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 facilities may be so resigned
to the discipline and doctrine of my Lord, that I may be prepared in mind and
will to die for the testimony of Jesus, and to suffer any affliction or
calamity that shall offer to hinder my duty, or tempt me to shame or sin or
apostasy; and let my faith be the parent of a good life, a strong shield to
repel the fiery darts of the devil, and the author of a holy hope, of modest
desires, of confidence in God, and of a never-failing charity to thee, my God,
and to all the world; that I may never have my portion with the unbelievers or
uncharitable and desperate persons; but may be supported by the strengths of
faith in all temptations, and may be refreshed with the comforts of a holy hope
in all my sorrows, and may bear the burden of the Lord, and the infirmities of
my neighbour, by the support of charity; that the yoke of Jesus may become easy
to me, and my love may do all the miracles of grace, till from grace it swell
to glory, from earth to heaven, from duty to reward, from the imperfections of
a beginning and still growing love, it may arrive to the consummation of an
eternal and never-ceasing charity, through Jesus Christ the Son of thy love,
the author of our hope, and the author and finisher of our faith: to whom with
thee, O Lord God, Father of heaven and earth, and with thy Holy Spirit, be all
glory and love and obedience and dominion, now and for ever. Amen.
Acts of Love by way of Prayer and Ejaculation; to be used in private.
O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee: my soul
thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where
no water is, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the
sanctuary. Because thy loveing-kingness is better than life, my lips shall
praise thee. Psalm lxiii. 1, etc.
I am ready, not only to be bound, but to die for the name of the
Lord Jesus. Acts, xxi. 13.
How amiable are thy tabernacles, thou Lord of Hosts! My soul
longeth, yes even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they
will still be praising thee. Psalm lxxxiv. 1,2,4.
O blessed Jesus, thou art worthy of all adoration and all honour
and all love: thou art the wonderful, the counsellor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of peace; of thy government and peace there
shall be no end: thou art the brightness of thy Father’s glory, the express
image of his person, the appointed heir of all things. Thou upholdest all
things by the word of thy power; thou didst by thyself purge our sins; thou art
set on the right hand of the Majesty on high; thou art made better than the
angels; thou hast by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Thou, O dearest Jesus, art the head of the church, the beginning and the first
born from the dead: in all things thou hast the pre-eminence, and it pleased
the Father that in thee should all fulness dwell. Kingdoms are in love with
thee; kings lay their crowns and sceptres at thy feet; and queens are thy
handmaids, and wash the feet of thy servants.
A Prayer to be said in any Affliction, as Death of Children, of Husband or
Wife, in great Poverty, in Imprisonment, in a sad and disconsolate Spirit, and
in Temptations to despair.
O eternal God, Father of mercies, and God of all comfort,
with much mercy look upon the sadnesses and sorrows of thy servant. My sins lie
heavy upon me, and press me sore, and there is no health in my bones by reason
of thy displeasure and my sin. The waters are gone over me, and I stick fast in
the deep mire, and my miseries are without comfort, because they are
punishments of my sin: and I am so evil and unworthy a person, that though I
have great desires, yet I have no dispositions or worthiness toward receiving
comfort. my sins have caused my sorrow, and my sorrow does not cure my sins;
and unless for thine own sake, and merely because thou art good, thou shalt
pity me and relieve me, I am as much without remedy as now I am without
comfort. Lord, pity me! Lord, let thy grace refresh my spirit! Let thy comforts
support me, thy mercy pardon me, and never let my portion be amongst hopeless
and accursed spirits; for thou art good and gracious, and I throw myself upon
thy mercy. Let me never let my hold go, and do thou with me what seems good in
thine own eyes. I cannot suffer more than I have deserved; and yet I can need
no relief so great as thy mercy is; for thou art infinitely more merciful than
I can be miserable, and thy mercy, which is above all thy own works, must needs
be far above all my sin and all my misery. Dearest Jesus, let me trust in thee
for ever, and let me never be confounded. Amen.
Ejaculations and short Meditations to be used in time of Sickness and
Sorrow, or Danger of Death.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.
Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble, incline thine ear unto me
when I call; O hear me, and that right soon, For my days are consumed like
smoke, and my bones are burnt up as it were with a firebrand. My heart is
smitten down and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread; and
that because of thine indignation and wrath; for thou hast taken me up and cast
me down: thine arrows stick fast in me, and thine hand presseth me sore.
