give it thou wilt give it in time place and measure whereas if we take it we shall observe none of these rules but take it to the destruction of our own souls and bodies The Petitions run along still with the rule of Charity For when we say give us we speak not thus To me and my family This word us is more general as well to our Brethren the Sons of the same Father who want Bread as to me and my family That is This day of our life This time We are not to petition for an Age being but of a day and a particle of a day For being uncertain of our dayes why should we beg bread for uncertain times For we are not assured of life for an age a year or a day Our life is but a day and a day is the resemblance of our life Yet Providence is not hereby forbidden or that none should lay up with Ioseph or the Ant But he that provides not before-hand is more foolish than an Ant nay worse than an Infidel We must gather up the fragments and the things we gather provide and lay up must be justly gotten We must not put our confidence in them and we must bestow aud use them well Give us O Lord Bread convenient and meet to serve us to day and to morrow also This is all the fruit to take away sin This Petition tacitely implies an acknowledgement that we are sinners And indeed we are all sinners If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us And therefore it is most expedient to ask forgiveness For although God by his Omniscience is not ignorant of our sins yet it shews well in us to ask forgiveness for them This benefit accrues by confessing them that God is prone to absolve us If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive them And this detriment befalls if we continue in them without attonement that they make a separation between God and us Our iniquities have separated between us our God and our sins have hid his face from us that he will not hear us We have great need to beg forgiveness for them for Our iniquities have withholden good things from us And why God hath set our sins as a cloud that our prayers for good things might not pass through And we know saith Saint Iohn that God heareth not sinners that are not reconciled to him by confession As long as our sins stand up against us and are not remitted we cannot hope to receive any good at Gods hands Therefore O Lord not only give but forgive also both the guilt and punishment of them And in this thy Mercy is manifested that thou givest to those who after they have received must ask forgiveness Give unto us who are thine enemies and when thou hast given forgive us also Forgive us for we confess we need forgiveness And we have thy promises and practice of remission to those which confess their sins 1. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but whosoever confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy And it shall be when he shall be guilty in any one of these things that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing c. And the Priest shall make an attonement c. If they shall confess the iniquity of their Fathers with their trespasses which they have trespassed against me c. Then will I remember my Covenant c. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 2. Thy practice is seen in divers examples Of David by his own confession I said I will confess my sins unto the Lord and so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin By the mouth of Nathan David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David The Lord also hath put away thy sin Of the Prodigal Son Of the Publican Of Mary Magdalen and divers others Yet thou hast not dealt so with the Angels that fell Their sins are not will not be forgiven Ours may in thy good pleasure We are unworthy Let us not be unthankful They be Debts which we owe and pay not but detain against the will of the Owner We are Debtors to thy Commandements being thy Creatures and created to the keeping of them As often then as we omit and have undone those things which thou commandest us to do and commit those things which thou forbiddest we detain a Debt and become Debtors or Trespassers We see then that all men are sinners and debtors That there are sins which deprive us not from the Sonship of God That there is place and time for remission after Baptism Now of our sins some are committed Ignorantly others Of knowledge Unwillinlgy others Willingly and greedily Before our calling others Being called Against God others Against our Neighbours and our selves In heart others In word and deed By our selves alone others With others either as authors or provokers Of Commission others Of Omission Secretly others Of which our heart reproveth us And in all these is the root of bitterness Forgive them O Lord retain not the offence exact not the puunishment due for them Be reconciled to us by laying aside thy just displeasure by receiving us to thy favour and grace Connive at them while they are doing Bring them not into question call them not into examination nor us to account for them being done And the hand writing that is against us Tear it Hang it upon thy Sons Cross. Cast it behind thee Drown it in the Sea And as the morning Cloud make it to vanish away and come to nothing Forgive them because he that taught us thus to pray our Surety hath paid and discharged these Debts Not only my trespasses but the offences of my brethren There is in this Petition a brotherly Charity also and as Christ transferred our sins upon himself so charity takes our brothers sins to us and makes us pray for them And it is but Iustice also to pray for the sins of others in regard many offences are committed by them by our perswasion or example Not only my trespasses but the offences of mine enemies As thou forgivest us so forgive our enemies also And this is the highest pitch of charity Forgive and it shall be forgiven to you was thy Sons promise Blessed be thy name for propounding so easie a condition to us To forgive a mite and be forgiven a talent Oh happy exchange to receive gold for dross a pearl for stubble Oh happy necessity imposed on us thus to pray For a malevolent mind can neither be lifted to God nor quietly and peaceably conversant with men And while he makes us like himself by this condition that is slow to wrath and ready to forgive
thy power and rule both in Heaven and Earth Thou shewest mercy on whom thou wilt art pitiful to whom thou pleasest and wouldst not the death of a sinner neither delightest in the destruction of any O God rich in mercy who out of thy extraordinary love to Mankind even when we were thine Enemies didst send thine only Son into the world that every one that believed on him might not perish but have life everlasting Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me according to thy mercy and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away my offenses Holy Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son I have turned from thee and have broken all thy Commandements I have not walked aright but have gone after mine own lusts choosing those wayes which thou hast forbidden me to tread in Neither O Lord have I feared thine anger but have been in all things disobedient unto thee and have hardned my heart against thee I have hated instruction and cast thy sayings behind me Truth hath found no place in me and my hands have been the workers of much wickedness I have spoken vainly idlely and wickedly I have brought forth deceit and meditated the way of untruth I have provoked thy wrath against me by accustoming my self to do the work of the flesh and rejecting the good motions of the Spirit Woe unto me rebellious wretch that I have committed these wicked acts against thee so loving so good so gracious a God to the utter destruction of my soul without thy mercy in Christ Iesus In remembrance and confidence whereof O Lord I come to thee and humbly intreat thee that thou wouldest not reject a contrite humble miserable and repentant sinner who at this time earnestly invocateth thy Name Return a little O Lord and be intreated for my manifold sins do not unto me according to the multitude of them neither reward me according to my transgressions Let my humble Prayers sighs and groans come into thy presence and according to thy promises receive me again into thy favour For O Father I am one of those whom thy only Son redeemed with his most precious blood O Lord my soul doth loath my life by reason of my manifold sins and I humble my self under thy mighty hand because I know that in thine anger thou shewest mercy and in time of trouble thou dost forgive offences And behold O Lord that I confess my sins beseeching thee for thy goodness to do unto me according to thy wonted mercy I am confounded and ashamed to lift up mine eyes unto thee because my sins have prevented my prayers and have ascended up to thee before them Against thee O Lord have I sinned and done much evil in thy sight Yet wherefore should I dye in my sins seeing it is not thy pleasure that any sinner should dye but turn unto thee and live For thou art good and gracious and savest those who are altogether unworthy out of the abundance of thy mercy in Christ Iesus the Righteous For although thine anger against sinners is unsufferable and who may abide it Yet thy mercy towards offenders is unsearchable and who can find out the depth thereof or describe it Our Fathers in their troubles cryed unto thee and thou didst deliver them they put their trust in thee and were not confounded And though they by their offences have justly provoked thine anger yet upon their humiliation thou didst remember thy Covenant and ease them of their afflictions O Lord be merciful also unto me for I am miserable and wretched Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee My soul is very much disquieted within me How long Lord will it be ere thou look upon me and deliver it Lighten mine eyes for I have too long slept in death and my sins have too long had dominion over me Return O Lord at the last and be gracious unto me O deliver my soul and have mercy upon me And all my bones shall say Lord who is like unto thee To thee be all Honour Praise and Glory World without end Another O Lord Iesus Christ the only Physician of sick souls who in the fulness of God came into this World not to call the just but sinners to Repentance Behold me the most wretched of all sinners who with as much humility as I am able in the confidence of thy great goodness cast my self before the foot-stool of thy Majesty confessing my great and grievous offences And if the Publican in the Gospel durst not lift up his eyes to heaven but stood a far off and smote his brest saying Lord be merciful to me a sinner what shall I doe whose sins surpass the greatest sinners offences For all my inward and outward parts are wholly depraved and nothing that is good remaineth in me And when I look into the book of my conscience I find that I have abominably polluted the garment of innocency which I received at my Baptism I have put all my strength to offend thee with all the members I have For my feet have been swift to evil and flow to good mine eyes open to vanity and shut to that which is truly amiable My hands stretched to covetousness and closed from the works of mercy mine ears ready to hear evil and stopped to the good motions of the Spirit and my soul the noblest part in me which hath eyes to contemplate the glory of thy Majesty I have turned away from the consideration of thy Excellency to the vain and transitory things of this life I have given liberty to whatsoever mine eyes have desired and have not resisted the unclean passions of my heart so that the whole course of my life hath been a continual warfare against the. How often have I returned as a dog to the vomit and as a sow washed to the myre I am that Fool which hath said in his heart there is no God For I have lived so dissolutely that I have made plain demonstration by my behaviour That I believed thou either wert not at all or else couldst do nothing at all Thou O Lord hast often called me and I have neglected thy voice Thou hast expected me and I have abused thy patience Thou hast given me the treasure of a long time to repent and I have consumed it wastefully Thou hast stricken me and I have not been sensible of thy hand Thou hast afflicted me and I have made no use of thy correction Thou didst sweat to make me clean and I still remain in my pollution I am hardned as well with thy punishments as with thy blessings being rebellious to the one and unthankful for the other And what shall I further say but that my heart soul thoughts and body are all impure and defiled and that of all sinners I am the chief unworthy Earth
Who wouldest have all to be saved none so perish I am thine O save me Despise not the work of thy hands Who hatest nothing which thou hast made I am thy Servant and Son of thy Handmaid Thy Name is called on by us Thou art not ashamed to be called our Lord. I am the price of thy Sons blood O spare thy Workmanship Thy Child Thy Name The price of thy Sons blood But I am a sinner and God heareth not sinners Yet I pray thee remember of what I am made That I am but flesh and a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Take notice of the matter of which I am made Remember that I am but dust Frail flesh Light wind Loose dust And wilt thou O Lord break a leaf driven with the wind too and fro and wilt thou pursue dry stubble Behold O Lord though I have sinned yet I humble my self under thy mighty hand Spare the humble and contrite David spared Shimei that railed on him And David was a man according to thine own heart Therefore do thou spare me Ahab King of Israel forgave the King of Syria his offence upon his humiliation Was there ever King of Israel more merciful than thou Thou forgavest the same Ahab who had sold himself to sin when he humbled himself Spare me also I beseech thee O Lord how long wilt thou be angry with thy Servant which prayeth Surely Lord I hide not my sins like Adam but confess them Behold I judge my self Accept O Lord the Sacrifice of a troubled Spirit A contrite heart A grieved Soul A wounded Conscience Though I have sinned against thee It hath ever been thy Practice to be merciful Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and were not confounded Thy mercies have been ever of old Lord where are thy former loving kindnesses Look at the Generations of old and see did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded Or whom did he ever despise that called upon him It is due by thy Promise Remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope Let thy mercy come unto me O Lord even thy salvation according to thy word God hath promised which cannot lie He is a God of truth And confirmed it with an Oath Which promise the unbelief of men cannot make void If we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself There will arise no benefit by my destruction For what profit is there in my blood if I go down into the pit For in death is no remembrance of thee and in the grave who shall give thee thanks Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead Or shall the dead arise and praise thee Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave Or thy faithfulness in destruction The grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee the living the living he shall praise thee I will not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him Thy mercies O Lord are Sweet Comfortable Better than life Many A multitude of them Plentiful Tender Superabundant Wonderful Infinite Great Broad From the East to the West Long. Deep High To the Heavens High Above the Heavens Past knowledge Eternal of old For ever Preventing Following Compassing Pardoning Crowning Over all thy works Our sins Thy justice Thou art the Father of mercies Thou art patient and slow to anger Thou winkest at the sins of men because they should repent Sparing thy people forty years Many times thou didst turn thy wrath away and wouldest not suffer thy whole displeasure to arise It is of thy mercy that we are not consumed Gentle in correcting insomuch as thy justice is not without mercy I will visit their offences with the rod and their sin with scourges Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him He hath not dealt with us after our sins How shall I smile thee O Ephraim Placable and easie to be pacified He will not alway be chiding neither keepeth he his anger for ever His wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In anger he remembreth mercy David said I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David The Lord hath also put away thy sin thou shalt not dye The Lord waiteth to be gracious unto us Compassionate Thy Compassions are called bowels of mercy When thou didst see the misery of thy people thou hadst compassion on them Then the Lord of the servant moved with compassion loosed him and forgave him the debt Not only ready to forgive but profuse in mercy With thee is plentious redemption The Father of the Prodigal not only pardoned him but put on him the best Robe and a Ring and killed the fat Calf for him He will have joy in Heaven for a sinner repenting Thy pardon extendeth not only to small but great sins and sinners Such as Pet. who forsware thee Paul who blasphemed thee The Thief on the Cross. The Adulteress Mary Magdalen They say If a man put away his Wife and she go from him and become another mans shall he return unto her again shall not the Land be greatly polluted But thou hast played the Harlot with many Lovers yet return again to me saith the Lord. He is kind to the unthankful and evil But all these are recapitulated and summed up in Christ Iesus In whom he hath given us great and precious promises And in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen In naming of whom it will be sufficient Iesus thou Son of David have mercy on me Which Name Jesus was given unto him because he saveth us from our sins Lord Do not so earnestly mark our sins as that thereby thou forget thine own Name Thou Son of David who forgave Shimei his sworn Enemy reviling him Forgive me O Christ hear me Intercede for me Make thy Father propitious to me Say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation Let not thy Apostle comfort me in vain when he saith This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners Where sin hath abounded there grace hath super-abounded God hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all When we were Gods Enemies we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son Let not another of thy Apostles say in vain Christ
once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Let not the third Mercy rejoyceth above judgement Let not the fourth If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Christ Iesus the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world Let not thine own words be spoken in vain Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance I came not to judge the world but to save it These things are not cannot be spoken in vain Wherefore in the multitude of the sorrowes that are in my Heart thy comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Which be pleased to grant For thy great and many Mercies Thy Names sake The Glory of thy Name Thy Promise sake Thy Practice sake My Misery My Infirmity Even for thy Son Iesus Christ's sake The Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased Psalm 6. O Lord my God rebuke me not I beseech thee in thy fierce indignation against my sins either in this life or at the day of judgement neither chasten or correct me in thy hot displeasure by condemning me to eternal death 2 Have mercy and compassion upon me according to thy accustomed goodness O Lord for I am weak and frail by nature strengthen me therefore by thy grace O Lord and heal me by curing the infirmities of my Soul for they are multiplied so greatly upon me that my bones and all my inward parts are vexed and disquieted with the remembrance of them 3 My sinful Soul considering my manifold offences and trembling at the thought of thy just anger against them is also like as is my flesh sore troubled and almost at the point of desparation but thou O Lord that desirest not the death of a sinner how long will it be ere thou look upon me and bring me out of this misery 4 Return from the rigour of thy justice O Lord to the sweetness of thy mercy and deliver my Soul from the bondage of sin O Lord save me from the assaults of the Devil not for any merits of mine but for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus my Saviour 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee to praise and glorifie thy Name and who surely none there is that shall give thee thanks or celebrate thy goodness in the grave of Hell where nothing is to be heard but weeping gnashing of teeth and blasphemies 6 I am weary and faint with my groaning and sighing for my transgressions every night when I should take my rest I wash my bed weeping for them and I water my couch the place of my rest with my tears of unfeigned repentance 7 Mine eye of reason and understanding is consumed and groweth weak because of the grief I take fearing thy judgements yea it waxeth old and I continue in sin because of the united Forces of all mine Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil 8 Depart therefore far form me al ye mine Enemies which are and have been the workers and causers of mine iniquity by your tentations and evil examples for henceforth I will have no more to do with you for my Conscience assureth me that the Lord of his infinite goodness hath heard and pitied the voice of my weeping and therefore I should be unthankful to him to return to those sins which he in his mercy hath forgiven 9 The Lord I cannot repeat it too often hath graciously heard my earnest supplication for the pardon of my sins and he the Lord plentiful in pity hath not only now but will also hereafter receive my prayer whensoever I call faithfully upon him 10 Let all mine Enemies therefore who have sought my destruction be ashamed at my Conversion and before vexed and troubled at the consideration os Gods judgements Let them no longer delay but repent and return to the Lord and be ashamed that they have so long deferred their conversion and suddenly without any longer delay make their peace with him by unfeigned repentance Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 32. BLessed is he in this life in assured hope and thrice blessed in full and perfect fruition in the life to come whose transgression by Gods mercy is forgiven in respect of the offence and whose sin by the imputation of Christs righteousness is so covered in this world that it be not laid open at the day of judgement in respect of the punishment 2 Blessed and happy is the man unto whom in regard either of offence or punishment the Lord accepting the merits of Christ imputeth no sin but giveth so ample a remission of them that he taketh no notice of any sin in him and in whose Spirit as well as in outward shew is no guile but penitently without hypocrisie bewaileth his offences 3 When I my self I speak by experience kept silence dissembling and covering my sins wherewith my Conscience was oppressed my bones and inward parts waxed old and feeble through my roaring which God regarded not though I cryed all the day long and that because I confessed not my sins aright unto him 4 For day and night continually thy hard hand of affliction was heavy upon me to punish my obstinacy and to reduce me to repentance and by reason thereof my moisture and vigour which I formerly had is turned like to the drought of Summer and is almost withered and dryed up 5 My sin therefore at the last I being thus handled by thee did I resolve to acknowledge unto thee in contrition of soul and mine iniquity which I formerly concealed I have but any longer hid but humbly confessed unto thee 6 I further said within my self when thy grace began to work in me that I will no longer continue in my rebellion but penitently confess all my transgressions and iniquity unto the Lord gracious and merciful and I had no sooner done it but thou of thy wonted compassion forgavest the iniquity and punishment of my sin committed against thee 7 For this remission of sin as it was necessary for me to pray for it so shall every one of what condition soever that is godly for the just also fall pray unto thee O Lord in a time when thou mayest be found in a fit season But in the greatest danger of floods and swelling of the great waters of afflictions God will so preserve serve the just man that they shall not have power to come nigh unto him to oppose or overwhelm him 8 Thou O God art my hiding place and refuge in all tribulations thou for in none other will I trust shalt preserve me by thy power from trouble and adversity Thou shalt compass me about with thy mercy and I will sing unto thee
