guilt 6. Use S. Pauls instruments of Sobriety Let us who are of the day be sober putting on the brestplate of faith and love and for an helmet the hope of salvation Faith Hope and Charity are the best weapons in the world to fight against intemperance The faith of the Mahometans forbids them to drink wine and they abstain religiously as the sons of Rechab and the faith of Christ forbids drunkenness to us and therefore is infinitely more powerful to suppresse this vice when we remember that we are Christians and to abstain from drunkennesse and gluttony is part of the Faith and Discipline of Jesus and that with these vices neither our love to God nor our hopes of heaven can possibly consist and therefore when these enter the heart the others goe out at the mouth for this is the Devil that is cast out by fasting and prayer which are the proper actions of these graces 7. As a pursuance of this Rule it is a good advice that as we begin and end all our times of eating with prayer and thanksgiving so at the meal we remove and carry up our minde and spirit to the Celestial table often thinking of it and often desiring it that by enkindling thy desire to Heavenly banquets thou mayest be indifferent and lesse passionate for the Earthly 8. Mingle discourses pious or in some sense profitable and in all senses charitable and innocent with thy meal as occasion is ministred 9. Let your drink so serve your meat as your meat doth your health that it be apt to convey and digest it and refresh the spirits but let it never go beyond such a refreshment as may a litle lighten the present load of a sad or troubled spirit never to inconvenience lightness sottishness vanity or intemperance and know that the loosing the bands of the tongue and the very first dissolution of its duty is one degree of the intemperance 10. In all cases be careful that you be not brought under the power of such things which otherwise are lawful enough in the use All things are lawful for me but I will not be brought under the power of any thing said S. Paul And to be perpetually longing and impatiently desirous of any thing so that a man cannot abstain from it is to lose a mans liberty and to become a servant of meat and drink or smoke And I wish this last instance were more considered by persons who little suspect themselves guilty of intemperance though their desires are strong and impatient and the use of it perpetual and unreasonable to all purposes but that they have made it habitual and necessary as intemperance it self is made to some men 11. Use those advices which are prescribed as instruments to suppresse voluptuousnesse in the foregoing section SECT III. Of Chastity REader stay and read not the advices of the following Section unlesse thou hast a chaste spirit or desirest to be chaste or at least art apt to consider whether thou ought or no. For there are some spirits so Atheistical and some so wholy possessed with a spirit of uncleannesse that they turn the most prudent and chast discourses into dirt and filthy apprehensions like cholerick stomacks changing their very Cordials and medicines into bitternesse and a in literal sense turning the grace of God into wantonness They study cases of conscience in the matter of carnal sins not to avoid but to learne waies how to offend God and pollute their own spirits and search their houses with a Sun beam that they may be instructed in all the corners of nastiness I haue used all the care I could in the following periods that I might neither be wanting to assist those that need it nor yet minister any occasion of fancy or vainer thoughts to those that need them not If any man will snatch the pure taper from my hand and hold it to the Devil he will only burn his own fingers but shall not rob me of the reward of my care and good intention since I have taken heed how to expresse the following duties and given him caution how to read them CHastity is that duty which was mystically intended by GOD in the law of Circumcision It is the circumcision of the heart the cutting off all superfluity of naughtinesse and a supression of all irregular desires in the matter of sensual or carnal pleasure I call all desires irregular and sinful that are not sanctified 1. By the holy institution or by being within the protection of marriage 2. By being within the order of nature 3. By being within the moderation of Christian modesty Against the first are fornication adultery and all voluntary pollutions of either sex Against the second are all unnatural lusts and incestuous mixtures Against the third is all immoderate use of permitted beds concerning which judgment is to be made as concerning meats and drinks there being no certain degree of frequency or intension prescribed to all persons but it is to be ruled as the other actions of a man by proportion to the end by the dignity of the person in the honour and severity of being a Christian and by other circumstances of which I am to give account Chastity is that grace which forbids and restrains all these keeping the body and soul pure in that state in which it is placed by God whether of the single or of the married life Concerning which our duty is thus described by S. Paul For this is the will of God even our sanctification 5. Thess. 3.4 5. that ye should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possesse his vessel in sanctification and honour Not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God Chastity is either abstinence or continence Abstinence is that of Virgins or Widows Continence of married persons Chaste marriages are honourable and pleasing to God Widowhood is pitiable in its solitariness and losse but amiable and comely when it is adorned with gravity and purity and not fullied with remembrances of the passed license nor with present desires of returning to a second bed But Virginity is a life of Angels Virginiâ—as est in cae ne corrupiteth incorruptionis perpetua meditatio S Aug. I 'de Virg c. 13. the enamel of the soul the huge advantage of religion the great opportunity for the retirements of devotion and being empty of cares it is full of prayers being unmingled with the world it is apt to converse with God and by not feeling the warmth of a too forward and indulgent nature flames out with holy fires till it be burning like the Cherubim and the most extasied order of holy and unpolluted Spirits Natural virginity of it self is not a state more acceptable to God but that which is chosen and voluntary in order to the conveniences of Religion and separation from worldly incombrances is therefore better then the married life not that it is more holy but that it
