but I am willing to bear them because they are of thy sending Since thou thinkest them fit for me O! my God I will think them so too and will find no fault therewith nor think another State were better for me I humbly yield to thy Wisdom and prefer thy Will before mine own I am content to bear what thou pleasest and to be eased of my Burden when thou pleaseâ—t And desire not only silently to suffer thy Will but in my Will and Heart to be truely reconciled and consenting to it and to see thy Love and my own Benefit in my Chastisement which is sent for my Good and will work good for me in the end thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. AND therefore in all that doth or shall befall me in this Sickness thy Will O! Blessed Lord be done Thy Will be done because it is thine and because thou art my Father and nothing can come to me from thee but what is very agreeable with a Fathers Tenderness and Affection Thy will be done because thou knowest best what to chuâ—e for me and because I am well assured that to refer all my matters to thy Choice is the best care I can take for my self For in thy Choice thou hast not less kindness but only more knowledge Care and Providence than I can have in chusing for my self For as for me O! my God I know that I am ignorant and whilst I live in this world shall be ignorant what things thereof or what States and Conditions therein are most desireable for my Self or for my Friends I am foolish in my wishes too oft opposing that which is most safe for me and which is fit or it may be needful to do me good and as often coveting that which is full of Danger and like to do me hurt And therefore I renounce my own Will which is blind and foolish and which if I could have it would too often be to my sorrow and prejudice And instead of that I refer my self wholly to be guided and disposed of by thine which never errs and is always for my real welfare and advantage And my desire is not that my foolish wishes but that thy unerring Wisdom may at all times prescribe me and mine our Portion I trust to thine All-seeing eye to direct what is best and to thy Fatherly love and care to allot it for us And where I do not see how any Orderings of thine should work for mine or for my Families or Friends good yet Lord I will believe that thou doest and that all is both wisely and kindly appointed for us because it is thy doing who bringest light out of darkness and Comforts out of Crosses and makest all things work together for good to those that love thee thro' Jesus Christ our Lord Amen 3. SEnd then O! Father what thou pleasest upon me for thou wilt send nothing but what is most fit for me I heartily submit my self to thy Pleasure for it is always a good Pleasure I wait thy Time for it is always the best time I know not what things to desire in this case for my self nor when to desire them But my safety is that I am in thy hands and that there I desire to be and to have thy Love and Wisdom chuse for me And that I am willing to receive my Mercies and Comforts from thee not when I fancy but when thou seest they will most serve and glorifie thee and benefit me thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 4. UNder my weakness O! merciful God I pour out my Complaints before thee and when I am most pressed by my Pains and Sorrows I am most earnest and importunate in my desires of ease And thou who knowest our Frame and pitiest our infirmities allowest me to be so But amidst all these Cravings and Importunities to have my own Will O! Gracious Father I desire above all things still to be intirely resigned to thine For when my Heart desires ease or deliverance it is with Submission When I ask the same according to to my desire I leave thee O! my dear God to Order for me and to Answer me according to thy most wise and good Pleasure Yea where my Pains and Sorrows are most pressing and I am most earnest and importunate in asking and desiring yet even there would I by no means prescribe to thy Wisdom nor seem to doubt of thy Love For I trust assuredly O! Father to thy indulgent Care and sure Promises of tempering my troubles to my weakness and of giving me all needful Supports under them and of turning all to my Comfort and Advantage in thy due time And I leave thee still to do me good by such ways not as I fancy but as thou seest best for me and most fit to make me sure of thine everlasting Mercy thro' Jesus Christ my Blessed Lord and Saviour Amen Our Father c. VI. Prayers for Thankfulness under Sickness I. O! Almighty and most merciful God tho' I am compassed about with Weaknesses and Sorrows yet I have no cause at all to complain of thee but have still enough to thank thee for and to speak well of thy Name And by thy Grace I will not overlook the endearing Mercies which I have out of Discontentedness for others which I have not nor quarrel with those which are still left me because others are taken away For the least of those I have O! Lord is abundantly better than I deserve And instead of being ungratefully angry for those which I have now lost I most humbly and heartily thank thee that I was allowed to have them and injoy them at all and that I lost them no sooner Yea and even as for my Sorrows themselves O! my dear God I do not only own thy Justice but reverence thy Wisdom and acknowledge thy Goodness to me therein I receive my Chastisements as thy Favours and as Tokens of thy love and means of my own Happiness which come to do me good against my Will and to lead me thro' the Valley of tears to the happy Regions of everlasting Rest and Bliss And tho' affliction it self is not joyous yet the Sense of thy Love and of my Benefit are joyous and to be received not with Complaints but with Thanksgivings Lord my Spirit is willing but my Flesh is weak But let thy Grace be the support of my weakness and the Finisher of my willingness And let the sense of thy Love and the hopes of thy Promises drown the sense of my Sorrows and fill my heart and tongue with Thanks and Praise to thee thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 2. I Bless thee O! Father for all the manifold and great Mercies vouchsafed to me under my Sickness For my affliction is infinitely less than I have deserved And thou dost not send it upon me till I need it Aud when thou sendest it it is all to do me good And in doing me good this way O! Lord thou
Chief Antidotes whereon we relye are our Prayers to thee and our Faith in thy Mercy Holy Father I seek to thee let thy Care surround me I make thee my habitation let me find it a safe one I Trust thee with my self and with my Friends to Order what is most Desireable for us and best agrees with the wise Ends of thy Good Providence And tho I doe not absolutely promise my self to be exempt from a Common Calamity yet Lord being in thy Hands where I desire to be I know that I shall be exempt if 't is fit I should be soe and if not that thou wilt turn even my falling sick of it to my Good Soe that under thy Wings O! my God my Hope is allways to have a kind and most thankworthy Ordering and to receive from thee either a Continuance of Health or a beneficial and thankworthy Sickness either the Blessing of a longer Life or the Greater Blessing of an Happy Death thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Our Father c. VI. A Prayer to be said by Friends for Natural Fools or Madmen SHall not I spare them who can not discern between their Right Hand and their Left Jon. 4. 11. I was found of them that sought me not Is. 65. 1. I was Eyes to the blind and Feet to the lame Job 29. 15. Bear ye one anothers Burdens and soe fullfill the Law of Christ. Gal. 6. 2. O! Allmighty and most mercyfull Father Pity this thy Poor Creature who knows not his own wants nor how to ask for thy Mercyes But as he is not capable of Doing things to please thee so let nothing which he doth offend thee He is still as an infant O! God not arrived to the use of Reason Oh! Deal with him as thou doest with them and as such admit him into the Kingdom of Heaven He has been received for thy Child in Baptism and has done nothing since to forfeit the Claims of Mercy and Bliss made over to him therein and belonging to that Relation Oh! let them be fullfill'd and made good to him in their time And as his want of understanding unfits him to doe any thing for thee soe doth it likewise to Doe any thing for himself And therefore he needs to have the more done for him by thee and by the Good instruments of thy Providence And let thy Care O! Lord supply the want of his Give thy Holy Angells charge to look to him as they Doe to Helpless Children Give thy Saints and those who are any ways Concerned with him the Heart to be Understanding and Eyes and Feet and Hands to him as to one who is as if he had nothing of these of his own but wants to have them all supplyed out of thy Provision And do thou in thy Wisdom prevent those Evils which he can not foresee and put those by which he wants understanding to Remove Especially O! Lord keep him from Doing any thing that is mischeivous either to others or to himself Oh! thou who art found of them who seek thee not shew mercy to this thy Servant who extremely needs thee tho he can not seek to thee Thou knowest his wants O! Lord tho he is insensible and ignorant of them And tho he can not speak for himself yet his wants speak and Crye aloud for him Oh! Hear their Crye which calls to thee for Pity And hear us for him who is not able to ask for himself And graunt him thy special Care at present and thy Peace at the last thro the merits and mediation of thy Dear Son our only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. VII A Prayer for those who attend about the Sick O! Blessed Lord who callest us to minister and attend about this thy pained and afflicted Servant make us truly compassionate and tenderly Sensible of his Sorrows and studious how to ease them Keep us Gentle and Officious towards him and willing and Diligent to minister to him and above all things to make and continue thee his Friend Oh! that it may be our Care Friendly to admonish him of his Duty and to call upon him to look up unto thee To strenthen his Soul and asswage his Sorrows by Comfortable words to read to him and Pray for him and study in all things to make his sick bed as Profitable to his Precious Soul and as easy and tolerable to his pained and wearyed Body as we can And let us not shew