Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A47224
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A manual of prayers for the use of the scholars of Winchester College
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Ken, Thomas, 1637-1711.
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1675
(1675)
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Wing K267; ESTC R8951
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39,872
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72
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A MANUAL of PRAYERS For the Use of the SCHOLARS of Winchester Colledge HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE Manners makyth man W W LONDON Printed for John Martyn 1675. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber A MANUAL OF PRAYERS For the Use of the Scholars of Winchester Colledge An Exhortation to young Philotheus IF you have any regard good Philotheus to your own eternal happiness it ought to be your chiefest care to serve and glorifie God 'T is for this end God both made and redeemed you and two excellent rules He hath given you in Holy Scripture by the conscientious observation of which you will be able through His grace to dedicate your tender years to His glory The one teaches you what you are to do Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youtb The other teaches you what you are to avoid Fly youthful lusts that is all those sins which are usually incident to young persons You cannot imagine the unspeakable advantages a pious youth gains by the practice of these two Rules and how many ghostly dangers that Soul escapes which is seasoned betimes with the fear of God before he is sullied with ill Company before he hath contracted vitious habits which will cost him infinite pains to unlearn before his affections are too far engaged in the World to be easily recalled and before the Devil hath got too strong a hold in him to be suddenly dispossessed O Philotheus do but ask any one old Penitent what fruit what satisfaction he hath purchast to himself by all those pleasures of sin which slattered him in his youth and of which he is now ashamed Will he not sadly tell you he has found them all to be but vanity and vexation of Spirit How will he befool himself for the many good opportunities he hath lost and wish a thousand times that he were to live over his mispent days again And how bitterly will he with David bewail the sins of his youth Learn then good Phil. by the dear-bought experience of others to accustom your self to bear Christs yoke from your youth and his yoke will sit easie on your neck for your duty will grow natural to you by beginning betimes Do but consider how welcome a young Convert is to God it was to young Samuel that God revealed himself and that at such a time too when the Word of God was pretious and very rare to shew how much God honoured a young Prophet and you know that St. John the youngest of all the Disciples is the only person of all the twelve who was permitted to lean on our Saviours bosome at the last Supper as dearest to Him in affection and who is emphatically called the Disciple whom Jesus loved and this is suitable to that gracious promise which God hath made to encourage all young persons to serve him I love them that love me and they that seek me early shall find me O Philotheus let this Heavenly promise excite in you a great zeal to sâ—ek God and to seek Him early for if you do seek you are sure to find Him you are sure when you have found Him He will love you and you shall reap all the happy effects of Gods infinite Love and of an early Piety An early Piety then which nothing will make you a greater comfort to all your friends or a greater blessing to the very Colledge where you are bred nothing will make you more universally esteemed and beloved by all men or more successful in your Studies and besides that peace of Conscience and the pleasure of well-doing you will at present feel think if you can how unconceivable a joy it will be to you when in your elder years you can reflect on your well spent time and the innocence of your Youth how great a Consolation it will be to you on your death-bed how easie it will render your accounts at the great Day of Judgment and how much a whole life spent in Gods service will increase your glory in Heaven God of his great mercy Philotheus make these and the like considerations effectual to create holy Resolutions in you and give you grace to make good use of these following Directions which are designed to teach you to fear the Lord from your youth and are suited to your particular Age and Condition in hope they may the more affect you God grant they may Amen Directions in general AS soon as ever you awake in the morning good Philoâ—heus strive as much as you can to keep all worldly thoughts out of your mind till you have presented the first fruits of the day to God which will be an excellent preparative to make you spend the rest of it the better and therefore be sure to sing the Morning and Evening Hymn in your Chamber devoutly remembring that the Psalmist upon happy experience assures you that it is a good thing to tell of the loving kindness of the Lord early in the morning and of his truth in the night season When you are ready look on your Soul as still untill you have said your Prayers Remember that God under the Law ordained a Lamb to be offered up to Him every Morning and Evening A Lamb which is a fit emblem of Youth and Innocence Think then that you arâ— to resemble this Lamb and be sure every day to offer up your self a Morning and Evening Sacrifice to God If you are a Commoner you may say your prayers in â—our own Chamber but if you are a Child or a Chorister then to avoid the interruptions of the Common Chambers go into the Chappel between first and second Pcal in the Morning to say your Morning Prayer and say your Evening Prayer when you go Circum Now that every one may have his duty proportioned to his capacity the best way is to distinguish two degrees of young Christians in this Colledge namely those that are of an Age capable of receiving the Holy Sacrament and those that are not and in one of theâ—e two degrees you are to rank your self Directions for the Youngest IF you are very young good Philotheus that Gods commands may not seem grievous to you at your first setting out I shall advise you to no more then your Infant Devotion will bear and that is To take great care to learn your Catechism without Book and to learn to understand it for 't is impossible you can ever perform your duty unless you first know what it is 't is impossible you can ever go to Heaven unless you learn the way thither and that you may beg Gods dayly blessing and his grace to assist you learn these two short Prayers by heart and say them every day Morning Prayer GLory be to Thee O Lord God for all the blessings I dayly receive from Thee and for Thy particular preservation and refreshment of me this night past O Lord have mercy upon me and forgive whatsoever Thou hast seen amiss in me