God through Jesus Christ to read and hear the Scriptures read and expounded to provoke each other to love and to good works to advance the honour of Christ and to propagate his Faith and Worship I believe this to be a Holy Church Spiritual and not Civil and Secular but sanctified by their Profession and the solemn Rites of it professing holiness and separating from the evil manners of heathens and wicked persons by their laws and institutions And this Church is Catholick that is it is not confined to the Nation of the Jews as was the old Religion but it is gathered out of all Nations and is not of a differing Faith in differing places but always did doth and ever shall profess the Faith which the Apostles preach'd and which is contained in this Creed with whosoever believes is a Catholick and a Christian and he that believes not is neither This Catholick Church I believe that is I believe whatsoever all good Christians in all Ages and in all places did confess to be the Catholick and Apostolick Faith The Communion of Saints That is the Communion of all Christians because by reason of their holy Faith they are called Saints in Scripture as being begotten by God into a lively Faith and cleansed by Believing and by this Faith and the Profession of a holy life in obedience to Jesus Christ they are separated from the world called to the knowledge of the Truth justified before God and indued with the holy Spirit of Grace foreknown from the beginning of the world and predestinated by God to be made conformable to the image of his Son here in holiness of life hereafter in a life of glory and they who are Saints in their belief and profession must be so also in their practice and conversation that so they may make their calling and election sure lest they be Saints onely in name and title in their profession and institution and not in manners and holiness of living that is lest they be so before men and not before God I believe that all people who desire the benefit of the Gospel are bound to have a fellowship and society with these Saints and communicate with them in their holy things in their Faith and in their Hope and in their Sacraments and in their Prayers and in their Publick Assemblies and in their Government and must do to them all the acts of Charity and mutual help which they can and are required to and without this Communion of Saints and a conjunction with them who believe in God through Jesus Christ there is no Salvation to be expected which Communion must be kept in inward things always and in all persons and testified by outward acts always when it is possible and may be done upon just and holy conditions The Forgiveness of sins I believe that all the sins I committed before I came to the knowledge of the Truth and all the slips of humane infirmity against which we heartily pray and watch and labour and all the evil habits of which we repent so timely and effectually that we obtain their contrary graces and live in them are fully remitted by the blood of Christ which forgiveness we obtain by Faith and Repentance and therefore are not justified by the Righteousness of Works but by the Righteousness of Faith and we are preserved in the state of forgiveness or justification by the fruits of a lively Faith and a timely active Repentance The Resurrection of the Body I believe that at the last day all they whose sins are forgiven and who lived and died in the Communion of Saints and in whom the Holy Spirit did dwell shall rise from their grves their dead bones shall live and be clothed with flesh and skin and their Bodies together with their Souls shall enter into the portion of a new life and that this body shall no more see corruption but shall rise to an excellent condition it shall be Spiritual Powerful Immortal and Glorious like unto his glorious body who shall then be our Judge is now our Advocate our Saviour and our Lord. And the Life everlasting I believe that they who have their part in this Resurrection shall meet the Lord in the Air and when the blessed Sentence is pronounc'd upon them they shall for ever be with the Lord in joys unspeakable and full of glory God shall wâ—…pe all tears from their eyes there shall be no fear or sorrow no mourning or death a friend shall never go away from thence and an enemy shall never enter there shall be fulness without want light eternal brighter then the Sun day and no night joy and no weeping difference in degree and yet all full there is love without dissimulation excellency without envy multitudes without confusion musick without discord there the Understandings are rich the Will is satisfied the Affections are all love and all joy and they shall reign with God and Christ for ever and ever Amen This is the Catholick Faith which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved Tertull. de velandis Virgin Regula quidem fidei â—…na omnino est sola immobilis irreformabilis credendi scilicet in unicum Deum Omnipotentem c. Hac lege fidei manente caetâ—…ra jam disciplinae conversationis admittunt novitatem correctionis operante scil proficiente usque in finem Gratia Dei The Rule of Faith is wholly one unalterable never to be mended never changed to wit I believe in God c This Law of Faith remaining in other things you may encrease and grow S. Aug. de Fide Symb. Haec est Fides quae paucis verbis tenenda in Symbolo Novellis datur Quae pauca verba fiedelibus not a sunt ut credendo subjugentur Deo subjugati recte vivant recte vivendo cor mundent corde mundo quod credunt intelligant This is the Faith which in few words is given to Novices These few words are known to all the faithful that by believing they may be subject to God by this subjection they may live well by living-well they may purifie their hearts and with pure hearts they may relish understand what they do believe Max. Taurin de Tradit Symb. Symbolum tessera est signaculum quo inter fideles Perfidosque secernitur This Creed is the Badge or Cognizance by which the Faithful are discerned from Unbelievers Hujus Catholici Symboli brevis perfecta Confessio quae duodecim Apostolorum totidem est signata sententiis tam instructa est in munitione coelesti ut omnes Haereticorum opiniones solo possint gladio detruncari Leo M. ad Pulcheriam Aug. This short and perfect Confession of this Catholick Creed which was consigned by the Sentences of twelve Apostles is so perfect a celestial
and in God by him and rely entirely on the mercies of God through Jesus Christ. From thence he shall come In the Clouds shining and adorned with the glory of his Father attended by millions of bright Angels with the voice of an Archangel and a shout of all the Heavenly Army the Trump of God and every eye shall see him and they that pierced his hands and his â—…eet shall behold his Majesty his Terror and his Glory and all the families of the earth shall tremble at his presence and the powers of Heaven shall be shaken and the whole earth and sea shall be broken in pieces and confusion for then he shall come to put an end to this world and To Judge the Quick and the Dead For the Father judgeth no man but hath given all judgment to his Son And at this day of Judgment the Lord Jesus shall sit in the Air in a glorious Throne and the Angels having gathered together God's Elect from the four corners of the world all the kindreds of the earth being brought before the Judgment-seat shall have the Records of their Conscience laid open that is all that ever they thought or spake or did shall be brought to their memory to convince the wicked of the Justice of the Judge in passing the fearful Sentence upon them and glorify the mercies of God towards his Redeemed ones and then the righteous Judge shall condemn the wicked to the portion of Devils for ever to a state of torments the second and eternal and intolerabl death and the godly being placed on his right hand shall hear the blessed Sentence of absolution and shall be led by Christ to the participation of the glories of his Father's Kingdom for ever and ever Amen I believe in the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit Who is the third Person of the holy undivided ever-blessed Trinity