unwillingness O! God in any Services nor be provoked by his impatience or ill reception of our well meant Offices But let us Pity the Disorders of his Spirit under his Anguish and bear the same with that Gentleness and Continued Care to minister Comfort or Relief which his Sorrows call for and which we all Desire may be shew'd towards us when we come as we must expect to come to be tryed with the like weaknesses and Troubles our selves And Grant O! Father that the Sight of his sickness may be a warning to us to prepare for our own Make our Hearts wiser and better by Conversing in the House of Mourning and let it teach us the end of all men and the vanity of all earthly things and put us upon Zele and Diligence in all the ways of qualifying and Dressing of our Souls for a more blessed and everlasting Life thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father c. XIII A Thanksgiving for Recovery from Sickness I. BLessed be thy Name O! God of all Power and Mercy for that thou hast Consider'd my Trouble and known my Soul in my Adversity Thou sentest me all those Helps whereby I was supported and all the intervals of ease wherewith I was releived under my Sickness And now thou hast brought me up again from the Grave and Deliver'd me of my pains and weakness and art become my Health and my Salvation Yea thy Mercy O! Blessed Lord has rectifyed my Spirit and done it Good by my Sorrows which is more to be valued than easing my Body of theâ— For before I was troubled I went wrong but thy Corrections have taught me to see my Folly and this worlds vanity And my Pains which have been my Monitors Day and Night have Caused me to understand Wisdom secretly And for these and all other thy most endearing Mercies I will sing Praise to thee O! Lord my God and Give thee Thanks for ever I will not Conceal thy Faithfullness and thy Salvation but Declare and speak of them that others allsoe may praise thy Name yea in the Presence of all thy People that they may give thee Thanks in the Great Congregation And oh that I may never forget thy Mercyes nor my own Promises of amendment and Holy obedience but cheerfully and Faithfully pay thee my vows and Perform all the Promises and Good Purposes Which I made whilst I was in Trouble And Pity the Pains Good Lord and hear the Cryes
at the fittest time and sends troubles when they have most need of them and takes them off again when t is fittest to remove them If it causes present Sorrow and Smart it is to do them good and if they do not see how it should turn to their good yet thou doest and wilt make them see it too in the end Our Wills O! Father are too often guided by Folly but thine is always and altogether wise and has ever been most gracious and full of mercy towards me Thou knowest best O! Lord when it was fit for me to come into this World and when it is fit for me to leave it and what part is fittest for me to bear whilst I stay therein O! do thou appoint me how or in what condition I shall live and how long but withall help me to do thy work whilst I live Chuse thou my condition and let my Lot be what may please thee but then give me Grace faithfully and wisely to discharge the duties of that condition and let my carriage under it be such as may please thee too Amen Lord I am not only contented but glad to be at thy choice I pray thee that I may always be what thou pleasest and that I my self may always be pleased with it I desire also O! Father what seems good and pleasing unto me Yea when my pains and Distresses are extream I desire it earnestly But when I desire it I do not prescribe unto thee but beg that thou wouldst order therein not what my weakness wishes unless thy wisdom also sees it fitting And I know O! Lord that thou art ready to grant my desires if they be really for my good and thy Glory and agree with the wise ends of thy Providence and I press them no longer if thou seest they are otherwise Amen It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3. 18. If it be possible let this Cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt And if it may not pass from me except I drink it thy will be done Mat. 26. 39 42. Even in inflicting evil upon me thou art kind still and art doing me good against my will Amen Thirdly he must set himself to bear his sick bed Sorrows with Thankfulness We must not think it strange or that things are strained too high when we are called upon to be thankful under Sickness or other Afflictions For the difference between thankful and unthankful or complaining Natures lyes more in their Spirits than in their outward circumstances A thanful Spirit will find enough to give God thanks for on a Sick-bed or in any affliction And an unthankful Spirit will never want matter enough to complain of in a better condition And if any afflicted or Sick persons are unthankful it is not because they want Mercy 's good store which deserve their thanks but because they overlook them This Virtue of thankfulness to God as it is one of the most necessary Duty 's so is it one of the liveliest Beauties and brightest ornaments of a Sick-bed For it speaks true Humility when we shew as we do thereby that the least Mercy 's deserve our thanks and that the worst States which God puts us into are too good for us And it expresses intire good will and Love to God when we can love and praise him even whilst he corrects and smites us and take notice of all his Kindnesses in the midst of our afflictions and place an Implicit belief and confidence in his Love that by all these Sorrows he is doing us good and deserves our thanks tho' in our weak reason we are not able to see the good which is to accrue to us thereby And to preserve in himself this excellent virtue of thankfulness to God let the Sick person set himself thro all the course and contingencies of his Sickness Diligently to mark and seek out what may deserve his thanks and not as is too often done what may minister to complaints Let him pick out of every thing and out of every accident that befalls him what he may speak well of God for and let those be the things which he reflects on within himself and discourses of to others And under any pain or weakness let him often say Lord under all my Sorrows I have nothing to accuse but much to give thee thanks for I suffer less yea infinitely less than I deserve Blessed be thy mercy for spareing me Amen My Sufferings O! Lord are not only Justly deserved but they are needful also to do me good and such as thou wilt turn to good Blessed by thy name for seeking and compassing my benefit thereby Amen And when my Ailments come they want many aggravations which would make them a great deal worse to be born And are attended with many seasonable helps and comforts to ease and strengthen my Spirit under them My evils are tolerable evils Blessed be thy Pity and Tenderness for considering not what I should Suffer but what I can bear to suffer Amen Sometimes O! Lord by thy Grace I have ease and relish worldly comforts Sometimes I take sweet sleep and rest from my Pains and Labours and awake with great refreshment And under all my pains and weakness by thy mercy I have some to Help me and more to Pity and Pray for me I find support and thou still seasonably refreshest my Spirit from within or from without Blessed be thy name for these Helps and Comforts under my Distress Amen Thou often Moderatest and mitigatest my pains and then tho' they are a long trouble they are a tolerable one Or if one Symptom rages that is sometimes made a step to the ease or to the Prevention of a worse Or if it is smart it is not lasting but in waiting a little longer for thee I still have ease in thy due Time Blessed be thy Goodness O Father which is pleased thus to make my Bed in my Sickness Amen And however if I have less ease and more sorrows now at present yet O! my God I have the Blessed Hopes of Rest and Joy to come And I can never Bless thee enough for the Comforts of Hope that after a Patient and Short endurance of my Portion of Evil things here I shall be taken to the everlasting Happiness of thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Moreover O! Lord I receive my Bodily Sorrows as Medicines to my Soul to cure my Spirit and call me back to thee when I have gone astray I Bless thee for all the lowly thoughts they give me of my self and for all the discovery which I make of my own Errors thereby Amen And for all the Prostration both of mind and body which they put me upon showing towards thee and for all the dependance which I learn thence to place on thy mercy Amen And for their taking off my Fondness from all earthly delights and making me Cease to be in love with Vanity Amen And for their
my Family I trust intirely to thee who hast Goodness enough to Pity us and Power enough to help and deliver us I trust in thee O! my dear God who hast been my Refuge and Defence in many troubles and art still ready to be so in more who invitest us most Lovingly to cast all our Cares upon thee and hast promised to take care of us who lovest to be trusted and never failest them who trust in thee I trust to thy Wisdom to chuse for me better than I can chuse for my Self I trust to thy Power to help and support me where I am weak and without strength to help and support my Self And I trust to thy Love and Fatherly care to deal out all my Sorrows with tenderness and to turn them all to my good and greater Comfort in the End For I believe and know O! Gracious Lord that thou wilt correct me in measure and consider not what my Sins do deserve but what my Weakness can bear I believe that thou wilt remember Mercy in my Corrections and still make light to arise up up to me out of Darkness and daily relieve my Sorrows with thy manifold and most seasonable Favours I believe that thou wilt not keep Anger for ever but in due time wilt abate my Pains and Troubles or if that be good for me and for thy Glory perfectly remove them however in the End that thou wilt change them all into everlasting Rest and Joy with thee thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. For Trust against the Torment and distraction of Fears AND since under all my Sorrows and uncertainties thou art my stay and confidence Lord keep me easie and quiet within my Self I have cast all my cares npon thee and therefore they should not any longer be troublesome or distracting unto me I have put my self into thy hands and thou hast promised