Confession O Almighty God whose nature and property is always to have mercy and to forgive receive these my humble petitions made unto thee at this time and though I be tyed and bound by the chains of my sins yet let the pittifulness of thy great mercy loose them through Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour Amen A Prayer for Faith O Almighty God whose nature is above our reach and whose secret operations no humane reason can conceive give me that faith without which no man can know thee and without which no soul can please thee Lord I believe but to believe unto righteousness O God increase my Faith Concerning the great Sacrament of thy precious body and blood I believe that in the same night that thou O Lord Jesus wast betrayed thou didst give to thy Disciples Bread and Wine which thou didst call thy Body and Blood with a charge to eat and drink and do the same in remembrance of thee for as thou wast upon thy departure thou wouldest leave them and me a sign of thy Body a figure of thy Blood and a memorial oâ— thy bitter Death and bloody Passion lest I should forget thee who wast ready to lay down thy life for me who am the worst and vilest of sinners II. Therefore I take these Elements of Bread and Wine for holy signs of thy Body and Blood believing that though they remain after the Consecration in their substance both Bread and Wine yet they are more than common Bread and Wine being made by prayer and thy holy word the figures of thy Flesh and Blood which in the action and use of the Sacrament are really and effectually taken by the faithful So though I feel and tast Bread and Wine yet by the eye of Faith I eat thy Body and Drink thy Blood in remembrance that thou didst die for me and for all mankind III. O then let the operation of thy blessed Spirit apply to my Soul the merits of thy Death and Passion and O Lord I beseech thee let me love and die in this faith and never be ashamed to confess thy holy name who hath suffered such an ignominious Death for my redemption O let my Soul live and it shall praise thee and magnifie thy all glorious name thou hast said that he that eateth thy Flesh and drinketh thy Blood hath eternal life and thou wilt raise him up at the last day O Lord I beseech thee confirm my faith and grant that it fail not either concerning this or any other point of holy mysteries for thine alone sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen Our Father c. Meditations for Fryday Evening on the Holy Sacrament GOD alone who is the author of our life is likewise the object of our trust as being the Fountain and fulness of all our comfort and strength all our grace and holiness all our glory and happiness Wherefore O my God I trust in thee as a Creator to sustain me as a Lord to govern me as a guide to direct me as a rock to defend me and as a Father to succour me all which relations thou hast taken upon thee in a merciful regard to my weakness and wants that thou mightest the more manifestly declare thy goodness and love which goodness and love now seal unto my Soul by a Communion with thee in the Lord Jesus II. And the best way to strengthen our trust in God is by renewing our resignation and when can we more seasonably do it than at our receiving the Blessed Sacrament in which we have exhibited the fulness of Christs merits as the propitiatory Sacrament and atonement for our Souls by whom we have access unto the Father to receive a blessing of pardon and peace of life and salvation from him do we then with all humble devotion make this sincere resignation at the Table of the Lord even offer and present unto God from our hearts as we profess with our tongues offer and present our selves our Souls and Bodies as a reasonable Holy and lively sacrifice unto him casting our selves upon him in the mercy and truth of his promise in the wisdom and power of his providence III. And upon this total resignation he seals us this assurance that he will exercise those his properties imploy those his attributes for our comfort and protection for our support and salvation and this beyond what our wits can design our wishes can desire or our thoughts can conceive and let not any penitent though a languishing Soul be discouraged from this Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there to renew his resignation and strengthen his trust IV. And here this treasury is open in this Blessed Sacrament come and receive of this mercy of thy God dispensed by the bountiful hand of thy Jesus who with that mercy gives his merits his benefits his spirit his whole fulness even himself wherefore rouse up thy Soul to receive the bounty of thy God and of thy Saviour with an humble a thankful and a devout heart not forgetting the price Christ gave for thee to redeem thee from the slavery of Sin and Satan A Prayer for Fryday Evening on the most Holy Sacrament BLessed for ever be thy holy Name O thou God of Infinite Compassions who art both truth and