which I worship and adore and admire but look upon with wonder and am not in a capacity to understand I believe that the Holy Spirit into whose name as of the Father and the Son I was baptized is the heavenly Author the Captain the Teacher and the Witness of all the Truths of the Gospel that as the Father sent the Son so the Son from Heaven sent the holy Spirit to lead the Church into all truth to assist us in all Temptations and to help us in the purchase of all Vertue This Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and our Lord Jesus received him from his Father and sent him into the world who receiving the things of Christ and declaring the same excellent Doctrines speaks whatsoever he hath heard from him and instructed the Apostles and builds the Church and produces Faith and confirms our Hope and increases Charity And this Holy Spirit our blessed Lord hath left with his Church for ever by which all the servants of God are enabled to do all things necessary to Salvation which by the force of Nature they cannot do and we speak by the Spirit and work by the Spirit when by his assistances any ways imparted to us we speak or do any thing of our duty He it is who enlightens our Understanding sanctifies our Will orders and commands our affections he comforts our sorrows supports our spirits in trouble and enables us by Promises and Confidences and Gifts to suffer for the Lord Jesus and the Gospel And all these things God the Father does for us by his Son and the Son by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit by all means within and without which are operative upon and proportionable to the nature of reasonable creatures This is he who works Miracles gives the gifts of Prophecy and of Interpretation that teaches us what and how to pray that gives us Zeal and holy Desires who sanctifies Children in Baptism and confirms them with his grace in Comfirmation and reproves the world and consecrates Bishops and all the Ministers of the Gospel and absolves the Penitent and Blesses the Obedient and comforts the Sick and excommunicates the Refractory and makes intercession for the Saints that is the Church and those whom he hath Blessed appointed and sanctified to these purposes do all these Ministeries by his Authority and his Commandment and his Aids This is he that testifies to our Spirits that we are the Sons of God and that makes us to cry Abba Father that is who inspires into us such humble confidences of our being accepted in our hearty and constant endeavours to please God that we can with chearfulness and joy call God our Father and expect and hope for the portion of Sons both here and hereafter and in the certainty of this hope to work out our Salvation with fear and reverence with trembling and joy with distrust of our selves and mighty confidence in God By this holy and ever-blessed Spirit several persons in the Church and every man in his proportion receives the gifts of Wisdom and Utterance and Knowledge and Interpretation and Prophesie and Healing and Goverement and discerning of Spirits and Faith and Tongues and whatsoever can be necessary for the Church in several ages and periods for her beginning for her continuance for her in prosperity and for her in persecution This is the great Promise of the Father and it is the gift of God which he will give to all them that ask him and who live piously and chastly and are persons fit to entertain so Divine a Grace This Holy Spirit God gives to some more to some less according as they are capable They who obey his Motions and love his presence and improve his Gifts shall have him yet more abundantly but they that grieve the Holy Spirit shall loose that which they have and they that extinguish him belong not to Christ but are in the state of reprobation and they that blaspheme this holy Spirit and call him the spirit of the Devil or the Spirit of error or folly or do malicious despites to him that is they who on purpose considering and chusing do him hurt by word or by deed so far as lies in them shall for ever be separated from the presence of God and of Christ and shall never be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come Lastly this Holy Spirit seals us to the day of Redemption that is God gives us his Holy Spirit as a testimony that he will raise us again at the last day and give us a portion in the glories of his Kingdom in the inheritance of our Lord Jesus The holy Catholick Church I believe that there is and ought to be a visible company of men professing the service and discipline that is the Religion of the Gospel who agree together in the Belief of all the Truths of God revealed by Jesus Christ and in confession of the Articles of this Creed and agree together in praying and praising
A CHOICE MANUAL Containing What is to be Believed Practised and Desired or Prayed for the Prayers being fitted to the several Days of the Week ALSO FESTIVAL HYMNS According to the Manner of the ANCIENT CHURCH Composed for the use of the Devout especially of younger Persons By Jeremy Taylor D. D. LONDON Printed by J. Grover for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty 1677. THE Golden Grove The Eleventh Edition THE GUIDE of Infant-Devotion together with a Guide for the PENITENT A CHOICE MANUAL Containing What is to be Believed Practised and Desired or Prayed for the Prayers being fitted to the several Days of the Week ALSO FESTIVAL HYMNS According to the Manner of the ANCIENT CHURCH Composed for the use of the Devout especially of younger Persons By Jeremy Taylor D. D. LONDON Printed by J. Grover for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty 1677. TO THE Pious and Devout READER IN this sad declension of Religion the Seers who are appointed to be the Watchmen of the Church cannot but observe that the Supplanters and Underminers are gone out and are digging down the foundations and having destroy'd all publick forms of Ecclesiastical Government discouâ—…tenanc'd an excellent Liturgie taken off the hinges of Unity disgrac'd the Articles of Religion polluted publick Assemblies taken away all cognizance of Schism by mingling all Sects and giving Countenance to that against which all Power ought to stand upon their guard There is now nothing left but that we take care that men be Christians For concerning the Ornament and advantages of Religion we cannot make that provision we desire Incertis de salute de gloria minime certandum For since they who have seen Jerusalem in prosperity and have forgotten the order of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice and the beauty of the Temple will be tempted to neglect so excellent a ministration and their assembling themselves together for peace and holy Offices and be content with any thing that is brought to them though it be but the husks and acorns of Prodigals and Swine so they may enjoy their Lands and their Money with it we must now take care that the young men who were born in the Captivity may be taught how to Worship the God of Israel after the manner of their fore-fathers till it shall please God that Religion shall return into the Land and dwell safely and grow prosperously But never did the excellency of Episcopal Government apppear so demonstratively and conspicuously as now Under their conduct and order we had a Church so united so orderly so govern'd a Religion so setled Articles so true sufficient and confess'd Canons so prudent and so obey'd Devotions so regular and constant Sacraments so adorn'd and ministred Churches so beauteous and religious Circumstances of Religion so grave and prudent so useful and apt for edification that the enemies of our Church who serve the Pope in all things and Jesus Christ in some who dare transgress an Institution and Ordidinance of Christ but dare not break a Canon of the Pope did despair of prevailing against Us and Truth and knew no hopes but by setting their faces against us to destroy this Government and then they knew they should triumph without any enemy so Balaam the Son of Bosor was sent for to curse the People of the Lord in hope that the son of Zippor might prevail against them that had long prospered under the