to single at least some one passage or more out of it to be laid up in your Memory and to be made use of in the practice of an holy life III. That in this time of retirement you lay all things aside that may divert you from Holy and Heavenly thoughts considering that you set your self in the presence of God that you are to give him an account of what you are doing w ch that you may the better do you may begin with this Prayer A Prayer upon the Entrance into your Closet O My great and gracious God whose infinite mercy it is that I have this minute of my life left me I here appear in thy presence lamenting sadly that so much of my time is already lost either in doing ill or doing nothing or in doing that which hath been unprofitable and vain O grant that I may redeem the hours that are past dispose of those that are to come in serving thee hereafter with a devout heart earnest and passionate affections draw me off more and more from the pleasures and vanities of this life that I may the better settle my wavering and divided Soul upon thee alone and since at this time I have here retired my self that I might the more freely commune with my own heart and meditate on thine only Word let thy Blessed Spirit assist me that I may not only barely remember what I read but digest it into the practice of an holy Life to the comforts of my soul and the Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ Amen Prayers towards Bed time I. LET my Prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifâ—ing up of my hands be as an Evening Sacrifice For thou O Lord hast granted me thy loving kindness in the day-time and therefore in the night-season I will think on thee and make my prayer to the God of my life O thou that saidest Let therebe light and there was light open mine eyes that I sleep not in death Make me to commune with my own heart upon my bed and to search out all my ways That I may lament my sins as thy servant David did and cry unto thee for mercy Consider and hear me O God and hide me under the shadow of thy wings and let my soul rest in thee Amen II. Blessed art thou O God who makest the out-goings of the Morning and Evening to praise thee Who hast not cut off my life this day nor shut me up in the grave where all things are forgotten I will not suffer therefore my eyes to sleep nor my eye-lids to slumber till I have prepared my heart for my God to rest in For thou art my God from my youth thou hast numbred out my days and nights that I might serve thee thou givest thy beloved sleep and makest them that fear thee to rest in safety Thou deliverest me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Return then unto thy rest O my soul for God taketh care for thee Amen III. Lord let me make my Prayer unto thee in an acceptable time Teach me to remember thee in my bed and to think of thee when I am waking O thou Watchman of Isreal that neither slumberest nor sleepest watch over me this night Give thy Angels charge over me that the spirits of darkness may not come near me That no evil thoughts may betray me nor any sad or sinful dreams disturb my quiet For into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O keep then what thou hast redeemed and let not thy servant for whom thou hast died perish for ever Amen A short Prayer O GOD my everlasting keeper blessed be thy Name for evermore for thou madest me when I was nothing thou redeemedst me when I was worse than nothing thou hast so multiplied thy mercies on me through all the minutes of my life that the Sun hath never yet rose or set upon me without new Blessings from thee And as thou hast done so much for me already for which I pour out my very Soul in thankfulness so in the same degree of lowest humility I humbly beseech thee to continue thy care of me this night and so to shadow me under the Wings of thy Protection that neither visible nor invisible Enemies neither sin nor danger may approach to hurt me That so when the joyful Light of the day shall return again I may rise in safety with an unspotted Soul and a Body fitted to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost even so Lord Jesu Amen Amen Is any afflicted let him pray The Complaint of an afflicted Soul I. BEhold O Lord I am as a bruised reed before thee O break it not I am as smoaking flax O Lord quench it not Send down from on high and visit me Save me out of many waters that are come into my Soul For I have been left unto thee ever since I was born Thou hast been my God even from my Mothers womb O go not then far from me for trouble is near at hand and there is none to help me The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of all my troubles Thou hast formerly been my succour leave me not now neither forsake me O God of my salvation For from the ends of the Earth will I call unto thee when my heart is in heaviness O forgive all the offences of thy servant which have justly brought these bitter things upon me Take away at last all thy displeasure and turn away from thy wrathful Indignation Arise and help me and deliver me for thy Mercies sake O God make speed to save me O Lord make hast to help me II. IN the time of my trouble I will call upon thee O God in my heaviness I will cry unto thee and unto thee alone For whom have I in Heaven but thee or whom shall I desire on earth in comparison of thee My flesh and my heart fails me but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever But how long wilt thou forget me Lord for ever How long wilt thou hide away thy face from me How long shall I seek counsel in my soul and my spirit be thus troubled within me In my Prosperity I said I shall never be moved But as soon as thou didst hide away thy face from me I was troubled But will the Lord absent himself for ever Will he be no more intreated Hath God forgotten to be gracious or will he shut up his loving kindness in displeasure Alas innumerable troubles are come upon me They have laid such hold upon me that I am not able to look up There is no strength left in me O my God neither know I what to do but mine eyes are towards thee I am troubled above measure help me O God or else I shall sink under the burthen O consider what thou hast laid upon me forsake
