loving kindness to my Patron to all my friends and Benefactors Reward them and make them plentiful recompense for all the good which from tâ—y merciful providence they have conveyed unto me Let the light of thy countenance shine upon them and let them never come into any affliction or sadness but such as may be an instrument of thy 〈◊〉 their eternal comfort Forgive them all 〈◊〉 sins let thy Divined Spirit preserve them from all deeds of Darkness Let thy ministring Angels guard their persons from the violence of â—hy spirits of Darkness And thou wâ—o knowest every degree of their necessity by thy infinite wisdom give supply to all tâ—eiâ— needs by â—he glorious mercy preserving 〈◊〉 persons sanctifying their hearts and leading them in the waies of righteousness by the waters of comfort to the land of etâ—râ—al â—eâ—t and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. IV. Of Christian Religion REligion â—n a large sense doth signifie the whole duty of Man comprehending in it Justice Charity and Sobriety because all these being commanded by God they become a part of that honour and worship which we are bound to pay to him And thus the word is used in S. James Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this Iam. 1.27 To visit the fatherlesse and Widows in their â—ffliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world But in a more restrained sense it is taken for that part of duty which particularly relates to God in our worshippings and adoration of him in confessing his excellencies loving his person admitting his goodness believing his Word and doing all that which may in a proper and direct manner doe him honour It contains the duties of the first Table only and so it is called Godliness Tit. 2.12 and is by S. Paul distinguished from Justice and Sobriety In this sense I am now to explicate the parts of it Of the internal actions of Religion Those I call the internal actions of Religion in which the soul only is imployed and ministers to God in the special actions of Faith Hope and Charity Faith believes the revâ—lations of God Hope expects his promises and Charity loves his excellencies and mercies Faith gives our understanding to God Hope gives up all the passions and affections to Heaven and heavenly things and Charity gives the will to the service of God Faith is opposed to infidelity Hope to Despair Charity to Enmity and Hostility and these three sanctifie the whole Man and make our duty to God and obedience to his Commandments to be chosen reasonable and delightful and therefore to be intire persevering and universal SECT IV. Of Faith The Acts and Offices of Faith are 1. TO believe every thing which God hath revealed to us Demus Deie aliquâ—d posse quod noâ— fateamuâ— investâ—gare noâ— possâ— S. Aug. l. 21. c 7. de Civitat and when once we are convinced that God hath spoken it to make no further enquiry but humbly to submit ever remembring that there are some things which ouâ— understanding cannot fathom nor search out their depth 2. To believe nothing concerning God but what is honourable and excellent as knowing that belief to be no honouring of God which entertains of him any dishonourable thoughts Faith is the parent of Charity and whatsoever Faith entertains must be apt to produce love to God but he that believes God to be cruel or unmerciful or a rejoicer in the unavoidable damnation of the greatest part of mankinde or that he speaks one thing and privately means another thinks evil thoughts concerning God and such as for which we should hate a man and therefore are great enemies of Faith being apt to destroy Charity Our Faith concerning God must be as himself hath revealed and described his own excellencies and in our discourses we must remove from him all imperfection and attribute to him all excellence 3. To give our selves wholly up to Christ in heart and desire to become Disciples of his doctrine with choice besides conviction being in the presence of God but as Ideots that is without any principles of our own to hinder the truth of God but sucking in greedily all that God hath taught us believing it infinitely and loving to believe it For this is an act of Love reflected upon Faith or an act of Faith leaning upon Love 4. To believe all Gods promises and that whatsoever is promised in Scripture shall on Gods part be as surely performed as if we had it in possession This act makes us to relie upon God with the same confidence as we did on our Parents when we were children when we made no doubt but whatsoever we needed we should have it if it were in their power 5. To believe also the conditions of the promise or that part of the revelation which concerns our duty Many are apt to believe the Article of remission of sins but they believe it without the condition of repentance of the fruits of holy life and that is to believe the Article otherwise then God intended it For the Covenant of the Gospel is the great object of Faith and that supposes our duty to answer his grace that God will be our God so long as we are his people The other is not Faith but Flattery 6. To professe publickly the doctrine of Jesus Christ openly owning whatsoever he hath revealed and commanded not being ashamed of the Word of God or of any practices enjoyned by it and this without complying with any mans interest not regarding favour nor being moved with good words not fearing disgrace or losse or inconvenience or death it self 7. To pray without doubting without weariness without faintness entertaining no jealousies or suspicions of God but being confident of Gods hearing us and of his returns to us whatsoever the manner or the instance be that if we doe our duty it will be gracious and merciful These acts of Faith are in several degrees in the servants of Jesus some have it but as a grain of mustard-seed some grow up to a plant some have the fulness of faith but the least faith that is must be a perswasion so strong as to make us undertake the doing of all that duty which Christ built upon the foundation of believing but we shall best discern the truth of our faith by these following signes S. Hierome reckons three Dâ—aâ—â— adver Lucif Signes of true Faith 1. An earnest and vehement prayer for it is impossible we should heartily believe the things of God and the glories of the Gospel and not most importunately desire them For every thing is desired according to our belief of its excellency and possibility 2. To doe nothing for vain-glory but wholly for the interests of religion and these Articles we believe valuing not at all the rumours of men but the praise of God to whom by faith we have given up all our intellectual faculties 3. To be content with God for our Judge for
fallen upon me * behold thou hast made my dayes as it were a span long and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity * When thou with rebukes doest chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity And now Lord what is my hope truly my hope is even in thee * Hear my prayer O Lord and with thine ears consider my calling hold not thy peace at my tears * Take this plague away from me I am consumed by the means of thy heavy hand * 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 * My soul cleaveth unto the dust O quicken me according to thy word * And when the snares of death compass me round about let not the pains of hell take hold upon me An Act of Faith concerning resurrection and the day of judgment to be said by sick persons or meditated I Know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold though my reins be consumed within me Job 19. God shall come and shall not keep silence there shall go before him a consuming fire and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him he shall call the heaven from above and the earth that he may judge his people * O blessed Jesu thou art my judge and thou art my Advocate have mercy upon me in the houre of my death and in the day of judgment See John 5.28 and 1 Thessal 4.15 Short Prayers to be said by sick persons O Holy Jesus thou art a mercifull High-Priest and touched with the sense of our infirmities thou knowest the sharpness of my sickness and the weakness of my person The clouds are gathered about me and thou hast covered me with thy storm My understanding hath not such apprehension of things as formerly Lord let thy mercy support me thy spirit guide me and lead me through the valley of this death safely that I may pass it patiently holily with perfect resignation and let me rejoyce in the Lord in the hopes of pardon in the expectation of glory in the sense of thy mercies in the refreshments of thy spirit in a victory over all temptations Thou hast promised to be with us in tribulation Lord my soul is troubled and my body is weak and my hope is in thee and my enemies are busie and mighty now make good thy holy promise Now O holy Jesus now let thy hand of grace be upon me restrain my ghostly enemies and give me all sorts of spirituall assistances Lord remember thy servant in the day when thou bindest up thy Jewels O take from me all tediousness of Spirit all impatience and unquietness let me possesse my soul in patience and resign my soul and body into thy hands as into the hands of a faithfull Creator and a blessed Redeemer O holy Jesuâ— thou didst dye for us by thy sad pungent and intollerable pains which thou enduredst for me have pity on me and ease my pain or increase my patience Lay on me no more then thou shalt enable me to bear I have deserv'd it all and more and infinitely more Lord I am weak and ignorant timerous and inconstant and I fear lest something should happen that may discompose the state of my soul that may displease thee Do what thou wilt with me so thou doest but preserve me in thy fear and favour Thou knowest that it is my great fear but let thy spirit secure that nothing may be able to separate me from the love of God in Jesus Christ â—hen smite me here that thou mayest spare me for ever and yet O Lord smite me friendly for thou knowest my infirmities Into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth * Come holy Spirit help me in this conflict Come Lord Jesus come quickly Let the Sick man often meditate upon these following promises and gracious words of God My help â—â—meth of the Lord who preserveth them that are true of heart Psal 7.11 And all they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hast never failed them that seek thee Psal. 9.10 O how plentifull is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee and that thou hast prepared for them that put their trust in thee even before the sons of men Psal. 31. