my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
Examination according to the rule of Repentance HAve I embrac'd all the Opportunities of Repentance that God hath given me Have I fasted often and subdued my flesh by frequent acts of Mortification Have I repented sincerely and intirely and do I intend to continue in a state of unwearied obedience to Gods Laws Have I renounc'd the Devil the World and the Flesh so as never more to be reconciled to them Have I been troubled as heartily for my Transgressions as I have been for worldly Crosses Have I not oftner sorrowed for the Punishment of my sins than for my sins and have I not been more concern'd that God hath been just with me than that I have offended him How often have I broken my vows and relaps'd into my old sins Have I ever seriously considered the danger of such a return to my former vicious habits Do I not tremble when I reflect that perhaps this present moment may be the last which God will allow me either to live or to repent To every of which Enquiries if I find my self guily I subjoin Lord be merciful to me a sinner accept of my imperfect and weak repentance and enable me for the future to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. An Examination according to the Creed I Thank thee And here I mention not any acts of speculative infidelity because very few are guilty in that kind but those who are may without particular directions call themselves to account according to this method O my God for thy assistances that I can say with satisfaction that I have hitherto continued in the Profession of this most holy Faith in opposition to all Heresies Ancient and Modern I believe the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity that the Three Persons are Coessential Coequal and Coeternal that they made the World and are willing it should be saved that the Laws of Providence are just and that there is a state of futurity reserved for all mankind in this Faith I have hitherto lived and hope if there be need I shall have the Grace and the Will to be a Martyr for it But have I not the greatest reason to condemn my self and to be heartily troubled that I have not made this belief of mine subservient to practice that I have lived as if these Articles had never been written Have I adored that God as I ought whom I have profest to own Have I not neglected to reverence his Majesty and to dread his Power whom I have acknowledged to be Almighty Have I not called God Father when I have refused to obey him When I have profest that God made all things have I seriously reflected upon what I owe him for my own Being and well-being Have I not called Jesus Master while I have blasphemed his name and confest his Dominion while I have trampled on his Laws Have I not acknowledged his holy and immaculate Incarnation and Nativity while my Soul hath defiled her self with all sort of impurities When I have profest my belief of his Death Resurrection and Ascension have I dyed to my Sins and risen again to newness of Life and dwelt in Heaven in resolution and affection Have I lived as if I were perswaded that Jesus would come again to judge both the quick and dead Have I given up my self to the guidance of the Holy-Ghost in whom I believe Have I heartily joyn'd in the Services of the holy Catholiek Church which is the Communion of Saints and have I not neglected the opportunities of frequent Praying and frequent Communicating Have I not lived still and resolved to continue to live in those Sins of which I profess my hope of forgiveness And when with my lips I have said I look for the Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the World to come have I not in my heart and actions put far from me the thoughts of that day and demean'd my self as if there were no account to be given of my Stewardship Have I not also been guilty of delighting too much in curious and unnecessary speculations of making inquiry into the consubstantiality of the Trinity the filiation of the Son and the procession of the holy Spirit and other such admirable but unintelligible Mysteries while I have slighted the methods of true Wisdom neglecting the study how to unite my self to the Trinity by Faith and a holy Conversation how to be conform'd to Jesus in newness of Life and how to walk according to the dictates of the Spirit of Peace and Truth that would lead me into the paths of obedience To each of these I subjoyn Wretched Sinner that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Lord have mercy upon me pardon all these enormities cure this vanity of mind and give me Grace for the future that with the heart I may believe unto Righteousness and with the mouth make confession unto Salvation An Examination according to the Commandments 1. Com. HAve I not broken the first Commandment in thought word or deed by neglecting to believe in God to fear him to love him and to trust in him as I ought Have I had that high esteem of the Deity which I am bound to have Have I given him the obedience of my Soul and the Reverence of my Body Have I patiently and thankfully submitted to all his inflictions Have I ever prefer'd any passion of my own or any other thing to my God and his Service 