opprobrious language I have transgrest the precepts of thy Gospell injoyning me to feed the hungry clothe the naked visit the sick I have been unjust in detaining the Dues of thy Church and in the dispensation of Ecclesiasticall goods in the contracts of Usury bargaining and sale over-reaching lying withholding what has been more or less righteous and just I have not attended upon thy publick and solemn Worship upon Sundays and Holidays devoted thereunto I have not behaved my self upon such days soberly righteously and godly I have approached and come into thy House without that reverence and godly fear which becometh that Sacred place and there I have demeaned my self unseemly sitting standing leaning lolling and staring about when the respective parts of thy Sacred Service required more humble and devout gestures and behaviour I have entertained vain idle wandering thoughts and intermingled unprofitable wanton worldly talk in the time of thy solemn Worship I have unhallowed many holy things many holy actions by using the same as common and unclean and with unclean hands and an impure conscience I have not joyned with a right understanding and devotion in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs publick Praiers and other the sacred acts of Religious Worship too often speaking with my lips cursorily and customarily whilst my heart hath been roving by evill imaginations and false suspicions judging rashly of what is sacred and holy when transcending my shallow capacity I have sinned by perverse reasonings against the Truth because either above my understanding or not agreeable with my will by consenting and not reproving the sinfull by not instructing the ignorant not reducing the erroneous not admonishing not exhorting such as have gone astray to entertain more sound and sober counsells I have not reverenced my Superiours I have both defamed and disobeyed my Governours Ecclesiasticall and Civil neither have I repayed to my friends and benefactours such gratefull acknowledgments and due obsequiousness as becometh I have entertained in my heart many loose and unchast thoughts and filthy lusts and have looked upon the carnal copulation and intermixture of beasts with an unclean delectation of mind I have been guilty of much superfluous and opprobrious language of lying and slandering of falsehoods and flatteries of railing and reviling of scurrilous and vain jangling of profane and irreligious speaking and customary swearing of taking unlawfull oaths of much filthy communication and of all the evills of an untamed tongue the instrument of a corrupt heart I have even renounced the Covenant of my God by not renouncing the Devil and all his works I have too often yielded to his suggestions to disobey the will of God and to transgress his Commandments in the breach of my Duty both towards God and Man And thus I have sinned both in my thoughts and desires in my words and actions by seeing hearing tasting touching smelling even all my Senses have been as so many windows to let in Sin to my Soul and Death by Sin And not onely thus but in all kinds of Vice whereunto humane frailty is liable or in whatever any dissolute and debauched person doth or can offend have I offended the Great Lord of Heaven and earth And I acknowledge my self above all the men in the world to be the greatest of Sinners Have mercy upon me Almighty and most mercifull Father for thy Son my Lord Jesus Christ his sake pardon and deliver me from all mine offences confirm and strengthen me in all goodness and bring me to everlasting life through Jesus Christ Psalm 6. O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger Psal 32. Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven Psal 38. Put me not to rebuke O Lord Psal 51. Have mercy upon me O God Psal 102. Hear my praier O Lord and let my crying Psal 130. Out of the deeps have I called unto Psal 143. Hear my praier O Lord and consider Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name the world to come through Jesus Christ III. O mercifull Lord to whom chiefly it appertaineth to forgive sins and by whom alone the Souls of true Penitents are absolved from all their offences wash me O wash my unclean Soul in the fountain of thine inexhaustible mercy through faith in the bloud of my dear Redeemer Jesus Christ IV. Look down from Heaven O Lord with the eye of pity and compassion upon thy humble servant confessing his wickedness and being sorry for his sins imploring withall thy pardon and trusting alone in thy mercics through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ V. Be propitious O Lord we humbly beseech thee be propitious to the praiers and supplications of thy humble servants and grant that the remission of our sins being obtained we may evermore rejoyce in thy heavenly benediction through Jesus Christ CHAP. X. The Lord's Praier paraphrased Praefat. ad Orat. Domin ex Lit. Mozarab Ad te pervenire cupimus Domine per Christum qui apud te factus est Advocatus noster Orationem quam ipso Domino instruente didicimus ad te introire permittas proclamantes è terris PATER NOSTER QVIES IN COELIS OVR Father 1. The Preface as we have a Being with all things by Creation and Providence 2. as we are reasonable creatures with Men and Angels by Representation and Likeness 3. as we are Christians by Adoption and Grace Which art in Heaven by thy Majesty and great Glory in earth by thy Mercy and good Providence and in all things both in Heaven and earth by thy essential Presence Thou O Lord art more ready to hear then we are to pray and art wont to give more then we desire or deserve as being our Father and though daily provok'd by our sins yet still our Father and thou art able to doe exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think as being in Heaven And to Heaven vouchsafe to raise up our immortal Souls Let them not cleave to the dust of worldly vanities since we have a Father in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Petition 1 O that all the Nations whom thou hast made would come and worship thee and glorifie thy Name which is great wonderful and holy but more especially may thy ever-blessed Name be magnified by me and by all people who have thy Name call'd upon us in all our thoughts words and deeds manifesting that reverence and godly fear that divine love and filial obedience we owe unto thee Our Father which art in Heaven Thy Kingdom come Petit. 2 Maiest thou rule and reign in all the affections of our hearts and over all the actions of our lives swaying thy Sceptre of Righteousness by thy Holy Word and Spirit to the destruction of the Kingdom of Sin and Satan And may we all live in obedience of thy most holy Laws and continue such loyal and faithful subjects of thy Kingdom of Grace in this life that we may become Saints in thy Kingdome of Glory in the life to come Thy
will will be done in earth as it is in heaven May all we Petit. 3 whose immortal Souls do dwell in earthly Tabernacles as readily zealously constantly obey thy will and as chearfully submit to thy good pleasure as do thy blessed Angels and Saints in their blissful mansions of Heaven above Give us this day our daily bread Petit. 4 Even all things necessary both for our Souls and bodies both the bread of Heaven and earthly bread And grant that what we do enjoy upon earth may be rightly ours not to any other belonging and neither acquired by injustice nor uncharitably detained by us and our daily bread according to our daily necessities administred to us who daily wait upon thee O Lord who givest unto all their meâ—t in due season And that our daily abuse of thy gifts may not rob us of them Petit. 5 Forgive us our trespasses even all our transgressions of thy most holy Laws pardon good Lord whose nature and property it is alway to have mercy and to forgive But this we presume not to ask but upon thine own terms As we forgive those that trespass against us The trespasses of others and our sufferings from them are but few and trifling in respect of our sins and trespasses against thee for they be many and hainous but as sin hath abounded in us so doth grace and mercy abound also with thee but we are men of hard corrupt uncircumcised hearts Have mercy upon us O Lord and forgive us both our sins against thee and our uncharitableness unto our neighbours soften our hard hearts to be kindly affectioned one towards another forbearing and forgiving one another as we hope and humbly beg to be forgiven by thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. Lead us not into temptation Petit. 6 Suffer us not any more to fall into fins and trespasses against thee When we are led away with our lusts and tempted O leave us not then to our selves who are weak and frail and too prone to all that is evil but assist and enable us by thy Divine grace to overcome all the affaults of our ghostly enemies and to continue thy faithful servants and souldiers to our lives ends Deliver us from evil Petit. 7 From the evil of sin by thy grace and from the evil of punishment by thy mercy and from the authour of all evils the Devil From the temporal evils and miseries of this life and from the evils of a sad eternity in the life to come from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation Good Lord deliver us Liberati à malo confirmati semper in bono tibi servire mereamur Deo ac Domino nostro Pone Domine sine peccatis nostris da gaudium trdâ—ulâ—stis praebe redemptionem captivis fanitatem infirmis reâ—â—tiémque defunctis concede paâ—em securitatem in omnibus drebus â—â—stris france audaciam omnium inâ—micorum â—â—strorum exaudi Deus orationes omnium servorum cuorum fidelium Christianorum in hâ—â— die in omni tempore per Dominum nostrum Jesum Lit. Mozarab For thine is the Kingdom Conclusion Thou rulest and reignest over all and thy Dominion is absolute and independent the power whereof cannot be broken nor its glory eclipsed like the frail and fading Kingdoms of this world But thine is the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Thy Dominion is an everlasting Dominion such as shall not pass away and thy Kingdom such as cannot be destroyed but shall stand fast in power and eminent in glory for ever O give us hearts yielding a willing obedience to the Laws of thy Kingdom full of reverence and awful fear of thy Power studious to advance thy Glory upon earth that we may in the end arrive at thy Kingdom in Heaven where thou livest and reignest Blessed Father Son and Holy Ghost One God world without end Amen CHAP. XI The Seven Penitentiall Psalms paraphrased THE Psalms of David being by all Christians of what perswasion soever acknowledged to be the immediate dictates of God's Holy Spirit it must necessarily be acknowledged also that he who understandingly and devoutly prays in the very words of the Psalms prays by the Holy and true Spirit of God The truth whereof which by many blind Zelots is too much slighted and neglected we have both confirmed and the practice commanded Eph. 5.18 19. Be ye filled with the Spirit Speaking to your selves or among your selves which is done by answering each other in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs i. e. such as are the dictates of the Holy Spirit compared with Col. 3.16 Thus prayed our Lord upon the Cross in the very words of the Psalmist Psal 22.1 and 31.5 And so hath ever prayed the Church of Christ Psalmus totius Ecclesiae vox Aug. Prolog in Ps Chrys de Poen Hom. 6. Ambr. de Virg. l. 5. in all the Ages thereof Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs are and ever were the constant regular standing parts of God's Worship both under the Law and under the Gospel And he must needs be a desperate Fanatick who will not acknowledge the words of God's own Spirit to be more wise pithy pertinent and effectually prevailing with God in our Prayers then any words of man's devising how seemingly-zealous and taking soever 'T is a strange but not a true Spirit of holy Prayer then those persons pretend unto who slight the devout use of the Psalms which are the treasury of all sound Devotion and trust to their own extempore or studied expressions in Prayer preferring the dictates of their own Spirit before those of the Spirit of God himself The Penitential Psalms are so called because commended by the Church of Christ and by the constant practice of orthodox devout Christians to the Religious use of all true Penitents in their Prayers to be used upon all days of Humiliation and Fasting and in the time of sickness or any disness So prayed S. Aug. upon his Death-bed he wept and bewailed his sins in the devout use of the Penitential Psalms And those are also the most effectual Prayers we can use in the practice of Repentance by way of preparation to the holy Communion Psalm VI. Vers 1. O Lord the Judge of all men rebuke me not in thine indignation which I have deservedly incurr'd neither chasten me for mine offences in thy hot displeasure flaming to consume me 2. Have mercy upon me O Lord whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive for I am weak both through original corruption and manifold actual transgressions O Lord heal me pour the wine and oyl of thy grace and mercy into the wounds of my sinful soul for my bones are vexed that interiour strength which supports my Soul is troubled and sore shaken by many falls and failings 3. My soul also being conscious of her guilt and distemper'd condition is sore troubled being terrified at the apprehension of thy strict Justice and her own deserts but thou O Lord who desirest
