for Confirmation or have I slighted the Prayers and Benediction of God's Priest Have I wholly forsaken Satan or rather am I not still under his power by being a slave to the habits of folly and disobedience Have I ever at any time used Charms or Amulets or consulted Witches or Conjurers Am I not yet in love with the pomps and vanities of the World a great frequenter of sports to the hindrance of Religious Duties and do I delight in profane and lascivious representations and are not my Lusts yet unmortified and have I not derogated from the honour of the Captain of our Salvation by cowardise and negligence Eucharist Have I not profan'd the holy Supper of the Lord by not acquainting my self with the nature of the Mystery and the necessity of preparation or by coming to it without Faith and Repentance without an universal charity and a thorow reconciliation to God and my enemies without examination without a due sorrow and amendment of Life Have I not often received that Sacrament without those ardors of devotion which I am obliged to or without that bodily reverence which the most Sacred and Heavenly Mysteries require Have I not made rash promises when I have received and never minded them afterwards Have I not suffered the House to lye idle when it hath been so swept and garnish'd to encourage Satan to take with him seven other Spirits worse than himself and to come and dwell in my Soul till its later estate be more deplorable than its first To which I subjoyn Lord be merciful to me a sinner and so strengthen me by thy Grace that I may perform my Vows and keep the robes of my Baptism unspotted and tho I have approach'd thy Table without the Wedding Garment yet cast me not into outer darkness whence there is no deliverance Now these and all other Transgressions are either heightned or lessened by their circumstances the Examinant therefore ought to consider 1. The Time when he offended Was it on the Lord's day Here additions and alterations may be made by the devout penitent according to his own state or any other publick Festival on a publick Fasting day or the days of my own private humiliation during the hours of Prayer either at the Temple or in my Closet either at or immediately before or after the receipt of the holy Sacrament and have I often committed one and the same sin for these circumstances argue a perverse frame of mind and that it is not infirmity but wilfulness that makes the offender 2. The place where the sin was committed Was it in the Church at the holy Table or in my Closet or in any publick place where the offence became scandalous incouraging the vicious and offending my weaker brethren 3. The state and condition of the Offender Am I not in Holy Orders one of God's Priests that Minister at his Altar have I not more knowledge and a better acquaintance with my duty hath not God afforded me more convictions greater light and frequenter opportunities of doing good was the sin committed when I was under some affliction of mind body or estate or after some sudden deliverance out of some severe judgement on me for my former failings hath not God by his holy Spirit laid many hinderances in my way to ruine and have I not overcome all difficulties and often been my own tempter have I not continued to be wicked after many checks of Conscience and many solemn Vows to the contrary after the experience of much mercy many deliverances and great tenderness compassion and long-suffering in my Saviour towards me 4. The persons injured Are not my sins committed against my God my Master my Saviour my best and only Friend have I rob'd the House of God of its ho nour or revenue have I ground the face of the Poor or rob'd the Fatherless and Widows have I given evil counsel to the ignorant or those that cannot discern the fallacy have I been unjust to my Children or Relatives who are nearest to me and as it were parts of my self Among all which sins I must particularly mourn over and detest those to which I have been most inclined by natural temper or custome and resolve to avoid all provocations and temptations and whatever hath or may promote such evil habits and to practice the contrary virtues To which I subjoyn Lord I have caused thy Name to be blasphemed among the enemies of Religion and Piety but be thou pleased to pity and pardon me the greatest of sinners and give me thy Grace that I may do so no more Besides all which I am bound to reflect on my many secret sins and forgotten offences and to subjoin Lord who can understand how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults and keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins lest they get the dominion over my Soul so shall I be innocent from the great offence The Collect. ALmighty Lord and everlasting God Grant I most humbly beseech thee to thy distressed Servant Pardon and Peace and vouchsafe to direct sanctify and govern both my heart and body in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever I may be preserv'd in body and soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen To this I add the 38 Psalm or the 51. or some other penitential and after that the 22 Psalm Then follows the Litany much agreeable to the former method LORD let thy Ear be attentive to the Prayer of thy Servant who desires to fear thy name O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him the Father of Mercies have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Son the Redeemer of the World and the lover of Souls have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O God the Holy Spirit of Peace and Love the giver of every Grace and every good Gift have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Holy Powerful and Compassionate Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me the most miserable of sinners O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace Lord hear Lord forgive hearken O Lord and do and defer not for thine own sake O Lord our God From polluting the robes of my Baptisme and making new leagues with Satan from a feigned sorrow and an outside repentance Good Lord deliver me From sin and shame from the paths of folly and destruction from great boasting and little performance and from a vain and empty frame of mind from stoath and idleness and the neglect of my best concerns Good Lord deliver me From Self-Love and love of the World from being busy about nothing and slighting the thoughts of Eternity from deferring my repentance and putting off my accounts to the day of