Vera Effigies Rev. di in Christo Patris at D. D. Bryan Duppa quondam Episcopi Wintoniensis HOLY RULES and HELPS TO DEVOTION Both in Prayer and Practice IN TWO PARTS The fourth Edition Written by The right Reverend Father in God Bryan Duppa Late Lord Bishop of Winton In the time of his SEQUESTRATION London Printed for vp Hensman at the King's-Head in Westminster-Hall 1683. TO THE Christian Reader THe Name and Memory of the excellent Author of this Treatise needs not borrow or derive a Reputation from any Pen but its own There are already many useful Pieces and Helps to Devotion set forth both by Bishops and others of our Church more solid serviceable and advantagious to true Piety and the power of Godliness than all the gifted Impertinencies to say no worse of some Holy Pretenders For if Noise and Clamour might pass for Inspiration the Apostles must go for Weak-Brethren and mere Novices compared with our new Lights and Improvements That Set Forms of Prayer are altogether necessary in Publick cannot be denied and needs not now be represented They are abundantly useful even for private Christians also since it is not every one that can pray extempore in his Closet and he that can may notwithstanding be defective enough in the matter or manner of his Petitions For though God principally respects the Heart and Affections of his Servants and the Spirit helps our Infirmities with sighs and groans yet we ought even in private to have an awful orderly regard of the Great God to whom we address our selves and the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray as with ardent Affections so with reverend humble minds and not with disorderly confused or unprepared approaches and a rude confidence without just ground or foundation This is not to help or diminish our infirmities but to augment them more He that prays extempore must be one of better Faith and Principles Life and Conversation than many are who so familiarly pretend to it But whatever some mens Graces may be in this particular which God forbid I should seek to diminish or reproach yet for such who I doubt are far the greater number as yet have not attained to so great a Perfection in this holy Duty I cannot but recommend these Rules and Directions which answer the Title and will I hope the Expectation of those that use them to their benefit and comfort God grant us all that Unity of Spirit which intitles us to the Gifts and Graces of of the Spirit that so praying with one heart and mind as becometh Saints we may have our Communion in Glory among the Iust hereafter Ben. Parry HOLY Rules and Helps TO DEVOTION Both in Prayer and Practice But I will give my self unto Prayer O Eternal Wisdom who communicatest thy self unto thy Creatures in such measure as they are capable of vouchsafe to impart to my Soul that Heavenly Gift to be a Guide to me in all my Thoughts my Thoughts my Words my Actions that so being taught by Thy Holy Spirit I may so far know Thee as to love Thee and so far love Thee as ever to fix my thoughts upon Thee Of Prayer what it is THe several Properties and Excellencies of Prayer have afforded matter enough to the Ancient Fathers to mold as many several and different Descriptions of it which like many Stars cast into a Constellation may give all together a full and perfect Representation of it Gregory Nyssen defines Prayer to be the conversing or discoursing of the Soul with God concerning her Salvation Which being done by the outward Expressions of the Voice is called Vocal Prayer but if by the Mind alone Mental In this way of conversing with God the Soul makes use of her Three principal Faculties her Memory her Understanding her Will Her Memory to call to mind what she is to treat of her Understanding to weigh and to judge what she delivers Her Will to perform this Duty feelingly and affectionately For all these Faculties must concur in Prayer elevating the Soul and fixing it upon God as the highest Truth in which we are to believe the Soveraign Happiness which we are to hope for the Supream Goodness which we are to love and the infinite Excellence which we are to adore So that Prayer is principally grounded on a lively Faith of such things as God hath revealed an assured Hope of what he hath promised and a servent Love which serves as the Fire to kindle this Sacrifice and to carry the Soul upward till it arrive at the Throne of Grace From hence it is that Damascen describes Prayer to be an ascending of the Soul to God being therefore compared to the sweet Perfume that ascended from the Incense But as the Incense being cast into the Fire ascends only in the more subtile and delicate part of it which being converted into Air and Smoak leaves behind it the grosser and earthier part turn'd into Ashes So in this ascent the