spirits and powers of darkness good Lord deliver me from the bonds and chains of my sins and from that dismall sentence Take him and bind him hand and foot and cast him into utter darkness good Lord deliver me Holy Jesus who being felsed by rude hands Arraignment and Condemnation wast led as an innocent Lamb to the slaughter hooted at rated reviled reproached falsely accused and unjustly condemned by unjust Judges here upon earth being thy self the most just Judge of Heaven and earth O be not a severe and angry Judge when I shall stand before thy Tribunal but vouchsafe to be then my Mediatour and answer for me who am not able to answer thee one of a thousand if thou shouldest be strict to mark what I have done amiss But in thee have I put my trust thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God From all the accusations of the Devil and his Angels from the accusations of all men and of all women with whom I have been guilty or who have been conscious of my many sinful pollutions and from the accusations of my own Conscience in the day of Judgment good Lord deliver me Blessed be that infinite mercy and humility of thine Holy Jesus He is spitted upon whereby thou sufferedst thy face faiter then the children of men to be polluted by filthy ignominious spittings O turn thy face away from my sins whereby I have polluted my Soul and profaned thy holy Name which is called upon me Turn not thy face away from me but turn thy face away from my sins who for my sins didst not turn thy face from shame and spitting Holy Jesus Buffeted who didst expose thy blessed cheeks to the rude cuffs and buffets of hard injurious fists grant that though I may feel yet not be fell'd and overthrown by the buffets of Satan Holy Jesus Forsaken of his friends and followers who wast content to be forsaken of all thy friends and dearest Disciples and to be left alone in the hands of cruel men who like ravening wolves thirsted after a draught of thy dearest bloud O leave me not destitute of thy assisting presence when assaulted by my ghostly Adversaries though I have deserved to be for ever desolate and forsaken for my manifold treacherous backslidings from thee Blessed be that infinite goodness and meekness of thine Denied by Peter who looking back upon S. Peter when he denied and forswore thee didst by that gracious chiding look call him back both to himself and to thee by tree Repentance O look thus upon all backsliders from thee for their correction and sincere conversion and look upon me also and be merciful unto me as thou usest to doe unto those that love thy name And now behold O my Soul Scourged with the eye of devout meditation such a portion of thy Saviour's sufferings as is the wonder and astonishment both of Heaven and earth See with what profound humility and patience the great Lord of all the world condescends to be whipped by a merciless crue of souldiers see with what a sweet silence this innocent Lamb yields to have his fleece torn off his body stript naked and strictly bound to a whipping-post see him all alone naked and helpless where there was no eye to pity him no heart to have compassion on him whilst those merciless Caitiffs with their sharp and forked whips rip up and tear his delicate skin and tender flesh so that his blessed back and breasts by the violence of their cruel lathes doubled and redoubled are all gore bloud which from the gastly wounds stream'd down his innocent sides Now when I think hereupon I pour out my heart by my self even to weeping and wonder wondering that the eternal Son of God the glory of Angels and beauty of men should suffer such a cruel and shameful punishment and weep that my sins should both deserve and cause such sufferings and weeping wonder that the Son of God should suffer what I deserved But since thou disdainedst not O merciful Lord to be wounded for my transgressions and bruised for mine iniquities O let thy chastisement procure my peace with offended Heaven and grant that by thy stripes my soul may be healed Holy Jesus Crowned with thorns whose venerable head was crowned with Thorns the curse of the earth and those thorns beaten into thy Temples with a Reed and with much rage pardon Lord all those sins which by the instrumental mediation of all the senses of my head I have committed break not the bruised reed my broken heart with the sad pressure of thy heavy wrath let thy thorns the fruits of the curse which we contracted and thou sustainedst deliver me from the curse due for my sins and stop the jaws of death that the pit shut not her mouth upon me Thou art the King of glory Renouncing the Pomps and Vanities of this world O Christ yet wast content with a Cross for thy Throne with a wreath of Thorns for thy Crown with a Reed for thy Regal Sceptre with Gall and Vinegar for thy Cates and for thy Robes of Majesty onely a little Linen to cover thy nakedness O that I were so wise as from thy example to despise all the gilded glories empty consolations nicknam'd pleasures and profits of this present life chusing with Moses rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season having an eye to the recompence of reward Blessed Jesus Bearing his Cross who with an invincible patience wentest forth bearing thy Cross till it sunk thy tender virginal body to the earth O let me not sink under thy Cross nor shrink from it but chearfully take up my Cross whatever it be and carefully undergo all the sacred acts and offices of true Repentance which is the Cross of Sinners and follow thee my immortal Savior who didst suffer for us leaving us an example that we should follow thy steps Holy Jesus Crucified who wast lifted up upon the Cross to draw all men unto thee and didst hang on a cursed Tree to abolish the Curse contracted by eating the fruit of the forbidden Tree and wast numbred with the transgressours crucified amongst thieves O draw my hard and stony heart unto thee deliver me from the curse by my sins contracted and rank me not among the cursed Goats on thy left hand but amongst thy blessed Sheep on thy right hand in the great Day of Judgment O most Holy crucified Jesus All the parts of his body tormented all the parts and members of whose Body were expanded on the Cross as on a tormenting rack thy blessed Arms and Legs were with such violence diftended that the Joints were disparted the Veins burst the Sinews crackt the Skin rent the Flesh torn and all the Bones started aside And in this height of distension thy innocent Hands and Feet were nailed for the sinful works of our hands nailed where the nerves those
merciful as he is merciful d 1 Pet. 1.15 16. Luke 6.36 For you hope in vain to see God in Heaven and enjoy him except you be God-like * Matt. 5.8 9. 3. Have you so hoped to enjoy the promises of God as to obey his precepts and be fruitful in all good works Hope in the Lord and be doing good f Psal 37.3 your hope is otherwise but a sinful presumption or the hope of the hypocrite that perisheth g Job 8.13 4. Hath not your hope in the mercies of God through the merits of Christ emboldned you to go on in any known sin unrepented of and banished grace out of thy heart IV. To fear God 1. Hath thy fear of God's Judgments equally balanced thy hope in his Mercies revering his justice and the direful threats and examples thereof in his Holy Word so as not to dare to sin against him Fear the Lord and depart from evil h Psal 4.5 Prov. 3.7 Phil 2.12 2. Have you not more feared to sin in the sight of men then in the presence of God more feared to displease man then to incur the displeasure of the Almighty more feared to lose thy credit amongst thy neighbours and companions then to hazard the loss of God's favour nor yet more feared the penalty of humane Laws then the threatnings of the Divine i Prov. 29.25 Isa 51.12 Luk. 12.4 5. 3. Hath thy Fear of God been rather filial viz. a fear to offend so gracious a Father then servile for fear of punishment But because we are commanded to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling k Phil. 2.12 examine whether the filial fear of God prevail in your heart and gather strength over the servile fear till at last it be quite cast out by perfect love l 1 Joh. 4.18 which is the next Duty in this Commandment injoyned V. To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all c. This Divine Love includes all these graces Matt. 22.37 38 1 Cor. 13.1 2 c. and all the particulars of the duties we owe unto God And because every man pretends to love God how falsely and deceitfully soever he think or say it therefore this Divine affection is to be strictly examined by these following Rules And 1. as thy Hope so thy Love of God is not sincere except thou be in some good measure conformed to his nature pure as he is pure just good gracious as God is so Eph. 5.1 2. Be ye followers of God as dear children and walk in love 2. If the will of God be the rule of thy will and moderatour of all thy affections Ps 97.10 Matt. 5.44 Luk. 14.26 loving what he loves hating what he hates even to the love of thine enemies and hatred of thy friends if in competition with the love of God 3. If the chief end of all your actions be to please God 1 Thess 2.4 Matt. 18.8 Matt. 10.37 more then to please your self or to pleasure any person how great and high how near or dear soever 4. Ps 122.1 Isa 2.3 Ps 27.4 Ps 42.1 2. Ps 71.20 c. Matt. 5.16 1 Pet. 2.12 If it be the joy of your heart to come into the House of the Lord to converse with him in holy prayers publick and private to contemplate his perfections and felicities so as to be inflamed with longing desires and affectionate breathings after him to glorifie him both with heart and voice both with your lips and in your life 5. If you be quick ready active Joh. 14.15 regular and constant in your Obedience to all his Commandments 6. If you long to have a more full enjoyment of God in the world to come Ps 63.1 2. 2 Cor. 4.18 and 5.1 2 3. and do not rather prefer a troublesome temporary abode in this life before the pleasures of God's right hand in the other By these Rules you may examine your self whether you love God in deed and in truth and not in conceit and verbally onely VI. To call upon God and give him Thanks In the habitual practice of the former Graces of the Spirit consists the worship of God in Spirit Joh 4.23 24. and they are all put in practice chiefly by holy Prayers unto God and Praises of him which is therefore the principal part of God's outward worship And Psal 50.23 1. Here examine how frequently you have slighted and omitted to call upon God being hereunto obliged Ps 134 2â— Matt. 6.6 Ps 55.17 Eccl 11.6 both publickly in the congregation and privately in your closet morning and evening at least signified by the morning and evening sacrifice 2. How often hath any slight occasion and pretence made you neglect this indispensable duty of Prayer especially the publick prayers of the Church and have you not been secretly glad when any such occasion hath happened 3. Being come into the House of God have you not neglected to joyn in the prayers and service of God there celebrated and through ignorance and dulness or a sinful shame omitted to lift up your voice in the congregation Eph. 5.19 Ps 106.48 to praise the Lord in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs and audibly to say Amen to the prayers of the Church For 't is not the Minister's duty onely to pray and preach in the Church but in the Temple of the Lord doth every man speak of his honour Psal 29.9 4. Eccles. 5.2 Have you not been too rash with your mouth to utter any thing before God that is either unfit impertinent or unlawful to be asked but have first weighed all your words in the balance of the Sanctuary Hos 14.2 Matt. 6.9 and have framed all your prayers according to the pattern which our Lord hath given us both by his own prayer and the prayers of his Church 5. Have you prayed for others viz. all Superiours and relations of every 1 Tim. 2.1 kind and not onely for such as are your friends Matt. 5.44 but for your very enemies also 6. Have you first endeavoured to purifie your heart from all hypocrisie Jam. 4.8 and to cleanse your hands from all your actual sins by true repentance before you make your approaches to the most Holy God by prayer 7. Do you practise as you pray in the careful use of those means which God hath appointed James 1.6 7 8. to obtain your petitions 8. Do you daily praise God for his great glories in himself and give him thanks for his manifold graces Eph. 5.20 both general to all men special to his Church and people and particular to your self â—xpressed And do you shew forth the praises of God Matt. 5.16 not onely with your lips but in the good works of your life that others may be thereby excited to glorifie God also The Second Commandment Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any