Conduct of Moses and Aaron But now instead of this excellency of Condition and Constitution of Religion the people are fallen under the Harrows and Saws of impertinent and ignorant Preachers who think all Religion is a Sermon and all Sermons ought to be Libels against Truth and old Governours and expound Chapters that the meaning may never be understood and pray that they may be thought able to talk but not to hold their peace they casting not to obtian any thing but Wealth and Victory Power and Plunder and the People have reap'd the fruits apt to grow upon such Crab-stocks they grow idle and false hypocrites and careless they deny themselves nothing that is pleasant they despise Religion forget Government and some never think of Heaven and they that do think to go thither in such paths which all the Ages of the Church did give men warning of lest they shoul that way go to the Devil But when men have try'd all that they can it is to be supposed they will return to the excellency and advantages of the Christian Religion as it is taught by the Church of England for by destroying it no end can be serv'd but of Sin and Folly Faction and Death eternal For besides that no Church that is enemy to this does worship God in that truth of Propositions in that unblameable and pious Liturgie and in preaching the necessities of holy life so much as the Church of England does besides this I say it cannot be persecuted by any Governour that understands his own Interest unless he be first abused by false Preachers and then prefers his secret Opinion before his publick Advantage For no Church in the World is so great a friend to Loyalty and Obedience as she and her Sisters of the same perswasion They that hate Bishops have destroy'd Monarchy and they that would erect an Ecclestical Monarchy must consequently subject the temporal to it and both one and the other would be supream in Consciences and they that govern there with an opinion that in all things they ought to be attended to will let their Prince govern others so long as he will be rul'd by them And certainly for a Prince to persecute the Protestant Religion is as if a Physician should endeavour to destroy all Medicaments and Fathers kill their Sons and the Master of Ceremonies destroy all Formalities and Courtships and as if the Pope should root out all the Ecclesiastick State Nothing so combines with Government if it be of God's appointment as the Religion of the Church of England because nothing does more adhere to the Word of God and disregard the crafty advantages of the World If any man shall not decline to try his Title by the Word of God it is certain there is not in the world a better guard for it than the true Protestant Religion as it is taught in our Church But let things be as it please God it is certain that in that day when Truth gets her Victory in that day we shall prevail against all God's enemies and ours not in the purchaces and perquisites of the world but in the rewards and returns of Holiness and Patience and Faith and Charity for by these we worship God and against this Interest we cannot serve any thing else In the mean time we must by all means secure the founndation and take care that Religion may be conveyed in all its material parts the same as it was but by new and permitted instruments For let us secure that our young men be good Christians it
became a Sacrifice for all our sins and suffered himself to be taken by the malicious Jews and put to a painful and shameful death they being envious at him for the number of his Disciples and the reputation of his person the innocence of his life the mightiness of his Miracles and the power of his Doctrine and this Death he suffered when Pontius Pilate was Governour of Judea Was crucified Jesus Christ being taken by the Rulers of the Jews bound and derided buffeted and spit upon accused weakly and persecuted violently at last wanting matter and pretences to condemn him they asked him of his person and office and because he affirmed that great Truth which all the world of good men long'd for that he was the Messias and designed to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on high they resolved to call it Blasphemy and delivered him over to Pilate and by importunity and threats forced him against his Conscience to give him up to be scourged and then to be Crucified The Souldiers therefore mocking him with a Robe and Reed and pressing a Crown of thorns upon his head led him to the place of his death compelling him to bear his Cross to which they presently nail'd him on which for three hours he hanged in extreme torture being a sad spectacle of the most afflicted and the most innocent person of the whole world Dead When the Holy Jesus was wearied with tortures and he knew all things were now fulfilled and his Father's wrath appeased towards Mankind his Father pitying his innocent Son groaning under such intolerable miseries hastned his Death and Jesus commending his Spirit into the hands of his Father cried with a loud voice bowed his head and died and by his death sealed all the Doctrines and Revelations which he first taught the world and then confirmed by his Bloud He was consecrated our merciful High-Priest and by a feeling of our miseries and temptations became able to help them that are tempted and for these his sufferings was exalted to the highest Throne and seat of the right hand of God and hath shewn that to Heaven there is no surer way than suffering for his Name and hath taught us willingly to suffer for his sake what himself hath already suffered for ours He reconciled us to God by his Death led us to God drew us to himself redeemed us from all iniquity purchased us for his Father and for ever made us his servants and redeemed ones that we being dead unto sin might live unto God And this Death being so highly beneficial to us he hath appointed means to apply to us and to represent to God for us in the Holy Sacrament of his last Supper And upon all these considerations that Cross which was a smart and shame to our Lord is honour to us and as it turned to his Glory so also to our Spiritual advantages And Buried That he might suffer every thing of humane nature he was by the care of his Friends and Disciples by the leave of Pilate taken from the Cross and embalmed as the manner of the Jews was to bury and wrapp'd linnen and buried in a new grave hewn out of a Rock And this was the last and lowest step of his Humiliation He descended into Hell That is He went down into the lower parts of the earth as himself called it into the heart of the earth by which phrase the Scripture understands the state of Separation or of Souls severed from their Bodies By this his descending to the land of darkness where all things are forgotten he sanctified the state of Death Separation that none of his servants might ever after fear the jaws of Death and Hell whither he went not to suffer torment because he finished all that upon the Cross but to triumph over the gates of Hell to verifie his Death and the event of his sufferings and to break the iron bars of those lower prisons that they may open and shut hereafter only at his command The third day he rose again from the Dead After our Lord Jesus had abode in the grave the remaining part of the day of his Passion and all the next day early in the morning upon the third day by the power of God he was raised from Death and Hell to Light and Life never to return to death any more and is become the first-born from the dead the first-fruits of them that slept and although he was put to death in the flesh yet now being quickned in the Spirit he lives for ever And as we all die in Adam so in Christ we all shall be made alive but every man in his own order Christ is the first and we if we follow him in the Regeneration shall also follow him in the Resurrection He ascended into Heaven When our dearest Lord was risen from the Grave he conversed with his Disciples for forty days together often shewing himself alive by infallible proofs and once to five hundred of his Disciples at once appearing Having spoken to them fully concerning the affairs of the Kingdom and the Promise