taking of it to prepare his Soul and fit it for the due receiving of it and not come to it carelesly without due examination of himself and respective consideration of the excellency and worth thereof And therefore before the time of communicating we ought to spend some hours or dayes the more the better in meditating upon the great and unspeakable love and mercy of God towards us miserable sinners in ordaining so powerful a means to purge and cleanse us and bring us to him in believing all his promises made to us in Christ Iesus in applying them to our selves in performing the works of charity in examining in what estate our Souls do stand in calling to mind our sins and confessing them to God in grieving and repenting for them and that in all humility and godly sorrow in returning with the Prodigal smiteing our breasts with the Publican weeping with Mary Magdalen begging mercy with the Thief on the Cross and lastly in promising to God to lead a better life for the time to come Thus if we do no doubt but we shall be welcome Guests to this Feast as being of that number for whom it was prepared For by how much the more we come prepared to take this Sacrament so much the greater shall be the grace which we shall receive by it There are four Duties required in every Communicant First Faith to believe that Iesus Christ did and suffered all things which are written of him in the Holy Scriptures for the Redemption of Mankind Secondly Repentance by which a man confessing his sins to God with a purpose to lead a new life is reconciled to him Thirdly Reverend Behaviour that in all humility we make our selves fit Guests for such a Feast Fourthly Meditation and Attention that we during tht time of the administration of the Sacrament attend no earthly thoughts but wholly fix our Souls upon our Saviour Christ and meditate on nothing but this great and high benefit and thereby be enflamed with a hearty love and thankful mind to God not only for his infinite love in suffering so great things for us but also for instituting this blessed Sacrament to remain to the end of the World as a sure pledge of his continuance among us and perpetual care over us After we have communicated and are refreshed we ought also to be thankful to God for so great a benefit Thankfulness being not the least Duty of this Service The Sacrament it self being called Eucharistia which is Thanksgiving and to strive to imitate him as well in life as death to live purely and not to defile our Souls again being purged and cleansed by the powerful operation of this blessed Sacrament that so by Examination Meditation Thanksgiving and constant Resolution of Amendment We may worthily receive Christ into our Souls and be made members of his mystical body Meditations and Prayers before the Communion VVHat am I O Lord that I should be so bold as to come near to thee what am I that I should attempt to receive this so great and high mystery what is man by nature but a vessel of corruption unapt to any good propense and most ready to any evil What is man but a creature of all others most wretched blind in judgement inconstant in his actions unclean in his desires and though small in desert yet proud and great in his own conceit Thou seest O Lord what I am But thou O Lord art great good wise and eternal omnipotent in strength wonderfull in wisdom deep in thy counsells terrible in thy judgements and absolutely perfect in all thy works How then dare I that am so base and unclean a creature approach to the Feast of so great a God and a Lord of so great a Majesty Behold the Heavens are not clean in thy sight and the Pillars of Heaven shake and tremble at thy word Saint Iohn the Baptist who was sanctified in his Mothers Womb professed himself not worthy to unloose the latchet of thy shooes Saint Peter cryed out to thee to depart from him a sinfull man How then can I the chief of all sinners but tremble at thy presence O Lord I fear that being thus wretched and unfit I shall not be admitted to this Feast but rather be repelled for want of a wedding garment even the garment of a sanctified Soul For my whole life hath been so wretchedly and lewdly spent and my dayes have been so wickedly wasted that I hourly seem to renew thy passion Many a time I have with Iudas sold thee for a small sum of pleasure or profit and now in coming to receive thee unworthily what doe I else but with him betray thee with a kiss How then shall I dare to receive thee in so desperate and wicked estate How canst thou abide or dwell in so loathsome a Dungeon wherein there is no part room or corner clean O Lord I acknowledge mine unworthiness and yet withall thy mercies are not hid from me and by them I am encouraged to come with confidence unto thee for by how much the unworthier I come unto thee by so much the more will thy mercy be glorified if thou do not reject me Lord thou art not wont to put sinners back but to call and set them forward to repentance Wherefore O Lord animated by thy calling and invitation I come unto thee overburthened with the weight of my sins hoping to find ease and relief of thee Thy custome while thou wert upon earth was to receive sinners and to eat with them and thy delight was to be with the Sons of men If thou O Lord be still pleased with such guests behold one here at this time of that kind a notorious sinner I verily believe thou tookest more pleasure in the tears of the sinfull Woman than in the great feast of the proud Pharisee and for a few tears of hers didst forgive many sins unto her Behold O Lord new matter offered for thy great mercy to work upon Here lyeth a sinner who hath many more sins than she but fewer tears by many who though he hath more grievously offended yet doth more carelesly bewayle his offences than she did She was neither the first nor the last whom thou in thy mercy didst receive to favour O Lord let me also be one of the subjects of this thy mercy and although I have not tears sufficient to wash thy feet yet thou hadst shed drops of blood more than sufficient to cleanse my sins I read O Lord in the Gospel that all that were diseased flocked to thee and by that vertue which came out of thee were healed and I verily perswade my self that thy Nature is not changed for in thee is and will be to the end of the world health and remedy for all griefs and thou art readier to make us whole than we are to ask health of thee I know O Lord that this Sacrament which I so earnestly
Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Which forgiveth all thy sin and healeth all thine infirmities Which saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth hee with mercy and living kindness Which satisfieth thy mouth with good things c. Motives to Thanksgiving IT is not the least part of the Duty of a Christian in the sight of God to be thankful to him for the benefits he daily bestoweth upon us For as God is kind merciful and loving to us so he expecteth that we should render back thanks to him for those blessings which we receive from him For we have nothing else to retribute to him but a thankful memorial of his blessings And this King David well understood when he said What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will offer to thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving c. As therefore we ought to be diligent in Prayer for those things we want so ought we also to be perpetually thankful for them when we have obtained what we desire And when we have done al that we can we cannot give him due praise and thanks for the least part of that which we daily receive For if we respect that which is past present or to come we shall still meet with matter enough which expresseth his goodness and love to us and exacteth this Duty from us If we consider that which is past then we shall soon perceive that but for him we had not been at all nor been preserved hitherto amongst so many dangers without his protection If that which is present we cannot but acknowledge that by his alone goodness we live and enjoy those blessings wherewith we are loaded beyond desert If that which is to come he is our hope of all good things which we desire or expect either for this life or for the life to come And as God accounteth Thanksgiving a Duty so he taketh it for an Honour done unto him if we perform it He hath so much esteemed of it alwayes even from the beginning that he reputed and accounted it above the rest of the Sacrifices offered unto him Besides we may consider that in the Law God himself instituted a peculiar and special Sacrifice of oblation of thanks For the Feast of the Paschal Lamb was no other thing but an Eucharistical or thankful service in remembrance of the wonderfull deliverance of the Jews from their servitude Our Saviour also instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for a perpetual remembrance and memorial of all his benefits to Mankind especially of our Redemption by his death Hester established a Feast to preserve a thankfull memory of the Jews deliverance from the plots of Haman And in brief it was generally evermore the practice of Gods Saints to express this Duty as may be seen by many Songs Hymnes Psalms and Prayers of Thanksgiving which are left unto us in the Scriptures as patterns for us to imitate Of Moses and Miriam Of Moses alone Of Deborah Of Hanna Of David in divers places of the Psalms Of good King Ezechias Of Jonas Of the Prophet Habakkuk Of the three Chirldren Of the Angels Of Zachary Of the Blessed Virgin Mary Of the Church And of the Elders And after those examples of necessity we must frame our selves for be sure of this That whensoever praise and thanks shall sail and be wantiug on our parts towards God then presently God will withdraw his hand of mercy and bounty from us Thanksgiving I Thank thee O merciful Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy mercies and favours continually heaped upon me for that thou hast not only created me after thine own Image and likeness and given to me a body with all the parts and members thereof and a soul with all the powers and faculties thereof that with them and by them I might know love and serve thee but that thou hast so graciously preserved both body and soul from time to time from all dangers Thou hast alwayes been my refuge in tribulations and my defence and succour in adversities When I went astray thou didst reduce me into the right away when I offended thee thou didst gently correct me when I was sad thou didst comfort me and when for the grievousness of my sins I was ready to despair thou of thy mercy and compassion didst strengthen me and keep me from utter ruine I acknowledge O Lord thy more than fatherly indulgence toward me from my birth to this present time for unless thou of thy goodness hadst upheld me I had long ere this time been drowned and overwhelmed in the bottomless gulf of my sins But thou hast delivered me from the jawes of the roaring Lyon who hath daily sought to devour me and hast defended me from all his snares and assaults And as thou hast of thy mercy preserved my soul from destruction so thou hast oftentimes delivered my body from the gates of death when many sicknesses and infirmities took hold of me I thank thee also O Lord for all other thy temporal blessings which thou in plentiful manner hast heaped on me as Food Rayment Wealth Possessions and Children For my health and liberty for the prerogative which thou hast given me over all thy creatures in their subjection to my service and use I thank thee also O sweet Saviour for the infinite work of my Redemption and for thy exceeding great love in accomplishing that great work that thou wouldest suffer so many torments sorrows labours and griefs yea so bitter and disgraceful a death even the death of Malefactors to redeem me from a most desperate and certain state of damnation which I most justly have fallen into to a state of glory and immortality which I by no means could have deserved I thank thee also O Lord most holy for all other thy spiritual graces and blessings as my Regeneration Vocation Sanctification for thy blessed Sacraments for my Preservation and hope of Glorification O Lord I am not sufficient to render unto thee condign thanks and praises for all these thy mercies yet accept I humbly pray thee these poor and weak thanks which I offer unto thee according to my bounden duty and service For as there is no hour of my life wherein I do not enjoy thy favours and taste of thy goodness so if my frailty would permit I should spend no time of my life without remembring them and praising and blessing thee for the same Glory be therefore to thee O Lord my Creator Glory be to thee O Iesus my Redeemer Glory be to thee O Holy Ghost my Sanctifier Glory to the high and undivided Trinity whose works are inseparable and whose dominion endureth world without end Another ALmighty and everliving God I humbly thank thy Heavenly Majesty for all thy blessings which thou hast vouchsafed to me poor and sinful
daily sinned and not repented considering that from the Infernal pit there is no redemption Be thou merciful to me O Lord and save me for thy Names sake and in thy strength deliver and comfort me I know O Lord that thy judgements are just and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled Oh let this light affliction which will quickly be gone cause unto me afterward a more excellent and eternal weight of glory In the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts O Lord refresh my soul. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Hast thou not powred me out like milk and curdled me like a cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit O Lord thou numberest my steps and dost set a watch over my sin My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the grave is ready for me I have said to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worm Thou art my Mother and Sister Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling My dayes are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good I know thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living Woe is me therefore O Lord that I have sinned What shall I do Whither shall I flee but to thee O Lord my God Be merciful to me in the last day My Soul is very much disquieted within me But Lord I require thy aid and comfort Be mindful O Lord of thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and let thy mercy come unto me according to thy Promise For thou art my Maker and I am the work of thy hands Deliver me O Lord from eternal death in that day wherein Heaven and Earth shall be dissolved when thou comest to judge the Earth I am affrighted when I consider that day the day of thy wrath the day of misery that great and exceeding bitter day O Lord in that day where shall I hide my self from the face of thine anger O Lord when thou comest to Iudgement condemn me not I beseech thee but deliver from the Gates of Hell my poor Soul which I commend unto thee Acknowledge then O Lord thy Creature not made by any strange Gods but by thee the true and living God Make my Soul joyful with thy presence and remember not my sins but according to thy great mercy think upon me in that day for the merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Prayer for the Sick ALmighty and most merciful Lord God who by the infirmities of this life dost put us in mind of our mortality and by these outward afflictions dost call us to inward Repentance I cry unto thee with my whole heart Rebuke me not in thine anger neither chasten me in thy displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Thou art He O Lord That woundest and healest again that killest and revivest that leadest to the Gates of Hell and bringest back again If this my sickness O Lord be not unto death help me on this my bed of infirmity and strengthen me If thou thinkest expedient rather that I should dye than live do with me according to thy good pleasure and receive my spirit to thy peace which I commend into thy hands who livest and reignest God of all mercy world without end AMEN Or thus O Merciful Lord God who of thy great mercy dost forgive the offences of those who truly repent mercifully look upon me thy poor servant and hearken unto me who humbly crave of thee remission of my sins Renew O Lord in me whatsoever is corrupt and decayed by the Devils malice or mine own frailty Pity my sighs pity my tears pity my groans vouchsafe to be reconciled to me that have confidence in nothing but thy meer mercy O Lord it grieveth me that I have offended thy Majesty and it grieveth me much that I can grieve no more than I do And I humbly pray thee by the Death Passion and Intercession of thy Son Christ Iesus to pardon my offences promising that if I recover my former health thy grace assisting me to abstain from displeasing thy Majesty hereafter I willingly O Lord and freely from my heart for thy sake forgive all offenders and offences against me and I heartily desire all those whom I have any way offended to forgive me O Lord though my natural man trembleth at the thought of death yet I profess that I am willing to dye if it be thy good pleasure I. have received life and all the blessings of this life from thee What shall I render back to thee for them I will willingly receive this Cup of Death and praise thy Name I commend into thy hands my Spirit And whether thou disposest of me to live or dye I resign it to thy good will and disposition and humbly pray thee that if thou seest it good for me to prolong my dayes on Earth that thou wouldest renew my conversation by the direction of thy Holy Spirit that I may pass those dayes in thy fear If thou be otherwise pleased to dispose of me take me I beseech thee into the armes of thy mercy for Iesus Christs sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or Thus. O God of all Consolation who hast promised to hear all those that faithfully call upon thee and not to reject any that with a contrite heart and penitent soul shall humble himself before thee I humbly intreat thee in the Name and Mediation of thy Son Iesus Christ that thou wouldest be pleased to be merciful to me thy poor servant at this time afflicted with sickness O Lord pardon forget and blot out of thy remembrance whatsoever I have committed against thee in the whole course of my life Seal and confirm unto me by thy Spirit a pardon unto me for all my offences that I may thereby receive such comfort in my soul that I may with all joy and willingness depart out of this life unto thee Let me be certified That there is no condemnation to those which are united and ingrafted into Iesus Christ by Faith That I may be confident That neither my Sins Death the Devil nor ought else can draw me away or separate me from thee And that I may be assured that thy Throne will not be to me a Barr of Severity but a Haven of Safety and a sure Sanctuary and Refuge for me to flee unto Strengthen this Faith in me which may serve as a Buckler to defend me from all tentations and that
instinct He was Created in the condition of a Son The rest but as bondslaves 3. Of Christians more especially by Grace Regeneration and Adoption by Iesus Christ his Son A Father but what Father There is no Father like unto thee When my Father and Mother forsake me then the Lord taketh me up Thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us Can a Woman forget the fruit of her womb c. Yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee A most indulgent Father to whom the Prodigal Son arose and went Whom the insolvent servant besought Though thou be a displeased Father yet a Father thou art Though I be a wastful and disobedient Son yet a Son I am Though I have lost the ingenuity of a Son yet thou hast not lost the compassion and love of a Father A Father of Mercies Whom we find so to be By his inciting us to good Confirming us in it Pardoning our sins Delivering us from tentations Reclaiming us from sin Crowning us with blessings 1. If then thou be our Father in are thy Sons How great what manner of Lord hast thou bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 2. If thou be our Father and we the Sons of God how great is the honour that we are as it were Gods 3. If thou be our Father then are we Brethren to Angels as also to Men. to Saints as also to Mean to Christ as also to men to Himself as also to Poor men And how great ought our love to be Let no man therefore extoll himself above his brethren nor be ashamed to call any man his Brother whom God hath vouchsafed to call Son 4. If thou be our Father how great is our Hope what are we to expect from thee Even all things which a Father giveth to his Children What are we to render unto thee Even all duty and obedience belonging to Children that thou mayest not repent thee nor we be unworthy either of our Creation or Adoption It is not without some reason from our Saviour that the words Mine or I are not to be found in this Prayer Our is a word of charity and unity It is not My Father as if God were any mans peculiar but our Father the Father of all as he properly is through and in Christ. Our prayers are most powerful with God when we express in them a fellow-feeling of the Necessities of our Neighbours and Sympathize with them in their misery This is Charity Let every one of us therefore be as willing and careful to pray for others as well and as heartily as for himself considering that in so doing he prayeth for him whom Charity hath made as himself Christ bare us and all our sins in his body Let us do the like to one another in word and deed For our Selves Necessity compelleth us to pray My Father For our Brethren Charity inviteth us to pray Our Father In these two words Our and Father the Law and Prophets are comprehended In Father the Love of God In Our the Love of our Neighbour And in these two words the sum of the Gospel is contained In Father our Faith In Our our Charity In these words we have a rule and direction to whom to frame our prayers Unto thee shall all flesh come Who have I in Heaven but thee saith King David He is only able to hear us and to grant our desires It is true we have Earthly Fathers but these leave and forsake us Their hands are shortned We call not to them but to thee which art in Heaven Heaven is thy Throne The Heavens declare thy Glory Not that thou art included in the Heavens only for as Solomon said The Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee but as if that were thy Royal Palace where the Elect shall enjoy thy blessed presence Thou art Every where by thy Presence Thou art In Heaven by thy Excellence Thou art in Earth also But they which come to thee must be lifted up higher I have lifted up mine eyes Ultra montes expectare Sursum Corda A word of Hope For if thou be our Father and Lord and King of Heaven then our Hope is that our Inheritance is there also that thou wilt not deny us an Inheritance that hast vouchsafed us the Title of Sons Let us therefore take the wings of the Eagle and be lifted up in our Meditations to Heaven being made heirs thereof Let us look up to Heaven while we are upon Earth Unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills whence cometh my help Out of the deep have I called to thee O Lord. A word of Power For thou art in that place from whence at all times thou canst send us Help in danger Good things in need Plagues for our offences And though thou art a Father by thy Love yet art thou in Heaven by thy Majesty and Power Let us not therefore presume upon too much familiarity with him as with a Father but let his word in Heaven keep us in a submiss Reverence For though Father and Son be of near Relation yet a Son of the Earth and a Father in Heaven are of great distance And let us be respective of his awful Majesty and make our petitions to him in fear and trembling in all Humility and Reverence And Let us not be rash with our mouths nor our hearts hasty to utter any thing before him For GOD is in Heaven and we poor Creatures upon Earth which is but his footstool This Petition justly challengeth the first place For being thus intituled and dignified with the honour of Sons we ought primarily to consider our duties what we should render back And what should a Son desire more than the honour of his Father By this word we understand all the Attributes by which God hath manifested himself as his Majesty Iustice Power Truth Mercy Goodness c. Blessed be thou our Lord who hast given this power to men To Hallow Thy Name To Magnifie Thy Name To Glorifie Thy Name Which in it self is Holy Which all thy works in general do sanctifie Which all the unreasonable Creatures do hallow and praise in their kinds Which all reasonable Creatures as Angels and Men do glorifie The Angels and Hosts of Heaven Men that are in Heaven already though In Earth by their works In the Congregations In Afflictions Let us therefore glorifie it also and that not carelesly or slightly but zealously and holily in Thought Word and Profession For the whole scope of our Actions ought to tend to the Glory of GOD only And Lord let thy Name be sanctified by others besides us Dilate this power of sanctifying thy Name communicate it more and more to the Gentiles Make thy Gospel to spread to