the Doctrine of the Book of God obliging them to learn the Psalter and the Epistles of St. Paul without book while we think that study unworthy of our selves or our posterity We plead it 's true as St. Caesarius of Arles says the difficulty of learning the Rules of Faith and Holy Life without book especially if we cannot read But if the most ignorant and unlearned can find out a way to remember a prophane or lewd Song or Story will their ignorance excuse them if they have not learnt the Precepts of the Gospel Men have wit and memory enough to attain without reading to that which the Devil teaches them for their destruction But when they are to receive from the mouth of their blessed Saviour the Laws that will make them eternally happy then they plead ignorance But whatever others do or my self have heretofore practis'd I profess for the future that I will love thy Law And do thou think upon me O Lord according to thy word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust Thou hast given me thy Holy Scriptures that through them I might have hope in all capacities and in all distresses of mind body or estate For tho I read there that Lucifer sinn'd himself beyond the hopes of Redemption and that there is a sin against the Holy Ghost that cannot be pardon'd and a sin unto death that is not to be pray'd for yet the state of sinful men is declared to be different from that of the fallen Angels And what these particular Transgressions are and wherein they consist is not plainly revealed in those Oracles that no man might despair of mercy but withal that every man might beware of the smallest sin as if it were of the greatest magnitude the deepest dye and most dismal consequences From this Book also I learn That at what time soever a sinner repents and doth that which is lawful and right he shall save his soul alive For who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect since it is God who justifies and who is he that condemns since Christ hath died and is risen again and sitteth at the right hand of God to make intercession for us Lord be merciful to my former sin for my neglect hath been great and keep me stedfast to my duty for the remainder of my life that tho I cannot see my God yet I may every day hear him and converse with him in his word and being inlightned thereby may learn to depart from evil The Collect. For the 2d Sunday in Advent BLessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning grant that I may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word I may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed Hope of Everlasting Life which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen CHAP. IX Of Christian Love WHen I have thus adorn'd my soul with saving knowledg my next employment is strictly to examine my practise and what degrees of divine love I have attained to now I better feel what that love is in my heart than I can describe it with my tongue For when I am in the Palace of divine Love I am in St Paul's Third Heaven where tho the Apostle without doubt saw ravishing sights and such as were worth dying for and heard admirable discourses such as the King of Glory entertains his favorite Angels with yet he assures us he heard and saw * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 12.4 what could not be uttered or described But as it is said of Heaven tho it does not appear what we shall be yet we have a glorious character of that City given us in Holy Writ so it may be said of Christian Love Great things are spoken of it and such as render it venerable in the eyes of all wise and discerning persons For 1. It is a complication * Aug. de C. D. l. 15. c. 22. Nihil aliud virtus est quà m or do amoris Id. de C. D. l. 14. c. 7. Amor inhians habere quod amatur cupiditas est idem habens eóque fruens laetitia est c. of all Vertues When it longs for what it affects it is desire and when it enjoys it it is gladness when it flies what it abominates it is fear and when it falls into the hands of its enemies it is sadness says St. Austin and * 1 Cor. 13. a greater than St. Austin hath told me That Love is the most comprehensive Vertue For Charity suffers long and then it is meekness it is kind and then it is courtesie it envies not and so it is peaceableness it vaunteth not it self and so it is modesty it is not puft up and so it is humility it doth not behave it self unseemly and then it is called decency seeketh not her own and then it is publick-spiritedness is not easily provok'd and then it is patience thinketh no evil and so it is simplicity and innocence rejoiceth in the truth and so it is verity and spiritual gladness beareth all things and so it is Christian fortitude believeth all things and so it is faith hopeth all things and so it is assurance endureth all things and then it is magnanimity and it never fails and so it is perseverance it purifies more than the flames of Martyrdom and is a better Alms than the world dispos'd of to charitable uses it enlightens more than all reading and all contemplation and it makes a man a Christian while Knowledg and Miracles only make him a Prodigy In a word it is all Philosophy and all Religion and he alone truly knows how to live who knows how to love Nay it is Heaven upon Earth says the devout Poet For We know not what they do above But that they sing and that they love Nay it is God himself * 1 John 4.8 For he that loves not knows not God for God is Love ' Who is able to describe the beauties of Holy Love says St. Clement * Ep ad Corinth p. 63 64. The height to which it carries us is unsearchable it unites us to God and it covers a multitude of sins it is the bond of Union and the bane of Schism and Divisions and without it nothing can please God It was nothing but Love that brought down Jesus from Heaven to shed his Blood for us and nothing but Love that can carry us thither whence he came down on Earth 2. Love is the only Original of all our satisfactions in this Life it sweetens all sufferings and makes difficulties easie for it subdues whatever opposes it True Love is a flame enkindled in the mind by our holy Saviour which preys upon and destroys all secular and carnal affections its eye is fixt on Heaven and its wings spread toward that bright Palace and thither it endeavours with unwearied speed to fly because that is
dragg'd by the rude and incensed multitude into the City and there hurried up and down to all the Judicatories in it he was buffeted and scourg'd the Plowers plowed long furrows on his back he was Crown'd with Thorns and loaden with his Cross having been condemned by clamour and importunity by restless and unsatisfied malice when Pilate his proper Judge had confest him Innocent To his Cross both his hands and feet which by reason of their being full of Nerves are the most sensible parts of the Body were fastened being pierc'd through with sharp Nails the whole weight of his Body stretch'd out as on a Rack resting on his expanded Hands there he languished under an insufferable thirst occasioned by his being so violently transported from place to place by his cruel Agony in the Garden by his loss of so much Blood in that Sweat in his scourging in his being Crown'd with Thorns and nailed to his Cross to which both his hands and feet were fastened that he could no way relieve himself he was exposed to the Sun and the Wind which search'd his wounds and made his pains more grievous his Mother and his beloved Disciple were standing by his Cross in the posture of persons distracted by their sorrows and this increased his torment not only as they were his near Relations but as they represented his Widowed and disconsolate Church And when it might have been expected that his Soul should have received comfort while his body was on this rack this was so far from being the portion of Jesus that his Soul felt more fearful convulsions than his tortured Body when all his bones were out of joint all the anger of God was upon him at once now was the Curtain drawn between the rational faculties of his Soul and God whereas before there was only a skreen between his sensitive faculties and his Father now was the beatifical Union suspended and his God had forsaken him when he stood in most need and when he cryed aloud to his Father for help the rude Soldiers study to encrease his sorrows they give him Vinegar to drink which was proper to stop his bleeding and to lengthen his life and torments and that Vinegar mingled with the bitter juice of Hyssop to make the draught more irksome and unpalatable unless