of the Father leaving them some few things in charge for the present he solemnly gave them his Blessing and in the presence of his Apostles was taken up into Heaven by a bright Cloud and the Ministery of Angels being gone before us to prepare a place for us above all Heavens in the presence of his Father and at the foot of the Throne of God From which glorious presence we cannot be kept by the change of Death and the powers of the Grave nor the depth of Hell nor the height of Heaven but Christ being lifted up shall draw all his Servants unto him And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty I believe that Jesus Christ sitteth in Heaven above all Principalities and Powers being exalted above every Name that is named in Heaven and Earth that is above every creature above and below all things being put under his feet That he is always in the presence of his Father interceding for us and governs all things in Heaven and Earth that he may defend his Church and adorn her with his Spirit and procure and effect her eternal Salvation There he sits and reigns as King and intercedes as our High-Priest He is a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which God made and not man the Author and Finisher of our Faith the Captain of our Confession the great Apostle of our Religion the Great Bishop of our Souls the Head of the Church and the Lord of Heaven and Earth And therefore to him we are to pay Dvino Worship Service and Obedience and we must believe in him
in which he can wound thee Remember how the Proud have fallen and they who have presumed upon their own strength have been disgraced and that the boldest and greatesttalkers in the days of peace have been the most dejected and pusillanimous in the day of temptation No man ought to think he hath found Peace when nothing troubles him or that God loves him because he hath no enemy nor that all is well because every thing is according to his mind nor that he is a holy person because he prays with great sweetness and comfort But he is at Peace who is reconciled to God and God loves him when he hath overcome himself and all is well when nothing pleases him but God being thankful in the midst of his afflctions and he is holy who when he hath lost his comfort loses nothing of his duty but is still the same when God changes his face towards him POSTULANDA OR Things to be prayed for A FORM of PRAYER By way of Paraphrase expounding The Lord's Prayer Our Father MErciful and Gracious thou gavest us being raising us from nothing to be an excellent creation efforming us after thy own Image tenderly feeding us and conducting and strengthening us all our days Thou art our Father by a more excellent Mercy adopting us in a new birth to become partakers of the ininheritance of Jesus Thou hast given us the portion and the food of Sons O make us to do the Duty of Sons that we may never loose our title to so glorious an inheritance Let this excellent Name and Title by which thou hast vouchsafed to relate to us be our Glory and our Confidence our Defence and Guard our Ornament and Strength our dignity and the endearment of Obedience the Principle of a holy Fear to thee our Father and of Love to thee and to our Brethren partakers of the same Hope and Dignity Unite every member of the Church to thee in holy bands Let there be no more names of Division nor Titles and Ensigns of Errour and Partiality Let not us who are Brethren contend but in giving honor to each other and glory to thee contending earnestly for the Faith but not to the breach of Charity nor the denying each others Hope But grant that we may all join in the promotion of the honour of thee our Father in celebrating the Name and spreading the Family and propagating the Laws and Institutions the Promises and Dignities of our Elder Brother that despising the transitory entertainments of this world we may labour for and long after the inheritance to which thou hast given us title by adopting us into the dignity of Sons For ever let thy Spirit witness to our spirit that we are thy children enable us to cry Abba Father Which art in Heaven Heaven is thy Throne the Earth thy Footstool From thy throne thou beholdest all the dwellers upon Earth and triest out the hearts of men and nothing is hid from thy sight And as thy Knowledge is infinite so is thy Power uncircumscribed as the utmost Orb of Heaven and thou sittest in thy own Essential Happiness and Tranquillity immovable and Eternal That is our Country and thither thy Servants are travelling there is our Father and that is our inheritance there our hearts are for there our treasure is laid up till the day of Recompence Hallowed be thy Name Thy Name O God is glorious and in thy Name is our hope and confidence According to thy Name so is thy praise unto the World's end They that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee for thy Name which thou madest to be proclaimed unto thy people is The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty In this glorious Name we worship thee O Lord and all they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee The desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the remembrance of thee Thou art worthy O Lord of Honour and praise and glory for ever and ever we confess thy glories we rejoyce in thy mercies we hope in thy Name and thy Saints like it well for thy Name is praised unto the end of the World it is believed by Faith relied upon by a holy Hope and loved by a great Charity All thy Church celebrates thee with praises and offers to thy Name the Sacrifices of Prayers and Thanksgiving Thou O God didst frame our Nature by thy own Image and now thou hast imprinted thy Name upon us we are thy servants the relatives and domesticks of thy family and thou hast honoured us with the gracious appellative of Christians O let us never dishonour so excellent a Title nor by unworthy usages prophane thy holy Name but for ever glorifie it Let our Life be answerable to our dignity that our body may be chast our thoughts clean our words gracious our manners holy and our life usefull and innocent that men seeing our good works may glorifie thee our Father which art in Heaven Thy Kingdom come Thou reignest in Heaven and Earth O do thou rule also in our hearts advance the interest of Religion let thy Gospel be placed in all the Regions of the earth and let all Nations come and worship thee laying their proudâ—… wills at thy feet submitting their understandings to the obedience of Jesus conforming their affections to thy holy Laws Let thy Kingdom be set up gloriously over us and do thou reign in our Spirits by thy Spirit of Grace subdue every lust and inordinate appetite trample upon our pride mortifie all rebellion within us and let all thine and our enemies be brought into captivity that sin may never reign in our mortal Bodies but that Christ may reign in our Understanding by Faith in the Will by Charity in the Passions by Mortifications in all the Members by a right and a chast use of them And when thy Kingdom that is within us hath flourished and is advanced to that height whither thou hast designed it grant thy Kingdom of Glory may speedily succeed and we thy Servants be admitted to the peace and purity the holiness and glories of that state where thou reignest alone and art all in all Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Thy Will O God is the measure of holiness and peace thy Providence the great disposer of all things tying all events together in order to thy glory and the good of thy Servants by a wonderful mysterious Chain of Wisdom Let thy Will also be the measure of our desires for we know that whatsoever thou saiest is true and whatsoever thou doest is good Grant we may submit our wills to thine being patient of evils which thou inflictest lovers of the good which thou commandest haters of all evil which thou forbiddest pleased with all the accidents thou sendest that though our nature is weaker than