Soul leaves behind it the earthier parts as Abraham left his Servants behind him at the foot of the Mountain while he ascended to the top of it to sacrifice For this is a business that belongs to Eagles which as they fly high so in their flight they look stedfastly on the Sun It is not for those that intrench themselves in the Earth as in their proper Element nor yet for Birds of Prey which though they fly high yet their eyes are still cast downward Sursum Corda was the form in ancient Liturgies the Priest calling out to the People Lift up your hearts which the people as readily answered Habemus ad Dominum This ascending of the Soul by Prayer was figured as St. Austin conceives by that mysterious Ladder whose foot being upon the Earth the top of it reached unto Heaven seen by Iacob in a Vision with Angels ascending and descending on the Rundles of it carrying up our Prayers to God and bringing down Blessings upon him that offers them But because this ascent is not ordinarily by Rapture for the Angels were not seen to fly up the Ladder but to mount by degrees we are to consider the several Steps and Rundles we are to ascend by THe first Step is laid hold on by the Memory which begins this spiritual ascent by putting the Soul in mind to look up to the Majesty of him that stands above the Ladder to remember that though the place we chuse for our Devotion be never so solitary yet we are not alone that God hears what we say sees what we do that the whole Trinity is present as visible to thy eyes of Faith as grosser Objects are to the outward senses For there is God the Father the Fountain of good Thoughts ready to assist through his power and to keep us from distraction in our Prayers there is God the Son the eternal Truth prepared to direct us by his Wisdom and to deliver us from errour and delusion there is God the Holy Ghost the Source and Spring of
divine Love able to enflame the Will with fervent Affections and keep us from damps of coldness and indevotion And when we have thus put our selves into the presence of God with an awful Reverence and Adoration of him as present we have then mounted the first step and degree of this Ladder O Heavenly Father who hearest the Prayers of all that seek Thee purifie the Intention of my Soul in all the Prayers I make to Thee that I may neither seek nor desire any thing but in relation to Thee through IESUS CHRIST Amen THe second step or act of the Soul is To look to the directing of the Intention to fix it entirely upon God and take it off from all earthly things For as the least Grain and Atom of dust offends the eye so this Intention admits of no mixture no vanity of being seen or heard at your Prayers no curiosity of thinking to climb up by this Ladder into the secrets of God no spiritual Pride in reflecting upon your self as more devout than others for as it must be sincere so it must be humble directed to the Glory of God alone which in this ascent of your Soul must be always in your eye as the Centre in which all the lines of Prayer must meet But then this Intention of the Supplicant must be accompanied with some Offering too For it was Gods Command to his People that none should come into his presence with empty hands Being therefore come into his presence deal generously and freely with him offer him the thing which he most desires even thy heart with all the thoughts and affections of it to be disposed by him not only during the time of Prayer but for all thy life For this Offering of thy Heart to God if it makes way for thy Prayer and breaks through those Clouds which thy sins have interposed between God and thee O Eternal God who for all those Infinite Blessings which thou hast bestowed on me requirest nothing back of me but my Heart Behold I offer up to thee the Heart which Thou demandest And since it is now Thine fill it with Thy Gifts and adorn it with thy Graces that every beating every pulse of it may be a Prayer and every Prayer being kindled by Thy holy Spirit may be a Sacrifice fitted for Thine Altar through Iesus Christ. Amen AFter this Offering the next step is by raising the Understanding and the awakening of our Faith to a due consideration of that which you are about Being therefore retired into thine Oratory make these few Questions to thine own Soul and engage thy self to an answer O my Soul Wherefore art thou retired into this place What is thy Design What thy Pretension Where is thy God whom thou comest to Treat with Is he present Doth he hear thee Or is he merciful Will he help thee What is thy business thou art to negotiate Is it the saving of thy Soul or the satisfying of thine earthly Desires What words wilt thou use to move thy God to hear thee What humble gestures What profound reverence Answer thy self briefly to every one of these Interrogatories as thy own Conscience dictates to thee For by this discourse made with thy self thou shalt be the better prepared to discourse with God But to make this preparation the more compleat the quality of the Persons engaged in this Treaty is necessarily to be weighed Consider therefore first with my self who thou art that makest thy approaches to speak with God That thou art but dust and ashes Abraham himself was no more Consider again the motives that may drive thee to this duty Thy sins many thy strength little thy self nothing thy dangers great thy case the same with the Disciples in the Storm when they cried out Master save us or else we perish For he that really lays these three