between each Decade and the rest of the meditations comprehending the whol life of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus c. Let 's now cast a view upon the Excellency Dignity and Utilitie of this our sacred Rosary which can be no better declared than by shewing the Excellencie of each severall part whereof it is compos'd to wit the Creed the Lords Prayer the Angelical Salutation and the Meditations upon the fifteen Mysteries In the Creed we profess our Faith and by Faith we please God in the Lords Prayer we speak to God as it were in his own dialect and we may be confident the Eternall Father will hearâ—… to the divin words which his own dear Son dictated In the Angelical Salutation we gratefully commemorate the chief mysterie of our Salvation which is our Redeemers Incarnation And in Meditating upon the fifteen mysteries we sweetly melt away in the admiration of the divin love mercy and goodness The Creed wherewith we begin and conclude our Rosary and which may therefore be fitly called the first and last accidentall part thereof contains as many Excellencies fruits and profits as Faith it self whereof it is a formall Act and Profession Now the fruits of Faith are so many that meerely to relate them would make up a large volum and therefore be pleas'd to content your selves for the present most devout Rosarists to take only a compendious touch of such as are expresly registred in holy Writ 1. Faith purges our sins Thy Faith O Woman say's our Saviour to the Penitent Magdalen hath saved thee 2. Faith purifies our hearts sayes S. Peter 3. Faith joynes espouses and unites our souls to God say's the Prophet Oseas 4. Faith is the very life of our souls The just man says the Prophet Abacuc and after him the Apostle S. Paul lives by faith And Christ our Saviour He that believes in me though he be dead in flesh he shall live in his soul 5. Faith enobles exalts and dignifies our nature rendring us Gods adopted children He gave power say's S. John to them who believe in his name to become his children 6. Faith is here the beginning of the hereafter ensuing eternall life This is eternall life says our Saviour to know the only true God 7. Faith gives all the fruit worth and merit to our works Whatsoever is not of Faith says Saint Paul is a sin 8. Faith is our Armour against all sorts of Temptations of the World Flesh and Devill Above all says S. Paul take the shield of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked And S. Peter Your Adversary the Devill goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour whom resist stedfast in Faith And S. John This is the victory that overcomes the world even your Faith 9. Faith causes our Prayers to be heard and our Petitions granted What things soever you desire says our Saviour When you pray believe that you receive them and you shall have them And S. James Let him ask in Faith nothing doubting and it shall be given him 10. Faith works Miracles He that believes in me says our Saviour shall do the works that I do and greater than these And S. Paul proves this by many instances throughout his whol 11th Chapter to the Hebrews Finally there are no greater riches no higher honours no better substance in this world says S. Augustin than the Catholique Faith which saves sinners cures the sick justifies the righteous repairs the penitent perfects the just and crowns all the Elect. These are a part of the innumerable fruits and profits which spring from Faith as from the foundation ground work and root of all goodness and which may be aboundantly gather'd by you O Faithfull servants of God and devout children of Mary by renewing exciting and professing it in the recitall of your Creed at the beginning and end of your Rosary The second Part of the Rosary is our Lords Prayer so called from its divin Author Christ Jesus and for its own excellencie as being says S. Thomas an Abridgment of all that needs to be desired or ought to be demanded This sacred Prayer contain seven Petitions and that not without speciall Mysterie For as this inferior world is govern'd by seven Orbes or Heavens which are under the starrie Firmament and is cherish'd and conserv'd by the Influences of seven Planets And as Man consists of the three powers of his soul and the four Elements whether virtually or formally it matters not which compose his Body And as our spirituall Perfection depends upon seven vertues The three Theologicall and the four Cardinall And as the gifts of the Holy Ghost wherewith our souls are adorned are seven And as the Beatificall Dowries make up the same number three of them belonging to the soul vision love fruition and four to the Body Impassibility Agility Subtility Clarity So Christ our Lord the Eternall Fathers Coeternall wisdom concluded all things for which he would have us pray in these seven short and sweet Petitions To relate all the fruits and effects which are reap'd by the devout recitall of this divin Prayer were to run over the large fields of prayer in generall whereof this our Pater noster is a perfect summarie as hath been already prov'd by the authoritie of S. Thomas and may be further confirm'd by this saying of S. Augustin If thou searchest after all the sacred Prayers that ever were compos'd thou canst in my opinion meet with nothing which is not herein contained and included And by that of S. Cyprian O what mysteries are in our Lords prayer How many and how great Sacraments are in this short speech contracted in words but copious in spirituall sense and vertu In so much as there is nothing at all to be pray'd for which is not comprehended in this compendium of heavenly doctrin To which Encomiums of these great Saints omitting almost infinit others of Tertullian S. John Chrysostom S. Gregory and all the Fathers we shall only add this excellent expression of a modern Author Amongst all divin Prayers and prayses nothing is comparable to the Pater noster It far excells all the supplications of the Saints It fully contains all the conceptions of the Prophets all the expressions of the Psalms all the sweetnesses of the Canticles It asks all that is necessary It prayses God highly It joyns the soul to God entirely c. See Thomas a Kempis Enchirid. Monastic cap. 5. But to make you most devout Rosarists yet more enamour'd with your Pater noster We shall succinctly deliver unto you its manifold fruits and effects in the very sense of S. Dominick himself the Author of this our Confraternity who by divin Inspiration preach'd to his numerous Auditory of Tolosa upon a solemn feast of the sacred Virgin to this effect First says Saint Dominick if little weak children were to walk through some wild and uncouth wilderness had they not need of a
Son our Lord. I Believe in the second Person of the sacred Trinity the Son whom the Father begot from all Eternity communicating to him all his own Essence Greatness Perfection who continuing God became Man for the Salvation of Sinners was nam'd Christ Jesus and is the Soveraign Lord and King of all Souls O divin word which descended from Heaven to Earth to deliver me from sin and Satan be you my Lord by Election as you are by Creation and Redemption I freely give and bequeath my self to you for your perpetuall Bondslave Live O Jesu and reign in my Soul as you do in the whol extent of this large Universe Who was conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary I Believe that Gods Son that he might become Man did vouchsafe to unite to his divin Person a Rationall soul and a human body which the Holy Ghost miraculously form'd in the chast bowels of the blessed Virgin Mary and of her proper and pure blood so that he was truly conceiv'd in her and truly born by her without any prejudice to her Virginity O Jesu the lover of Purity who chose the chastest woman of the World for your Mother by the Immaculate Purity of your Conception and Nativitie give me the gift and grace of purity of Life and Conversation Suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucify'd dead and buryed I Believe that the Son of God Incarnate endured very severe Torments in his humanity for the Worlds Redemption that he was adjudg'd to dy by the Prefident Pilate and that after his death he was buryed and laid in a Sepulchre O Jesu the Redeemer of my Soul your death is the only hope of my Life be you graciously pleas'd to apply to me one single drop of your sacred Bloud and I shall rest secure in this Life and be happy for all Eternitie He descended into Hell the third day he arose again from the Dead I Believe that in the death of my blessed Saviour his Soul was really seperated for a time from his Body to descend into that part of Hell which was call'd Limbus Patrum where all such souls as from the Worlds first beginning departed this life in a good estate were till then detaind I believe that he deliver'd them from that Dungeon and that upon the third day his Soul return'd to his buryed Body became reunited unto it and rays'd it up to Life and Immortality O most glorious Soul of Christ my Saviour which thus mercifully visited the Patriarchs lying in the sad Prison of Limbus vouchsafe to give me also a gracious vâ—sit that whil'st I live I may duly and devoutly love and honour you and when my Soul shall be call'd out of this imprisoning Body it may be rays'd up to Contemplate admire and prayse your greatness goodness and glorie for all Eternitie He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Allmightie I Believe that Jesus my Redeemer being by his own power resuscitated from death to life ascended up to Heaven by his own strength where he sits at the right hand of God his Father to whom he is every way equall as the chief of all the Blessed full of glory and felicity O Jesu my Redeemer how worthy are you thus to triumph to reign to be exalted above all creatures But O forget not in the state of your greatness the condition of your miserable Creature bought with the price of your precious Bloud O King of glory grant that all my thoughts words actions and desires may aym at nothing but your only honour From thence he shall come to judge the Quick and the Dead I Believe that Christ Jesus when he shall please to put a Period to time and all sublunary things will descend visibly from Heaven in his glorious Humanity to judg all Manking both the good and the bad and publickly to reward to punish every one according to their works Ah! just Judg of all consciences what shall I then do or what shall I answer when you shall question me concerning my whol lives transactions I believe in the Holy Ghost I Believe in the third person of the sacred Trinitie the Holy Ghost who joyntly proceeds both from the Father and from the Son and is to them equall in Greatness in Majestie in all things whatsoever O sacred Spirit the God of Infinit Love and Charity breath upon my flinty heart mollify it into meekness towards my Neighbour and melt it into the sweet affections of your pure and perfect Love I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints I Believe the Catholick Church to be the only Church of Christ that it is holy universall apostolical and infallible in things appertaining to Faith and that in this Church there are found many pious Souls pleasing to the divin Majesty which mutually help each other by their prayers and good works O my Lord and my God! I render you most humble and hearty thanks for having made me a child and member of this holy Church in which I have so great hopes and so many helps to save my soul give me your grace good Jesu that I may improve this signall favour and persever in this saving Faith that from it I may pass to the clear vision of your prepared glory The Forgiveness of Sins I Believe that God is both able and willing to forgive me my Sins and that he hath left power in his Church to remit them be they never so heynous and enormous and this especially by the Priests absolution in the Sacrament of Penance O God of Infinit goodness and mercy let all Creatures Eternally prayse and magnifie your sacred Name for having given such power to men and such comfort to poor sinners The Resurrection of the Flesh I Believe that the very body in which my Soul now lives and breaths and all human bodyes though after death they are redâ—c'd into dust in their graves shall at the end of the World and at the great day of generall Judgment be rays'd to lâ—fe by Gods omnipotent command and his Angells ministry to be then rejoyn'd to their same souls and to live for evermore O Dread Soveraign in whose hands are life and death and to whose beck all things are obedient Ingrave deeply in my heart and soul the hope of a happy Resurrection that the horrour of this temporall dissolution and death of my body may not over-terrify and dismay me And life everlasting Amen I Believe that the good shall live in Heavenly glory for all Eternitie and that the wicked shall live eternally in infernall torments O good God! grant that I may so live in your grace during this my short Pilgrimage that I my live with you in glorie in your Eternall Paradise Amen §. 3. Of the Pater Noster or our Lords Prayer The second part of the Rosary THe Pater Noster is the Prayer which our Lord Jesus taught his disciples informing them from his own sacred mouth
