ended fall on your Knees and say O Lord by reason of my sins I am unworthy to appear in thy presence to offer up any Sacrifice unto thee grant Merciful Lord I beseech thee both to me and all thy faithful People Pardon and Peace that being Cleansed from all our sins we may serve thee with a quiet mind through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen When you go up to Communicate I will wash my Hands in Innocency and so will I go to thine Altar O send forth thy Light and thy Truth that they may lead me and bring me to thy Holy Hill and to thy dwelling When you Kneel before the Altar Thou art Worthy O Lord to receive Blessing Honour and Power but I am not worthy thou shouldest come under my Roof or that thy praise should come within my polluted Lips But Blessed Lord thou Vouchsafedst to enter the House of a Publican and to receive a Kiss of an unclean sinner O receive such a sinner as I am disdain not to enter under my Roof despise not my humble Addresses and Supplications O let thy Sacrifice be an expiation for all my sins and now forever Seal thy Pardon by thy precious Blood for all my offences and receive me Graciously When you cast in your Offering O Blessed Jesu who didst accept the Poor Widdows two Mites which she cast into the Treasury I beseech thee be graciously pleased to accept this Poor Offering from me the unworthiest of thy Servants Then dilligently harken to the Exhortation and seeing the Table spread and the Elements of Bread and Wine set thereon Meditate with thy self after this manner Meditations THIS O my Soul is the Table of the King of Kings and the Lord of Heaven and Earth it is a Feast where himself is present and all his Holy Angels those Glorious Spirits do behold love and wonder that the Son of God should become Food to the Souls of his Servants be astonished O my Soul at this great Mystery that he who is unchangeable should be broken in pieces and enter into the Body to support the Spirit and yet at the same time remain in Heaven while he Descends to thee upon Earth that he should Die for thee and then give himself to thee for ever to Redeem thee from sin and misery that he should become Man and make thee a partaker of the Divine Nature II. O Lord I am unworthy to come to thy Table but I come with as Thirsty a desire as the Chaced Hart which pants after the Water Brooks and with as Hungry an Appetite as a Poor half starved Creature to a full Table O Lord I am not worthy of the least Crum that falls from the Table of thy Ordinary Providence but I come in Obedience to thy Command O receive me as a poor Sinner laden with sin and let thy pretious Body and Blood which I am now ready to participate off Cleanse me from all sin and wickedness When the Minister says draw near with Faith and take this Holy Sacrament Lift up thy Heart in this Ejaculation O Lord I am unworthy of this Invitation to thy Holy Table but a sinner must not refuse thy call therefore in all Obedience and Humility I come Then joyn Humbly with the Minister in the Confession After the Absolution is Pronounced use this Ejaculation O Lord I beseech thee grant me a true Repentance and a lively Faith that I may receive all the Benefits of thy Death and Passion even the Confirming and Strengthning me in all goodness to my Lives end When that Comfortable saying of St. Paul is repeated that Christ came into the World to save Sinners Say with all Humility O Lord I am the greatest and chiefest of sinners but thou alone are the Propitiation for my sins After the Preface is ended Therefore with Angels and Arch-Angels c. Use this Ejaculation I will evermore praise thy Name O thou that dwellest in the Heavens from the rising up of the Sun until the going down of the same and will Laud and Magnifie thy Holy Name now and forever When the Prayer of Consecration is said and the Minister reads the Words of Christs Institution and you see him Order the Bread and the Wine repeat this O Lord thou hast provided two distinct Pledges of thy Love to us Poor sinners who had been utterly lost had not thy Almighty goodness found out a Remedy to Save us When thou seest the Bread broken and the Wine poured out Say Thus was thy Holy Body broken for my sins upon the Tree of shame and thy Side was Pierced with a Spear which gushed forth Blood thus wast thou Wounded for my Transgressions and Bruised for mine iniquities but by thy Stripes I am healed When the Minister Receives in both kinds O Lord Purifie and Cleanse my Heart by thy Holy and Blessed Spirit and prepare my Soul to Receive thee the great God of Heaven and Earth Come Holy Jesus and take Possession of my Soul Purifie it with thy pretious Blood and dwell therein for ever Amen Immediately before Receiving Grant me O Blessed Lord so to Eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Christ Jesus and to Drink his Blood that my sinful Body may be made Clean by his Body and my Polluted Soul washed through his most preâ—ious Blood II. O Lord Purifie my Heart and Mind Strengthen my Faith and encrease my Charity for though I am weak though I am unworthy though I am unprofitable yet I am thy Servant Lord hear my Prayers and let my Cry come unto thee III. O Lord thou hast said that he that