and having set thine Offences before thee confess them to him and in the bitterness of thy Soul repent thee be sorry for them and crave pardon for them and desire his grace that thou offend no more in the like 3. Pray to God to continue his care ever thee the night following and to defend thee from all perils and dangers So that going to thy rest with these good action and thoughts thou shalt do like to those which rake up Fire in the Embers over night that they may the more readily find it in the Morning In the Night VVHen thou awakest in the Night call upon God likewise for the Night was not made wholly for sleep praise him contemplate and meditate upon his works Sometimes weep for thy sins according to the practice of DAVID For as the nightly dew refresheth and tempereth the Earth so do our nightly tears asswage our Concupiscences And sometimes rejoyce in the Lord according to that of the Psalmist for the great benefits thou hast received from him By these means keeping thy self to one holy Exercise or other thou shalt be sure to avoid the Devils Tentations whose chief time of setting upon us fitteth best with his works which are usually stiled The works of darkness Evening Prayer The Lord hath granted his loving kindness in the ` Day therefore in the Night will I sing of him and make my Prayer to the God of my life O Lord God Father everlasting I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks that thou hast not only averted thy punishments from me which my grievous sins have deserved but instead thereof hast preserved me from all dangers and supplyed me with all necessaries of this life O Lord I confess that I have so highly offended thee this day that all the punishments which may be inflicted upon vile and miserable sinners are due to me I confess O Lord that I have offended thy Majesty in And not only these do I acknowledge but all the rest which I have committed from my infancy to this present hour wittingly or ignorantly in thought word or deed against Thee my Neighbour and my Self O Lord I confess my weakness I do not that which I should and would do but that which I should not and am unwilling to do I do Not regarding or fearing thy incomprehensible Glory venerable Presence terrible Power exquisite Iustice nor thy Goodness unspeakable for which if thou shouldest enter into judgement what would become of me But O Lord for as much as thou art a Father of mercies and dost not desire the death of a sinner if he return unto thee by unfeigned repentance I most humbly in the Name and Mediation of our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus crave pardon for them Lord I repent help my impenitency and hear my request Be merciful to me a sinner and pardon all my offences whereof thou O Lord knowest me to be guilty And I beseech thee O Lord for the time to come to mollifie my heart water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may not alwayes bring forth thornes and weeds fit for nothing but the fire Convert me O Lord and I shall be converted open my eyes direct my heart and wayes Draw me after thee and being converted suffer me not to return again with the Dog to his vomit And forasmuch O Lord as thou hast appointed the Night to refresh our bodies I humbly pray thee to defend me as well sleeping as waking from the snares of the Devil O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious death and passion Suffer it not to sleep in sin and in it lye languishing unto death and so be buried in the grave of thy judgements but watch over it I beseech thee and defend it under the shadow of thy wings Let me not be oppressed with unnecessary sleep but raise me in due time to thy Service and Praise Thou knowest O Lord that of my self I have no strength waking much less when I sleep I humbly therefore pray thee to defend my Soul Body Goods and all things which thou hast bestowed upon me this Night from all evil and damage and so dispose of me that I be not troubled with any terrours terrified with any vain phantasies weakned by any sickness or impoverished with any casualties or crosses Keep me O Lord from all evil dreams and unclean thoughts and compass me with a wall of thy mercies that the Tempter approach not to my Bed so that being preserved by thy protection and refreshed with comfortable rest I may arise and offer unto thee my daily bounden duty and service even praise and thanks to thy most holy Name Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus Christ to whose inexhaustible bounty we owe all honour and praise I give thee all possible thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to keep me this day from all evil so that none of thy fearful judgements to which I was justly lyable have fallen upon me but of thy unspeakable mercy thou hast preserved me from them and hast also liberally and with a bountiful hand supplyed me with the necessaries of this life notwithstanding my great and manifold sins committed against thee O Lord I confess that I have wasted the time which thou hast given me for repentance altogether idlely vainly and unprofitably not so much as considering or taking notice that this day might have been the last of my life but have added and heaped up sin upon sin in thy All-seeing sight as if I had stood in no fear of thee at all daily renewing as much as in me lay thy torments and passions for which I have deserved that the Earth should open unto me and Hell devour me which that it is not come to pass I ascribe with all thankful acknowledgement to thy infinite mercy and goodness O Lord I acknowledge that it is of thy goodness alone that I am thus preserved from all thy judgements seeing that many calamities have befallen divers others who have less deserved them than my self That some have therefore perished by water some by fire some by sword others by sudden and violent death and that I live That some have been taken blind some lame some distracted in their senses That others have sustained much damage in their worldly estate and I have escaped and not been punished in any of these kinds To what shall I ascribe and attribute the cause surely to thy mercy alone for which I cannot give unto thee sufficient thanks But O sweet Saviour as thy mercy exceedeth so do our necessities increase thou canst not want matter for thy mercy to work upon by reason of our inabilities to help our selves Wherefore I further pray thee that this night following may be also safe and prosperous unto me that by a sweet sleep and comfortable refreshing I may be fitted when I awake to serve thee with a thankful
life to come For a Young Man or Maid O Lord forasmuch as I am at these years in the heat of the flesh and in the most dangerous time of my life I beseech thee take not thy Mercy and Fatherly Providence from me but by how much the greater danger of Tentations I am in with so much the more care let thy Grace preserve me lest happily I become a Prey to mine Enemies who go about to load me with so many sins that if they prevail I shall never of my self get from under the burthen of them But O merciful Father distrusting in mine own strength I betake my self wholly to thy protection and desire thee both now and ever to keep me Let me not get that habit of sinning in my younger years that I be forced in my age if I be not stifled before in my Offences to bewail the sins of my youth and to say with David Remember not O Lord the sins of my youth But rather accustome me from this time forward to all goodness that I may daily more and more profit therein And that serving thee with a pure heart now I may in mine age say with good King Ezechias O Lord remember I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Most loving Father who takest care of all men I commend unto thee my Soul as a Child that can of himself do nothing Defend me I pray thee from all mine Enemies spiritual and temporal keep my Body and Soul pure chast and undefiled that I offend not either in obscene speech impure thought or unclean act My Chastity is a more precious Iewel than I can keep without thy help I therefore beseech thee who hast pronounced a blessing to the pure heart to keep my heart pure be thou my guide and preserver lest in the heat of Concupiscence I forget thee Give me grace O Lord to serve and obey my Parents and those to whose Government I am committed and that in all humility And grant that if thou shalt be pleased to call me to the honourable estate of Wedlock I may be matched with one with whom I may serve thee in peace and holiness all the dayes of my life and at the last rest with thee in thy Heavenly Kingdom through Iesus Christ our Lord. For a Servant BLessed Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ who when thou wert the Son of God and Lord of all the World didst take upon thee the form of a Servant that by thy obedience thou mightest work the salvation of all people as well bond as free I pray thee that since thou hast been pleased to call me to the state of a Servant thou wouldst give me an humble and obedient heart and make me contented with this condition of life as alotted to me by thy providence Grant that I may with gentleness of spirit and singleness of heart and willingness of mind serve those under whom I am placed and that I may not either murmure against them or envy those that are seated in a higher estate that I may obey them in all their honest commands in all fear and true respect not with Eye-service as Men-pleasers but with all my heart and the rather because thy commandement bindeth me so to doe Grant that serving them diligently faithfully and carefully I may avoid their displeasure and obtain thy favour and blessing and at the end of my dayes come to that blessed place where Thou with the Father and blessed Spirit dost raign world without end Before a Iourney ALmighty and everlasting God who art the Way the Life and the Truth behold I beseech thee to how many dangers of the World Flesh and Devil I am subject so that without thy aid I cannot safely pass through this Vale of Misery Lead guide and direct me therefore O Lord in the high and right way whither I would go that I turn neither to the right hand or the left nor become a Prey to mine Enemies O Lord thou hast a general care over thy Creatures I therefore in this my Iourney commend unto thee my Soul and Body Defend me from all perils I beseech thee O Lord which didst send thy Angel as a Companion or Fellow-Traveller with the Son of Tobias and didst preserve Abraham and all other thy Servants in their travels vouchsafe thy blessed Angel to guide and conduct me Be thou my comfort in the way and a defence in all dangers Prosper the business which I go about and make this enterprise successful to me And grant that my affairs being dispatched I may return home safe in body and mind Preserve in my absence my Family and all I possess that I being returned in safety and they securely preserved we may altogether give thanks to thy glorious Name through Iesus c. After a Iourney I Give thee thanks O gracious Lord for thy great mercies to me all the dayes of my Life Thou art he which created me and thou art also he that preservest that which thou hast created How often O Lord hast thou turned thine eyes from my sins and made as though thou didst not see them How often and that justly mightest thou have withheld thy hand of preservation from me And yet thy patience hath been so great towards me that thou hast suffered no harm to befall me And as I owe thee many thanks for thy former preservations so now I am further obliged to thee in that thou hast at this time not only guided me to the place whither I intended to go but hast also brought me back in safety and in my absence hast preserved all things unto me Good Lord give me grace to be alwayes mindful of these and all other thy benefits to me and to be truly thankful to thee for them And grant that as by thy mercy I have well ended my affairs abroad and am safely returned to this Temporal Habitation so my Spirit after this Pilgrimage may return to thy Heavenly Mansion and there abide with thee for ever and that even for the merits of our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen Intercession IN which we are to pray For all Mankind For the conversion of Iews to the Truth For the conversion of Turks to the Truth For the conversion of Heathen to the Truth For all Christians That they may be strengthned that stand That they may be converted that are in errour For the Churches throughout the World that they may be united in Religion For our Church that whatsoever is amiss in it may be amended For the Kings Majesty and his prosperity For all Kingdoms Christian. For Ours and each part of it that it may flourish in peace For the Clergy That they may Teach well That they may Live well For Wisdom in the Council Integrity in the Iudges Strength in our Armies Discretion in the Magistrates Obedience in the People For
iu my Mothers womb that I might come safe into this world and receive the mark and badge of all thine even the Sacrament of Baptism whereby I was cleansed from the guilt of Original sin Amongst a multitude of Infidels dispersed over the face of the Earth thou wouldest have me in the number of the Faithfal even of those to whom so happy a lot hath fallen to be thine regenerated with the water of Baptism From which time I was taken to be thine and that admirable and happy Contract was made between us that thou shouldest be my Lord and I thy Servant thou my Father and I thy Son that thou shouldest perform and shew to me the love of a Father and I to thee the duty of a Son Further O Lord thou didst descend from Heaven to Earth for my sake seeking me in all the ways wherein I had lost my self With thy humanity thou didst ennoble my nature and by thy bonds didst deliver me from bondage Thou didst challenge me from the power of the Devil by delivering thy self into the hands of sinners and didst destroy sin by taking upon thee the form of a sinner With what reverence shall I speak of that other blessed Sacrament which Thou also O Lord hast instituted and ordained for a remedy of all the miseries which have befallen me and the many sins I have committed since my Baptism and for a salve and cure for all my spiritual diseases even the Sacrament of thy most precious Body and Blood And as thou hast bestowed on me all these divine and heavenly blessings so likewise in plentiful manner hast thou heaped on me temporal favours Thou hast from my birth to this hour preserved nourished cloathed and fed me in most abundant manner giving to me the use of all thy creatures for my sustentation Nay what couldest thou have done more for me than thou hast done Or what couldest thou have given me more than thou hast bestowed upon me either of blessings of this world or of the world to come Now having received all these mercies and favours from thee how have I on my part behaved my self in thankfulness to thee for them Have I returned due praise unto thy Majesty for them or carried my self and ordered my life like to one that might any way deserve them O Lord I confess that I have not for such hath been the malice of my heart that instead of shewing my self conformable to thy will I dayly adde sin to sin and iniquity to iniquity heaping up wrath for my self against the day of wrath How can I without tears remember how often thou mightest justly have slain me and yet notwithstanding my sins which call for vengeance no evil hath happened unto me How many souls burn in Hell fire which have sinned far less than I and yet I remain alive What had become of me if thou hadst taken me away with those at the same time How strict had my Iudgement been if thy Iustice had laid hold on me laden with so many sins Who then O Lord hath bound the hands of thy Iustice who hath deprecated for me when I lay thus lulled asleep in the security of my sins What hath pleased thee in me that thou shouldst deal more mercifully with me than with those who in the midst of their dayes in the heat of their youth are taken away from amongst us My sins cryed out against me and thou stoppedst thine ears my offences dayly increased against thee yet thy mercy dayly abounded towards me I sinned thou didst expect me I fled from thee and thou followedst me I was weary in offending thee and thou not weary in expecting me And in the midst of all my sins I ever received many good inspirations and goodly reproofs from thy holy Spirit which checked me in the dissolute course of my life How often hast thou called me with the voice of Love How often hast thou terrified me with threats and fears laying before me the peril of death and the rigour of thy divine Iustice How often hast thou followed me with thy Word preached invited me with thy blessings chastened me with thy scourges compassing me about that I could by no means slee from thee And lastly which is not the least of thy mercies with what patience hast thou waited for my serious Repentance What then O Lord shall I render back to thee for all that thou hast done unto me In that thou hast created me I owe thee all that I am created in that thou hast preserved me and thus long expected my return to thee I owe thee life and all that I am But in that thou hast regenerated sanctified and redeemed me and left those excellent pledges for my salvation I know not what to render unto thee For if the lives of all men and Angels were in my power and that I could offer them unto thee for a sacrifice of praise and thanks yet were it nothing being compared to the least of all thy spiritual blessings bestowed on me VVho therefore will give a fountain of tears to mine eyes that I may lament my great ingratitude and unjust retribution for all these thy manifold blessings heaped upon me Help me thou O Lord and give me grace that I may heartily confess and grievously bewail my hainous offences and transgressions against thee that thou mayest be reconciled to me and in thy abundant mercies shew some pity to me for them I am thy creature O Lord made after thine own Likeness and Image acknowledge thy workmanship for it is thine own In taking away the soyl and filth wherewith it is defiled and stained thou shalt soon perceive it to be thine own handy-work Art not thou a Father of mercies which have neither number end nor measure Although I have shaken off the duty and obedience of a child towards thee yet cast not thou off the love of a Father toward me I beseech thee Although I have done many things whereby thou mightest justly condemn me yet thou hast not lost the means whereby thou mayest mercifully save me If thou forsake me to whom shall I flee who is there to help me besides thy self Acknowledge G Lord a straying sheep Behold I come to thee all wounded thou canst heal me blind thou canst enlighten me full of leprosie thou canst cleanse me and spiritually dead yet thou canst revive me Thy mercy is greater than my sin thy clemency more than my wickedness and thou canst remit more than I can commit Do not then O Lord put me back from thee look not so much upon my sins as upon thy infinite meocies who livest and reignest God of all mercies world without end Another O Almighty Lord God great in thy power and terrible in thy judgements who madest the Heaven the Earth the Sea and all things in them by thy Word whose Power cannot be resisted and whose Mercy is over all thy works All things are under
are strong to do evil and they also that hate me because they see my Conversion wrongfully and without cause are multiplyed and exceedingly increased 20 They also that unthankfully render evil to me for the good which I have done unto them are also become mine Adversaries and do unto me all the mischief they can and why because they perceive my conversion and that I follow and love the thing that good is which they hate 21 Forsake me not either in tentation or tribulation O Lord the Author of my salvation O my God whom I desire to serve be not far from me by with-drawing thy grace from me 22 Make haste lest I faint under the burthen of my sins to help me against my Enemies O Lord who art my only stay in this life and my salvation in the life to come Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 51. HAve mercy upon me miserable sinner O God full of mercy and compassion according to thy loving and infinite kindness to the Sons of men and as my sins are infinite so according to the multitude of thy tender mercies which thou hast ever shewed to penitent sinners blot out of the book of thy remembrance my innumerable transgressions 2 Wash me thorowly with the blood of thy dear Son from mine iniquity whereby I have so often offended thy Majesty and cleanse me in the fountain of thy mercies from my sin whereby I have also offended my Neighhour 3 For behold O Lord I hide not nor excuse but in the bitter tears of repentance acknowledge and confess my horrible transgressions against thee and my grievous sin in which I did for a time take delight is grown odious to me and is ever before me in remorse of Conscience 4. Against thee most mercifull Father only have I sinned and though I were ashamed to commit sin in the sight of men yet I have done this great evil in thy all-seeing sight yet O Lord be mercifull to me and pardon it that thou mightest be justified and found true and faithfull when thou speakest as thou hast often done of mercy and forgiveness to the penitent and be clear from the imputation of injustice when thou art arrogantly and falsly judged for severity thy punishments being just though the eyes of our understanding be not so clear as to perceive the justice of them 5 Behold O Lord that I as all man-kind was shapen in the iniquity of original sin from which fountain springeth my misery and in sin and concupiscence did my mother conceive me from whence groweth the infirmity of my flesh 6 Behold also O Lord I know that thou desirest Truth Faith and integrity in the inward parts of my conscience and in the hidden parts of me my soul Thou shalt make me by the illumination of thy Holy Spirit to know wisdom to eternal life 7. Purge me leprous sinner with spiritual Hisope the blood of thy Son instead of the Hysope which was wont to clense the leprous in the law and by that blood I shall be clean and purified from the leprosie of sin Wash me in the fountain of Grace and then by tears of repentance and the merits of my Saviour I shall be whiter in thy sight than Snow 8. Make me poor wretch to hear and sensibly feel the joy and comfort of remission of my sins and let me find gladness in the promise of life eternal that the spiritual bones of my soul which thou hast broken with tentations and afflictions may rejoyce and give thee thanks and praise 9 Hide and turn away thy face and wrathfull countenance from my sins lay them not to my charge and blot out of thy Register all mine iniquities that they never appear to condemn me 10 Create in me polluted a clean and pure heart O God the Creator of all things and renew by thy Grace a right and sanctified Spirit in me 11 Cast me not away into the pit of desperation by debarring me from thy presence where only is fulness of joy and take not for ever thy Holy Spirit of comfort from me 12 Restore unto me rather the unspeakable joy of thy Salvation in Christ Jesus which they feel in their consciences whose sins thou remittest and when I am reinstated in thy favour uphold and keep me from falling again with thy free powerfull and saving Spirit 13 Then even when I shall be restored I will by word of exhortation and example of conversation teach transgressors how they shall keep thy wayes and Commandements and by that means thy Grace assisting they which now are sinners shall forsake their wickedness and shall be truly converted unto thee 14 Deliver me and quit me from my former bloody offences and keep me henceforth from blood-guiltiness and carnal corruptions O God my Protector Thou God which art my Redeemer and the Author of my Salvation and all the dayes of my life my tongue for joy thereof shall sing unto thee and that aloud and chearfully and praise thy Name by extolling of thy righteousness who dost justifie sinners and art merciful to the penitent 15 O Lord that givest wisdom to the simple open thou my lips which are closed by sin from doing any service unto thee and then with boldness my mouth shall utter and shew forth thy praise For to thee alone belongeth all Honour and Glory 16 For thou O God desirest not that I should offer the Sacrifice of Goats and Calves to expiate my offences else would I willingly give it and lay it on thy Altar but thou having by sending thy Son Christ Jesus abrogated the Ceremonies of the Law delightest not any longer in burnt Offerings but in obedience to thy Commandements 17 The Sacrifices accepted of God and whereby we are in Christ reconciled to him are a broken and humble Spirit dejected with the sight of sin a broken and contrite heart truly mortified and repentant O God thou hast promised that thou wilt not despise but lovingly accept 18 Do good O God in thy good pleasure and be favourable and gracious unto Sion thy Catholick Church Build thou upon a sure Foundation of Religion and establish the hearts of thy Saints and Servants the walls of thy Church Ierusalem 19 Then shalt thou in Christ Jesus be pleased with us and with the Sacrifice of Righteousness in thy Congregation And with burnt Offerings and Oblations of our hearts Then shall they thy Servants thus established offer Bullocks the Sacrifice of praise upon thine Altar in thy presence to the honour of thy most holy Name Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 102. HEar my Prayer which in the bitterness of my Soul I make to thee O Lord whose mercy is the Sanctuary of distressed sinners and let nothing stand between that mercy and me which may hinder my cry to come to thee 2 Hide not thy face turn not away thy countenance from me as if thou wert offended at me but rather in the day of adversity when I am in trouble