to take care of me and therefore I ought to rest assured that all is certainly for my good and is most wisely and kindly Ordered which befalls me Oh! then that I be not disqâ—ieted with fear of Evil since none can happen unto me without thy leave That I be not troubled at the Helplessness of those I am to leave behind me because I leave thee to take care of them Nor frighted with the approach of Pains because thou art to set bounds to them Nor with any evil Tydings or Alarm of Dangers because thou art to govern them Yea that I be not terrified tho' I walk thro' the shadow of Death because Life and Death are both in thy hands Nor even in Death it self because thou wilt most Graciously support me in my Death and make it the Gate to everlasting Life thro Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 3. For Trust against dejection of Spirit and Despondency AND since I rest upon thee as my Rock and stay and have thy strength to Trust to let me not sink under my Burden O! Lord by Dejection and Faintness of Spirit For no Burden is so heavy upon me but thou canst and wilt support me under it and in thy due time which is always my best time deliver me from it Thou hast Promised O! my God not to lay more upon me than thou wilt enable me to bear And thou Holy Jesu art touched with the Sense of our infirmities and wilt inflict no more than thou knowest is proportionable to my weakness Thou hast bore them in thy self and wilt tenderly consider them in thy Members Thou wilt not continue my Smart till I have quite lost my Patience Nor send me Pains and Sorrows without supports and succours And thou dost send and wilt send no evil upon me but what I need or what is for my Good and what thou wilt take off when it has wrought thy gracious Purposes and served my Necessities And therefore when my Pains or Distresses are hardest upon me let me not think or say that I cannot endure them For thou Lord knowest better what I can endure than I do And when I come to it by thy help I shall find my self able to endure more than I thought I could And if thou hadst not known me strong enough thro' thy Grace to endure them thou wouldest not have put me to endure them And even now thou wilt either remove or mitigate the same when I can abide no more Instead of concluding then that I can bear them no longer give me Grace O! Father to set my self resolutely to bear them the best I can And firmly to believe that thou mercifully considerest what I can bear and wilt shew thy Grace is strong where my flesh is weak and wilt be sure to support me at present and to ease and deliver me at last thro' the Merits of my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 4. For Trust against Suspiciousness and finding Fault SInce I wholly commit and trust my Self to thee O! my God let me constantly think well of all that thou dost for me and sendest upon me Let me not think ill of it because I cannot think ill of thee nor fall to Tax it either with unfitness or unkindness or once suspect any therein because it is ordered by thee who canst not order amiss and who in all these things hast not less Love and Goodness but only more wisdom to allot and order for me than I have to order for my self Yea where things are hardest to be accounted for make me still think well of them and believe firmly that thou seâ—st good and kind Reasons for the same tho' my short-sighted and shallow understanding can see none And therefore O! Father when things are hardest upon me in my Condition my Reverence and Confidence in thee shall be stronger than my mistrust of them and by thy Grace I will answer all my own Objections against them by considering they are of thy chusing And whether any evils are sent upon me or any comforts are delayed and withheld from me I will believe still that all is as it should be and will turn to good in the end because all is done by thee who lovest me and hast promised to keep me under thy tender care at present and to receive me to thy Blessed self at last thro' the Merits of my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 5. For Trust for Deliverance out of Sickness or Afflictions LOrd I trust to thee who sendest all these Sorrows upon me to take them off again I trust to thee to take them off because thou takest no delight in the Pain of thy Servants yea because thou art of great Pity and art touched with a Sense of our sufferings because our Fathers trusted in thee and were holpen because I my self have always hitherto trusted in thee and thou hast still delivered me and because thou hast promised in the day of Trouble to deliver those that call upon thee that they may Glorifie thee And now O! my God let
we need these Embitterments of Life to reconcile us to the thoughts of Death and to awaken our Preparation for it That Patience is one of the principal Virtues which we have to learn and exercise whilst we Live And that if the exercise of it is hard it will answerably be exceeding happy and most highly rewarded And let me remember moreover O! Lord that the more Tryal we have here of our own Patience the more Proof we have withal of thy Grace and Faithfulness and the greater is our hope of a more abundant joy and Blessed recompence And that a little waiting and endurance usually lets us see how good and Gracious thou art in removing what lyes hard upon us However that the Rest and Comforts of the next World will abundantly satisfie and make amends for all Yea and even here O! Lord let me consider that Patience under my Burdens makes them lighter and my Condition better giving me present ease in this Life as well as more abundant hopes in the Life to come That 't is best for thy Will to take place of mine and to chuse for me both whether and when and how I shall be eased of them And that if I struggle against thy Will I cannot resist it But by bearing it patiently I do not only submit to necessity but shew an Act of Obedience and Duty which will please thee and in the end will far more profit me than my Pains do at present afflict me thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 4. AND Grant me Grace O! Lord always to bear in mind that I am here but as a Stranger and that these Decays will carry me home That whilst I am here in the Body I am absent from the Lord and still as I am leaving my Body I am hastning to him And that my poor Soul is now a cloggâ—d and a close Prisoner in Flesh and these Pains and Weaknesses are come to set it free And let me remember O! Father that these Sorrows which I endure in my passage to Rest and Peace are common to men Nay they are the Lot of good men who are often exercised with a greater measure thereof because here is all the Place of their evil things They are not only incident to us but Profitable for us and the best have need of them For even the Blessed Jesus himself tho he were a Son yet learned he Obedience by the things which he suffered He bore the Cross before he wore the Crown and we are first to suffer that we may also Reign with him And I willingly submit to follow where my Blessed Lord has lead the way and to take Pain and Sorrow in my passage to everlasting Life and Joy as he has done before me Only O! my God be thou with me as thou wast with him and let me have thee for my Support and Comfort under all my Sorrows whilst I live and for my Blessed Portion when I die thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen VIII Prayers for Spiritual Improvements by Sickness I. O! Most Gracious and Merciful God I receive this sickness as thy Monitor to put me upon considering and amending the Errors of my Life and on making preparation for my Death And let no flattering hopes of life O! Lord delay or slacken my Repentance or keep me from setting my Soul in order But give me Grace to make use thereof as if I were sure it would be what for ought I know it may be a Sickness unto Death And therefore let me now begin to repent of all my sins with that exactness as he should do who thinks this is like to be the last time And to order all my Actions with that uprightness and holy care as befits him who is going to give an account of them And to be so perfect in putting on all the Dresses of a Religious Spirit as he who expects to have no place afterwards for filling up any Omissions And on my Sick-bed Holy Father let Holy Prayers be my Employment and Delight And make me look on shewing Patience and exercising Faith and perfecting Repentance to be my business for those remaining moments which I have still to spend on earth Oh! Let me have as little to do with Vanity and as much intercourse with thee my God and exercise of all Heavenly Thoughts and Virtues as I can that being used to that blessed Employment of Beatified Spirits I may be fit for their Society and prepared everlastingly to injoy thee in Glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 2. AND Lord do thou whose Glory it is to bring good out of evil and Light out of Darkness turn my sickness which comes as the punishment of my sins into the means of my obedience Make it the instrument of thy Grace to bring me to my self and to call me off from Sin and Folly which have been the Parents of all our pain and misery Let it bring Innocence and Watchfulness to my Spirit and peace and comfort therein and then my Afflictions shall pass for Favours and I will give thee thanks and praise for my Correction When it wasts and brings down my Spirits O! Father cause it also to tame and bring down my Passions and all violent Motions In my low Estate make me meek and lowly And let the sense of my wants and weakness cure me of all Self-Confidence and carry me out wholly to depend on thee Under the Terrors of thy Power possess me with holy awe and fear And whilst my pains make me forgetful of other things let me not remember the wrongs I have received nor be high in resentments of them Let the dulness also of my Senses O God mortifie all Carnal Appetites and the unsavoryness of all worldly Vanities cure me of all inordinate fondness for them Oh! Make my love of Earthly things and all my sinful Lusts and Self-esteem to die before me and let my Sickness kill them and save my Soul alive And grant O! Lord that the trouble which I find there is in wanting thy Mercies may keep me duly sensible of them and thankful for them whilst I enjoy them And let the feeling of these Sorrows in my self touch me with Pity and Compassion for the Sufferings of others whensoever I see them exercised therewith And make me ever think O! Holy Father that I get more in being thus made better and wiser by my Afflictions than in being deliver'd from them And count nothing so good for me as to be brought thus to know my self and to know and serve thee and to be put in the sure way of obtaining thine everlasting Mercy thro my most Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. AND if as my outward man decays my inward man be thus renewed I will bless thy Name O! Merciful God for the kindness of these hard Providences and acknowledge to thy praise that thou in very Faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled For thou
