Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	blood_n	body_n	sacrament_n	7,094	5	7.4356	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64529	The Christians pattern, or A divine treatise of the imitation of Christ. Written originally in Latin, by Thomas of Kempis, above 200. years since. Faithfully Englished. And printed in a large character for the benefit of the aged; Imitatio Christi. English.	Thomas, à Kempis, 1380-1471, attributed name.; Worthington, John, 1618-1671.	1695 (1695)	Wing T944A; ESTC R220857	122,723	339

endeavor to apply my self to devotion and prepare my heart to obtain some small spark of divine fire by humble receiving of this enlivening Sacrament And whatsoever is hereunto wanting in me good Jesus most holy Saviour do thou supply for me most bountifully and graciously who hast vouchsafed to call us unto thee saying Come unto me all ye that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you 5. I indeed labor in the sweat of my brows I am vexed with grief of heart I am burdened with sins I am troubled with temptations I am intangled and oppressed with many evill passions and there is none to help me none to deliver and save me but thou O Lord my Saviour to whom I commit my self and all that is mine that thou mayest keep me and bring me to life everlasting Receive me to the honor and glory of thy Name who hast prepared thy Body and Blood to be my meat and drink Grant Lord God my Saviour that by frequenting thy mysteries the zeal of my devotion may increase CHAP. V. Of the dignity of this Sacrament and Ministerial function The voice of Christ. IF thou hadst Angelical purity and the sanctity of St. Iohn Baptist thou wert not worthy to receive this Sacrament For it is not within the compass of the deserts of Men that Man should consecrate the Sacrament of Christ and receive for food the Bread of Angels A great mystery and great is the dignity of the Ministers of God to whom is given that which is not given to the Angels It is proper for Ministers rightly instituted in the Church to have power to celebrate and consecrate the Body of Christ. The Priest is the Minister of God using the word of God by Gods Commandment and appointment but God is there the principal Author and invisible Worker to whom is subject all that he pleaseth and all that he commandeth doth obey 2. Thou oughtest therefore more to believe God Almighty in this most excellent Sacrament than thine own sense or any visible sign And therefore thou art to come unto this mystery with fear and reverence Consider attentively with thy self and see what that is whereof the Ministery is delivered unto thee by the imposition of the hands of the Bishop Behold thou art made a Priest and consecrated to celebrate see now that in due time thou doest this faithfully and devoutly and carry thy self so as thou mayest be without reproof Thou hast not lightned thy burden but art now bound with a straiter band of discipline and art obliged to a more perfect degree of sanctity A Minister ought to be adorned with all graces and to give example of good life to others His conversation should not be according to the ordinary and common course of Men but like to the Angels in Heaven or to perfect Men on Earth 3. A Minister is the Vicegerent of Christ to pray humbly with a prostrate mind unto God for himself and the whole People Neither ought he to cease from prayer till he obtain grace and mercy When a Minister doth celebrate he honoreth God rejoyceth the Angels edifieth the Church helpeth the living and maketh himself partaker of all good CHAP. VI. An interrogation of the exercise before Communion The voice of the Disciple WHen I weigh thy worthiness O Lord and my unworthiness I tremble and am confounded in my self For if I come not unto thee I fly from life and if I unworthily intrude my self I incur thy displeasure What therefore shall I do my God my helper and my counceller in necessity 2. Teach me the right way appoint me some exercise sutable to this holy Communion For it is good for me to know how I should reverently and religiously prepare my heart for thee for the profitable receiving of thy Sacrament or for the celebrating of so great and divine a Sacrifice CHAP. VII Of the discussing of our own conscience and purpose of amendment The voice of the beloved ABove all things The Minister of God ought to come to celebrate and receive this Sacrament with great humility of heart and lowly reverence with a full faith and a pious intending of the honor of God Examine diligently thy conscience and to thy power purge and cleanse it with true contrition and humble confession so as there may be nothing in thee that may be burdensome unto thee or that may breed in thee remorse of conscience and hinder thy free access Repent thee of all thy sins in general and in particular bewail and lament thy daily offences And if thou hast time confess unto God in the secret of thy heart all the evils of thy disordered passions 2. Lament and grieve that thou art yet so carnal so worldly so unmortified in thy