Operation which prepares and unites our nature with the Divinity and the Person of the Virgin with the Person of the Word Operation which accomplisheth the Incarnation of the word and the deification of human nature which remaining human in the very estate of this divin union receiv's uncreated and infinite Grace in a being which is created finite and like to ours 5. Contemplations upon the humanity of Jesus ANd you O sacred Humanity which by this Operation of the Holy Ghost are divinly deriv'd from the Virgin and personally united to the eternall Word I contemplate and adore you in that mervailous estate whereunto you enter Estate of Existency in the divin Being Estate of subsistency in the Person of the Word Estate of Filiation not adoptive but proper and naturall and I lose my self in the consideration of the inward and secret communications of the divin perfections which are singularly conferr'd upon a nature rhus resident thus living thus existent in the divinity 6. Contemplations upon the association of the blessed Virgin in the Mysterie of the Incarnation ANd since the most sacred Trinity chooseth you O holy Virgin and associates you to himself in this admirable operation I cannot forget you in this Mysterie nor ought I to seperate what God in this work hath conjoyn'dâ— Work in which he vouchsafes to you so great and honourable a part and so peculiar to you only amongst all Creatures I prayse then and reverence you with a singular Veneration correspondent to the excess of that excellency and dignity communicated unto you For you are Mother of God and you are the only in this order and quality and it is in you and in you only that this work of works is accomplish'd and this divin union between the Humanity and the Divinity is consummated In these thoughts there is enough to ravish a Soul to loose it in the diversity of these Objects and to swallow it up in their deep profundities I am confounded in the contemplation of them I caâ—… my self down I lift my self up I rejoyce I leap out of my self and I will have share in this new grace of this new mysterie of the Incarnation 7. An Oblation of humble Servitude to Jesus and to his deifi'd Humanity ANd expecting untill it shall please God to make me capable of some one of the holy inventions of his Spirit and of the operations of his grace and love by consequence of this mysterie I offer and submit my self I vow and dedicate my self to Jesus Christ our Lord in the state of perpetuall servitude to him and to his deify'd Humanity and to his humaniz'd Divinity and this with a resolution as firm constant and inviolable as by his grace is possible for me to make and as the durance and perpetuity of this stable mysterie permament for all Eternity doth deserve 8. A larger expression of this servitude WHerefore in honour of the unity of the Son with the Father and the Holy Ghost and of the union of the â—ame Son with human nature which he â—aâ—th united and joyn'd to his own Person I do unite and fasten my being to Jesus Christ and to his deify'd Humanity by the bond of perpetuall servitude I knit this knot on my part with all my power and beg of him to give me more power to tie my self to him with a closer and faster colligation in honour of those holy and sacred connexions which he will have with us in Earth and in Heaven in the life of grace and of glory 9. The Life of the Divinity in the Humanity I Reverence and adore the Life and annihilating of the Divinity in the Humanity the life the substance and the deification of this Humanity in the Divinity and all the actions humanly divin and divinly human which have proceeded from this new and mutual life of the Man-God living in two Essences whereof one is Eternall the other Temporall the one is Divin the other Humanâ— Life great high and profound of the Man-God and of the God Man Life rare and admirable but hidden in its own sublimity Life unknown even to Angels and to all created nature under the manifestation of glory Life hidden I say and unknown of the Divinity in this Humanity and of the Humanity in the Divinity In homage of this double Life and Essence I dedicate and consecrate to him my life and my actions of nature and of grace and this I consecrate to him in quality of the life and actions of one of his Bond-slaves for evermore 10. The denudation of Jesus's human subsistencie is the cause that his humanity and all its actions are appropriated to the Person of the Eternall word by which it subsists I Reverence the denudation and nakeding which the Humanity of Iesus hath of its own proper and ordinary subsistencie to be revested with another subsistency which we may call forreign and extraordinary to its own nature whence it is that its life and its estate its motiâ—…s and its actions are not now from it self nor its own to speak properly but they are all that's actions which sustains it thus denuded of its won peculiar subsistence In honour of this Privation of the Humanity of a thing so inward and so conjoyn'd to its own nature and of the new and absolute dependencie which it hath of a divin Person I renounce all power authority and liberty which I have to dispose of my self of my being of all the conditions circumstances and â—ppurtenances thereof and of all my actions to dismiss my self entirely into the hands of Jesus and of his sacred humanity to his honour and glory for the accomplishment of all his purposes and powers upon me 11. An Oblation of all that we are and can to this sacred Humanity I make unto you O Iesu and to your deify'd Humanity an entire absolute and irrevocable Oblation and Donation of all that I am by you in the Being and in the order of nature and grace of all that which depends thereupon of all the naturall and good actions which I shall ever perform referring my self totally that is all that which is in me and all that which I can refer to the homage and honour of your sacred humanity which I from henceforth look upon and lay hold on as the object whereunto after God I refer my soul my interiour and exteriour Life and generally all whatsoever is mine 12. JESUS is doubly in the state of a servant 1. by humbling his divin Person to a created nature 2. by dying on the Cross O Great and admirable Jesu notwithstanding your greatness I behold you in the state and form of a servant and I see that you have taken this form and this estate in two severall manners the one by taking our human nature in the Mysterie of the Incarnation and abjecting in it the infinite and supream being of your Divinity even to the nothing of our nature the other by taking the abject condition of our
Writ that the first Christians were so perfectly linked together in holy love and affection as their whol multitude seemed to have but one Heart and one Soul They liv'd under the same Laws aym'd at the same End conspir'd in the same Wills their Manners their Devotions their Designs their Rules their way of Living was all one and the same all Love all Peace all Vnion all tending to Gods honour and service all ayming at their Souls perfection and Salvation Briefly they entred into a Community Association of all things and seem to have been reduc'd into a most perfect manner of Sodality Congregation or Confraternity In imitation of Christ and these primitive Christians St. Mark the Evangelist presently after instituted sacred Sodalities and Confraternities in Egypt And from these blessed fountains have since flowed so many holy Families of Religious so many Confraternities of Seculars which have flourished in all succeeding Ages in all places amongst all Christians descending from these pious Parents to their Children from these holy Predecessors into the hearts of their Posterity These worthy Examples I say have since moved many generous Captains Fervent in Gods love Disgusted with worldly vanities Ardent in devotion Ambitious of Vertue Piety and Perfection to take up the like Commissions sent them from Heaven and warranted by the effectuall inspiration of the divin Spirit And with the sound of the Drumms and Trumpets of their Doctrin to summon valiant Soldiers together To draw Companies of zealous Christians from out of Cities into Solitudes where free'd from worldly cares affairs and affections they might with hearts unanimously joyned serve their Creator and day and night sing forth his prayses Such were those great Generalls of Religious orders those Glorious Patriarks of Monasticall Congregations those Heroique Champions of the holy Church St. Basil in Greece St. Augustin in Africk St. Bennet in Europe Such after them were those multitudes of like Religious and resolute Spirits St. Bruno in France St. Francis in Italy St. Dominick in Spain and many more in the same and other Countryes Who forsaking the World following the divine Call flying into the Desarts laid the foundations of so many blessed Societies Sodalities Confraternities Others breathing the like Zeal and Pietie but not able by reason of their worldly calling and condition to embrace the like purity and perfection yet willing to secure themselves from dangers zealous to get at least some degree of Sanctity and desirous of the Salvation of their Souls have also united themselves together entred into a holy combination and Society resolved to wear the same livery to pursue the same designs to live under the same Common Laws and Constitutions Such are the brave Knights of Malta in Italie of the Holy Ghost in France of St. James in Spain and such were and should be the Knights of St. George in our England All which having Kings for their Colonels may be fitly called Royall Congregations Noble Societies and yet are still Christian Confraternities This pious practice descends from Princes to the People and branches it self into almost as many Societies as there are severall Estates Callings and Conditions in a Commonwealth The Lawyers taking Saint Yve for their Patron the Doctors St. Thomas the Students St. Nicholas the Gold-smiths S. Eligius the Carpenters St. Joseph the Stationers or Booksellers St. John the Evangelist and others other Saints Some march under the Standard of the Passion others of the Blessed Sacrament others of the Crosse many of the Glorious Virgin all of the Catholique Church