call us and assist us Hear our Prayers c. Give to thy servants a watchful and an observing Spirit diligent in doing our duty inflexible to evil obedient to thy word inquisitive after thy will pure and holy thoughts strong and religious purposes and thy grace to perform faithfully what we have promised in the day of our duty or in the day of our calamity Hear our Prayers c. O teach us to despise all vanity to fight the battels of the Lord manfully against the Flesh the World and the Devil to spend our time religiously and usefully to speak gracious words to walk always as in thy presence to preserve our Souls and bodies in holiness fit for the habitation of the holy Spirit of God Hear our Prayers c. Give us a holy and a perfect repentance a well-instructed understanding regular affections a constant and a wise heart a good name a fear of thy Majesty and a love of all thy glories above all the things in the world for ever Hear our Prayers c. Give us a healthful body and a clear understanding the love of our neighbours and the peace of the Church the publick use and comforts of thy holy Word and Sacraments a great love to all Christians and obedience to our Superiours Ecclesiastical and Civil all the days of our life Hear our Prayers c. Give us Spiritual Wisdom that we may discern what is pleasing to thee and follow what belongs unto our peace and let the knowledge and love of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord be our guide and our portion all our days Hear our Prayers c. Give unto us holy dispositions and an active industry in thy service to redeem the time mis-spent in vanity for thy pity sake take not vengeance of us for our sins but sanctifie our Souls and bodies in this life and glorifie them hereafter Hear our Prayers c. Our Father c. IV. To be added to the former Liâ—…anies according as our Devotions and time will suâ—…feâ—… For all states of Men and Women especially in the Christian Church O Blessed God in mercy remember thine inheritance and forget not the congregation of the poor for ever pity poor mankind whose portion is misery and folly shame and death But thou art our Redeemer and the lifter up of our head and under the shadow of thy wings shall be our help until this Tyranny be over-past Have mercy upon us O God and hid not thy self from our Petition Preserve O God the Catholick Church in holiness and truth in unity and peace free from persecution or glorious under it that she may for ever advance the honour of our Lord Jesus for ever represent his Sacrifice and glorifie his Person and advance his Religion and be accepted of thee in her blessed Lord that being filled with his Spirit she may partake of his glory Have mercy upon us c. Give the spirit of Government and Holiness to all Christian Kings Princes and Governours grant that their people may obey them and they may obey thee and live in honesty and peace justice and holy Religion being Nursing-fathers to the Church Advocates for the oppressed Patrons for the widows and a Sanctuary for the miserable and the fatherless that they may reign with thee for ever in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Have mercy upon us c. Give to thy Servants the Bishops and all the Clergy the Spirit of holiness and courage of patience and humility of prudence and diligence to preach and declare thy will by a holy life and wise discourses that they may minister to the good of Souls and find a glorious reward in the day of our Lord Jesus Have mercy npon us c. Give to our Relatives our Wives and Children our Friends and Benefactors our Charges our Family c. pardon and support comfort in all their sorrows strength in all temptations the guard of Angels to preserve them from evil and the conduct of thy holy Spirit to lead them into all good that they doing their duty may feel thy mercies here and partake of thy glories hereafter Have mercy upon us c. Give to all Christian Kingdoms and Commonwealths peace and plenty health and holy Religion to all Families of Religion and Nurseries of Piety zeal and holiness prudence and unity peace and contentedness to all Schools of Learning quietness and industry freedom from wars and violence factions and envy Have mercy upon us c. Give to all married persons faith and love charitable and wise compliances sweetness of society and innocence of conversation to all Virgins and Widows great love of Religion a sober and a contented spirit an unwearied attendance to devotion and the offices of holiness protection to the fatherless comfort to the disconsolate patience and submission health and spiritual advantages to the sick that they may feel thy comforts for the days wherein they have suffered adversity Have mercy upon us c. Be thou a star and a guide to them that travel by land or sea the confidence and comfort of them that are in storms and shipwrecks the strength of them that toil in the Mines and row in the Gallies an instructer to the ignorant to them that are condemned to die be thou a guide unto death give chearfulness to every sad heart spiritual strength and proportionable comfort to them that are afflicted by evil spirits pity the lunaticks give life and salvation to all to whom thou hast given no understanding accept the stupid and the fools to mercy give liberty to prisoners redemption to captives maintenance to the poor patronage and defence to the oppessed and put a period to the iniquity and to the miseries of all mankind Have mercy upon us c. Give unto our enemies grace and pardon charity to us and love to thee take away all anger from them and all mistakes from us all mis-interpretations and jealousies bring all sinners to repentance and holiness and to all thy Saints and Servants give an increasing love and a persevering duty bring all Turks Jews and Infidels to the knowledge and confession of the Lord Jesus and a participation of all the Promises of the Gospel all the benefits of his Passion to all Hereticks give humility and ingenuity repentance of their errours and grace and power to make amends to the Church and Truth and a publick acknowledgment of a holy faith to the glory of the Lord Jesus Have mercy c. Give to all Merchants faithfulness and truth to the labouring husbandman health and fair seasons of the year and reward his toil with the dew of Heaven and the blessings of the earth to all Artisans give diligence in their Callings and a blessing on their labours and on their familes to old men piety and perfect repentance a liberal heart and an open hand great Religion and desires after Heaven to young men give sobriety and chastity health and usefulness an early piety and a
noblest way of rejoycing in the good of others II. O Dear God never suffer the Devil to rub his vilest Leprosie of Envy upon me never let me have the affections of the desperate and damned let it not be ill with me when it is well with others but let thy holy Spirit so over-rule me for ever that I may pity the afflicted and be compassionate and have a fellow-feeling of my brother's sorrows and that I may as much as I can promote his good and give thee thanks for it and rejoice with them that do rejoice never censuring his actions curstly nor detracting from his praises spitefully nor upbraiding his infelicities maliciously but pleased in all things which thou doest or givest that I may then triumph in spirit when thy Kingdom is advanced when thy Spirit rules when thy Church is profited when thy Saiuts rejoice when the Devil's interest is destroyed truly loving thee and truly loving my brother that we may all together join in the holy Communion of Saints both here and hereafter in the measures of grace and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen For Friday A Prayer against Wrath and inordinate Anger I. O Almighty Judge of Men and Angels whose anger is always the minister of Justice slow but severe not lightly arising but falling heavily when it comes give to thy servant a meek and a gentle spirit that I also may be slow to anger and easie to mercy and forgiveness Give me a wise and a constant heart that I may not be moved with every trifling mistake and inconsiderable accident in the conversation and entercourse of others never be moved to an intemperate anger for any injury that is done or offered let my anger ever be upon a just cause measured with moderation and reason expressed with charity