passions so full of the motions of concupiscence so unwatchful over thy outward senses so often intangled with many vain fantasies so vehemently inclined to outward things so negligent in the interior so prone to laughter and immodesty so indisposed to tears and compunction so prompt to ease and pleasures of the flesh so dull to strictness and life of zeal so curious to hear news and see glorious sights so slack to imbrace what is humble and low so covetous of abundance so niggardly in giving so fast in keeping so inconsiderate in speeh so unbridled to silence so loose in manners so importune in action so greedy to meat so deaf to the word of God so hasty to rest so slow to labor so watchful to tales so drowsie to watch in the service of God so hasty to the end thereof so inconstant in attention so cold in Prayer so undevout in celebrating so dry in receiving so quickly distracted so seldom wholly gathered into thy self so suddenly moved to anger so apt to take displeasure against another so prone to judge so severe to reprehend so joyful in prosperity so weak in adversity so often purposing much good and yet performing little 3. These and other thy defects being confessed and bewailed with sorrow and great dislike of thine own infirmity make a firm purpose always to amend thy life and to endeavor still after a farther progress in holiness Then with full resignation and with thy whole will do thou to the honor of my Name offer up thy self a perpetual sacrifice on the Altar of thy heart faithfully committing thy body and soul unto me that so thou mayest come worthily to celebrate this Eucharistical sacrifice and to receive profitably the Sacrament of my body 4. For Man hath no oblation more worthy nor greater for the destroying of sin than to offer up himself unto God purely and wholly in the holy Communion And when a Man shall have done what lieth in him and shall be truly penitent and shall come to me for pardon and grace as I live saith the Lord who will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be converted and live I will not remember his sins any more but they shall be all

less to be loved and praised then if thou didst fill me with Heavenly comforts 3. In thee therefore O Lord God I put my whole hope and refuge in thee I place my tribulation and anguish for I find all to be weak and unconstant whatsoever I behold out of thee For neither can many friends avail nor strong helpers aid nor wise councellors give any profitable answer nor the Books of the learned comfort nor any wealth deliver nor any secret or pleasant place defend if thou thy self dost not assist help strengthen comfort instruct and keep us 4. For all things that seem to belong to the attainment of peace and felicity without thee are nothing and do bring indeed no felicity at all Thou therefore art the end of all that is good the height of life the depth of wisdom and the strongest comfort of thy servants is to trust in thee above all things To thee therefore do I lift up mine eyes in thee O my God the Father of mercies I put my trust Bless and sanctifie my soul with thy Heavenly blessings that it may be made thy holy habitation and the seat of thy eternal glory and that nothing may be found in the Temple of thy glory that may offend the eyes of thy Majesty According to the greatness of thy goodness and multitude of thy mercies look upon me and hear the prayer of thy poor Servant who is far exiled from thee in the land of the shadow of death Protect and keep the soul of thy Servant amidst so many dangers of this corruptible life and by thy grace accompanying me direct it by the way of peace to the country of everlasting light Amen THE FOURTH BOOK A devout Exhortation unto the holy Communion The voice of Christ. COme unto me all ye that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you saith the Lord. The bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world Take ye and eat that is my body that is given for you Do this in remembrance of me He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and life CHAP. I. With how great reverence Christ ought to be received The voice of the disciple THese are thy words O Christ the everlasting Truth though not spoken all at one time nor written in one and the self same place Because therefore they are thine and true they are all thankfully and faithfully to be received by me They are thine and thou hast spoken them and they are mine also because thou hast spoken them for my salvation I willingly receive them from thy mouth that they may be the deeper imprinted in my heart These so gracious words so full of sweetness and love do encourage me but mine own offences do dishearten me and my impure conscience driveth me back from the receiving of so great mysteries The sweetness of thy words doth encourage me but the multitude of my sins doth oppress me 2. Thou commandest me to come confidently unto thee if I will have part with thee and to receive the food of immortality if I desire to obtain everlasting life and glory Come saist thou unto