we may believe a modern ‖ Heins Arist in Jo. 19 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Critick That they gave him the Vinegar on a Spunge of the coarsest Wooll to do him the greater dishonour Almost a whole day and night was he under continued tortures from his entry into the Garden to his yielding up the ghost whereof six whole hours he was hanging on the Cross and then he died while his Spirit was whole within him and while being in the vigour of his youth his heart within him was like melting wax for in the heighth of all his acute pains he cried with a loud voice and yielded up the ghost his Body being more sensible of pain than usually malefactors are for he had a beautiful shape and was of a fine and pure make and of a delicate constitution born of a Virgin not subject to and so never harrast with diseases and the pains of his Soul bore proportion to his bodily sufferings for he well knew how grievous and insupportable the anger of God is which we are insensible of he dreaded the burthen of those sins which we delight in and the severity of those punishments which we deride his notions of things were clear his apprehension quick and the bent of his mind most strongly inclinable to pity and compassion Thus were his sorrows augmented and his sufferings made intollerable while the rigour of his enemies left no sound part in him for he suffered in his Soul in his bitter Agony in his whole Body in his Sweat his Head was crowned with Thorns his Eyes were a fountain of tears his Ears inured to mockings his Palate disgusted vvith the Vinegar and the Wine mixt vvith Myrrh his Face spit upon his Neck and Shoulders loaden vvith the burthen of a heavy Cross his Back and Sides scourged his Heart pierc'd vvith the Spear his Hands and Feet nailed to the accursed Tree his Flesh torn and his Blood spilt that he might most justly exclaim I am the man that hath seen affliction by the Rod of God's Wrath Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see was there ever sorrow like my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger Nor were these all his sufferings for the consideration and foresight that all these mercies should be bestowed on an ingrateful and rebellious World the greatest part of which would be hypocrites and unbelievers would trample on his Blood as an unholy and profane thing and would frustrate the end of his death and the designs of his mercy this doubtless made his sorrows exquisite and so transcendent as nothing could parallel but his Love and his Patience Here the devout Christian may put a stop to his Meditations for a while and subjoin this COLLECT O Lord who wert pleased in the fulness of time to send thine only begotten Son into the World made of a Woman made under the Law that he might become a curse for us and reconcile the World unto thee our Father by his bitter Agony and cruel Death and who hast assured us that thou scourgest every son whom thou receivest grant that I may be conformable to the image of thy beloved Son and our dearest Saviour that his sufferings may be the propitiation for my sins his Blood may cleanse my Soul and I may have life through him and grant that as Jesus offered up himself to thy justice so I may offer my self and all my enjoyments a Sacrifice of praise for the Mercies of God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost now and for evermore Amen After which the devout Christian at what time his strength and occasions will best permit may continue his Meditation Proportionate to the torments which Jesus endured was his shame and ignominy than which nothing is more insufferable to an ingenuous nature His birth was mean his Mother a poor Virgin he was born in a Stable and Cradled in a Manger he was brought up at the mean and laborious Trade of his reputed Father Joseph his many Journies were performed on foot he had no setled habitation and very few Friends and those poor ignorant and contemptible Galilean Fishermen whose very Country was ominous and at his last essay was he not apprehended as a vile malefactor and that not by a party of men of Honour not by the Guards of the Captain of the Temple or the Roman Governor but by the Rabble the meanest of the people tumultuously gathered together arm'd with Clubs and Swords the hasty weapons their fury could lay hold on He was treated as a publick Nusance tho as free from sin as truth and innocence could make
And these were the Subjects of all the Sermons of those days And there was nothing expresly required from the person who came to the Font but a solemn profession of the Articles of the Creed And upon this profession the Catechumen was baptized and after his Baptism immediately admitted to the Lord's Supper When therefore I know and understand that our blessed Saviour by his precious Death sealed a Covenant with God in the behalf of Mankind and that I have solemnly in my Baptism ratified my part of that agreement resolving no further to depend on his Merits than I obey his Laws When I understand that I must be truly penitent for my former Offences and ought to live better for the future when I believe all Gods promises of Mercy and Salvation made to me in Christ Jesus and am convinc'd that I ought to be thankful for that Mercy to God and charitable to all Mankind then I suppose I have knowledg enough to intitle me to this Ordinance For if my search after knowledg should engage me in the Labyrinths of the Schools and I must not receive till I am able to demonstrate how Christ were present there and to comprehend all the Arguments that are brought for and against Transubstantiation I might perhaps be always seeking but I should never come to the knowledg of the truth And if I happen'd to understand what I enquired after should probably be never the better For what advance hath that man made in Christianity that hath spent his days in the little questions of the School men how one body can be hid under the accidents of another body * Suarez to 3. disp 51. how the whole body can be so present as that what was cut off in his circumcision should not be wanting Or whether a Rat when he nibbles a Consecrated Host doth communicate and truly eat the substantial Body and Blood of Christ with many other such Impertinencies to give them the softest Name Whereas one day spent in the due consideration how I shall receive worthily and how I shall live more piously gives me more useful knowledg than an Age of controversal studies That God is present in the Sacrament I have infallible Authority to assure me Thy Word O my Saviour is sufficient to command my belief but the mystery is enough to stifle my curiosity And to seek to know more than thou art willing to reveal were to derogate from the Reverence due to thy Oracles and Authority For how can I pretend to describe so transcendent an Institution which the Angels themselves stoop to look into This Sacrament was ordain'd for better purposes than to puzzle and confound It was design'd to strengthen and confirm to bind us to remember God and our selves to remember his love and our Returns of gratitude For the deepest speculations seldom make a man more wise or more holy but the knowledg of Jesus Christ and him crucified I am sure is the true method to endear me to God The business of a good man is not to amuse but to prepare himself to communicate with his Saviour The understanding of a Religious soul is vastly different from that of a great Scholar and the Wisdom that comes down from above consists not in Word but in Power I am