There is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure; neither is there any
rest in my bones by reason of my sin. My wickednesses are gone over my head,
and are a sore burden too heavy for me to bear. But I will confess my
wickedness and be sorry for my sin. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine indignation,
neither chasten me in thy displeasure.
Lord, be merciful unto me, heal my soul for I have sinned against thee.
Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according to
the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences.
O remember not the sins and offences of my youth; but according to thy mercy
think thou upon me, O Lord, for thy goodness.
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness; and cleanse me from my sin. Make me a
clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence, from thy all-hallowing and life-giving
presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit, thy sanctifying, thy guiding, thy
comforting, thy supporting, and confirming Spirit, from me.
O God, thou art my God for ever and ever: thou shalt be my guide
unto death. Lord, comfort me now that I lie sick upon
my bed: make thou my bed in all my sickness. O
deliver my soul from the place of hell; and do thou receive me.
My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of death is fallen upon me.
Behold thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and my age is even as
nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity.
When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to
consume away, like a moth fretting a garment: every man therefore is but
vanity. And now, Lord, what is my hope? truly my hope in 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 of me.
An Act of Faith concerning the 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 myself, and mine eyes
shall behold, though my reins be consumed within me. Job xix.25, etc.
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 Jesus, thou art my judge and thou art my advocate: have mercy upon me
in the hour of my death, and in the day of judgment. See John v.28, and 1
Thess. iv.15.
Short Prayers to be said by Sick Persons.
O holy Jesus, thou art a merciful 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 rejoice 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 busy
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
spiritual assistance. 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 possess my soul in patience, and resign my soul and body
into thy hands, as into the hands of a faithful Creator and a blessed Redeemer.
O holy Jesus, thou didst die for us; by thy sad, pungent, and
intolerable pains, which thou enduredst for me, have pity on me, and ease my
pains, which thou endurest for me, have pity on me, and ease my pain, or
increase my patience. Lay on me no more than thou shalt enable me to bear. I
have deserved it all and more, and infinitely more. Lord, I am weak and ignorant,
timorous 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 that thou dost 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: then 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 cometh of the Lord, who preserveth them that are true of
heart. Psalm vii.11.
And all they that knew thy name will put their trust in thee: for
thou, Lord, hast never failed them that seek thee. Psalm ix.10.
O how plentiful 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! Psalm xxxi.21.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, and upon
them that put their trust in his mercy, to deliver their souls from death.
Psalm xxxiii.18,19.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart; and will
save such as are of an humble spirit. Psalm xxxiv.18.
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. Psalm xxxvi.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. Verse 8.
For with thee is the well of life; and in thy light we shall see
light. Verse 9.
Commit thy way unto the Lord, and put thy trust in him, and he
shall bring it to pass. Psalm xxxvil.5.
But in the salvation of the righteous cometh of the Lord, who is
also their strength in the time of trouble. Verse 40.
So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the
righteous: doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth. Psalm lvii.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. Psalm lxv.4.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalm cxxvi.6.
It is written, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
Heb.xiii.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 him. James v.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. vi.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 ii.1,2.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our sins, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness. 1 John, i.9.
He that forgives shall be forgiven. Luke,vi.37.
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask
anything according to his will, he heareth us. 1 John,i.14.
And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins. 1 John
iii.5.
If ye, being evil, know how to give good things to your children,
how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them
that ask him? Matt. vii.11.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 1 Tim. i.15.
He that hath given us his Son, how should he not, with him, give
us all things else? Rom. viii.32.
Acts of Hope, to be used by Sick Persons after a pious Life.
I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. viii.38,39.
I have fought a good fight: I have finished my course: I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Tim. iv.7,8.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and the God of all comforts, who comforts us in all our
tribulation. 2 Cor. i. 3,4.
A Prayer to be said in behalf of a Sick or Dying Person.
O Lord God, there is no number of thy days nor of thy
mercies, and the sins and sorrows of thy servant are multiplied. Lord look upon
him with much mercy and pity, forgive him all his sins, instruct his
ignorances, strengthen his understanding, take from him all disorders of
spirit, weakness and abuse of fancy. Restrain the malice and power of the
spirits of darkness; and suffer him to be injured neither by his ghostly
enemies nor his own infirmities; and let a holy and a just peace, the peace of
God, be within his conscience.