me all ye that labor and are burdened and I wil refresh you O sweet and loving word in the ear of a sinner that thou my Lord God shouldest invite the poor and needy to the participation of thy most holy body But who am I Lord that I may presume to approach unto thee Behold the Heavens cannot contain thee and thou saist Come ye all unto me 3. What meaneth this so gracious a condescension and this so loving invitation How shall I dare to come that know not any good in my self whereupon I may presume How shall I bring thee unto my House that have so often offended thy most gracious countenance The Angels and the Archangels honor thee the Saints and just Men do fear thee and saist thou Come ye all unto me Unless thou O Lord didst say it who would believe it to be true And unless thou didst command it who would attempt to come unto thee Behold Noah a just Man labored a Hundred years in the making of the Ark that he might be saved with a few and how can I in one hours space prepare my self to receive with reverenee the Maker of the world 4. Moses thy great Servant and thy especial friend made an Ark of incorruptible wood which also he covered with most pure Gold to put the Tables of the Law therein and I a corruptible creature how shall I dare so lightly to receive the Maker of the Law and the giver of life Solomon the wisest of the Kings of Israel bestowed Seven years in building a magnificent Temple to the praise of thy Name and celebrated the feast of Dedication thereof Eight days together he offered a Thousand peace-offerings and he solemnly set the Ark in the place prepared for it with the sound of Trumpets and joy and I the most miserable and poorest of Men how shall I bring thee into my House that can scarce spend one half hour religiously And I wish I could once spend about one half hour in a worthy and due manner 5. O my God how much did they endeavor to please thee and alas how little is that which I do How little time do I spend to prepare my self to receive I am seldom wholly recollected very seldom free from all distraction and yet surely no unbecoming thought ought to appear in the comfortable presence of thy Deity nor any creature wholly take me up for I am not to harbor an Angel but the Lord of Angels 6. And yet there is great difference between the Ark of the Covenant with its reliques and thy most pure body with its unspeakable virtues between those legal Sacrifices figures of future things and the true Sacrifice of thy body the complement of all antient Sacrifices Why therefore am I not more zealous in thy venerable presence Wherefore do I not prepare my self with greater care to receive thy holy things sith those holy antient Patriarchs and Prophets yea Kings also and Princes with the whole people have shewed such an affectionateness of devotion to thy divine service 7. The most devout King David danced before the Ark of God with all his might calling to mind the benefits bestowed in times past upon his Forefathers He made instruments of sundry kinds he published Psalms and appointed them to be sung with joy he also oftentimes sung to the harp being inspired with the grace of the holy Ghost He taught the people of Israel to praise God with their whole heart and with pleasant voices every day to bless and praise him If so great devotion was then used and such celebrating of divine praise before the Ark of the Testament what reverence and devotion is now to be performed by me and all Christian people at the Sacrament in receiving the

most precious body of Christ 8. O God the invisible Creator of the world how wonderfully dost thou deal with us how sweetly and graciously dost thou dispose of all things with thine elect to whom thou offerest thy self to be received in the Sacrament O this exceedeth all understanding This chiefly draweth the hearts of the religious and inflameth their affections For thy true faithful Servants that dispose their whole life to amendment by this most precious Sacrament oftentimes gain much of the grace of devotion and love of holiness 9. O the admirable and hidden grace of this Sacrament which only the faithful ones of Christ do know but the unbelieving and such as are slaves unto sin cannot have experience thereof In this Sacrament spiritual grace is given and strength which was lost is restored in the soul and the beauty disfigured by sin returneth again This grace is sometimes so great that out of the fulness of devotion which is here given not only the mind but the weak body also feeleth great increase of strength 10. Our coldness and negligence surely is much to be wailed and pittied that we are not drawn with greater affection to receive Christ in whom all the hope and merit of those that are to be saved doth consist For he is our sanctification and redemption he is the comfort of those who are here but travellers and the everlasting fruition of Saints It is much therefore to be lamented that many do so little consider this comfortable mystery which rejoyceth Heaven and preserveth the whole world O the blindness and