resolved therefore not to meddle with the quarrels of the different parties of Christendom While they dispute I will pray while they sacrifice their Charity to the maintenance of their Faith I will pursue after peace and holiness And by that means I doubt not but I shall be fit to communicate here and to see God in Heaven The Collect. TO thee the only wise God from whom comes every good and perfect gift does my soul in her Necessities address her self beseeching thee who givest liberally and without grudging to enlighten my understanding with the beams of truth and to lead me to the Palace of Wisdom Give me less of that Knowledg that swells and makes vain and more of that Charity that edifies Enable me in all my Engagements to contend for Truth and not for Victory in all my Reading to be more in love with the Piety of the discourse than the Eloquence that all my Reasonings may be subdued and every thought brought in captivity to the obedience of Christ And since my proficiency in thy School O my best of Masters is not to be judg'd of by my being honour'd with Visions or enabled to unriddle Mysteries not by the Eminency of Learning or Station but by a transcendent Piety an Angelical Conversation and a profound Humility give me to this end thy Grace and let thy Holy Spirit govern me because without those Assistances all Learning is but Neise all Wisdom Craft and all my Natural Powers Impotence my Virtues but Formality and my Devotions but Pretence so shall my Knowledg no longer consist in empty Notion but shall exert it self into practise And I shall so follow thee my dearest Saviour here as I may live with thee for ever Amen CHAP. VIII Of the Study of the Holy Scriptures IF the most useful wisdom be that which is practical instead of busying my self with Books of Controversie I will be a diligent Reader of the Holy Scriptures For they are the Oracles of God able to make me wise to salvation and perfect unto every good work In those Oracles there is nothing trifling and impertinent nothing doubtful or obscure of the things which belong to my eternal welfare * Dionys Areop Eccl. hierar c. 3. For the whole Book of Holy Scriptures saith the Eloquent Father doth set before us either the creation and disposal of all things by the divine Power or the Polity and Government both of Church and State under the Law or the distribution and possession of the inheritance which God had given to his peculiar people or an account of the wisdom of their sacred Judges their holy Kings and devout Priests or the undaunted courage and bravery of their Patriarchs under all sorts of Affliction or excellent holy Precepts how to govern our Actions or the Songs of heavenly Love and the Idea's of Divinity imprinted on the Mind or the prophecies of future things or the Atchievements of the Son of God in our Humane Nature or the Acts and holy Discourses of the Apostles deliver'd to them from God and done in imitation of him or the mystical and abstruse Visions of his beloved and inspired Disciple In these shall be my delight and in these will I spend my time These Oracles alone can charm my Passions and allay my Griefs And what a dishonour is it to us * Olearii Iâ—iner that the Turks in their Schools should teach their children nothing but to read and write and remember the sentences of the Alcoran which is their Scripture and that the poor * Abudac c. 22. p. 29. Coptite Christians tho under severe and cruel bondage to their Mahometan enemies should take care to instruct their Youth in
to pray as heartily for my most malicious enemies as for my own salvation And I cannot but remark the folly of the Romanists who tho they say all the rest of their prayers on Good-Friday kneeling do alter that posture when they pray for the Jews as they also omit saying the Amen and that for these poor Reasons * Durand Ration lib. 6 cap. 77. 1. because the Jews mock'd our Saviour with bowing the Knee and saying Hail King 2. Pecause all their prayers cannot alter the Divine Decrees nor shorten the time their conversion not being to commence till the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in But the Arguments are vain and frivolous and the usage savours of a narrow and a contracted soul For to ingross salvation to my self or party is Christian Judaism it is impropriating the Messiah and depriving all others of the capacity of being happy So that if I consider my Relation to the rest of the world either as a Man or a Christian I cannot but account my Adversaries whether they be so to my person or principles in the number of my Friends and such as do me good For by envious exclaiming against my Irregularities they engage me to more circumspection and greater care in performing my duty to my God the world and my self And they give me occasion to manifest my Patience my Humility and Self-denial with many other Vertues And were the Malice of my Enemies never so causeless and inveterate and the Injuries done me never so great yet they have not crucified me But so did my Saviour's Enemies deal with him while he forgave them and interceded for them And hath not that my Saviour * Matth. 5.24 injoin'd me rather to leave his service undone than that my duty to my Neighbour rather to leave my Gift at the Altar unoffer'd than to make the Oblation without being in perfect charity for * Tert. de Orat. c. 10. Optat. lib. 6. Chrysost in loc c. the Fathers generally understand that passage of the Holy Sacrament ‖ Chrysost To. 6. p. 622. If I cannot forgive ten days fasting will not fit me for this Altar For where Envy and Malice dwell neither the Fast nor the Festival do any good Where Envy abides thence the Spirit of God is banisht And what hopes can that man have of salvation who is destitute of the Holy Ghost There is nothing therefore that can excuse me from the practice of this so amiable a Vertue which intitles me to a conquest of my Passions and makes me Master of my self Revenge is not my Province God will repay And tho it may make me for a while uneasie not to pursue it yet I am sure it is much more uneasie to be damn'd and to be confin'd to eternal torments The Collect. BLessed Jesu who when thy Sacred Body suffer'd its acutest pains and when thy Innocent Soul felt its most afflicting Agonies wert ready to implore thy Father's Forgiveness on thy most imbitter'd Adversaries be thou pleas'd to forgive my Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and to turn their hearts and so enable me by thy Holy Spirit to walk in thy steps that I may bless them who curse me and do good to them who hate me and pray for them who despightfully use me whether they are my Enemies justly or without a cause willfully or unwillingly by what means or way soever they have done me Injury Father forgive them as I desire thou wouldest forgive me For no man can use me worse than I have deserved at thy hands and when they curse then do then bless And be thou pleas'd to remove from me and all Mankind all Bitterness Wrath Anger Clamor Evil speaking and Malice and whatever grieves thy Holy Spirit that we may be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for thy sake hath forgiven us that the Spirit of Love may subdue all desires of Revenge that we may be Followers of those Rules which be first pure then peaceable and at last may be admitted into the Habitations of Eternal Concord and Unity through thy Merits and Mediation who art the great Reconciler the Angel of the Covenant Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen CHAP. XVI Of Love to