things to heart 1. The extreme necessity that he is in 2. The small possibility of help either from himself or any other Creature 3. The high importance of that which he is about that it is as much as his Soul is worth will never dare to come coldly and carelesly to a work of that concernment Having thus far reflected on your own condition you are in the next place to raise the Prospect from your self to the Person you pray to to consider that he is no less than God who clothed himself with light as with a Garment A God infinitely wise from whom nothing can be hid infinitely powerful to whom nothing is impossible infinitely good ready to shed and diffuse and impart his goodness to his Creatures that therefore though his Majesty may terrifie thee yet his Mercy may invite thee especially if you consider God as he is in Christ reconciling you unto himself For as the one may strike a reverence into you so the other will infuse a confidence without which our weak Prayers will never have strength enough to reach the Throne of Grace O My Glorious God Thou art the Holy of Holies but I the Impurest of sinners Thou art Mercy it self I Misery even Misery it self What should I seek farther to know either of thee or my self Let my love of Thee make up the knowledge that is wanting For what should Misery be in love withal but Mercy Or where should Mercy exercise it self but where there is so much Misery THe Understanding being awakened with these Considerations the fourth act of the Soul in relation to Prayer is to rouze the Affection which is seated in the Will This being so necessary an Ingredient in your Prayer that is it but a cold Offering without it The understanding may provide for you this Spiritual food but it is the Will that must taste and swallow and digest it into nourishment the one may make you wise but the other must make you holy The Prophet tells you that the Seraphins in God's presence with two of their wings cover their face and with two other their feet leaving only their breast open which is the seat of Love When therefore you present your selves in the sight of God be sure you so far imitate these Seraphins that though your eyes be vaile you cannot look into his Glory you cannot know him as you would your Breast the seat of your Affections be open to receive and emit those beams of divine love which only can kindle devotion to the height and unite your Soul to God by a most intimate Union But alas you will say those blessed Spirits that are in such a nearness to God may well be all fire and love but you at such a distance cannot find the effects of it the wood lies upon the Altar but you want fire to kindle it all that you can do is to search in the ashes for some small spark to blow at But know you not saith Siracides how great a fire a small spark may kindle The same Spirit of God that moved upon the Waters till it had produced the World moves upon
FIrst you are to remember when you settle to Prayer you then place your self in the presence of God whose eyes are upon all men but especially upon such as call upon him II. Secondly the consideration of his presence is to put you in mind with what humble Reverence both of Soul and Body you ought to appear before so great a Majesty III. Thirdly before you begin to Pray you are to resolve within your self seriously to intend the Duty you are about that your heart may not wander but go along with your Prayers or if through weakness it happen to stray to call it back again and to ask pardon for it in some such short Prayer as this Lord strengthen me and restrain me and lay not this weakness to my charge A Prayer preparative O My dear and blessed Saviour who with so much zeal didst drive out those who turned thy House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves clear at this time the Temple of my Soul from vain and sinful thoughts cast out all wandring Imaginations leave nothing behind that may either disturb or distract me in the performance of this my duty that my Prayers may ascend as Incense and thy Grace and Mercy may descend as Dew to the saving of my Soul and to the glory of thy Name Amen Morning Prayers collected out of the Psalms I. DEfend me O God under thy Wings and keep me safe this day under thy Feathers Give thine Angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways Preserve me as the Apple of thine eye hide me under the shadow of thy Wings That no evil may happen unto me nor no plague come nigh my dwelling Create in me a clean heart and renew a right Spirit within me O hold thou up my goings in thy Path that my footsteps slip not Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret sins but above all keep me from presumptuous sins lest they get the Dominion over me so shall thy Servant be undefiled and innocent from the great offence Amen II. Unto thee O GOD lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heavens Yea unto the Hills will I lift up mine eyes from whence cometh my Salvation For whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee Into thy hands therefore I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth Blessed art thou who hast lightned mine eyes that I sleep not in death Who hast delivered me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Who hast driven sleep from mine eyes and slumber from my eye-lids Thou art my God and I will thank thee thou art my God and I will praise thee Amen III. O Lord thou hast searched me out and known me thou seest my down-lying and