in justice to cast down and thy remembrance throughout all generations Thy gracious promises both of the life that now is and of that which is to come are in all ages remembred to thy praise and glory 13. Thou shalt arise to redeem deliver and defend and have mercy upon Sion thy Church militant here upon earth for it is time that thou have mercy upon her the time of this life is the seasonable time of mercy because it is a time of misery yea the time is come even the fulness of time is compleated of our Redemption and Salvation 14. And why thy servants think upon her stones both Angels and Saints resent with much regret the dispersed members of thy Church and it pitieth them to see her in the dust they pity her distractions and confusions and have great desires to succour and relieve her 15. The heathen shall fear thy name O Lord which now they blaspheme but being converted from their Idolatries and from all the errours of their ways they shall with us adore the blessed and saving Name of Jesus and all the Kings of the earth thy majesty being converted unto thee they shall in all humility confess the greatness of thy Majesty far to transcend their greatest power and glory 16. When the Lord shall build up Sion repair the breaches of his Church and settle it upon the foundation of Prophets and Apostles and when his glory shall appear the glory of his great grace shall manifest it self in the edification and support of his Church upon the pillars of Truth and Peace 17. When he turneth him to the prayer of the poor destitute For his ears are ever open to the prayers of the humble and poor in spirit and such as be destitute of all exteriour consolations and despiseth not their desire when flowing from a true Faith and enfir'd with Charity and Devotion 18. This shall be written for those that come after That the succeeding people of God under the Gospel may have upon record the wondrous works of God under the Law and the people that shall be born regenerate and born anew of water and of the Holy Ghost shall praise the Lord. for the grace of Redemption and great mercy attain'd 19. For he hath looked down from his Sanctuary God the Son from the bosom of his Father above looked down with the eye of his mercy upon us miserable sinners here below out of heaven did the Lord behold the earth when the King of Heaven descended upon earth when the day-spring on high came down to visit us when the Word was made flesh for the building up of Sion 20. That he might hear the mourning of such as are in captivity groaning under the bonds and chains of their sins and deliver out of the gulf of sin and clutches of Satan the children appointed unto death as the due wages of sin 21. That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion being delivered from the sad condition of being the children of the Devil in the vast womb of this wicked world to be the children of God in the sacred womb of their Mother the Church they might therein and therefore extoll the great Name of God and his worship at Hierusalem promote and advance the holy Worship of God in his Church and unanimously joyn therein together to the glory of his Name 22. When the people are gathered together When the people of God dispersed through the world shall be nevertheless joyned together in the unity of the true Faith enlivened by divine Charity and the kingdoms also to serve the Lord. when both the Kings and the people of their dominion assemble together and joyn with one heart and one mouth in the publick Worship of God then shall the Name of the Lord be magnified in Sion 23. He brought down my strength in my journey In the mean time whilst I walk in the way of Repentance my strength is decayed and he hath shortned my days of health and outward prosperity that I may apply my heart unto wisedom 24. But I said addressing my self unto God by Prayer O my God the God of my life of my health of my joy my God and my all take me not away in the midst of mine age before the natural course of my life expire as for thy years they endure throughout all generations being from everlasting to everlasting in respect of whose duration the years of my life are nothing and therefore I humbly beg they may not be shortned through the violence of thy afflicting hand 25. Thou Lord who art without beginning in the beginning of time hast laid the foundations of the earth which is the centre of this visible World and the heavens are the works of thy hands both the Heavens and the earth and all things visible and invisible are of thy Creation 26. They shall perish as having their beginning in time but thou shalt endure as being from all eternity and through all the changes of created beings remaining in thy self unchangeable 27. They all shall wax old as doth a garment which is worse for the wearing and as avesture shalt thou change them from their present state and condition and they shall be changed in their qualities and operations But thou art the same in thy self immutable and thy years shalt not fail or rather being not liable at all to any term of years but without either beginning or end of Time 28. The children of thy servants if they follow the steps of their godly Fathers in the sacred service of God shall continue in the land of the living being translated from the life of Grace to the life of Glory and their seed of good works the issue of their true faith shall stand fast in thy sight being treasured up in Heaven where no moth or rust corrupteth Glory be to the Father As it was in the beginning Psalm CXXX Verse 1. OVT of the depths both of my sins and sufferings and out of the depth of my heart wounded with godly sorrow for my sins have I called as Jonas out of the whale's belly so do I lift up my voice in praier to be delivered from the power of the Devil unto thee O Lord with whom alone is power to help and save me Lord hear my voice in my prayers which I make before thee 2. O let thine ears which are not corporeal but wholly spiritual and therefore more quick andintense to consider well the voice of my complaint be intent to release me of my sins under the weight whereof my Soul complains 3. If thou Lord to whom no secrets are hid wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss so as to take notice of all our faults and failings and punish us accordingly O Lord who may abide it There is none so exactly righteous and holy as to abide the strict scrutiny of thy vindicative justice since every sin from which none is free is in respect of the person offended
for the poor not to steal from the rich This sin is also a transgression of the former law Ecclus. 34.21 for the bread of the needy is their life and he that defraudeth him thereof is a man-slayer The Ninth Commandment Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour Examination by the Ninth Commandment NOt onely of all false and evill speaking Matt. 12.36 37. but of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account in the day of Judgment And therefore to make up your accounts against that great day of trial 't will be necessary to commune with your heart 12.34 out of the abundance whereof the mouth speaketh 1. Whether you have been guilty of any officious lies by speaking falsely either in the cause of God Job 13. Col. 3.9 or of man The first being unlawful the second is highly sinful though my neighbour may be benefited thereby Ps 12.2 Ecclus. 2.24 25. and 23. 2. Have you told no scurrilous lies vain-glorious bragging lies to please and humour your own and your companions sensual inclinations 3. Psal 24 4. Pro. 12 17. 13.5 Have you told no false stories to allure others to be of your mind and judgment though you be in an errour And 't is very evident that you are both deceived your self and desire to deceive others when you tell a lie to maintain your opinion for Truth stands in need of no lie to support it 4. Prov. 18.8 â—nd 24.28 Ecclus. 19. â— 8. and â—1 25 Eph. 4.25 Have you told no infamous lies and scandalous stories to detract and blemish the good name of any If such stories should be true 't is uncharitable but when falsities abominable to report and spread them 5. Matt. 7.3 â— Have you not talk'd of the moat in your brother's eye to his disgrace being blind as to the beam in your own And have you not judged rashly censured uncharitably of other mens actions viz. not in the better but worser sense 6. â—rov 26. â—4 25 26. Have you not flattered with your lips professing more love and respect to any then has been truly in your heart towards them 7. Exod. 23.1 Have you neither publickly nor privately testified what is false to the diminution either of the reputation or estate of any man 8. Have you used no opprobrious language as thou fool knave Matt. 5.22 1 Pet. 3.9 nor answered railing for railing The sin of evil speaking is much aggravated from the qualitie of the persons evil spoken of As 1. for Children to speak evil and reproachfully either of or to their Parents Pro. 20.20 2. Jer. 18.18 Exod. 22.28 Jud. 8. for a people to speak evil of their Pastours 3. for Subjects to speak evil of their King and his Ministers of State Which is the humour of false Prophets and Hereticks it being the practice of Orthodox Pastours Tit. 3.1 2. to put their people in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates to speak evil of no man c. The Tenth Commandment Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife nor his servant nor his maid nor his ox nor his ass nor any thing that is his Examination by the Tenth Commandment 1. HAth no lust inflamed your breast towards the Wife or Maid of another Matt. 5.28 1 Thess 4.5 2 Sam. 11.2 or to covet whatsoever of his you vainly conceive serviceable to your sinful pleasures So lusted David after the wife of Vriah 2. Hab. 2.9 Luk. 12.15 Have you not coveted the house lands preferments offices or whatsoever is enjoyed by another in order to your worldly profit 1 King 21.1 c. So coveted Ahab the vineyard of Naboth 3. Have you not secretly wished the loss or ruine of your neighbour's health peace credit liberty life Job 31.29 30. 1 Joh. 2.11 and 3.15 or any thing that is his in order either to your pleasure or profit 4. Num. 11.28 29. Have you not envied the flourishing estate of any either in respect of their wealth esteem honour preferment and this whether in reference to your self or to your friend 5. Phil. 4.11 1 Tim. 6.8 Matt. 6.19 20. Heb. 13.5 Have you been content with your present state and condition in this world how mean soever not roving after the exteriour consolations of the creature abroad the onely way to lose contentment in your self at home 6. Prov. 13.4 Eph. 4.28 2 â—hess 3.8 Have you been diligent and industrious in the duties of your calling without all carking solicitude both for the support of your self and yours and for the relief of others 7. Have none of those great Diana's whom all the world worshippeth viz. the lusts of the flesh 1 Joh. 2.15 16. or voluptuousness the lusts of the eyes or covetousness the pride of life or ambition taken up more room in your heart then the love of God and the joys of the world to come My soul cleaveth to the dust Psal 119.25 quicken me O Lord according to thy word CHAP. V. The Examination of Religious actions SUch is the infelicity of our humane condition upon earth that we frequently trespass against the Majesty of Heaven not onely by doing what God hath by his holy Laws forbidden but also by the irregular performance of those holy acts of Religion which he hath commanded Gen. 4.4 5. And herein a more strict scrutiny is required a more narrow search into all the secret recesses and corners windings and turnings of the corrupt heart because the sins of such actions as be outwardly holy do commonly lie more closely hidden from our apprehension and view then those which have no appearance of holiness in them Where 1. Examine your intention in every good work what is your chief end and aim therein Matt. 6.22 23. For the light of the body is the eye 't is the intention the internall eye of the Soul which renders every work either of light or of darkness sinfull or holy Consider then whether in Alms-giving Fasting Praying Preaching or any other Religious duty you intend either 1. the glory of God rather then your own glory and esteem the praise of God more then the praise of men or 2. the good of your Soul and the interest of Heaven rather then any worldly ends or interests 3. Whether you perform such or such an holy action out of a true love to God and obedience to his commands or rather to please your self in following your own imaginations inclinations and humours 4. whether to satisfy your own conscience rather then to prevent the discourses or censures of others 5. to benefit others rather then to please your own fancy And lastly whether you have an eye to the recompence of reward in the other world without reflexion upon any secular advantage in this life 'T is too common with men to mistake their own