2. Com. Have I not broken the second Commandment in thought word or deed by not worshipping my Maker according to his own prescriptions Have I been guilty of Superstition or Idolatry Have I followed the imaginations of my own heart or Sacrilegiously rob'd God of any thing dedicated to his Honour 3. Com. Have I not broken the third Commandment in thought word or deed by not making the Divine Honour the end of all my actions or by not esteeming places things or persons dedicated to Religion Have I profan'd God's holy Name by Oaths Cursings Perjuries Blasphemies or any such crime Have I spoken slightly of God or scoffed at Religion or by loose and Atheistical talk prostituted the mysteries of Christianity or used the name of God vainly and to evil ends 4. Com. Have I not broken the fourth Commandment in thought word or deed by not abstaining every day from my sins and every seventh day from my labours Have I duly observ'd the Festivals and Fasts of the Church and have I set apart and strictly kept the solemn times of my private humiliation and mortifying my Lusts Have I behav'd my self reverently in God's House have I pray'd fervently and with humility and read the Scriptures awfully and heard the Word of God conscientiously and communicated devoutly Have I ever made Religion a pretence for Vice or neglected to know or do my duty Have I not offended my Neighbour whether stranger or relative by encouraging him to be vicious either by my example or authority by
That my past sins may be intirely forgiven and the rest of my life spent in the works of repentance I beseech thee c. That the end of my life may be Christian without pain and without shame if thou seest fit and that I may be able to render a good account when I shall stand before thy dreadful Tribunal I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. From mine enemies defend me O Christ Graciously look upon my afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart Favourably with mercy hear my Prayers Mercifully forgive the sins of thy Servant O Son of David have mercy upon me Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear me O Christ Graciously hear me O Christ graciously hear me O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon me As I do put my trust in thee Pardon O Lord the guilt of my sins remove the punishment and wash out the pollutions keep me from the shame and the suffering due to them and rescue me from the dominion of Satan the tyranny of my own Lusts and from everlasting destruction Amen Bp. Andrews BLessed Jesu Interpose between God and my Soul thy Priesthood and Sacrifice between my self and Satan thy Kingdom and Conquest between my Soul and my Sins thy Innocency between my Soul and my Concupiscence thy Charity between my Soul and the punishments due to a Sinner thy Passion and the satisfaction of thy Blood between my Soul and my Conscience and God's Tribunal thy Advocateship between my Soul and its want of Righteousness thy absolute and complete Obedience between my Soul and its want of desert thy alsufficient Merits between my Soul and its want of fervour in Devotion thy Intercession between my Soul and its want of sâ—rrow and repentance thy Agony and bloody Sweat for what thou did'st and what thou suffered'st O my dearest Saviour O my best of Masters was done and suffered in my stead and for my benefit Amen Id. LET the Soul of Christ sanctify me the Body of Christ strengthen me the Blood of Christ redeem me the Water that came out of his side cleanse me the Stripes of Christ heal me the Sweat of Christ refresh me the Wounds of Christ save me the Poverty of Christ enrich me and the Sufferings of Christ preserve me from eternal damnation Amen Bp. Taylor GIve me the beauties of Wisdom the brightness of Chastity the health of Temperance the peace of Meek persons and the reputation and joy of the Charitable Amen A Collect for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit O God who knowest that we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers that the Temptations of Satan are very prevalent the vanities of the World very deceitful and our own corruptions very strong help and assist me and all thy servants with the succours of thy holy spirit Give me the spirit of Truth of Wisdome and Understanding to keep me from all error and infidelity the spirit of Counsel to guide me in all difficulties the spirit of Might and Power to preserve me from all Apostacy the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord to keep me from all sin and wickedness Let the Holy-Ghost be my comforter in my distresses the assistant of my devotion the quieter of my conscience and let it bear witness with my spirit that I am one of the Sons of God that neither the wiles nor frowns of the Devil the fears of suffering or the hopes of wealth and honour may sway me to neglect my duty but that I may continue thine for ever and that thou mayst be my protector and guide my friend and advocate now and in the agonies of death and at the day of judgement Amen OUR Father which art in Heaven c. MAY the Power of God the Father protect me the Wisdom of God the Son inlighten me the operations and assistances of the holy Spirit quicken me and may