lose them again That being made whole once it nearly concerns me to sin noe more lest I fall under something worse And that as I have now received them again from thee I ought above all things to Devote them to thee and that whilst they are in the way of pleasing thee they are surely in the best way of Benefitting and Comforting me And Lord have Pity upon others who are uncomfortable blinde as I was Hear their Cryes and Lighten their Darkness as thou hast Done mine Oh! that seeing what thou hast now done for me they may hold fast their hope and trust in thee And that all thy Servants may Praise and Magnifye thy Goodness which gives Sight to the Blind and raiseth the Poor out of Misery to be a Liveing monument of thy mercy and to Give thanks and Praise to thee thro our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. IV. Prayers for a Sick Child 1. Out of the Office of Visitation of the Sick O! Allmighty God and most Mercyful Father to whom alone belong the issues of Life and Death look Down from Heaven we humbly beseech thee with the Eyes of Mercy upon this Child now lyeing upon the Bed of Sickness Visit him O! Lord with thy Salvation Deliver him in thy good appointed time from his Bodily Pain and save his Soul for thy Mercyes Sake That if it shall be thy good Pleasure to prolong his Days here on Earth he may live to thee and be an instrument of thy Glory by Serveing thee Faithfully and Doing Good in his Generation or else Receive him into those Heavenly Habitations where the Souls of them that Sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy Perpetual Rest and Felicity Graunt this O! Lord for thy mercyes sake in the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth aud reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever one God world without end Amen 2. Another Prayer for the same LOrd Pity the troubles and weakness of this Poor Child and Pity our Sorrows who are afflicted with it and for it Ease it of its Pains and strengthen it when it lyes struggling for Life and raise it up again if it may please thee to grow in years and stature and in Wisdom and thy Fear and thereby to comfort us and Glorifye thee We beleive O! Allmighty Father that thou knowest best what is fit both for it and us and wiâ—t Doe what is best for both And therefore we leave it to thee to dispose of as thou pleasest But whether it be to Life or Death let it be thine in both and either preserve it to be thy true and Faithfull Servant here on Earth or take it to the Blessedness of thy Children in the Kingdom of Heaven thro our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Our Father c. A Thanksgiving for its Recovery BLessed be thy Name O! Father of mercyes for that thou hast heard us concerning this Child and raised him up for thy Service and our Comfort And Lord fill his Heart with Grace as thou hast done ours with joy Let Wisdom and Goodness still grow up with him and as fast as he grows capable thereof make him willing and carefull to Honor and obey thee Let not Company corrupt him nor youthfull Lusts as they come on prevail against his Soul But as now thou art the Preserver of his Life be ever henceforward the Keeper of his Innocence that whensoever thou shall call him again in thy Due time to meet Death he may have Comfort in the Remembrance of a Godly and well spent Life and sweetly fall asleep in thy Peace thro the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father which art c. V. Prayers in times of common Infection Scriptures THe Lord killeth and he maketh alive he bringeth Down to the Grave and he bringeth up 1 Sam. 2. 6. And is there any Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. 6. But in his Wrath he remembreth mercy Hab. 3. 2. Oh! then let us come and return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal as he hath smitten and he will binde us up Hos. 6. 1. And make thy Dwelling in the secret Place of the most High and thou shalt abide under the Shadow of the Almighty He shall cover thee with his Feathers and his Truth shall be thy Shield and Buckler And then thou shall not be afraid for the Terror by night nor for the Arrow that flyeth by Day Nor for the Pestilence that walketh in Darkness nor for the Destruction that wasteth at Noon Day A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy Right Hand but it shall not come nigh thee There shall noe Evil befall thee nor shall any Plague come nigh thy Dwelling For he shall give his Angells charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways And that because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the most High thy Habitation Ps. 91. 1 4 5 6 7 9 10 11. Glory be to the Father c. Prayers I. O! Almighty God just art thou in visiting us of this place with this infectious Disease which takes away not only the injoyments of Health but alsoe the sweetest earthly Comforts and Supports of Sickness and Deprives us whilst we Live of the Help and Company of our Friends We justifye thee and thy judgements and confess that our miseryes are still far less than our Sins But whilst it comes to chastize our wickedness let it cure it too O! Lord. Take from us the Plague of an Hard Heart and make us tremble at thy word And purge away all our Sins for I fear them more and am more Desirous of their Cure than of the Cure of any Bodily Maladyes And they are truly our Plague which has infected our whole Nature and wherewith we Dayly infect one another And when they have showd us our wickedness let thy judgements cease from us and be intreated from this miserable Land for thy Dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 2. O! Righteous Lord thou hast showed thy People terrible things and Given them a Drink of Deadly Wine Thou terrifyest us with thine Arrows which wound secretly and Walk in Darkness And with a Destruction which wasts at Noon Day But this deadly infection tho it be very spreading can invade none O! God without thy Commission Nor kill those whom it doth invade till thou biddest it Soe that our Life and Health is not left at the mercy of raging infection but is still bound up in thy Hand And they who have thee for their Sanctuarye in the most Contagious time may Dwell in Safety For thou givest thy Angells charge over them that noe infection can touch or Destroy them And under thy wings O! Lord doe I seek for shelter for my self and for my Family We have noe Preservation against these Dangers but thy Good Providence And the
Eccl. 12. 7. But there the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at Rest and they hear not the voice of the Oppressor Job 3. 17 18. Yea I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave saith the Lord I will redeem them from Death O! Death I will be thy Plague O! Grave I will be thy Destruction Hos. 13. 14. For he shall change this Vile Body and fashion it like unto his own Glorious Body Phil. 3. 21. And this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. 53. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all Faces and there shall be noe more Sorrow nor Crying nor Pain but Death shall be swallowed up in Victory Is. 25. 8. Rev. 21. 4. 1 Cor. 15. 54. 3. Against Fear of Death FEar not the sentence of Death remember them that have been before thee and that come after for this is the Sentence of the Lord over all Flesh Ecclus. 41. 3. It is but a going to Rest Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Jo. 11. 11. And tho therein I leave Dear Friends yet I go to my Fathers Gen. 15. 15. And am gather'd to my People Gen. 49. 33. And the Righteous hath Hope in his Death Prov. 14. 32. For God hath begotten us again to a lively Hope thro the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead 1 Pet. 1. 3. And by his Death he hath destroyed him who had the Power of Death and Deliver'd them who all their Life Time were in Bondage to the Fear of Death Heb. 2. 14 15. Sâ—e that now whether we Live or Dye we are the Lords Rom. 14. 8. For he died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him 1. Thes. 5. 10. The Sting of Death is Sin 1 Cor 15. 56. But he is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins Act. 5. 31. And we have such an High Priest as will have Compassion on our infirmities He can mercifully Consider and be touched with them in us having in all points Sin only excepted been tempted like as we are himself Heb. 4. 15. c. 2. 17 18. And therefore Thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory of Death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15. 57. And Blessed are the Dead from henceforth which Dye in the Lord Yea saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works follow them Rev. 14. 13. 4. Against Presumption LEt him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 1 Cor. 10. 12. Thou standest by Faith be not high-minded but Fear Rom 11. 20. Happy is the man that feareth always but he that hardneth his Heart against Fear shall fall into mischeif Prov. 28. 14. Work out therefore your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling For it is God that worketh in you of his Good Pleasure Phil. 2. 12 13. Likewise since you must stand before him who without Respect of Persons judgeth according to every mans work pass the time of your Sojourning here in Fear 1 Pet. 1. 17. Tho I know nothing by my self yet am I not hereby justifyed 1 Cor. 4. 4. The Heavens are not clean in his sight Job 15. 15. He put noe trust in his Servants and his Angels he charged with folly Job 4. 18. When I consider I am afraid of him Job 23. 15. I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever Psal. 52. 8. But will keep withall an humble Spirit that trembleth at his word Is. 66. 2. And serve him with Reverence and Godly Fear Heb. 12. 