I ought To believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith rightly and fully to understand all the Articles of the holy Christian Faith whereinto I was Baptized and made Christian and my Faith in those Fundamentals of the Religion I profess has been weak and wavering clouded by ignorance depraved by errour and distracted by many various Opinions and doubts of the Truth God be merciful to me a sinner I have not fram'd the affections of my heart and the actions of my life according to what each Article of my Christian Faith doth imply and implicitly command but I have profaned nay even denied that Faith by the sinful works of my hands which I have professed with my mouth God be merciful to me a miserable sinner I have too often neglected and been sometimes ashamed to make confession of my Faith when called hereunto by the Minister in the Congregation and most justly therefore may my Blessed Saviour be ashamed of me at the last great Day But he is merciful and I a miserable sinner God be merciful to my sin for it is great I have not studied fully to know what the Will of my God is To keep God's holy Will and Commandments and to understand aright those Divine Commandments I am obliged to observe neither have I obeyed thy Will and kept thy Commandments according to the knowledge I have had thereof To thee O Lord God belongeth mercy and forgiveness but to me shame and confusion of face for I have rebelled against thee and have not walked in those Laws which thou hast appointed for us Sins against the First Table of the Law I Have not so stedfastly and unfeignedly believed in thee my God Sins against the First Commandment as not many times to entertain wild and roving thoughts of Infidelity and Atheism I have lived too much and too long without God in the world Against Faith in God spending my time either in doing nothing or nothing to purpose or doing what I ought not as if there were no God to call me to an account for the expence of my time and for all my actions in time The whole course of my life has been a trade of rebellion to my Creatour of ingratitude to my Redeemer of obstinacy to my Sanctifier of contradiction to a sincere Faith in the Trin-une God Blessed Father Son and Holy Ghost being little better then one of those Atheists who profess to know God but in their works deny him being abominable disobedient and to every good work reprobate Remember not Lord the sins of my youth nor of my riper age but according to the multitude of thy mercies think upon me O God for thy goodness I have not fully relied upon the all-wise and good providence of God Trust in God and cast all my care upon him but I have often distracted my mind with carking cares and fears for the things of this life and have used unlawful and indirect means to obtain and advance my worldly ends and interests I have leaned to my own understanding trusted to my policy and cunning made flesh my arm and riches my confidence been puft up by prosperity cast down by adverse occurrents for want of a sure trust and holy confidence in my God God be merciful to me a miserable sinner I have not made my Creatour the chief object of my hope and desires Hope in God but being made in honour after the Image of God I have made my self like the beasts that perish roving in my desires and vain hopes of consolation in the Creature I have foolishly hoped to avoid thy threatned Judgments and yet have not avoided the Sins against which they are denounced and I have as vainly hoped to attain thy promised Mercies having not obeyed thy Precepts in order thereunto O turn thy face away from my sins and blot out all mine offences I have not stood in awe of thy dreadful Majesty Fear of God so as not to sin and provoke thee to anger I have more feared to commit sin before men then in the presence of the All-seeing God more feared the penalty of humane laws then the threatnings of the Divine more feared to lose a little empty credit and esteem amongst men then to incur the displeasure of the Almighty and the little fear I have had of God hath been more servile then filial more afraid of the punishment then of the sin Enter not into judgment with thyservants O Lord for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified The Love of God in my heart is weak and defective Love of God and no better then dissimulation and hypocrifie since I have not hated what is evil nor delighted my self in the Lord and in the ways of his service since I have not obeyed his Laws nor studied to please him more then to please my self and pleasure others since I have not longed after a more full enjoyment of God's Sacred Majesty in Heaven above but my Soul cleaveth to the dust and rubbish of worldly vanities Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me O Lord though my heart hath been withdrawn from thee but let thy loving mercy and truth alway preserve me I have too often neglected and omitted that indispensable duty of holy Prayers both publick and private Prayers unto God in the Church and in the Closet taking any light occasion sometimes to omit sometimes to curtail my Devotions and too often glad of such an occasion I have been too rash with my mouth to utter Prayers before God that have been impertinent irregular and unfit to be offered up to the infinite wisedom and purity of Heaven In the use of those holy Prayers which have been weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary I have been both indevout and irreverent weary of their length displeased at their return cold dull heavy and without advertency in the effusion of them And that which renders the best and most zealous prayers ineffectual I have presumed to pray in my sins with an impure heart and unclean hands so that wherein I might have most confidence I find nothing but imperfections weaknesses and defects God be mercifull unto me a miserable sinner I have not so seriously considered and entertained so deep a sense of thy great glories in thy self Praises of God and manifold graces to us sinful mortals as duly to praise thee both with heart and voice both in the congregation and in the closet neither hath the light of holy Truth so shined in the actions of my life that others seeing my good works may glorifie thee also God be merciful unto my sin for it is great O thou who art an Eternal Sins against the Second Commandment Incomprehensible Spiritual Pure Invisible Essence how have I misapprehended thy greatness My imaginations and conceptions of thee have been vain and mean and far below the excellency purity and perfection of thy Divine Nature And as my thoughts have
infinite 4. For there is mercy with thee to forgive the sins of the penitent and to raise up them that are faln therefore shalt thou be feared or worshipped with reverence and godly fear thy mercy engaging and sweetly working upon our hearts to fear thy Name 5. I look for the Lord even for his saving mercy my soul doth wait for him to heal her soars and satisfie her longing desires with the oil and wine of mercy and consolation in his word is my trust for therein he hath promised to pardon the penitent to heal the broken-hearted And I doubt not but he will be as good as his word and therefore 6. My soul fleeth unto the Lord upon the spiritual wings of ardent desires strong hopes fervent prayers before the morning-watch very early in the morning of the day or in the morning of my life the time of my youth I say before the morning-watch or more carnestly then such who are appointed watch-men for the night do wait for the morning to be discharged from their watch and have liberty to repose themselves 7. O Israel Ye that are of the number of God's people members of his Church if you be wise trust not in your selves nor in others but trust in the Lord who never faileth to help them that put their trust in him and be doing good for with the Lord there is mercy There is there was and ever will be mercy with him to justifie sinners that truly repent and believe in him for his mercy endureth for ever and with him there is plenteous redemption His precious bloud whereby we are redeemed is plentifully sufficient to satisfie for our sins and not for ours onely but for the sins of the whole world 8. And he shall redeem Israel No doubt but he will more especially above all others redeem his own inheritance from all his sins Be they never so many mortal and venial if truly repented through Faith in the bloud of Christ they shall be pardoned And therefore we have great reason to give Glory to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Psalm CXLIII Verse 1. HEar my prayer O Lord for the obtaining of what is good and consider my desire for the avoiding of what is evil hearken unto me in both respects for thy truth of thy promises made to hear the prayers of the humble and for thy righteousness sake in performing all such promises to those who trust not in their own but in thy righteousness condemning themselves that they may be absolved by thee 2. And enter not into judgment without any intermixture of mercy with thy servant O Lord I dare not say thy son but confess with the Prodigal that I have sinned against Heaven but reject me not from among the number of thy servants for in thy sight who art a God of purer eyes then to behold iniquity shall no man living in this frail mortal flesh be justified by his own merits but by the mercy of God through the merits of Christ 3. For the enemy the Devil hath persecuted my soul and doth incessantly undermine its innocence by his temptations and snares he hath smitten my life down to the ground so that my Soul grovels in the dust of earthly desires he hath laid me in the darkness involv'd in the night of secular lusts as the men that have been long dead in their trespasses and sins having no sense or feeling of their desperate condition 4. Therefore is my spirit vexed within me My Conscience within me being defiled and my Soul which would aspire to Heaven-ward depressed with the weight of her sins and the corruption of her flesh is a great corrosive and vexation of my spirit and my heart within me is desolate destitute of all consolation 5. Yet do I remember the time past wherein thy people have been exercised and tried both by adversity and prosperity both by temptations and deliverances and for my consolation and strengthning my hopes of deliverance I muse upon all thy works wherein I observe as thy great power and wisedom so thy mercy allaying the rigour of thy justice yea I enâ—â—ise my self in the works of thy hands wherein I find thy mercy to be over thy works and that I though an unprofitable work of thy hands may obtain mercy also 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee both praying with my lips and working with my hands to obtain may petitions and my soul pours forth her self in the expansion of my hands which being in her self dry and barren of consolation gaspeth unto thee the fountain of living waters and well-spring of Divine graces even as a thirsty land gapeth to be fill'd and satisfied with rain from Heaven 7. Hear me O Lord watering my thirsty Soul with the celestial dew of thy Divine grace and that soon delay not to satisfie the thirst of my soul which is great for my spirit waxeth faint hath lost its wonted fersour of devotion being oppressed with the burthen of her sins and destitute of the sweet refreshments and influences of thy Holy Spirit hide not thy face from me as one turns away his face from his enemie or one with whom he is justly offended lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit If thou look not in mercy upon me I shall be in the same condition with them that are involved in the pit both of sin and of death 8. O let me hear be made sensible of thy loving kindness betimes in the morning early and betimes in this life and after the night of this life is ended in the morning of that day which never shall have end for in thee is my trust not in my self nor in any help of man for it is but vain and so will prove my trust in thee also except I obey thy will and walk in thy ways the which that I may do I humbly beg shew thou me the way of thy laws and the paths of thy Commandments wherein I should walk as leading to my native home of Heaven where my immortal Soul was first framed by the hands of the Almighty for unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul which being made after thine Image aspires to become perfect in the beatifical vision and fruition of thy sacred Majesty In which way being soar let and hindred it implores thy assistence saying 9. Deliver me from mine enemies O God both visible and invisible ghostly and bodily adversaries for I flee unto thee when assaulted by them to hide me under the covert of thy protection from all the storms of temptations which daily arise in the tumultuous sea of this life 10. Teach me who am naturally blind and careless of my duty to doe the thing that pleaseth thee not onely to know but to doe thy will not to follow mine own pleasure but what is pleasing and acceptable unto thee for thou art my God who hast created and redeemed me and that I may be
whither Blessed Lord whither should a defiled Soul go to be cleansed but unto that Fountain which is opened in the house of Israel for sin and for uncleanness In this inexhaustible Fountain of Divine grace my sinfull Soul longs to be washed and through the effusion of the precious Bloud of my Redeemer to be purified and my whole self for the future to be sincerely devoted to serve thee in holiness and righteousness before thee all the days of my life Amen III. Assist me Blessed Lord in the Triall and impartial Examination of my heart and of all the actions of my life in the full Confession of all my Sins with the tears of true Penitence and godly Sorrow for them in my Praiers for mercy and pardon of them and for grace to be sanctified against them O hear in Heaven and be mercifull unto me forgive me my Sins and heal my Soul through the merits and mediation of my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ Amen A short preparatory Meditation to the Sacrament out of S. Ambrose O with what great contrition of heart with what a floud of tears with what reverence fear and trembling with what purity of mind and chastity of body is that Divine celestial Mystery to be celebrated where thy Flesh O Lord is truly received and thy Bloud is truly drunk where things most high and low Divine and humane are mysteriously intermingled where the Angels of Heaven are invisibly present beholding and assisting in the celebration and where thou O Lord art inconceivably present both as the Priest and the Sacrifice O who can worthily either administer or receive such grand tremend celestial Mysteries except Thou the Omnipotent God make him worthy of thy Grace Even so come Lord Jesus The XXIII Psalm paraphrased Verse 1. THE Lord who hath created redeemed and sanctified me is my Shepherd to feed guide and defend me from the ravening of my ghostly foes therefore I can lack nothing that is needfull or convenient either for Soul or body 2. He shall feed me in a green pasture My Soul doth he feed with the verdant refreshing Indoctrinations of his Holy Word and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort Such are the influences of the Holy Ghost the Comforter and such are the Sacraments of his Church which as waters do quench the fire of Concupiscence wash off the pollution of Sin cleanse the heart from all vain and impure thoughts and desires satisfy the spiritual thirst of the Soul and feed the same to life eternal and these be Comforts both great and glorious 3. He shall convert my soul from the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and from the sinfull Lusts of the Flesh and bring me forth into the paths of righteousness to keep God's holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life and this he will doe for his Name 's sake that his Name which is great wonderfull and holy may be glorified in me and by me 4. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death be conversant amidst continual Temptations and Tribulations which are the miseries of mortality and the shadows of death in this valley of tears I will fear none evill neither the evil of Sin nor Death the wages of Sin for thou art with me dwelling in my heart by Faith in this mortal life that after the shadow of death is vanished I may dwell with thee by Vision in life immortal Aug. thy rod and thy staff comfort me thy rod to correct me thy staff to support me thy rod to punish me when I doe evill thy staff to sustain me in my sufferings for my Sins Both are great comforts to the devout Soul as being signs of Adoption and Grace purchased by the mystical Rod and Staff of my Saviour's Sufferings on the wood of his Cross This was the rod of the Lord's indignation for our Sins and the rod wherewithall our Lord beat the Devil out of his strong holds this was the staff also or stay of fallen Man the merits whereof I humbly beg to be applied to my Soul in the Sacrament of his Passion For 5. Thou shalt prepare a table before me The Table of the Lord is spred before all true Believers where is prepared the Bread of Heaven the food of Angels the Body and Bloud of Christ for the strengthning and refreshing of my Soul against them that trouble me and these are chiefly home-bred Enemies even all those sinful Lusts of the flesh which war against the Soul But that I may be prepared for the conflict with them thou hast anointed my head with oil The Unction of the Holy one are the Graces of the Holy Spirit which from Christ the Head do flow down upon his Members in the devout use of his Sacraments and my cup shall be full That Cup of blessing which is the Communion of the Bloud of Christ is full of grace and heavenly benediction And this in all humility I call my cup because I am invited nay commanded to take and drink thereof And if I receive it worthily I may then rejoycing say The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup and as it follows 6. Thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life 'T was thy loving-kindness and mercy preventing me whereby I was called unto the state of Grace and Salvation and I believe and humbly pray that thy Grace may also follow me to continue in the same to my life's end and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever This is the end and the perfection of all the Lord's Blessings upon me He is therefore my Shepherd and doth feed and guide me protect and defend me correct and support me and with his precious Body and Bloud doth nourish me in his house of praier here below that I may hereafter dwell in his house of praise above and with his holy Angels and Saints for ever sing Glory be to God the Father As it was in the beginning Other Psalms seasonable for Meditation and relating to this Divine subject in several Verses are the XLII XLIII LXXXI LXXXIV Psalms the which I have not paraphrased or explained that this Volume might not swell into too great a bulk CHAP. III. Meditations and Praiers for the Friday especially before the Communion 1. AMongst all the days of the Week Friday is the most seasonable and fittest for the performance of those Religious Duties the which though never out of season are yet then most practical when commanded as necessary Preparatives for the worthy receiving of the Sacrament viz. the grand Duty of Self-examination of Confession of sins with Contrition Humiliation and Fasting as also for Meditations and Praiers upon the Passion of our Lord since it was upon this day of the week he was crucified and died for our Sins 2. 'T is upon this account that our Church enjoyns this day to be observed through the whole
shalt make his Soul an offering for Sin he shall see his seed k Isa 53.10 even the fruits of his Passion devout Believers who shall serve him or keep his holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of their life they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation being regenerated by Water and the Holy Ghost in Baptism whereby they are made Members of Christ Children of God and Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven 32. They shall come being admitted into the glorious Communion of his blessed Saints and the Heavens both above and below both the Church Triumphant and Militant shall declare his righteousness His Mercies promised and performed in the Redemption of the world shall be proclaimed to all succeeding generations to a people that shall be born new born in and through all the Ages of the Church whom the Lord hath made his own peculiar people whose mouths are filled with his praise for ever saying Glory be to God the Father As it was in the beginning In the Greek Liturgy the people pray in the words of the Thief upon the Cross Lord remember us in thy Kingdom The Priest answers God be mindful of every one of us in his Kingdom both now and always for ever and ever Amen In the Mozarabick Liturgy I. By the wood of a Tree was Adam banished out of Paradise and from the Tree of wood the Cross the Thief that was crucified with our Lord ascended into Paradise The one by eating the forbidden Fruit transgrest the Law of his Maker the other confessed Christ in his Crucifixion to be the Lord of Heaven saying Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom II. Grant unto us O Lord the Repentance of the Thief upon the Cross and grant that we may with the like Faith call upon thee our Lord of great and much mercy saying Lord remember us in thy Kingdom III. Lord thou hast made us in the image of thine ineffable Glory which we have much defaced by the black marks of our many Falls have mercy upon the work of thine hands sanctify us of thy great goodness and restore us to our much-desired Country the celestial Paradise Lord remember us in thy Kingdom CHAP. VIII Meditations and Praiers preparatory to the Blessed Sacrament on Saturday-night or Sunday-morning before I. THOU art now invited O my Soul to such a Banquet as Heaven and Earth affords not the like 'T is the precious Body and Bloud of thy dear Redeemer which he first gave to be the price of thy Redemption and now gives again to be thy food and nourishment Teach me O Lord by thy Holy Spirit Out of St. Ambrose to understand and believe and ever to conceive and speak of those great and wonderful Mysteries and this day to receive the same with that Faith and Esteem Humility and Contrition holy Desires and Resolutions Reverence and Devotion as may please thee and conduce to my Soul's Salvation Empty my heart of all vain idle wandring Thoughts and of all filthy and unfruitfull Lusts Take from me this Heart of stone and give me an heart of flesh a soft and melting heart to fear thee love thee honour thee delight in thee and so to follow thee that I may be for ever happy in the enjoyment of thee II. O Holy crucified Jesus Out of St. Aug. Man ca. 11. I humbly beg by that sacred effusion of thy most precious Blead give unto thy Servant the effusion of Tears with compunction of spirit when I approach thine Altar to partake of that celestial Sacrament worthy of all Reverence and the most inflamed Devotion which thou O Lord God didst institute and command to be received in commemoration of thine infinite Love in dying for us and for the reparations of our manifold infirmities and daily failings Grant me Blessed Lord Out of T. Aquin. not onely to receive that Sacrament in the outward Elements but in the virtue and power thereof not Bread and Wine alone but the Body and Bloud of my Jesus to the Remission of all my Sins and to all other the Benefits of his Death and Passion for me III. The whole need not a Physician Out of T. Aquin. but they that are sick And such am I a diseased sin-sick Soul and as sick I now go to my Physician as a Sinner to the Redeemer of fallen Man as miserable to the Father of Mercy as unclean to the fountain of Purity as poor and needy to the Lord of all Bounty as blind and ignorant to the Brightness and splendour of Spirits as infirm and weak to the Strength of Israel And oh that it may please thee to enlighten my Darkness to heal all my Infirmities to inrich my Poverty to strengthen my Weakness to wash away all my Uncleanness and by the Communion of thy precious Body and Bloud to cleanse me from all Filthiness both of flesh and spirit that I may perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. IV. Thou didst offer up thy self Out of Tho. a Kempis Blessed Jesus even thy whole self upon the Altar of the Cross a Sacrifice for my Sins no Member of thy Body not tormented no Power of thy Soul not sacrificed no Drop of thy Bloud not shed for me a miserable Sinner 'T is therefore most just and meet and my bounden Duty that I should offer up my self my whole self to thee and to thy service for I am not mine own being bought with a price and such a price as transcends the value of all that the whole Heavens and Earth afford beside Whatever I offer unto thee O Lord though it be all that I do enjoy in the world with my Praiers for all it will not be accepted without the offering of my self for 't is not mine but me not all that is without me but all that is within me thou requirest as the price of thy self to be enjoyed Receive me O Lord in the devout Participation of thy most holy Body and Bloud whereunto I am now invited Guard me O Lord with the pious custody and strong defence of thy holy Angels invisibly present and assistent in the transaction of those tremend Mysteries of Godliness and Salvation that the enemies of all that is holy and good may be thence driven back with shame and confusion In all the holy Actions of that sacred celestial Service make me sensible of the sweetness of thy presence with me that I may taste and see how gracious the Lord is a Psal 34.8 be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house and drink of thy pleasures as out of a river For with thee is the Well of life and in thy light shall we see light b Psal 36.8 9. O send out thy light and thy truth that they may lead me and bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling and that I may goe unto the Altar of God even the God of my joy and gladness and upon the
harp with my heart will I give thanks unto thee O God my God c Psal 43.3 4. The CXI Psalm Verse 1. I Will give thanks unto thee O Lord with my whole heart a God must be worshipped not with the lips alone nor alone in the closet but both with heart and voice both secretly and in the Congregation secretly among the faithfull and in the congregation b not in the Conventicles of Hereticks and Schismaticks but in the Congregation of the faithfull 2. The works of the Lord are great sought out of all them that have pleasure therein c whose delight it is to study and meditate upon the greatness of God apparent in his works 3. His work is worthy to be praised and had in honour and his righteousness endureth for ever d wherein to the honour of God his righteousness is as himself unchangeable and everlasting 4. The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous works that they ought to be had in remembrance * Though the Lord be marvellous in all his works yet of his grace and mercy he hath therein observed such an excellent order that we might remember and recount them to his praise and glory 5. He hath given meat to them that fear him he shall ever be mindfull of his covenant f In remembrance of the Covenant of grace he has made with his people he feeds them with celestial meat even the Sacrament of his Holy Body and Bloud 6. He hath shewed his people the power of his works that he may give them the heritage of the heathen g by the power and virtue whereof we who were heathens are entitled to the heritage of Heaven 7. The works of his hands are verity and judgment all his Commandments are true h Christ is Truth to them who worthily receive him but Judgment to the unworthy 8. They stand fast for ever and ever and are done in truth and equity i And this being true and equitable shall never fail of its due accomplishment 9. He hath sent Redemption to his people he hath commanded his Covenant for ever Holy and reverend is his Name k God's holy and reverend Name is to be for ever magnified for the Redemption of his people in the Bloud of his Son which is sealed and applied in the Blessed Eucharist to stand as an everlasting Covenant betwixt God and man 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisedom l The first part of this Covenant is the beginning of Wisedom viz. to fear the Lord and to depart from evill or to renounce the Devil and all his works the Pomps a good understanding have all they that doe thereafter the praise of it endureth for ever m They are truly wise who frame both their hearts and lives by this rule of Divine fear the praise whereof is everlasting Glory be to the Father and As it was in the beginning The Praiers I. THou art worthy O Lord to be praised and had in honour for all thy marvellous works but most to be admired for thy grace and mercy in the Redemption of thy people by the Bloud of thine own dear Son whom thou hast also given to be meat unto them that fear thee Be ever mindfull