long after is not only meat for those that are in health but Physick also for the sick and doth not only refresh the righteous but cleanseth those that are sinners also If I be weak by it I shall be strengthned If in health in health by it I shall be preserved and if dead in sin by it I shall be revived I humbly therefore intreat thee O Father that as as David did admit Mephibosheth to his Table for his Fathers sake so thou wouldest suffer me to be partaker of thy heavenly Table for thy Sons sake who with so great labour and sorrow did regenerate us by his death on the Cross and liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit for ever Prayers before the Communion O Almighty Lord God Father of all mercie and consolation I humbly beseech thee to behold with the eye of pity my poor and wretched soul which though thou didst create after thine own Image and washedst with the blood of thy dear Son yet I have so abominably defiled and defaced with the stain of sin that it can hardly be known O Father I was thy sonne whom thou didst to lovingly imbrace and load with blessings and who was in thy house in great honour and dignity In the Sacrament of Baptisme thou didst adopt me and gavest me the inheritance of a sonne and heir but I unthankfully and prodigally by my evil life have wasted my Patrimony I have wickedly abused the flower and prime of my youth and the good parts and faculties of my soul and body with the pleasures of the flesh pride surfetting envy lust covetousness ideness rebellion and disobedience and now at the last I find that all the temporal delights of the flesh and the World are altogether vain and vanish like smoak For all flesh is grass and all the Glory of man is but like the flower of the field and is suddenly gone He that is rich to day to morrow becommeth poor and miserable he that walketh in health and strength of body to day to morrow is by sickness made feeble and weak he that liveth to day the next day dieth and he which to day glorieth in the greatest pomp to morrow is laid in his Coffin and carried to his Grave Therefore O Lord consider the weakness and frailty of man and turn away I pray pray thee thy face from my sins and remember not them so in thine anger that thou forget either thine own mercy or my weakness By mine own fault I confess O Lord and by my evil conversation I have made my self unworthy of thy favour and by my evil concupiscences I have grievously wounded my conscience I have often grieved thy holy Spirit by not hearkning to the good motions thereof but yeilding to my sensual lust and beastly appetite Yet O mercifull Father cast me not utterly from thy sight for from the beginning of the world it was not heard that thou didst reject any sinner that with a contrite heart came unto thee Behold I come unto thee in great necessity and cast my self at thy feet confessing the greatness and multitude of my sins They have brought me into that evil state and condition that I am not worthy to be called thy Son yet I pray thee receive me into the number of thy hired Servants Give me grace heartily to repent me of my sins feed and cherish me with the bread and drink of the Body and Blood of thy Son Christ Iesus that by thy mercy I may be received to grace and restored to the former dignity from which I am worthily cast and to the inheritance of thy everlasting Kingdom through the same our Saviour Iesus Christ. Another O Blessed Saviour I poor unworthy sinner have a great desire and earnest longing to come to thy Table but considering my many and grievous sins tremble and fear to approach unto it For when I consider thy words to thy Disciples Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you And on the other side the words of the Apostle whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord I am in such a streight that I know not what to do For gladly would I receive this Sacrament being desirous to live but fearful I am to take it unworthily trembling at thy Comination I come therefore to thee the Fountain of Mercy hoping that thou wilt wash me I come to thee the good Samaritan hoping that thou wilt cleanse my wounds I open my grief and discover my iniquities to thee I look upon my sins great and grievous and thereupon tremble yet beholding thy mercies great and plentiful I am therewith again refreshed Remember O Lord how many drops of Sweat and Blood thou didst shed how many Pains and Sorrows thou didst sustain to expiate my sins I intreat thee therefore by them to purge and purifie me that I may worthily be incorporated into thy body which is thy Church and may worthily also receive this blessed Sacrament that so together with thy whole Church I may give thee praise everlastingly Or thus O Merciful Lord Iesus I confess my self to be a most grievous and wretched sinner not worthy to approach into thy presence altogether unfit and unmeet to receive thee under the roof of my Soul in respect of the stains and pollutions thereof and that it is not decked and fitted with such good graces as thy Majesty and Presence requireth and therefore am afraid to come near unto thee Yet O Lord considering thy comfortable saying that Thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but that he should turn unto thee and live and thy blessed invitation how lovingly with the armes of thy mercy stretched out thou hast called all that are heavily oppressed with the burden of their sins to come to thee for comfort and ease And lastly thy usual practice in pitying and relieving those which were cast down with the thought of their misdeeds as the Thief on the Cross Mary Magdalen the Woman taken in Adultery the Publican Peter and Paul all of them grievous sinners I am comforted and emboldned to come unto thee assuredly trusting that thou wilt of thy goodness supply my defects and make me a worthy receiver of the high mystery and benefit of thy blessed Sacrament whereof of my self I am altogether unworthy Stretch out thy right hand O sweet Iesu to me thy poor servant and give out of thy rich store-house of mercy what I want that thereby I may be made a living Temple to thee and an acceptable habitation for thine honour to abide in And grant that being cleansed by thy mercy and goodness I may by thy grace and power persevere in all godliness and holiness of conversation to the end of my days and attain to that blessed place where thou reignest with the
peace in any of these particulars shall fly from thee pursue it with all thy might that thou mayest recover it 15 The provident eyes of the Lord for thy comfort in taking this course are ever fixed upon the righteous to preserve them from all evil and to confirm them in all good and his ears of compassion are alwayes open unto their cry to deliver them from all distress 16 The face of displeasure and the angry countenance of the Lord on the contrary is set and bent against them that forsake good and do evil without remorse of Conscience to cut off and root out not only such wicked persons themselves but the very remembrance of them from the face of the Earth that there shall remain no memorial of them 17 The righteous in their affliction cry and flee unto God for succour and the Lord in mercy heareth their prayer yea and in his good time delivereth them out of all their troubles either by aiding them with spiritual comfort that they faint not under them or by removing their afflictions from them or them from their afflictions by taking them into heavenly joyes 18 The Lord who hath a continual care over his Elect is ever nigh unto them in comfort that are of a broken and humble heart and always saveth such and no other as are of a contrite and bruised spirit that they fall not into desparation 19 Many in number and great in weight are the afflictions and troubles of the righteous for they that will live godly in Christ must suffer persecution but the Lord of his infinite goodness forsaketh him not but delivereth him in due time out of them all that they shall not be able to do him harm 20 He even the Lord keepeth and preserveth all his bones which though the wicked go about to break yet notwithstanding all their attempts not so much as one of them is or shall be broken by them and not only so but the hairs of his head are numbred also 21 Evil on the other side shall slay the wicked and turn them to destruction and they whosoever they be that hate the righteous whom the Lord loveth shall be desolate and deprived of the comfort of Gods holy Spirit 22 The Lord by his power and goodness redeemeth and saveth the soul of every one of his servants from all evil and none of them that put their trust and confidence in him and his mercy shall be left desolate or without consolation Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. Psalm 103. BLess and magnifie the Lord thy Creator O my Soul for all his mercies and favours extended to thee and all that is within me holy and pure give praise unto and bless his holy and great Name 2 Bless the Lord O my Soul I say again as well for thy Creation as for all other his great and glorious works and at any hand take heed thou be not ingrateful to him and forget not nor let slip out of thy remembrance all or any of his benefits as well in forming thee after his own Image as in his continual care and preserving thee from many dangers 3 Who only by his power can and of his meer mercy and goodness forgiveth all thine iniquities pardoneth all thy sins as well actual as original how great soever how many soever as often as with a pure heart and humble spirit thou repentest thee of them Who like a good Physician healeth all thy diseases and thy infirmities by the regeneration and renewing of his holy Spirit in thee 4 Who only redeemeth and saveth thy life from destruction and utter ruine and who instead of taking of just and severe revenge of thee for thy sins crowneth and compasseth thee with loving kindness many blessings and comforteth thee with his tender mercies which are above the rest of his works 5 Who in his providence satisfieth and filleth thy mouth and desire with all good things necessary for thy sustentation so that thy youth by his power is renewed like the Eagles by curing thy weakness and infirmity and making thee lasty and strong 6 The Lord relieveth them that suffer wrong and executeth righteousness and judgement without respect of persons and standeth for all that are unjustly oppressed against those that are too mighty for them 7 He in former times at the publishing of the Law made known his wayes and taught his Commandements unto Moses by whom he gave directions to succeeding ages what they were to follow and what to avoid and his mighty acts were well known unto the Children of Israel by their many and great Deliverances 8 The Lord our God is merciful in forgiving offences and gracious in not imputing our sins unto us he is slow to anger expecting the conversion of sinners and plenteous in mercy exceeding in his love and liberal in his benefits to those that fear him 9 He will not alwayes chide nor be ever displeased with his Children neither will he remember our sins and keep his anger against us for them for ever but in his wrath he will ever be mindful of his mercy 10 He hath not dealt with us nor punished us rebellious wretches after the quality of our sins wherewith we have daily offended his patience nor hath he rewarded nor retributed to us according to the hainousness of our iniquities for he knoweth that if he should strictly enter into judgement with us no flesh could be saved 11 For like as the Heaven is high as we see and far above the Earth so great is his mercy above his justice toward them that fear him and in remorse for their offences truly turn unto him 12 As far also in distance as the East part of the World is situate from the West which by reason of their separation can never come near to each other so far at the least hath he removed and put away our transgressions and sins from us that they never shall come near unto us to do us any harm 13 Like as a tender and compassionate Father pityeth his disobedient Children and upon submission receiveth them again to grace so the Lord who is the Father of mercies pityeth and grieveth to see the afflictions of them that in fear and trembling for their sins return unto him 14 For he the Lord which knoweth all things knoweth also our frame that we consist of flesh and blood subject to corruption and frailty and he withall remembreth and considereth that we are but even dust fashioned out of the Earth and therefore must needs partake and savour of earthly substance 15 As for wretched and frail Man therefore his dayes are but as grass which is green in the morning and before night is cut down and withered and as a fading flower of the field which for a while only in the Spring time is beautiful and afterward in cropt or decayeth even so and in no more assurance is he that in the greatest prosperity flourisheth For after a while in
which exalt themselves he despiseth them and knoweth them as it were a farre off 8 Though I walk and live in the midst of trouble and sorrow and in the shadow of death yet whensoever I call upon thee faithfully thou wilt I know revive and raise me up thou shalt also stretch forth and reach unto me thy hand of power against the wrath and malice of mine Enemies and bridle their fury and thy right hand of omnipotence shall save me from all their enterprizes 8. The Lord of his goodness will perfect and finish that which concerneth me and my salvation thy mercy and loving kindness O Lord never faileth but endureth from generation to generation even for ever Withdraw not therefore that mercy of thine from me O Lord and forsake not thou the work of thine owne hands not made by any strange God but by thee the only and true God Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 145. I Will extoll and praise thee my God and Creator O King or Majesty and Glory and I will blesse and magnifie thy Name O preserver of mankind for ever and ever even all the dayes of my life 2 Every day not a day shall passe over my head but I will blesse thee and be speaking of thy mercies and I will praise and give thanks unto thee and to thy Name for ever and ever as long as I live 3 Great and glorious is the Lord far exceeding all the false Gods of the heathen and greatly is he to be praised for all his works and his greatness hath neither end nor beginning but is unsearchable and past mans finding out 4 One generation and age shall praise and leave the memory of thy goodnesse and thy works of power wisdom and mercy to another succeeding generation and shall declare to posterity the remembrance of thy mighty acts 5 I my self as well as I am able will as I have good cause speak of and extoll the glorious honour and the exceeding greatness of thy Majesty and tell unto the people the excellency of thy wondrous works 6 And not only I but all other Men shall be forced to confess and speak of the exceeding might and the wonderfull effects of thy terrible acts against thine enemies and I according to my poor ability will declare unto posterity thy greatness and Majesty 7 They even all people which are governed by thy power and satisfied with thy goodness shall abundantly utter and continually with praise acknowledge and keep the memory of thy great and super-abundant goodness and mercy and shall in all Assemblies and Congregations sing and rejoyce because of thy Righteousness wherewith thou rulest and disposest all things 8 The Lord our God notwithstanding our grievous sins is gracious and loving yea and full of compassion by nature evermore slow and unwilling to wreak his anger upon us it being an act contrary to his disposition and instead of punishing he is of great mercy and ready to pardon the repentant 9 The Lord is also good and gracious not to any particular persons or people only but to all that turn unto him and if we shall consider his tender mercies to the Sons of Men they are over his justice and all his other works 10 All thy works and creatures shall therefore praise and magnifie thee O Lord in general and above the rest thy Saints and Servants to whom in particular thou extendest thy mercy shall bless and continually praise thee for the same 11 They especially shall not be silent but speak of and declare unto those that have not known thy Name the Glory and Majesty of thy Kingdom which is above all the Kingdoms of the Earth and shall wheresoever they come talk of and set forth thy mighty power which no Potentate is able to resist 12 To make known and to make manifest thereby to the Sons of Men even all the generations to come his mighty and wonderful acts which he hath done in our time and in the ages fore-going and also the glorious Majesty and Super-excellency of his Kingdom and Power 13 Thy Kingdom O Lord is not temporary or of short continuance but it is an everlasting Kingdom was without beginning and never shall have end and this thy Dominion and Rule endureth firm and stable throughout all generations to the end of the World 14 The Lord in his mercy upholdeth and lifteth up all those that fall by frailty and weakness and raiseth up by the grace of his holy Spirit all those that be dejected bowed and cast down with the thought of their sinnes 15 The eyes of all Creatures wait and are fixed upon thee as upon their careful Father for sustenance and help and they no sooner call unto thee but thou of thy providence supplyest their wants and givest them their meat and all things necessary for them not only in due proportion but in due season and time also 16 Thou openest thy hand of bounty and satisfiest the insatiable desire of men which nothing but thy self can satisfie and of every other living thing besides 17 The Lord is only righteous just and unreprovable in all his wayes and actions and it is he only that is holy and pure in all his works 18 The Lord is nigh and ready at hand unto all them that in distress call upon him and seek unto him for help Yea to all without respect of persons that call upon him in truth faith and uprightness of heart 19 He is so gracious that he will not only hear them but grant their petitions and fullfil and satisfie the desire and request of them that fear and serve him he also will hear their cry in time of affliction and will save and deliver them out of all their trouble 20 The Lord by his omnipotent power preserveth and keepeth all them that love him sincerely and obey his Commandements but as for all the wicked and unrepentant obstinate sinners those will he destroy from the face of the Earth 21 My mouth shall as long as I have any being speak of and declare the Praise and Majesty of the Lord most mighty and as I do so let all Flesh People Nations and Kindreds from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof bless laud and magnifie together with me his holy and great Name even for ever and ever from this time forth for evermore Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. Imprecation THis part of Devotion or of Zeal as I may call it although it seem harsh and not well to stand with the Charity of a Christian yet in some caeses it hath been and may be lawfully used 1. When the Church of God in any part of the World lyeth as it were at the Stake and groaneth under the burden of Persecution and the Enemies thereof are incorrigible and not to be reconciled In this case not only a private man in his Devotions but the Church also in generel may use these Imprecations to the end that