the Holy Sacrament WHen I love any man sincerely every thing that hath a Relation to my Friend is dear to me and of a particular value I look upon a Ring given me by a living Friend as a Remembrancer of the Donor and his Affection but if it be given to me at his death and that death a Martyrdom and the Ring be dipt in the sacred blood * Act. Passion ss Perpet Faelic p. 34. which was sometimes practis'd by the Martyrs it upon that very account becomes venerable in my eyes and I reflect on it with a deep respect intermixt with love and such is the blessed Sacrament to me When Jesus was crucified his Passion for the time was very terrible the Earth shook the Rocks rent and the Sun was Eclips'd but such things easily die in our memories unless reqresented by something visible by some outward sign The sight of Calvary must needs engage a modern Traveller to remember a bleeding Saviour who died there sixteen hundred years agon And as the marks of our Redeemer's Foot steps when he ascended which made their impression in the ground and continued visible * Paulin. Ep 11. ad Severum till the Fifth Century could not but presently recall into the thoughts of but a transient considerer the History of the Triumphs of Jesus which were the Reward of his sufferings and such sights without doubt wrought wonderfully in the primitive Martyrs when the Blood of a dying Redeemer was yet warm and those Memorials not defac'd who lookt upon the places with Respect and there built Churches to perpetuate the Memory of the Mercy It is true afterwards those places administred to superstition and I am sorry to say so did the Sacrament too and to Idolatry also tho it owes its Original to divine Institution When therefore I contemplate these symbols I not only remember my Master as he hath obliged me till his second coming but I also put an Estimate on his Institution I account it an Honour to be admitted to his Table and I long for frequent opportunities of going thither and nothing can satisfie me but such an Entertainment For the highest degree of Holiness is most acceptable And I am no Christian if I love not my God with all my heart And nothing less than a vigorous passion and the desires of a necessitous person deserve to be called love to the Eucharist Nor dare I desire it to gratifie any by-end but to save my soul For if I long for it only out of wantonness the Bread may feed my body but it will never supply the wants of my soul the Wine may cheer my spirits but never refresh my mind Nothing less than transports can express the sense of the
his Subjects And when in the Wilderness they went from one Nation to another people how did he preserve them that no man could do them wrong And how did he reprove even Kings for their sake One Miracle brought them Bread a second Flesh from Heaven a third Water out of the Flinty Rock and their Cloaths were kept from wearing out by the same extraordinary Power an Angel was their Guide and the Lord of Hosts their King with what terrible and affrighting sounds was the Law given on the top of Mount Sinai With what Wisdom Eloquence and Authority was it explained by the Prophets Who confirm'd it by innumerable signs and wonders and foretold the Incarnation of the Son of God who should fulfil the Law and all the Righteousness of it and yet how obstinate and disobedient how untractable and sullen how stubborn and rebellious is this People Despising the Divine Mercies and denying the Lord who bought them when he had condescended to cloath himself with humane Nature to be born in their Country of an Israelitish Stock and of the Seed of King David whose Name was by them had in Everlasting Remembrance What could God have done more to his Vineyard that he ever left undone He planted it in a fruitful soyl in a Land flowing with Milk and Honey he water'd it with the Dew of Heaven and cheer'd and warm'd it with the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness he fenc't and secured it by an extraordinary Providence and the Guardianship of Angels Michael the Prince of those Blessed Spirits being deputed to the Tuition he manured it by the Ministry of Kings and inspired Men and by the peculiar Husbandry of his own Darling and with infinite Patience waited till it would answer his Expectations and pay him with a Vintage that might recompence his Cost and his Labour but instead of Grapes it brought forth Bryars and Thistles it rewarded the pains of those who cultivated it with nothing but fruitless labour which not only filled them with melancholly Reflections on their unsuccessful Attempts but cost many of them their Lives so cruel and barbarous is ingratitude that it never is at rest till it imbrues its Hands in the Blood of its best Friends and Benefactors so inhumane were the Jewish Nation so bent to the Destruction of those whose sole business it was to save them from Destruction It was the Jewish Synagogue that was Gods Pleasant Plant the Hedg was the Divine Protection the Winepress digg'd in it was the Law which he gave them written with his own Finger and which continually urged them with the necessity of Obedience the Tower which he erected was the Temple the Beauty and Honour as well as the safety of Jerusalem for nothing but Religion and the true Worship of God can make a people safe or happy and when that is secured all other things are bestowed of course the Husbandmen were the Governours of the Nation Spiritual and Civil who upon a just return of God's Portion to him were to have a liberal share of the Fruits for themselves and who could make a wiser Provision Upon this the Lord seems to take a Journey into another Countrey intrusting them with the managery but lest they should forget that they were not Proprietors but only Usetructuaries he frequently takes occasion to send to them his Servants the Prophets to mind them of their Trust and their Obligations but Michaiah and Jeremy they beat and imprisoned Zechary ths Son of Jehciada they stoned Isaiah they sawed asunder another Zechary they slew between the Temple and the Altar Ezekiel was murdered at Babylon for reproving the Idolatry of the Governour of the People Amos was slain with a Sword and John the Baptist beheaded nay who among the men of God escap't their Malice And what Prince is there but resents the ill usage of his Ambassadors as hainously as if himself were in Person affronted But O the depth of the Riches of the Divine Mercy He is not easily provok'd nor does he delight in the Death of a sinner but trys all methods to reclaim and amend him after so many messages that failed of success he resolves to try the last Experiment he had one only Son the Darling of his Bosom and him he deputes to this Embassy believing that if their malice were not desperate and incurable they would reverence him who was the Heir to the Vineyard but when Jesus came into the World a Preacher of the glad Tidings of Peace all their malice that before vented it self in parcels upon the Prophets concenter'd and fixt in him tho they knew him to be the Messiah and the only begotten of the Father now they join all their Forces summon their Councils unite their different Factions and determine to murther him and then the Inheritance would be their own their Dignity their Reven es their Authority secured to themselves and their Descendants for ever But how empty and insignificant are the Councils of men when they oppose themselves to the Wisdom of God How easily does the Lord confound the Craft of the Wise and bring to nought the Understanding