O Lord of this thy Covenant of grace and grant that I may ever receive the Blessed Sacrament which is the Seal thereof in verity and not unto judgment nor to my condemnation but unto the attainment of the heritage of Heaven through Jesus Christ II. Vouchsafe O Lord to pierce my heart with such an awfull fear of thy Name which is holy and reverend that I may not dare to offend thee by transgressing the least of thy Commandments but carefully conscienciously and constantly doe thereafter that I may be admitted into the blissful Society of those happy Souls the praise of whose innocence and holiness endureth for ever through Jesus Christ Praefatio ad Orationem Dominicam ex Liturgia S. Basilii ante Communionem Corporis That we may worthily receive the Body and Bloud of our Lord to the confirming and strengthning of our Souls let us worthily say that Praier which the onely-begotten Son of God hath taught us crying unto heaven with a pure heart Our Father which art in Heaven You may if you desire to enlarge your Praiers upon this divine subject adde Psal CXVI verse 10. to the end and CXXVIII and CXLVII verse 12. to the end CHAP. IX Meditations upon your going to Church with some short Directions for your demeanour in the House and in the Service of God UPON your going to Church three things will be necessary for you to consider 1. the condition of the Place whither you are going 2. the great End of your going thither and 3. how there you are to demean your self All this you would consider if you were going to the Palace of an earthly Prince who is but a mortall man like your self and you surely have much more reason to consider these particulars now that you are going unto the Courts of the Lord's House First then as to the House whither you are going 't is indeed as to its Fabrick but like other houses made of wood and stone even as the Lord's Day is but like other days as to the air and light of Heaven But the relative Holiness of this House and its eminency above other houses will appear by the Names whereby it is called both in the Book and by the People of God Under the Law it was called the Tabernacle of the congregation i. e. the place of God's meeting with his people the Temple of the Lord where he presents himself to the view of his people sitting betwixt the Cherubims as on his Throne of state 'T is also called the Sanctuary of the Lord the House of God the Habitation of his Holiness and the place where his Honour dwelleth All which Names do explain each other and need no interpretation Under the Gospell 't is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Church of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord's House 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the King's Palace and Oratorium the house of Praier Any of which Names much more all of them together considered will oblige any man who hath any sense of Religion to obey that command of God himself which is not merely ceremonial and typical but moral and perpetual Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my Sanctuary I am the Lord a Lev. 19.30 Secondly as to the great End of your going to Church it is to present your self before the Lord and there to adore the great Majesty of Heaven from whom you have your life and breath and all things It is not to serve your self by hearing this or tother fine-gifted Minister tickling your itching ears by his taking discourses agreeable to your fancy but to serve the Lord is your errand to his House viz. there to joyn
with the Minister and the Congregation in publick Praiers and Praises of God in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs in Confessions Thanksgivings and Benedictions as wherein chiefly the service of God consists Behold now praise the Lord all ye servants of the Lord ye that by night stand in the house of the Lord even in the Courts of the house of our God Lift up your hands in the Sanctuary and praise the Lord b Psal 134.1 2. As for me I will worship towards thy holy Temple and praise thy name c Psal 138.2 Thirdly as to your Carriage and Demeanour in the House of God you are commanded Keep thy foot when thou goest unto the house of God d Eccles. 5.1 enjoyning thee 1. to beware of all light unseemly indecent and irreverent carriage and to shew Humility and Devotion in all the Gestures of thy Outward man bowing down thy self and kneeling before the Lord thy Maker * Psal 95.6 before him who made both thy Body and Soul and joyned them together that they might be joyned in his Service So worshipped the people of God the whole congregation bowed themselves with their faces to the ground f 2 Chron. 7.3 And so all good people resolve to doe We will goe into his tabernacle and fall low on our knees before his footstool g Psal 132.7 2. The foot of the Inward man must also and chiefly be kept upright in the House of God Thy Affections are the feet or motions of thy Soul these must be kept free from all secular Cares pure from all sensuall Lusts clean from all wanton wicked Inclinations yea from all Thoughts of any worldly concerns For ye cannot serve God and Mammon h Matt. 6.24 In the High-priest's forehead was engraven in a plate of gold Holiness to the Lord i Exod. 28.36 and every ordinary Priest was commanded to wash before he entred into the Sanctuary k Exod. 30.19 20. intimating that exact Purity and Holiness which is required of all both Priests and people when we approach the presence of the Lord in his holy Temple So saith the holy man of God Holiness becometh thy house O Lord for ever l Psal 93.5 and he resolves accordingly I will wash my hands in innocency and so will I goe to thine Altar m Psal 26.6 Be not slothfull and negligent averse and careless backward and tardy in coming to the Church for many and mischievous are the Consequents of coming late For 1. you rob your self of the opportunity of your private Praiers for a Blessing upon the publick 2. You lose the benefit of the publick Confession and Absolution which are of high esteem and value to all who are wisely Religious And 3. to deprive your self wittingly and willingly of any part of God's publick Worship is both a sin and a loss of so great an account as cannot easily be exprest or will be ordinarily believed Against such sinfull sloth and neglect endeavour to have imprinted in your heart the love of God's House and of his Service there performed Say with the man after God's own heart Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth o Psal 26.8 I was glad when they said unto me We will goe unto the house of the Lord p Psal 122.1 Our feet stand in thy gates O Jerusalem q Verse 2. 1. When you come to the Church-door Consider that you are now upon entrance into the Presence-chamber of the Great King of the world whose Throne of glory is in Heaven above but his Throne of grace in his Temple here below Say then within your self Surely the Lord is in this place How dreadful is this place this is none other but the House of God this is the Gate of heaven r Gen. ◠16 17. O how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of hosts My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh rejoyce in the living God Yea the sparrow hath found her an house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young even thine Altars O Lord of hosts my King and my God Blessed are they who dwell in thy House they will be always praising thee †Psal 84.1 2 3 4. And most happy were I could I both esteem it and make it my greatest joy and constant labour of love to praise the Lord in his Temple 2. When you are entred and View the Baptisterion or Font Give hearty thanks unto God for your Christendom that by holy Baptism he hath called you to the state of Grace and Salvation through Jesus Christ and humbly beseech God to give you his grace to continue in the same to your life's end by the religious observance of that Vow which was so solemnly taken in your name the which you must now perform that you forfeit not the great privileges rewards and honours of being a Member of Christ a Child of God and an Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven 3. When you view the Pulpit Remember how many good Lessons you have received thence the which not being carefully practised will rise up in judgment against you in the great Day of your Triall Resolve therefore for the future to be a Doer of the Word and not a Hearer onely deceiving your own self 4. When you look up towards the Altar say What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will receive the Cup of salvation offer the sacrifice of Thanksgiving for my Redemption and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord in the sight of all his people in the courts of the Lord's house even in the midst of thee O Jerusalem Praise the Lord t Psal 116.12 13 14 18 19. Glory be to the Father As it was in the beginning 5. When you come to your Seat kneeling down pray I. Praier Let thy merciful ears O Lord be open to the praiers of thy humble servants and grant that what we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually through Jesus Christ II. Prayer O God forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts and more especially be assistent to us in all the holy actions of this day through Jesus Christ III. Prayer And since by reason of our Sins we are unworthy to offer up any Sacrifice to so pure a Majesty grant mercifull Lord both to me and to all thy faithfull people pardon and peace that being cleansed from all our Sins we may serve thee with a quiet mind through Jesus Christ Directions relating to some parts of the publick Worship AS soon as the Minister begins with the publick Worship all your private Meditations and Praiers must be waved and your mind applied to attend diligently and to joyn devoutly in
every part and passage of Divine Service considering that this is the great End of your coming to Church and your business there is to serve the Lord with your Christian brethren in publick 1. Therefore when the Minister exhorts you out of the Word of God to confess and acknowledge your sins and wickedness harden not your heart but with all possible humility both of Body and Soul say after the Minister in the Confession of sin and to this and to every Praier or other act of Divine Worship where 't is prescribed neglect not to say Amen for that is as it were the seal to confirm to your Soul the Benefits thereof And the Hebrews have a saying that Whosoever says Amen with all his might opens the doors of Paradise 2. After the Confession when the Minister comes to the words of Absolution bow down your head and say softly in your heart Lord let this pardon pronounced by thy Minister fall upon my Soul and seal thereunto the forgiveness of all my sins 3. The Psalms and Hymns are to be answered verse for verse with the Minister that so all may joyn and bear a part in the Service of God for in his Temple doth every man speak of his honour v Psal 29.9 And 〈◊〉 although you cannot reade yet your heart may joyn with them that do reade and your mouth also may shew forth the praise of God by saying after every Psalm Glory be to the Father and to or else if it fall in course As it was in the beginning is now Adding always Amen to express how affectionately you desire the glory of God 4. Be not silent nor ashamed publickly and audibly to make confession of the holy Christian Faith when you are thereunto called by the Minister For this is a Duty you owe both to God and Man it is an act of God's Worship and a declaration that you hold the same Faith with all true Christians And therefore 't is required of you not onely with the heart to believe unto righteousness but that with the mouth also Confession be made unto salvation x Rom. 10.10 And when the Confession of Faith is publickly pronounced do not you sit or loll as if it concerned you not but stand up with the rest of the Congregation to signify and declare that you will stand to this Faith and earnestly contend for it as being the same which was once given to or by the Saints the holy Apostles 5. Be not so cold and careless in giving honour to God as not to bow at the name of Jesus for 't is a Duty positively commanded and universally practised by the Church and people of God in all Ages And therefore give no ear to those deceivable Criticisms corrupt Glosses and false Inferences which are too frequently but profanely urged to make void the commandment of God in the omission of this Religious practice If you hear any such allegations out of the Pulpit detest them the rather that any act of Religious worship should be spoken against in the place where whatever tends to the honour of God should be magnified and advanced 6. That you may not be tired with the length of the Divine Service consider 1. the great variety of its severall parts as consisting of Praiers and Praises Confessions Thanksgivings Invitations Lessons Admonitions all of which are with most admirable prudence and Religious wisedom so ordered and contrived to follow each other that so the ending of one and beginning of another may renew and re-enquicken your Devotion chearfully to joyn in all Remember 2. whose service it is you are a-doing and continue therein from the beginning to the end that you may reap the benefit of the whole Office both of the Absolution in the beginning and of the Blessing in the end and of the Amen's throughout CHAP. X. Meditations and Praiers at the Blessed Sacrament When you goe up to communicate COme unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will refresh you a Matt. 11.28 Thus calleth my Saviour upon Sinners whereunto my heart answereth I come Blessed Jesus in all humility and deeply sensible of my Sins