holiness it self in thine Essence and therefore strictly requirest truth and sincerely in the hearts of thy Children and holiness and righteousness in their lives and Conversation look not upon those sinful failings of my Corrupt heart but graciouâ—ly behold me in the righteousness of Christ forgive me my many sinful Complâ—ances with nature abberations from grace and deviations from goodness which have caused these my sinful Errors which might thereby deprive me of present grace and hopes of future Blessedness II. Lord suffer me not any longer thus wretchedly to delude mine own Soul but make me truly such as thou would'st have me to be a zealous and sincere Christian that so my Spirit which for those my Sins thou hast much broken by afflictions may much more abundantly rejoyce in thee by heavenly Consolations Lord accept of these my sinful desires and let my loss of tears repair my loss of truth and loss of time in thy service assist my weakness accept my willingness forgive my sinfulness cherish the blessed motions of thy holy Spirit daily in me and for thy mercy sake remove the danger of my own Corruption from me III. O Lord to thy glory and my own deserved shame I willingly confess that I am most impure and sinful even in the very best of all my holy performances I therefore humbly beg of thee that as thou hast graciously afforded me the light of thy sacred word to discover me unto my self so thou wilt also give unto me the Sword of thy holy Spirit to deliver me from my self deliver me from the evil man O Lord even from the close Corruptions and secret Abominations of mine own evil and Corrupt heart Lord pardon and pass by the many
wine but substantially flesh and blood besides innumerable monstrous and most absurd Consequences and Contradictions which follow that Opinion which all do infinitely perplex and torture the minds of Christians If the Opinion were granted and all these absurdities swallowed by a wide and enormous Faith yet were there no advantage of Efficacy or Comfort gained to the Receiver by a gross and Carnal Eating and Drinking the body and blood of Christ. III. If those which Crucified him had done so or they who then believed in him when he was slain yet would they not any way have furthered their souls good and life which can no more be fed with carnal and sensible Objects than the body with light and truth which are of a Spiritual nature nor doth this first violent act of faith which they require of a Receiver in believing the essential change of the Bread and Wine into the body and Blood of Christ make a worthy Receiver except his Soul by a further act of Faith apply the virtue and merits of Christ's Death and Passion which is done effectually without the thought of Transubstantiation by that Faith which we say is necessary for a worthy Receiver which doth as clearly perceive and as really receive its proper Objects the Truth and Merits of Christ's Death and Sufferings to which no distance of place or time can be any impediment as the Sence doth its sensible Objects which requires a fit time and distance for perception IV. As for the Sacramental words given in the name of the Body and Blood of Christ to the consecrated Bread and Wine I believe them to be most true in the sense and meaning of our Saviour which sense I do not only guess at or implicitely believe but easily and plainly gather and understand by the like expressions both of our Saviour himself and the stile and phrase of the whole Scripture which never make such substantial predications of one thing to be another by way of transmutation of one into the other but by allusion relation similitude proportion designation of use and Sacramental Union or application no more than the Paschal Lamb which was a Type and Sacrament of Christ and his Sufferings was the very substance of Christ or that Rock on which St. Paul affirms it was Christ or that Christ is to be thought a natural door way vine light c. all which he affirms to be himself by a like manner of speech or more nearer the Cup to be the New Testament c. So that Reason Religion and the Rule of Faith the Holy Scriptures teach Christians to give commodam interpretationem a fit and agreeable interpretation V. Nor can we have a truer interpreter of Christ's meaning than himself who tells us that the Flesh profiteth nothing that is in that carnal and gross acceptation but his words are spiritual and must have a spiritual sense which is suitable to the Nature and Capacity of the Soul the dignity of Chiristan Religion and the sacred Mystery the Propriety of the object of Faith and the stile and tenour of God's Word which never enjoyns us any carnal thing horrible or inhumane For though the Letter may sound so yet the Figure in the words doth relieve our Faith and accommodate a fit and true meaning to such words and expressions nothing being more usual than for the Spirit of God to set forth Spiritual things and duties by corporal notions VI. So