Christ came to visit us in great humility that in the last Day when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead we may rise to the life immortal through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost now and ever Amen ALmighty and everlasting God which art alwayes more ready to hear than we to pray and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy forgiving us those things whereof our Conscience is afraid and giving unto us that that our Prayer dare not presume to ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. ALmighty and merciful God of thy bountiful goodnesse keep us from all things that may hurt us that we being ready both in body and soul may with free hearts accomplish those things that thou wouldst have done through Jesus Christ our Lord. O Eternal God Almighty Father of Men and Angels by whose mercy care and Providence I have been preserved blessed comforted and assisted I humbly beg of thee to pardon the sins and follies of this day the weaknesse of my service the strength of my passion the rashnesse of my words and the vanity and evil of my actions O just and dear God how long shall I confesse my sins and pray against them and yet fall under them O let it be so no more let me never return to the follies of which I am ashamed which bring Sorrow and Death and thy displeasure worse than death give me a command over my evil Inclinations and a perfect hatred of sin and a love to thee above all the desires of this world be pleased to bless and preserve me this night from all sin and all violence of Chance and the malice of the Spirits of darknesse watch over me in my sleep or wake and whether I sleep or awake let me be thy Servant be thou first and last in all my thoughts and the guid and continual assistance of all my actions preserve my Body pardon the sins of my Soul sanctifie my Spirit let me alwayes live holy justly and soberly and when I die receive my Soul into thy hands O holy and ever blessed Jesus that I may lye in thy Bosom and long for thy coming and hear thy blessed sentence at dooms-day and live in thy Kingdom singing praises to God for ever and ever Amen Save me Lord waking and keep me sleeping that I may watch with Christ and rest in peace Amen Preserve me as the Apple of thine Eye and protect me under the shadow of thy wings Vouchsafe O Lord to keep me this night without sin Have mercy on me O Lord have have mercy on me Thy mercy be upon me O Lord. As I have put my trust in thee O Lord hear my Prayer And let my Supplication come unto thee VIsit we beseech thee O Lord this Habitation this Countrey and Township wherein I live and repel far from it and them all the snares of the wicked Enemy of Mankind and let thy holy Angels dwell therein to preserve us in peace and thy Blessing be upon us and all that we have and all that belongs unto us both now and for ever through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen God the Father bless me Iesus Christ defend and keep me the vertue of the Holy Ghost illuminate and Sanctifie me this night and for ever Amen Concluding Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit Lord Iesu receive my Soul When you are in your Bed and cannot sleep exercise your self in some Spiritual Meditation If thou chance to awake in the dead of the night forthwith imagine thy self present amidst the Quires of Saints and Angels and with sudden Acclamation cry out with them reciting that Himn which they incessantly sing both day and night saying Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus c. Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabboth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen WHen I had ended these Devotions for the Morning and Evening for your private use I thought to have proceeded no further but when I considered the difference holy Church makes of Dayes some for holy Feasts and others for holy Fasts I thought it convenient to set you out some other Devotions for the great weekly Feast of the Church being the Lords day upon which he did rise from the Grave and that weekly Fast of the Church being Friday upon which he was Crucified besides the Publique I mean those appointed by the Church for those days and your other private Devotions For as those dayes are great in the esteem of the Church so they bring a greater duty with them DEVOTIONS For Sunday Mornings before the Church Prayers begin The fifth Psalm 1. POnder my words O Lord consider my Meditation 2. O hearken thou unto the voice of my calling my King and my God for unto thee will I make my Prayer 3. My voice shalt thou hear betimes O Lord early in the Morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up 4. For thou art the God that hast no pleasure in wickednesse neither shall any evil dwell with thee 5. Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight for thou hatest all them that work vanity 6. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing the Lord will abhor both the blood-thirsty and deceitfull man 7. But as for me I will come into thine House even upon the multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy Temple 8. Lead me O Lord in thy righteousnesse because of mine Enemies make thy way plain before my face 9. For there is no faithfulnesse in his mouth their inward parts are very wickedness 10. Their throat is an open Sepulchre they flatter with their tongue 11. Destroy thou them O God let them perish through their own imaginations cast them out in the multitude of their ungodliness for they have rebelled against thee 12. And let all them that put their trust in thee rejoyce they shall ever be giving of thanks because thou defendest them they that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee 13. For thou Lord wilt give thy Blessing unto the righteous and with thy favourable kindness wilt thou defend him as with a shield Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Then humbly kneeling upon your knees say In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity now and for ever Amen Our Father c. Lord have mercy upon us Christ have mercy upon us Lord have mercy upon us Jesu receive our Prayers Lord Jesu grant our Petitions BLessed Lord who hast caused all holy Scripture to be written for our learning grant that we may in such wise hear them read