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that feare him and upon them that put their trust in his mercy to deliver their souls from death Psal. 33. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart and will save such as are of an humble spirit Psal. 34.17 Thou Lord shalt save both man and beast how excellent is thy mercy O God! and the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings Psal. 36.7 They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house and thou shalt give them to drink of thy pleasures as out of the rivers v. 8. For with thee is the well of life and in thy light we shall see light v. 9. Commit thy way unto the Lord and put thy trust in him and he shall bring it to passe Ps. 37.5 But the salvation of the righteous cometh of the Lord who is also their strength in the time of trouble v. 40 So that a man shall say verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth Psal. 58.10 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and receivest unto thee he shall dwell in thy court and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thy house even of thy holy temple Psal. 65.4 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy Psaâ— 126.6 It is written I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13.5 The Prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven Jam. 5.15 Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up Hos. 6.1 If we sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins 1 John 2.2 If we confess our sins he is faithfull and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1.9 He that forgives shall be forgiven Luke 6.37 And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us 1 John 5.14 And ye know that he was manifested to take away
the Lamb. Grant this O Lamb of God for the honour of thy mercies and the glory of thy name O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Amen III. BLessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who hath sent his Angels and kept me this day from the destruction that walketh at noon and the arrow that flieth by dry and hath given me his Spirit to restrain me from those evils to which my own weaknesses and my evil habits and my unquie◠enemies would easily betray me Blessed and for ever hallowed be thy name for that never ceasing showre of blessing by which I live and am content and blessed and provided for in all necessities and set forward in my duty and way to heaven * Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Amen Holy is our God Holy is the Almighty Holy is the Immortal Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth have mercy upon me Ejaculations and short meditations to be used in the Night when we wake Stand in awe and sin not commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still I will lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord only makest me to dwell in safety O Father of Spirits and the God of all flesh have mercy and pity upon all sick and dying Christians and receive the souls which thou hast redeemed returning unto thee Blessed are they that dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem where there is no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it for the glory of God does lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof And there shall be no night there and they need no candle for the Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 21.23 Meditate on Jacobs wrastling with the Angel all night be thou also importunate with God for a blessing and give not over till he hath blessed thee Meditate on the Angel passing over the children of Israel and destroying the Egyptians for disobedience and opression Pray for the grace of obedience and charity and for the divine protection Meditate on the Angel who destroyed in a night the whole army of the Assyrians for fornication Call to minde the sins of thy youth the sins of thy bed and say with David My reins chasten me in the night season and my soul refuseth comfort Pray for pardon and the grace of chastity Meditate on the agonies of Christ in the garden his sadnes and affliction all that night and thank and adore him for his love that made him suffer so much for thee and hate thy sins which made it necessary for the Son of God to suffer so much Meditate on the four last things 1. The certainty of death 2. The terrors of the day of Judgment 3. The joyes of Heaven 4. The pains of Hell and the eternity of both Thinke upon all thy friends which are gone before thee and pray that God would grant to thee to meet them in a joyful resurrection The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall passe away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hastning unto the coming of the day of God 2 Pet. 3.10 11. Lord in mercy remember thy servant in the day of judgement Thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God In thee O Lord have I trusted let me never be confounded Amen I Desire the Christian Reader to observe that all these offices or forms of Prayer if they should be used every day would not spend above an hour and a half but because some of them are double and so but one of them to be used in one day it is much lesse and by affording to God one hour in 24 thou mayest have the comforts and rewards of devotion But he that thinks this is too much either is very busie in the world or very carelesse of heaven However I have parted the Prayers into smaller portions that he may use which and how many he please in any one of the forms Ad Sect. 2◠A Prayer for holy intention in the beginning and pursuit of any considerable action as Study Preaching c. O Eternall God who hast made all things for man and man for thy glory sanctifie my body and soul my thoughts and my intentions my words and actions that whatsoever I shall think or speak or doe may be by me designed to the glorification of thy Name and by thy blessing it may be effective and successful in the work of God according as it can be capable Lord turn my necessities into virtue the works of nature into the works of grace by making them orderly regular temperate subordinate and profitable to ends beyond their own proper efficacy and let no pride or self-seeking no covetousness or revenge no impure mixture or unhandsome purposes no little ends and low imaginations pollute my spirit and unhallow any of my words and actions but let my body be a servant of my spirit and both body and spirit servants of Jesus that doing all things for thy glory here I may be partaker of thy glory hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Ad Sect. 3. A Prayer meditating and referring to the Divine presence ¶ This Prayer is specially to be used in temptation to private sins O Almighty God infinite and eternal thou fillest all things with my presence thou art every where by thy essence and by thy power in heaven by Glory in holy places by thy grace and favour in the hearts of thy servants by thy Spirit in the consciences of all men by thy testimony and observation of us Teach me to walk alwaies as in thy presence to fear thy Majestie to reverence thy wisdom and omniscience that I may never dare to commit any undecency in the eye of my Lord and my Judge but that I may with so much care and reverence demean my self that my Judge may not be my accuser but my advocate that I expressing the belief of thy presence here by careful walking may feel the effects of it in the participation of eternal glory through Jesus Christ. Amen CHAP. II. Of Christian Sobriety Sect. I. Of sobriety in the general sense CHristian Religion in all its moral parts is nothing else but the Law of Nature and great Reason complying with the great necessities of all the world and promoting the great profit of all relations and carrying us through all accidents of variety of chances to that end which God hath from eternal ages purposed for all that live according to it and which he hath revealed in Jesus Christ and according to the Apostles Arithmetick hath but these three