28. 5. In the last Agonies LOrd now let thy Servant Depart inâ— Peace Luc. 2. 29. Say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation Psal. 35. 3. This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradice Luc. 23. 43. Lord Jesu receive my Spirit Act 7. 59. Into thine Hand I commit it for thou hast redeemed me O! Lord God of Truth Psal. 31. 5. Be with me and Conduct me thro the Valley of the shadow of Death Psal. 23. 4. Send thy Holy Angels to Carry me into Abrahams Bosom Luk. 16. 22. And into the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that Day 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. For if we beleive that Jesus Dyed and rose again even soe them allsoe which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess. 4. 14. And I know whom I have Believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have Committed to him against that Day 2 Tim. 1. 12. Prayers 1. Prayers on the Prospect of ones own Death Drawing near 1. GRaunt O! Lord that I may end my Life in thy Fear and Favor and that I may Receive my Death which now threatens me not as my Curse but as my Deliverance Let me find it a Rest from my Labors and an Entrance upon a Life without Trouble and without Sin And Blessed be thy Mercy which tho it has seen fit and needfull to Discipline me with Sorrows yet has not made my Sorrows Endless but all to be laid down with this mortal Life and even in my Death has given me hopes of joys without end in a better Life through my Dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. O! Blessed Lord now I am hasting on to the End of my Life Remember not against me the Great and manifold errors thereof but let them all be wholly done away by thy Mercyes and my Blessed Saviours merits and my own true Repentance Let me come to my Change without Guilt and foresee its near approach without Fear or impatience And Oh! that I may allways stand ready to give a Good account of my Life unto thee And that I may fight out the Good Fight of Faith with Constancy and Perseverance and finish my Course with joy and never Sleep in Sin nor lye Down in misery and Sorrow And since my Soul is now summon'd to meet the Bridegroom Dress it O! Lord in a Wedding Garment fit to appear in his train Give me Oyl in my Lamp and Grace to trim and light it and keep it allways burning sending up a pure and holy Flame that when the Door opens I may be ready to Enter in with him And enable it to strip it self of all Fleshly affections before it leaves my Body and to be of like mind and Disposition with the Holy Angels and Beatifyed Spirits before it goes to keep them Company And O! my God let me never forgeâ— that this is like to be the last Tryal which thou wilt afford me of renouncing mine own will and resigning my self up to thine and of shewing forth Devotion of Spirit and all Holy Obedience and Patience and Faith and humble Confidence in thee And therefore
of our state and of a frail and forgetfull Creature in the midst of a tempting World can bear Oh! then that I may consider thy Mercy to fortifye my minde against Fear And fix my Soul upon the tenderness and Clemency of my judge and Saviour which will embolden me to stand before him without Horror And upon the Condescentions of thy Gospel and the needfull Deductions and Forbearance which it promises to our weaknesses that in this Hour of my necessity I may be guarded against all the suspicions of my own melancholy or mistrusts of thy mercy and may be strenthend with a comfortable Hope in thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. BUt if after all my Fears shall by times return upon me and prove troublesom to me let it however Comfort me O! Lord to thinke that thou art wont to make better of Humble Souls than they are wont to make of themselves and wilt judge me not according to my Fears but according to thy mercyes A truely Contrite Heart O! God is Safe in thine Eyes even when it gives it self up for lost in its own And as my Fears will be noe Prejudice to my safety soe Grant Good Lord that they may be an Help to my Duty and may quicken and increase my Care and Endeavours to obey thee Make them the Guards of my innocence and a constant Spur to thy Service And then O! Holy Father tho they trouble and Discomfit me at Present Yet they will happily Conâ—ute themselves and recompence me in the end and my sincere Obedience shall make sure thy Gracious acceptance tho I my self dare not beleive it till I come to find and hear it from thee in the other World thro the merits of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen IV. A Prayer against Presumption LEt not my Heart Deceive me O! Blessed Lord in judgeing of my self but keep me from Pride and vain Confidence in setting too little by thy Grace and thinking too well of mine own ways Oh! that I may never flatter my self into an Evil Security and an insensibleness of the Great need I have of thy Mercy For thou O! Lord resistest the Proud but givest Grace unto the Humble Thou rejectest the Proud Pharisee who justifyes himself and sees not his own nakedness and Poverty But the very best of us all Doe absolutely need repentance and have but too many Sins to humble us We must throw our Selves upon thy Mercy and can not stand in thy judgement shouldest thou be Rigorous in exacting what we have Done amiss nor appear before thee when thou art angry Thy justice is terrible to the Greatest Saints yea and before thee even the Angels themselves doe cover their Faces And as we can not come off clear in thy judgement but merely thro Mercy Soe neither Can we stand in Obedience to qualifye us for it but only thro Faith 'T is thy Help O! Lord that must support and keep us in thy ways And if it were not for thy Grace and our own Caution and holy jealousy over our Selves we are as lyable to fall as others Oh! then that I may not be high minded and place my Confidence in my self but learn to Fear and shew Care and humble Dependance upon thee and with Godly Reverence look for thy Promises of Grace and Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen V. Prayers in the last Agonies Ejaculations DVst thou art and to Dust shalt thou return Gen. 3. 19. Lord Jesus have mercy upon me O thou Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World Be merciful to me a Sinner Luk. 18. 13. Tho I often offend thee yet Lord thou knowest I sincerely Love thee and hate my self for having displeased thee And can any who sincerely Loves thee Perish Eternally Lord receive me for I am hasting apace to thee I stretch forth my Hands unto thee my Soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty Land Ps. 143. 6. Lord remember me when thou Comest in thy Kingdom Doe with this frail and wearied Body what thou pleasest Only receive my Spirit to thy Mercy in Death and raise up this Corruptible to incorruption after Death And forsake me not O! God now my strength faileth me Ps. 71. 9. Besides which the Dying Persons may use the Scriptures Collected for this Case p. 127. Prayers 1. LOrd Wash my Soul in thy Blood that it may be presented without Spot unto thee And let me Dye in thy Favour and rest in Peace and rise again in Glory Amen 2. STrenthen me O! my God in my Agonies As my strength fails let my pains wear off But when my Strenth fails let not my Faith fail Even in Death let me trust in thee And the nearer I am drawing to thee the more Doe thou manifest thy mercy unto me thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 3. DEliver me O! Lord from Fear of Death and from all violent Disorders of a troubled Fancy or painful Delusions of my Ghostly Enemy Oh! let not him be able now to disturb and terrifye me or any way to prevail against me but Guard thou thy Servant comeing unto thee Amen 4. HAve me in thy Custody O! holy Father for nothing can can take me out of thy Hands And Give thy Holy Angels Charge to stand about me to guard and receive my poor Soul at my Departure and to Conduct and Carry it to the Blessed Receptacles of Rest and Peace Amen 5. COme Lord Jesu Come quickly I Desire and Groan earnestly to be dissolved and to be with thee Into thy Hands I Commend my Spirit and lay Down my wearyed Flesh to Rest in Hope of a Blessed Resurrection to eternal Peace and joy at the last Day Amen 6. LOrd if it be thy Gracious will make my Pains short and my Death Easy at least not extremely tedious or Greivous to me But if thou hast otherwise ordered thy Blessed will be done Only Give me Patience to bear them and Spiritual Comforts under them and at thine own time make my Death my Passage to a Blessed and Eternal Life through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen Out of the Office for Burial ANd O! Lord most Holy O! God most mighty O! Holy and Mercifull Saviour thou most worthy Judge Eternal Suffer me not at my last Hour for any pains of Death to fall from thee Amen And these Prayers may be said for the Dying Person as occasion requires by his Friends who are about him only altering the Persons we for I him for me our for my c. as is requisite upon the change of Persons Likewise they may use for him the recommendatory Prayer for one at the Point of Departure in the Churches Office for Visitation of the Sick O! Almighty God with whom doe live the Spirits of just Men made perfect after they are Deliverd from their Earthly Prisons We humbly commend the Soul of this thy Servant our dear Brother into thy