uprising Thou understandest my thoughts long before For thou art about my path and about my bed and spiest out all my ways Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art he that took me out of my Mothers womb my praise shall be always of thee Lead me then O Lord in thy Righteousness and make thy way plain before my face Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the ways of Righteousness Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance and save me this day for thy mercies sake Amen IV. My voice shalt thou hear betimes O Lord early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee For thou art the thing that I long for thou art my hope from my youth O be thou a place to hide me in and compass me about with Songs of Deliverance For all the earth is full of darkness and cruel Habitations Set me up therefore upon the Rock that is higher than I and I will not fear what man can do unto me For thou alone canst deliver my Soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Osatisfie me therefore with thy mercy and that soon that I may rejoice in thee all the days of my life Lead me forth in thy truth and learn me for thou art the God of my Salvation in thee shall be my hope all the day long Amen V. Set a Watch this day O Lord before my mouth and keep the door of my lips Turn away mine eyes that they behold no vanity and let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name Order my steps in thy Word that no wickedness may have dominion over me Hide me privily by thine own presence from the provoking of all men Keep me secretly in thy Tabernacle from the strife of Tongues For I will set thee always before me thou shalt be on my right hand therefore I shall not greatly fall Thou hast been my succour Leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation But let thy merciful kindness be this day upon me like as I do put my trust in thee Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Amen A Thanksgiving to God for his Protection in the night O Most gracious GOD whose eyes have been open over me when mine were shut and under the shadow of whose wings I have past this night in safety I do with all possible thankfulness humbly acknowledge it as thy great mercy that thou hast not taken away my soul this night as in justice thou mightest have done but hast given me respite and afforded me one day more to call upon thy Name O Lord make me ashamed of my former unthankfulness and wound my heart with the consideration of mine own dulness whom so many favours have not wrought unto more obedience Give me grace to consecrate the rest of my life unto thy service and to redeem the time at least which I cannot recall And O thou who turnest the shadow of Death into the light of the Morning enable me powerfully to cast off all the Works of Darkness and to keep my body and soul spotless and unblameable And as thou hast brought me to the Comforts of this day So go along with me I beseech thee through all the parts and minutes of it that in all my ways being guided by thy counsel here I may hereafter be received into thy glory even for the merits of my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen A Morning Prayer O My dear Lord and Maker from whom alone I look for blessing continue I beseech thee to be the guide of my life counsel me govern me lead me in the way that I should go or else I shall wander from thee into infinite Errors O possess then all my bodily senses that my sinful affections may find no place Leave me no more to my own weakness
in the very first motions and approaches of my Devotions and so order the beginnings of my Prayers as they may go on and never end till they are accepted of Thee Amen Of the Reverence and Adoration that is to be used in Prayer AMong all the Duties that relate to Prayer whether of Preparation to it or of Deportment in it there is none of more prime Concernment than to consider that when we pray we do place or set our selves in the immediate presence of God whose eyes though they are at all times over us yet then we must imagine them more particularly and earnestly fixed upon us And as from this Consideration flows all the care and solicitude of fitting our selves by the former preparatives so besides it suggests to us with what reverence we should present our selves before so infinite a Majesty not only because God expects it from us though this were enough to oblige For if I am your Father where is mine honour If I am your Master where is my fear The words of him that looks for Reverence but because our Prayers are then only effectual when they are presented with acts of Adoration For so saith Siracides The Prayer of him that humbleth himself goes through the Clouds and ceaseth not till it come near and will not depart till the most High have respect thereunto Nor doth the Son of God himself disdain to be a President to us in this whose prayers upon the Cross being offered with strong cries and tears were heard as St. Paul saith Propter Reverentiam importing as Aquinas observes not so much the Reverence due to his own Person but rather the Reverence which he did in his own Person to God the Father But because the Reverence which was done there was only the act of his Mind for his Body being then nail'd unto the Cross was not in a Capacity of performing outward Adoration he gave us before that pattern in the Garden where St. Luke saith that he kneeled St. Matthew that he fell on his face when he prayed Having shewn this of the