only of her own in capacity This was it which distinguished the mourning of David from the exclamation of Saul Seneca the confession of Pharaoh from that of Manasses the tears of Peter from the repentance of Judas For the praise is not in the deed done but in the manner of its doing If a man visits his sick friend and watches at his pillow for charity sake and because of his old affection we approve it but if he does it in hope of legacy he is a Vulture and only watches for the carkasse The same things are honest and dishonest the manner of doing them and the end of the designe makes the separation Holy intention is to the actions of a man that which the soul is to the body or form to its matter or the root to the tree or the Sun to the World or the Fountain to a River or the Base to a Pillar for without these the body is a dead trunk the matter is sluggish the tree is a block the world is darkness the river is quickly drie the pillar rushes into flatness and a ruine and the action is sinful or unprofitable and vain The poor Farmer that gave a dish of cold water to Artaxerxes was rewarded with a golden goblet and he that gives the same present to a Disciple in the name of a Disciple shall have a Crown but if he gives water in despite when the Disciple needs wine or a Cordial his reward shal be to want that water to cool his tongue * But this Duty must be reduced to Rules Rules for our intentions 1. In every action reflect upon the end and in your undertaking it consider why you doe it and what you propound to your self for a reward and to your action as its end 2. Begin every action in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost the meaning of which is that we be careful that we doe not the action without the permission or warrant of God 2. That we designe it to the glory of God if not in the direct action yet at least in its consequence if not in the particular yet at least in the whole order of things and accidents 3. That it may be so blessed that what you intend for innocent and holy purposes may not by any chance or abuse or misunderstanding of men be turned into evil or made the occasion of sin 3. Let every action of concernment be begun with prayer that God would not only blesse the action but sanctifie your purpose and make an oblation of the action to God holy and well intended actions being the best oblations and presents we can make to God and when God is entitled to them he will the rather keep the fire upon the Altar bright and shining 4. In the prosecution of the action renew and reinkindle your purpose by short ejaculations to these purposes Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name let all praise be given and consider Now I am working the work of God I am his servant I am in a happy imployment I am doing my Masters business I am not at my own dispose I am using his talents and all the gain must be his for then be sure as the glory is his so the reward shall be thine If thou bringest his goods home with increase he will make thee ruler over Cities 5. Have a caâ—e that while the Altar thus sends up a holy fume thou doest not suffer the birds to come and carry away the Sacrifice that is let not that which began well and was intended for Gods glory decline and end in thy own praise or temporal satisfaction or a sin A story told to represent the vilenes of unchastity is well begun but if thy female auditor be pleased with thy language and begins rather to like thy person for thy story then to dislike the crime Qui suâ—atur ut maeâ—heâ—tâ—r maechas est magis quà m suâ— Arist. Eth. be watchful lest this goodly head of gold descend in silver and brasse and end in iron and clay like Nebuchadnezzars image for from the end it shall have its name and reward 6. If any accidental event which was not first intended by thee can come to passe let it not be taken into thy purposes nor at all be made use of as if by telling a true story you can doe an ill turn to your enemy by no means doe it but when the temptation is found out turn all thine enmity upon that 7. In every more solemn action of Religion joyn together many good ends that the consideration of them may entertain all your affections and that when any one ceases the purity of your intention may be supported by another supply He that fasts only to tame a rebellious body when he is provided of a remedy either in Grace or Nature may be tempted to leave off his fasting But he that in his fast intends the mortification of every unruly appetite an accustoming himself to bear the yoke of the Lord a contempt of the pleasures of meat and drink humiliation of all wilder thoughts obedience and humility austerity and charity and the convenience and assistance to devotion and to doe an act of repentance whatever happens will have reason enough to make him to continue his purpose and to sanctifie it And certain it is the more good ends are designed in an action the more degrees of excellency the man obtains 8. If any temptation to spoil your purpose happens in a religious duty doe not presently omit the action but rather strive to rectifie your intention and to mortifie the temptation S. Bernard taught us this rule For when the Devil observing him to preach excellently and to doe much benefit to his hearers tempted him to vain glory hoping that the good man to avoid that would cease preaching he gave his answer only I neither began for thee neither for thee will I make an end 9. In all actions which are of long continuance deliberation and abode let your holy and pious intention be actual that is that it be by a special prayer or action by a peculiar act of resignation or oblation given to God but in smaller actions and little things and indifferent fail not to secure a pious habitual intention that is that it be included within your general care that no action have an ill end and that it be comprehended in your general prayers whereby you offer your self and all you doe to Gods glory 10. Call not every temporal end a defiling of thy intention but only 1. When it contradicts any of the ends of God or 2. When it is principally intended in an action of religion For sometimes a temporal end is part of our duty and such are all the actions of our calling whether our imployment be religious or civil we are commanded to provide for our family but if the Minister of Divine offices shall take upon him that holy calling