improve my Spirit And oh that this succession of my Losses may serve to perfect me in Patience and to wean me more thoroly from all earthly Supports Oh! that it may temper my worldly Complacencyes and guard me against all excess therein And call me to take Delight and seek Comfort in thee instead of seeking it in them and to look more at the joys of thy Kingdom where our Comforts shall succede one another infinitely faster than our Sorrows do here and where we shall for ever injoy thee thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen For supplying the want they have of their departed Friend by other ways of Gods good Providence they may use the two Prayers for the Widow and Orphans c. p. 158 156 and 157. 6. A Prayer for Learning by these Losses to sit more loose to the World and to fix our Hearts more on the Love of God THou hast sent me this Thorn in the flesh O! Blessed Lord to cure my inordinate Fondness for fleshly Delights and to keep me from being too much exalted with them For I pleased my self too much with worldly Comforts and to take my Heart off from them thou hast now embitter'd them to me with these Sorrows And Oh! doe thou teach me thereby to Delight more in thy self and less in Earthly things Enable me to make a Good Conscience and a comfortable sense of thy Love and Hope of thy Promises and of Heavenly joys my most beloved pleasures And Lord let me never call my self unhappy whilst I can injoy thee But make me account the Loss of all things else to be made up to me in thy Love and never repine or complain of other wants whilst thou art left me and I can comfortably look up to thee as my Bosom Friend and my tender Father as my Life and my Health my Rest and my joy thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen â— A Prayer when a Friend is taken away in his Prime THou art pleased to Cut off my Dear Friend O! most Righteous Lord in the midst of his Days before he had passed thro the several stages of Life and accomplished the Number of his Years But I will remember O! my God that it is not the Lenth of Life but the Goodness of it which thou lookest at And that he has lived long enough who has lived to be fit for thee and to Dispose his Soul for thy Mercy The blessed Mansions above are infinitely the best place to prolong and injoy Life in And therefore if thou O! Father art graciously pleased as I hope thou art for the Merits of our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to accept of the innocence and obedience of his Life neither he nor we have any cause to complain of the shortness of it And if we who are left behind him may have the Grace first to live holily we will thankfully think and own to thee that we have lived long enough whensoever thou seest it Time we should Dye And as my Dear Friend is taken away in the Prime of his Strength soe I must Consider O! Lord that he is taken away withall in the Hight of his Toyls and out of the greatest Hurry of his Busyness and Temptations Thou hast thereby kept him from trying how strong he could be to bear Sorrows and Vexations and from lamenting to finde his Strength too often turn'd into weakness And oh that we who survive him may at lenth attain by thy Grace to have all our temptations end in a perpetual security and undisturbedness to have all our Sorrows turned into joys and our Days of Labor happily exchanged for Days of Rest and Peace for the Merits and Mediation of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. Prayers when a Friend is taken away by a violent untimely Death I. A Prayer whilst the Person yet liveth to be said either by himself or by his Friends for him O! Allmighty Lord thou art pleased by a violent and hasty Stroke to hurry me thy unworthy Servant out of this World For thou didst Deliver me into the Hands of him that Smote me and how unjustly soever my Death comes from him yet it is most just from thee I fully justify thee and freely forgive him and oh that he may truely repent thereof in Time that thou mayest freely forgive him too But as I am like to be snatched away thereby from hence in hast O! my Dear God Give me Great strength of Grace to do much towards finishing my Peace with thee in a little Time If thou art pleased to shew it thy Grace can perfect my Repentance in few hours yea in a few minutes as well as in many It wrought it in the Thief upon the Cross in his last Agonies And some who had tarryed till the last hour of the Day are made acceptable thereby in thy Service Oh! let it be mighty towards me in this my necessity as it was towards them in theirs and take me not hence till it has made me a Penitent fit for thee to accept of Oh! Remember not my great and manifold Sins in Wrath but only to send Grace sufficient to Cure them and to shew Mercy on me for the same And as I am hereby Chastned for their Cause Lord let it be that I may not be Condemned with the World Let all my Punishment or Portion of Pains be here but Give me Peace and Favour with thee hereafter And Spare me a little Good Lord Spare me if it may seem Good to thee that I may recover some Strength and Dress my Lamp and supply the Great Defectiveness of my Duty towards thee before I 〈◊〉 But if thou hast otherwise Decreed and I must Dye suddenly then magnifye thy mercy O! my God inâ—escueing me from the near approacâ— of Eternal misery and let thy Displeasure end in my Death but after that receive me among the meanest of thy Servants to Everlasting Life thro the merits of my Blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ Amen 2. A Prayer of his Friends after his Death O! Blessed Father it has seem'd Good to thy wise Providence to tear this Dear Friend from us by violence and to send him untimely to his Grave I own thy Justice herein and Dâ—sire to shew Reverence instead of murmuring because it is thy Doing And my Hope is O! Lord that thou doest and wilt remember the Pious Study and bent of his former Life in mercy and graciously accept him as one Dying in thy Fear And whilst I have this Hope to Comfort me I will not Complain of any violence or Accidents which hurryed him away from us to injoy thee When it has been the business of a mans Life and his dayly Study and Care O! God to serve thee tho Death comes on the sudden yet it will not come too soon for him And I will consider allsoe that if thou surprizest him with the suddenness of his Death thou sufferest him not to be
receive my Death and think 't is time for me to die if thou doest because Life now is grown very uneasie to me and every day brings much more evil than good and is more my Burden than my Blessing I receive it from thee O! Lord as my passage to a better Life and am not only willing but thankful to change Weariness for Rest and Earthly Sorrows for Heavenly and Everlasting Joys Amen If the Dying persons have lived ill and loosly they have Reason indeed if God please to desire to live longer that they may learn to live better and may be more perfect before they Die Yea and even good persons do many times desire the same since the best may mend and still grow better But let such good Souls think with themselves that if they should live longer yet living on in the same frail Natures peradventure more days would still heap up more Frailties and Infirmities to make them still more afraid of Death and they would be more imperfect and less fit to die then than they are now So that 't is best to let God chuse for them and be willing to Die when he pleases If he would not leave the ordering and Expences of his Funeral to the Discretion of his Friends but is minded to give Directions about the â—â—me himself let him declare where he desires they should lay his Body and who should be desired to accompany it and who to bear it to his Grave and what Tokens of kind Remembrance shall be given to any of them And if he see fit he may order some of the smaller Gifts and Memorials of kindness which I mentionâ—d before at the making of his Will to be given at that time In proportioning the Expences thereof he should have regard to the Estate which he has to leave and to his Rank and Station in the World And in laying cut the same he will most comfort and benefit himself by such ways of expence as best Honour God and profit others such as satisfying the Hungry with Doles and cloathing the Needy with Garments and sending Gifts in Money more or less as he pleases and as suits with his Worldly Circumstances to his own or other adjacent Parishes to be distributed among the â—oor thereof or in such other Acts of Piety and Beneficence as are fit to attend the Body of one who both living in the World and leaving it was studious to be found doing good And when he is near about to leave the World he may take a pious and solemn leave of it Let him call in his Parents if he has any to ask their pardon for any offence he ever gave them and to beg their Blessing and give them his Thanks for all their Love and Care of him And also his Children to give them his Blessing and charge them to keep upright and constant in Gods Fear and in loving and helping one another And likewise his Friends and Family and Dependants to receive his last Farewell Let him profess the great need he has of God's Mercy and the good hopes he has through the Merits of Christ and through his alone to find it Let him profess also that he Dies in the Faith of Christ and repeat the Creed And that he hopes for the acceptance of his Faith and Repentâ—nce in the Unity and Communion of Christs Church in which he Dies and particularly as a stedfast and sincere though unworthy Member of the Church c. whose declared Belief he professes whose way of Worship he heartily receives and in whose Peace and Communion he has hitherto lived and now dies Then let him profess that he takes leave of the World in peace And forgives all both present and absent as he desires himself God would forgive him And that if any have ever taken any thing ill of him he desires they would forgive him After which let him send Messages to any absent Friends whose Reformation he desires whose Peace he seeks or whose Love or Favors he would express either a just thankfulness or a friendly sense of And as for themselves let him thank them all for all their good Wishes and good Services in his Life and at his Death and pray God to remember the same for their Benefit And let him heartily beg their pardon for all the Unreasonable or passionate or unequal usage which he had ever been guilty of towards any of them in his Health for all the unnecessary trouble which he has given to any of them by his weakness but especially for all the provocation and offence which he has given to any of them by his fretfulness and impatience during the time of his sickness And then let him charge all about him to keep constant in the Faith and firm in the Unity of the Church and endeavour to confirm them in the ways of Piety Sobriety Justice Charity and to warn them against falling from any of them for any Intrests or Injoyments of this World or if at any time they do against delaying Repentance or growing hardened and secure under their Fall Then let him exhort them all to keep Peace among themselves especially those who are concerned in the Division of his Estate And desire all their prayers to assist him in his Agonies And so recommend them all to God's Mercy praying that he will keep them all stedfast in his fear and safe under his care whilst they live and give them all comfort when they come into his condition and bring them all at last to meet together again in his Heavenly Kingdom After this he may tell those Friends who attend more about him that in his departure he desires he may have no disturbance to lengthen out his Pains and molest his Passage And therefore if any of them think they cannot contain themselves and govern their Grief nor see him Die without bursting into passionate Out-crys and noisie disturbance to call back his retiring Spirit let him beg them to withdraw when his Death approaches and pray for him and vent their own grief by themselves But if any of them can stand by and accompany him in silence if they happen then to be about him he may desire that they would stay to assist him with their Prayers in his last Agonies and recommend his departing Soul to God at his last Breath After he hath taken such Religious and solemn leave of all his Friends he has nothing left to do but whilst his strength serves to employ his Spirit in Holy Thoughts and Desires as he did before and devoutly and willingly wait God's time for his change And under this expectation let him often say My Flesh and my Heart faileth but thou art the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever Ps. 73 26. Lord strengthen me in my last Agonies and guard me from all Frights and Molestations of the Enemy Amen I have a good Master for Jesus that most Blessed of all Names is my Master and