which is Colonell-Generall of all these particular Companies and which sits as Mistriss of the full Musick which these severall faithfull Societies make up by striking the severall strings of their various rules divers statutes and different institutions one singing the Superius of contemptation another the Bassus of the active life A Third the Mean Marrying action with contemplation yet all agreeing in the same harmonie of Faith all ayming at the same common end which is Gods glory their Neighbours good their own Souls Perfection and Eternall Salvation And all these faithfull Societies Companies Confraternities of devout Christians founded upon Charity Concord and Vnion Govern'd with prudence and discretion cannot but subsist with Honour flourish with Admiration and adorn the whol body of Christianity These are the Buttresses of Religion the Academies of Vertue the Schools of Sanctity the Magazins of Merits the Rendevous of Heroique Spirits the lists wherein all sorts of devotion and piety are perfectly exercised and practised Here is taught simplicity of Conversation Humility of life Charity Mercy Compassion Brotherly affection towards our necessitous Neighbours Forgetfulness of injuries Patience in tribulation Zeal for Gods honour and glory O how good and pleasant a thing it is sings holy David to behold Brethren living together and loving one another O the Spirituall pleasure Profit and Comfort of well ordered Confraternities How full of honour and happiness How gratefull to men and Angels to heaven and earth and how terrible to our ghostly enemies Where holy souls heat each other in the divin love help each other in bearing the burthen of their crosses and calamities awake each others negligence and tepidity excite their fervour increase their piety zeal and devotion Where if one member be tempted troubled afflicted the whol body concurrs by joyn'd prayers and petitions to cure him comfort him encourage him in his combat and assist him to conquer his enemies and overcome his infirmities If a brother aided by a brother as the wiseman averrs is a strong City How strong a body will so many assisting brothers make Whose forces are all united to further and facilitate each others victory whose counsells are so charitable whose combined courages are so invincible whose designs are so warrantable whose exercises tend only to advance Gods honour to tread down sin and sensuality to attain perfection to obtain their own and their Neighbours Salvation These are the practises the profits the pleasures of pious Confraternities where Love is in its perfection Concord in her throne Friendship in its purity Sanctity in its excellency and therefore safety and security in their truest height and greatness These are the rich harvests reaped in Religious Societies where many being united in the same affections participating the same Sacraments passing their lives under the same laws and statutes render themselves victorious against all the violent assaults and enterprises of their adversaries These are the honourable interests returned to such prudent usurers as place their stocks of piety in these Spirituall banks where Charity makes all flourish Peace produces plenty Concord gets the conquests and perseverance a Crown of Glory These finally are the holy places and professions in which men live more purely fall more rarely rise more speedily walk more warily rest more securely dye more confidently are rewarded more bountifully And all these profits pleasures and prerogatives belong as properly to your happy state and
patience there being no Pope since Sixtus the fourth who hath not freely opened the Churches Storehouse and added new priviledges prerogatives and benefits unto his predecessors liberalitie in so much as I find above forty authentick Bulls and Instruments issued forth of that highest spirituall Court for the approbâ—tion confirmation and ornament of this renowned Arch-Confraternity of the Rosary Fourthly I may add to this large inventory of spirituall profits That to be of this Confraternity is a probable sign of being predestinated to eternall feliâ—ity For if with the holy you shall be holy sayes the Psalmist and with the Elect elected what better sign of holiness what surer token of election can one have in this life than to be associated with so many good Souls aspiring zealously and unanimously to piety to perfection to salvation Fiftly the last profit to let pass many others is a confidence a comfort and a kind of security in the article of Death Death is commonly accompanied with three corrosives Bitterness because of the Cessation of all pleasures the pâ—ivation of all worldly riches the separation of body and Soul two ancient friends and companions Danger because of the dire conflicts and dismall temptations of the then most busy devill Dread and terrour because of the doubtfull and severe judgment immediatly ensuing Now the devout and diligent members of this sacred Confraternity are exempt from the most part of these alarm's For death seems not to them so bitter because long before expected prevented pâ—ovided for The enemies assaults and temptations are not to them so dreadfull and dangerous because the dayly use of their spirituall weapons renders them expert in these combats able to foil their adversaries and experienc'd to defend themselves The apprehension of Gods Judgments is not to them so terrible because they continually think of them and accordingly order their Life and actions discharge their consciences of sin practise works of piety and endeavour to acquire the sacred Virgins favour in hope to have her then their friend and advocate which is surely the best way to dy with safety and security The just man dy's says Saint Bernard as well as the wicked yet the just man dy's with this advantage and assurance that the ending of his life here is the entrance into a better Life hereafter and therefore he living dy's to the world that dying he may begin to live to God O Life truly holy O Death truly happy where the conscience is pure and the Soul unspotted These are some part of the spirituall profits which proceed from this renowned Society of the ROSARY It now remains that I briefly tell you how you may become capable to participate of these priviledges and prerogatives and what duty and devotion befits the faithfull servants of the sacred Virgin Mary and the true members of this most holy Society For it is not enough to have registred your names in the Rosary Catalogue to enter with the rest into her Chappell to be externally associated to this Confraternity but in the first place 1. You must resolve upon an honest honourable holy life A reformation of your manners a renouncing of all vice and vanity a pursute of all vertu piety perfection Yea you must strive to surpass in devotion and sanctity all such other worldlings as have not that honour and happyness you have to be of the blessed Virgins familie for you O devout Rosarists have dedicated your selves more particularly to God service you make a more speciall profession to honour his holy Mother than they who walk in the wide track of the World and if you surpass them not in perfection how deserve you the title of her particular servants If you make not appear in your lives and actions more Modestie Humilitie Patience Piety Devotion and all sorts of vertues than others how are you worthy to be her speciall friends and favourite Finally if you pretend to be truly her children and domesticks she expects from you cleaness of heart purity of conscience sanctity of life and conversation 2. And in order to obtain this mundicity purity and sacntity you must have a high esteem and make frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance as being the main Pillar of a spirituall life the soveraign Medicin to recover our Souls decayed health the first and fundamentall step to all perfection Yes every Christian who hath any Zeal for his own salvation much more we who make a profession of somewhat more than ordinary devotion must presently upon his lapse into mortall sin dispose his Soul to Contrition his mouth to Confession his hands to Satisfaction his body to Penance which is the true Dâ—ttany curing these bitings the wholsom Mithridat expelling these poysons the clear Fountain cleansing us from these filths and impurities O how important is the observation of this point to all pretenders to piety and perfection and how prejudiciall the neglect of it For first a Soul faln into one mortall sin hath set the dore open to let in a second and that makes way for many followers Such is the weight of sin says St. Gregory that it bears dow the Soul under it and sways the inclination to commit more and more on Abyssus calling on another Secondly a Soul in mortall sin looses all her good works all merit all hope of Heaven all title to eternall happyness no alms avail her no prayers profit her no austerities help her no good actions can open to her the gates of Paradise without the key of an intire confession or a true Contrition Thirdly sin as it gains time gets strength becoms insensibly master of the Soul shutts up the dores against the divin mercy and at length leaves her in despair of pardon and makes her give over all hopes of favour and petitioning for grace Ah! what comfort what confidence what means of salvation is left to a miserable Soul that wilfully persevers in her impiety The longer she stays in it the deeper she sinks into it the lesse she deserves favour the more highly she provokes Heavens anger and revenge Fourthly and which is yet worse a Soul wounded with mortall sin and uncured by Confession or Contrition is continually worried with a worm of remorse and if she be grown so insensible as not to feel now its gnawings she shall surely resent its dismall bitings at the approaching hour of death and much more piercingly after her departure when this worm that devours her shall never dy where the fire that burns her shall never be extinguished Behold the inevitable ruins the irreparable losses the unexplicable miseries which are by them incurred who after their fall delay to do Penance Let it be therefore your chief care O devout Rosarists to arise speedily to present your selves presently to the Tribunall of confession to announce your frailty renounce your impiety that so you may obtain grace to walk afterwards more warily For as a spot or stain is sooner rubbed off at first than