1 King 5 9. Psal 138.1 2. Gods usual way is to be present in those places where his servants are appointed ordinarily to meet But his presence there signifies nothing but in readiness to hear their prayers to blesse their persons to accept their offices and to like even the circumstance of orderly and publick meeting For thither the prayers of consecration the publick authority separating it and Gods love of order and the reasonable customs of Religion have in ordinary and in a certain degree fixed this manner of his presence and he loves to have it so 5. God is especially present in the hearts of his people by his holy Spirit and indeed the hearts of holy men are Temples in the truth of things and in type and shadow they are Heaven it self For God reigns in the hearts of his servants There is his Kingdom The power of grace hath subdued all his enemies There is his power They serve him night and day and give him thanks and praise that is his glory This is the religion and worship of God in the Temple The Temple it self is the heart of man Christ is the High Priest who from thence sends up the incense of prayers and joyns them to his own intercession and presents all together to his Father and the Holy Ghost by his dwelling there hath also consecrated it into a Temple 1 Cor. 3.16 2 Cor. 6.16 and God dwels in our hearts by faith and Christ by his Spirit and the Spirit by his purities so that we are also Cabinets of the Mysterious Trinity and and what is this short of Heaven it self but as infancy is short of manhood and letters of words The same state of life it is but not the same age It is Heaven in a Looking glasse dark but yet true representing the beauties of the soul and the graces of God and the images of his eternal glory by the reality of a special presence 6. God is especially present in the consciences of all persons good and bad by way of testimony and â—udgment that is he is there a remembrancer to call our actions to minde a witness to bring them to judgment and a Judge to acquit or to condemne And although this manner of presence is in this life after the manner of this life that is imperfect and we forget many actions of our lives yet the greatest changes of our state of grace or sin our most considerable actions are alwaies present like Capital Letters to an aged and dim eye and at the day of judgment God shall draw aside the cloud and manifest this manner of his presence more notoriously and make it appear that he was an observer of our very thoughts and that he onely laid those things by which because we covered with dust and negligence they were not then discerned But when we are risen from our dust and imperfection they all appear plain and legible Now the consideration of this great truth is of a very universal use in the whole course of the life of a Christian. All the consequents and effects of it are universal He that remembers that God stands a witness and a judge beholding every secrecy besides his impiety must have put on impudence if he be not much restrained in his temptation to sin For the greatest part of sins is taken away if a man have a witness of his conversation And he is a great despiser of God who sends a Boy away when he is going to commit fornication and yet will dare to doe it though he knows God is present and cannot be sent off as if the eye of a little Boy were more awful then the all seeing eye of God S. Aug. de verbis Dom. c. 3. He is to be feared in publick he is to be feared in private if you go forth he spies you if you go in he sees you when you light the candle he observes you when you put it out then also God marks you Be sure that while you are in his sight you behave your self as becomes so holy a presence But if you will sin retire your self wisely and go where God cannot see For no where else can you be safe And certainly if men would alwaies actually consider and really esteem this truth that God is the great Eye of the World alwaies watching over our actions and an ever open Ear to hear all our words and an unwearied Arm ever lifted up to crush a sinner into ruine it would be the readiest way in the world to make sin to cease from amongst the children of men and for men to approach to the blessed estate of the Saints in Heaven who cannot sin for they alwaies walk in the presence and behold the face of God * This instrument is to be reduced to practise according to the following Rules Rules of exercising this consideration 1. Let this actual thought often return that God is omnipresent filling every place and say with David Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Psal. 13.7 8. or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into heaven thou art there If I make my bed in hell thou art there c. This thought by being frequent will make an habitual dread and reverence towards God and fear in all thy actions For it is a great necessity and ingagement to doe unblameably when we act before the Judge Boeth 15. de consel who is infallible in his sentence all knowing in his information severe in his anger powerfull in his providence and intolerable in his wrath and indignation 2. In the beginning of actions of religion make an act of adoration that is solemnly worship God and place thy self in Gods presence and behold him with the eye of faith and let thy desires actually fix on him as the object of thy worship and the reason of thy hope and the fountain of thy blessing For when thou hast placed thy self before him and kneelest in his presence it is most likely all the following parts of thy devotion will be answerable to the wisdome of such an apprehension and the glory of such a presence 3. Let every thing you see represent to your spirit the presence the excellency and the power of God and let your conversation with the creatures lead you unto the Creator for so shall your actions be done more frequently with an actual eye to Gods presence by your often seeing him in the glasse of the creation In the face of the Sun you may see Gods beauty in the fire you may feel his heat warming in the water his gentleness to refresh you he it is that comforts your spirit when you have taken Cordials it is the dew of Heaven that makes your field give you bread and the breasts of God are the bottles that ministers drink to your necessities This Philosophy which is obvious to every mans experience is a good advantage to our piety and by this act of understanding our wills