the holy Trinity keep me under the shadow of their wings till I come to the palace of Glory Amen Amen The Epistle Heb. 12.1 WHerefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds The Gospel Luke 22.41 AND being withdrawn from them about a stones cast he kneeled down and prayed saying Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be dene And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground The MEDITATION THO every thing that is good and virtuous hath its attractives yet when virtue is attended with power it is in its exaltation and makes as many Votaries as it hath spectators and every one looks on it with admiration and surprize and addresses to it with resolutions either to become good or to beg its protection from evil because Piety so assisted proves a great exemplar and a puissant shelter And such was the holy Jesus who was wonderful in all his atchievements for nothing less than unspotted Innocence and Omnipotence conjoin'd could furnish the World with a Saviour The whole Life of Jesus was a miracle of Love and Compassion and the attempts of the Patriarchs appear mean and inconsiderable when compared with the transcendent performances of the Son of God for if to consult the wants of mankind and to relieve them if curing their Bodies and instructing their Souls if feeding them with temporal food and giving them the Bread of Heaven be demonstrations of a large and a divine Soul then that title is peculiarly to be ascribed to the Redeemer of the world whose actions were one continued series of benefits and mercies I will therefore love the examples of good men but I will admire and adore Jesus I will make reflections on their excellent lives but I must fix my thoughts on the conversation of my Saviour who when he requires my adverting to his Pattern and his Laws enjoins me to look off from all other objects and to settle my eyes on him who loved me and bought me with his own most precious blood for they are but a cloud of witnesses but Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness and as when the Sun arises the little handful of Clouds and dusky vapours dwindle and vanish so when the glorious God appears in competition he eclipses all humane perfections For that which sustained the great Apostle when he was ready to be poured out as a drink-offering for the truth of the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 and what excited
Institution of the Blessed Sacrament The Crucifixion And the Descent into Hell On this Week the Church abstain'd from all Sensualities and Worldly Pleasures lived upon a dry Diet their Sorrow was deep their Prayers intense their Fastings strict and their Watchings frequent and for this Reason I have after the pattern of V. To. 5. p. 524. c. St. Chrysostome in his Homilies prefac'd every days Devotion with an account of the time and the Primitive practices on that day that the Ignorant and Unlearned might know the reason why such days are set apart by the Church of God as being well assured that the Lents and Festivals of the Greek Church are one of the most succesful means next the Blessing of God of maintaining the Christian Religion among them in despite of all the Mahometan Artifices and cruelty to ruin it I have also besides an account of the Ancient Usages relating to the Holy Sacrament subjoyned an Epistle and Gospel Meditation Prayer and Anthem suited to the time tho not so fitted to every particular day of the Great Week but that they may be more or less made use of according to the Capacities and Discretion of the Devout Christian on any day of that Week or on any other Week of the Year and for Friday I have annex'd a method of Self-Examination together with a Litany and other Collects which also may be used on Wednesday or on any other or every day of the Week because that day is a fasting-day through the whole Church of God and the time when our Holy Redeemer was Crucified upon whose Death depends all the Honour and Happiness of the Christian World Nor have I inserted a Litany of my own as if I were so vain to prefer it to that incomparable Litany which our Church enjoyns but because there seems to be a need of a more particular Deprecation of Sins in the Closet than in the publick Congregation And here I solemnly protest That none of these private Offices can attone for the neglect of the Publick Service which the Church enjoyns every day of this Week but that every good man ought to frequent the House of God and to be present at all the Hours of Prayer which if he neglects I cannot see how he can expect the Divine Blessing on his private Devotion In the Circumstantials of which private Worship I have instanc'd in those particulars which many good Christians to whom this Book may be serviceable cannot enjoy but every mans prudence must be his guide in such Cases and he who hath not a Closet so furnish'd as is advised ought to take care that he do not altogether want a place to pray in and God will accept of him not according to what he hath not but according to what he hath Here also I cannot but remark and censure a most unbecoming practise of our Dissenting Brethren who in despite of our Saviour's command that we should pray in secret