Son of God Incarnate of whom it is said Let all the Angels of God Worship him It were much to descend to tell you of the four Beasts or the twenty four Elders that fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever But then if this lowly Reverence was done by them who were in such a nearness to God when they offered up to him the Prayers of the Saints what posture can be low enough for us miserable men whose Prayers those are and who in comparison of those heavenly Spirits are viler than the Worms we tread upon That Adoration therefore is necessary none will deny that either know the Excellency of God or their own baseness But because this may be done either by the mind alone or by the Body alone or by both conjoyned which makes the compleat Adoration let us inform our selves first what the inward act of it is For as our Saviour taught the Woman of Samaria God who is himself a Spirit must be worshipped in Spirit for the most profound outward Reverence if not accompanied with this is but a Body without a Soul a Pharisaical Ceremony or an Adoration of Complement of which God sadly complains when he saith of his people That they drew near to him with their lips but their heart was far from him The inward Adoration therefore is the humbling of our spirit to God in regard of the excellency that is in him submitting our very Soul with all the powers and faculties of it to his Divine Disposal as being the necessary Homage of the Creature due to the Greatness and Majesty of the Creator The exercise of this Adoration consists in several acts partly of the Understanding partly of the Will For first there is an act of Reverence required before you begin your Devotions in an humble Recognition of your unworthiness of which the Patriarch Abraham hath left you so excellent a pattern when being about to beseech God that he would spare Sodom he doth not only acknowledg himself to be dust and ashes but upon every return of speaking to God in that Cause he doth it with that fear and reverence as to ask leave and to deprecate his anger before he spake O let not the Lord be angry and I will speak I Confess O Lord it is an excess of holdness in me that I so poor a Worm so vile so contemptible a Creature should presume to speak to Thee Yet be not angry with me for this for it is not because I value my self more than Abraham did for if he were but dust and ashes what am I but because I dare not under value Thy Mercy that I make my humble approaches to Thee Behold I am nothing in mine own eyes O let me be something in Thine and disdâ—in me not when I speak unto Thee for Christ his sake Amen THis humble Recognition being made of your own vileness there is a second way of spiritual Adoration when the Soul humbled by this Reflex upon it self changeth the Object and raiseth a further Reverence by the consideration of the Excellencies and several perfections that are in God sometimes crying out in such Ejaculations as these O most excellent God I adore Thee for Thine Infinite Wisdom I reverence Thee for Thine Incomprehensible Goodness I glorifie Thee for Thine Immense Charity Sometimes again by a profound silence making a tacite acknowledgment that all that can be said by thee is nothing For not only the tongues of men but of Angels must fail in the expression of his Glory Besides there is a Reverence to be used to God in the Stile or Titles which you give to him and these you may vary according to the variety of the matter of your petitions wherein the Psalms of David are admirable and afford you no less than forty several ways of Compellation of him some relating to his Power as when he calls him by the names of The King of Heaven the King of Glory The God of my Strength The God that doth Wonders the very stile striking a kind of fear and reverence into the Soul Others again relating to his Goodness My Saviour My God My Might My Hope My Refuge in the time of trouble Which though they run in a stile of Confidence yet are not without reverence too But then as Gerson observes the stile that is best fitted for all persons on all occasions to use is the compellation of Father which our Saviour first taught his Disciples to make use of in that excellent Prayer never to be disus'd nor laid aside by us Before the time of Grace published to the World we do not find this Title in the prayers of Holy Men either Patriarchs or Prophets But after the Son of God by taking our Nature upon him became our Brother then was the boldness given to call God our Father given even
whereof my frequent falls have given me many and sad experiments Restrain rather those inclinations to which my nature is chiefly prone that their violence may never have power over me to make me swerve from thy holy will Let not the corruption of these evil times prevail upon me but keep me from the flattering and the lying lips the profane and blaspheming tongue stop my ears and shut up my heart against them Strike such an awful reverence into my soul that I may watch over all my actions and carefully avoid whatever may be dangerous to my self pernicious to others or any way displeasing unto thee that so living in thy fear I may die in thy favour rest in thy peace and reign with thee in thy glory World without end Amen A Prayer for forgiveness of Sins O My God when I call sadly to mind what I have done and what I have left undone how careless I have been to please thee how diligent to offend thee how passionately I have been transported toward the pleasures