it rains sadly none but fools sit down in it and crie wise people defend themselves against it with a warm garment or a good fire and a drie roof when a storm of a sad mischance beats upon our spirits turn it into some advantage by observing where it can serve another end either of religion or prudence of more safety or lesse envie it will turn into something that is good if we list to make it so at least it may make us weary of the worlds vanity and take off our confidence from uncertain riches and make our spirits to dwell in those regions where content dwels essentially if it does any good to our souls it hath made more then sufficient recompense for all the temporal affliction He that threw a stone at a dog and hit his cruel stepmother said that although he intended it otherwise yet the stone was not quite lost and if we fail in the first designe if we bring it home to another equally to content us or more to profit us then we have put our conditions past the power of chance and this was called in the old Greek Comedy a being revenged on fortune by becoming Philosophers and turning the chance into reason or religion for so a wise man shall overrule his starres and have a greater influence upon his own content then all the constellations and planets of the firmament 2. Never compare thy condition with those above thee but to secure thy content look upon those thousands with whom thou wouldest not for any interest change thy fortune and condition A souldier must not think himself unprosperous if he be not successful as the son of Philip or cannot grasp a fortune as big as the Roman Empire Be content that thou art not lessened as was Pyrrbus or if thou beest that thou art not routed like Crassus and when that comes to thee it is a great prosperity that thou art not cag'd and made a spectacle like Baâ—azet or thy eyes were not pull'd out like Zedekiahs or that thou wert not flead alive like Valentinian If thou admirest the greatness of Xerxes look also on those that digged the mountain Atho or whose ears and noses were cut off because the Hellespont carried a way the bridge It is a fine thing thou thinkest to be carried on mens shoulders but give God thanks that thou art not forced to carry a rich fool upon thy shoulders as those poor men doe whom thou beholdest There are but few Kings in mankinde but many thousands who are very miserable if compared to thee However it is a huge folly rather to grieve for the good of others then to rejoyce for that good which God hath given us of our own And yet there is no wise or good man that would change persons or conditions intirely with any man in the world It may be he would have one mans wealth added to himself or the power of a second or the learning of a third but still he would receive these into his own person because he loves that best and therefore esteems it best and therefore over values all that which he is before all that which any other man in the world can be Would any man be Dives to have his wealth or Iudas for his office or Saul for his kingdome or Absolon for his beauty or Achitophel for his policy It is likely he would with all these and yet he would be the same person still For every man hath desires of his own and objects just fitted to them without which he cannot be unlesse he were not himself And let every man that loves himself so well as to love himself before all the world consider if he have not something for which in the whole he values himself faire more then he can value any man else There is therefore no reason to take the finest feathers from all the winged nation to deck that bird that thinks already she is more valuable then any the inhabitants of the ayre Either change all or none Cease to love your self best or be content with that portion of being and blessing for which you love your self so well 3. It conduces much to our content if we passe by those things which happen to our trouble and consider that which is pleasing and prosperous that by the representation of the better the worse may be blotted out and at the worst you have enough to keep you alive and to keep up and to improve your hopes of Heaven If I be overthrown in my suit at Law yet my house is left me still and my land or I have a virtuous wife or hopeful children or kinde freinds or good hopes If I have lost one childe it may be I have two or three still left me or else reckon the blessings which already you have received and therefore be pleased in the change and variety of affairs to receive evil from the hand of God as well as good Antipater of Tarsus used this art to support his sorrows on his death-bed and reckoned the good things of his past life not forgetting to recount it as a blessing an argument that God took care of him that he had a prosperous journey from Cilicia to Athens La sperenza â—ll pen de pâ—tâ—eâ—â— Non si mare nunc olim sic erit Or else please thy self with hopes of the future for we were born with this sadness upon us and it was a change that brought us into it and a change may bring us out again Harvest will come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then every farmer is rich at least for a moneth or two It may be thou art entred into the cloud which will bring a gentle showre to refresh thy sorrows Now suppose thy self in as great a sadness as ever did load thy spirit wouldst thou not bear it cheerfully and nobly if thou wert sure that within a certain space some strange excellent fortune would relieve thee and enrich thee and recompense thee so as to overflow all thy hopes and thy desires and capacities Now then when a sadness lies heavy upon thee remember that thou art a Christian designed to the inheritance of Jesus and what dost thou think concerning thy great fortune thy lot and portion of eternity Doest thou think thou shalt be saved or damned Indeed if thou thinkest thou shalt perish I cannot blame thee to be sad sad till thy heart-strings crack but then why art thou troubled at the losse of thy money what should a damned man doe with money which in so great a sadness it is impossible for him to enjoy Did ever any man upon the rack afflict himself because he had received a crosse answer from his Mistresse or call for the particulars of a purchase upon the gallows It thou doest really believe thou shalt be damned I doe not say it will cure the sadness of thy poverty but it will swallow it up * But if thou believest thou shalt be saved consider how