when sunk down to the bottom so it is with sin the cure is desperate when the disease is deeply rooted 3. The frequent use of the Holy EVCHARIST is no less necessary to all faithfull and devout Christians where they are visited by God himself honoured with his Reall Presence fed with his sacred flesh made the Temple of the Holy Ghost the Cabinet of the Word Incarnat the Tabernacle of the Immense Trinity the Throne the Heaven the Palace the Paradise of the whol divinity O what priviledges what profits what prerogatives to have their sins pardoned temptations quelled passions conquered enemies repulsed new strength granted all sorts of graces communicated To have the spirit cleared the memory awaked the will inflamed the understanding illuminated the heart confirmed the appetite regulated the reason instructed the sensuality repressed the whol man divinized To receive the antipasts of Paradise the pledges of eternall bliss and beatitude who would not endeavour to be frequently partaker of such heights such honours such happinesses 4. Another important practice of devout Christians is to hear Mass as often as they may for it is a Sacrifice whereby the merits of our Redeemers Passion are applyed to us A Sacrifice in which and by which thanks are rendred to the Divin Majesty for all the benefits received from his bounty A Sacrifice of infinit worth and efficacie inflowing multitudes of graces favours and blessings upon the devout assistants which this time and place permit me not to particularize 5. Furthermore to hear Gods Word preached and announced if that happiness may be obtained is also a point of great piety profit and merit nor is there indeed any more express sign of a Christians belonging to Christs flock and fold than the frequent and affectionate hearing of his divin Word according to his own saying He that is of God hears his Word and my sheep hear my voyce Surely they who lend a willing ear to their prime Pastours voyce preached to them by his Missioners and Officers testifie thereby that they are his loving and obedient Sheep the imitators of his Blessed Mother who kept all his words carefully in her heart and children designed for his heavenly inheritance 6. The last piece of devotion which I shall now mention belonging to pious Christians and especially to the religious children of Jesus and Mary is to addict themselves to the reading of the spirituall Conflict and Conquest and other good holy and spirituall books for these are the dumb masters which teach us the lessons of true wisdom and heavenly Philosophy These are the fire-steels of Gods love and fear the matches of devotion the interpreters of sacred mysteries the pilots of our pilgrimage the Registers of Gods wondrous works the Court-Rolls where we may turn to the authentique effects of his severe justice and of his sweet mercy Behold these are the true badges of perfect brethren sisters these are the undeniable seals of devout Confraternities these are the essentiall properties of our Queen-Mothers children and servants Study them seriously O devout Rosarists and endeavour punctually to observe and keep them First admiring praysing thanking the divin Majesty for providing you so powerfull so worthy so perfect a Mother Patroness and Advocate Secondly striving to make your selves worthy children of so great and glorious a Mother worthy members of so pious and profitable a Confraternity Thirdly Remember the promises made at your first admission and honour her accordingly love her admire her and propagate her prayses to the whol World Fourthly above all aym at the imitation of her Life and Vertues which is the most perfect and to her most pleasing way of homage and service Fifthly frequent the Sacraments of Confession and Communion hear Mass dayly and devoutly be present at holy exhortations and give your self to spirituall lecture Sixtly let no day pass without a speciall recommendation of your self your fellow-brethren and sisters of the ROSARY and the Vniversall Church not forgetting our distressed Nation her ancient Dowry to your Mother of Powers care and protection Finally make your most humble and hearty addresses unto your Mother of Power in all your pressing necessities and doubt not but you shall receive singular benefits and blessings by your being of this sacred Confraternity during the course of your life and singular comfort and confidence at the hour of your death that is you shall live well and dye well which is the happiness we all aim at and which is my hearty and daily prayer for my self and for you all my devout brethren and sisters of this most sacred and most renowned Arch-Confraternity of the ROSARY THE FIRST BOOK OF THE SACRED ROSARY Which is the Doctrinall part thereof Containing briefly these Particulars 1. THat every faithfull Christian ought to have a particular devotion towards Gods holy Mother the sacred Virgin Mary 2. That the Practice of the sacred Rosary is a devotion very pleasing to the Divin Majesty profitable to our selves and gratefull to the blessed Virgin 3. That this sort of devotion is proper for such Catholiques as live in hereticall Countries 4. What the Rosary is 5. The Rosary is twofold the great and little Rosary 6. Why this manner of prayer is call'd the Rosary 7. That the Rosary comprehends the two sorts of prayer vocall and mentall 8. Three advices concerning this manner of praying and meditating 9. A difficultie concerning this conjunction of vocall and mentall prayer proposed and cleared 10. Of the advantage which this Confraternity of the Rosary hath above all others in point of Communication of merits 11. Of Indulgences in generall 12. Three necessary advertisements for the gaining of Indulgences 13. Of the Indulgences conferr'd upon the Confraterâ—ity of the Rosary 14. The generall rules and Statutes of the Confraternity of the Rosary 15. The form of receiving brothers and sisters into this sâ—ered Confraternity with the blessing of their Bedes Roses and Candles And a form of the generall absolution to be imparted to them at the hour of death 16. Of the pious use of Processions 17. An Elevation for the Procession of the Rosary with the Litanies of our Blessed Lady of the Rosary and the Litanies of our Blessed Lady of Loretto for a happy death 18. Severall other prayers to be recited after the Litanies as occasion shall require §. 1. That every faithfull Christian ought to have a particular devotion towards Gods holy Mother the sacred Virgin Mary THIS is a Subject so generally handled a Doctrin so universally received a verity so largely proved by all the learned holy and pious Writers of the Catholique Church that the onely reading of the Title seem a sufficient motive to mind all faithfull Christians of this duty and devotion without seeking for further Arguments to convince an undeniable Tenet which is supported by such almost infinit multitudes of solid arguments that the bare recitall thereof would swell this discourse which aimes at a compendious brevity into many
great a goodness incense so immense a clemency and inflict fresh wounds upon Gods Son by my continued wickedness Tell me O my soul dost thou truly believe that thy sweet Saviour suffer'd all this for thy sake That he was stripp'd naked to cover thy crimes fastned to a pillar to loose the fetters of thy bondage Whipp'd with cruell rodds to secure thee from the scourges of his Fathers severe Justice all over beaten bruis'd and worried to cure the wounds of thy soul Believest thou all this and hast thou no sense of compassion no feeling of compunction no resolution of correcting thy life cancelling thy sin converting thy self to his love and service who for these very ends and intentions underwent all these wofull torments O meek Jesu seeing you thus patiently bearing all sorts of abuses shall I storm at the least offer'd injury O Son of God! seeing you stripp'd naked in the sight of your Enemies shall I be asham'd to discover my faults before a Priest O sweet Saviour seeing your whol Body torn with whips and your flesh turn'd into as many open mouths as it had wounds to proclaim the love you bear me shall not I open my mouth to manifest your Mercy to admire your goodness to adore your bounty to acknowledg my obligation to testify my compassion to renounce my impiety And since you O my dear Redeemer Spilt all your blood for me shall not I shed one tear for my self and you You O charitable Samaritan permitted your tender skin to be torn from off your back and shoulders with cruell scourges to serve as swathes wherewith to bind up my ulcers You were content O pious Pelican to have the blood drain'd out of your veines to make therewith a precious balsum of oyl and wine for the efficacious cure of my wounds and shall I yet ly dead and buried in the sepulcher of sin and Impenitencie You weep tears of blood over my dead corps and cry out aloud unto my soul with as many Tongues as you endured Torments N. Come forth of thy grave And I cry out to you Dear Jesu the Abysmus of misery calls upon the Abysmus of mercy O when shall I be led out of this loathsom sepulcher when shall this head-kercher of evill customs sinfull habitudes vicious inclinations be unty'd and taken off from my eyes and face which hinder my desired sight and enjoyment of you my dear Saviour Behold I appear upon your summons but yet bound hand and foot and in quality of a guilty Criminall before you my God and my Judg I come creeping as a poor prodigall child and ready to perish to you my pious Father I cast my self at your sacred feet with tears in my eyes contrition in my heart and Confession in my mouth as a Penitent Magdalen O compassionate Saviour unbind and absolve your guilty Criminall Receive and embrace your fearfull Prodigall Comfort and pardon your Penitent Magdalen Apply to me one small drop of your sacred blood and I shall be cured Speak only the word sweet Jesu and my soul shall be saved The third Dolorous Mystery Is Crown'd THe Crowning of Christ our Saviour with Thorns Matth. 27. His sacred Head is pierc'd with pungent thorns And made the subject of ten thousand scorns Our Father c. Our blessed Saviour was evceedingly tormented 1. At the pressing of the sharp-pointed thorns into his sacred Head FOr Pilat having call'd him in derision The King of the Jews the Soldiers at their instigation twisted thorny brakes into the shape of a Crown boysterously placing it upon his bare head and violently pressing it into his skull to encrease his misery and make him a more ridiculous object of all mens mockery Hail Mary 2. At the pulling it off and on WHich was done both upon a pretence of fitting it to his head and also to augment his torments Hail Mary 3. At his cloathing with Purple FOr they sportingly invented all manner of tricks to please their fancies glut their malice and aggravate his miseries Not content therefore to have Crown'd him they would also cloath him as a counterfeit King and so rashing off his garments which were now glu'd to his body with the former goares of blood they scornfully cast a despicable Purple-cloak over his naked shoulders which was a colour us'd by the ancient Kings Hail Mary 4. At the holding a Reed in his right hand THis was intended as a mock Scepter being after the Crown and purple the third Royall Ensign Hail Mary 5. At the scoffing Salutations Genuflexions Adorations ANd the like feigned Actions of Religion and worship whereby the Soldiers and Jews maliciously derided him as blasphemously usurping the title of the divinity Hail Mary 6. At the spitting in his face WHich amongst the Jews was held the greatest contempt injury and disgrace could be put upon any person For as spittle is a superfluous matter whereof the Mouth endeavors to be discharg'd so they reputed our Blessed Redeemer no better than a base despicable wretch and a thing worthy to be cast out from amongst the people Hail Mary 7. At the smiting His head with the Reed WHereby the prickles of the thorny Crown were driven deeper and deeper into his wounded skull and the Blood forc'd out of the new open'd surrows trickled down a fresh upon his neck and forehead which embodying with the beastly spittle wherewith they were before besmeared chang'd our Redeemers sweet countenance which the Angells admiringly contemplate into an object of horror and into the likeness of a Leper most loathsom to be look'd upon Hail Mary 8. At the iterated and multipli'd blow's boxes and buffetings O Barbarous cruelty Was 't not enough to cane his head but you must cuff his cheeks His face and flesh is already one continued tumour by your former stripes the colour of his skin is already metamorphoz'd into blackness and blueness by your former beatings And have you the hearts hard-hearted wretches to add yet more blows to blows more torments to torments O meek Lamb of God! How great is my malice which is the cause of all these your miseries Hail Mary 9. At his being shew'd to the people in such a posture IEsus came forth says the Gospell carrying a Crown of Thorns and a purple garment and Pilate spake to them Behold the Man O prodigious spectacle O Jesu King of Glory what a Crown what a Garment what a Scepter do you here shew for your royall Ensignes Hail Mary 10. At the Iew 's horrid clamors and repeated vociferations OF away with him away with him crucify him crucify him nothing but his death can satisfie their implacable malice O harsh words yet you sustain'd them sweet Saviour to free me from the harsh sentence of eternall death and damnation Hail Mary Glory be to the Father c. These prayers Angelical c. Affections Elevations Petitions O Jesu the beauty of Men and Angels the glory of Heaven and Earth when I behold your venerable head