Laws of Religion and the Common-wealth O Lord I am but an infirm man and know not how to decree certain sentences without erring in judgment but doe thou give to thy servant an understanding heart to judge this people that I may discern between good and evil Cause me to walk before thee and all the people in truth and righteousness and in sincerity of heart that I may not regard the person of the mighty nor be afraid of his terrour nor despise the person of the poor and reject his petition but that doing justice to all men I and my people may receive mercy of thee peace and plenty in our daies and mutual love duty and correspondence that there be no leading into captivity no complaining in our streets but we may see the Church in prosperity all our daies and religion established and increasing Doe thou establish the house of thy servant and bring me to a participation of the glories of thy kingdom for his sake who is my Lord and King the holy and ever blessed Saviour of the world our Redeemer Jesus Amen A Prayer to be said by Parents for their Children O Almighty and most merciful Father who hast pâ—omised children as a reward to the righteous 〈◊〉 hast given them to me as a testimony of thy mercy and an ingagement of my duty be pleased to be a Father unto them give them healthful bodies understanding souls and sanctified spirits that they may be thy servants and thy children all their daies Let a great mercy and providence lead them through the dangers and temptations and ignorances of their youth that they may never run into folly and the evils of an unbridled appetite So order the accidents of their livâ—s that by good education careful Tutors holy example innocent company prudent counsel and thy restraining grace their duty to thee may be secured in the midst of a crooked and untoward generation and if it seem good in thy eyes let me be enabled to provide conveniently for the support of their persons that they may not be destitute and miserable in my death or if thou shalt call me off from this World by a more timely summons let their portion be thy care mercy and providence over their bodies and souls and may they never live vitious lives nor die violent or untimely deaths but let them glorifie thee here with a free obedience and the duties of a whole life that when they have served thee in their generations and have profited the Christian Common-wealth they may be coheirs with Jesus in the glories of thy eternal Kingdom through the same our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen A prayer to be said by Masters of Families Curats Tutors or other obliged persons for their charger O Almighty God merciful and gracious have mercy upon my Family or Pupils or Parishioners c. and all committed to my charge sanctifie them with thy grace preserve them with thy providence guard them from all evil by the custody of Angels direct them in the waies of peace and holy Religion by my Ministery and the conduct of thy most holy Spirit and consigne them all with the participation of thy blessings and graces in this World with healthful bodies with good understandings and sanctified spirits to a full fruition of thy glories hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer to be said by Merchants Tradesmen and Handicrafts men O Eternal God thou Fountain of justice mercy and benediction who by my education and other effects of thy Providence hast called me to this profession that by my industry I may in my small proportion work together for the good of my self and others I humbly beg thy grace to guâ—de me in my intention and in the transaction of my affairs that I may be diligent just and faithful and give me thy favour that this my labour may be accepted by thee as a part of my necessary duty and give me thy blessing to assist and prosper me in my Calling to such measures as thou shalt in mercy choose for me and be pleased to let thy holy Spirit be for ever present with me that I may never be given to covetousness and sordid appetites to lying and falshood or any other base indirect and beggerly arts but give me prudence honesty and Christian sinceâ—ity that my trade may be sanctified by my Religion my labour by my intention and thy blessing that when I have done my portion of work thou hast â—llotted me and improved the talent thou hast instrusted to me and served the Common-wealth in my capacity I may receive the mighty price of my high calling which I expect and beg in the portion and inheritance of the ever blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Amen A Prayer to be said by Debtors and all persons obliged whether by crime or contract O Almighty God who art rich unto all the treasurie and fountain of all good of all justice and all mercy and all bounty to whom we owe all that we are and all that we have being thy Debtors by reason of our sins and by thy own gracious contract made with us in Jesus Christ teach me in the first place to perform all my Obligations to thee both of duty and thankfulness and next enable me to pay my duty to all my friends and my debts to all my Creditors that none be made miserable or lessened in his estate by his kindness to me or traffick with me Forgive me all those sins and irregular actions by which I entred into debt further then my necessity required or by which such necessity was brought upon me but let not them suffer by occasion of my sin Lord reward all their kindness into their bosoms make them recompense where I cannot and make me very willing in all that I can and able for all that I am obliged to or if it seem good in thine eyes to afflict me by the continuance of this condition yet make it up by some means to them that the prayer of thy servant may obtain of thee at least to pay my debt in blessings Amen V. LOrd sanctifie and forgive all that I have tempted to evil by my discourse or my example instruct them in the right way whom I have led to errour and let me never run further on the score of sin but doe thou blot out all the evils I have done by the spunge of thy passion and the blood of thy Crosse and give me a deep and an excellent repentance and a free and a gracious pardon that thou may est answer for me O Lord and enable me to stand upright in judgment for in thee O Lord have I trusted let me never be confounded Pity me and instruct me guide me and support me pardon me and save me for my sweet Saviour Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Prayer for Patron and Benefactors O Almighty GOD thou Fountain of all good of all excellâ—ncy both to Men and Aâ—gels exâ—end thine abundant favour and
of Christ whereof they are members and you in conjunction with Christ whom then you have received are more fit to pray for them in that advantage and in the celebration of that holy sacrifice which then is Sacramentally represented to GOD * Give thanks for the passion of our dearest Lord remember all its parts and all the instruments of your Redemption and beg of GOD that by a holy perseverance in well doing you 〈◊〉 from shadows passe on to substances from eating his body to seeing his face from the Typicall Sacramentall and Transient to the Reall and Eternall Supper of the Lambe 13. After the solemnity is done let Christ dwell in your hearts by faith and love and obedience and conformity to his life and death as you have taken CHRIST into you so put CHRIST on you and conform every faculty of your soul body to his holy image and perfection Remember that now Christ is all one with you and therefore when you are to do an action consider how Christ did or would do the like and do you imitate his example and transcribe his copy and understand all his commandments and choose all that he propounded and desire his promises fear his threatnings and marry his loves and hatreds and contract all friendships for then you do every day communicate especially when Christ thus dwels in you and you in Christ growing up towards a perfect man in Christ Jesus 14. Do not instantly upon your return from Church return also to the world and secular thoughts and imployments but let the remaining parts of that day be like a post-Communion or an after-office entertaining your blessed Lord with all the caresses and sweetness of love and colloquies and entercourses of duty and affection acquainting him with all your needs and revealing to him all your secrets and opening all your infirmities and as the affairs of your person or imployment call you off so retire again with often ejaculations and acts of entertainment to your beloved Guest The effects and benefits of worthy communicating When I said that the sacrifice of the cross which Christ offered for all the sins and all the needs of the world is represented to God by the minister in the Sacrament and offered up in prayer and Sacramental memory after the maner that Christ himself intercedes for us in Heaven so far as his glorious Priesthood is imitable by his Ministers on earth I must of necessity also mean that all the benefits of that sacrifice are then conveyed to all that communicate worthily But if we descend to particulars Then and there the Church is nourished in her faith strengthned in her hope enlarged in her bowels with an increasing charity there all the members of Christ are joyned with each other and all to Christ their head and we again renew the covenant with God in Jesus Christ and God seals his part and we promise for ours and Christ unites both and the holy Ghost signes both in the collation of those graces which we then pray for and exercise and receive all at once there our bodies are nourished with the signes and our souls with the mystery our bodies receive into them the seed of an immortall nature our souls are joyned with him who is the first fruits of the resurrection and never can dye and if we desire any thing else and need it here it is to be prayed for here to be hoped for here to be received Long life and health and recovery from sickness and competent support and maintenance and peace and deliverance from our enemies and content and patience and joy and sanctified riches or a cheerfull poverty liberty and whatsoever else is a blessing was purchased for us by Christ in his death and resurrection and in