great is that joy how infinite is that change how unspeakable is the glory how excellent is the recompense for all the sufferings in the world if they were all laden upon the spirit So that let thy condition be what it will if thou considerest thy own present condition and compare it to thy future possibility thou canst not feel the present smart of a crosse fortune to any great degree either because thou hast a farre bigger sorrow or a farre bigger joy Here thou art but a stranger travelling to thy Countrey where the glories of a kingdome are prepared for thee it is therefore a huge folly to be much afflicted because thou hast a lesse convenient Inne to lodge in by the way But these arts of looking forwards and backwards are more then enough to support the spirit of a Christian there is no man but hath blessings enough in present possession to outweigh the evils of a great affliction Tell the joynts of thy body and doe not accuse the universal providence for a lame leg or the want of a finger when all the rest is perfect and you have a noble soul a particle of Divinity the image of GOD himself and by the want of a finger you may the better know how to estimate the remaining parts and to account for every degree of the surviving blessings Aristippus in a great suit at Law lest a Farm and to a gentleman who in civility pitied and deplored his losse He answered I have two Farms left still and that is more then I have lost and more then you have by one If you misse an Office for which you stood Candidate then besides that you are quit of the cares and the envy of it you still have all those excellencies which rendred you capable to receive it and they are better then the best Office in the Common-wealth If your estate be lessened you need the lesse to care who governs the Province whether he be rude or gentle I am crossed in my journey and yet I scaped robbers and I consider that if I had been set upon by Villains I would have redeemed that evil by this which I now suffer and have counted it a deliverance or if I did fall into the hands of theeves yet they did not steal my land or I am fallen into the hands of Publicans and Sequestrators and they have taken all from me what now let me look about me They have left me the Sun and the Moon Fire and Water a loving wife and many friends to pity me and some to releive me and I can still discourse and unlesse I list they have not taken away my merry countenance and my cheerful spirit and a good conscience they still have left me the providence of God and all the promises of the Gospel and my Religion and my hopes of Heaven and my chaâ—â—ity to them too and still I sleep and digest I eat and drink I read and meditate I can walk in my neighbours pleasant fields and see the varieties of natural beauties and delight in all that in which God delights that is in virtue and wisdom in the whole creation and in God himselfe and he that hath so many causes of joy and so great is very much in love with sorow and peevishnes who loses all these pleasures and chooses to sit down upon his little handful of thornes such a person were fit to bear Nero company in his funeral sorrow for the losse of one of Poppea's hairs or help to mourn for Lesbia's sparrow and because he loves it he deserves to starve in the midst of plenty and to want comfort while he is encircled with blessings 4. Enjoy the present whatsoever it be and be not solicitous for the future Quid sit futurum cras fâ—ge quaerere Quem foâ—i dictum 〈◊〉 dalâ—t lucâ— Appone Ho l 1. Od. 4 for if you take your foot from the present standing and thrust it forward toward to morrows event you are in a restlesse condition it is like refusing to quench your present thirst by fearing you shall want drink the next day If it be well to day it is madness to make the present miserable by fearing it may be ill to morrow when your belly is full of to daies dinner to fear you shall want the next daies supper for it may be you shall not and then to what purpose was this daies affliction Prudens futuri temporis exitum Caliginosà nocte premit Deus Ridetque si mortalis ultra Fas trepidet quod adest memento Componere aequus Hor l 3. Od 29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But if to morrow you shall want your sorrow will come time enough though you doe not hasten it let your trouble tarry till its own day comes But if it chance to be ill to day doe not increase it by the care of to morrow Enjoy the blessings of this day if God sends them and the evils of it bear patiently and sweetly for this day is only ouâ—s we are dead to yesterday and we are not yet born to the morrow He therefore that enjoyes the present if it be good enjoyes as much as is possible and if only that daies trouble leans upon him it is singular and finite Sufficient to the day said Christ is the evil thereof Sufficient but not intolerable but if we look abroad and bring into one daies thoughts the evil of many certain and uncertain what will be and what will never be our load will be as intolerable as it is unreasonable To reprove this instrument of discontent the Ancients feigned that in Hell stood a man twisting a rope of Hay and still he twisted on suffering an Asse to eat up all that was finished so miserable is he who thrusts his passions forwards towards future events and suffers all that he may enjoy to be lost and devoured by folly and inconsideration thinking nothing fit to be enjoyed but that which is not or cannot be had Just so many young persons are loath to die and therefore desire to live to old age and when they are come thither are troubled that they are come to that state of life to which before they were come they were hugely afraid they should never come 5. Let us prepare our mindes against changes alwaies expecting them that we be not surprized when they come For nothing is so great an enemy to tranquillity and a contented spirit as the amazement and confusions of unreadiness and inconsideration and when our fortunes are violently changed our spirits are unchanged if they alwaies stood in the Suburbs and â—xpâ—â—â—â—tion of sorrows O Death how bitter art thou to a man that is at rest in his possessions and to the rich Man who had promised to himself ease and fulness for many years it was a sad arrest that his soul was surprised the first night but the Apostles who every day knockt at the gate of death and looked upon it continually went to