Eateth thy Flesh and Drinketh thy Blood hath Eternal Life Behold the Servant of the Lord be it unto me according to thy Word When the Minister presents thee the Holy Bread say softly after him The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for me preserve my Body and Soul unto everlasting Life Here take the Bread with Reverance and proceede I take and Eat this in remembrance that Christ Died for me and will Feed on him in my Heart with Faith and Thanksgiving When you Eat the Bread say By thy Crucified Body Deliver me I humbly beseech thee from this Body of Sin and Death After the Bread O Blessed Jesu this Holy Bread which I thy most unworthy Servant have now Received is that Bread which came down from Heaven and giveth Life unto the World O that I may now feel its Virtue and Efficacy in Elevating up my Soul to Heaven and there to have my Conversation fixt whilst I remain on this sordid Earth that when I shall be taken from hence I may have my Consummation and Bliss in thy Celestial Mansions there to behold thy Face in Glory who art now the Food of my Soul in Grace O Lord my God and my Redeemer Amen Before Receiving the Cup. What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name
they may come to thee receive them O Gracious Jesus and Teach their Hearts to believe what thine own Blest Mouth has so clearly taught them The PRAYER OH Most Glorious and most Power ful Lord God whose dwelling is above the Heavens in Light in Accessible and thine Eyes run to and fro to behold the things which are in Heaven and in Earth neither is there any thing which is not Naked and open unto thee for thine Eyes are Ten Thousand times brighter than the Sun beholding all the Ways of Men. II. LOOK upon me O Lord who am the unworthiest of all thy Servants thou hast made me a Member O Lord of that Mystical Body whereof thy Son Christ Jesus is the Head make me therefore sensible of the necessities of the Catholick Church I beseech thee to be merciful unto it and to every Member of the same wheresoever Dispersed howsoever Distressed or by Whomsoever Dispised throughout this Vniversal World III. Oh Lord call them that are yet Strangers and have not yet heard of thy Name reduce and bring home those that are gone astray and wander raise up all that are fallen and confirm and strengthen such as do stand bind up all that are Broken and heal all that are Bruised Vnite us all in soundness of Doctrine by the Spirit of Truth in holiness of Life by the Spirit of Sanctification and in Brotherly Compassion and Christian Affection by the Spirit of Love IV. O Lord I beseech thee to open the Bowels of thy Mercy and to pour out thy tenderest Compassion upon all such as mourn under the weight of their Afflictions many are the troubles of thy poor Servants and thou only knowest how to deliver them out of all their troubles whether therefore any be inwardly distressed in Soul Mind or Conscience or outwardly Afflicted in Body Estate or good Name I beseech thee give them speedy case out of their misery or Patience to endure what thou shalt be pleased to lay upon them V. I beseech thee to open the Eyes of those that lie on their Beds of Sickness Oh! thou that art the God of Health and sender of Sickness Sanctifie thy Visitation unto them make their Beds in their Sickness lay no more upon them than thou wilt give them strength and Patience to bear and if it may stand with thy Gracious Will grant that they may recover their former Health to do thee Service hereafter VI. BVT if thou that knowest what is best needful for them hast determined at this time to take any of them unto thy self O Lord I beseech thee to fit and prepare them for the hour of Death give them a true feeling of their sins and a lively apprehension of thy mercy in Christ Jesus that so surely Repenting of thee one and chearfully laying hold on the other they may with Confidence and Comfort resign up their Souls into the Hand of thee their most merciful Creator and Redeemer Amen Read the Psalms and Lessons for the Day Meditations for Thursday Evening PREPARE my Heart O God to receive thee whom my Soul loveth for thou hast the Words of Eternal Life Blessed O gracious Jesu be the sweetness of thy Spirit which so kindly invitest me to refresh my weariness I know and thine own sure word has told me If I Labour for thee here I shall rest with thee hereafter Lord make me follow thee wherever thou goest and strive and run to be first in thy Presence there I shall meet a Mercy that will regard and pity me there I shall find a goodness that will teach and relieve me II. WRITE all thy Holy Truths in my Soul O Lord and Print thy Love in the Center of them all there let it sit as Soveraign Governour and absolutely dispose of all my interests Let it command my Tongue to confess thee and no fear of Danger make me ever deny thee let it command all my Powers to serve thee and nothing but thy Love find place in my Heart III. O when shall I come to thy Holy Table to tast of thy most delicious Banquent to hear those Sweet and Ravishing Words He dwells in me and I in him sweet in excess to the Soul that loves and Tasts the joys of this heavenly Converse and feeds on the wonders of this admirable Union