and prudence lasting but till it hath done some good either upon my self or others II. LOrd let me be ever courteous and easie to be intreated never let me fall into a peevish or contentious spirit but follow peace with all men offering forgiveness inviting them by courtesies ready to confess my own errours apt to make amends and desirous to be reconciled Let no sickness or cross accident no imployment or weariness make me angry or ungentle and discontent or unthankful or uneasie to them that minister to me but in all things make me like unto the holy Jesus Give me the spirit of a Christian charitable humble merciful and meek useful and liberal complying with every chance angry at nothing but my own sins and grieving for the sins of others that while my passion obeys my reason and my reason is religious and my religion is pure and undefiled managed with humility and adorned with charity I may escape thy anger which I have deserved and may dwell in thy love and be thy Son and Servant for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen For Saturday A Prayer against weariness in well-doing I. O My God merciful and gracious my Soul groans under the loads of its own infirmity when my spirit is willing my flesh is weak my understanding foolish and imperfect my will peevish listless my affections wandering after strange objects my fancy wild and unfixed all my senses minister to folly and vanity and though they were all made for Religion yet they least of all delight in that O my God pity me and hear me when I pray and make that I may pray acceptably Give me a love to Religion an unwearied spirit in the things of God Let me not relish or delight in the things of the world in sensual objects and transitory possessions but make my eyes look up to thee my Soul be filled with thee my spirit ravished with thy love my understanding imployed in the meditation of thy Law all my powers and faculties of Soul and Body wholly serving thee and delighting in such holy ministeries II. O Most glorious God what greater favour is there than that I may and what easier imployment can there be than to pray to thee to be admitted to thy presence and to represent our needs and that we have our needs supplied only for asking and desiring passionately and humbly But we rather quit our hopes of Heaven than buy it at the cheapest rate of humble prayer This O God is the greatest infirmity and infelicity of man and hath an intolerable cause and is an insufferable evil III. O Relieve my spirit with thy graciousness take from me all tediousness of spirit and give me a laboriousness that will not be tired a hope that shall never fail a desire of holiness not to be satisfied till it possesses a charity that will always increase that I making Religion the business of my whole life may turn all things into Religion doing all to thy glory and by the measures of thy Word and of thy Spirit that when thou shalt call me from this deliciousness of imployment and the holy mysteries of Grace I may pass into the imployment of Saints and Angels whose work it is with eternal joy and thanksgiving to sing praises to the mercies of the great Redeemer of Men and Saviour of Men and Angels Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and worship all service and thanks all Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen A Prayer to be said by a Maiden before she enters into the state of Marriage I O Most glorious God and my most indulgent Lord and gracious Father who dost bless us by thy bounty pardon us by thy mercy support and guide us by thy grace and govern us sweetly by thy providence I give thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast hitherto preserved me in my Virgin-state with innocence and chastity in a good name and a modest report It is thy goodness alone and the blessed emanation of thy holy Spirit by which I have been preserved and to thee I return all praise and thanks and adore and love thy goodness infinite II. AND now O Lord since by thy dispensation and over-ruling providence I am to change my condition and enter into the holy state of Marriage which thou hast sanctified by thy Institution and blessed by they Word and Promises and raised up to an excellent mystery that it might represent the Union of Christ and his Church be pleased to go along with thy servant in my entring into and passing through this state that it may not be a state of temptation or sorrow by occasion of my sins or infirmities but of holiness and comfort as thou host intended it to all that love and fear thy holy Name III. LOrd bless and preserve that dear person whom thou hast chosen to be my Husband let his life be long and blessed comfortable and holy and let me also become a great blessing and comfort unto him a sharer in all his joys a refreshment in all his sorrows a meet helper for him in all accidents and chances
of the world Make me amiable for ever in his eyes and very dear to him Unite his heart to me in the dearest union of love and holiness and mine to him in all sweetness and charity and compliance Keep from me all morosity and ungentleness all sullenness and harshness of disposition all pride and vanity all discontentedness aud unreasonableness of passion and humonr and make me humble and obedient charitable and loving patient and contented useful and observant that we may delight in each other according to thy blessed word and Ordinance and both of us may rejoyce in thee having our portion in the love and service of God for ever and ever IV. O Blessed Father never suffer any mistakes or discontent any distrustfulness or sorrow any trifling arrests of fancy or unhandsom accident to cause any unkindness between us but let us so dearly love so affectionately observe so religiously attend to each other's good and content that we may always please thee and by this learn and practise our duty and greatest love to thee and become mutual helps to each other in the way of Godliness that when we have received the blessings of a married life the comforts of society the endearments of a holy and great affection and the dowry of blessed Children we may for ever dwell together in the embraces of thy love and glories feasting in the Marriage-supper of the Lamb to eternal ages through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Amen A Prayer for a holy and a happy Death O Eternal and Holy Jesus who by death hast overcome death and by thy passion hast taken out its sting and made it to become one of the gates of Heaven and an entrance to felicity have mercy upon me now and at the hour of my death let thy grace accompany me all the days of my life that I may by a holy conversation and an habitual performance of my duty wait for the coming of our Lord and be ready to enter with thee at whatsoever hour thou shalt come Lord let not my death be in any sense unprovided nor untimely nor hasty but after the manner of men having in it nothing extraordinary but an extraordiry piety and the manifestation of a great and miraculous mercy Let my sense and my understanding be preserved intire till the last of my days and grant that I may die the death of the righteous free from debt and deadly sin having first discharged all my obligations of justice leaving none miserable and unprovided in my departure but be thou the portion of all my friends and relatives and let thy blessing descend upon their heads and abide there till they shall meet me in the bosom of our Lord. Preserve me ever in the communion and peace of the Church and bless my Death-bed with the opportunity of a holy and a spiritual Guide with the assistance and guard of Angels with the reception of the holy Sacrament with patience and dereliction of my own desires with a strong faith and a firm and humbled hope with just measures of repentance and great treasures of charity to thee my God and to all the world that my Soul in the arms of the holy Jesus may be deposited with safety and joy there to expect the revelation of thy day and then to partake the glories of thy Kingdom O eternal and holy Jesus Amen A GUIDE FOR THE PENITENT OR A Model drawn up for the help of a Devout Soul wounded with Sin