Lord, preserve his senses till the last of his time, strengthen
his faith, confirm his hope, and give him a never-ceasing charity to thee, our
God, and to all the world: stir up in him a great and proportionable contrition
for all the evils he hath done, and give him a just measure of patience for all
he suffers; give him prudence, memory, and consideration, rightly to state the
accounts of his soul; and do thou remind him of all his duty, that when it
shall please thee that his soul goes out from the prison of his body, it may be
received by angels, and preserved from the surprise of evil spirits, and from
the horrors and amazements of new and strange regions, and be laid up in the
bosom of our Lord, till, at the day of thy second coming, it shall be reunited
to the body, which is now to be laid down in weakness and dishonour; but we
humbly beg may then be raised up with glory and power for ever to live, and to
behold the face of God in the glories of the Lord Jesus, who is our hope, our
resurrection, and our life, the light of our eyes and the joy of our souls, our
blessed and ever-glorious Redeemer. Amen.
(Hither the sick person may draw in, and use the acts of several
virtues respersed in the several parts of this book, the several litanies, viz.
of repentance, of the passion, and the single prayers, according to his present
needs.)
A Prayer to be said in a Storm at Sea.
O my God, thou didst create the earth and the sea for thy
glory and the use of man, and dost daily show wonders in the deep: look upon
the danger and fear of thy servant. My sins have taken hold upon me, and
without the supporting arm of thy mercy I cannot look up; but my trust is in
thee. Do thou, O Lord, rebuke the sea, and make it calm, for to thee the winds
and the sea obey; let not the waters swallow me up, but let thy Spirit, the
spirit of gentleness and mercy, move upon the waters. Be thou reconciled unto
thy servants, and then the face of the waters will be smooth. I fear that my
sins make me, like Jonas, the cause of the tempest. Cast out all my sins, and
throw not thy servants away from thy presence and from the land of the living,
into the depths where all things are forgotten. But if it be thy will that we
should go down into the waters, Lord, receive my soul into thy holy hands, and
preserve it in mercy and safety till the day of restitution of all things; and
be pleased to unite my death to the death of thy Son, and to accept of it so
united as a punishment for all my sins, that thou mayest forget all thine anger,
and blot my sins out of thy book, and write my soul there, for Jesus Christ’s
sake, our dearest Lord and most mighty Redeemer. Amen.
Then make an Act of Resignation thus:
To God pertain the issues of life and death. It is the Lord, let
him do what seemeth good in his own eyes. Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven. Recite Psalms cvil. and cxxx.
A Form of a Vow to be made in this or the like Danger.
If the Lord will be gracious and hear the prayer of his servant,
and bring me safe to shore, then I will praise him secretly and publicly, and
pay unto the use of charity (or religion) (then name the sum you design for
holy use). O my God, my goods are nothing unto thee: I will also be thy servant
all the days of my life, and remember this mercy and my present purposes, and
live more to God’s glory, and with a stricter duty. And do thou please to
accept this vow as an instance of my importunity, and the greatness of my
needs; and be thou graciously moved to pity and deliver me. Amen.
(This form also may be used in praying for a blessing on an
enterprise, and may be instanced in actions of devotions as well as of
charity.)
A Prayer before a Journey.
O almighty God who fillest all things with thy presence,
and art a God afar off as well as near at hand; thou didst send thy angel to
bless Jacob in his journey, and didst lead the children of Israel through the
Red Sea, making it a wall on the right hand and on the left; be pleased to let
thy angel go our before me and guide me in my journey, preserving me from
dangers of robbers, from violence of enemies, and sudden and sad accidents,
from falls and errors. And prosper my journey to thy glory, and to all my
innocent purposes; and preserve me from all sin, that I may return in peace and
holiness, with thy favour and thy blessings, and may serve thee in thankfulness
and obedience all the days of my pilgrimage; and at last bring me to thy
country, to the celestial Jerusalem, there to dwell in thy house, and to sing
praises to thee for ever. Amen.
Ad. Sect. 4.
A Prayer to be said before the hearing or reading the Word of God.