his intercession in Heaven and this Sacrament being that to our particulars which the great mysteries are in themselves and by designe to all the world if we receive worthily we shall receive any of those blessings according as God shall choose for us and he will not onely choose with more wisdom but also with more affection then we can for our selves After all this it is advised by the Guides of souls wise men and pious that all persons should commuÌ„icate very often even as often as they can without excuses or delayes Every thing that puts us from so holy an imployment when we are moved to it being either a sin or an imperfection an infirmity or indevotion and an unactiveness of Spirit All Christian people must come They indeed that are in the state of sin must not come so but yet they must come First they must quit their state of death and then partake of the bread of life They that are at enmity with their neighbours must come that is no excuse for their not coming onely they must not bring their enmity along with them but leave it and then come They that have variety of secular imployments must come only they must leave their secular thoughts and affections behind them L'Evesque de Geneve introd a la vie dâ—vote and then come and converse with God If any man be well grown in grace he must needs come because he is excellently disposed to so holy a feast but he that is but in the infancy of piety had need to come that so he may gâ—ow in grace The strong must come lest they become weak and the weak that they may become strong The sick must come to be cured the healthfull to be preserved They that have leisure must come because they have no excuse They that have no leisure must come â—ither that by so excellent religion they may sanctifie their business The penitent sinners must come that they may be justified and they that are justified that they may be justified still They that have fears and great reverence to these mysteries and think no preparation to be sufficient must receive that they may learn how to receive thee more worthily and they that have a less degree of reverence must come often to have it heightned that as those Creatures that live amongst the snowes of the Mountains turn white with their food and conversation with such perpetual whitenesses so our souls may be transformed into the similitude and union with Christ by our perpetual feeding on him and conversation not onely in his Courts but in his very heart and most secret affections and incomparable purities Prayers for all sorts of Men and all necessities relating to the severall parts of the vertue of Religion A Prayer for the Graces of Faith Hope Charity O Lord God of infinite mercy of infinite excellency who hast sent thy holy Son into the world to redeem us from an intolerable misery and to teach us a holy religion and to forgive us an infinite debt give me thy holy Spirit that my understanding and all my faculties may be so resigned to the discipline and doctrine of my Lord that I may be prepared
Baptisme Thou hast reconciled us by thy death justified us by thy Resurrection sanctified us by thy Spirit sending him upon thy Church in visible formes and giving him in powers and miracles and mighty signes and continuing this incomparable favour in gifts and sanctifying graces and promising that he shall abide with us for ever thou hast led us with thine own broken body and given drink to our soules out of thine own heart and hast ascended upon high and hast overcome all the powers of Death and Hell and redeemed us from the miseries of a sad eternity and sittest at the right hand of God making intercession for us with a never-ceasing charity O that men would therefore praise the Lord c. The grave could not hold thee long O holy eternal Jesus thy body could not see corruption neither could thy soul be left in Hel thou wert fre among the dead and thou brakest the iron gates of Death and the barrs and chains of the lower prisons Thou broughtest comfort to the souls of the Patriarchs who waited for thy coming who long'd for the redemption of Man and the revelation of thy day Abraham Isac and Jacob saw thy day and rejoyced and when thou didst arise from thy bed of darkness and leftest the grave-clothes behinde thee and put on a robe of glory over which for 40 dayes thou didst wear a veil and then entred into a cloud and then into glory then the powers of Hell were confounded then Death lost its power and was swallowed up into victory and though death is not quite destroyed yet it is made harmless and without a sting and the condition of Humane Nature is made an entrance to eternal glory and art become the Prince of life the first-fruits of the resurrection the first-born from the dead having made the way plain before our faces that we may also rise again in the Resurrection of the last day when thou shalt come again unto us to render to every man according to his works O that men would therefore praise the Lord c. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious and his mercy endureth for ever O all ye angels of the Lord praise ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever O ye spirits and souls of the Righteous praise ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever And now O Lord God what shall I render to thy Divine Majesty for all the benefits thou hast done unto thy servant in my personall capacity Thou art my Creator and my Father my Protector and my Guardian thou hast brought me from my Mothers wombe thou hast told all my Joynts and in thy book were all my members written Thou hast given me a comely body Christian and carefull parents holy education Thou hast been my guide and my teacher all my dayes Thou hast given me ready faculties an unloosed tongue a cheerful spirit straight limbs a good reputation and liberty of person a quiet life and a tender conscience a loving wife or husband and hopefull children thou wert my hope from my youth through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born Thou hast clothed me and fed me given me friends and blessed them given me many dayes of comfort and health free from those sad infirmities with which many of thy Saints and dearest servants are afflicted Thou hast sent thy Angel to snatch me from the violence of fire and water to prevent praecipices fracture of bones to rescue me from thunder and lightning plague and pestilentiall diseases murder and robbery violence of chance and enemies and all the spirits of darkness and in the dayes of sorrow thou hast refreshed me in the destitution of provisions thou hast taken care of me and thou hast said unto me I will never leave thee nor forsake thee I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart secretly among the faithfull and in the congregation Thou O my dearest Lord and Father hast taken care of my soul hast pitied my miseries sustained my infirmities relieved and instructed my ignorances and though I have broken thy righteous Laws and Commandements run passionately after vanities and was in love with Death and was dead in sin and was exposed to thousands of temptations and fell foully and continued in it and lov'd to have it so and hated to be reformed yet thou didst call me with the checks of conscience with daily Sermons and precepts of holiness with fear and shame with benefits and the admonitions of thy most holy Spirit by the counsell of my friends by the example of good persons with holy books and thousands of excellent arts and wouldest not suffer me to perish in my folly but didst force me to attend to thy gracious calling and hast put me into a state of repentance and possibilities of pardon being infinitely desirous I should live and recover and make use of thy grace and partake of thy glories I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart secretly among the faithful and in the congregation For salvation belongeth unto the Lord and thy blessing is upon thy servant But as for me I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple * For of thee and in thee and through and for thee are all things Blessed be the name of God from generation to generation Amen A short Form of thanksgiving to be said upon any special deliverance as from Child-birth from Sickness from battel or imminent danger at Sea or Land c. O most mercifull and gracious God thou fountain of all mercy and blessing thou hast opened the hand of thy mercy to fill me with blessings and the sweet effects of thy loving kindness thou feedest us like a Shepherd thou governest us as a king thou bearest us in thy arms like a nurse thou dost cover us under the shadow of thy wings and shelter us like a hen thou ô Dearest Lord wakest for us as a Watchman thou providest for us like a Husband thou lovest us as a friend and thinkest on us perpetually as a carefull mother on her helpless babe and art exceeding mercifull to all that fear thee and now O Lord thou hast added this great blessing of deliverance from my late danger here name the blessing it was thy hand and the help of thy mercy that relieved me the waters of affliction had drowned me and the stream had gon over my soul if the spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these waters Thou O Lord didst revoke thy angry sentence which I had deserved and which was gone out against me Unto thee O Lord I ascribe the praise and honour of my redemption I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity As thou hast spred thy hand upon me for a covering so also enlarg my heart with thankfulness and fill my