that as the Bread and Wine by their natural qualities and vertues are fit to represent the spiritual efficacy of the Body and Blood of Christ yet by a natural power are no whit able to impart to a Communicant the Body and Blood of Christ with the benefits of them to the Soul so that our blessed Saviour hath made choice of them for the First and hath given to them a Sacramental Virtue and a supernatural efficacy for the Second which they truly do as Remembrancers as Signs and Seals really conveying to the believing and prepared Soul by the concurrent Spirit and Power of the Institutor Jesus Christ that which in their nature they do fitly represent VII Which is all that I conceive I need beleive of or expect from this Sacrament which is appointed only to strengthen and confirm that Faith in us by which we believe in Christ crucified for Life and Salvation which Faith grounded on the Word and wrought by the Spirit is first confirmed and sealed by Baptism and may be true and sufficient to save a Christian who never lives to come to the Supper of the Lord nor hath any thought or use of Transubstantiation in this no more than of the substantial change of the Water in Baptism into the Blood of Christ which was never yet dreamed of yet our Saviour tells us Joh. the 6th Except a man eat his Flesh and drink his Blood he cannot have Eternal Life which many have who never eat of the most holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper yet dye believers and by Faith have eaten and drank the Body and Blood of Christ spiritually yet really without which they could not be saved VIII Neither to secure children of Salvation in case they dye before years of discretion need we resume the antient but erroneous practice of the Church now long since abolished by all sides viz. to put the Eucharistical Bread and Wine into the mouths of Infants which Error sprang from the gross and corporeal interpretation of our Saviour's words not considering that every Believer either in the internal disposition which is secretly wrought by the Spirits sanctifying Power in Baptism according to the capacity of the Subject or in the real exercise and actuating of his Faith which comes by Hearing in his riper years must necessarily and doth effectually and really Eat and Drink the Body and Blood of Christ to Salvation though they never come to receive in the Holy Supper so that it is but one Christ his Body and Blood the same Crucified Saviour which is received in both Sacraments and but one Faith for the kind that layes hold and feeds on Christ in them all only it receives degrees and addition of strength in this of the Supper the Word beginning the Life of Faith and by it the Believer into Christ the other maintaining and encreasing it to a further strength and assurance IX We deny not a true and real presence and perception of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament which reality even they of the other gross Opinion do not imagine is to Sence but to Faith which perceives its Objects as really according to the manner of Faiths perception as the senses do theirs after their manner I believe therefore that in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper there are both objects presented to and received by a Worthy Receiver first the Bread and Wine in their own nature and substances distinct do remain as well as their accidents which are the true objects of our sence and fit signs to represent
crosses and mercies may serve as so many steps in that Ladder that may carry me to Heaven mind me of my latter end and teach me so to live that I may not fear to die that when I die I may be sure to live in the mean time O Lord assist my weakness and strengthen my faith that I may receive with comfort that heavenly Feast which thou hast prepared for me and all that believe and call upon thy holy name in whose blessed name and word I conclude my weak and imperfect prayers saying Our Father c. Meditations for Tuesday Evening on the holy Sacrament I. BY means of this divine food the Soul is united to Christ and receives that strength and vigour which continually sets it forward in its spiritual ascension Who can give worthy thanks for so great a benefit Who will not be altogether resolv'd into Tears when he sees Almighty God united to him the more we go about to consider the excellency and vertues of this Soveraign Mystery the more do we want words to express it and the more doth our understanding fail us II. What pleasant sweetness and delightful Savours of a good life doth the Soul of the just man feel when he receives this divine Sacrament there is no other sound heard at that time but the musick of the heart which are vehement bursting out of holy desires and yielding of thanks all tending to the praise of the ever blessed institutor there the devout Soul through the vertue of this most holy and blessed Sacrament is altogether renued and replenished with joy unspeakable and fully