chuse their Closets commonly next the Street and when they are in it Pray aloud tho alone that all who pass by at least that are in the house may hear them which what it can mean but a design to be heard of men I cannot understand for if they heartily confess their sins and as I think it ought to be in private Prayers by name and with all the Aggravating Circumstances that have attended their Transgressions What Temptations are such People under either to hide their sins from God that the World may not know them or else so to acknowledg them as not to be ashamed to continue in them because those whose Vices are notoriously known generally take shelter in impudence But how unhappily such men do disserve the interests of Religion is not the Subject of this Preface only I cannot forbear remembring some few things that relate to this Sacrament such as their total neglect of the Eucharist in so palpable a manner that one of their most Eminent Preachers confesses that he never gave it in 18 Years their admitting none to the Participation of the Mysteries but those who were in Church-covenant with themselves as if there were any other Church-covenant besides that of Baptism or any other Church-membership but that of the Holy Catholick Church which is the Communion of Saints their undecent and rude distribution of it not by the hands of the Priest but from one to another as if they were at a merry meeting rather than at Gods Table their slovenly Receiving of it sitting to the scandal of their Brethren and to the Encouragement of the Socinian and other Hereticks with many other such Usages which I shall not mention I have nothing more to account for in this Preface but that I have freely made use of several passages Prayers especially of the Ancients and of some few Modern Writers without any scruple and I here profess so much by way of acknowledgment to all those good men by whom I have profited for if God have the Glory and the World the Benefit it matters not who is the Instrument And now may the God of Peace and Truth enlighten the Vnderstandings of all Mankind that they may know and love and practice their Duty that every one that is called by the Name of Christ may depart from Iniquity and may delight to Communicate with his Saviour that we all in Gods time may pass from the Festivals of the Church on Earth to the Everlasting Feast that is held in Heaven Amen The CONTENTS PART I. THE Introduction Of the Circumstances of Religious Worship in private Chap. 1. Of the Obligations of the Sacraments to Holiness Chap. 2. Of the common excuses for not coming to the Blessed Sacrament Chap. 3. Of the danger of unworthy Receiving Chap. 4. Of Examination in General Chap. 5. Examination of past sins Chap. 6. Examination of present Virtues Chap. 7. Examination of the Communicants Knowledg Chap. 8. Of the Study of the Holy Scriptures Chap. 9. Of Christian Love Chap. 10. Of the Love of God Chap. 11. Of the Remembrance of our Blessed Saviour Chap. 12. Of the Love of our Neighbour Chap. 13. Of the Duties of Unity Chap. 14. Of the Duties of Charity Chap. 15. Of the Love of Enemies Chap. 16. Of Love to the Holy Sacrament Chap. 17. Of Resignation and Self-denial Chap. 18. Of Humiliation before the Reception Chap. 19. Of joy and resolution after the Reception Chap. 20. Of the Qualities of the Priest who Consecrates Chap. 21. The Methods of the Ancients at the Reception Chap. 22. The Honour done to the Sacrament by the Ancients Chap. 23. The abuse of the Sacrament to evil ends PART II. The Introduction The Office for Palmsunday For Monday before Easter For Tuesday before Easter For Wednesday before Easter For Maundy Thursday For Good-Friday The Examen The Litany For Easter-Eve For Easter-day Rules of Conduct for Easter-day and the Sacrament THe Reader is desired to pardon the Faults of the Press in Mispointing the English and
in constant peace and godliness that all thy faithful people may do unto thee true and laudable service and through thy protection may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve thee in all good works that all who are baptized into the Death of thee O Holy Jesus may die unto sin and rise again unto newness of life Peace and Love hast thou made the sum of the Old Law and injoyned as a new Commandment in the Gospel Thy first Message to the World was peace on Earth and thy last Legacy was peace to thy Disciples Be thou pleas'd therefore to convince all Hereticks to reclaim all Schismaticks and to correct the prophane and irreligious cement our breaches allay our passions pacifie our minds grant that we may all speak the same things and that there be no Divisions among us convince us that tho different Modes of Worship shall not disinherit a man of thy favour yet disobedience to Government is a great sin Let the Holy Dove hover over those waters and allay the tempest and let it teach the world to follow after the things that make for peace that Jerusalem may be as a City at unity with her self and all her children may love and praise thee who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest ever one God world without end Amen CHAP. XIV Of Alms. IT is also another end of this Sacrament to engage all who