He dwells in me and I in Him O Blest and Glorious Words What can be said more full of Grace and Strength and Supernatural Mystery Here they alone are my Heaven on Earth and will hereafter be my Heaven in Heaven IV. To thee my great Creator I humbly Sacrifice the Noblest faculty thou hast given me to thee and to the Obedience of thy Truth I entirely Resign and Captivate my understanding Thy Words O Lord in thy Holy Sacrament are Spirit and Life unto me O make my Faith be quick and Active to thee in receiving so great a Salvation Shall I go back and forsake my God because he humbles himself to approach towards me Shall I refuse to Learn of my Master because his Lessons exalt me above my Nature The PRAYER O Lord I am too weak to serve thee in my Natural Power and not careful to improve the Aids of thy Spirit I am full of inconsideration and carelesness desirous to be accounted Holy of Men but careless of being so to thee my God I am unstedfast O Lord in all my ways * Here Name the Particulars but enable me to confess my Faith in despight of all the Oppositions of Satan to Publish thy Laws submit to thy dispensations and to Glorifie thy Holy Name by Holy living and dying II. BLESS me O Lord with all the Blessings and Assistance of thy Spirit and Providence let the Daily Sacrifice of Prayer and Eucharist in thy Church never cease but for ever be presented unto thee Vnited to the intercession of our Lord and for ever prevail for the obtaining to all her Sons and Daughters Grace and Blessing Pardon and Holiness Perservance and Glory Vnite my Heart and Tongue take away the Spirit of Error and Division from me that my Religion and Devotion may increase whereby thy Truth may be promoted and thy Name Glorified and me thy unworthy Servant Instructed and Comforted let thy Spirit Rule and all Interest Stoop and Obey Publish and Advance the Intorest of the Lord Jesus III. EXTEND thine Accustomâ—d goodness to all thy People to Old Men Prudence and Liberality to Young Men Obedience Temperance Health and Diligence to Merchants Justice and Faithfulness to Mechanicks and Artisans Truth and Honesty to all Married Pairs Faith and Holiness Charity and sweet Compliances to all Christian Women the Ornament of a meek and a quiet Spirit Chastity and Charity Patience and Obedience a Zeal of Duty and Religion IV. TO all that are Sick and Afflicted distressed in Conscience or Persecuted for it give Patience and Comfort a sincere Repentance and a perfect Resignation a love of God and a Perseverance in Duty proportionable Comfort in this
multiplied thy Blessings upon me in many Prerogatives III. BVT to my shame O Lord I Confess that no Creature hath been so unthankful unto thee as I have been for instead of bringing forth the Fruits of Righteousness and Holiness I have turned all thy Blessings Graces and Mercies into Wantonness so that I have been a Provocation of thine Anger and of thy Fury from the day of my Birth even until this very moment IV. And though thou hast caled me to knowledge of the Faith in thee and thou hast Revealed unto me that inestimable Treasure of thy Love unto me in Christ Jesus yet notwithstanding I hade retained only the name but nothing of the Work of a Christian but have Dishonoured thee and Blasphemed thy Name but O Lord in the midst of Justice Remember Mercy call not to Remembrance my former Transgressions but Assist me by thy Grace to a speedy Repentance before I go hence and be no more seen Amen Read the Psalms and Proper Lessons for the Day Monday Evenings Meditations EVER O Lord thou beginst thy great Design with Prayer and thy Prayer with Retirement from the Distractions of the World thou callest whom thou pleasest and they come to thee thou choosest whom thou wil'st and freely bestowest on them thy precious Gifts 't is not of him that Wills nor of him that runs but of God that Vouchsafes to have Mercy Have Mercy O Lord and chase away those unclean Spirits that too often haunt my Fancy and walk up and down my weak Memory Chace them away least as they disturb my Peace they ruin my Innocence II. GIVE me O thou Author of all my Good a lively Faith in thee that I may believe thy Truth and hope thy Promises that I may Love thy goodness and continually Bless thee for all thy Mercies who camest into the World not to Judge the World but to save it Save me O glorious Son of Justice and with thy Heavenly Beams Illuminate my Heart that bringing my Works to the Light I may Learn to hate my own Darkness and Condemning my self Escape thy Judgment III. LORD in thy Hands are the Times and Seasons which thou kindly disposest in advantage of thy Servants that thy Favours may Encourage their Virtue and their Virtue encrease thy Favours Thou rewardest the Chastity of Virgins and the Fidelity of Wives thou Crownest the Holiness of Widdows and the perseverance of all who constantly love thee IV. GIVE me O Lord thy Holy Grace that my days may pass in Innocence and my Innocence sustain me in hope give me thy Holy Grace that my hope may encrease to Confidence and my Confidence be Establish'd in Peace and then in Peace dismiss thy Servant Lead me O thou Light of the World where thou usest to walk that my Eyes may happily see thee