against me but thy rod gently correct my follies and guide me in thy waies and thy staffe support me in all sufferings and changes Preserve me from fracture of bones from noisâ—me infectious and sharp sicknesses from great violences of Fortune and sudden surprises keep all my senses intire till the day of my death and let my death be neither sudden untimely nor unprovided let it be after the common manner of men having in it nothing extraordinary but an extraordinary piety and the manifestation of thy great and miraculous mercy IV. LEt no riches make me ever forget my self no poverty ever make me to forget thee Let no hope or fear no pleasure or pain no accident without no weakness within hinder or discompose my duty or turn me from the waies of thy Commandements O let thy spirit dwell with me for ever and make my soul just and charitable full oâ— honesty full of religion resolute and constant in holy purposes but inflexible to evil Make me humble and obedient peaceable and pious let me never envy any mans good nor deserve to be despised my self and if I be teach me to bear it with meekness and charity V. GIve me a tender conscience a conversation discreet and affable modest and patient liberal and obliging a body chaste and healthful compitency of living according to my condition contentedness in all estates a resigned will and mortified affections that I may be as thou wouldest have me and my portion may be in the lot of the righteous in the brightness of thy countenance and the glories of eternity Amen Holy is our God Holy is the Almighty * Holy is the immortal Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth have mercy upon me A form of Prayer for the Evening to be said by such who have not time or opportunity to say the publick Prayers appointed for this office I. Evening Prayer O Eternal God Great Father of Men and Angels who hast established the Heavens and the Earth in a wonderful order making day and night to exceed each other I make my humble addresse to thy Divine Majestie begging of thee mercy and protection this night and ever O Lord pardon all my sins my light and rash words the vanity and impiety of my thoughts my unjust and uncharitable actions and whatsoever I have transgressed against thee this day or at any time before Behold O God my soul is troubled in the remembrance of my sins in the frailty and sinfulness of my flesh exposed to every temptation and of it self not able to resist any Lord God of mercy I earnestly beg of thee to give me a great portion of thy grace such as may be sufficient and effectual for the mortification of all my sins and vanities and disorders that as I have formerly served my lust and unworthy desires so now I may give my self up wholly to thy service and the studies of a holy life II. BLessed Lord teach me frequently and sadly to remember my sins and be thou pleased to remember them no more let me never forget thy mercies and doe thou still remember to doe me good Teach me to walk alwaies as in thy presence Ennoble my soule with great degrees of love to thee and consigne my spirit with great fear religion and veneration of thy holy Name and laws that it may become the great imployment of my whole life to serve thee to advance thy glory to root out all the accursed habits of sin that in holiness of life in humility in charity in chastity and all the ornaments of grace I may by patience wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Amen III. TEach me O Lord to number my daies that I may apply my heart unto wisdom ever to remember my last end that I may not dare to sin against thee Let thy holy Angels be ever present with me to keep me in all my waies from the malice and violence of the spirits of darkness from evil company and the occasions and opportunities of evil from perishing in popular judgments from all the waies of sinfull shame from the hands of all mine enemies from a sinful life and from despair in the day of my death Then O brightest Jesu shine gloriously upon me let thy mercies and the light of thy countenance sustain me in all my agonies weaknesses and temptations Give me opportunity of a prudent and spiritual Guide and of receiving the holy Sacrament and let thy loving Spirit so guide me in the waies of peace and safety that with the testimony of a good conscience and the sense of thy mercies and refreshment I may depart this life in the unity of the Church in the love of God and a certain hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and most blessed Saviour Amen Our Father c. Another form of Evening Prayer which may also be used at bed-time Our Father c. Psal. 121. I Will lift up my eyes unto the hils from whence cometh my help My help cometh of the Lord which made heaven and earth He will not suffer thy foot to be moved he that keepeth thee will not slumber Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep The Lord is thy keeper the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand The sun shall not smite thee by day neither the moon by night The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth for evermore Glory be to the Father c. I. VIsit I beseech thee O Lord this habitation with thy mercy and me with thy grace and salvation Let thy holy Angels pitch their tents round about and dwel here that no illusion of the night may abuse me the spirits of darkness may not come neer to hurt me no evil or sad accident oppresse me and let the eternall spirit of the father dwell in my soul and body filling every corner of my heart with light and grace Let no deed of darkness overtake me and thy blessing most blessed GOD be upon me for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen II. INto thy hands most blessed Jesu I commend my soul and body for thou hast redeemed both with thy most precious blood So blesse and sanctifie my sleep unto me that it may be temperate holy and safe a refreshment to my wearied body to enable it so to serve my soul that both may serve thee with a never failing duty O let me never sleep in sin or death eternal but give me a watchfull and a prudent spirit that I may omit no opportunity of serving thee that whether I sleep or wake live or die I may be thy servant and thy childe that when the work of my life is done I may rest in the bosome of my Lord till by the voice of the Archangel the tâ—ump of God I shall be awakened and called to sit down and feast in the eternal supper of
of the family should fear the Father would give meat to the chickens and the servants his sheep and his dogs but give none to them He were a very ill Father that should doe so or he were a very foolish son that should think so of a good Father * But besides the reasonableness of this faith and this hope we have infinite experience of it How innocent how careless how secure is Infancy and yet how certainly provided for we have lived at Gods charges all the daies of our life and have as the Italian Proverb saies set down to meat at the sound of a bell and hitherto he hath not failed us we have no reason to suspect him for the future we doe not use to serve men so and lesse time of tryal creates great confidences in us towards them who for twenty years together never broke their word with us and God hath so ordered iâ— that a man shall have had the experience of many years provision before he shall understand how to doubt that he may be provided for an answer against the temptation shall come and the mercies felt in his childehood may make him fear lesse when he is a man * Adde to this that God hath given us his holy Spirit he hath promised Heaven to us he hath given us his Son and we are taught from Scripture to make this inference from hence How should not he with him give us all things else The Charge of many Children We have a title to be provided for as we are Gods creatures another title as we are his Children another because God hath promised and every of our children hath the same title and therefore it is a huge folly and infidelity to be troubled and full of care because we have many children Every childe we have to feed is a new revenue a new title to Gods care and providence so that many children are a great wealth and if it be said they are chargeable it is no more then all wealth and great revenues are For what difference is it Titius keeps ten ploughs Cornelia hath ten children He hath land enough to imploy and to feed all his hindes she blessings and promises and the provisions and the truth of God to maintain all her children His hindes and horses eat up all his corn and her children are sufficiently maintained with her little They bring in and eat up and she indeed eats up but they also bring in from the store-houses of heaven and the granaries of God and my children are not so much mine as they are Gods he feeds them in the womb by waies secret and insensible and would not work a perpetual miracle to bring them forth and then to starve them Violent necessities But some men are highly tempted and are brought to a straight that without a miracle they cannot be relieved what shall they doe It may be their pride or vanity hath brought the necessity upon them and it is not a need of Gods making and if it be not they must cure it themselves by lessening their desires and moderating their appetites and yet if it be innocent though unnecessary God does usually relieve such necessities and he does not only upon our prayers grant us more then he promised of temporall things but also he gives many times more then we ask This is no object for our faith but ground enough for a temporal and prudent hope and if we fail in the particular God will turn it to a bigger mercy if we submit to his dispensation and adore him in the