and Seraphin If therefore every one be a debtor for that which he hath received and that with the Philosopher Dii Parentibus nunquam reddatur aequivalens A Man can never render that which is equivalent to that which he receives from GOD or his Parents Man ought to remember his Creator with thankfulness as often and as long as he breaths If I be a Father where is my honour Hac conditione gignimur ut generanti nos Deo justa debita obsequia praebeamus We are begotten upon this condition to behave our selves in all due respect and observance to God who begat us II. By his Providence and Conservation Thou O Man hast no more power to subsist without him being made than to be created before thou wert made Thou wert but once made but oftentimes preserved from Fire from Water from Sickness from Enemies c. He defends us under the shadow of his wings He giveth his Angels charge over us as in the example of Elizeus He is as careful over us as a Father over his Children a Mother over hers a Shepheard over his Flock He governeth all things by his Providence Not a Sparrow falleth on the ground He feedeth the young Ravens He giveth us meat in due season Cast your care on him for he careth for you In him we live move and have our being To end this with St. Ambrose If thou art sick he is thy Physician If thou art weak he is thy strength If thou fearest death he is thy life If thou desirest Heaven he is the way If thou shunnest darkness he is the light If thou wantest food he is thy nutriment Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. III. By his Love Delighting in the works of his hands Loving them that love him Nay when we loved not him he first loved us I am found of them which sought me not Nay when we were his enemies And that with a perpetual and everlasting love especially manifested in our Redemption Which degree of his Love and the benefit arising by it no tongue or pen is able to express Saint Bernard saith If I owe to God all that I am for my Creation what shall I give further for my Redemption In my Creation he gave me to my self in my Redemption he gave himself to me and restored me to my self 1. And not only in respect of the Act it self 2. But in regard of the Manner 1. Man being fallen from blessedness by our first Parents sin God in mercy had pitty on his estate and was reconciled to him was content that he should be redeemed from the bondage and penalty of sin from everlasting death of body and soul and this was the Act it self 2. The Manner of it was extraordinary Even by his Son his only Son God from all eternity taking ours and not the Angels nature upon him Suffering death the worst the most accursedst of the Cross even when we were his enemies Whereby we were not only freed from what we deserved Punishment eternal death of Body and Soul But made capable of what we could not expect everlasting felicity and life of both Is not this love without parallel That we that were enemies children of wrath and eternal perdition should now be called the Sons of GOD. This is a greater act of love this manifesteth Gods love to us more than our Creation For by his word he created us without weariness But our Redemption cost more his only Sons dearest blood Who suffered for our sins the just for the unjust And poured out his soul unto death Was made a curse for us Humbled himself to the death of the Cross. To redeem us from the death and curse of the Law He sent Redemption unto his people He redeemeth Israel from all his sins He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity IV. By his Patience toward Men daily provoking him in all ages In the dayes of Noah The Amorites The Israelites forty years The Ninivites and many others He is Long suffering He is Slow to anger V. By his Mildness Lenity in Correcting Not utterly consuming those whom he correcteth And it is of his mercy that we are not consumed In his anger remembring mercy Not delighting in punishment Not utterly taking away his mercy Not dealing with us after our sins VI. By his Mercy and Grace to Sinners Be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful The Father of mercy He was ever so He is tender and compassionate rich and not sparing in his mercy Bringing many benefits with it Begetting us again by it Preserving us from dangers and sickness Preserving their souls Saving us by it which is the chief and greatest benefit mankind can desire And as he is rich in mercy by pardoning sinners so in his favour too promising good to his Servants I will love them that love me I will inrich them The Lord will preserve the souls of his Saints The Children of his Saints shall continue and their seed stand fast in his sight No man that hath forsaken house c. for my sake but he shall receive an hundred fold A hundred fold here by inward graces if not by outward dignity For deceivable things they shall receive true For doubtful things they shall receive certain For corporal things they shall receive spiritual For transitory things they shall receive permanent Their cares shall be turned into security Their tears into joy Their trouble into quiet Their perturbations into inward peace The righteous cry and the Lord heareth them and delivereth them out of all their troubles He that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye Not a bone of them shall be broken For God rewardeth secundum though not propter opera And reward maketh all works seem easie to the Husbandman in his toyl to the Merchant in his danger The reward of the good shall not fail The Lord is good to them that trust in him He sendeth health and wealth to his servants He never faileth them that seek him His reward is plentiful to them that fear him Now let us take a view of all these benefits 1. Of our Creation and in that of all things for our use 2. Of Gods preservation and providence over us 3. His love to us Before we loved him Loving him While we were his enemies With an everlasting love In such a large extent by Our Redemption In the act when we were in bondage of the Devil Sin In the manner by his only Son by his death most ignominious and cruel To free us from deserved death To estate us in undeserved happiness even life
many infirmities and even the just Man falleth seven times a day and that Mans life by reason of sin is exposed to many dangers troubles and afflictions it therefore behoveth us much and concerneth us near to seek out some remedy as well to strengthen our selves from the assaults of our several enemies that as much as flesh and blood will permit we fall not as to raise us again when we are cast down and dejected either by the sight of our sins or the crosses and afflictions of this life And in this distress what course shall we think upon to relieve us or what means shall we find to aid and succour us Certainly none other better than that which GOD himself of his goodness hath prescribed and commended unto us and by his word hath commanded us to have recourse unto whensoever we shall be thus afflicted namely Prayer Call upon me saith he in the day of trouble Come unto me saith Christ all ye that labour and are heavy laden Seek ye the Lord saith the Prophet and call upon him Is any afflicted saith he by the Apostle let him pray Be instant in Prayer Continue in Prayer And the better to stir us to this duty God hath added to this Precept a Promise also that we shall not lose our labours or pray to him in vain for No sooner shall we ask but he will give No sooner call but he will answer and deliver Nay more for if God perceive but our inclination to pray to him he will prevent us and before the petition is gone out of our mouths Before we call he will answer and while we are speaking he will hear We may with confidence build upon it that either he will give what we ask or that which shall be more profitable to us And as we have this Precept and Promise to provoke us to pray to him So have we the Example not only of all the Saints of God but of Christ Iesus himself who while he was conversant in the flesh upon earth though he were wholly without spot or blemish wholly innocent immaculate and needing nothing yet often and earnestly prayed for our imitation Among all the Evangelical Precepts or Counsels there is not any one duty upon which our Saviour more earnestly beateth or to which with more fervency he inviteth his Apostles or Disciples than this of Prayer The necessity whereof he enforceth among other places of Scriptures by the Parable of the unjust Iudge and the poor importunate Widow And indeed Mans nature ever since the fall of Adam being become earthly carnal and wretched it cannot keep Gods Law which is spiritual Ego carnal is sum saith the Apostle Again as long as we live in this vale of misery we being compassed with cares tentations and afflictions have no other means to free our selves from them than to beg at the gates of Gods mercy Ego mendicus sum pauper I am poor and needy saith the Psalmist either for grace favour and remission of sins or the mortification of our affections spiritual comfort or lastly for supply of temporal blessings Neither can any so well conceive the necessity of this duty as they who by the illumination of Gods Spirit see the miserable condition they are brought into by reason of sin And what would become of miserable Man if this help were wanting but being carnal be wholly transformed into flesh The contrary effect whereto Prayer worketh in us for it elevateth us from earthly to heavenly thoughts whereby the heat and affections of the flesh are cooled and quenched Prayer being as the refreshing of the lungs to the heat of the heart without which Man could not subsist But admit there were no necessity imposed on us to pray yet the dignity and honour we receive by Prayer should incite us to it For Prayer as a Father well saith Is a familiar conference with God By it we talk with him as it were face to face By other of his Graces as in the Word and Sacraments he vouchsafeth to speak to us by this we have access and speak to him for what we stand in need of And what greater dignity what greater priviledge can be afforded to poor sinful creature dust and ashes as we are than familiarly to talk with so great and powerful a God and to have daily so free and easie admittance to his presence to manifest our necessities to him and to crave his supply and succour Nay more to become his houshold servants the Church being called his House a favour which King David esteemed the fruition of one day more than a thousand elsewhere Then if we consider the profit which ariseth by the performance of this duty we shall be the easilier perswaded to undertake it For if nothing else quicken us yet matter of benefit doth usually work with us And assuredly the benefit which ariseth by it is and ever hath been great for by Prayer we do not only obtain of God all good things pertaining to the sustentation of this life as the necessaries thereof and the life to come as the gifts and graces of the holy Spirit but we also prevent and remove by it all the dangers and evils of both lives as the losses and perils incident to this life and the punishment due to our sins hereafter Prayer enlightneth purgeth and comforteth maketh tribulations seem light breeds servency begets confidence in Gods mercy and overcometh all tentations Take it away and take the Sun out of the world for without we wander in darkness With what Medicines did the Saints heal incurable diseases cast out Devils raise the dead to life tame wild beasts quench the force of fire nay change the course of the Elements powers of Heaven but by Prayer What should I say more By it we may do all things without it nothing If you please you may take a short view of the wonderful effects which have been wrought and the benefits which have been obtained and the punishments which have been averted in former times when recourse was had to God by Prayer By it The Iews overcame the Amalekites Samuel overcame the Philistines Iudith overcame Holofernes The Reubenites overcame the Agarens Asa overcame the Ethiopians Iehosaphat overcame the Ammonites Ezechias overcame Sennacerib Manasses was restored to His Kingdom By it Hanna became fruitful Elias obtaned sire from Heaven as also rain and fair weather By it The rebellious Iews escaped Punishment The Ninivites escaped Destruction Ezechias escaped Death The three Children escaped the fiery Fornace Daniel escaped the Lyons Ionas escaped the Whale The Disciples escaped Drowning Peter escaped Bonds Paul and Silas escaped Imprisonment By it David stayed the Pestilence The Lepers were clensed The Centurions servant was healed The blind received sight The
Womans Daughter were delivered from the Devil The Mans Son were delivered from the Devil The sick were made whole The Widow of Sarepthas Son were revived The Shunamites Son were revived The Rulers Daughter were revived Dorcas were revived The Publican obtained Remission of sins The Thief obtained Paradise S. Stephen obtained Heaven And lastly That it is the surest remedy to the godly in time of affliction appeareth by our Saviours example who when he was in such straits that he said Undequaque trist is anima mea usque ad mortem My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death went aside and fell thrice on his face and prayed warning his sleepy Disciples to do the like Now Seeing that for these respects pray we must in the next place we are to consider How Prayer is to be made that it turn not to sin 1. Prayer must be made to God and to none other 1. Because God hath so commanded For Prayer is a part of his Service and Worship and his Service and Glory he will impart to none else Him only shalt thou serve And Whatsoever you shall ask of my Father not of Angels Saints or the like 2. In regard of his Glory and Majesty wherein he excelleth all others and ought therefore above all to be prayed unto 3. In regard of his singular Knowledge for he knoweth our necessities better than we our selves 4. In regard of his Power and Ability to help us 5. In regard of his willingness and readiness to relieve us 6. In respect of the practice of all the Saints and of Christ himself Of Hanna of David of the Saints of Christ. 7. In regard of the absurdity in praying to those which cannot help themselves much less us For to which of the Saints or Angels can be properly said Our Father which art in Heaven or Hallowed be thy Name c. But to GOD alone is this service to be done for he only saveth us and besides him is no Saviour And all this must be done in Christ Iesus without whom though Moses and Samuel should intercede yet GOD would not pardon but destroy for as no work of devotion can be acceptable to God without Him so our sins are so odious that except our prayes be offered by the mediation of Christ Iesus they will never be accepted by God We have an High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Iesus the Son of God c. Secondly Our Prayes ought to be made in Faith for whatsoever is not of Faith is sin and whosoever desireth to have good success in his Prayers ought to believe and not to pray waveringly This Faith makes our Prayers acceptable For Prayer being the testimony of our Faith how will our Faith appear if we doubt in our Prayers Si Fides deficit oratio perit Our Saviour said to the Petitioner for his deaf and dumb Son If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth And to his Disciples All things whatsoever you shall ask in Prayers believing you shall receive Which lesson St. Iames also teacheth If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God c. But let him ask in Faith Saint Iohn saith This is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us Saint Paul also biddeth us Come with the same confidence that we may obtain mercy Again As Faith is the foundation of all Vertues required in Prayer so Hope certain and assured is to be fixed and setled in us when we pray that God will perform the promises which he hath made and that he will hear and grant those things which we shall desire according to his will for the Devil is apt to perswade us that our Prayers are in vain either because God regardeth them not or that it is needless to pray to Him who knoweth before what we want or that whether we pray or not all things shall come to pass as God hath decreed and in these respects that there is no profit in our Prayers All which are but illusions and clearly against the rule of truth and practice of the Saints In te speraverunt saith David Our Fathers hoped in thee they trusted in thee and thou didst deliver them The Reubenites cryed to God in battel and he was intreated of them because they put their trust in him Indeed as Saint Bernard saith a sinners prayers are hindered two ways either with too little or too much light He hath no light which neither seeth nor confesseth his sins and he hath too much which seeing them despaireth of Gods mercy Neither of these can be said to pray How then The sinner ought so to temper his light that he may not only see and confess his sins but pray that they may and hope that they will be forgiven For it is in Prayer as in Repentance Nemo potest agere poenitentiam qui non speravit indulgentiam No man can truly repent that hath no hope of pardon for that he repenteth of And none can be said to pray well who hopeth not of Gods favour in that for which he petitioneth And that our Prayers may the better ascend they are to put on the wings of Charity which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit For without this quality our Prayers will prove cold heavy and lumpish and will return empty unto us This Charity is two-fold First towards God Secondly towards our Neighbour 1. Towards God in keeping his Commandements for our Saviour saith He that keepeth my Commandements is he that loveth me And the Apostle saith We receive of him because we keep his Commandements that is we love him so that we are both to offend him 2. Towards our Neighbour which Charity is also manifested two ways 1. In forgiving all injuries received from him or by his means after our Saviours rule When you stand praying forgive if you have ought against any that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you our trespasses And again If you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you But if you forgive not men their trespasses either will your Father forgive your trespasses 2. Secondly In praying for his wants and supplying them to oâ—â— powers according to Saint Iames direction Pray for one another And to Saint Paul's I exhort that first Prayers c. be made for all men And to encourage us to relieve them our Saviour pronounceth a blessing â—â— all that are charitable in that kind Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy So that by this we may plainly see that if we be uncharitable our Prayer will be barren and unfruitful Fifthly Humility must accompany these former Vertues We must acknowledge our selves
Seed For Performance of that Promise For sending his only Sonne out of his bosome to work the great work of our Redemption In being born in pure and humble manner In being conversant on earth in painfull manner In suffering Death in grievous manner For all that he did or suffered For us on Earth For all his comfortable Parables of mercy Of the Two Debtors Of the Publican and Pharisee Of the lost Sheep Of the lost Groat Of the Prodigal Son Of those that were called at the eleventh hour For his comfortable sayings of Mercy God sent not his Son into the world to condemn it I came not to judge the World but to save it The Son of Man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them I am not sent to call the righteous but sinners to repentance The Son of Man came to save and seek that which was lost Come unto me all ye that labour c. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Father forgive them c. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise For his Examples of Mercy The Woman of Canaan The Woman of Samaria The Woman with the Bloody Issue The Woman taken in Adultery Mary Magdalen Zacheus The Thief Peter Paul Sinners contradicting him That would have destroyed him That stoned him That reviled and blasphemed him That crucified him This man receiveth Sinners For the Holy Spirit In the Old Testament By moving on the waters By sending it into living creatures By inspiring it into man By descending on the Prophets In the New Testament visibly In the shape of a Dove at Christs Baptisme By the gift of Christ to the Apostles In the shape of fiery tongues to them Invisibly In the Virgins Conception of Christ. Upon the Congregation in prayer Cornelius and others The twelve Disciples at Ephesus For his care over us For the illumination of our understanding In our justification Our Regeneration Governing our actions Comforting us in Tentations Strengthning us in Tentations Bearing witness with us and assuring us that we are Gods Children Reproving us in evil actions Assisting us in good works Putting good things into our remembrance Interceding for us with groans unutterable Motives to Repentance NE erubescat poenitentiam agere qui non erubuit poenitenda committere BLush not thou to repent that wert not ashamed to commit things worthy to be repented of For as much as it is beyond the compass and out of the power of natural man not to sin at all but that we adde dayly sin to sin as a Fountain casting up her waters and that it hath pleased God of his mercy to mankind to promise forgiveness to those that shall truly and faithfully repent them of the same Therefore the duty of Repentance of all other parts of Devotion is most necessary for us seeing that by it God in Christ Iesus is reconciled to us His anger toward us is appeased We are restored to his favour Certainly it is a blessed act to confess our own wretchedness for whosoever humbleth himself and penitently bewaileth his sins shall be heard by God and by him be delivered from the punishment due for them A contrite heart suffereth no repulse Repentance is a bewailing for sins already committed and avoiding for the future the sins for which we grieve for he that mourns for his sins and leaves them not incurrs the greater punishment It consisteth not in the often repetition and confession of them without forsaking them for that is but a simple profession of them not a repenting for them But this is true Repentance when those things seem grievous and bitter to our souls which in the act were sweet and delightfull and when that ill which was formerly pleasing to us causeth a hearty and unfeigned grief in us and provoketh us to look more carefully to our wayes for the future Vera peccati confessio est sine intermissione temporis peonitere Peccati verò poenitentia est ab eo quod poenitendum intellexeris distitisse It is a true confession of sin when we repent without intermission But that is a true repentance of sin when we forsake that which we conceive we had cause to repent for And again Nultus id quod confessus est deinceps debet admittere quia confessio peccati est professio desinendi No man ought to commit again the same sin of which he confessed because there is no true confession of sin without a profession to leave the same And this is the fruit of Repentance as St. Iohn the Baptist calleth it to lament for sins past and utterly forsake them for the time to come Therefore saith one well Agere poenitentiam nihil aliud est quà m profiteri affirmare se non ulter us peccaturum To repent truly is nothing elle but to profess and promise never to offend again Seeing then what Repentance is let us take a view how necessary it is and for what respects 1. In regard of Gods hate to sin and of that God whom we offend who being infinite requireth infinite satisfaction 2. In regard of our Selves Hominos sumus ad poenitentiam nati We are Men and subject to fall and therefore upon the matter we are born to repent us of our sins that we may prevent Gods Iudgements in this world of all which hath formerly been treated to escape his Iudgement in the world to come Eternal Death For as Men we shall dye and as Christians we shall give an account To say somewhat of this Death for by it we shall pass to the other except Repentance and Gods mercies prevent it 1. Death is Certain it will come 2. It is Universal or General none shall escape it 3. It is Terrible especially to the wicked 1. It is appointed for all men to dye S. Hierome calleth it Irrecusabilis mort is necessitas The necessity of dying is not to be avoyded S. August saith That all things in this life are uncertain but death and Natus es certum est quia morieris Art thou born as certain it is thou shalt die It was the saying of the Heathen Philosopher Sciebam me genuisse mortalem I knew I had begotten no other than a mortal man hearing of his Sons death This point and the certainty of it is easily proved by experience of Former ages Our own time The longest liver Methusalah died The Patriarchs Prophets c. died and were gathered to their Fathers Where are the Princes of the Heathen become c. They are vanquished and gone down to the grave 2. And as it is certain so it is universal It is the house appointed for all the