receive it to pity the poor the Alms of the Communicants being usually called * Vid. Hebr. 13.15 the Sacrifice because rendred by way of Oblation to God and given to the poor as his Bedesmen And canst thou O my soul imagine that thou dost duly observe the Lord's day and reverence his Sacrament when thou comest to Church without thy Oblation Nay such an honour was it in the Primitive Church to give Alms that all men were not thought worthy the honour of being admitted to the Offertory tho permitted to enjoy the other priviledges of Religion * Constit Apost l. 4. c. 5 c. For neither the unjust Publican nor the Usurer nor the Executioner nor any promoter of debauchery and looseness were allowed this liberty For they seriously discountenanced all Fraud and Vice and accounted that man a Reprobate who endowed a Church with the spoils of the poor They would not admit of that Shop-keeper to the Communion who put upon the ignorance of a Customer and made him pay more for what he bought than the thing was really worth nor would they allow that man to give his Estate to pious uses who had gotten it by Extortion and robbing the Fatherless And how should this present Age blush when we consider this especially when we remember that where no Law bound but that of Natural Conscience some Heathens were ashamed to commit such Iniquity Thus * Vit. Isidor apud Phot. cod 242. p. 555. Hermeas of Alexandria when an ignorant person offer'd to sell him a book for less than the value corrected the illiterate man's mistake told him the book was more worth and gave him the full price for it And thus * Knolles Turk Hist S. Selim. p. 561. the great Selim the first of that Name when in the Agonies of death his beloved Bassa Pyrrhus advised him to erect an Hospital with the money which had by his Order been unjustly taken from the Persian Merchants smartly replied ' Wouldest thou O my Pyrrhus that I should bestow the Goods of other men wrongfully taken from them upon works of Charity and Devotion for my own Praise and Vain-glory No see they be again restored to the right Owners and then I may die in peace Where are the Christians who think themselves thus obliged And how few are there of us who do not fall short of these Examples of Heathens and Mahometans And in truth Justice is a duty so sacred that my Alms are Robbery without it the best actions which are founded in injuries being such sacrifices as were offered in Tophet where Murther was the Oblation And to this day it is a * Bava Metz. 59.1 Maxim among the Jews tho the greatest Usurers in the world that when the Sanctuary was destroyed all the gates of prayer were shut up except the gate of fraudulent usages that is that tho God may be deaf to all other prayers yet his ears are always open to the cry of those who have been injured defrauded and rob'd My Alms therefore ought to be of Goods justly gotten and of them must I make my distribution with all chearfulness and as often as God gives me any opportunity Nay it is my duty to seek for occasions of beneficence and to * Rom. 12.13 be given to Hospitality that is to be earnest and unwearied in the pursuit of all opportunities of being charitable Which command was so intirely complied with in the Apostles time that * Acts 4.34 every believer sold his Estate and made one common stock for themselves and their poorer brethren the Apostles being the distributers of that stock to every man as he had need And tho some men affirm that this custom lasted but a little while because in St. Paul's time * 1 Cor. 16.2 the men of Corinth were obliged to lay aside every Lord's-day what they devoted to charitable uses yet this Argument does not prove what it is intended to demonstrate For probably they gave their praedial visible Estate to the Church and yet might reserve something out of what they got by their Trades their Profession or Labour to be given weekly to the indigent And when at last that method was antiquated * Tert. Apol. cap. 39. every Christian was obliged once a month or oftner as he was willing to give somewhat to the Church-Treasury And this money was imployed to feed the poor to bury the dead to maintain Orphans and to put them into a capacity to get their own living to make provision for the decrepit by Age or Sickness to cherish the Shipwrack'd and to relieve those who were condemn'd to the Mines or banish'd or cast into prison for the sake of God and Religion So universal was their Charity and so liberal their Inclinations in those good days How then can any man satisfie himself that he is prepared to come to this Sacrament who is negligent of this duty Do not the Mysteries exhibit to me the greatest Instances of my Saviour's Charity and Compassion And can I be his Disciple unless I imitate his Vertues St. Gregory the Great was so scrupulous that when News was brought him that a man was found dead within his Territory he suspecting that he died of want and that the not timely relieving every indigent person did cast an Aspersion on his Government he for that Reason abstained for some time from the Holy Communion And tho I am not willing to cherish such unnecessary scruples yet that man does very rashly thrust himself upon God who neglects