I now come unto thee to be eased of the burthen of them and to be refreshed with the sense of thy Mercy and the truth of thy Salvation My heart hath talked of thee and of thy gracious command Seek ye my face Thy face Lord do I now seek O hide not thou thy face from me b Psal 27.8 9. under the clouds of my Sins neither let the thick clouds of my transgressions hinder the light of thy countenance from shining upon thy servant When you kneel down before the Altar Thou art worthy O Lord to receive blessing and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created c Rev. 4.11 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisedom and strength and honour and glory and blessing d Rev. 5.12 Out of S. Chrysost Liturgy But I am unworthy his praise should come within my polluted lips and much more unworthy his precious Body and Bloud should be received into my Soul and unclean mouth But since he disdained not to be born in a Stable and to be laid in a Manger amongst Beasts * Luk. 2.7 since he vouchsafed to enter into the house of a Leper f Matt. 26.6 and of a Publican g Luk. 5.29 and to admit the kisses of an unclean Sinner such as I am washing his delicate Feet with her penitent Tears h Luk. 7.38 O vouchsafe most benign Jesus to receive me also reject me not though a Sinner yet thy Servant though unclean yet penitent and now humbling my self under thy most mighty hand That it may please thee to remit to release to pardon all my Sins whether of knowledge or ignorance whether by thought word or deed committed that with a pure and clean Soul I may receive thy most precious Body and Bloud Prayers out of several other Liturgies that the devout Reader may have the more choice and fix upon the use of such as he feels most enquickening his Devotion Out of S. James's Liturgy I. O Lord God the Bread of Heaven and Life of the World I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am not worthy to partake of thy most holy Mysteries yet vouchsafe mercifull Lord to make me worthy by thy grace that I may not receive thy Holy Body and Bloud to my condemnation but unto the remission of my Sins and everlasting life Amen II. I beseech thee O Lord Out of the R. B. that I may so worthily receive those sacred Mysteries of Salvation as to have Christ dwelling in my heart and that it may become the Temple of the Holy Ghost III. In the spirit of Humility and with a contrite heart receive me O Lord and may the Sacrifice which this day I offer up unto thee be
humble shall hear thereof and be glad 3. O praise the Lord with me and let us magnify his Name together 4. I sought the Lord and he heard me yea he delivered me out of all my fear 5. They had an eye unto him and were lightned and their faces were not ashamed 6. Lo the poor crieth and the Lord heareth him yea and saveth him out of all his troubles 7. The Angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear him and delivereth them 8. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him 9. O fear the Lord ye that be his Saints for they that fear him do lack nothing 10. The lions do lack and suffer hunger but they who seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good 11. Come ye children and hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12. What man is he that lusteth to live and would fain see good days 13. Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips that they speak no guile 14. Eschew evil and doe good seek peace and ensue it 15. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their praiers 16. The countenance of the Lord is against them that doe evil to root out the remembrance of them from off the earth 17. The righteous cry and the Lord heareth them and delivereth them out of all their troubles 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that are of a contrite heart and will save such as be of an humble spirit 19. Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of all 20. He keepeth all his bones so that not one of them is broken 21. But misfortune shall slay the ungodly and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate 22. The Lord delivereth the souls of his servants and all they that put their trust in him shall not be destitute Glory be to the Father As it was in the beginning The Prayer May the praise of the Lord be ever in my mouth and let us all magnify his Name together who do now tast and see how gracious the Lord is for he hath heard our praiers enlightned our minds delivered us from all our fears and from all those troubles whereunto our Sins had made us liable And oh that the sweet tast of our gracious Lord in this Blessed Sacrament of his Body and Bloud may have its proper influence upon all the Affections of our hearts and Actions of our lives that we may henceforth and for ever eschew evil and doe good being fruitfull in all the good works of Righteousness and true Holiness from whence ensue eternal Peace and Happiness through Jesus Christ I have sworn vowed in my Baptism and now again renewed the same Vow and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgments k Psal 119.106 I am thine even now solemnly devoted thine stedfastly resolved thine O save me for I have sought thy Commandments l Vers 94. O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not m Psal 17.5 O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that I may daily perform my vows n Psal 61.8 CHAP. XI Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving after the Holy Communion The CIII Psalm Verse 1. PRaise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name 2. Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits 3. Who forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thy infirmities 4. Who saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness 5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things making thee young and lusty as the eagle 6. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all them that are oppressed with wrong 7. He shewed his ways unto Moyses his works unto the children of Israel 8. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy long-suffering and of great goodness 9. He will not alway be chiding neither keepeth he his anger for ever 10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our wickedness 11. But look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth so great is his mercy also towards them that fear him 12. Look how wide also the East is from the West so far hath he set our sins from us 13. Yea like as a father pitieth his own children even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him 14. For he knoweth whereof we are made he remembreth that we are but dust 15. The days of man are but as grass for he flourisheth as a flower of the field 16. For as soon as the wind goeth over it it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more 17. But the mercifull loving-kindness of the Lord endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him and his righteousness upon childrens children 18. Even upon such as keep his covenant and think upon his commandments to doe them 19. The Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven and his Kingdom ruleth over all 20. O praise the Lord ye Angels of his ye that excell in strength ye that fulfill his commandment and hearken unto the voice of his words 21. O praise the Lord all ye his hosts ye servants of his that doe his pleasure 22. O praise the Lord all ye works of his in all places of his dominion Praise thou the Lord O my Soul Glory be to the Father c. I. 'T is not within the power of all the Faculties of my Soul worthily to praise the Lord for that he hath now satisfied my mouth with the good things of Heaven he hath forgiven me all my sins and healed the diseases of my Soul he hath renewed my strength as an Eagle to mount my Soul unto Heaven upon the sacred wings of holy Faith firm Hope fervent Charity and by the virtue of that celestiall Food I have now received II. How great is the goodness and how great is the mercy of the Lord who hath not dealt with me after my Sins nor rewarded me according to my wickedness But as a father pitieth his own children so mercifull is the Lord and hath compassion upon the work of his own hands and whom he hath framed after his own Image frail and sinfull though we be III. But since through the weakness and frailties of my mortal nature I cannot praise the Lord as becometh his eminent grace and greatness may my defects herein be supplied with the Hallelujahs of Angels and Archangels and all the company of Heaven And 't is the exultation and joy of my heart that these celestiall Spirits cease not day and night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to God on high Amen Blessed be the Lord God even the God of Israel who onely doeth wondrous things And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever and all
the earth shall be filled with his majesty Amen Amen †Psal 72.18 19. The following Hymn of Ananias Azarias and Misael is in some Liturgies prescribed to be used after the Blessed Eucharist Tres pueri jussu Regis missi sunt in fornacem non timentes flammam ignis at dicentes Benedictus es Domine Hallelujah Verse 1. O ALL ye works of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever a By this rhetorical invocation upon all creatures we stir up our own minds in by and for them all to praise the Lord. 2. O ye Angels of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever b The Angels are called Morning-stars for the light of their Understanding which most eminently shines in their praises of the Lord begun in the very morning of the Creation and continued to all eternity Job 38 7. Rev. 4.8 3. O ye Heavens bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever c The heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his Psal 19.1 4. O ye Waters that be above the firmament bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever d All creatures even the most irrational do praise the Lord 1. By Excitement in that the conâ—â—deration of their vast number and distinct nature their beauty and variety their use and excellency their instincts and operations do excite all Angels and all men to revere the Power to admire the Wisedom to adore the Greatness to love the Goodness and to be ravished with the Perfections of the Lord which do so eminently appear in all the works of his hands Rom. 1.19 20. 2. By Obedience in that all created Beings do regularly obey the law imposed upon each both according unto and sometimes against their natural inclinations as in the example of these Three Children in the fiery furnace not consumed which is at large declared Wisedom 16.17 18 3. By the Benefit and Comfort we receive from them which is therefore particularly to be considered upon the mention of every Creature that in and for each we may with the more alacrity and devotion praise the Lord. 5. O all ye Powers of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 6. O ye Sun and Moon bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 7. O ye Stars of heaven bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 8. O ye Showrs and Dew bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 9. O ye Winds of God bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 10. O ye Fire and Heat bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 11. O ye Winter and Summer bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 12. O ye Dews and Frosts bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 13. O ye Frost and Cold bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 14. O ye Ice and Snow bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 15. O ye Nights and Days bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 16. O ye Light and Darkness bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 17. O ye Lightnings and Clouds bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 18. O let the Earth bless the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 19. O ye Mountains and all Hills bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 20. O all ye Green things upon the earth bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 21. O ye Wells bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 22. O ye Seas and Flouds bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 23. O ye Whales and all that move in the waters bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 24. O all ye Fowls of the air bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 25. O all ye Beasts and Cattell bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 26. O ye Children of men bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever * After all the works of the Lord Man is excited to praise him who made all things for the use of Man and Man for his praise in the use and consideration of them 27. O let Israel bless the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever f But the Church and people of God are most specially bound to praise God in his works as to whom alone they are sanctified in their use both natural and divine 28. O ye Priests of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever 29. O ye Servants of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever g It is the constant and common work both of the Priests and people of God in his Church militant 30. O ye Spirits and Souls of the righteous bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever h and of his Saints in his Church triumphant to praise the Lord. Psal 84.4 31. O ye Holy and Humble men of heart bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever i The humble are encouraged to praise the Lord because he hath respect to the lowly but as for the proud he beholdeth them afar off Psal 138.6 32. O Ananias Azarias and Misael bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever k They who have received any signal Deliverances are engaged to be the more frequent and servent in praising the Lord for their Redemption both general and particular Glory be to the Father The Praier O God who didst miraculously asswage the fury of the fiery Furnace that it touched not to harm thy Three Servants when cast thereinto vouchsafe to allay all exorbitant heats of Concupiscence in my heart Let not any vicious fires inflame my Affections but quench them all through Faith in the Bloud of my dear Redeemer and by the sweet influences of thy Holy Spirit the Breath of Heaven and so shall my Soul bless thee and praise thee and magnify thy Holy Name for ever Amen Blessed be the Holy and undivided Trinity now and for evermore Amen The End