man escape unpunished God will neither be made flexible by favour nor corrupt by gifts Riches profit not in the day of wrath And therefore say not I have sinned what harm hath happened to me For though God be long suffering he will in no wise let thee go unpunished Concerning propitiation be not without fear to add sin to sin And say not His mercy is great he will be pacified for the multitude of my sins for mercy and wrath come from him and his indignation resteth upon sinners We must all appear before his Tribunal and receive according to the thing which every one hath done His Sentence will be so Iust that though in this World we may say Veniet qui malè judicata rejudicabit dies The day will come when there will be a re-view of things ill carried Yet in the case between God and Man then it will not be not be so 3. Being Wise Omniscient Nothing is hid from his all-seeing eyes He beholdeth all our actions He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart All things are naked and open to his eyes He knoweth our thoughts long before our manifold transgressions and our mighty sins Therefore no hope of Evasion by hiding any thing from him 4. Being Good He will expect our Thankfulness He hath ever been gracious to us heaped many benefits on us And by how much the more beneficial he hath been to us the longer expected our conversion and the oftner admonished us by so much the more rigorously will he deal with us for neglecting these benefits Unto whom much is given of him much shall be required An accompt will be exacted of our Talents received Every man shall be rewarded according to his works He will exact an accompt from us How we have used the Body and Soul given unto us How we have employed our Natural Gifts Temporal Blessings and the rest The signes of his Goodness to us And can we answer one for a thousand Our Iudgement therefore the greater for abusing his Goodness Again If we consider this Iudgement in respect of the Parties lyable to it we shall have greater cause to betake our selves to a more serious consideration of our estates 1. In regard of the Nature and condition of Man A flower Of short continuance A leaf Dry stabble His substance but dust His life but a wind a shadow of no continuance Format us de terra Conceptus in culpa Natus ad poenam Made of earth Conceived in sin Born to suffer punishment In regard that he is sinful and wretched Composed of vanity Every man living altogether vanity Lighter than vanity Shaped in wickedness Conceived in sin Born in uncleanness A child of wrath A vessel of perdition dishonour Unclean like a silthy clout Drinking iniquity like water All have erred Agunt mala quae non licent vana quae non expediunt Faciles ad seducendum Debiles ad operandum Fragiles ad resistendum They do evil which is unlawful and are vain which is not meet Easie to deceive Weak to work Frail to resist So that our entrance into the world is miserable Conversation in it Culpable Dissolution from it Damnable The Consideration of this unworthiness hath terrified all the Saints and Servants of God lest they should fall under this judgement I have sinned what shall I doe saith Iob. How shall I answer O Lord correct me not in thine indignation saith David Correct me O Lord but yet not in thy fury lest I be brought to nothing saith Ieremy In respect of the sentence it self which will be to the good Venite Benedicti Come ye blessed to the bad Discedite Maledicti Depart ye cursed which last sentence is terrible 1. They are cast into eternal torments a punishment sensible for the pain and misery felt 2. They are deprived of the Beatifical vision of God a punishment prejudicial for the Glory lost The first is terrible 1. In regard of the Suddenness and Horrour At the time of the Iudges appearance A consuming fire shall goe before him and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up about him Their visitation shall be in Thunder Earthquake and great noise storm and Tempests and the flame of devouring fire The day of the Lord is very terrible who may abide it A day of wrath a day of trouble and distress c. It shall burn as an Oven and the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble They shall behold Above them The Angry Iudge disdaining them Under them The Horrible Pit gaping for them Within them The Worm of Conscience gnawing them About them The World burning Near to them The Devils accusing them Whither then shall a sinner flee It is impossible to be hidden and insufferable to abide If it were terrible for the Israelites to hear Gods voice delivered by an Angel who brought no ill news Insomuch as they said If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more we shall die And to Moses Talk thou with us let not God lest we die What will it be for sinners to hear the Iudge pronounce this heavy sentence Discedite Maledicti 2. In regard of the Accusers 1. The Heaven and the Earth 2. Christ as Iudge Witness I will reprove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done I will shew thy filthiness I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. 3. The Angels Their attendants in this life 4. The Devils who attend them for future torments 5. The Books of their Consciences Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy turnings back shall reprove thee 6. The Creatures whom they have abused Consider this lest ye howl and weep in your misery In regard of the intollerable paines which follow the Sentence 1. Everlasting Chains of Darkness Vermis corum non morietur They shall weep for ever 2. Sharp Beyond the Fornace seven times heated 3. Various of divers sorts According to the diversity of sinners offences 4. Stinking In the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone 5. Affrighting Tormented by Devils 6. In Bonds not able to stir Bind him hand and foot Held with Cords of his own sin Bind the Tares c. Gathered as Prisoners into a pit Chains of darkness 7. In horrid darkness Prefigured by that of AEgypt A Land of darkness 8. With Company detestable In regard that Hell is a Place of no Order Dilatavit Infernus animam suam aperuit os suum absque ullo termino Hell hath enlarged it self and hath opened his mouth without measure Of no Rest or Comfort But cries vexation weeping and gnashing of teeth Not a drop of cool water to the thirsty Continual mourning sorrow without
intermission Plexus ardore incomparabili dolore innumerabili poena interminabili Full of incomparable heat innumerable sorrowes and endless punishments This for Poena sensus or the Pain and misery felt Now for the Glory and Happiness lost which is usually called Poena Damni The Loss of Heavens joyes The deprivation of sinners from Gods sight Than which nothing more miserable The Excellency of Heaven the place of Gods rest may be conjectured at By the End for which it was made 1. The glory of God here above other places The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament his handy-work 2. The Happiness of the Elect. Abraham Isaac and Iacob Blessed are they which dwell here They shall be satisfied inebriebuntur with the plenty of Gods house This Happiness we may also value By the Price it cost to regain it when it was lost The Pains which Martyrs endured to attain it The Testimonies of the Prophets c. The Excellency of Heaven may be imagined By the Discription of it It needs no Sun or Moon to enlighten it for the glory of God makes it bright The Lamb is the light thereof No Night there Here is that Beatifical Vision which the Fathers and Holy men so desired and rejoyced in Mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation I shall be satisfied with thine Image Shew the light of thy Countenance and we shall be safe If I have found grace in thy sight saith Moses shew me thy face If thou desire pleasure Here is pleasure for evermore If honour Such honour have all his Saints If good company God and all the Elect. If musick A quire of Angels continually praising God with their melodious songs To conclude here is abundance of all things want of nothing Wherefore Si credimus futurum Iudicium bene vivamus ne malè moriamur Maxima poena metum perdidisse judicii If we believe there will be a Judgement hereafter let us live well lest we dye in an ill case It is the sign of a seared Conscience and that is the greatest punishment can befall a man to have lost the fear of the last Iudgement Lay all these together That all men are sinners God hateth sin It standeth us upon to prevent Gods wrath In respect of the Iudgement of this World Temporal and of the World to come Eternal That it will be heavy in regard of the Omnipotence of the Iudge Iustice of the Iudge Omniscience of the Iudge Goodness of the Iudge The Weakness of Man The Imperfection of Man The Misery of Man The Sentence which makes the wicked lyable to the sense of pain and loss of good And finding that there is an unevitable necessity to repent Why defer we to use the means by which we may be made clean our sins may be pardoned and taken off A wise Traveller takes the day before him And a wise Builder the year before him Optimè fit quod suo tempore fit Stultus semper incipit vivere It is best done that is done timely A Fool alway begins to live For who hath promised thee time to repent How many have been deceived with this vain hope The Wise Man giveth this Rule Whatsoever good thing thy hand findeth to do do it instantly with thy might for there is no work c. in the Grave Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day For suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Indulgentiam Deus tibi promisit crastinum diem nemo promisit Si male vixisti bene vive jam hodiè And Propter illos qui desperatione periclitantur proposuit Deus indulgentiae portum Propter illos qui spe periclitantur dilationibus illuduntur fecit diem mortis incertum Quando venit ultimus dies nescis Ingratus es qui hodiernum habes in quo corrigaris And again Qui ab iniquitatibus suis recedere negliguut sibi de Deo indulgentiam repromittunt nonnunquam ita praeveniuntur Dei furore ut net conversionis tempus nec beneficium remissionis inveniant God hath promised the pardon it is true but no man hath promised or cen that thou shalt live while tomorrow If thou hast formerly lived ill live well to day God hath been so propitious to Mankind that for the comfort of them that are ready to perish in the Sea of desparation he hath a Haven of mercy and pardon And for their sakes that are illuded with hope and delay their repentance he hath made the day of death uncertain Seeing thou knowest not when the last day will come thou art an unthankful man if thou makest not good use by repentance of this day which God hath given thee They which are careless to depart from iniquity and flatter themselves with the hope of Gods pardon are many times so prevented by the anger of God as they neither find time to convert nor the benefit of his pardon God hath reserved to himself the preheminence of lengthning aud shortning our dayes The rich man promised himself ease and rest for many years but one night brought a period to his supposed felicity Saint Ierome saith That men are worthily taken in the snare of Judgement as fish with a hook or birds in a net and therefore gives this counsel Quia didicisti quòd omnia morte finiuntur in inferno non sit poenitentia nec aliquis ad virtutes recursus dum in ipso saeculo es festina contende age poenitentiam c. Seeing thou hast learn'd that death brings an end to all things and that there 's no repentance in Hell nor any recourse to vertue make hast while thou livest strive and labour do penance c. But admit that thou hadst the priviledge to know thine own end Thinkest thou that it will be easier to repent hereafter than presently No certainly For the longer thou detractest the harder the task of repentance 1. In respect of the habit Custom is another nature Cum aliquid in habitum abierit difficulter expellitur Dum servitur libidini fit consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur fit necessitas When a thing hath once got a habit it is hardly expelled While we serve and feed our lust custom steals upon us and not resisting custom we are necessitated to it Therefore he gives this admonition As no man is to despair of Gods mercy yet he is not so to presume but that without delay he reconcile himself to God lest he fall into such a custom of sinning that when he would he be not able to get out of the Devils snares 2. Because the farther we plunge our selves into sin the farther God is from us Woe unto them that have fled from me God will cast them off 3. For the ground the Devil gets of us He is like the strong man which overcometh the weaker
4. For the corruptions of the Soul The longer we sin the obscurer the understanding The weaker the Will the more disordered the desires Who then is so void of understanding or reason that will think he can repent after many years when his sins are multiplyed and grown into a habit and that God is farther from us When the Devil encroacheth on us and our faculties are corrupted And cannot doe it in his better strength That sins encreasing the pardon will be easilier obtained for them That the infirmity prevailing the medicine will cure the easilier knowing that Languor prolixior gravat medicum brevem languorem recidit medicus A long sickness or languishing disease puts the Physician to his Books while a short grief is soon cured by him Who can carry a great burden in his age that groans under a little weight in his chief strength It was a harder and more difficult act in mans consideration to revive Lazarus being four dayes in the grave than the Rulers daughter newly dead Grant that thou canst repent in thine age 1. Yet consider the time lost which might have been spent in doing good and avoiding evil Why spendest thou thy time in sowing that of which thou shalt reap nought but tears The heathen man could say Hee that desires to doe good while he is old makes a plain demonstration that he hath no mind to goodness till that time which is unfit for all things And it is too late to begin to live when we are ready to dye S. Gregory saith That he is little better than an Infidel that forbeareth to repent till he is old And it is to be feared that while such a one hopeth for mercy he shall fall into judgement Can the infinite Majesty of God offended be satisfied with a little a small repentance If thou canst not satisfie him for the sins of a day why heapest thou the sins of many years and protractest to give satisfaction till thine age If thou hast gathered nothing in thy youth how canst thou find any thing in thine age 2. Besides Repentance is the gift of God to whom he pleaseth and when Every one ought to fear that it will not be given him at the hour of death and is therefore to work out his salvation in the time of his life with fear and trembling Saint Augustine saith That seldom or never a full conversion is seen in the end of a mans dayes and that much doubt may be made of a late penitent Of him that repents at the last gasp and is reconciled that is by the Minister to God I am not certain whether he be secure or not Saint Augustine is not confident of his salvation though he be absolved by the Priest Therefore let every one that would be out of doubt repent while he is lusty and strong and in his perfect health for he that hath lived ill all his life and repenteth not till the last is certainly in great danger Wilt thou be secure say two Fathers wilt thou avoid all doubt Repent while thou art well And why art thou then secure Because thou repentest when thou mightest have sinned 3. There are many impediments in age and sickness Men are then troubled with many infirmities Cumbred with many affairs Grieved with many thoughts for wife and children estate and pleasure to be left And what kind of penitence can be expected from man in this estate Poenitentia quae fit in extremis raro vera est ob magnam difficultaetem in hoc articulo It is seldom true being deferred till our end 1. For the great perturbations arising by the extremity of sorrow anguish thought of death all most violent in a dying man They suffer him to think of nothing but that with which he is vexed 2. True repentance ought to be voluntary not of necessity And a dying man is forced Like to that of Shimei to David Like to that of Mariners in a storm 3. If he thinks not of it himself as it is very doubtful his Friends seldom or never send for those who should put him in mind of it till it be too late till he be past all sense of it And this is a just punishment saith S. Gregory for not thinking on God while he was in ability to do it So that one negligence is punished with another Lastly let not the examples of a sew cause protraction in thee For though God forbare his threatned judgements on the Ninivites it was for their forty dayes repentance And if thou canst repent forty dayes as they did thou hast the better hope And though the Thief in articulo mortis ready to dye was saved Yet this example ought not to give liberty to any to defer so long Besides his salvation was no less admirable than any other of Christs miracles And his conversion no less wonderful than his salvation For when Christs own Disciples had denied and forsaken him The Thief confessed him Credidit Reus quod negavit Electus But trust to thy timely preparations by the example of the Wise Virgins And consider and think of thine own estate while thou hast time Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of God come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth while the evil dayes come not Defer not Repentance unto years unapt testy weak when sin leaveth thee and not thou it Now the time is when thou mayst find the Iudge propitious Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Now our Repentance prevaileth chiefly by 1. Prayer 2. Fasting 3. Alms. 4. Tears The prayer of humble peirceth he clouds It was the practice of David after his fall as may appear by the 1 Psalm It was the counsel of Saint Peter to Simon Magus Repent of thy wickedness and pray to God if perhaps 〈◊〉 thought of thine heart may be s 〈◊〉 thee For God is properly 〈◊〉 if we neglect not this duty The Lord is nigh to all them that call upon him He never forsakes them that call upon him But of this point more at large elsewhere Though the best fast be the fast of the soul in abstaining from sin yet other fast of the body is necessary for us as a salve for a wound It asswageth the intemperance of the body represseth inordinate affections and allayeth the passions of the soul which arise by fulness Let not your hearts be over-charged saith our Saviour All the servants of God by this humbled themselves when they set themselves to repentance or to obtain any thing at his hands David humbled and chastened himself by fasting It was an antient Precept Saint Augustine out of Saint Basil saith that it was
should any longer sustain me or that I should expect any thing from thee but thy severest Iudgement For if thou sparedst not Lucifer and his Angels for one only sin Pride but didst cast them from Heaven to be reserved for everlasting chains of darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day what can I hope or look for that have offended thee not in one offence alone but in all kind of transgressions For my sins are in number numberless insomuch that I hate my self for my madness that from so noble a liberty I am fallen into so base a servitude and find my self overwhelmed with the horrible dread of thy fearful Iudgements Yet when I behold and consider that infinite mercy of thine which surpasseth all the rest of thy works I am a little refreshed and my Soul is a little comforted and revived For as by the examination of the hainousness of my sins and the strictness of thy Iustice I did almost despair So considering and weighing the testimonies of thy Servants left upon record for the comfort of poor distressed souls I am somewhat again cheared and raised up For besides those places of consolation and many more I find by divers Parables and Similitudes of thine own how ready and propense thou art to receive and pardon the Penitent As by the lost Penny the lost Sheep and by the Prodigal Son whose Image I find in my self and whose life mine doth fully parallel Wherefore O Lord I humbly intreat thee to restore me thy lost Son to thy favour and withall to give me the true sense and knowledge of the innocency I have lost I do not desire that thou shouldest deal so kindly with me as that Father did with his Son but I shall be happy and glad if thou wilt entertain me as one of the meanest of thy hired servants My hope and confidence is that thou wilt pitty me because thou art the fountain of pitty and compassion Behold me therefore with the eyes of pitty look on me and ease me who come unto thee laden with the heavy burden of my sins pardon them and save me for thy infinite mercy and remember not my sins but thine own sufferings think not on me as a proud and rebellious Malefactor but as an humble and penitent Convert Look on me with those eyes of compassion wherewith thou didst sometime behold Mary Magdalen Peter and the good Thief Give me true knowledge of my sins with the first true contrition with the second and receive me with the third into thy Heavenly Paradise Let thy obedience satisfie for my rebellions thy innocency for my guilt thy humility for my arrogancy thy fasting for my intemperance and thy justice for my iniquity Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole and restore me to thy former grace Purifie purge and cleanse me from mine offences and open mine eyes that I may clearly see mine own pollution and make me to grieve that I have not grieved for my sins as I ought to have done And as thou hast by thy long-suffering hitherto expected my repentance so of thy infinite mercy and goodness pardon me repenting and grant me grace that I may be afraid to offend thee hereafter Hear me O sweet Saviour make intercession for me to the Father with whom and the Holy Spirit thou dost live and reign coequal and coeternal Lord God world without end Amen Confession of Sins I confess O Lord That I was shaped in wickedness and in sin my Mother conceived me That I was brought forth in uncleanness That I am a root of bitterness A wild vine of Sodom A branch of the wild olive The child of wrath A vessel of dishonour and perdition That my heart is rebellious like a starting bow That my throat is an open sepulcher venting all folly That I am of polluted lips That my tongue talketh nothing but vanity That mine eyes are evil prone to lust That mine ears are uncircumcised and like to the deaf Adder That I have a forhead of brass and a neck of iron That my hands are slow to good That my feet are swift to evil I have sinned against thee O Lord and in thy sight not fearing thy Majesty My Sins are In quantity Large and of a great size Of long continuance From my Mothers breasts Deep Heavy Like a burden Like lead Stretching to Heaven with their cry Many in number Like the Stars More than the hairs of my head The sands of the Sea Oftentimes reiterated As a Fountain casting out water Till they became as a habit As red as scarlet and crimson I am sold under sin Till they become natural to me Like the AEthiopians skin The Leopards spots In quality The worst of sins Strong like cords and cart-ropes Gaining nothing thereby For a handful of barley a little bread Committing sin with greediness Sin upon sin With impudence Not being ashamed Knowing it to be sin Giving offence thereby Unthankfully Like the Dog to the vomit Like the Sow to the mire Therefore O Lord because thou art just and thy judgements true I reap the fruit of my foolishness For what fruit have I in those things whereof I am ashamed My dayes are consumed in vanity and my years in the bitternesse of my soul. And now there is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sin My heart trembleth also with remembrance of thy Iudgements I feel bitterness above the bitterness of death in that I have forsaken thee O God and that thou hast forsaken me Woe unto me rebellious Wretch for thus doing See and consider O Lord how vile I am become for my Soul abhorreth to live I have roared for the disquietness of my heart And what shall I now say or wherein shall I open my mouth What shall I answer seeing I have done these things Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me out of this body of death When I have not what I can further say or do this only remaineth this is my last refuge that I direct mine eyes to thee Out of the deep have I called to thee O Lord Lord hear my voice If thou Lord shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Enter not into judgement with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Wherefore O Lord I appeal from Thee to Thee From Thee a just Iudge To Thee a merciful Father From the Throne of thy Iustice To the Seat of thy Mercy O Lord be pleased to admit of this appeal If thou do not I perish And O Lord carest thou not that I perish