O holy and eternal Jesus, who hast begotten us by thy word,
renewed us by thy Spirit, fed us by thy sacraments, and by the daily ministry
of thy word, still go on to build us up to life eternal. Let thy most Holy
Spirit be present with me and rest upon me in the reading or hearing thy sacred
word, that I may do it humbly, reverently, without prejudice, with a mind ready
and desirous to learn and to obey; that I may be readily furnished and instructed
to every good work, and may practice all thy holy laws and commandments to the
glory of thy holy name, O holy and eternal Jesus. Amen.
Ad. Sect. 5,9,10.
A Form of Confession of Sins and Repentance, to be used upon Fasting Days,
or Days of Humiliation, especially in Lent, and before the Holy Sacrament.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness;
according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences: for I will
confess my wickedness, and be sorry for my sin.” O my dearest Lord, I am not
worthy to be accounted amongst the meanest of thy servants, not worthy to be
sustained by the least fragments of thy mercy, but to be shut out of thy
presence for ever with dogs and unbelievers. But for thy name’s sake, O Lord,
be merciful unto my sin, for it is great.
I am the vilest of sinners, and the worst of men; proud, and
vain-glorious, impatient of scorn or of just reproof; not enduring to be
slighted, and yet extremely deserving it; I have been cozened by the colours of
humility and when I have truly been called myself vicious I could not endure
any man else should say so or think so. I have been disobedient, unchristian,
and unmanly. But for thy name’s sake, etc.
O just and dear God, how can I expect pity or pardon, who am so
angry and peevish, with and without cause, envious at good, rejoicing in the
evil of my neighbours negligent of my charge, idle and useless, timorous and
base, jealous and impudent, ambitious and hard-hearted, soft, unmortified, and
effeminate in my life, undevout in my prayers, without fancy or affection,
without attendance to them or perseverance in them; but passionate and curious
in pleasing my appetite of meat, and drink, and pleasures, making matter both
for sin and sickness; and I have reaped the cursed fruits of such improvidence,
entertaining indecent and impure thoughts, and I have brought them forth in
indecent and impure actions, and the spirit of uncleanness hath entered in and
unhallowed the temple which thou didst consecrate for the habitation of thy Spirit
of love and holiness. But for thy name’s sake, O Lord, be merciful unto my sin,
for it is great.
Thou hast given me a whole life to serve thee in, and to advance
my hopes of heaven; and this precious time I have thrown away upon my sins and
vanities, being improvident of my time and of my talent, and of thy grace and
my own advantages, resisting thy Spirit and quenching him. I have been a great
lover of myself, and yet used many ways to destroy myself. I have pursued my
temporal ends with greediness and indirect means. I am revengeful and
unthankful, forgetting benefits, but not so soon forgetting injuries, curious
and murmuring, a great breaker of promises. I have not loved my neighbour’s
good, nor advanced it in all things, where I could. I have been unlike thee in
all things. I am unmerciful and unjust: a sottish admirer of things below, and
careless of heaven and the ways that lead thither.
But for thy name’s sake, O Lord, be merciful unto my sin, for it
is great.
All my senses have been windows to let sin in, and death by sin.
Mine eyes have been adulterous and covetous; mine ears open to slander and
detraction; my tongue and palate loose and wanton, intemperate, and of foul
language, talkative and lying, rash and malicious, false and flattering,
irreligious and irreverent, detracting and censorious; my hands have been
injurious and unclean, my passions violent and rebellious, my desires impatient
and unreasonable; all my members and all my facilities have been servants of
sin; and my very best actions have more matter of pity than of confidence,
being imperfect in my best, and intolerable in most.-But for thy name’s sake, O
Lord, etc.
Unto this and a far bigger heap of sin I have added also the
faults of others to my own score, by neglecting to hinder them to sin in all
that I could and ought; but I also have encouraged them in sin, have taken off
their fears, and hardened their conscience, and tempted them directly, and
prevailed in it to my own ruin and theirs, unless thy glorious and unspeakable
mercy hath prevented so intolerable a calamity.
Lord, I have abused thy mercy, despised thy judgments, turned thy
grace into wantonness. I have been unthankful for thy infinite loving-kindness.
I have sinned and repented, and then sinned again and resolved against it, and
presently broke it; and then I tied myself up with vows, and then was tempted,
and then I yielded by little and little, till I was willingly lost again, and
my vows fell off like cords of vanity.