Shew me thy Blessed self O thou Glory of Heaven that my Soul may fast Embrace thee The PRAYER I. O Eternal God I have in a great measure deserved thy wrath I have Committed presumptuous Sins with a high Hand against thy Divine Majesty I have Crucified again the Lord of Life and have Trodden under Foot the Son of God I have counted the Blood of the Covenant which Sanctifies me an Vnholy thing and have done despight unto the Spirit of Grace II. INSTEAD of making head against those Temptations and Lusts that hourly be set me by Prayer calling to thee for thy Grace to Assist me against them and by Fasting and Austere Mortification by beating down my Body that I might not Conspire with Satan and my own Corraptions that betray me unto Sin I have Pamper'd the Flesh and suflered my self to be led Captive at the Will thereof III. I have not Subdued or Mortified the Works of the Flesh I have not endeavoured to cleanse my self from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit * Here Name the Particulars I have not made a Covenant with my Eyes neither have I kept the door of my Lips but as if thou hadst sent me into the World not to serve thee but to serve my own Lusts IV. I have been abominable in all my ways yea O Lord I have Committed too great Evils I have departed from thee the Ever-living God and leaving thee the Fountain of all Blessedness and Happiness in my Heart have set up the Creature I have set my Affections not on things above but on things below the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life these have been the Gods that I have Served V. THVS have I sold my self to Commit wickedness I have made all the Members of my Body Instruments of Sin and all the faculties both of Soul and Body Weapons of Vnrighteousness to obey it in the Lusts thereof O Lord thou hast found Iniquity even in my Holy things I have been negligent in hearing of thy Word unprepared at the Receiving of thy Sacrament Indevout in my Prayer weary of their length and displeased at the return For these and all other negligences and Ignorances O Lord be Merciful to me a Sinner Amen Read the Psalms and Proper Lessons appointed for the Day Meditations for Tuesday Morning LORD make me Study how to follow thee and readily undertake any Labour to find thee not for the benefits thou sometimes givest me here but for the blessings thou wilt surely give me hereafter Strengthen my faith O Lord and graciously instruct me purifie my intention sincerely to seek thee II. LET me not so apply my mind O Lord to any trivial Observances that I begin to omit my more serious Duties let me not so attend to the inventions of Men that I grow to transgress the Commands of my God O guide me gracious Lord in thine own safe way and those solid exercises which really improve me and make my heart as well as lips draw nigh thee those blessed truths which thy self at first revealed and thy Holy Apostles hath fully confirm'd may those alone be my principal rule and every other Doctrine bow to them III. LORD how ungrateful are we compared to thy ancient Followers Thou chargest us to remember thy benefits and we forget them thou commandest us to Publish thy Mercies and we conceal them Behold O blessed Jesu I fall down at thy feet reach forth thy Hand and heal me that I may Glorifie thee the God of the Universe Too often have my Ears been Deaf to thy Voice and my Tongue Dumb to thy Praise too often have my Eyes been Blind to thy Directions and all my senses impediments to thy Service IV. We are often Wise in what imports us least and utterly ignorant of our greatest concern we can industrously argue what Weather it will be but strive not to discerne the seasons of Grace Forgive O Merciful Lord the perverseness of our nature and leave us not to our selves least we perish without bope O make us deeply Sigh in Compassion for the Sins of others and yet more deeply still in forrow for our own
The PRAYER MOST gracious God I have been very negligent of thy Service and those duties whereby I should have been better'd in the ways of Godliness by my ill performance have made me worse my very Prayers have been turned into Sin and those Sacrifices whereby I should have propitiated thee hath removed thee at a further distance from me and though thou in thy Mercy and tender compassion hast oppossed me in my Sins and called me to Repentance yet notwithstanding I have rusht into all manner of Wickedness * Here Name the Particulars as the Horse into the Battle and have gone from bad to worse II. THY Judgment have not Awaked me nor thy Mercies wonne me to Obedience I have not harkened to the Voice of thy Ministry nor to the Secret Checks of my own Conscience nor yet to the good motions of thy Holy Spirit all directing me this is the way walk in it and you shall find rest unto your Soul yet notwithstanding all the good means thou hast used to reclaim me and to bring me home to thee I have still gone on in a stubborn Course of Sin to the dishonour of thy Name the wounding of my own Soul the Scaldal of others and the increasing the great dreadful Account that I must one day make at the Judgment Seat of Christ III. FOR these O Lord and many other Sins all thy Waves and Storms have