Tertull. Peccator omnium Notarum Et nulli Rei nisi poenitentiae natus LONDON Printed by J. Grover for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty MDCLXXVII TO THE Christian Reader AMong the so troublesome multitude of Books and the no less troublesome scarcity of good ones I have no reason to think this little Piece will much increase the number of the one or not serve to balance the trouble of the other but I rather hope it may be acceptable and useful if either the great Eminence of the Author or the Argument it self or else the small bulk which are things that use to render works of this kind considerable be sufficient either to recommend or excuse it For the necessity of the argument may recommend it not to most Readers only but very many Writers too And without doubt many of those who have been ambitious to put themselves into the number of Authors by publishing their abortive labours will need the Rules and Offices of this Manual when their Conscience shall cite them to Repentance and to ask God forgiveness for nourishing Faction and sowing the seeds of Discord and venting their crude Notions to others trouble and their own shame For such men in the use of this little Enchiridion may find more comfort and do thimselves and the Age more right than in that small harvest of reputation their own voluminous labours could bring in which are now very fitly preferred from the Closet to the more worthy ministeries of the Shop ond Kitchin But the most Reverend Author to whose learned Piety thou owest these following assistances who in the sweetness and mildness of these lines has expressed the features and lineaments of his own candid serene Soul did not address them for his own use in that kind For that he was of the Highest Order of our Church he did not owe to his Interest which advances some nor to his Money which prefers commonly too many but wholly to his Vertues and his Learning and those other eminent Graces that made his Example as great in the Church as was his Dignity And this little Book is a great instance of his Humility and Charity which he does in some kind still exercise though he be now gone to receive his reward for them and as he used to look into the necessities of indigent persons to relieve them with his hand so in this Portuise he descends to converse with the weaknesses and solitariness of humble Penitents directing and improving their Devotions and instigating their Repentance and preparing a constant store-house of relief for them by his Pen. And now if a person so eminent in Grace so innocent in Life needed such Exercises as this for what thou receivest here know Courteous Reader it comes from his Counsel and from his daily Experience and Practise too consider whether thou thy self art not concerned to bring thy actions and life to as severe a scrutiny and a repentance as operative If thou joynest with me in Opinion here is a Directory ready at hand but if not thou needest it so much the more For our Sins the less impression they make on our Memory the deeper they make on our Conscience and he is in some cases the most guilty who presumes he is wholly innocent Retract therefore that conceit and betake â—…hy self to thy Closet and the practice of â—…his Book and God bless it to thy benefit and his own glory A GUIDE FOR THE PENITENT Remembrances concerning the Examination of your
Conscience I. YOU are to consider the Necessity of this Duty For if we take care that the Rooms which we eat or sleep in should be kept clean you cannot but think that the cleansing of the Soul is a Concernment infinitely beyond it and for doing this there is no other way left but to search out every corner of it and to cast out every Sin with every unclean thought that hath defiled it II. You are to remember that there is a great Measure of Discretion to be used in the Performance of this so that you may neither omit it when your own heart may tell you that there is something amiss in you which must be look'd after nor on the other side over-scrupulously pursue it when you are not conscious to your self of any notable Failings but such as are incident to humane frailty for if you do not wilfully pass over any of your greater Offences but confess particularly and repent seriously of them God will more easily pass by your lesser Infirmities being such as the Holy Prophet despaired of finding out when he so sadly complained Who can tell how oft he offendeth III. That though it may not only seem but be impossible to you to recollect every failing and that your scrupulous endeavouring of it may rather prove a torture to the Conscience than an Ease to it yet you are so far to exercise an Inquisition upon your self as by observing these lesser particulars though it be but in gross you may the better discover what the corruption of your Nature sways you to and having discovered it you are bound to strive to subdue it by degrees and what you cannot for the present overcome humbly to ask pardon for IV. That though it be the Duty of every day not to let the Sun go down upon any Sin that you have committed without examining of the Merits of it yet there are times when this ought to be more punctually and solemnly done especially at such times as you set apart for humbling your Soul with Fasting or for preparing your self for the devout Receiving of the Sacrament V. For the Manner of Ordering this Examination several Methods have been prescribed some by dividing the subject Matter of it into Thoughts Words and Deeds others as sins are differenced by their several Objects either as being immediately sins against God or against your Neighbour or against your own Soul Others advise to set God's holy Commandments before you and to examine by that Rule what you have done amiss But in the chice of this you may free your self from all Perplexity by taking his advice whom you shall chuse to be your Spiritual Guide And the Duty it self being once resolved upon the Mode of doing may easily be found out Advice Concerning Confession I. THat besides this Examination of your Conscience which may be done in secret between God and your own Soul there is great use of Holy Confession which though it be not generally in all Cases and peremptorily commanded as if without it no Salvation could possibly be had yet you are advised by the Church under whose discipline you live that before you are to receive the Holy Sacrament or when you are visited with any dangerous sickness if you find any one particular sin or more that lies heavy upon you to disburthen your self of it into the Bosom of your Confessor who not only stands between God and you to pray for you but hath the power of the Keys committed to him upon your true Repentance to Absolve you in Christ's Name from those sins which you have confessed to him II. You are to remember that you bring along with you to Confession not only unfeigned Sorrow and Remorse of Conscience for sins past but settled Resolutions for the time to come never to offend in the same kind again for without this Confession is but a mere Pageant and rather a mockery of God than any effectual means to reconcile you to him III. That having made choice of such a Confessor who is every way qualified that you may trust your Soul with him you are advised plainly and sincerely to open your heart to him and that laying aside all consideration of any personal weakness in him you are to look upon him only as he is a Trustee from God and commissioned by him as his Ministerial Deputy to hear and judge and absolve you IV. That the Manner of your Confession be in an humble posture on your knees as being made to God rather than man and for the Matter of it let it be severe and serious but yet so as it may be without any inordinate Anxiety and unnecessary Scruples which serve only to entangle the Soul and instead of setting you free which is the benefit to be looked for by Confession perplex you the more V. That for the frequency of doing this you are to consult with your own necessities and as your Physician is not sent for upon every small diftemper which your own care may rectifie so neither are you obliged upon every failing to