Miserable man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of
sin?
And yet, O Lord, I have another heap of sins to be unloaded. My
secret sins, O Lord, are innumerable; sins I noted not; sins that I willingly
neglected; sins that I acted upon wilful ignorance and voluntary mispersuasion;
sins that I have forgot; and sins which a diligent and a watchful spirit might
have prevented, but I would not. Lord, I am confounded with the multitude of
them, and the horror of their remembrance though I consider them nakedly in
their direct appearance, without the deformity of their unhandsome and
aggravating circumstances; but, so dressed, they are a sight too ugly, an
instance of amazement, infinite in degrees, and insufferable in their load.
And yet thou hast spared me all this while, and hast not thrown
me into hell, where I have deserved to have been long since, and even now to
have been shut up to an eternity of torments, with insupportable amazement,
fearing the revelation of thy day.
Miserable man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of
sin?
Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God. Thou that prayest for me
shalt be my judge.
The Prayer.
Thou hast prepared for me a more healthful sorrow; O deny not thy
servant when he begs sorrow of thee. Give me a deep contrition for my sins, a
hearty detestation and loathing of them, hating them worse than death with
torments. Give me grace entirely, presently, and for ever, to forsake them; to
walk with care and prudence with fear and watchfulness, all my days; to do all
my duty with diligence and charity, with zeal and a never fainting spirit; to
redeem the time, to trust upon thy mercies, to make use of all the instruments
of grace, to work out my salvation with fear and trembling; that thou mayest
have the glory of pardoning all my sins, and I may reap the fruit of all thy
mercies and all thy graces, of thy patience and long-suffering, even to live a
holy life here, and to reign with thee for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Ad. Sect. 6.
Special Devotions to be used upon the Lord’s Day, and the great Festivals
of Christians.
In the morning recite the following form of thanksgiving, upon
the special festivals, adding the commemoration of the special blessings
according to the following prayers; adding such prayers as you shall choose out
of the foregoing devotions.
Besides the ordinary and public duties of the day, if you retire
into your closet to read and meditate, after you have performed that duty, say
the Song of St. Ambrose, (commonly called the Te Deum,) or, We praise thee,
etc.; then add the prayers for particular graces, which are at the end of the
former chapter, such and as many of them as shall fit your present needs and
affections, ending with the Lord’s Prayer. This form of devotion may, for
variety, be indifferently used at other times.
A form of thanksgiving with a recital of public and private
blessings, to be used upon Easter-day, Whit-sunday, Ascention-day, and all
Sundays of the year; but the middle part of it may be reserved for the more
solemn festivals, and the other used upon the ordinary, as every man’s
affections or leisure shall determine.
1. Ex Liturgia S. Basilii magna ex parte.
Oh eternal essence, Lord God, Father Almighty, maker of all
things in heaven and earth; it is a good thing to give thanks to thee, O Lord,
and to pay to thee all reverence, worship and devotion, from a clean and
prepared heart, and with an humble spirit to present a live in and reasonable
sacrifice to thy holiness and majesty; for thou hast given unto us the knowledge
of thy truth; and who is able to declare thy greatness, and to recount all thy
marvelous works which thou hast done in all the generations of the world?
O great Lord and Governor of all things, Lord and Creator of all
things, Lord and Creator of all things visible and invisible, who sittest upon
the throne of thy glory, and beholdest the secrets of the lowest abyss and
darkness, thou art without beginning, uncircumscribed, incomprehensible,
unalterable, and seated for ever unmovable in thy own essential happiness and
tranquility; thou art the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is,
Our dearest and most gracious Saviour, our hope, the wisdom of
the Father, the image of thy goodness, the word eternal, and the brightness of
thy person, the power of God from eternal ages, the true light that lighteneth
every man that cometh into the world, the redemption of man, and the
sanctification of our spirits.
By whom the Holy Ghost descended upon the church; the Holy Spirit
of truth, the seal of adoption; the earnest of the inheritance of the saints;
the first fruits of everlasting felicity; the life-giving power; the fountain
of sanctification; the comfort of the church, the ease of the afflicted, the
support of the weak, the wealth of the poor, the teacher of the doubtful,
scrupulous, and ignorant; the anchor of the fearful; the infinite reward of all
faithful souls, by whom all reasonable and understanding creatures serve thee,
and send up a never-ceasing and a never-rejected sacrifice of prayer, and
praise, and adoration.