Petitions O My Soul would'st thou know where thou mayst assuredly find thy sweet Saviour Jesus the desired object of thy dearest affections It is upon Mount Calvary There he feeds upon Gall and Vineger There is his habitation upon the hard Cross There he reposes with extended leggs and stretched forth Arms to have his feet and hands pierced with horrid nayls There and thus he expects thy return from far O prodigall child ready to embrace thee with a Fatherly affection And dost thou see thy sweet Saviour hanging thus on the Cross for thy sake and yet solacest thy self in sinfull delights remainest still wallowing in the mudd and myre of thy wicked customs and not content thy self to commit sin and give scandall to others by thy bad example teachest them lessons of malice to draw them to thy unjust desires and their own utter damnation O sinful wretch Return now at least into thy self turn to thy sweet Saviour and run into the open'd arms and bosom of thy beloved Jesus calling thee alluring thee ready to receive thee He cry's out to thee from his Cross I thirst after thy conversion correction salvation He cry's aloud to awake thee excite thee hasten thee to accept of his proffer'd love before he renders up his life O when will the time come in which they who are buried in the Sepulchers of deadly sin and ly rotting in the graves of their inveterate crimes will hear the voyce of God's Son and hearing it will return to the life of grace if not at this present when he himself dyes to resuscitate them When will earthly souls full of terrestriall affection fear and tremble if they now remain unmoveable when will the Rocks of stony hearts be rent asunder with sorrow if they are now insensible When O my soul will the veil of thy vicious conscience be corn from the top to the bottom by a true confession of thy secret sins if shame and cowardise keeps it now cover'd when Jesus hangs naked on his Cross When will the Sun of thy Pride and vanity be obscured if it now shines when the glorious Sun of Justice shuts his eyes and becomes totally eclypsed O Jesu you call me And it is high time for me to answer to your summons you incline your sacred head towards me to give me a kiss of Peace and to whisper in the ears of my heart and Soul Behold I dy for thee I dy willingly for thee I dy purely for the love of thee And O my heart and Soul What answer do you make O my Jesu my sweet Saviour my dear Redeemer my soverarign Lord and Lover you dy and do I yet live O that I who have hitherto liv'd so little for you and so long for the world That I who have liv'd so long without you in negligence forgetfulness ingratitude That I who have liv'd so long against you in sin Impiety rebellion That I who have employ'd so small a portion of the time and talents you lent me faithfully and sincerely in your love and service O that I might now at least dy for you and with you Or if your providence will have my Pilgrimage yet prolong'd O Let me not live hereafter one moment but only for you and let me rather lose my life than your Love that living and dying I may be entirely yours for all succeeding time and Eternity Amen Then end this second part of the Rosary with the Creed sign of the Cross and Prayer To the sacred and undivided Trinity c. as before in the first part The third Part of the Rosary containing The five Glorious Mysteries Begin with the sign of the Cross Prayer and Creed as formerly The first Glorious Mystery Rises THE Resurrection of our Lord JESUS Mark 16. Our Saviour Rises reindu'd with breath Victorious over Hell and horrid Death These five Principall and common heads of the Glorious Mysteries may be also subdivided into many particular points of contemplation which according to our precedent method in the Joyfull and Dolorous we shall reduce to the number of Ten answerable to the Decades of this third part of the Rosary Our Father c. Our Blessed Redeemer and his sacred Mother exceedingly rejoyced 1. At his Bodyes cloathing with Immortalitie FOr by conquering death it was triumphantly rais'd up to a glorious immortall incorruptible life Hail Mary 2. At the joynt Glorification both of Body and Soul NOt that the Soul of our Blessed Saviour which was absolutly glorious from the first instant of his Conception receiv'd now any new encrease of glory but that the Miracle which retain'd his souls Glory from redounding into his Body did now cease upon this day of his Resurrection So that his Body receiv'd now its hitherto hindred Dowries of Claritie Agility Subtility Impassibility Hail Mary 3. At his exaltation above all creatures 1. THat in the Name of Jesus every knee should bow 2. That by no other means than his merits any one should be saved 3. That he should have all power in Heaven and Earth 4. That he was constituted the Judg of the living and dead All which he deserv'd by his exact obedience to his Eternall Father Hail Mary 4. At his entire victory over all his enemyes FIrst The Jews who having upbrayded him of Impotencie in not descending from the Cross were now utterly confounded at this far greater miracle of his Resurrection from Death 2. The Devill and all the Infernall Powers whose Pride he abated whose Kingdom he invaded whose spoyl's he divided c. Hail Mary 5. At his delivering the Holy Fathers out of Limbus TO wit Abraham Isaac Jacob Moyses David and the rest of the Patriarks Prophets and holy Persons whom he triumphantly led out of their long sustain'd captivity Hail Mary 6. At the now perfected Redemption of mankind FOr his and his mothers present joy and glory were commensurate to their former grief and sorrow undergon in his late cruell death and passion Hail Mary 7. At his being the true cause and perfect exemplar of the future Resurrection of all Mankind FOr as Christ is risen we also shall arise to wit to immortality c. Hail Mary 8. At the filling up the places of fall'n Angells THe Resurrection of our Saviour says S. Gregory was the festivity of the Angells for their number was to be compleated by his calling us to his heavenly Kingdom Hail Mary 9. At the corroboration consolation and confirmation of the Apostles ANd at the Reparation of their Faith Hope and Charity which were not only shaken but even lost and they exceedingly contristated and scandaliz'd at his death Hail Mary 10. At his frequent Apparitions for forty days space TO his dearely beloved Mther To the pious Magdalen and the rest of the devout Women To all his Disciples in generall To S. Thomas in particular wherby he manifested to them the reality of his glorious Resurrection and by them to the whol world Hail Mary Glory be to the Father and to
At his conducting the souls of the saints with him into heaven ACcording to that passage of the Psalmist He ascending on high led captivity captive which S. Thomas understands of the Patriarâ—…â—…ee'd from the captivity of Limbus Hail Mary 8. At his opening Heaven gates for our entrance ANd preparing places against our coming as himself said I go to prepare a place for you that where I am you may also be So that Christs Ascension say's S. Leo is our Promotion and whither the glory of the head is gon before the hope of the body is call'd to follow after Hail Mary 9. At his being appointed the Advocate of Mankind WE have say's S. John an Advocate with God the Father Christ Jesus the Just and he is the propitiation for our sins Hail Mary 10. At the great Fruit and Profit redounding to us by his Ascension FOR as S. Thomas proves the withdrawing of his corporall presence increases our Faith elevates our Hope inflames our Charity and therefore He himself said It is expedient for you that I go Hail Mary Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. These Prayers Angelicall with bended knee c. Affections Elevations Petitions O My glorious Lord Jesu It is just that you should Ascend to the Highest Heaven who descended to the center of the earth And that you should be exalted above all Angells since you humbled your self under all men O my Soul design'd for an Eternity where wilt thou ground thy feet that thou mayst securely take thy flight towards Heaven thy happy home the finall end of thy Pilgrimage and the only aim of all thy endeavours Look upon Christ thy Captain and learn by his most perfect example to ground thy self in Humility and to content thy self with crosses contempt and poverty which were his three individuall companions during the whol time of his earthly Pilgrimage O Jesu the amiable Object of all my affections And who should be the absolute pattern of all my actions I am resolv'd to leave all for the love of you and to forsake all that I may freely follow you For alas what are all worldly pleasures greatnesses and glories or what sweet Object can the whol Universe shew my eyes which can fully satisfie my heart And ha why then should I any longer miserable and ill advised wretch that I am let my self be surpriz'd with the false lustre of earthly vanities why should I fix my love upon fond toyes and trifles which only fool my senses but fill not my soul No my soul let 's now at last leave the Earth and look up to Heaven Thither Christ is ascended There our Treasure is plac'd and let our affection be there also fixed and O what shall hinder us a moment of brutish pleasure a grain of self-interest a sparkle of soon fading glory O meer Nothings and less than Nothings No my good Jesu I feel my self by the secret impulse of your inacting grace in my spirit so forcibly mov'd to sent you to obey you and to bestow on you the whol remainder of my life and love that if it should hereafter happen and ah my frailtie how can I trust thee which hast so often betray'd my best intentions and broken my strongest resolutions If therefore it shall fall out that my eyes or any respect of this Worlds most pleasing Objects hinder me from seeing your beauty contemplating your bounty and reflecting upon your mercy Tear them out of my head that I may behold you with my spiritual Eyes O Iesu the true light of my soul without disturbance or distraction If my right hand or any thing I possess or which is as near to my heart as my arm is to my hand becomes the occasion of my offending you hinders me from fast holding you diverts me from serving you diligently devoutly and according to my obligation and duty Cut it off O Jesu my soveraign Good my sole Riches and Treasure that I may clip you embrace you and be inseparably united to you with all the affections of my soul If my very heart it self or that which is nearer and dearer to me than this fountain of Life hinders me from bequeathing my self entirely to you from purely seeking you from perfectly loving you pluck it out of my breast O Jesu the only beloved of my Soul that henceforth I may have no thought but of you no will but yours no affection but for you no life but in you So shall I want neither eyes nor hands nor heart living thus spiritually during this my Pilgrimage in the heart of Jesus which is my seat my Sun my center my all till I become happily translated to live with him and be more perfectly united to him in his eternall