satisfied with those good things which the richness of his mercy hath found out and doth bestow upon all true penitents III. Such are thy gifts O sweet Saviour such are the works and delights of thy love which thou art wont to communicate to thy friends by the means of this divine Sacrament and this thou dost to the end that we being filled with these heavenly delights should despise all vain and transitory pleasures Now what glory can be greater then this What gift more precious What benefit of more value or what greater token of love let all the works of nature keep silence let all the works of grace give place for this is a work exceeding all works and a singular grace above all graces it is the burning Coal from the holy Altar to enkindle the fire of the love of God in us the means whereby to receive grace the pledge of everlasting felicity and the treasure of a Christian Life IV. Our blessed Redeemer of the World intending to restore man unto his former dignity and to raise him up by grace as he had faln by sin did ordain and leave as his last Legacy this most divine Sacrament of his Body and Blood whereby man might recover his lost Estate and be made partaker of the divine nature we have it express'd in his own words Joh. 6. 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Now when the time drew near that Christ should be betrayed and delivered up to death he communeth with his disciples after this manner Luk. 22. 15. I have an earnest desire to eat the Passeover with you before I suffer having so said he took Bread and blessed it in like manner he took the Cup in Consecrating the Elements of Bread and Wine his Prayers ascended to Heaven but his benefits remain with his Church here on Earth the visible Elements declare two things the one that he was to offer up himself an oblation for the redemption of the whole world the other that he would become unto the faithful by his means a divine sustenance for their Souls V. Consider what great care our Saviour hath shewed towards us in instituting this Sacrament seeing nothing could be given more excellent more dear when he loved his which were in the World he loved them unto the end he hath given us of his own Bread and of his own Cup nay he hath given us his own Body as Bread his own Blood as Wine for the nourishment of our Souls had he bestowed this so great a gift on Saints and Angels it had not been so wonderful but bestowing it on poor Sinners was love unspeakable O what shall we render unto the Lord for all the benefits we have received at his hands let us meditate on his Love and pursue that holy resolution with the Prophet David to take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. VI. Who is there now that will neglect coming to this holy Table nay neglect their own Salvation when they may purchase it at so easie a rate O Lord if to obtain this benefit thou hadst ordain'd hard Fasts long Pilgrimages shedding of Blood and other sharp usages all these labours and afflictions ought worthily to have been suffer'd to tast even but once thy sacred Body but O Love unheard of that hadst rather make the entrance easie and delectable that I might the oftner receive this great benefit O Adam how much better is the condition of thy posterity than thine own was which is now brought to pass by the means of our loving and liberal Jesus thou wert driven out of Paradise and that thou shouldst not return thither to eat of the Tree of Life and live one of the Cherubims armed with a fiery Sword was set by the righteous God to keep it VII We thy Children living in the Paradise of the holy Church are not only driven away by an Angel with a fiery Sword but are invited of the Lord of Angels by the fire of his Love to taste often the fruit of the Tree of Life yea to receive him who hath given all strength to it and that giveth us a blessed and everlasting life for so he inviting us hath promis'd he which eateth of this Bread shall live for ever Joh. 6. 58. A Solliloquy for Tuesday Evening I. O thou only begotten Son of Almighty God great and wonderful are the benefits O Lord which I have received of thee thou hast raised me from the mire and dust of the Earth and hast created my Soul of nothing after thine own Image and likeness and hast made it eapable of thy glory thou hast given me understanding memory will free choice with all my other Members and Senses to the end that with them I might know thee and love thee thou hast preserv'd me even while I was yet in my Mothers womb thou hast patiently born with me a long time after so many sins committed even until this present hour where as others having less offended then I are now per adventure tormented in Hell fire II. Besides all this it was thy pleasure to become man and to be conversant among men for my sake and for me to be afflicted punished troubled and covered all over with a bloody sweat to be taken bound buffeted and spit upon to be dispised blasphemed reviled and