them in glory hereafter and enjoy everlasting happiness before thee in thy blessed presence Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 130. OUt of the depth of tentations dangers and sorrow for my sins wherein my Spirit is almost overwhelmed have I by fervent prayer cryed and called unto thee O Lord who only art able to give me relief 2 Lord of thy mercy haste thee and hear my voice and petition and deliver me from my misery O my God let thine ears of pity and compassion be attentive to consider and well weigh the lamentable voice of my humble supplications and let not my prayer return unpitied or unheard of thee 3 If thou Lord contrary to thy disposition shouldest be so exact and extreme as in the rigour of thy justice to mark the iniquities which we by our natural corruption daily fall into and punish us accordingly O good Lord who none not the most upright shall be able to answer one for a thousand or stand before thee without much horrour at the Judgement Seat 4 But for the comfort of poor wretched sinners and to keep us from utter desperation we find it recorded by the holy Spirit that there is forgiveness of sins and mercy toward sinners repenting with thee by Jesus Christ who came to save them and yet this mercy of thine is tyed with such conditions that thou who also art just mayest be also feared lest thy lenity be abused 5 I for my part wait and confidently expect for the Lord to receive mercy from him My sinful but repentant Soul waits to receive consolation and in his Word whereby he promiseth mercy to repentant sinners do I hope and place my whole confidence because I know that he which hath promised is just 6 My sinful Soul in this expectation waiteth for the Lord and tarryeth his good pleasure to comfort it more earnestly than they that in a disconsolate long night watch for the morning Yea I say it again more zealously than they that are weary of the night and watch for the light of the morning 7 Let Israel and all Gods faithful people hope still and put their trust in the goodness of the Lord and not without cause for with the Lord though he justly take vengeance on us for our sins yet there is ever was and will be found mercy towards penitent sinners and with him by Jesus Christ is not only forgiveness for a few sins but plenteous redemption from the captivity of the Devil and Sinne. 8 And he even Jesus Christ by his merits and intercession shall redeem and save Israel and each of his faithful servants from all his iniquities and the punishment due for them Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 143. HEar my earnest and humble prayer O Lord which in my misery I make unto thee Give ear and be not deaf to my supplicatious in the time of my distress but in thy faithfulness and truth which endureth for ever answer me and grant my petition which I make not trusting in any merits of mine own but in thy righteousness 2 And my further petition to thee is that thou enter not into the Throne of thy Iudgement by strictly examining my mis-deeds and dealing rigorously with me thy poor servant who hath mis-spent his talent for in thy all-seeing sight shall no man living in this vale of misery be justified or found innocent 3 For the Old Enemy of mankind the Devil hath by his malice persecuted and sought to entrap my Soul to separate it from the love of thee he hath smitten and cast my life and Soul down to the ground and filled me full of earthly desires he hath made and caused me to dwell and take pleasure in the darkness of of my sins as those that are without sense and have been long dead 4 Therefore O Lord considering my desperate estate is my spirit overwhelmed with grief within me and my heart is disquieted within me and is also desolate and sore troubled 5 I yet in the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart do remember what I have read and heard what thou hast done in the dayes of old how that thou hast been gracious to the penitent and severe against the unrepentant sinner I meditate also on all thy works but especially on that of thy mercy and I muse and exercise my self in contemplating on the works of thy hands admiring thy Power and Wisdom in the Creation of all things 6 I stretch forth and lift up my hands in my prayers unto thee O Lord my Soul which is dry for want of the dew of thy grace thirsteth after thee for the water of life as a thirsty land in a time of drought 7 Hear me and answer me speedily delay not O Lord for my spirit waxeth faint and faileth me in my devotion Oh hide not thy face and loving countenance from me miserable sinner lest it come to pass that I be like in condition unto them that go down headlong after their own inventions into the pit of destruction and perdition 8 Cause me by thy Spirit to hear and feel thy loving kindness and mercy in the morning speedily lest I perish for in thee only and not in the help of Men or Angels do I place my whole trust and confidence Cause me by thy grace to know and learn the way of thy testimonies wherein I should and ought to walk without declining to the right hand or the left For I lift up my soul by prayer and repentance unto thee who only canst direct me aright 9 Desiver me O Lord by thy power from all mine Enemies visible and invisible for I flee and make haste for succour unto thee as to my Protector to hide and defend me from their violence 10 Teach and instruct me that am ignorant to do thy Will and those things which thou commandest for thou art thy God and Director Thy Spirit is good and all-sufficient for me Lead me therefore by it into the right way which bringeth into the Land of Righteousness and Truth 11 Quicken me again O Lord and revive me from the death of sin for thy Names sake which is Jesus and for thy Righteousness sake and love to goodness bring my Soul by thy grace out of the trouble and anguish whereinto my sins have brought me 12 And of thy tender mercy and compassion cut off and kill in me mine Enemies the concupiscences of the flesh and destroy and confound all them that with injuries and tentations afflict and disquiet my Soul which is wholy devoted to thee for I am thy servant and Son of thy Handmaid and desire to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life Glory be to the Father c. Directions before Receiving the Holy Communion AS many as desire to be partakers of the holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as of necessity every one must be that intendeth to receive benefit by him ought before the
mysteries of life eternal for converting us from evil conversation to newness of life and for sanctifying us to life everlasting for directing us in the works of truth and governing us in our temporal affairs O glorious and sacred Trinity infuse into us we beseech thee such measure of thy grace that we may be dayly mindfull of all these thy blessings Pardon all our former ingratitude and negligence in that we have been no more zealous to love thee nor more carefull to serve thee and so forgetfull to thank thee for all thy benefits and mercies Illuminate our hearts that we may firmly beleeve in thee devoutly call upon thee and obediently execute thy holy Will that at the last we may by the merits and passion of thee O Saviour attain to that heavenly Mansion where thou O blessed Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity abidest world without end I thank thee O Lord For my Creation my being my well being That I am indued with Reason That I am A civil man A Christian. Freeborn Ingenious Of honest Parents That I am sound in mind Senses Body That I am well brought up taught I thank thee For thy gifts of Nature Grace Estate For delivering me from Danger Infamy Trouble For the health of my body A Competency of Estates Friends Children Kindred I thank thee O Lord For thy Redemption Regeneration Instruction Vocation Consolation Illumination Iustification Hope of glorification For thy patience toward me For thy Grace preventing me For Governing me For thy Continual care over me For Strengthning me in tentation For Reproving me in evil For Assisting me in good For the Conjunction of my heart For the hopes of pardon for my sins For the benefits I have received For any good done by me For all those that have done me good by their Writings Sermons Conferences Prayers Examples Reproofs Injuries For all and every of these and for all other known or unknown remembred or forgotten I confess and will confess thee I bless and will bless thee I thank and will thank thee as the Author and Giver of them all Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased Psalm 8. O Lord our God Creator and Preserver of all things how excellent glorious and reverend is thy great and holy Name not in one particular Nation only but in all the Kingdoms of the Earth who as thou hast magnified thy Name in the Earth so hast thou set and extolled thy glory above the Heavens also 2 Out of the mouths and tongues of babes and sucklings even very Infants hast thou because men of riper years and understanding neglect thy glory ordained strength and given little Children ability to praise thee because of the malice of thine Enemies the principalities of this world that thou mightest by this thy great wisdom and power still the tongues suppress the blasphemous speeches of the Enemy and Avenger when he shall see that by such weak means thou canst effect so great matters 3 When I consider and duly weigh thy Heavens and the glorious frame thereof the work of thy fingers made and created only by thee together with the Moon and the Stars and other beautiful Lights of Heaven which thou at the beginning of time hast ordained of nothing I cannot but in the depth of admiration say 4 What is man for whose use and service thou hast made them and all things in this world and him to serve thee That thou so great and glorious a God art mindful of him in so large a manner and what is the Son of man the posterity of sinful Adam that thou in such measure of mercy visitest and regardest him 5 For if I look unto his Creation and consider whose Image he beareth I find that thou hast made him in all respects very little lower in degree than the pure Angels who are honoured with thy presence and hast of thy bounty and especial favour crowned him with glory and honour in making him so glorious a Creature 6 Thou madest and hast appointed him also thy Vicegerent on Earth to have dominion and command over thy Creatures the works of thy hands and Creation thou hast subjected and put all things which thou hast made under his feet to obey and serve him 7 All Sheep and Oxen Beasts for his food and sustentation yea and not those only but the untamed beasts of the field also hast thou made plyable and serviceable to him 8 The Fowl of the Air some for food and some for pleasure and delight and the Fish of the vast Sea which is stored with variety and whatsoever else passeth swimmeth or liveth through the unknown pathes of the Sea are also created by thee to serve him 9 O Lord our Lord when I seriously consider thy power and wisdom in thy work of Creation and the especial honour and favour thou shewest to Mankind in giving him this large Commission over the rest of thy Creatures I cannot but admire and say how excellent and great is thy Name and Power in all the Kingdomes of the World There is none O Lord worthy to be compared to thee Glory be to the Father to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. Psalm 30. I Will extoll thee and praise thy Name O Lord as long as I live and not without great cause for thou in thy mercy hast lifted me up and endowed me with thy blessings and hast not made no nor suffered my Foes to work their will against me who intended if thou hadst forsaken me to rejoyce and triumph over me 2 O Lord my God and Saviour I cryed and made my humble supplication unto thee in my trouble and adversity and thou of thy accustomed goodness didst graciously hear me and hast healed me of all mine infirmities 3 O Lord thou by the power of thy grace hast brought up and restored to life my sinful soul from the grave of perdition whereinto my sins had well nigh cast me Thou hast in thy love to me kept me alive and preserved me from many dangerous sicknesses that I should not yet go down into the pit of death but live and praise thy holy Name 4 Sing and rejoyce unto the Lord our God O ye Saints and faithful people of his who have with me felt and tasted of his mercy and give thanks together with me at the remembrance and consideration of his holiness 5 For his anger and displeasure endureth towards sinners but a moment and short space if they truly turn unto to him and if we seriously consider his mercies we shall find that in his favour is life to those that lye desparately sick in their sins if he but touch them with his finger of grace as for weeping heaviness and affliction it may and of necessity must sometime befall his servants but yet it shall endure and afflict them for a night a little while only but joy and comfort commeth again to refresh them in the morning by sending the light of his countenance upon them 6 And
sin that without repentance he will condemn every one that offendeth therein Saul for unadvised cursing and adjuration lost a Victory against the Philistines For consulting with a Witch was with his Sons brought to untimely end Sennacherib for blaspheming God was slain by his own Sons Ananias for lying to the Holy Ghost dyed suddenly The Fourth Commandement Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day c. IN this Commandement are two things contained 1. A Precept or Declaration of the will of God To set apart some day 1. To the publick worship of God 2. In ceasing from our labours 2. A Reason of the Commandement 1. Because God after the Creation rested on the seventh day 2. Because he also blessed and sanctified it Let not worldly cares put it out of thy mind but observe it with all Care and Religion And not without great cause was this Precept so strictly urged 1. Because by the neglect of it ariseth the neglect of all spiritual duty 2. Because in it was contained a Type or Shadow of the great and everlasting Sabbath which is our Sanctification 3. Because we have thereby some time to shew mercy to our Servants and Beasts wearied with labour In frequenting the Church and there to exercise thy self In Prayer Hearing the Word Receiving the Sacrament In pious and religious Works as Visiting the Sick Relieving the Poor Meditating on Gods Works Praising him for them In refraining from Sin In resting from servile Labour And although that part of the Iews Sabbath be abrogated which respected the Seventh day Sacrifices and other exteriour acts of Gods worship commanded and enjoyned to the Iews yet the Church hath appointed instead thereof the Lords day or Sunday called the first day of the week wherein all Christians are bound to retain and observe all the duties of the first Sabbath avoiding the Iewish strict and superstitious Ceremonies In following the Vocation appointed thee by God wherein thou art to omit nothing necessary for the sustentation of thy Family And not to spend those six dayes wholly in idleness pleasure or excess Nor in the publique duties of the Sabbath and thereby nelecting the Care over thy Family In that day neither thou nor any of thy Family or Cattel shall do any servile labour except in case of necessity and preservation of Gods Creatures from damage or loss but ye shall spend it in those religious duties formerly set down In case of necessity The Sabbath being made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath we are to conceive that it was ordained not to destroy but to preserve him and therefore all works are not forbidden that day 1. As dressing of meat By the example of the Priests who on the Sabbath killed the Beasts for Sacrifice and dressed the rest And of Christs Disciples plucking ears of Corn. And Tertullian saith That the Antient and Primitive Church never fasted on the Sabbath day 2. Ministring Physick to the Sick By the example of our Saviour healing on that day 3. Saving Corn Hay-Houses and the like from perishing By our Saviours question to the Pharisees 2. The Reason why God commanded the observation of the first Sabbath was 1. Because after God by his Word had created the Universe of nothing he rested himself from all the work that he had made 2. Because this day was by him blessed and sanctified And the reason why the Seventh day was changed by the Apostles and continued by Christian Emperours into the first day of the week upon which the Christians Sabbath is observed was in remembrance of our Saviours Resurrection which happned on this day as may be gathered by Christs selecting that day to appear twice to his Apostles after his Resurrection The Second Table The Fifth Commandement Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long on the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee AS the first Table teacheth the honour and love of God so doth the second the duty we owe to our Neighbour And the first Commandement of this Table enjoyneth us to honour and reverence our Parents as being the thing which God esteemeth next in degree to his Honour And it containeth First A Precept Secondly A Promise 1. The Precept is General and Particular 1. The General comprehendeth our Duty to all our Elders and Superiours whom God hath set over us for our government and preservation which duty is of necessity to be performed in respect of the upholding of Politique Government 2. The Particular Precept containeth our Duty to our natural Parents Father and Mother of what degree estate or condition soever they be Whether Poor or Rich Good or Bad this Commandement layeth hold on us That which we are enjoyned to do by these words is to Reverence them as from whom we received our being Love them for their care sorrow and pains in our education Obey them in all lawful things at being appointed by God to command over us Be thankful to them in requiting their charge and love in ministring to their necessities Be patient with them in their corrections and bearing with all their infirmities That which we are forbidden to do against them is Not to speak evil of them or to curse them Not to see them want Not to be ashamed of them for poverty or other cause whatsoever 2. The Promise is made to all such as shall keep this Precept which is Long dayes of life here and happy too else they would be no better than a curse Long dayes hereafter for ever in bliss which is the highest blessing that can befall to any It was Saint Pauls observation that this was the first Commandement that had a Promise annexed to it This Promise God made 1. To allure us to the Duty of reverencing and obeying our Parents and Superiours 2. To shew how highly he esteemeth of it 3. It suits with the Commandements if we honour our Parents who gave us life we shall be rewarded with long life The Sixth Commandement Thou shalt not Kill THis Commandement followeth properly and in order in the next place For mans life being the most precious thing in this World and upon which all other things depend God seemeth to take care by this Commandement for peace and quietness whereby mans life may be preserved The life of man ought to be preserved for three respects 1. Because God is the Iudge of man only 2. Nature desireth nothing more than the preservation of life 3. Murther destroyeth all society Neither thy self nor others Neither shalt thou have any desire to do any such act Under this Commandement are divers other particulars forbidden For as God forbiddeth the act so doth he command that all occasions or means to execute that act be forborn and taken away If God commands us not to kill then he prohibits the affections to Slaughter Anger Unjust War Quarrelling
forsaking the confidence or strength of all other things I may flee wholly to thy mercy in Christ Iesus whereby I may be protected from the terrours of thy Iudgement Grant unto me distressed sinner these graces even for the same Iesus Christ his sake who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth for ever Or thus ALmighty and everlasting God whose years fail not and who hast determined the dayes of man which he cannot pass yet thy self endurest for ever and thy Throne from generation to generation Remember that I am but dust like grass and my dayes as the flower of the field which flourisheth in the morning and in the evening is dryed up and withered O let me know my end make me mindful of my mortality I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were and cannot promise my self one hour much less any dayes or years in this my Pilgrimage I am like a tottering wall and a broken fence give me grace therefore that I trust not in the uncertainty of this life like the rich Fool in the Gospel but I may every hour prepare my self in thy fear to pass out of this frail mansion and to expect thee with a solid Faith and firm Hope waiting chearfully for the day and time of my dissolution And looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Saviour Iesus Christ. Make me like the faithful and wise servant ever ready and prepared for the coming of my Lord lest being suddenly prevented I be taken like a Bird in the snare of the Fowler O Lord thou hast by this gentle correction put me in mind of my mortality give me also grace that I may make good use of it that I may cast off all the cares of this world and wholly betake my self to make my peace with thee And I humbly pray thee that thou wouldest not forget me in my pains and miseries in all my infirmities be not far from me when by reason of the terrors of Death and assaults of the Enemy I have most need of thy help but strengthen my soul with thy holy grace against all sensations that my faith fail me not but that thy holy Spirit assisting me I may overcome my spiritual Enemies and at the hour of death Lord I beseech thee let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word Or thus BLessed Lord Iesus Christ the only comfort of the living and the eternal life of those which dye in thee I wholly submit to thy blessed Will whether it please thee to suffer my Soul any longer to live in this Earthly Tabernacle to serve thee or to have it depart out of this transitory world being certainly assured that it cannot perish if committed to thy keeping O Lord I put off this frail Flesh with a willing mind in hope of the Resurrection of it at the last day together with my Soul when it will become much more glorious and happy than now it is I beseech thee O Lord Iesu strengthen me with thy grace against all temptations and defend me with the shield of thy mercy against all the assaults of the Devil I know that of my self I have no strength wherefore my whole confidence is in thee I have no merits of mine own to allege for I see many yea too many of my sins to stand up against me but by thy mercy I trust that thou wilt repute me amongst the just Thou wert born for me didst hunger thirst fast and pray for me thou didst many good works and sufferedst many bitter things for my sake Let thy Blood wash away the spots of my Offences let thy Iustice cover my Unrighteousness and thy Merits plead for me before the great and severe Iudge And as many sickness increaseth let thy grace increase that my faith fail not my hope waver not nor my love to thee wax cold Let me not be cast down or dejected with the terror of death but when death shall seize on the eyes of my body let the eyes of my soul look to thee and when the use of my tongue shall fail me let my heart cry unto thee I commend my spirit into thy hands O Lord who livest and reignest c. Although thou kill me yet will I trust in thee and though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death yet will I not fear because thou Lord art with me FINIS A short Table of the chief Heads contained in this Book A General Exhortation to Gods Service Pag. 1 To Prayer 50 In regard of Gods Precept 51 Promise Ibid. Christs Example 52 The Necessity ib. The Dignity 54 The Benefit ib. Directions how to Pray 1. To God only 58 In Christ. 60 2. Faith ib. 3. In Hope 61 4. In Charity 62 5. In Humility 64 Of Spirit 65 Of Body ib. 6. In Perseverance 68 With Fervency Diligence and Attention 70 The Time for Prayer 74 The Place for Prayer 75 How to Pray Ariight 76 Prayer divided into Parts 78 The Use of the Lords Prayer 82 The Lords Prayer Analysed 85 Prayers for Spiritual Graces 142 A Prayer before Prayer 145 Before a Sermon 147 Petitions for Temporal Blessings 148 Rules for the Morning 150 Morning Prayer private 151 For a Family 160 Rules for the Evening and Night 165 Evening Prayers private 167 For a Family 176 Prayers upon the Life and Death of Iesus Christ. 180 Prayers for several Persons For a Married Man 196 For a Married Woman 198 For a Child 200 For a Woman with Child 201 For a Young Man or Maid 202 For a Servant 205 Before a Iourney 206 After a Iourney 207 Intercession 209 Deprecation 211 In Affliction 216 In Time of Pestilence 218 The Creed Analysed 221 Confession of Gods Glory 242 Motives to Repentance 246 The Duty of Repentance 284 Confession of Sins 287 Seven Penitential Psalms Paraphrased 318 Direction before the Sacrament 362 Meditations and Prayers Before the Sacrament 365 Meditations and Prayers After the Sacrament 376 Motives to Thanksgiving 383 Thanksgivings 386 Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased 399 Imprecation 432 The Ten Commandementts Paraphrased 438 Meditations of Death 469 Meditations for the Sick 472 Prayers for the Sick 479 FINIS Cicero Esa. 55.6 Job 37. 16.11.17 Mat. 5.48 Tert. 1. Psal. 139. 6 c. Esa. 66 1. Jer. 23. 24. Wisd. 1.7 S. Hier. S. Aug. Deut. 31.4 Dan. 4 34. Apoc. 4 9 1 Tim. 6. 16. S. Hier. Ps. 90. 2. 102. 27. Dan. 7.13 Ps. 102.26 Mal. 3. 6. Jam. 1. 17. Pro. 19. 21 Esa. 46. 10 Heb. 6. 17. Tit. 1. 2. S. Hier. Psal. 1. 7 94. 11. 147 5. Esa. 40 28 Joh. 21. 17 Act. 15 18 Rom. 11. 33. 1 Co. 2. 10 Heb. 4. 13 1 Joh. 3. 20 Ex 15. 11. 1 Sam. 2. 2 Esa. 29. 23 40. 25. Abac. 1.13 Esa. 6. 3. Apoc. 4. 8. Josh. 24. 19. Lev 11. 44. Jer. 10.10 Joh. 17.3 Rom. 3.4 1 Thes. 1.9 Apoc. 15. 3. 16. 7.