hardness of Mans heart that doth not more deeply weigh so unspeakable a gift but rather cometh by the daily use thereof to regard it little or nothing 11. For if this most holy Sacrament should be celebrated in one place only and consecrated by one only Minister in the world with how great desires dost thou think would Men be affected to that place and to such a Minister that they might enjoy the celebration of these divine mysteries But now there are many Ministers and Christ is offered in many places that so the grace and love of God to Man may appear so much the greater how much the more this sacred Communion is spread through the world Thanks be unto thee good Jesus the everlasting shepherd that hast vouchsafed to refresh us who are poor and in a state of banishment with thy precious body and blood and to invite us to the receiving of these mysteries with the words of thy own mouth saying Come unto me all ye that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you CHAP. II. That the great goodness and love of God is exhibited to Man in this Sacrament The voice of the Disciple IN confidence of thy goodness and great mercy O Lord being sick I approach unto my Savior being hungry and thirsty to the Fountain of life needy to the King of Heaven a Servant unto my Lord a creature to my Creator being disconsolate I come to thee my merciful comforter But whence is this to me that thou vouch-safest to come unto me Who am I that thou shouldest give thy self unto me How dare a sinner appear before thee And how is it that thou dost vouchsafe to come unto a sinner Thou knowest thy Servant and seest that he hath no good thing in him for which thou shouldest bestow this favor upon him I confess therefore my unworthiness and I acknowledg thy goodness I praise thy mercy and give thee thanks for this thy transcendent love For thou dost this for thine own sake not for any merits of mine to the end that thy goodness may be better known unto me thy love more abundantly shewed and thy gracious condescension may be the more eminently set forth Since therefore it is thy pleasure and thou hast commanded that it should be so this thy favor is also dearly pleasing to me and I wish that my sins may be no hindrance herein 2. O most sweet and benign Jesus how great reverence and thanks together with perpetual praise is due unto thee for the receiving of thy sacred body whose preciousness no Man is able to express But what shall I think of at this Communion now that I am to approach unto my Lord whom I am not able duly to honor and yet I desire to receive him with devotion What can I think better and more profitable than to humble my self wholly before thee and to exalt thy infinite goodness above me I praise thee my God and will exalt thee for ever and I do despise and submit my self unto thee in a deep sense of my own unworthiness 3. Behold thou art the Holy of Holies and I the skum of sinners Behold thou inclinest unto me who am not worthy so much as to look up unto thee Behold thou comest unto me It is thy will to be with me thou invitest me to thy banquet Thou wilt give me the food of Heaven and bread of Angels to eat which is no other indeed than thy self the living bread that descendest from Heaven and givest life unto the world world 4. Behold from whence doth this love proceed What a gracious condescension of thine appeareth herein How great thanks and praises are due unto thee for these benefits O how good and profitable was thy councel when thou ordainedst it How sweet and pleasant the banquet when thou gavest thy self to be our food How wonderful is this thy doing O Lord how mighty is thy power how unspeakable is thy truth For thou sayest the word and all things were made and this was done which thou commandest 5. A thing of great admiration that thou my Lord God true God and Man shouldest be exhibited unto us by the Elements of Bread and Wine Thou who art the Lord of all things and standest in need of none had pleased to dwell in us by means of this thy Sacrament preserve my heart and body unspotted that with a chearful and pure conscience I may often celebrate thy mysteries and receive them to my everlasting health which thou hast chiefly ordained and instituted for thy honor and for a perpetual memorial 6. Rejoyce O my soul and give thanks unto God for so noble a gift and so singular a comfort left unto thee in this vale of tears For as often as thou callest to mind this mystery and receivest the body of Christ so often dost thou remember the work of thy redemption and art made partaker of all the merits of Christ. For the love of Christ is never diminished and the greatness of his propitiation is never exhausted Therefore thou oughtest always to dispose thy self hereunto by a fresh renewing of thy mind and to weigh with attentive consideration this great mystery of thy salvation So great new and joyful it ought to seem unto thee when thou comest to these holy mysteries as if the same day Christ first descending into the womb of the Virgin were become Man or hanging on the