of the Prudent Their very hopes are baffled and they are punish'd in kind according to the nature of their sin for did ever any man fight against Heaven and prosper instead of securing their Title they ruined â—t and instead of an imaginary greatness which they expected to last for ever the fatal period of their Jurisdiction was fix'd their power dwindled into the pageantry of Dominion their supposed indefesable right to the Divine Favour was swallowed up of Vengeance and made a prey to an Indignation that will not be easily atoned their Patrimony was alienated the Title transfer'd to the Gentile World in expectation that they would amend when they saw the Example and avoid the sins that brought down the Judgments It would melt a Tyrant into compassion and soften the most obdutate Temper to view or but hear of the miseries of that distracted City whom their own Iniquities and Gods Vengeance had devoted to ruin To hear of the destruction of the Temple made the Apostles pity the dissolution of that insensible Fabrick but to view the beautiful Pile all in a flame the Holy of Holies polluted and the Blood of the Priests mingled with the Blood of their Sacrifices this would force Tears from a Heart of Flint as it raised a strong compassion in the mind of their very Conqueror and at the same time to see Mothers cramb their ravenous Stomachs with the Flesh of their own Children to see Brethren sheath their Swords in one anothers Bosoms nothing but Rapine and Sacriledg Civil Dissentions and Murders among men of the same Faith and Country till the common Enemy broke in upon them and involved the several parties of a great and populous Nation in the same common desolation These are Reflections that puzzle Belief and create Astonishment Did ever any of thy words O my Redeemer fall to the
Examination according to the rule of Repentance HAve I embrac'd all the Opportunities of Repentance that God hath given me Have I fasted often and subdued my flesh by frequent acts of Mortification Have I repented sincerely and intirely and do I intend to continue in a state of unwearied obedience to Gods Laws Have I renounc'd the Devil the World and the Flesh so as never more to be reconciled to them Have I been troubled as heartily for my Transgressions as I have been for worldly Crosses Have I not oftner sorrowed for the Punishment of my sins than for my sins and have I not been more concern'd that God hath been just with me than that I have offended him How often have I broken my vows and relaps'd into my old sins Have I ever seriously considered the danger of such a return to my former vicious habits Do I not tremble when I reflect that perhaps this present moment may be the last which God will allow me either to live or to repent To every of which Enquiries if I find my self guily I subjoin Lord be merciful to me a sinner accept of my imperfect and weak repentance and enable me for the future to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. An Examination according to the Creed I Thank thee And here I mention not any acts of speculative infidelity because very few are guilty in that kind but those who are may without particular directions call themselves to account according to this method O my God for thy assistances that I can say with satisfaction that I have hitherto continued in the Profession of this most holy Faith in opposition to all Heresies Ancient and Modern I believe the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity that the Three Persons are Coessential Coequal and Coeternal that they made the World and are willing it should be saved that the Laws of Providence are just and that there is a state of futurity reserved for all mankind in this Faith I have hitherto lived and hope if there be need I shall have the Grace and the Will to be a Martyr for it But have I not the greatest reason to condemn my self and to be heartily troubled that I have not made this belief of mine subservient to practice that I have lived as if these Articles had never been written Have I adored that God as I ought whom I have profest to own Have I not neglected to reverence his Majesty and to dread his Power whom I have acknowledged to be Almighty Have I not called God Father when I have refused to obey him When I have profest that God made all things have I seriously reflected upon what I owe him for my own Being and well-being Have I not called Jesus Master while I have blasphemed his name and confest his Dominion while I have trampled on his Laws Have I not acknowledged his holy and immaculate Incarnation and Nativity while my Soul hath defiled her self with all sort of impurities When I have profest my belief of his Death Resurrection and Ascension have I dyed to my Sins and risen again to newness of Life and dwelt in Heaven in resolution and affection Have I lived as if I were perswaded that Jesus would come again to judge both the quick and dead Have I given up my self to the guidance of the Holy-Ghost in whom I believe Have I heartily joyn'd in the Services of the holy Catholiek Church which is the Communion of Saints and have I not neglected the opportunities of frequent Praying and frequent Communicating Have I not lived still and resolved to continue to live in those Sins of which I profess my hope of forgiveness And when with my lips I have said I look for the Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the World to come have I not in my heart and actions put far from me the thoughts of that day and demean'd my self as if there were no account to be given of my Stewardship Have I not also been guilty of delighting too much in curious and unnecessary speculations of making inquiry into the consubstantiality of the Trinity the filiation of the Son and the procession of the holy Spirit and other such admirable but unintelligible Mysteries while I have slighted the methods of true Wisdom neglecting the study how to unite my self to the Trinity by Faith and a holy Conversation how to be conform'd to Jesus in newness of Life and how to walk according to the dictates of the Spirit of Peace and Truth that would lead me into the paths of obedience To each of these I subjoyn Wretched Sinner that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Lord have mercy upon me pardon all these enormities cure this vanity of mind and give me Grace for the future that with the heart I may believe unto Righteousness and with the mouth make confession unto Salvation An Examination according to the Commandments 1. Com. HAve I not broken the first Commandment in thought word or deed by neglecting to believe in God to fear him to love him and to trust in him as I ought Have I had that high esteem of the Deity which I am bound to have Have I given him the obedience of my Soul and the Reverence of my Body Have I patiently and thankfully submitted to all his inflictions Have I ever prefer'd any passion of my own or any other thing to my God and his Service 2. Com. Have I not broken the second Commandment in thought word or deed by not worshipping my Maker according to his own prescriptions Have I been guilty of Superstition or Idolatry Have I followed the imaginations of my own heart or Sacrilegiously rob'd God of any thing dedicated to his Honour 3. Com. Have I not broken the third Commandment in thought word or deed by not making the Divine Honour the end of all my actions or by not esteeming places things or persons dedicated to Religion Have I profan'd God's holy Name by Oaths Cursings Perjuries Blasphemies or any such crime Have I spoken slightly of God or scoffed at Religion or by loose and Atheistical talk prostituted the mysteries of Christianity or used the name of God vainly and to evil ends 4. Com. Have I not broken the fourth Commandment in thought word or deed by not abstaining every day from my sins and every seventh day from my labours Have I duly observ'd the Festivals and Fasts of the Church and have I set apart and strictly kept the solemn times of my private humiliation and mortifying my Lusts Have I behav'd my self reverently in God's House have I pray'd fervently and with humility and read the Scriptures awfully and heard the Word of God conscientiously and communicated devoutly Have I ever made Religion a pretence for Vice or neglected to know or do my duty Have I not offended my Neighbour whether stranger or relative by encouraging him to be vicious either by my example or authority by