lasting Interests throwing away thy favour and future Joys for empty shows and shadows and a blessed Eternity for moments of Vanity I reflect on all this O! Merciful God with bitterness and with a Spirit wearied with mine own ways I see and lament my own folly and abhor mine own vileness on account thereof I wish with all my Soul that those Sins had never been done and would take any way to undoe them and most earnestly desire and fnlly purpose by thy Grace that I may do so no more God be merciful to me a self-condemning and repenting Sinner 3. LOrd I am burden'd and heavy laden with my Sins Oh! Do thou who callest out to the heavy laden to seek refreshment at thine Hands give me ease I confess them and desire above all things else that I may utterly forsake them Let me according to my Promise find Mercy From mine Heart I forgive all Persons who have offended me even my bitterest Enemies and most earnestly entreat thee that thou wouldst forgive them Oh! Do thou who offerest forgiveness to those who are ready to grant it for Jesus Christ's sake forgive me I repent unfeignedly of all my Sins and am ready to make all just amends at least as far as I am able to any whom I have ever injured whether they be of low or of high Degree or even the highest of all O! God of all Grace perfect my Repentance and accept it and blot out all my misdeeds as thou engagest to do unto all those who sincerely repent of the same I know O! Blessed Jesus that there is no Name but thine whereby I can obtain Pardon And I trust only to the fulness of thy Merits and to the faithfulness of thy gracious Promises and to the abundance of my Heavenly Father's Mercy and Loving Kindness to me a great and miserable but an Humble Contrite Penitent Sinner Forgive them all O! Blessed Father Remembring not my Deservings but the pityableness of my Weakness and thy Dear Sons infinite Merits and thine own boundless Mercies and most precious Promises Let me here have thy Peace and be admitted hereafter to stand for ever in thy â—resence for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake Amen Our Father c. For carrying on this duty of Repentance the sick person may likewise make use of the Prayer for Profession of Godly Sorrow for Sins and of Resolutions of New Obedience and of the Profession of the Fruits of Repentance and the Conditions of Forgiveness and of the Prayer for Pardon of sins in the Office for Penitents And for comforting and quieting his Conscience against Fears and Scruples he may be supplyed with Hymns and Prayers in the Office for Persons troubled in mind all which are in the Companion to the Penitent II. Prayers for an Heart to be Liberal in Alms-Deeds when any Persons are about to make their Will or to accompany Repentance at any time leaving out the Passages within the Hooks which particularly refer to their last Wills I. O! Almighty Father thou gavest me all my worldly Estate that I should employ it for the convenient support of my self and of my Family and of the â—oor and Needy And when I come to thee I can have nothing to carry along with me but a strict account how I have laid it out Give me Grace therefore I earnestly intreat thee after I have made a wise provision for my Family out of it with a free and glad heart to give good Portions thereof to the poor who are thy Receivers or to Religious and Pious uses that when I can no longer possess my Estate I may come with joy to give up my account of it and that when my worldly Goods can no longer profit me my good disposal thereof may thro the Merits of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 2. AND whatsoever I give to the Poor or to pious uses for thy sake give me the Heart O! Lord to do it with a good Will and with a Liberal Hand For thou O! My God hast freely given the whole of this Estate to me and therefore it is not for me to be narrow and niggardly in these Returns of a small part thereof which I make to thee And these Pious and Charitable Gifts alas Have been far too few and too poor and slender all my life and therefore I need to supply that Defect by being more liberal therein at my Death And what I thus give out of it O! Blessed Jesu is to thy poor Members who are all my near Kindred and Brethren in the Spirit Yea Lord by such Acts of Mercy I know that iniquity is purged And by this use of the Mammon of unrighteousness I may make my self Friends in thy Presence And the Poors Prayers and Thanksgivings for any relief or comfort which they have received by my means may heap Blessings on my head whilst I live and help much to recommend me to thy mercy and gracious Acceptance when I die So that these Gifts to them O! Blessed Lord are the truest way I have of giving to my self and are much more for my own relief than for theirs And I do and will look upon them as a laying up Treasure for my self in Heaven and making a Return of my wealth for my own use and behoof in another Life And reckon that what I wisely give in this kind I take and carry away with me to stand me in stead in the most needful time of thy mercy thro' Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen â— A Prayer at the Oblation or giving of our Alms or on alloting any sums to charitable or Pious uses O! Blessed Lord I humbly intreat thee Graciously to accept of this poor return of the worldly Substance which thou hast committed unto me I offer it to thee for the use of thy poor Members whom I look upon as my poor Brethren I offer it with an Heart that is truly sorrowful for all my Sins and thankful for all thy Mercies that seeks acceptance for it only for the sake of thy Sons merits and from thy mere Grace and Favour and that is ashamed for its having made the offering no sooner and now for offering no more And all my Alms and Repentance I present and put into thy Hands O! Holy Jesu in the Communion of Saints and in the Unity of thy Holy Church which is thy Body and Spouse and whereto thou hast given the precious Promises of Grace and Pardon and eternal Life O! Father in the Unity of this Body let me find mercy And accept mine Alms as an Oblation of a sweet Savour and supply and perfect all my Wants and purge away all my Sins thro' the merits of my only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ Amen Our Father which art c. III. Prayers for Trust in God in Sickness I. O! Almighty Lord under all my weakness and pains of Body and uncertain Prospects for my self and for
dost in great mercy Pity my weakness and provide for it For 't is thy mercy that lays not too much upon me 'T is thy mercy that I am brought down by degrees and am not consumed suddenly 'T is thy mercy that thou wast not soon nor wilt be long angry with me 'T is thy mercy that makes my Bed in my Sickness that considereth my weakness and supporteth me and considereth my Pains and shortneth them and always in due time gives me ease or intermission from them 'T is thy mercy O! dear God that ordereth Comforts for me continually to sweeten my Distresses to me and that makes thee still to be most near unto me at those times when I stand most in need of thee So that altho' I am Sick O! my God yet I am not forsaken For Blessed be thy Name my Griefs are not beyond measure and my Burden is not without help nor my Sufferings without hope and comfort wherewith in thine abundant Mercy thou daily temperest them and sustainest me thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 3. I Bless thee O! most gracious Lord for sending this Sickness upon me which thou sendest to shew thy Love and Care of me and to do me good For if my Body were not sick thou seest my Soul would be sick Yea alas it has been very Sick and this Sickness of my Body comes to cure it For in thus Correcting me when I had gone astray thou art putting an end O! God to my wandring Thou sendest these Sorrows to open my ears to discipline when Mercies would not open them and to reclaim me and set me in the way of Pardon So that this dealing shows that thou hast not rejected me as an outcast or Alien but still lookest upon me with thoughts of Mercy and treatest me as a Son And Blessed be thy Mercy O! Father of Mercies which by these Pains and Sorrows of my Body hast given my Spirit rest from the wearisome importunity and Sollicitations of Lust and Envy Blessed by thou who hast thereby dullâ—d the edge of my covetous Desires and laid asleep my worldly Cares and brought down my ambitious and aspiring thoughts and humbled Self-conceit by shewing me that I am but sin and folly dust and misery Blessed be thou who hast thereby calld me off from incumbring my self with many things which now I see cannot profit me to mind the one thing necessary and from minding worldly Vanities to spend my thoughts upon thy Laws and Promises and from placeing my confidence in my Self to place it only and wholly in thee And since my Sickness doth thus shew me thy Love and cure my Spirit and set on my Felicity it shall please me O! God