denial But if it be a matter of necessity let not any man by way of impatience crie out that God will not work a miracle for God by miracle did give meat and drink to his people in the wilderness of which he had made no particular promise in any Covenant and if all natural means fail it is certain that God will rather work a miracle then break his word He can doe that He cannot doe this Only we must remember that our portion of temporal things is but food and ralment God hath not promised us coaches and horses rich houses and jewels Tyrian silks and Persian carpets neither hath he promised to minister to our needs in such circumstances as we shall appoint but such as himself shall choose God will enable either thee to pay thy debt if thou beggest it of him or else he will pay it for thee that is take thy desire as a discharge of thy duty and Pay it to thy Creditor in blessings or in some secret of his providence It may be he hath laid up in the corn that shall feed thee in the granary of thy Brother or will clothe thee with his wool he enabled Saint Peter to pay his Gabel by the ministery of a fish and Elias to be waited on by a crow who has both his minister and his steward for provisions and his Holy Son rode in triumph upon an asse that grazed in another mans postures And if God gives to him the dominion reserves the use to thee thou hast the better half of the two but the charitable man serves God and serves thy need and both joyn to provide for thee and God blesses both But if he takes away the flesh-pots from thee he can also alter the appetite and he hath given thee power and commandment to restrain it and if he lessens the revenue he will also shrink the necessity or if he gives but a very little he will make it go a great way or if he sends thee but course diet he will blesse it and make it healthful and can cure all the anguish of thy poverty by giving thee patience and the grace of contentedness For the grace of God secures you of provisions and yet the grace of God feeds and supports the spirit in the want of provisions and if a thin table be apt to enfeeble the spirits of one used to feed better yet the cheerfulness of a spirit that is blessed will make a thin table become a delicacy if the man was as well taught as he was fed and learned his duty when he received the blessing Poverty therefore is in some senses eligible and to be preferred before riches but in all senses it is very tolerable Death of Children or nearest Relatives and Friends There are some persons who have been noted for excellent in their lives and passions rarely innocent and yet hugely penitent for indiscretions and harmless infirmities such as was Paulina one of the ghostly children of S. Hierom and yet when any of her children died she was arrested with a sorrow so great as brought her to the margent of her grave And the more tender our spirts are made by Religion the more easie we are to let in grief if the cause be innocent and be but in any sense twisted with piety and due affections * To cure which we may consider that all the world must die and therefore to be
no impure thoughts pollute that soul which God hath sanctified no unclean words pollute that tongue which God hath commanded to be an Organ of his praises no unholy and unchaste action rend the vail of that Temple where the holy JESUS hath been pleased to enter and hath chosen for his habitation but seal up all my senses from all vain objects and let them be intirely possessed with Religion and fortified with prudence watchfulness and mortification that I possessing my vessel in holiness may lay it down with a holy hope and receive it again in a joyful resurrection through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer for the love of God to be said by Virgins and Widows professed or resolved so to live and may be used by any one O Holy and purest Jesus who wert pleased to espouse every holy soul and joyn it to thee with a holy union and mysterious instruments of religious society and communications O fill my soul with Religion and desires holy as the thoughts of Cherubim passionate beyond the love of women that I may love thee as much as ever any creature loved thee even with all my soul and all my faculties and all the degrees of every faculty let me know no loves but those of duty and charity obedience and devotion that I may for ever run after thee who art the King of Virgins and with whom whole kingdoms are in love and for whose sake Queens have died and at whose feet Kings with joy have laid their Crowns and Scepters My soul is thine O dearest Jesu thou art my Lord and hast bound up my eyes and heart from all strange affections give me for my dowry purity and humility modesty and devotion charity and patience and at last bring me into the Bride-chamber to partake of the felicities and to lie in the bosome of the Bride-groom to eternal ages O holy and sweetest Saviour Jesus Amen A Prayer to be said by married persons in behalf of themselves and each other O Eternal and gracious Father who hast consecrated the holy estate of marriage to become mysterious and to represent the union of Christ and his church let thy holy Spirit so guide me in the doing the duties of this state that it may not became a sin unto me nor that liberty which thou hast hallowed by the holy Jesus become an occasion of licentiousness by my own weakness and sensuality and doe thou forgive all those irregularities and too sensual applications which may have in any degree discomposed my spirit and the severity of a Christian. Let me in all accidents and circumstances be severe in my duty towards thee affectionate and dear to my Wife or Husband a guide and good example to my family and in all quietness sobriety prudence and peace a follower of those holy pairs who have served thee with godliness and a good testimony and the blessings of the eternal God blessings of the right hand and of the left be upon the body and soul of thy servant my Wife or Husband and abide upon her or him till the end of a holy and happy life and grant that both of us may live together for ever in the embraces of the holy and eternal Jesus our Lord and saviour Amen A prayer for the grace of Humility O Holy and most gracious Master and Saviour Jesus who by thy example and by thy precept by the practise of a whole life and frequent discourses didst command us to be meek and humble in imitation of thy incomparable sweetness and great humility be pleased to give me the grace as thou hast given me the commandment enable me to doe whatsoever thou commandest and command whatsoever thou pleasest O mortifie in me all proud thoughts and vain opinions of my self let me return to thee acknowledgment and the fruits of all those good things thou hast given me that by confessing I am wholly in debt to thee for them I may not boast my self for what I have received and for what I am highly accountable and for what is my own teach me to be ashamed and humbled it being nothing but sin and misery weakness and uncleanness Let me go before my brethren in nothing but in striving to doe them honour and thee glory never to seek my own praise never to delight in it when it is offered that despising my self I may be accepted by thee in the honours with which thou shalt crown thy humble and despised servants for Jesus his sake in the kingdome of eternal glory Amen Acts of Humility and Modesty by way of prayer and meditation I. Lord I know that my spirit is light and thorny my body is brutish and exposed to sickness I am constant to folly and inconstant in holy purposes My labours are vain and fruitless my fortune full of change and trouble seldom pleasing never perfect My wisdom is holly being ignorant even of the parts and passions of my own body and what am I O Lord before thee but a miserable person hugely in debt not able to pay II. Lord I am nothing and I have nothing of my self I am lesse then the least of all thy mercies III. What was I before my birth First nothing and then uncleanness What during my childehood weakness and folly What in my youth folly still and passion lust and wildness What in my whole life a great sinner a deceived and an abused person Lord pity me for it is thy goodness that I am kept from confusion and amazement when I consider the misery and shame of my person and the defilements of my nature IV. Lord what am I and Lord what art thou What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou so regardest him V. How can Man be justified with God or how can he be clean that is born of a Woman Behold even to the Moon and it shineth not yea the Starres are not pure in his sight How much lesse Man that is a Worm and the son of Man which is a Worm Job 25. A Prayer for a contented spirit and the grace of moderation and patience O Almighty God Father and Lord of all the creatures who hast disposed al things and all chances so as may best glorifie thy wisdom and serve the ends of thy justice and magnifie thy mercy by secret and undiscernible waies bringing good out of evil I most humbly beseech thee to give me wisdome from above that I may adore thee and admire thy waies and footsteps which are in the great Deep and not to be searched out teach me to submit to thy providence in all things to be content in all changes of person and condition to be temperate in prosperity and to read my duty in the lines of thy mercy and in adversity to be meek patient and resigned and to look through the cloud that I may wait for the consolation of the Lord and the day of redemption in the mean time doing my duty with an