Paradise The third glorious Mysterie Sends down Our blessed Saviour sends down the Holy Ghost to his Church Acts 2. Our Lord to his Apostles joyn'd in Quite Sends down the Holy Ghost in tongues of fire Our Father c. The glorious Virgin-Mother exceedingly rejoyc'd 1. At the miraculous manner of the Holy Ghosts coming FOr the Disciples returning back from Mount Olivet where our Saviour ascended to Jerusalem went into the same upper Room in which he had celebrated his last supper continuing there unanimously in prayer with Mary the Mother of Iesus and many other devout men and women untill the tenth day when sodainly about the third hour of the morning there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind filling the whol house as it were with fire which dividing it self into severall parts resembling cloven tongues setled upon each ones head and replenish'd their hearts with the Holy Ghost Hail Mary 2. At the fullfilling of Christs promises FOr he had told them if I depart from you the Holy Ghost shall descend unto you he shall teach you all truth and inform you of what is to come hereafter all which was now fully accomplish'd Hail Mary 3. At the multiplication of tongues or speaking of all languages WHereby the blessed Virgin clearly saw that the Apostles were not only design'd to preach the faith of her Son Christ Jesus to the whol World but joyfully perceiv'd they were also indu'd with all such perfections as were necessary in order to the effecting so great a work Hail Mary 4. At the Apostles confirmation in grace and goodness FOr the sacred Virgin who had sadly seen their former frailty and the feebleness of their Faith knew to her great content that they were now so strengthened with Gods holy Spirit as they were out of all danger for the future both of falling into infidelity and also of sinning mortally Hail Mary 5. At the Apostles patience courage and constancy in their persecutions FOr they who were lately so fearfull are now so cheerfull in their sufferings that they esteem it a speciall honour to indure shame for the holy name of Jesus Hail Mary 6. At the confutation of the Iew 's and Infidels
FOr the spitefull Pharisees hearing the Apostles speaking all sorts of languages sought to undervalue the miracle by vilifying them as Drunkards but St Peter standing up in his own and his brethrens defence solidly refutes their malicious imputation to the great joy admiration and confirmation of all the Auditors and confusion of his enemies Hail Mary 7. At the sodain multiplication of the faithfull FOr St. Peters efficacious Oration was no sooner ended but three thousand Souls were presently converted to the Faith of Christ and forthwith baptizd in his name and five thousand more within few dayes after Hail Mary 8. At the fructification of Christs Passion FOr the blessed Virgin-Mother saw not only the present fruits of her Sons death and sufferings spread abroad in the Apostles and the new converted Christians but she also foresaw the future multitude of martyrs who should couragiously dy for his love besides the vast number of confessors virgins and religious Persons who should cheerfully take up their Crosses and faithfully follow him Hail Mary 9. At the great encrease of the divin honour and worship FOr Pagans Gentills Idolaters and people of all professions renouncing their ancient errors came flocking in amain to be instructed in the Faith of Christ and to follow the Evangelicall doctrin Hail Mary 10. At the accomplishment of the number of the Elect. FOr the blessed Virgin joyfully foresaw that all such souls as should depart this life in the true Faith of of her Son Jesus inform'd with charity were to be added to the number of the Saints and to be admitted to his heavenly Kingdom Hail Mary Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. These Prayers Angelical c. Affections Elevations Petitions O Glorious Creator How great is your Mercy how infinit your liberalitie How excessive your affection to undeserving and ungratefull Mankind After your only Son was so ill treated amongst us would you also send down the Holy Ghost unto us It plainly appears that we have a potent Advocate in Heaven Jesus Christ the just to plead our cause and a Powerfull Mother upon Earth Mary the Mother of Jesus to impetrate for us this extraordinary favour It is therefore the Mothers merit and the Sons Mercy and the Eternal Fathers liberalitie and the Holy Ghosts goodness that this holy Spirit descends from Heaven upon us A Spirit of life and love a Spirit of solace and sweetness a Spirit of grace and happiness a Spirit which comes in form of fiery tongues to clear our understandings with his light to inflame our wills with his heat and to govern our tongues and affections with his gracious direction A light which dazels not a fire which consumes not a tongue which threatens not accuses not condemns not O sacred and divin Spirit you are the Father of the afflicted the Distributer of graces the enlightner of hearts the comforter of Souls and alas how opposite are my actions to your properties perfections inspirations You descend to instill into me the spirit of sweetness meekness patience and I converse with such as are under my charge and with others who are perchance far better before you than my self with a spirit of choller and peevishness with a spirit of rigour and harshness with a spirit of revenge and bitterness Ah uncharitable wretch that I am shall I contristate my neighbour instead of comforting him shall I exact from others instead of conferring benefits upon them shall I under-value my brethrens actions censure their intentions obscure their reputations instead of putting a charitable construction upon all things whatsoever Change this my crooked and crabbed disposition O powerfull Spirit thâ— plentifull bestower of all perfect gifts by the efficacy of your sacred influence upon my soul purge me I beseech you from my present imperfections pardon me for my past impieties and prevent me from future fallings by implanting your spirit of true peace and charity in my interiour which may keep my heart evermore burning in the love of you and my neighbour till I come to be totally absorpt in you together with the coequall Son and Father in your blessed Eternitie Amen The fourth glorious Mysterie she dy's THe assumption of the blessed Virgin up to Heaven Allegorically understood by Maryes chosing the best part Luke 10. The Virgins sacred Corps too rich a prize For Earth is born by Angels 'bove the Skyes Our Father c. The glorious Virgin-Mothers heart was replenish'd with exceeding great joy 1. At the news of the near approaching dissolution of her soul and body FOr as the holy Doctors deliver unto us after the dispersion of the Apostles into the Worlds severall quarters to preach the Gospell the blessed Virgin retir'd her felf into a privat dwelling near adjoyning to Mount Sion that she might pass the remaining day 's of her Pilgrimage upon earth in the devout contemplation of her divin Sons actions and the frequent visitation of the holy places of his Baptism Fasting Passion Buriall Resurrection Ascention when behold at the time appointed by the eternall providence a heavenly Messenger probably the Arch-Angell Gabriel reverently saluting her in her Sons name informs her of her near approaching departure out of this life Hail Mary 2. At the securitie of heâ— Glorious and speedy Resurrection FOr as Albertus and all the Doctors agree she could not possibly doubt of her present and immediate Translation to Eternall happiness Hail Mary 3. At her dying without any dread terrour or trouble FOr how could She fear death who was so fervent in Charity as that she desired nothing more than to be dissolved and to be with Christ How could She be terrifi'd at Deaths approach who was absolutely free from all sin and impiety Or how could She be troubled at the apprehension of Gods severe Judgments who was secure of her salvation 4. At the presence of the Apostles at her departure FOr it is a generally receiv'd Tradition of the Fathers That all the Apostles were by divin instinct sodainly gather'd together from the worlds severall climats to honour her with their personall presence at this time of her earthly dissolution Hail Mary 5. At the sweet separation of her Soul aâ—… Body FOr say's S. Hierom as She was free from the corruption of the flesh so she was exempt from the calamities of Death And S. John Damascen The pain 's which she suffer'd not in childing and dying She payd at the time of Christs Passion Hail Mary 6. At the Ioyfull Re-union of her Soul and Body in her Resuscitation and Assumption into Heaven FOr according to S. Augustin There was no reason corruption should seize on her after death whose integrity was preserv'd in her life c. but 't was fit she should be always living who was the Parent of all life and that she should be always with him who for nine months space was with her in her womb c. Hail Mary 7. At Christ's meeting her accompanyed with the Heavenly
Citizens WHo can conceive say's S. Hierom how gloriously the world's Queen this day appeared with what affection the celestiall legions met her with what melodious Canticles she was conducted to her throne of glory with what an amiable and pleasing countenance her dear Son receiv'd her into his divin embraces and plac'd her above all other creatures c. Hail Mary 8. At her being exalted above all the Angelicall Orders and Hierarchies ACcording as the Church sings in her prayses You O sacred mother of God! are exalted above all the Quireâ— of Angells c. Hail Mary 9. At her being placed on her Sons right hand FOr as S. Hierom says we may piously believe that our Saviour seated her next to himself in the throne of his glorious Humanity How els had he accomplish'd what himself commanded Honour thy Father and Mother Hail Mary 10. At her being appointed the powerfull Advocatrix of mankind WE have Her to plead for us says S. Bernard who can suffer no repulse because she found grace with God Let us therefore seek Grace from the Fountain of Grace by the Finder of Grace and whatsoever we offer to the divin Majesty Let us commend it to Mary that so all may return to the Author of Grace by the same channell whereby it ran unto us Hail Mary Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. These prayers Angelicall c. Affections Elevations Petitions O Sacred Virgin-Mother your Deifi'd Soul is not forc'd out of your dying Body by the violence of pains but sweetly leaves it in an extasie of love O how welcom how amiable how desirable is death to a Soul that is well setled in the fear of God and fully confirm'd in the divin love and favour And how easily is that thing quitted without any affliction which is possess'd without overmuch affection Thrice happy he who so prudently regulates the use of life as to be always prepar'd to yeild it up to Death Happy he who patiently cheerfully resignedly endures the inconveniences of this soon-passing Pilgrimage in hope of a never-ending felicity in the heavenly Paradise Happy he who willingly deprives himself of this worlds most pleasing contentments upon confidence of laying up therby more solid pleasures in the Magazin of Eternity O glorious Virgin who have left me so perfect a Pattern of living vertuously and of dying happily Assist me I beseech you both in the one and the other I humbly acknowledg to my own great shame and sorrow that my life hath been hitherto far wide from the Imitation of your holy example But O pious Mother passing by my former indignity and pittying my present necessity take my perishing cause into your maternall consideration strengthen my Resolution of living vertuously for the future and assist me in that dreadfull hour of my