to satisfie whom we have injur'd and to forgive them who have injur'd us without thoughts of resuming the quarrel when the solemnity is over for that is but to rake the embers in light and phantastick ashes it must be quenched and a holy flame enkindled no fires must be at all but the fires of love and zeal and the altar of incense will send up a sweet perfume and make atonement for us 7. When the day of the feast is come lay aside all cares and impertinencies of the World and remember that this is thy Souls day a day of traffique and entercourse with Heaven Arise early in the morning 1. Give God thanks for the approach of so great a blessing 2. Confess thy own unworthiness to admit so Divine a Guest 3 Then remember and deplore thy sins which have made thee so unworthy 4. Then confess Gods goodness and take sanctuary there and upon him place thy hopes 5. And invite him to thee with renewed acts of love of holy desire of hatred of his enemy sin 6. Make oblation of thy self wholy to be disposed by him to the obedience of him to his providence and possession and pray him to enter and dwell there for ever And after this with joy and holy fear and the forwardness of love address thy self to the receiving of him to whom by whom and for whom all faiths and all hope and all love in the whole Catholick Church both in Heaven and Earth is designed him whom Kings and Queens and whole Kingdomes are inlove with and count it the greatest honour in the World that their Crowns and Scepters are laid at his holy feet 8. When the holy man stands at the Table of blessing and ministers the rite of consecration then do as the Angels do who behold and love and wonder that the Son of God should become food to the souls of his servants that he who cannot suffer any change of â—essening should be broken into pieces enter into the body to support and nourish the spirit and yet at the same time remain in Heaven while he descends to thee upon Earth that he who hath essential felicity should become miserable and dye for thee and then give himself to thee for ever to redeem thee from sin and misery that by his wounds he should procure health to thee by his affronts he should entitle thee to glory by his death he should bring thee to life and by becoming a man he should make thee partaker of the Divine nature These are such glories that although they are made so obvious that each eye may behold them yet they are also so deep that no thought can fathome them But so it hath pleased him to make these mysteries to be sensible because the excellency and depth of the mercy is not intelligible that while we are ravished and comprehended within the infiniteness of so vast and mysterious a mercy yet we may be as sure of it as of that thing we see and feel smell and taste but yet is so great that we cannot understand it 9. These holy mysteries are offered to our senses but not to be placed under our feet they are sensible but not common and therefore as the weakness of the Elements adds wonder to the excellency of the Sacrament so let our reverence and venerable usages of them adde honour to the Elements and acknowledge the glory of he mysterie and the Divinity of the mercy Let us receive the consecrated Elements with all devotion and humility of body and spirits and do this honour to it that it be the first food we eat and the first beverage we drink that day unless it be in case of sickness or other great necessity and that your body and soul both be prepared to its reception with abstinence from secular pleasures Disâ—â—diâ—e alia is Qums tuliâ— hâ—stemaÌ„ gaudia necâ—e Venuâ— that you may better have attended fastings and preparatory prayers For if ever it be seasonable to observe the counsell of Saint Paul that married person by consent should abstain foâ— a time that they may attend to solemn Religion it is now It was not by Saint Paul nor the after ages of the Church called a duty so to do but it is most reasonable that the more solemn actions of Religion should be attended to without the mixture of any thing that may discompose the minde and make it more secular or less religious 10. In the act of receiving exercise acts of Faith with much confidence and resignation believing it not to be common bread and wine but holy in their use holy in their signification holy in their change and holy in their effect and believe if thou art a worthy Communicant thou dost as verily receive Christs body and blood to all effects and purposes of the spirit Cruci haremus sanguinem sugimus inâ—er ipsa Redemptoriâ— nostri vulnera figimus linguam Cyprian de caena Dom. as thou doest receive the blessed elements into thy mouth that thou puttest thy finger to his hand and thy hand into his side and thy lips into his fontinel of blood sucking life from his heart and yet if thou doest communicate unworthily thou eatest and drinkest Christ to thy danger and death and destruction Dispute not concerning the secret of the mystery and the nicety of the manner of Christs presence it is sufficient to thee that Christ shall be present to thy soul as an instrument of grace a pledge of the resurrection as the earnest of glory and immortality and a meanes of many intermediall blessings even all such as are necessary for thee and are in order to thy salvation and to make all this good to thee there is nothing necessary on thy part but a holy life and a true belief of all the sayings of Christ amongst which indefinitely assent to the words of institution and beleive that Christ in the holy Sacrament gives thee his body and his blood He that believes not this is not a Christian He that believes so much needs not to enquire further nor to intangle his faith by disbelieving his sense 11. Fail not this solemnity according to the custom of pious devout people to make an offering to God for the uses of religion the poor according to thy ability For when Christ feasts his body let us also feast our fellow members who have right to the same promises and are partakers of the same Sacrament and partners of the same hope and cared for under the same providence and descended from the same common parents and whose Father God is and Christ is their Elder brother If thou chancest to communicate where this holy custom is not observed publickly supply that want by thy private charity but offer it to God at his holy Table at least by thy private designing it there 11. When you have received pray and give thanks Pray for all estates of men for they also have an interest in the body