ever in the unity of the holy Catholick Church and in the integrity of the Christian faith and in the love of God and of our neighbours and in hope of life Eternal Amen 2. For the whole Catholick Church O holy Jesus King of the Saints and Prince of the Catholick Church preserve thy spouse whom thou hast purchased with thy right hand and redeemed and cleansed with thy blood the whole Catholick Church from one end of the Earth to the other she is founded upon a rock but planted in the sea O preserve her safe from schisme heresie and sacrilege Unite all her members with the bands of Faith Hope and Charity and an externall communion when it shall seem good in thine eyes let the daily sacrifice of prayer and Sacramental thanksgiving never cease but be for ever presented to thee and for ever united to the intercession of her dearest Lord and for ever prevaile for the obtaining for every of its membres grace and blessing pardon and salvation Amen 3. For all Christian Kings Princes and Governours O King of Kings and Prince of all the Rulers of the Earth give thy grace and Spirit to all Christian Princes the spirit of wisdom and counsell the spirit of government and godly fear Grant unto them to live in peace and honour that their people may love and fear them and they may love and fear God speak good unto their hearts concerning the Church that they may be nursing Fathers to it Fathers of the Fatherless Judges and Avengers of the cause of Widowes that they may be compassionate to the wants of the poor and the groans of the oppressed that they may not vex or kill the Lords people with unjust or ambitious wars but may feed the flock of God and may inquire after and do all things which may promote peace publick honesty and holy religion so administring things present that they may not fail of the everlasting glories of the world to come where all thy faithfull people shall reign Kings for ever Amen 4. For all the orders of them that minister about H. things O thou great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls Holy and Eternall Jesus give unto thy servants the Ministers of the Mysteries of Christian religion the Spirit of prudence sanctity faith and charity confidence and zeal diligence watchfulnes that they may declare thy will unto the people faithfully dispense thy Sacraments rightly and intercede with thee graciously acceptably for thy servants Grant O Lord that by a holy life and a true belief by well doing and patient suffering when thou shalt call them to it they may glorifie thee the great lover of souls and after a plentifull conversion of sinners from the errour of their wayes they may shine like the stars in glory Amen Give unto thy servants the Bishops a discerning Spirit that they may lay hands suddenly on no man but may depute such persons to the Ministeries of religion who may adorn the Gospel of God and whose lips may preserve knowledge and such who by their good preaching and holy living may advance the service of the Lord Jesus Amen 5. For our neerest relatives as Husband Wife Children Family c. O God of infinite mercy let thy loving mercy and compassion descend upon the head of thy servants my wife or husband children and family be pleased to give them health of body and of spirit a competent portion of temporals so as may with comfort support them in their journey to Heaven preserve them from all evill and sad accidents defend them in all assaults of their enemies direct their persons and their actions sanctifie their hearts and words and purposes that we all may by the bands of obedience and charity be united to our Lord Jesus and alwayes feeling thee our mercifull and gracious Father may become a holy family discharging our whole duty in all our relations that we in this life being thy children by adoption and grace may be admitted into thy holy family hereafter for ever to sing praises to thee in the Church of the first-born in the family of thy redeemed ones Amen 6. For our Parents our Kindred in the flesh our Friends and Benefactors O God merciful and gracious who hast made my Parents my friends and my Benefactors ministers of thy mercy instruments of providence to thy servant I humbly beg a blessing to descend upon the heads of name the persons or the relations Depute thy holy Angels to guard their persons thy holy spirit to guide their souls thy providence to minister to their necessities and let thy grace and mercy preserve them from the bitter pains of eternal death and bring them to everlasting life through Jesus Christ. Amen 7. For all that lye under the rod of war famine pestilence to be said in the time of plague or war c. O Lord God almighty thou art our Father we are thy children thou art our Redeemer we thy people purchased with the price of thy most precious blood be pleased to moderate thy anger towards thy servants let not thy whole displeasure arise lest we be consumed and brought to nothing Let health and peace be within our dwellings let righteousness and holiness dwell for ever in our hearts and be express'd in all our actions and the light of thy countenance be upon us in all sufferings that we may delight in the service and in the mercies of God for ever Amen O gracious Father and mercifull God if it be thy will say unto the destroying Angel it is enough and though we are not better then our brethren who are smitten with the rod of God but much worse yet may it please thee even because thou art good and because we are timerous and sinfull not yet fitted for our appearance to set thy mark upon our foreheads that thy Angel the Minister of thy justice may pass over us hurt us not let thy hand cover thy servants and hide us in the clefts of the rock in the wounds of the holy Jesus from the present anger that is gone out against us that though we walk thorough the valley of the shadow of death we may fear no evill and suffer none and those whom thou hast smitten with thy rod support with thy staff and visit them with thy mercies and salvation through Jesus Christ. Amen 8. For all women with childe and for unborn children O Lord God who art the Father of them that trust in thee and shewest mercy to a thousand generations of them that fear thee have mercy upon all women great with childe * be pleased to give them a joyfull and a safe deliverance and let thy grace preserve the fruit of their wombs and conduct them to the holy Sacrament of Baptisme that they being regenerated by thy spirit and adopted into thy family and the portion and duty of Sons may live to the glory of God to the comfort of their parents and friends to the edification of
that I also may dwell in the heart of my dearest Lord which was opened for me with a spear and love An act of contrition Lord thou shalt finde my heartfull of cares and worldly desires cheated with love of riches and neglect of holy things proud and unmortified false and crafty to deceive it self intricated and intāgled with difficult cases of conscience with knots which my own wildness and inconsideration and impatience have tied and shuffled together O my dearest Lord if thou canst behold such an impure seat behold the place to which thou art invited is full of passion and prejudice evill principles and evill habits peevish and disobedient lustfull and intemperate and full of sad remembrances that I have often provoked to jealousie and to anger thee my God my dearest Saviour him that dyed for me him that suffered torments for me that is infinitely good to me and infinitely good and perfect in himself This O dearest Saviour is a sad truth and I am heartily ashamed and truly sorrowfull for it and do deeply hate all my sins and am full of indignation against my self for so unworthy so careless so continued so great a folly and humbly beg of thee to increase my sorrow and my care and my hatred against sin and make my love to thee swell up to a great grace and then to glory and immensity An act of Faith This indeed is my condition But I know O blessed Jesus that thou didst take upon thee my nature that thou mightest suffer for my sins and thou didst suffer to deliver me from them and from thy Fathers wrath and I was delivered from this wrath that I might serve thee in holiness righteousness all my daies Lord I am sure thou didst the great work of Redemption for me and all mankinde as that I am alive This is my hope the strength of my spirit my joy and my confidence and do thou never let the spirit of unbelief enter into me and take me from this Rock Here I will dwell for I have a delight therein Here I will live and here I desire to die The Petition Therefore O blessed Jesu who art my Saviour and my God whose body is my food and thy righteousness is my robe thou art the Priest and the Sacrifice the Master of the feast and the feast it self the Physician of my soul the light of my eyes the purifier of my stains enter into my heart and cast out from thence all impurities all the remains of the Old man and grant I may partake of this holy Sacrament with much reverence and holy relish and great effect receiving hence the communication of thy holy body and blood for the establishment of an unreproveable faith of an unfained love for the fulness of wisdom for the healing my soul for the blessing and preservation of my body for the taking out the sting of temporall death and for the assurance of a holy resurrection for the ejection of all evill from within me and the fulfilling all thy righteous Commandements and to procure for me a mercy and a fair reception at the day of judgement through thy mercies O holy and ever blessed Saviour Jesus Amen Here also may be added the prayer after receiving the cup. * Ejaculations