deaths agony O let your Prayers patronage and protection then fortifie my Faith in its apprehension of the approaching Eternity Encourage my Hope in its consideration of the severe Judgment then near at hand and inflame my Charity in its last tendency to the long desired object of my Soul I now contemplate you great Empress seated there above in a throne of Majesty and satiated with the fulness of glory and felicity And I also consider you the still compassionate Mother the powerfull Mediatrix the pious Advocatrix of poor Mankind Wherefore I humbly begg for the love of your holy Son JESUS and by all that is dear to you in Heaven and Earth leave me not in that last hour but cast then your Eyes of mercy and favour upon me so shall I not doubt to be translated from a temporall death to an Eternall life and to remain perpetually with you in the perfect enjoyment of that fountain of life and love to which you are happily assumpted The fifth Glorious Mysterie Is Crown'd THE Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven The blest Promotress of all Chast desires Is Crowned Queen of th'Celestiall Quires Our Father c. THE Blessed Virgin Mothers Soul was fill'd with inexplicable joy 1. At her being seated upon a Royall throne in the celestiall glory WHere says S. Hierom the Immaculat Virgin-Mother was triumphantly plac'd next to her glorious Son Jesus in the celestiall Palace A Throne of Kingly glory says S. Augustin is prepar'd for you O great Queen-Mother in the Court of the heavenly Kingdom Hail Mary 2. At her being cloathed with Royall Garments ACcording to that saying of the Psalmist The Queen stood on thy right hand in a vesture of gold wrought about with divers colours Whereupon Saint Bernard extasiedly exclaims Gods Mother the worlds Lady Heavens Queen is elevated to the Eternall Fathers Throne and seated next to the sacred Trinity Where she stands on the Kings right hand in a golden garment To wit a body most pure and unspotted encompassed with variety that is a Soul enamell'd with all sorts of vertues Hail Mary 3. At her being adorn'd with Royall Iewells Ear-rings and Bracelets TO wit the Plenitud of all Prudence Science and Intelligence in her Soul and of Clarity Subtility Impassibility in her Body Hail Mary 4. At her being honor'd with a Royall Ring TO wit In her Soul which was the singular Spouse of the Eternall King a singular Joy Glory and felicity And in her Body which was singularly Instrumentall in the Eternall Words Incarnation a singular beauty Hail Mary 5. At her being grac'd with a Royall Scepter TO wit in her Soul by a speciall Power which was given her in Heaven and Earth and in her Body by a speciall prerogative of glory Hail Mary 6 At her being deck'd with a royall crown TO wit first with a generall Crown which is the substantiall and essentiall reward of Eternall glory and Beatitude consisting in the clear vision the perpetuall Fruition and the perfect possession of the Divinity This Crown corresponds to the three-fold Theologicall vertues in the Soul To Faith succeeds vision To Charity Fruition To Hope Possession Now as the sacred Virgin excells here all others in these vertues so her Crown out-shines there all others in Glory Hail Mary 7. At her being crown'd with the silver Aureola of Virgins FOr she being the Immaculat Mother of God and the unspotted Queen of all Virgins having none like her in the first nor any to parallell her in the Second is adorn'd with a Crown as far surpassing the Aureola's of other virgins as the Suns brightness excells that of the lesser Starrs Hail Mary 8. At her being crown'd with the golden Aureola of Martyrs FOr as She endured more than all Martyrs when the sword of sorrow pierc'd her heart at the time of her Sons Passion so she deserv'd a Crown above all Martyrs correspondent to her sufferings Hail Mary 9. At her being crown'd with the Starrie Aureola of Doctors FOr they who instruct others to Justice says the Prophet Daniel shall shine as Stars in perpetuall Eternity Now the sacred Virgin was the Teacher and
down his holy Spirit upon his Apostles and the rest of his chosen children to instruct them in his will to encourage them in their duties to confirm them in their Faith to assist them in their preaching to strengthen them in their persecutions O Iesu send also your holy Spirit to cure cleanse and comfort my sick sinfull and sad soul adorn each corner of my interiour with your divin love and grace that you sacred Spirit may find there a sweet and gratefull habitation rule reign and remain in my heart O Iesu King of Glory for evermore Our Father O Sacred Virgin-Mother whose soul was dilated with such unspeakable joy and sweetness in the glorious Resurrection and admirable Ascention of your divin Son JESUS appease him I beseech you in my behalf by your powerfull Prayers and Intercession Hail Mary Conclude this holy Crown with that Apostles Creed saying I believe in God c. Thirty-three Elevations and Petitions to Jesus our blessed Redeemer in honour of the Thirty-three year 's of his holy Life 1. O Good Jesu the word of the Father convert me 2. O Good Jesu the lamb of God! puryfie me 3. O Good Jesu my Master teach me 4. O Good Jesu the Prince of Peace govern me 5. O Good Jesu the sure hope of penitent Sinners behold me 6. O Good Jesu my Refuge defend me 7. O Good Jesu my Instructor direct me 8. O Good Jesu my Patience comfort me 9. O good Jesu the chief Comforter of sad Souls refresh me 10. O good Jesu my Redeemer save me 11. O good Jesu my Lord and my God! possess me 12. O good Jesu the life the way and the truth enliven me 13. O good Jesu my firm Foundation strengthen me 14. O good Jesu the light of the world illuminate me 15. O good Jesu my Justice justifie me 16. O good Jesu my Mediator sanctifie me 17. O good Jesu the Physitian of my soul heal me 18. O good Jesu my Judg absolve me 19. O good Jesu the Son of Justice shine upon me 20. O good Jesu my King deliver me 21. O good Jesu Son of David pitty me 22. O good Jesu my sanctification cleanse me 23. O good Jesu the living bread descending from Heaven satiate me 24. O good Jesu the wine bringing forth Virgins inebriate me 25. O good Jesu my Father bless me 26. O good Iesu the only joy of my heart visit me 27. O good Iesu my Helper assist me 28. O good Iesu my Protector protect me 29. O good Iesu my Love transform me 30. O good Iesu my Propitiation hide me in your wounds 31. O good Iesu the faithfull Shepheard feed me 32. O good Iesu the eternal Life receive me into the number of your Elect. 33. O good Iesu my Glory gloryfie me An Advertisement to them of the sacred Confraternity of the holy name of IESUS AFter the recitall of the Rosary of Jesus or Crown of our Lord and these Thirty-three Petitions in honour of the Thirty-three years of his holy life you may make use of some of the following Elevations to Jesus Christ our Lord and to the holy Trinity according as your opportunity and devotion shall dictate unto you and not as any part belonging to the said Rosary of Iesus which contains nothing more than what is before prescribed and expressed for though they may be practis'd with very great spiritual profit by all faithful Christians as containing a most eminent sublime and heroick manner of offring up our selv's to the divin Majesty yet the frequent use thereof is especially proper to the members of this sacred Confraternity who above all others ought to adore Gods greatness admire his goodness extoll his mercies and dedicate themselv's to his perpetuall service by the continuall remembrance of the mysteries of his Life and Incarnation which is the end of their devout Confraternity and the drift of these divin Elevations ELEVATIONS TO JESVS CHRIST our Lord In honour of his severall Estates and of the singular Mysterries of his Life TO ADORE The supream greatness of JESUS And to offer our selv's to him in way of humble servitude and absolute dependency which is due to him in consequence of the ineffable Union of the Divinitie with our Humanity 1. The Eternall Greatness of the word Incarnate O IESU my Lord King of Angels Redeemer of Men Soveraign of the Universe only Son of God only Son of the Virgin Born from all Eternity in the Eternall Fathers bosom and in times fullness born of the Virgin Mary true God true Man I adore you in your eternall and your temporall Greatness in your divin and human Fullness in your created and uncreated Highness You are the second Person of the sacred Trinity but equall to the First and origin of the Third you are the Splendor and Glory of the eternall Father you are his power and his wisdom you are his lively Image and perfect resemblance you are his only Son and his eternall word you are God of God Light of Light 2. The Equality and Consubstantiality of the Divin Persons in a perfect distinction is a wonder in God himself YOU are in these Greatnesses by Birth Such a Birth which Equalls the Power and Paternity of him who is your Father and which is one and the same thing with the Divinity A wonder not in the world but in Eternity not in the created but uncreated Being and the Prime wonder of Eternity For you are the first Production of the Eternall Father and source of the last And by this wonderfull Birth you are Infinit as he is All-powerfull is he is God as he is Beginning and Originall of a Divin Person as he is Nor is there any other difference but that in one self-same Divinity in one equall Eternity in one semblable Majesty He is Father and you are Son you are Son but without inequality without posteriority you are Son yet of even antiquity of equall authority with him and Eternall God as he is You are Son but without diversity of Essence or of Power or of Wisdom having the unity of Essence with the diversity of Subsistency in which you are one only God with him you are adored as he is and you are the Creator Conserver and Commander of the whol world as he is 3. God low's himself to us and makes himself one of us THese Greatnesses dazle our souls we cannot look upon them from out our Earths obscurity They are to be adored not beheld and we must vail our faces in the presence of this divin object as did the Angells by Isay's relation in the sight of your Throne But you are willing to exercise you mercy's upon us you will cast a cover upon your self and render your self visible to our weak spirits and to our mortall aspects you will stoop down to us and become accessible and by a Councill which even ravishes us with wonder you will come neer us and make your self as one of us For O