Sighs of them that mourn attend to the Prayers which we pour out before thee in our distresse and tribulation and clemently hear them that whatever the malice of Man or subtilty of Satan can work against us may by the wisdom of thy Piety be dasht and brought to nothing so as being hurt by no Adversities but delivered from all Affliction and sorrow we may joyfully yield thanks to thee in thy Church Forgive O Lord our sins and bestow on us thy mercy look down upon our low and sad condition pity our many miserys and break asunder the bonds that lie heavy on us and in all our necessities graciously hear thy Suppliants through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth one God world without end Amen Lord have mercy upon us Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy upon us Lord Jesu hear our Prayers Lord Jesus receive our Petitions Our Father c. ALmighty God the Fountain of all Wisdom who knowest our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking we beseech thee to have Compassion upon our Infirmities and those things which for our unworthinesse we dare not and for our blindnesse we cannot ask vouchsafe to give us for the Worthiness of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the felloship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen I Shall not undertake to trouble you with the particular Opinions concerning the keeping of this day holy since some are of one Opinion and some of another and many Learned Treatises being thereupon already written to which when you shall by the good pleasure of God attain to a more mature judgment I shall refer you but rather advise you to sollow the Order of holy Church therein and withal to assure you of my own Experience and observations of that day which have been that when ever I have been so unhappy either by the perswasions of others or my own evil Inclinations to undertake or meddle with any Affairs of the World upon that day any more than of necessity they have alwayes had a very ill Successe and a most unhappy Conclusion therefore since it is the Command of God and holy Church that this day should be kept holy I would advise you not to be singular in neglecting your duty upon that holy day which the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the great God of all the holy Saints and Angels in Heaven who keep a holy and perpetual Sabboth grant you may perform with all holy devotions and pious works Amen DEVOTIONS for Friday FRiday being the Day of the Week upon which our blessed Lord and Saviour by most cruel hands was Crucified for the Redemption of the whole World hath by the Christian Church in all times been observed as a day of Fasting yet some Countrys have herein made some difference As first not to fast upon Friday within the twelve dayes of Christmas and Easter week Secondly others not to fast upon any Friday that happeneth to fall upon any holy-day observed by the Command of the Church Thirdly others not to fast upon any Friday between Easter and Ascension from that saying of our Saviour Mat. 9. 15. Can the Children of the Bride Chamber mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them But you may use your discretion herein having a special regard to the Order of your holy Mother the Church of England who commands all Fridays in the year to be observed as Fasts except Christmasse-day when it shall happen to fall upon a Friday Fasting dayes ought to be dayes of Repentance and abstinence from sin as well as from meat and drink And being dayes of Repentance you shall do well that day to recite the seven Penitential Psalms which are these the 6. the 32. the 38. the 51. the 102. the 130. and the 143. dividing them in your Devotions as you shall be hereby directed First when you prepare your self for your duty of Fasting standing before the place where you intend your devotion which may be so early as this Office may be ended by you before the Church Morning Service begin and say The sixth Psalm 1. O Lord rebuke me not in thine indignation neither chasten me in thy displeasure 2. Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed 3. My Soul is also sore troubled but Lord how long wilt thou punish me 4. Turn thee O Lord and deliver my Soul O save me for thy mercies sake 5. For in death no man remembreth thee and who will give thee thanks in the Pit 6. I am weary of my groning every night wash I my Bed and water my Couch with my tears 7. My beâ—uty is gone for very trouble and worn away because of all mine enemies 8. Away from me all ye that work vanity for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping 9. The Lord hath heard my petition the Lord will receive my Prayer 10. All mine enemies shall be confounded and sore vexed they shall be turned back and put to shame suddenly Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The 32. Psalm 1. BLessed is he whose unrighteousnesse is forgiven and whose sin is covered 2. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin and in whose Spirit their is no guile 3. For while I held my tongue my bones consumed away through my daily complaining 4. For thy hand is heavy upon me day and night and my moisture is like the drought in Summer 5. I will knowledge my sin unto thee and mine unrighteousnesse have I not hid 6. I said I will confesse my sins unto the Lord and so thou forgavest the wickednesse of my sin 7. For this shall every one that is godly make his Prayer unto thee in a time when thou mayst be found but in the great water-floods they shall not come nigh him 8. Thou art a place to hide me in thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compasse me about with songs of deliverance 9. I will inform thee and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go and I will guid thee with mine eye 10. Be ye not like to Horse and Mule which have no understanding whose mouths must be holden with bit and bridle lest they fall upon thee 11. Great plagues remain for the ungodly but who so putteth his trust in the Lord mercy embraceth him on every side 12. Be glad O ye Righteous and rejoyce in the Lord and be joyful all ye that are true of heart Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Then say By the sign of the holy Crosse O Lord deliver me Then kneeling devoutly upon your knees say In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity now