my death Good Lord deliver me From sins of Ignorance and sins of Malice from impatience under reproof and the eagerness of an angry Mind from sensual and polluted Fancies from the Spectres of the Night and unbecoming Dreams Good Lord deliver me From being ingaged in the pursuits of a proud and perverse Generation and from the World that lies in wickedness Good Lord deliver me From disbelief of the Mysteries of Religion and walking contrary to my Profession from calling God Father and yet cbeying the Devil and from praying to him with my Lips when my Heart is far from him Good Lord deliver me From a fondness for secular Wisdom and Learning and the neglect of the Word from hearkening to the Suggestions of Satan and slighting the Counsels of the blessed Spirit from vain and inconsiderate Talk and rash Resolutions Good Lord deliver me From Atheism and Impiety from worshipping any thing in my mind or practices in Opposition to my Maker and from all Hypocrisie and Superstition Good Lord deliver me From taking thy Name in Vain by Oaths or Blasphemy by idle and rash Talk and Curses and from slighting thy Temple and Service thy Day and Ordinances Good Lord deliver me From disobedience to my Superiors and neglect of my Parents from Envy Hatred and Malice from evil Speaking and Slandering Clamor and Reviling and from Blood and Murther and all Revenge Good Lord deliver me From unchast and wanton Thoughts from leud and intemperate Discourses from a lustful Eye and all sort of carnal Pollutions Good Lord deliver me From pride and vain Glory from lying and false Witness from Slandering and Perjury from Covetousness and Ambition and from being discontented at my present Condition from all evil Thoughts and a vain Conversation Good Lord deliver me From having my Portion in this Life and an uninterrupted Felicity from Anger and Provocations to Uncharitableness from nauseating the means of Salvation and from a hardned Heart Good Lord deliver me From a polluted mind and a love of Dissention from forsaking thy Interest to maintain my own and from following a multitude to do evil Good Lord deliver me From neglecting thy Holy Table and slighting the invitation of my Saviour from a want of due preparation and from eating and drinking damnation to my self Good Lord deliver me From the snare of a slanderous tongue and the lips that speak lies from the malice of hypocrites from the rage and fury of Zealots and from the cunning and power of Satan Good Lord deliver me From the follies of my youth and the sins of my riper years from the sins which I have committed my self and those which I have encouraged others to commit from the defilements of my Body and the pollutions of my Soul Good Lord deliver me From my secret and open sins from what I have done to please my self and what I have done to please others from the sins which I remember and those which I have forgotten Good Lord deliver me From those sins * Here the penitent may reckon the particular sins he hath committed to which temper and inclination use and custome and evil company have addicted me Good Lord deliver me From the evil both of vice and punishment from the lashes of Conscience and a distracted mind and from a sudden painful and unexpected death from a place on the left hand and a portion among the Goats from the chains of darkness and the bottomless pit Good Lord deliver me By thy unspeakable generation as God and thy wonderful birth as Man by thy circumcision and acceptance of the adorations of the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles Good Lord deliver me By thy wisdom in baffling the Scribes and Pharisees by thy humility in stooping to a mean condition and by thy obedience to thy Parents Good Lord deliver me By thy Baptisme forty days Fast and victory over the Devil in the Wilderness by thy surprizing but useful Miracles by thy plain but convincing Discourses and by thy winning and exemplary Conversation Good Lord deliver me By the wonderful and mysterious representation of thy bloody passion in the blessed Eucharist and by thy unexpressible love to thy Church by thy bitter Agony thy wondrous Sweat and fervent Prayers in the Garden Good Lord deliver me By the variety of thy sufferings which are recorded and by thy unknown pangs and tortures which we cannot describe and by thy strong crying and tears when thou prayedst for thine enemies Good Lord deliver me By thy mercy to dye for us thy power to rise again and thy compassion to intercede for us and to be our Advocate and by whatever else is dear to thee and of use to the world Good Lord deliver me In the days of my prosperity and in the times of suffering in the troubles of my mind and the weakness of my body in the hour of my death and in the terrible day of thy coming to judgement Good Lord deliver me Jesu Master thou Son of David have mercy on me That it may please thee to illuminate thy Holy Church with the spirit of truth amity and concord that all that are called Christians may be united in one holy Faith and may retain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to bless and defend our gracious Soveraign from all his enemies separately and conjunctly that his days may be many his Reign prosperous and his end everlasting Life I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That the Royal Family may be happy in thy service the Clergy honoured with thy protection the Nobility guided by thy Holy Spirit the Gentry Firm and Loyal and the Commons of the Realm humble and obedient I beseech thee c. That all men may be saved Hereticks made Converts to Truth Schismaticks to Peace Rebels to Loyalty and Jews Mahometans and Infidels become Disciples to the Son of God I beseech thee c. That Widows may be protected and Orphans provided for the sick healed the opprest defended the naked cloathed the hungry fed the ignorant instructed the refractory reclaimed and that all Prisoners and whoever is appointed to dye may taste of thy Fatherly pity I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to succour and ease all that labour under the weight of an evil and disturbed Conscience and to give the rewards of Martyrdome to those who suffer for a good one I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to pardon and amend all mine enemies and teach me not only to forgive but to forget injuries I beseech thee c. That it may please thee to give me and all thy Servants true quiet and liberty and protection from sin and wickedness all the days of our lives I beseech thee c. That an Angel of Peace a faithful guide may be the Guardian both of my Soul and Body I beseech thee c.