All angels and archangels, all thrones and dominions, all
principalities and powers, the cherubim with many eyes, and the seraphim
covered with wings from the terror and amazement of thy brightest glory; these,
and all the powers of heaven, do perpetually sing praise and never-ceasing
hymns and eternal anthems to the glory of the eternal God, the Almighty Father
of men and angels.
Holy is our God; holy is the Almighty; holy is the Immortal;
holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of the majesty
of thy glory. Amen. With these holy and blessed spirits I also, thy servant O
thou great lover of souls, though I be unworthy to offer praise to such a
majesty; yet, out of my bounden duty, humbly offer up my heart and voice to
join in this blessed choir, and confess the glories of the Lord. For thou art
holy, and of thy greatness there is no end; and in thy justice and goodness
thou hast measured out to us all thy works.
Thou madest man out of the earth, and didst form him after thine
own image; thou didst place him in a garden of pleasure, and gavest him laws of
righteousness to be to him a seed of immortality.
“O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and
declare the wonders that he hath done for the children of men.”
For when man sinned and listened to the whispers of a tempting
spirit, and refused to hear the voice of God, thou didst throw him out from
paradise,and sentest him to till the earth; but yet leftest not his condition
without remedy, but didst provide for him the salvation of a new birth, and by
the blood of thy Son didst redeem and pay the price to thine own justice for
thine own creature, lest the work of thine own hands should perish.
“O that men would therefore praise the Lord,” etc.
For thou, O Lord, in every age didst send testimonies from
heaven, blessings, and prophets, and fruitful seasons, and preachers of
righteousness, and miracles of power and mercy; thou spakest by thy prophets
and saidst, ‘I will help by one that is mighty; and, in the fulness of time,
spakest to us by thy Son, by whom thou didst make both the worlds, who, by the
word of his power, sustains all things in heaven and earth; who thought it no
robbery to be equal to the Father; who, being before all time, was pleased to
be born in time to converse with men, to be incarnate of a holy virgin; he
emptied himself of all his glories, took on him the form of a servant, in all
things being made like unto us, in a soul of passions and discourse, in a body
of humility and sorrow, but in all things innocent, and in all things
afflicted; and suffered death for us, that we by him might live, and be
partakers of his nature and his glories, of his body and of his Spirit, of the
blessings of earth, and of immortal felicities in heaven.
“O that men would therefore praise the Lord,” etc.
For thou, O holy and immortal God, O sweetest Saviour Jesus, wert
made under the law to condemn sin in the flesh; thou, who knewest no sin, wert
made sin for us; thou gavest to us righteous commandments, and madest known to
us all thy Father’s will; thou didst redeem us from our vain conversation, and
from the vanity of idols, false principles, and foolish confidences, and
broughtest us to the knowledge of the true and only God and our Father, and
hast made us to thyself a peculiar people of thy own purchase, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation; thou hast washed our souls in the laver of
regeneration, the sacrament of baptism; thou hast reconciled us by thy death,
justified us by thy resurrection, sanctified us by thy Spirit, sending him upon
thy church in visible forms, and giving him in powers and miracles and mighty
signs, and continuing this incomparable favour in gifts and sanctifying graces,
and promising that he shall abide with us for ever; thou hast fed us with thine
own broken body, and given drink to our souls out of thine own heart, and hast
ascended up on 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,” etc.
The grave could not hold thee long, O holy and eternal Jesus; thy
body could not see corruption, neither could thy soul be left in hell; thou
wert free among the dead, and thou breakest the iron gates of death, and the
bars and chains of the lower prisons. Thou broughtest comfort to the souls of
the patriarchs, who waited for thy coming, who longed for the redemption of
man, and the revelation of thy day. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saw thy day and
rejoiced; and when thou didst arise from thy bed of darkness, and leftest the
graveclothes behind thee, and didst put on a robe of glory, (over which for
forty days thou didst wear a veil) and then enterdst 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 human 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 arise 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,” etc.
O give thanks unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord; praise him and
magnify him for ever.