to be said before or at the receiving the holy Sacrament Like as the Hart desireth the water brooks so longeth my soul after thee O God My soul is a thirst for God yea even for the living God when shall I come before the presence of God O Lord my God great are thy wonderous works which thou hast done like as be also thy thoughts which are to us-ward and yet there is no man that ordereth them unto thee O send out thy light and thy truth that they may lead me and bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy dwelling And that I may go unto the Altar of God even unto the God of my joy and gladness and with my heart will I give thanks to thee O God my God I will wash my hands in innocency O Lord and so will I go to thine altar that I may shew the voice of thanks-giving and tell of all thy wonderous works Examine me O Lord and prove me try out my reins and my heart For thy loving kindness is now and ever before my eyes and I will walk in thy truth Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me thou hast anointed my head with oil and my cup shall be full But thy loving loving kindness and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever This is the bread that cometh down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him and hath eternall life abiding in him and I will raise him up at the last day Lord whether shall we go but to thee thou hast the words of eternall life If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink The bread which we break is it not the communication of the body of Christ and the cup which we drink is it not the communication of the blood of Christ What are those wounds in thy hands They are those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends Zech 13.6 Immediately before the receiving say Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof But do thou speak the word onely and thy servant shall be he led Lord open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew thy praise O God make speed to save me O Lord make hast to help me Come Lord Jesus come quickly After receiving the consecrated and blessed bread say O tast and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him * The beasts do lack and suffer hunger but they which seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good Lord what am I that my Saviour should become my food that the Son of God should be the meat of Worms of dust and ashes of a sinner of him that was his enemy But this thou hast done to me because thou art infinitely good wonderfully gracious and lovest to bless every one of us in turning us from the evill of our wayes Enter into me blessed Jesus let no root of bitterness spring up in my heart but be thou Lord of all my faculties O let me feed on thee by faith and grow up by the increase of God to a perfect man in Christ Jesus Amen Lord I believe help mine unbelief Glory be to God the Father Son c. After the receiving the cup of blessing It is finished Blessed be the mercies of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ. O blessed and eternall high Priest let the sacrifice of the Cross which thou didst once offer for the sins of the whole World and which thou doest now and always represent in
mouth with praises that my duty and returns to thee may be great as my needs of mercy are and let thy gracious favours and loving kindness endure for ever and ever upon thy servant and grant that what thou hast sown in mercy may spring up in duty and let thy grace so strengthen my purposes that I may sin no more lest thy threatning return upon me in anger and thy anger break me into pieces but let me walk in the light of thy favour and in the paths of thy Commandments that I living here to the glory of thy name may at last enter into the glory of my Lord to spend a whole eternity in giving praise to thy exalted and ever glorious name Amen We praise thee O God we knowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee the Father Everlasting To thee all Angels cry aloud the heauens all the powers therein To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory * Thâ— glorious company of the Apostles praise thee * The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee * The noble army of Martyrs praise thee * The holy Church throughout all the world doth knowledg thee * The Father of an infinite Majesty * Thy honourable true and only Son * Also the Holy Ghost the Comforter * Thou art the King of glory O Christ. * Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father * When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man thou didst not abhor the Virgins womb * Wheâ— thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers * Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father * We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge * We therefore pray thee help thy servants whom thou hast redeem'd with thy precious blood * Make them to be number'd with thy Saints in glory everlasting O Lord save thy people and bless thine heritage Govern them and lift them up for ever Day by day we magnifie thee and we worship thy name ever world without end Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this day without sin O Lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us O Lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as or trust is in thee O Lord in thee have trusted let me never be confounded Amen A Prayer of thanksgiving after the receiving some great blessing as the birth of an Heir the success of an honest designe a victory a good harvest c. O Lord God Father of mercies the fountain of comfort and blessing of life and peace o plenty and pardon who fillest Heaven with thy glory and earth with thy goodness I give thee the most earnest most humble and most enlarged returns of my glad and thankfull heart for thou hast refreshed me with thy comforts and enlarged me with thy blessing thou hast made my flesh and my bones to rejoyce for besides the blessings of all mankinde the blessings of nature and the blessings of grace the support of every minute and the comforts of every day thou hast opened thy bosom and at this time hast powred out an excellent expression of thy loving kindness here name the blessing What am I O Lord and what is my Fathers house what is the life and what are the capacities of thy servant that thou shoul'd do this unto me * that the great God 〈…〉 and Angels should make a speciall decree in Heaven for me and send out an Angel of blessing and in stead of condemning and ruining me as I miserably have deserved to distinguish me from many my equals and my betters by this and many other speciall acts of Grace and favour Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us and powreth his benefits upon us He is our God even the God of whom cometh salvation God is the Lord by whom we escape death Thou hast brought me to great honour and comforted me on every side Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works I will rejoyce in giving praise for the operation of thy hands O give thanks unto the Lord and call upon his name tell the people what things he hath done As for me I will give great thanks unto the Lord praise him among the multitude Blessed be the Lord God even the Lord God of Israel which only doth wondrous and gracious things And blessed be the name of his Majesty for ever and all the earth shall be filled with his Majesty Amen Amen Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. A prayer to be said on the Feast of Christmas or the birth of our blessed Saviour Jesus the same also may be said upon the feast of the Annunciation and Purification of the B. Virgin Mary O Holy and Almighty God Father of mercies Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of thy love and Eternal mercies I adore and praise and glorifie thy infinite and unspeakable love and wisdom who hast sent thy Son from the bosom of felicities to take upon him our nature and our misery and our guilt and hast made the Son of God to become the Son of Man that we might become the Sons of God and partakers of the divine nature since thou hast so exalted humane nature be pleased also to sanctifie my person that by a conformity to the humility and laws and sufferings of my dearest Saviour I may be united to his spirit and be made all one with the most Holy Jesus Amen O holy and Eternal Jesus who didst pity mankinde lying in his blood and sin and misery and didst choose our sadnesses and sorrows that thou mightest make us to partake of thy felicities Let thine eyes pity me thy hands support me thy holy â—eet tread down all the difficulties in my way to Heaven let me dwell in thy heart be instructed with thy wisdom moved by thy affections choose with thy will and be clothed with thy righteousness that in the day of Judgment I may be found having on thy garments sealed with thy impression and that bearing upon every faculty and member the character of my elder brother I may not be cast out with strangers and unbleivers Amen O Holy and ever blessed spirit who didst overshadow the holy Virgin Mother of our Lord and causedst her to conceive by a miraculous and mysterious manner be pleased to overshadow my soul and enlighten my spirit that I may conceive the holy Jesus in my heart and may bear him in my minde and may grow up to the fulness of the stature of Christ to be a perfect man in Christ Jesus Amen To God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. To the eternall Son that was incarnate and born of a virgin To the spirit of the Father and the Son be all honour and glory worship and adoration now and for ever Amen The same Form of Prayer