when it pains me And I will confess to the Glory of thy Truth and Goodness that thou out of very Faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled even because I need it and because by thy Grace I shall receive much benefit by it thro' my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 4. I Bless thee O! Lord for all the innumerable Mercies which I have received from thee most bountifully and seasonably in all States and Conditions of my Life and thro' all the days and years of it And for that I have long received good at thy hands before I am brought now to receive Evil. I owe thee infinite thanks for a Life of health before this Confinement to my Bed of Sickness and for the long and sweet relish I have had of worldly Comforts before my Disease has rendred them unsavory And my present Pains and Sorrows O my God do not make me forget thy past or present Mercies nor go about to lessen them nor shall they by thy Grace ever make me out of humour with thee or unthankful for them Yea instead of giving thee less thanks for them by reason of this change of my Condition I wll give thee more because my present want of them has taught me better how to prize and value them And I do Bless and I will Bless the Lord that gave and Bless him still after he has taken away I Bless thee for that I still injoy much Good and cannot in the least blame thee that I have some evil but thank thee abundantly that I have no more And above all that under all my present Misery I am comforted with the Sense of thy Love and with the Blessed hopes of everlasting Peace and Joy thro' Jesus Christ my Lord Amen VII Prayers for Patience under Sickness I. A General Prayer for Patience O! Merciâ—ul Lord now I am called to the State of Sickness which is a Tryal of Patience give me Grace to shew Patience under the same that is not to be wearied and cannot be reproved Enable me O! Father to shew a quiet and composed Patience that is without tumult of troubled Thoughts and discontented Passions A submissive and resigned Patience that is without reluctance to thy Will or Rebellious murmurings A Patience of hope that doth not sâ—â—k under my Burdens nor is driven by â—he smart of my Pains to 〈…〉 Love or Care or 〈…〉 And a Thankful 〈…〉 sensible of my Comforts and Supports as well as of my Sicknesses and that owns all my present Sufferings to be far below my deserts and all my past and present Mercies to be infinitely above them And make me perfect O! my God in this Patience Let me tarry thy leisure and not be hasty Let me wait on thee and not grow weary But bear all whilst I have any thing to bear in comfortable hopes of thy Strength to support my present Weakness and of thy Mercy to ease and deliver me at last either by a more healthful Life or by an happy Death thro' the Merits of Jesus Christ my Lord Amen 2. For Patience without reluctance or Disquietness LOrd I humble my Self under thy mighty hand and submit to thy Visitation I submit my Self willingly and will not strive or make resistance I kiss the Rod instead of Quarrelling with it and accept of it quietly as of the punishment of mine iniquities Yea thankfully as of the Restorer of mine innocence And in this Patience O! Holy Father do thou still continue and preserve my Spirit composed and quiet and easie to my Self Since it is thy Will thus to afflict me bow my Will to thine and make me willing to bear it And bearing it willingly let it not anger or discontent me Yea O! my God I trust to thee to lay no more upon me than I can bear Oh! let that Trust keep me without Fears and Distractions under my Burdens I bear only what I most justly deserve Oh! let that stop me from complaining Nay I bear infinitely less than I have deserved and still injoy abundance of Mercies after I have deserved to lose all Oh! then let me not fall to accuse thee for thine inflictions but rather to accuse my self for my evil Deserts and to thank thee for my most
tormented with any long Fears thereof And that the suddenner the stroke was the less he was like to feel it Or should he have felt it more yet he might not have felt a painfull Disease less had it been his Executioner For altho that would have been more slow it might not have proved less Cruel nor have smarted lighter but only lasted longer And if my Dear and Deceased Friends Paine was more violent O! Lord it was short and thro thy mercy I hope it is the last he had to endure And far be it from us O! God to repine that he was thrown hastily and Headlong into Death especially haveing a Comfortable Hope that the effect thereof is to pass with less Pain and more Dispatch into a better Life and more easily and speedily to take possession of immortality thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. Prayers on the Death of Friends who had lead ill lives and Gave noe Comfortable Proofs of Repentance at their Deaths â—N this Case we may put the surviveing Friends in minde of the many other Things which they have to take Comfort in and this I think is all the Ground we have here of speaking Comfort unto them But we can not fetch Considerations of Comfort from their Deceased Friends For such Sinners as would have nothing to do with the Fear and Service of God have noe Reason of Comfort in themselves nor can afford any good Reason of it to their well-wishers And with Relation to them we must not pretend to Preach Comfort I conceive but Submission To help them meekly and patiently to submit themselves to God in these sad Cases the surviving Friends may use Prayer 1. When a Friend Dyes especially if they leave out the Paragraph within the Hooks p. 307. They may allsoe use this Prayer following to Comfort them ANd Blessed be thy Mercy O! most Gracious God which in this sad Case doth not leave me comfortless For if this Deceased Friends Case suggests things full of Greif I have many other Friends who give me great Cause of joy And to Compensate my Trouble in Pity for others by thy Grace I have something to Satisfye and Please me in reflecting on my self For I can look with Comfort on my own Soul and hope thro the merits of my Blessed Saviour to finde Mercy for it and take Comfort in it both Living and Dying I have thee O! Lord for my Portion and nothing Can make my Case Comfortless whilst I am thinâ— and thou art mine and whilst I have thy Power to trust to and thy Love to rejoyce in And under all this Sorrow at present I am sustain'd by the Blessed Hope of being received at last into thy Presence where all Remembrance of former Troubles shall be quite effaced by the abundance of my Present Bliss where I shall have noe Sorrow from the miscarriage of Friends but unspeakable Satisfaction in their well-being and well-doing and where I shall ever Delightâ—in thee and in the Continual Emanations of thy surpassing Mercy thro Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen 5 A Prayer on the Death of a Child O Almighty Father thou art pleased now to turn my joys into Sâ—rrows and to take away from 〈◊〉 that sweet Babe which thou lately gavest me for my Delight and Comfort But I humbly Bow my will to thine and submit my Self to 〈…〉 and without murmuring 〈◊〉 it is thy Doing Thou hast sent this poor Child into the World O! Lord to See and to â—ast Life but hast not allowed it to Stay till it Could rightly understand the end and busyness or relish the Comforts and Satisfactions thereof But I will Consider O! my God that thou wilt not require from it any Services of Life whilst it was not Capable to understand them And that if it Stayed not here to enjoy Pleasure soe neither did it Stay to be pined away with Sorrow and Care It lived not long enough to be versed in all the Vexations of our State nor to run thro that Great variety of miseryes and misfortunes which are incident here to our Nature But went off before it had time to trye how much Evil is to be Endured in this Life yea before it was come to aggravate any afflictions by imagination or to anticipate the same by Fear or to reflect in bitterness of Spirit and lay to heart what it did endure And as it Dyed young O! Lord Soe I have the Comfort to think and hope that therefore it Dyed innocent For it is taken back to thee before it knew Good or Evil or had done any thing to offend thee It has left the World ere it was made the worse by it or had Contracted any of the Wickedness thereof to follow it and fright it at thy Judgement By thy Mercy O! Father it Stayed till it was received for thine own Child by Baptism and was therein assured by thee of remission of Sin and made an Heir of thy Kingdom And by the same Mercy it is now Call'd away ere it had done any thing to fall from that Relation or to forfeit that Blessing So that in this takeing it away froâ— me thou hast translated it O! Father of Meâ—â—yes from the miseryes of this World to the joys of Paradice it is taken from me to be at thy Provision and to be kept for ever safe and Happy in those Blessed mansions which thou hast Provided for thy Children And therefore if I have lost the Comfort of haveing a Child to train up in thy Service in this World it is for the far greater Comfort O! my God of haveing sent one to live with thee and attend for ever about thy Throne in Heaven And there I my self allsoe hope thro thy mercy to be received in thy due Time not only to see and injoy it but what is infinitely above all for ever to see and injoy thee thro Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen 6. A Prayer when one is made Childless or is like to Dye without Children O! Blessed Lord thou art pleased in thy Wisdom to beleave me of my Children and to leave me 〈◊〉 appearance of issue to Sweeten the Cares of Life and to keep up my Memory to Posterity I am content therewith O! my God because it pleaseth thee and comeing from thy Wisdom aâ—d Care of me I will not only own it to be just but Esteem it to be most wise and fit for me And if by haveing noe Children I have fewer Delights I will remember withall O! Father that I have lighter Cares and fewer Sorrows I have not the Torment of seeing them take ill wayes nor of Fearing continually lest they should fall to take them nor shall have the Pains and Trouble of parting with them which Commonly is quicker and more affecting than the Pleasure of haveing them And I may now fix my Love and Care more intrely upon thee haveing no Cares for them to call me off And I have less Temptation to Descend to mean