year as a day of Fasting and Abstinence and it was ever observed as such since our Lord died upon the Friday through all the Ages of the Church untill these last and worst of days wherein the evil spirit of contradiction against the Religious practices of Christ's Church doth so rage as amongst many others to cry down all Times and Days devoted to the Service of God except what they call the Sabbath-day the which under the Gospel is neither properly so called nor rightly observed by such as truly understand not the IV. Commandment but misinterpret the sound meaning of the Spirit by the killing Letter of the Law 3. All orthodox and understanding good Christians in stead of a Jewish Sabbath observe as festival and holy the Christian Sunday because the Sun of Righteousness arose upon that day from death to life and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel in which respect 't is frequently in Holy Scripture called the Lord's day 4. And there is the like reason for the observance of Friday as fasting in commemoration of Christ's Passion as there is for Sunday as festival in commemoration of his Resurrection Nor is this obscurely but plainly enough commanded by our Lord himself But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them and then shall they fast in those days a Luk. 5.35 These words are both 1. a positive command to all the Disciples of Christ they shall fast and also 2. the days whereon they shall fast are prescribed in those days whereon the Bridegroom was taken away from them which are the Fridays of the year whereon our Lord the Bridegroom and Head of his Church was taken off by a bitter death upon the Cross It is therefore but meet and just that all true Members of this Head should fast and pray and be humbled for their Sins on that day especially whereon the Son of God so sadly suffered and sorrowed for the Sins of the world Friday Meditations I. Part of LXIX Psalm paraphrased Verse 13. LORD I make my praier unto thee in an acceptable time Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation even the day whereon for us men and for our Salvation the Blessed Son of God was crucified unto death 14. Hear me O God in the multitude of thy mercies against the multitude of my Sins which require a multitude of mercies to pardon them even in the truth of thy Salvation which on this day was so dearly purchased with the precious Bloud of the Son of God as a Lamb without spot 15. Take me out of the mire of all my sinfull pollutions and of all exorbitant lusts both secular and sensual that I sink not under the weight and pressure of them O let mâ— be delivered from them that hate me meaning chiefly the Devil and his angels and all the enemies of my Soul and out of the deep waters the rising waves of my unruly Passions and the waters of Trouble and Affliction which issue thence 16. Let not the water-floud of iniquity which overflows the face of the earth drown me with the rest of evill-doers neither let the deep swallow me up the deep abyss of Death the wages of Sin and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me so as that I arise not out of the gulph of Sin and Death to the life of Grace and Glory 17. Hear me O Lord for thy loâ—â—â— kindness is comfortable T is the 〈◊〉 and fountain life and soul of 〈◊〉 consolation at all times and in 〈◊〉 conditions both prosperous and adverse turn thee unto me not for any worth that is in me to attract thy loving-kindness but according to the multitude of thy mercies which are ever manifested to all them who truly turn unto thee 18. Hide not thy face from thy servant as angry and displeased for the alienations of my heart from thee and negligence in thy service for I am in trouble troubled for my Sins and frequent back-slidings and the sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit a broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise O haste thee and hear me For if thou make as though thou hearest not I shall be like them that goe down into the pit 19. Draw nigh unto my Soal and save it who for the Salvation of my Soul didst this day humble thy self unto death even the cursed death of the Cross by the Merits and efficacy of which Cross and Passion O deliver me from all mine offences because of mine enemies that they triumph not in my confusion II. Meditations out of the Prophet Isaiah Chap. LIII Verse 4. SVrely he hath born our griefs and carried our serrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed 6. All we like sheep have gone astray and God hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all In the Sufferings of thy Saviour O my Soul thou maiest see as in a glass thine own Deformities and Sins The Great Lord over all Blessed for ever to be reproached reviled scorned contemned and numbred amongst the transgressours discovers thy false and uncharitable Judging Censuring Condemning Evil-speaking Lying and Slandering Railing and Reviling of others The blessed Face of Jesus besmeared with Spittle doth remember thee of all thy unclean Lusts and of all the filthy Communication that has proceeded out of thy mouth His blessed Mouth embittered with Gall and Vinegar doth mind thee of thy Effeminacy and Luxury Drunkenness and Gluttony and his Whipping of thy Stubbornness and Disobedience to the Laws of Heaven The King of Glory to wear a Crown of Thorns and for his Robes of Majesty onely a little Linen to cover his nakedness declares the iniquity of thy Pride and Vain-glory the folly of Gay cloathing and all thy vain and foolish affectation of the Pomps and Vanities of this sinfull World That Crown of Thorns beaten into his Temples with a Reed and much rage discovers the offensive nature of immoderate Cares of the world with the sharp and piercing Vexations issuing thence which eat up the Consolation of the heart and all true sincere Devotion of the spirit O sweetest Jesu let all my Sins be done away through thy Sufferings which did both represent and satisfy for them Let thy Wounds be a Salve for my Sin-wounded Soul and by thy Stripes let her be healed of all her Distempers Let thy Bonds discharge that Bond of malediction and woe wherein my Sins have enwrapt my Soul and let my Obligation to punishment be cancelled by thy Cross Let thy Pains deliver me from the Pains of Hell and thy Labours procure my Rest with the Saints in Heaven Let thy Sorrows purchase the Joys and thy Griefs the Pleasures of thy right hand Let thy Captivity be my Redemption thy Humiliation my Exaltation
thy Cross my Crown and thy Death my Life for ever God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ whereby the world is crucified to me and I unto the world b Gal. 6.14 III. Meditations out of the Prophet Jeremy IS it nothing to you Lam. 1.12 all ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger Ob that mine head were waters Jer. 9.1 and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the Sufferings of my Saviour Shall I not weep for him who both wept and bled for me yea wept out every drop of his most precious Bloud to deliver me from weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for ever In the natural Body if one Member suffer all suffer with it and 't is thus in the Body mysticall also If I be a lively Member of Christ his Afflictions will afflict and pierce my heart his Passion will excite both compassion and compunction in my Soul so as to bewail not my Saviour onely but my self and my Sins also to bewail my self and the hardness of my heart that I cannot even with a floud of tears bewail my Saviour in his Sufferings nor yet sufficiently lament and abhor my Sins the causes thereof Upon the Passion of our Lord the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom That Temple mystically represents the Heart of man which signifies by its triangular form that 't is framed to be a Temple consecrated to the thrice-blessed Trinity But woe and alas my Heart is harder then the stones of that material Temple and receives not any deep impressions of that honour and happiness whereunto it was created Yet if any thing will mollify its stifness it must be the precious Bloud of my dear Redeemer which was for this very end shed upon the Cross There he bled whilst he had one drop to shed and there together with his precious Bloud he poured forth his righteous Soul with strong cryings and tears to melt the stony hearts of the sons of men into tears of Penitence and Devotion of divine Love and Obedience The gaping Wounds of my dear Lord are as so many Mouths opened to shew forth the bowels of his Compassion and through the hollow of his pierced Side may the devout Soul behold with the eye of faith his broken Heart flaming with the love of Man and dying for love O senseless ingratefull Soul who art not wounded with the Wounds of thy Saviour who art not throughly pierced with the dart of his Love who was pierced to the heart for the love of thee whose mouth is not continually opened in the praise of him all whose Wounds were as so many mouths praising the Lord for thy Redemption I am surely bound deeply engaged to love to honour to obey and wholly to live unto him who died for me even to give up my self my whole self all that I am and all that I have to his service who gave up his whole self every member of his Body every power of his Soul every drop of his Bloud a Sacrifice for my Sins And the very God of peace sanctify me wholly to his service And I pray God my whole spirit and Soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen CHAP. IV. Saint Augustine 's Recommendation of the Passion of Christ unto God the Father BEhold Holy Father thy Blessed Son suffering for me great and grievous things Regard most glorious King who it was that suffered and remember in mercy for whom he suffered Is not this He my Lord even that Innocent one whom to redeem a Servant thou offeredst up being a Son Is not this He even that Authour and Giver of Life who was led as an innocent Lamb to the slaughter and became obedient unto thee even unto death and feared not to undergo the most bitter of all deaths Is not this He whom thou the dispenser of all Salvation didst beget from all eternity but in fulness of time wouldst have him partaker of my infirmity This is truly thy Deity who hath put on my mortality who was lifted up on the Cross and in my flesh suffered that sad punishment of a cursed death Look back O Lord my God with the eyes of thy Majesty upon this unspeakable work of mercy Behold thy sweet Son in all the parts of his Body extended and rackt See his innocent Hands flowing with his precious bloud and pardon in great mercy the iniquities which my wicked hands have committed Consider his naked Side pierced with a cruel spear and renew me in the sacred Font which I believe to have issued thence Behold those immaculate Feet which never stood in the way of sinners but alway walked in the Law of the Lord cruelly bored and transfixed with nails remove far from me the way of iniquity and make me to chuse the way of truth to hate and decline the ways of the ungodly and to walk in the paths of thy Commandments O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not I beseech thee O King of Saints by him who is the chief of Saints my Blessed Redeemer make me to run the way of thy Commandments that I may be united unto him who abhorred not to be cloathed with my flesh Behold most merciful Creatour the Humanity of thy beloved Son and have mercy upon the infirmity of thy frail creature His naked Breast is white and wan his pierced Side red and bloudy his distorted Bowels wither his splendid Eyes do languish his majestick Countenance is pale his procerous Arms are stiff and cold his marble Thighs hang down whilst his precious Bloud like water bedews his Feet Behold the punishment of God made Man and relax the misery of created man consider the sufferings of the Redeemer and forgive the sins of the redeemed This is He my Lord whom thou hast stricken for the sins of thy people although he be thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased This is He who knew no sin neither was any guile found in his mouth and yet he was numbred amongst the Transgressours and bore the sins of many CHAP. V. Saint Ambrose 's Commemoration of our Saviour's Passion O Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the living God the Creatour and Redeemer of all mankind we give thee thanks unworthy though they be yet desire they may be devout and acceptable to thee who for us miserable sinners camest down from Heaven and tookest flesh of the blessed Virgin Mary of her thou vouchsafedst to be born to be wrapt in swadling-cloaths and laid in a manger to suck the breasts to be circumcised in thy tender flesh to be manifested to the Wise men and adored by them to be presented in the Temple to be carried