Father and Holy Spirit world without end Amen Meditations and Prayers after th Sacrament Received IF all the Creatures in the world should offer themselves together with me to praise thee O Lord yet is it certain that we could not give thee sufficient thanks for the least of thy mercies and if together we cannot sufficiently praise thee for the least how much less can I alone perform so great a duty for such inestimable blessings as I have at this time received for vouchsafing to visit me comfort me and honour me with acceptance and admittance to thy blessed Table If Elizabeth the Mother of Iohn Baptist upon the Virgin Maries entrance to her house said Whence is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me What shall I say whom the Lord himself hath visited and united to him by his blessed Sacrament being a vessel and receptacle of all impurity who hath so often offended despited and neglected him King David wondred why God should so esteem of or visit man but I wonder much more why he should be made man for man abide with him suffer death for him and give himself to him for spiritual food Solomon after he had built a Temple to God reasoned thus But will God dwell indeed on the Earth Behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much loss this House that I have builded May not I much more marvel that God will not disdain to come and abide in this my poor and wretched Soul What greater benefit of grace what greater argument of his love is there can there be shewed to me Oh my Soul if thou wouldest but throughly conceive the happiness that cometh to thee by this holy Sacrament then consider and well weigh what benefits it bringeth with it By it the Sons of Men are made the Sons of God and all that is earthly or carnal in us is mortified that the Deity may live and abide with us What therefore O my Lord shall I do What thanks shall I render to thee With what fervency shall I love thee For if thou so mighty a Lord hast vouchsafed to love me poor wretched creature how should it be but that I should return love again to thee And how shall I express my love better than in forbearing those things which thou dost abhorr and following those things which thou dost command Give O Lord to this end thy concomitant grace to me whereby I may return a reciprocal love to thee and love those things which are acceptable and avoid those things which are to thee unpleasing Give me a heart which may love thee with so true faithful and constant affection as that nothing under the Sun may separate me from the love of thee Let me not follow the love of the World or delight in the vanities of it any longer but give me power to kill and quench all other love and desires and to love thee only desire thee only and only think of thee and thy Commandements that all my affections and thoughts may be fixed on thee that in all tentations and adversities I may have recourse to thee only and receive all comfort from thee alone who livest and reignest one God world without end Amen Another I Humbly thank thee O sweet Saviour Jesus Christ that thou hast so plentifully refreshed my drie and fainting Soul with the holy Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood I earnestly intreat thee further that whatsoever is in me vicious or contrary to thy blessed will may by vertue of this blessed Sacrament be rooted out of me that my Soul may become a fit habitation for thy holy Spirit Let it be to me the absolution of my sins the confirmation of my faith and encrease of all thy graces in me the viands of this my peregrination and pilgrimage the only delight of my soul peace and joy in tribulation health and strength in affliction and tentation Let it be a light and guide to my actions and my only comfort in the day of my dissolution Let the Palate of my Soul be so changed thereby that it may relish nothing besides thee Grant also that I may hunger and thirst after this bread of life and cup of salvation and that I may with a pure mind and chast affection receive it often that thereby my soul and body may be preserved to life everlasting to thee be all praise power and dominion ascribed now and for ever Or thus I Yield thee all possible thanks O merciful Lord that of thy own meer goodness and without any merit of mine thou hast so plentifully at this time satisfied me with the extraordinary food of my Soul thy blessed Body and Blood O Lord I heartily repent me of my sins past and am heartily sorry when I consider how unprofitably and wickedly I have spent my life hitherto I desire O Lord to amend what is amiss in me be thou ayding I beseech thee to me that I may not only duly bewail and lament for that which is past but take heed to my wayes for the time to come And to this end O Lord do thou strengthen me with thy spiritual ayd for without thy help and the direction of the Holy Spirit I shall not be able to do any good thing or perform that which is pleasing to thee Grant O Lord that I may hereafter faithfully follow and serve thee who hast at this time so lovingly vouchsafed to come to me And because through my infirmity I cannot follow thee as I would be pleased to assist me with thy power aud draw me after thee Let my Soul be so strengthned by vertue of this Sacrament that it may esteem nothing pleasing or delightful in comparison of thee that it may lust after no transitory thing nor be disquieted with any worldly cross but by thy assisting grace I may overcome all the difficulties of this life and bless thee in the life to come Or thus O Blessed Lord Iesus who of thy unspeakable Love hast condescended to my infirmity and vouchsafed in these mysteries to come unto me and hast made me partaker of thy blessed Body and Blood I humbly intreat thee of thy infinite goodness not to look back upon my sinful life past and to give me grace to obey thy Commandements hereafter and not to return to those former sins as a Dog to his vomit Grant that this most holy Sacrament may be to me life and salvation and not turn to my greater punishment and condemnation Grant that it may cleanse my Soul from sin past and strengthen me against all tentations to come Grant that it may be so wholesome and nourishing to me that I may walk in the strength thereof all the dayes of my life and at last be brought by thy merits to that place of Glory where thou dost reign together with the Father and the Blessed Spirit forever Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy
Chiding Hatred And all other things of this nature which may be as provocations to slaughter And on the contrary he enjoyneth us To love our Neighbours as our selves To live peaceably and quietly with them To do good for evil And all this because Man is the Image of God Flesh of our Flesh. The thing that Christ paid so dear for The Seventh Commandement Thou shalt not commit Adultery THe chief aim and scope of this Commandement is to preserve the marriage bed inviolate And with great reason it is placed next to the prohibiting of homicide because that next and dearest to a man after his own life is the preservation and honour of his Wife for they two are but one flesh And by this Commandement is also implicitely and secretly forbidden Whoredom Incest Sodomy Sins against Nature Unlawful Desires and Affections Uncleanness Evil Talk Obscene Songs And Impudent Behaviour Uncivil Sight Lascivious Pictures Intemperance of Diet. Delicacy and Excess in Apparrel And the like Being provocations to the Sin here forbidden And as we are prohibited these things so are we commanded hereby To live Chastly Temperately Modestly And purely in Heart For by these Vertues as our Saviour telleth us we shall come to the Beatifical Vision of God and enjoy that Blessedness which he hath promised to those that in pureness of heart love and serve him The Eighth Commandement Thou shalt not Steal THat is thou shalt not take from another any thing which is not thine own And against this Commandement we may offend divers wayes By committing Sacrilege taking any thing from the Church By with-holding that which is due to King or Prince By robbing on the high way or out of houses By deceiving any man In bargaining In false weights and measures In being bankrupt without cause By oppressing the Poor or keeping his pledge By encroaching upon the possessions of any other either by violence openly or by fraud in removing Land-marks c. By keeping that which is found from the true Owner By denying or concealing a trust By detaining the Labourers hire By living idlely and eating out of another mans labour By neglecting a Masters service and mis-spending his goods The Ninth Commandement Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour THou shalt not give false evidence before a Iudge against any man Whosoever doth so is not only guilty of the breach of this Commandement but of the Third also in committing Perjury Neither is false Testimony with an Oath forbidden only but also without an Oath 1. Thou shalt not accuse thy Brother unjustly Slander him Revile him Backbite him Abuse him by uncivil jests 2. Thou shalt not lye or equivocate Either for sport Or to avoid danger or loss For though some seem to approve Of Iacob in lying to his Father that he was Esau. The Midwives to save the Children Rahab the Harlot to save the Spies Michol to save David her Husband Iudith to deceive Holofernes Yet it is safer with Saint Augustine to hold that all lyes being directly opposite to truth must needs be sin The Tenth Commandement Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours House THis Commandement is directly against Coveteousness or evil Concupiscence the issue of Original Sin which was derived to all Mankind after the fall of Adam No man ought to covet or desire no not so much as in his heart any thing which belongeth to another man and whereby he may receive any damage or detriment Neither his House which is his inheritance and his defence against the heat of the Sun and the sharpness of the cold Nor his Wife which is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh His Partner as well in sorrow as pleasure Nor his Servants without whose help and labour he cannot dispatch his affairs Nor his Cattel which do his work In conclusion nothing which may any way prejudice him Now seeing that He which is guilty in breaking one part of the Law offendeth in all And that to the keeping of it the whole inward and outward man is required And that the Flesh while we are in this world is wholly opposite to the Spirit It is impossible for us to fullfil the same by our own endeavours For it is with us as it was with Saint Paul In our flesh dwelleth no good thing and the good that we would we do not but the evil which we would not that we do And seeing also That by the deeds of the Law no man can be justified Not that the Law is in fault being good of it self but our own Flesh The carnal mind being enmity with God And they which are in the flesh not being able to please him For the comfort therefore of all when as neither the works of the Law could justifie us nor we were able to fullfil the same God of his infinite mercy sent his Son Christ Iesus into the World That he suffering death for us might redeem us from the curse of the Law that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith For in him all the Promises Ceremonies and the Law it self were fulfilled and ended 1. The Promises As The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head In thee shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed 2. The Ceremonies The Priesthood by his Eternal Priesthood The Sacrifices by his own Oblation Circumcision by his Circumcisiou and Baptism Passover by the Eucharist 2. The Law By his Satisfaction and absolute fulfilling of it in whom was no sin nor spot but an absolute and perfect Righteousness which Righteousness he hath of his free will and mercy imputed to us and made ours if with a lively Faith we apprehend him and believe on him And in this respect it may be said that he observeth and fulfilleth the Law of God who not trusting to himself or his own works commendeth himself wholly to the Grace of God and seeketh all his Righteousness by Faith in Christ Iesus So that we are to rely on those words which Saint Paul spake in his Sermon at Antioch Be it known unto you therefore Men and Brethren that through this man Christ Iesus is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses But yet we must take this along with us That this Faith whereby we believe that Christ satisfied the Law and is become our Righteousness and Perfection is meerly by Gods grace and favour infused into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which stirreth up in us a love and desire to keep the Law of God which though the same desire never attaineth to perfection while we live in these Earthly Tabernacles for the frailty and indisposition of the Flesh yet God in his mercy accepteth the same for Christs sake For
the better conceiving of the drift and scope of these Commandements we are to take notice of two things 1. Whereas In every Commandement the grossest sin tending to the breach of that Commandement is only forbidden by name yet we are to conceive that all sins of that nature though lesser in degree and not named together with the provocations thereunto are likewise inclusively contained in that prohibition 2. And where any Vertue is commanded to be observed there all the Vices and Sins contrary to that Vertue are forbidden And where any Vice is prohibited there all opposite Vertues to it are enjoyned Meditations of Death THat all men must dye being long since Enacted by Statute in the Parliament of Heaven unrepealed and the knowledge of the day of death being by God kept from us lest we should promise to our selves any thing for future time I shall not need to spend many words to prove either the absolute necessity of the one or the uncertainty of the other Onely give me leave to conclude this work with a few Meditations and Prayers which may serve as well for those who feel the hand of God by sickness as for those which are in perfect health to meditate and think upon that they be not taken unprovided And it is exercise of Meditation of Death and resolution to dye ought not to seem strange or hard to Christians For the Philosopher in his time accounted all dayes spent without serious consideration of our end to be but fondly consumed and affirmed That the whole life of a Wise man was nothing but a Meditation of Death And therefore it hath been observed that Abraham when he was in the Land of Canaan purchased no more Land than would serve to bury his Dead To teach us that we should not fix or fasten our minds upon the transitory things of this World but have our affections bent upon another and meditate upon the day of our Death which bringeth two benefits with it First It delivereth us out of many cares and troubles And Secondly It leadeth us to joyes unspeakable The First of these benefits the Heathen man could see by the light of Nature when he said That No man lived in so flourishing estate who if not often yet once in his life did not desire rather to dye than to live For the unavoidable calamity and grievous diseases incident to this life do so often disquiet and vex a man that notwithstanding our life is naturally short yet sometime it seemeth over-long unto him And therefore saith he Death is the most acceptable and wished-for sanctuary and place of refuge for a life full of misery and grief And for the Second take amongst many that of Saint Cyprian We pass by Death to immortality neither can we come or attain to eternal life but by leaving this life Nor is our corporal death to be accounted an end or period of life but a passage to a better for by this temporal journey we pass to Eternity For this separation of the Soul and Body commonly called Death if we consider the true scope and aim of God in it is not inflicted by him as a severe Judge to punish the Elect but as a most merciful Father who only calleth his Children from a Dungeon of Misery to a Place of all Felicity and Happiness And this is that which hath alwayes made the Godly to leave this life with such willingness and joy and to endure with so great courage and constancy all their greatest agonies Meditations for the Sick Set thy House in order for thou shalt Dye I Know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And that I shall be again cloathed with this skin and in my flesh I shall see God whom I my self shall see and mine eyes shall behold This hope is laid up in my breast Lord let me know mine end and the number of my dayes that I may be certified how long I have to live Behold Thou hast made my dayes as it were a span long and mine age is as nothing in respect of thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity For man walketh in a vain shadow and disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them And now Lord what is my hope truly my hope is even in thee Deliver me from all mine offences and make me not a rebuke to the foolish Take away thy stroke from me for I am consumed by the means of thy heavy hand When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity Hear my Prayer O Lord and with thine ears consider my calling hold not thy peace at my tears For I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my Fathers were O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen Answer me O Lord How many are mine iniquities and sins Make me to know my transgressions and my sinnes Wherefore hidest thou thy face from me and holdest me for thine Enemy Wilt thou break a leaf driven too and fro and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble O cast me not away in my weakness forsake me not when my strength faileth me Though I be afflicted yet let me not be distressed Though in want of some of thy comforts yet not of all Though chastned yet not forsaken Blessed is the man whom thou chastnest O Lord and teachest him in thy Law that thou mayest give him rest in the dayes of evil Before I was troubled I went astray but now I shall learn thy Word O Lord Remember not the sins and offences of my youth Nor judge me according to my works For I have done nothing worthy of thy sight but of eternal death Wherefore I pray thee Blot out all my offences and wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee so that I am a burden unto my self And why dost thou not pardon my transgressions and take away mine iniquity For now I shall sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning but I shall not be Are not my dayes few Cease then and let me alone that I may take comfort a little Before I go whence I shall not return even to the land of darkness and shadow of death A land of darkness as darkness it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where the light is as darkness What man is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the grave The fear of death overwhelmeth me and my heart is disquieted within me For that I have