Baptisme Thou hast reconciled us by thy death justified us by thy Resurrection sanctified us by thy Spirit sending him upon thy Church in visible formes and giving him in powers and miracles and mighty signes and continuing this incomparable favour in gifts and sanctifying graces and promising that he shall abide with us for ever thou hast led us with thine own broken body and given drink to our soules out of thine own heart and hast ascended upon high and hast overcome all the powers of Death and Hell and redeemed us from the miseries of a sad eternity and sittest at the right hand of God making intercession for us with a never-ceasing charity O that men would therefore praise the Lord c. The grave could not hold thee long O holy eternal Jesus thy body could not see corruption neither could thy soul be left in Hel thou wert fre among the dead and thou brakest the iron gates of Death and the barrs and chains of the lower prisons Thou broughtest comfort to the souls of the Patriarchs who waited for thy coming who long'd for the redemption of Man and the revelation of thy day Abraham Isac and Jacob saw thy day and rejoyced and when thou didst arise from thy bed of darkness and leftest the grave-clothes behinde thee and put on a robe of glory over which for 40 dayes thou didst wear a veil and then entred into a cloud and then into glory then the powers of Hell were confounded then Death lost its power and was swallowed up into victory and though death is not quite destroyed yet it is made harmless and without a sting and the condition of Humane Nature is made an entrance to eternal glory and art become the Prince of life the first-fruits of the resurrection the first-born from the dead having made the way plain before our faces that we may also rise again in the Resurrection of the last day when thou shalt come again unto us to render to every man according to his works O that men would therefore praise the Lord c. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious and his mercy endureth for ever O all ye angels of the Lord praise ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever O ye spirits and souls of the Righteous praise ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever And now O Lord God what shall I render to thy Divine Majesty for all the benefits thou hast done unto thy servant in my personall capacity Thou art my Creator and my Father my Protector and my Guardian thou hast brought me from my Mothers wombe thou hast told all my Joynts and in thy book were all my members written Thou hast given me a comely body Christian and carefull parents holy education Thou hast been my guide and my teacher all my dayes Thou hast given me ready faculties an unloosed tongue a cheerful spirit straight limbs a good reputation and liberty of person a quiet life and a tender conscience a loving wife or husband and hopefull children thou wert my hope from my youth through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born Thou hast clothed me and fed me given me friends and blessed them given me many dayes of comfort and health free from those sad infirmities with which many of thy Saints and dearest servants are afflicted Thou hast sent thy Angel to snatch me from the violence of fire and water to prevent praecipices fracture of bones to rescue me from thunder and lightning plague and pestilentiall diseases murder and robbery violence of chance and enemies and all the spirits of darkness and in the dayes of sorrow thou hast refreshed me in the destitution of provisions thou hast taken care of me and thou hast said unto me I will never leave thee nor forsake thee I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart secretly among the faithfull and in the congregation Thou O my dearest Lord and Father hast taken care of my soul hast pitied my miseries sustained my infirmities relieved and instructed my ignorances and though I have broken thy righteous Laws and Commandements run passionately after vanities and was in love with Death and was dead in sin and was exposed to thousands of temptations and fell foully and continued in it and lov'd to have it so and hated to be reformed yet thou didst call me with the checks of conscience with daily Sermons and precepts of holiness with fear and shame with benefits and the admonitions of thy most holy Spirit by the counsell of my friends by the example of good persons with holy books and thousands of excellent arts and wouldest not suffer me to perish in my folly but didst force me to attend to thy gracious calling and hast put me into a state of repentance and possibilities of pardon being infinitely desirous I should live and recover and make use of thy grace and partake of thy glories I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart secretly among the faithful and in the congregation For salvation belongeth unto the Lord and thy blessing is upon thy servant But as for me I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple * For of thee and in thee and through and for thee are all things Blessed be the name of God from generation to generation Amen A short Form of thanksgiving to be said upon any special deliverance as from Child-birth from Sickness from battel or imminent danger at Sea or Land c. O most mercifull and gracious God thou fountain of all mercy and blessing thou hast opened the hand of thy mercy to fill me with blessings and the sweet effects of thy loving kindness thou feedest us like a Shepherd thou governest us as a king thou bearest us in thy arms like a nurse thou dost cover us under the shadow of thy wings and shelter us like a hen thou ô Dearest Lord wakest for us as a Watchman thou providest for us like a Husband thou lovest us as a friend and thinkest on us perpetually as a carefull mother on her helpless babe and art exceeding mercifull to all that fear thee and now O Lord thou hast added this great blessing of deliverance from my late danger here name the blessing it was thy hand and the help of thy mercy that relieved me the waters of affliction had drowned me and the stream had gon over my soul if the spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these waters Thou O Lord didst revoke thy angry sentence which I had deserved and which was gone out against me Unto thee O Lord I ascribe the praise and honour of my redemption I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity As thou hast spred thy hand upon me for a covering so also enlarg my heart with thankfulness and fill my