of this life how cold and heavy in pursuing my everlasting happiness When I seriously consider the vanity of my affections the folly of my thoughts the idleness of my words and above all the sinfulness of my actions I stand amazed at my self that such a Contemplation as this makes not my flesh to tremble and my heart break at the very thought of it For O my Lord if thou shouldest be extreme to mark what I have done amiss if thou shouldest enter into Judgment with me what would become of me for of so many millions of sins that I have committed alas I cannot answer thee one of a thousand But O my Saviour thou who hast revealed it to me as a faithful saying that thou camest into the World for no other end but to save Sinners thou who hast so solemnly sworn thy delight is not in my death but rather that I should live what shall hinder thee to do that which thou delightest in or what can hinder thee to save the Soul thou camest into the World for O pardon and forgive then all my sins past that nothing may hinder thee Lay them no longer to my charge cast them behind thee bury them drown them scatter them as a mist and as a Morning-cloud let them vanish away And when thou hast done this O my merciful GOD leave not here but go on Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me let me feel once the powerful effects the saving operations of thy Grace in fervency of devotion toward thee in bitterness of repentance for offending thee in holy resolutions never wilfully to sin against thee more and in perseverance in those resolutions till I shall pass out of this valley of tears into those everlasting Joys where no evil can approach me Amen A Prayer against Relapses into sin O My gracious GOD the only stay and comfort of my soul seeing thy will is that in all things I should sincerely serve thee and I through thy grace desire nothing more than to do the same How is it O my Lord that I still offend thee or why fall I so often into my former follies Alas thy Grace is not wanting to me but my ungraciousness and the corruption of my nature my slipperiness and easiness to offend my inconstancy in my best resolutions and my forgetfulness of my former purposes is the cause of it And for this once more I humble my soul before thee beseeching thee to lay aside thy rigour and not to multiply thy anger according to the measure that I have multiplied my sins but rather to remember whereof I am made that I am as a flower a wind a vapour that passeth away nay I am viler than all this even weak and sinful dust and ashes And thou hast visited and considered me in these my despicable and wretched Principles O then shew thy strength in my weakness thy glory in my infirmities increase in me daily thy renewing grace and strengthen me against all future temptations that I may never start aside again like a broken bow but go on from grace to grace though it be with weak and trembling steps till I shall appear before the God of Gods in Sion Amen A Prayer to be prepared for our last End O Eternal GOD my Maker my Redeemer I adore and bless thy Holy Name that thou hast with such admirable patience not only suffered me to live this hour but withal hast multiplied thy daily blessings on me even then when I by my sinful life have most unkindly and treacherously rebelled against thee But who knows O merciful Lord how soon thy abused patience may end or how speedily thou maist call me to a sad account for all my former days so miserably mispent For O how many are they on whom the Morning Sun hath shined that shall not live to see it set And how know I but this may be my last day too the only day which thou O GOD hast left me to set my soul in order and to prepare for that day which never shall have end O my dear Lord suffer me not then to neglect this blessed season but by an hearty repentance speedily even this day this instant to return unto thee that how soon soever thou shalt call me to my Transmigration from this life my accounts may be found audited my sins cancelled and my soul acquitted by the bloud of that Lamb that takes away the sins of the World Grant this O my God for his sake that vouchsafeth to die for me thy only Son Jesus Christ the righteous Amen Advice concerning the Examination of the Conscience THE only Heaven that is afforded us upon Earth is Peace of Conscience the only way to preserve that Peace is to keep our selves unspotted from the World or if we fail of this as who doth not in some degree to call our selves speedily to a strict account for it for upon this depends not only our present Peace but our future Happiness according to that of our Saviour If you judge your selves you shall not be judged The oftner this is done the cleaner and the quieter your Soul will be If you make it not your daily task yet find a time for it at least once a week But especially omit it not when you prepare your self for the blessed Sacrament for as the benefit of it being well managed amounts to no less than the saving of your soul so the danger is as great on the other side if you carelesly or wilfully neglect it St. Paul therefore is punctual and vehement in pressing the Corinthians with it where he lays a peremptory command upon them Let every man examine himself For this is no trivial ordinary Duty no exercise on the by but a work of high concernment wherein the soul of a Christian seriously reflects upon it self and the penitent Sinner laying all the Actions of his life before him arraigns accuseth and condemneth