gone over me when thou hast smitten me I became void of understanding and was so far from being humbled that I laid it not to Heart nor considered that it was an Evil and bitter thing to depart from thee O Lord my God wo unto me I have pulled away the Shoulder I have stopt my Ear that I might not hear I have made my Heart harder than the Adamant and the neither Milstone impregnable for all thy Judgments have not pierced me nor made those impressions of Compunction and Sorrow which are the end whereof thou didst send them so that to my own shame and Confusion I may say my spots are none of the spots of thy Children nor thy Punishments the Chastisements of a loving Father but of an Angry Judge IV. I have too just reason to fear thy Afflictions under which I mourn they are not a Wind to Fan and Purge me but a Whirl Wind to Scatter and utterly destroy me as if the Sentence were already past and the Decree gone forth as if my Days were at an end because the shadows of the Evening are so far stretched out but yet O Lord be not weary of thy repentings though thou hast been prest under the Load of my Sins be not Angry with me for Ever but in the midst of Justice remember Mercy Amen Read the Psalms and Lessons appointed for the Day Tuesday Evenings Meditations LEARN Oâ— my Soul to Confess a Truth though never so much to thy own Diminution Learn ro Advance the Honour of thy God though never so much to thine own depression They who humble themselves shall be exalted and they who exalt themselves shall be humbled Learn to decline the Applause of Men and Banish from thy thoughts all conceits of thine own worth learn to speak lowly of thy self and to mean as thou sayest II. OFTEN does our weakness judge of others and perhaps our Malice censure their Qualities We rashly conclude upon outward presumptions and little consider their inward worth we are apt to undervalue whom we familiarly are acquainted with and scarce can think highly of them whom we have once known low Heal us O thou great Physitian of our Souls Heal us of all our Diseases and above them all of our Rude Impatience towards those that would Cure us Whatever they do who know thee not let not thy Church dishonour thee nor those of thine own Houshould undervalue thy Mercies Let not our unbelief Chase thee away nor our ingratitude overcome thy goodness III. DISDAIN not O my Soul the Company of thy Inferiors but accommodate thy self to their Innocent Customs help them with thy Prayers if thou canst not with thy Power and thy Lord in due time will Bounteously reward thee he keeps the good Wine till the last and then he 'll fill us to the brim with joy IV. TEACH me O Lord to Treat with every one according to their quality and neither scorn my Inferiors nor indiscreetly exalt them Teach me to humble my Soul before thy Majesty and sincerely Confess I am an unprofitable Servant unprofitable to thee O Lord not to my self while I gain by thy Service the Wages of Eternity If by thy Grace I believe thy word and Obey thy Law and with my whole Strength Love and Adore thee When I have done all that I ought which alas is more then I do I must still Confess I 'm an unprofitable Servant The PRAYER O Lord Create in me a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit within me let the Assistance of thy Holy Spirit of Grace preserve me from Sin for the time to come for without thy preventing me I cannot but Sin visit me therefore O Lord with thy Salvation that I may live undefiled in the way of thy Commandments and see the Felicity of thy chosen and rejoyce and give thanks with thine Inheritance II. TO this End send thy Holy Spirit into my Heart to teach me to deny all ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Righteously Godly and Soberly in this present World remembring the great Account I am to make at the last day O let it subdue every Proud thought and vain imagination that shall exalt it self against the Scepter of thy Kingdom III. GIVE me I beseech thee either Peace from temptations or Victory over them in all Assaults of my Ghostly Enemy let thy Mighty hand have preheminence and bring mighty things to pass even Victory and Deliverance unto me the unworthiest of thy Servants that so by the Assistance of thy Holy Spirit I may Crucifie the Old Man Mortifie the Works of the Flesh subdue my Corruptions * Here Name the particulars Vanquish Satan and Tryumph over the Powers of the Kingdom of Darkness IV. O put thy fear into my Heart that I may never depart from thee put thy Love into my Heart that my Luke-warmness being raised us to the Flames and Fervency of Cherubims I may love thee above all things and loving thee above all things I may fear to offend so good and so gracious a God as thou Art wash away all my sins in that Sea of Blood which thy Son Christ Jesus shed for me and for the sins of the whole World and grant that I may receive the full benefit of his Death and Passion in this most Holy Sacrament with a free Pardon of all my sins and manifold transgressions Amen Then Read the Psalms and Lessons appointed for the day Meditations for Wednesday Morning BLESSED are they that had rather endure Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of sin for a