be over-scrupulous or to think it a point of Necessity presently to confess it For the Confessor cannot be always present but your God is to whom if you apply your self with Prayers and Penitence confessing in his ears alone whatever you have done amiss and stedfastly believing that through the merits of your Saviour they shall never be imputed to you you may be confident that your Absolution is at that time sealed in Heaven but the comfortable declaration of it you are to look for from the Priest Advice concerning Devout Receiving the Holy and Blessed Sacrament I. YOU are first to consider seriously the Infinite love of your Saviour who not only offered himself for you as a Sacrifice upon the Cross but that this might never be forgotten by you left the blessed memory of it in his holy Sacrament which as often as you devoutly and faithfully receive you are effectually made Partaker of all the merits of his precious Death and Passion II. That for the frequency of doing this if your own Conscience doth not speak home to you you refer your self to your Spiritual Guide who knowing the Temper of your Soul and how you stand disposed may best direct you Only I shall add this that the oftener you apply your self to do it your life will be the purer your heart the chearfuller and the better armed against all Temptations III. That three times in the year at least especially on those solemn Festivals observed by all Christians who have not utterly cast off Obedience to the Church and order in their Devotions you lay aside all excuses and every Sin that then besets you and seriously prepare your self for so great a Blessing IV. That as soon as you wake that Morning and the sooner you awake the better sign it is that your mind is set upon it you rouse your self up with a fervent expectation of Receiving that day the Bread that
I have trifled away so many of my Youngest days without knowing thee or taking any notice of those strict duties which I did owe unto thee that I was so long a Child in all things excepting Innocence and that only by an over-hasty Spring of early Wickedness I was more than a Child But I Repent O my God I Repent I Accuse and Judge and Condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner III. Wo Wo unto me O God that as I grew up the seeds of Corruption which I brought with me into the world grew up along with me and by insensible degrees which I observed not Pride and Folly and Lust took Possession of me and Sin hath reigned in my mortal Body But I Repent O my God I Repent I am infinitely confounded at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner IV. Wo Wo unto me O God that being washed in the Waters of Baptism from the guilt of that Original Corruption which I brought with me into the World I have since that time so many ways actually defiled my self that I can no longer pretend by any former contract with thee that I am either a Child of thine a member of thy Christ or an heir of the Kingdom of Heaven But I Repent O my God I Repent I am utterly confounded at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner V. Wo unto me O God that having been received into the Bosom of thy Church which so many millions of Souls have not had the happiness to be I have ingratefully dishonoured thy holy Faith by an unholy Life and having so often confessed thee with my tongue I have denied thee in my life and actions But I Repent O my God I Repent I Accuse and Judge and Condemn my Self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner VI. Wo Wo unto me O God that having abjured the Devil and all his works and given up my name to Christ to fight under the Banner of his Cross I have on the contrary treacherously complied with his Enemy in many things and shall be found I fear to have been more diligent in serving him than I have been in serving thee But I Repent O my God I Repent I am confounded and astonished at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner VII Wo Wo unto me O God that being obliged by that high calling of being a Christian to renounce the Pomps and Vanities of the World I have so infinitely failed in this that I have doted on nothing more for those very Vanities have been my Idols and my seduced Heart hath gone a Whoring after them But I Repent O my God I Repent I am ashamed and confounded at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner VIII Wo Wo unto me O God that being farther bound by that most Solemn Vow utterly to forsake the sinful Lusts of the Flesh I have instead of forsaking them pursued and hunted after them and when other temptations have failed have been apt enough to kindle my own Fire and to be a Tempter to my self But I Repent O my God I Repent I hate and loath and abhar my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner IX Wo Wo unto me O God that knowing thy revealed Will to be the Law to which I was bound in all obedience to submit my self I like an insolent Rebel have not only set up my own Will in opposition to thine but many times preferred it before thine and have listned more to the false Oracles of Flesh and Blood than to all thy Holy Commandments But I Repent O my God I Repent I Accuse and Judge and Condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner X. Wo Wo unto me O God that being made according to thine Image the greatest honour that could be done thy Creature I have dashed so many blurs and spots and foul sins upon it so defaced all the lines and features of it that unless the Holy Spirit please to renew that Image in me again I tremble to think what I must one day hear Depart from me I know you not But I Repent O my God I Repent I am ashamed and confounded at it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XI Wo Wo unto me O God that having received a Rational Soul from thee to be a Moral Light and guide unto my actions I have been so brutish as to follow my sensual appetite instead of it and have made no farther use of Reason than to find out vain excuses to cozen my own Soul into all the by-ways of Sin and Errour But I Repent O my God I Repent I Accuse and Judge and Condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XII Wo Wo unto me O God that being endowed with Memory to serve as a Magazine to treasure up thy Precepts and holy Counsels in I have stuft it so miserably full with the Idea's of former Vanities and Sin that I have left no room for thee at all But I Repent O my God I Repent I infinitely condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XIII Wo Wo unto me O God that having received a Heart from thee to be the seat of clean and holy affections and the only Temple for thy holy Spirit to dwell in I have so unworthily abused and altered the property of it that it is now become a Den of Thieves and an unhandsome receptacle of all uncleanness But I Repent O my God I Repent I hate and loath and abhor my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XIV Wo Wo unto me O God that my wretched Heart being corrupted my Imagination hath run wildly after with a swarm of vain and sinful Thoughts which like importunate Flies being driven away light again and again upon my destracted Soul and intermingle with the best of my Devotions But I Repent O my God I Repent I am infinitely troubled and grieved for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XV. Wo Wo unto me O God that mine Eyes being greedy after Vanity have been upon all occasions as open windows to let in Sin but when by the same way they should have issued out Penitential Tears to wash away the stains those Sins had made there hath been no passage found for them But I Repent O my God I Repent I am inwardly grieved and deplore my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XVI Wo Wo unto me O my God that for the entertaining of vain conversation I have left mine Ears too often open to light and vain and sinful discourses and in all my inquiries have hearkned more to what the world saith abroad than to what thy holy Spirit and my own Conscience saith within me But I Repent O my God I Repent I Accuse and Judge and Condemn my self for it Lord be thou merciful to me a Sinner XVII Wo Wo unto me O God that I have not