to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest § 9. When the devont Christian is invited to draw near to the Holy Table he uses one or more of these Sentencs Lord I have looked for thee in Holiness that I might behold thy Power and Glory How dreadful is this Place this is no other but the House of God and the Gate of Heaven This is the Lords Mercy-Seat which the Cherubim of Glory shadow this is the Altar of Jesus round which the Angels clad in their bright Robes stand This is the Altar where Jesus is crucified let all the Angels of God and all the Sons of Men worship him I will come into thy House upon the multitude of thy Mercies and in thy fear will I hold up my hands and worship towards the Mercy-Seat of thy Holy Temple I will exalt the Lord my God and will worship at his Footstool for he is Holy I will fall down and adore for I know that God is here of a truth § 10. VVhen the good man comes up and kneels before the Altar he says Lord I most thankfully receive this gracious Invitation which thou hast afforded me to come to thy Holy Table and tho the number and weight of my Transgressions might justly deter me yet I am resolved to embrace the opportunity because thou hast bidden all who are weary and heavy laden to come unto thee Will Jesus whom the Heavens must contain till the consummation of all things be content to dwell with his poor servant Oh that I could entertain thee in my Soul with the same joy that the Holy Virgin did at thy incarnation with the same Exultations that the Infant Baptist did when he danc'd before he was Born at the approach of a Saviour with the Hosannah's of the Devout Jews before thy Passion and with the Authems of Angels at thy Ascension For who deserves my praises but my Saviour Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing My Soul therefore shall joyn consort with every Creature which is in Heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the Sea when they say Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb for evermore § 11. VVhile the Priest himself is receiving the good man prays for him The Lord hear thee the name of the God of Jacob defend thee send thee help from the Sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion Remember all thy offerings and accept thy Sacrifice Grant thee thy hearts desire and fulfil all thy mind § 12. After which if the time will permit he Exercises this or the like act of contrition but if he wants time he does it in his Closet at his return Lord I am the greatest of sinners but here is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World His Blood speaks better things than that of Abel and he is the propititation for our sins My sins dearest Jesu brought thee to all thy shame and all thy sufferings but that satisfaction was necessary for the Redemption of the World I am troubled above measure for thy sorrows and will revenge thy death on my vices which were the cause of it Melt me O God into a soft temper fit to receive thy impressions give me an intire detestation of my sins and an indignation that may engage me to forsake my transgressions and to love the paths of virtue § 13. To which he subjoins this or the like act of Faith Jesus is my God and my Saviour he is the Angel of the Covenant I will not leave him till he bless me This is Jesus whom the Jews slew and hanged on a Tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins If God hath given us his Son how shall he not with him give us all things for his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed Lord I believe that thou art present in the Sacrament but in a manner spiritual and ineffable to think that thou art here corporeally bids defiance to my senses and my reason and debases thy glorified humanity and to imagine that I receive nothing more than bare signs is to rob my self of the benefit of communicating with thee Let me feel the truth of that mystery which I admire and believe but cannot prove and let me experiment the glorious effects of this Sacrament tho I am unacquainted with the particular manner how they are derived to me Thou hast convinc'd me that the flesh profiteth nothing but thy Words are spirit and life as therefore thou hast made it so I humbly and thankfully receive it Let it be unto thy servant according to thy word and grant that the days may come shortly when Faith shall be swallowed up of Vision Amen § 14. If many others Communicate before him the good man employs that leasure in reflecting upon the Office of Consecration and because he could not without disturbance interpose his ejaculations while the Priest was saying the Prayer of Consecration he takes this occasion to say When the Priest carries the Patin As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness for the cure of the wounded Israelites so was our dearest Saviour lifted up on the Cross for the redemption of a world of sinners Lord evermore give me this bread When the Priest breaks the Bread he says So was the Body of Jesus mangled so was his flesh torn till there was no whole place in his body When the Priest pours out the Wine he says So when Jesus was in his Agony so when he was scourged crowned with Thorns and nailed to the accursed Tree did the Blood run down so Jesus loved us and wash'd us from our sins in his own blood When the Priest carries the Chalice he says It is the Blood of Jesus that makes atonement being shed for me and for many for the remission of sins I will cleave to the Cross of my bleeding Saviour and will drink his Blood Inable me O my God to overcome all my ghostly enemies by the blood of the Lamb. § 15. When the Priest takes the Elements in his hands to give them to the devout Christian he remembers that so God offers his Son to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to every believer so hath God fitted Jesus a body and indowed him with the spirit above measure that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life § 16. When the Priest delivers the Elements to the worthy Communicant he considers that there are two parts in the form of distribution a Prayer and an Advice the Prayer in these words The Body the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy Body and Soul unto everlasting Life to which with