all good Christians would shew themselves ready and forward to the performance of it And accordingly in the first Age of the Church when Religion and Zeal were in their youth and vigour it was the good custom to celebrate this Sacrament if not every day as it is thought yet at least every Lords day But afterward as Piety began to grow more dull and Love more cold it was by little and little brought down to once a Month. And this Order still remains in the Church of God though now somewhat disturbed by prevailing Sectaries among us And at those times the Supper is appointed to be made ready and the Table furnished for all such as can think fit to spare so much time from their worldly business to come to the Marriage-feast of the great King of Heaven For herein they are yet left to more liberty and not necessarily required to come oftner than thrice a year And truly such is the negligence of many who yet would be accounted Christians that they are not ashamed to stretch this libetty to the utmost Yea and it were well if even then they would come meetly provided and had not more respect to the Shame of the World than to the Honour of God or their own Good Certainly any sober Christian cannot consider without shame and indignation how much Mankind are fallen from their first love But that which is ordinarily brought for an excuse is in it self so unworthy and unreasonable that it makes this Neglect yet more abominable and intolerable And indeed it is somewhat worse than that for which those invited in the Gospel received a severe Censure There it was they were taken up with their several Affairs one had bought a farm or a Yoke of oxen another had married a wife and therefore they could not come But here one is engaged in such a sin which he hath no mind to leave yet another is not in charity and in general they are not prepared and therefore they cannot that is they will not come Such is the ridiculous madness of men in this barbarous and brutish Age that they can think fit to excuse and justifie one fault by pretending more and greater But if you are not prepared to meet your Saviour at his Table to celebrate the memorial of his Mercy how would you appear before him at his Seat of Judgment to which yet you know not but you may be sooner called If therefore you could wish to be always provided for Death which often comes suddenly always uncertainly think not much to bestow a little time in preparing your self for this Sacrament as often as you may have an opportunity of receiving it And those which in these days of Captivity have not that convenience of receiving from the hands of them who have authority to give it may yet do well not to omit the Duty of Preparation Let them do that which they can and for that which they cannot God will accept the will for the deed Of Preparation THE best Preparation to this holy Duty is a continued habit of holy living and frequent meditation upon Heaven and Heavenly things particularly the great mercies of God in the Bloud of Jesus Christ But because the minds of men cannot be always so intent and circumspect but that they need some more solemn Excitations and Exercises it will be requisite to set apart some few days before to be imployed more particularly in this business I. Therefore Examine your self and inquire strictly into the state of your Soul and take a view of your whole Life especially since the time of your last Recieving Observe and consider how you have performed this duty formerly whether worthily or unworthily and what good or ill effect it hath wrought in you what progress you have made in Grace and Goodness or whether you grow worse and worse in sin and what are the Causes and Occasions of either II. Confess and humble your self before God and earnestly intreat and contend for his mercy and pardon and reconciliation and grace and favour in the Merits of Jesus Christ that he will wash you from all your Pollutions in his Bloud and cloath you in the White robe of his Righteousness that so having on a Wedding garment you may be a welcom Guest to his Table And here solemnly renew that Promise and vow which you formerly made in that other Sacrament of Baptism and repeated since every time you have received this That you will forsake Sin and Satan and cleave to the Lord your God with all your heart and by the assistance of his gracious Spirit walk before him uprightly and serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of your Life III. Consider that you are now to communicate not only with God but also with the congregation of your fellow Christians and that the Rule and Essential Character by which you are to know and declare that you love God is that you love your brother also I John 4. 21. Therefore take care to reconcile your self with the World by freely forgiving and meekly desiring forgiveness and endeavouring to restore and establish peace and charity and brotherly kindness aud right understanding between your self and all with whom you have had any kind of difference IV. Recollect and raise up your thoughts from the earth and worldly things and devoutly meditate on heavenly and spiritual matters such as 1. The Creation and Fall of Mankind and the great Miseries which we were thereby engaged in 2. The inestimable Mercy and Goodness of God in bestowing his own only Son for our redemption and restoring us again to a capacity and hope of his heavenly good things