for covetous or ambitious ends or shall not design the glory of God principally and especially he hath polluted his hands and his heart and the fire of the Altar is quenched or it sends forth nothing but the smoke of mushroms or unpleasant gums And it is a great unworthiness to preferre the interest of a creature before the ends of God the Almighty Creator But because many cases may happen in which a mans heart may deceive him and he may not well know what is in his own spirit therefore by these following signes we shall best make a judgment whether our intentions be pure and our purposes holy Signes of purity of intention 1. It is probable our hearts are right with God and our intentions innocent and pious See Sect â— of this 〈◊〉 Chap â—â—â—â—â—le 18. if we set upon actions of religion or civil life with an affection proportioned to the quality of the work that we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater then our necessity and that in actions of religion we be zealous active and operative so far as prudence will permit but in all cases that we value a religious design before a temporal when otherwise they are in equal order to their several ends that is that whatsoever is necessary in order to our souls health be higher esteemed then what is for bodily and the necessities the indispensable necessities of the spirit be served before the needs of nature when they are required in their several circumstances Or plainer yet when we choose any temporal inconvenience rather then commit a sin and when we choose to do a duty rather then to get gain But he that does his recreation or his merchandise cheerfully promptly readily and busily and the works of religion slowly flatly and without appetite and the spirit moves like Pharaohs chariots when the wheels were off it is a signe that his heart is not right with God but it cleaves too much to the world 2. It is likely our hearts are pure and our intentions spotlesse when we are not solicitous of the opinion and censures of men but only that we doe our duty and be accepted of God For our eyes will certainly be fixed there from whence we expect our reward and if we desire that god should approve us it is a sign we doe his work and expect him our Pay-master 3. He that does as well in private between God and his own soul as in publick in Pulpits in Theatres and Market-places hath given himself a good testimony that his purposes are full of honesty nobleness and integrity For what Helkanah said to the Mother of Samuel Am not I better to thee then ten sons is most certainly verified concerning God that he who is to be our Judge is better then ten thousand witnesses But he that would have his virtue published studies not virtue but glory He is not just Seneca Ep. 115. that will not be just without praise but he is a righteousman that does justice when to doe so is made infamous and he is a wise man who is delighted with an ill name that is well gotten S Chrys. li. de cempun cordis And indeed that man hath a strange covetousness or folly that is not contented with this reward that he hath pleased God And see what he gets by it S Greg. Moral 8. cap. 25. He that does good works for praise or secular ends sells an inestimable jewel for a trifle and that which would purchase Heaven for him he parts with for the breath of the people which at the best is but aire and that not often wholsome 4. It is well also when we are not sollicitous or troubled concerning the effect and event of all our actions but that being first by Prayer recommended to him is lest at his dispose for then in case the event be not answerable to our desires or to the efficacy of the instrument we have nothing left to rest in but the honesty of our purposes which it is the more likely we have secured by how much more we are indifferent concerning the successe S. James converted but eight persons when he preacht in Spain and our blessed Saviour converted fewer then his own Disciples did And if thy labours prove unprosperous if thou beest much troubled at that it is certain thou didst not think thy selfe secure of a reward for your intention which you might have done if it had been pure and just 5. He loves virtue for Gods sake and its own that loves and honours it wherever it is to be seen but he that is envious or angry at a virtue that is not his own at the perfection or excellency of his Neighbour is not covetous of the virtue but of its reward and reputation and then his intentions are polluted It was a great ingenuity in Moses that wished all the people might be prophets but if he had designed his own honour he would have prophecied alone But he that desires only that the worke of God and religion shal go on is pleased with it who ever is the instrument 6. He that despises the world and all its appendent vanities is the best Judge and the most secured of his intentions because he is the furthest removed from a temptation Every degree of mortification is a testimony of the purity of our purposes and in what degree we despise sensual pleasure or secular honours or wordly reputation in the same degree we shall conclude our heart right to religion and spiritual designes 7. When we are not solicitous concerning the instruments and means of our actions but use those means which God hath laid before us with resignation indifferency and thankfulness it is a good signe that we are rather intent upon the end of Gods glory then our own conveniency or temporal satisfaction He that is indifferent whether he serve God in riches or in poverty is rather a seeker of God then of himself and he that will throw away a good book because it is not curiously guilded is more desirous to please his eye then to inform his understanding 8. When a temporal end consisting with a spiritual and pretended to be subordinate to it happens to fail and be defeated if we can rejoice in that so Gods glory may be secured and the interests of religion it is a great signe our hearts are right and our ends prudently designed and ordered When our intentions are thus ballanced regulated and discerned we may consider 1. That this exercise is of so universal efficacy in the whole course of a holy life that it is like the soule to every holy action and must be provided for in every undertaking and is of it selfe alone sufficient to make all natural and indifferent actions to be adopted into the family of religion 2. That there are some actions which are usually reckoned as parts of our religion which yet of themselves are so relative and imperfect that without the purity of