very perfect accompt and Experiment of the sad and Hellish effectâ— of their Schismatical Pragmatical and most diabolical opinions so directly opposite to the doctrine of the Prince of Peace that they can never march under his Banner without a sad and serious Repentance Therefore beware the Jesuite with one hand and them with the other for if the Jesuite seize you by one hand or the Presbyterian by the other you shall be then certainly led either into Rebellion or Apostacy or into both for indeed they seldom go asunder From which good Lord deliver you and all good people Amen WHen ever you hear the Bell toll for the publique Prayers of the Church presently take into your thoughts the great goodnesse of God in Redemption of the World by his blessed Son and your own unworthinesse occasioned by your evil Custom of sin and with this Meditation repair to the Church But if it should happen that you are in such a place that you cannot go to the Church as my unhappinesse is at this present and I pray God deliver you from the like then if opportunity will give you leave upon your knees beseech God that you may pertake of the benefit of the Prayers of the Church When you are come to the Church and entring within the Gates thereof make a reverend bow towards the East end and say GLory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen When Prayers are beginning make a reverent bow and be very ready in all the Responsals of the Church Liturgy If it shall so happen that you may hear a Sermon and not the Service of the Church or the Church Service and not a Sermon rather make choice to hear the Service of the Church than a Sermon although if your occasions will permit you neglect not the other When you are in the Church where you meet with God and his holy Angels never behave your selves irreverently but attend your duty there with all reverent postures as your head being uncovered and not sitting at any part of the Divine Service considering the businesse you have there is either to hear God speak to you by his Priest or you speaking to God in your Prayers As we ought to take all opportunities of serving of God so I would advise you when ever you come to any place where you never were before privately to your self at your entrance desire God to bless your coming thither and say OUr Father which art in Heaven c. And if you come to any place where you have been before then privately to your self desire of God pardon for the sins you have committed and praise his holy Name for all his Mercies you have received since you were last there and say OUr Father which art in Heaven c. When ever you come to any Town or other place about any businesse where you may hear the publick Prayers of the Church so order your affairs as to do that before you go about your other businesse that God may give a greater blessing to your endeavours and the better success in what you came about When any poor person shall beg of you meditate with your self what a great blessing God hath bestowed upon you that you are not the person begging of him and what you can spare freely but privately give Remember to hold your peace in such things as appertain not to you use no extravagant speeches or gestures at any time but especially in open or publick Assemblies but in all things observe a grave modesty and discretion In all things desire and prefer that which may most redound to the greater service of God as to comfort the afflicted to reconcile the discentious to visit the Imprisoned and relieve the poor Observe the learned and pious Dr. Taylor in his History of the Life and Death of the holy Jesus in his Discourse of Prayer saith he That Prayer in publick or private in the Communion or Society of Saints or in our Closets these prayers have lesse temptation or vanity than others have more advantage of Charity example fervour and energy In publick Offices we avoid singularity in the private we avoid hypocrisie those are of more edification these of greater retirednesse and silence of spirits those serve the needs of all the world in the first Intention and our own by consequence these serve our needs first and the publick only by a secondary intention these have more pleasure they more duty these are the best instruments of Repentance where our confessions may be more particular and our shame lesse scandalous the other are better for Eucharist and Instrustion for edification of the Church and glorification of God The Postures of our Bodies in Prayer had as great variety as the severiâ—ies and Civilities of several Nations came to The Jews most commonly prayed standing so did the Pharisees and the Publicans in the Temple so did the Primitive Christians in all their greater Feastivals and Intervals of Jubilee In their Pennances they kneeled the Monks in Cassia sate when they sung the Psalter and in every Country whatsoever by the Custom of the Nation was a Symbole of Reverence and humility of silence and attention of gravity and modesty that posture they translâ—ted to their prayers but in all Nations bowing the Head that is a laying down our glory at the feet of God was the manner of Worshippers And this was alwayes the more humble and the lower as their devotion was higher and was very often expressed by prostration or laying flat upon the ground And this all Nations did and all Religions Our deportment ought to be grave decent humble apt for adoration apt to edifie and when we address our selves to Prayer not instantly leap into the Office as the Judges of the Areopage into their Sentence without preface or preparatory affections but considering in what presence we speak and to what purposes let us behave our selves with reverential fear And when we have done not rise from the ground as if we vaulted or were glad we had done but as we begin with desires of assistance so end with desires of pardon and acceptance concluding our longer Offices with a shorter mental prayer of a more private reflexion and reference designing to mend what we have done amisse or to give thanks and proceed if we did well and according to our powers In private Prayer it is permitted to every man to speak his prayers or onely to think them which is a speaking to God Vocal or Mental prayer is all one to God but in order to us they have their several advantages the Sacrifice of the heart and the Calves of the lips make up a Holocaust to God but words are the arrest of the desires and keep the Spirit fixt and in lesse permissions to wander from fancy to fancy and mental Prayer is apt to make the greater fervour if