favour in the world which makes me in the Order of Grace not only existent by you but existent in you So that by this manner of Grace proper to this Mystery and springing from it in the honour and Imitation of your Eternall Procession I am not only yours not only by you but I am in you I live in you I make a part of you I am bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh let me be then also spirit of your Spirit let me live by your life let me participate of the Interiour of the Grace of the Estate of the Spirit of your Mysteries let me appropriate my self to you let me appropriate them to my self let me appropriate my self to your Greatnesses and to your debasings your Cross and your Glory your Life and your Death 9. The Perfection of a Christian requires that Jesus live in him and that he imprint in his Soul the Spirit and life of his estates and Mysteries 'T Is my desire and my hope but it surpasseth my power and therfore I expect it from the new Grace of the new Man For this Grace joyns me to him and placeth me in a condition not only to work but further to receive and bear his sacred and divin Operations yea and tends to a more strict and inward Communication For this new Grace issuing out of the Incarnation and resembling its own originall and Prototypon tends to this that I be in Jesus and that Jesus be in me as he is in his Father and his Father is in him Be then in me O Jesu live in me work in me form and figure in me your Estates and your Mysteries your actions and your sufferings And as the Father expresseth and impresseth in you his substance as in his divin Character so imprint in my soul and in my life your inward and outward Conversation and make me a lively character bearing the impression of your Spirit of your estates of your holy and wholsom operations You are the Image of God make me the perfect picture of your self make me like to your self conforming me to your Mysteries as you have been pleasd to make your self like me conforming your self to my miseries and let me carry the effects and lineaments of your Grace and of your Glory of your Power and of your life which you led upon earth Let your Birth make me be new-born born Let your Infancy put me in the state of Innocency Let your flight into Egypt make me fly the world and sin let your Servitude render me your slave let your bonds unfetter me and infranchise me from my sins from my passions and from my self Let your hidden and unknown life hide me from the world and from vanity let your solitude entertain me let your temptations strengthen me let your labours solace me let your griefs cure me let your Agonyes comfort me and let your death make me live and be new-born in Eternity 10. The Principall Mysteries of Jesus apply'd to our sanctification And his qualities and offices referr'd to our use LEt me thus enter Commerce and communication with you O my Life and my Love O my God and my All Let the course and the Moments the Periods and the Estates of your Life upon earth be thus apply'd and appropriated to me and let your Qualities and Offices thus work in me and imprint in me their comfortable efforts You are the uncreated Wisdom I will adhere to your Maxims and follow your conduct you are the Doctor of Justice I will enter into your School and Disciplin you are the Holy and Health-bringer of God in you will I have Grace and Salvation you are the live I will live in you you are the way I will walk by you you are the God of Heaven and of Earth I will be yours 11. By how many titles we belong to Jesus and Jesus to us I Know I am yours and that by many titles For I am yours by your Greatness your Powerfulness your Priviledges I am yours by your Dignities your Merits your Benefits I am yours by the gift of your Father who gives me unto you in giving the whol Earths circumference to you I am yours by your own gift whereby you give your self to your Father for me And you are mine for your Father gives you to the world in the excess of his love and you are your Fathers gift you are Gods gift in divers and sundry significations And 't is your own self which thus qualifies your self telling the Samaritan woman Didst thou know Gods gift and who he is that talks wtth thee This was your discourse of your self to this poor stranger whom you happily made a Domestique of your Faith and of your word and vouchsaf'd your self to Catechize so familiarly 12. Jesus is Gods Gift unto us and what this Gift demands of us with an Explication of Christian Grace WHerefore being taught by your sacred mouth that this quality of being Gods Gift is proper unto you I adore you I behold you I receive you in this quality As by this you are mine I will be yours Nor shall it suffice me to be yours by your self and by your Father I will be yours by my self also and by choise of my own Free-will I give my self then to you O Jesu my Lord I give to you my self with my whol power and according to the full extent of your own power and will over me I give my self to the Grace of your Mysterie of the Incarnation Grace which tyes me unto you in a new manner Grace which separates me from my self unites and incorporates me in you Grace which makes me yours in so noble so intimate and so powerfull a fashion and renders me yours as a parcell of your self Grace of life and of death both together Grace of annihilating and also of establishing In the strength and vertue of this Grace which hath its origin in you and in your new estate of God-Man I annihilate my self in my own self to be in you and I will carry within my Soul a death to all things that I may live in you And I will that my Being be reduced to be nothing els than a pure Capacity of you fill'd up with you 13. This Christian Grace is form'd upon the Mysterie of the Incarnation which is its Modell And requires of us a particular manner of Oblation and Donation to Jesus ACcording to the Power efficacy of this Grace which is peculiar to your Mysterie of the Incarnation and which is form'd upon it as upon its Copy I bequeath my self to you O Jesu my Lord I give you my Being my life and my love I give you my time and my Eternity I give you my Body and my Soul I give you my senses and powers I render my self slave to your Greatnesses to your Cross and to you love I put into your hands the last hour of my life which is the decider of my Eternity I offer my self to you I
Oblation Donation and consecration of my self unto your Majesty desiring intending and resolving to be hereafter not only your loyall subject and servant but even your reall vassal and Bondslave In confirmation whereof I will continually wear this materiall Chain about my Body both as a Badge of my now professed Bondage and also as a token of my perpetuall affection towards you Vouchsafe therfore O Soveraign Queen to Receive Admit and own me henceforth as a thing peculiarly yours and as such a one to defend and protect me during this life from the snares of sin to dissipate and break asunder at the hour of my death the shackles of Satan and to draw my departing soul by this happy Chain to your Sons heavenly Kingdom there to prayse admire and enjoy both him and you for all Eternity Amen 6. After the recitall of this oblation of your self in Bondage to the Blessed Virgin put the chain about some part of your Body and endeavour thenceforward to walk worthy so noble a Profession 5. The Practises and Exercises of this Devotion of the Bondage 1. The first Exercise may consist of jaculatory Prayers frequently darting out these or the like affections O my blessed Lady I am your Servant and the Bond-slave of your greatness Or O my Lord Jesu I am yours and your Mothers Servant and Bond-slave Or Holy Mary Mother of God! pray for us sinners and your bond-slaves now and in the hour of our Death Or when you hear the clock strike salute the blessed Virgin with an Ave Marie to which all Christians are invited by Pope Leo the tenth and Paul the fifth who gave large Indulgences thereunto Or say then blessed be the hour and day in which our Lord Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary Or Eternity is at hand Or Jesus Maria Joseph Or let the Souls of the faithfull departed rest in Peace 2 The second Exercise may be a short pair of Bedes consisting of three Paters in honour of the holy Trinity and twelve Ave's in honour of the twelve Priviledges of the sacred Virgin to be said in this manner 1. Pater Noster c. Thanking the eternall Father for having made choyce of so worthy a daughter 1. Ave Marie c. considering her eternal Predestination 2. Ave her immaculate Conception 3. Ave her most pure Virginity 4. Ave her most admirable Maternity 2. Pater Noster c. Thanking the eternal Son for having made choyce of so worthy a Mother 1. Ave considering her most happy Child-birth 2. Ave her soveraign Dominion not only over the World but over the Creator of the World He was subject to them Luke 2. 3. Ave her excellent Purity of Soul and Body 4. Ave her continuall and sublim Contemplation 3. Pater Noster c. Thanking the Holy Ghost for having made choyce of so worthy a Spouse 1. Ave considering her sweet departure out of this life 2. Ave her miraculous Resurrection 3. Ave her glorious Assumption 4. Ave her eternall Glorification and Coronation 3. The third Exercise may be a Crown consisting of five pretious Pearls in honour of the blessed Virgins five principall Vertues to be offer'd up to her in the manner following 1. The Jasper of Faith Produce Acts of Faith with most ardent affection saying O Soveraign Queen I firmly believe that you were an entire Virgin both before and after your happy Child-birth That you are the true Mother of Gods Son That your life was without the least Sin That you were a Martyr at the foot of the Cross That you are exalted above all pure Creatures in the Celestial glory That you are our Advocate interceding for us wretched sinners c. Add such other points of Faith as your devotion shall suggest and then conclude thus Receive most sacred Lady this Protestation of my Faith as a Jasper-stone belonging to your Crown and obtain for me a lively perfect and perseverant Faith unto the end Amen And recite one Ave Mary to this intention 2. The Emerald of Hope Produce Acts of this Vertu in honour of the blessed Virgin saying O Soveraign Queen I contemplate you as the hope of the World long expected by the Fathers in Limbo earnestly look'd upon by the Souls suffering in Purgatory humbly besought by the Children of the Church Militant who cry out incessantly Hail to Queen that reigns above the Sky Hail to the Mother of true Clemency Hail Life hail Sweetness and our Hope to you We that are Eves exiled Children sue In cry's and groans which from this vale of tears Are fann'd with sighs up to your sacred Eares O then Chast Advocate on us reflect From Heavens bright Mansion your benigne aspect And make us after this our Exile come To JESUS the blest Off-spring of your Womb Sweet Virgin and Gods Mother pray that we Of Christs rich promises may worthy be In this number I rank my self and place in you O holy Virgin next after God my hope and confidence trusting that you will be to me a Fountain of Grace a Towre of Defence a City of Refuge and a Gate of Heaven to give me entrance into Paradise Receive most sacred Lady this Emerald which I present unto you for your Crown and strengthen my hope unto the end Ave Maria Gratia Plena c. 3. The Rubie of Charitie Produce Acts proper to this Vertu saying O Soveraign Queen I consider you as brimfull of perfect Love and Charity and inviting the whol World to participate with you of its sweet fruits and effects saying come to me all you who desire me and be replenish'd with my generations Eccles 24. Behold I come to you with an ardent and enflam'd affection beseeching you to enrich me with the treasure of true Charity towards God and my Neighbour Receive most sacred Lady this Rubie which I offer unto you for your Crown and confirm my love and charity to the end Amen Ave Maria c. 4. The Diamond of Fortitude Produce the Acts belonging to this vertu saying O Soveraign Queen I behold you as a valiant Champion terrible to the Troops of Satan like a well order'd Army Encourage me I beseech you to fight under your banner support my weakness with your strong hand and help me to overcome all worldly fleshly and diabolical temptations c. Receive most sacred Lady this Diamond which I present unto you for your Crown and obtain for me an invincible Fortitude to the end Amen Ave Maria. c. 5. The Pearl of Chastity Produce Acts appertaining to this vertu saying O Soveraign Queen I admire you as the Mother of Purity the Mirror of Chastity the First who vow'd Virginity obtain for me I beseech you that all my thoughts words and actions may savour of Purity be seasoned with modestie and be accompany'd with Chastity c. Receive most sacred Lady this Pearl which I present unto you to illustrate your Crown and powerfully protect me against all carnalitie and impurity to