O ye spirits and souls of the righteous, praise ye the Lord;
praise him and magnify 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 personal capacity?
Thou art my creator and my Father, my Protector and my Guardian;
thou hast brought me from my mother’s womb; thou hast told all my joints, and
in thy book were all my members written; thou hast given me a comely body,
Christian and careful parents, holy education; thou hast been my guide and my
teacher all my days; 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. Thou wert my hope from my youth, through
thee have I been holden up ever since I was born. Thou hast sent thy angel to
snatch me from the violence of fire and water, to prevent precipices, fracture
of bones, to rescue me from thunder and lightning, plague and pestilential
diseases, murder and robbery, violence of chance and enemies, and all the spirits
of darkness; and in the days of sorrow thou hast refreshed me; in the
destitution of provisions thou are taken are 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 faithful, 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 commandments, 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 loved 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 counsel of my friends, by the example of good persons, with holy books and
thousands of excellent arts, and would not suffer me to perish in my folly but
didst force me to 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 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 Blessed 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 glorify 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 human nature, be pleased also to sanctify 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 mankind 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 feet 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 hearing upon every faculty and member the character of my
elder brother, I may not be cast out with strangers and unbelievers. Amen.
O holy and ever-blessed Spirit, who didst overshadow the holy
Virgin-mother of our Lord, and caused 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 mind,
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 eternal 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 may be used upon our own birthday, or
day of our baptism; adding the following prayer.)
A Prayer to be said upon our Birth-day, or Day of Baptism.
O blesses and eternal God, I give thee praise and glory for
thy great mercy to me in causing me to be born of Christian parents and didst
not allot to me a portion with misbelievers and heathen that have not known
thee. Thou didst not suffer me to be strangled at the gate of the womb, but thy
hand sustained and brought me to the light of the world, and the illumination
of baptism, with thy grace preventing my election, and by an artificial
necessity and holy prevention engaging me to the profession and practices of
Christianity. Lord, since that, I have broken the promises made in my behalf,
and which I confirmed by my after-act; I went back from them by an evil life;
and yet thou hast still continued to me life and time of repentance; and didst
not cut me off in the beginning of my days, and the progress of my sins. O
dearest God, pardon the errors and ignorances, the vices and vanities, of my
youth, and the faults of my more forward years, and let me never more stain the
whiteness of my baptismal robe; and now that by thy grace I still persist in
the purpose of obedience, and do give up my name to Christ, and glory to be a
disciple of thy institution, and a servant of Jesus, let me never fail of thy
grace; let no root or bitterness spring up and disorder my purposes, nor defile
my spirit. O let my years be so many degrees of nearer approach to thee; and
forsake me not, O God, in my old age, when I am grey-headed; and when my
strength faileth me, be thou my strength and my guide unto death; that I may
reckon my years, and apply my heart unto wisdom; and at last, after the
spending a holy and a blessed life, I may be brought unto a glorious eternity,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Then add the form of thanksgiving formerly described.)
A Prayer to be said upon the Days of the Memory of Apostles, Martyrs, etc.
O eternal God, to whom do live the spirits of them that
depart hence in the Lord, and I whom the souls of them that be elected, after
they be delivered from the burden of the flesh, be in peace and rest from their
labours, and their works follow them, and their memory is blessed; I bless and
magnify thy holy and ever-glorious name, for the great grace and blessing
manifested to thy apostles and martyrs, and other holy persons, who have glorified
thy name in the days of their flesh, and have served the interest of religions
and of thy service; and this day we have thy servant (name the apostle, or
martyr, etc.) in remembrance whom thou hast led through the troubles and
temptations of this world, and now hast lodged in the bosom of a certain hope
and great beatitude, until the day of restitution of all things. Blessed be the
mercy and eternal goodness of God; and the memory of all thy saints is blessed.
Teach me to practise their doctrine, to imitate their lives, following their
example, and being united as a part of the same mystical body by the band of
the same faith, and a holy hope, and a never-ceasing charity. And may it please
thee, of thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine
elect, and to hasten thy kingdom, that we with thy servant and all others
departed in the true faith and fear of thy holy name, may have our perfect
consummation and bliss, in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting
kingdom. Amen.
A Form of Prayer recording all the parts and mysteries of Christ’s Passion,
being a short history of it: to be used especially in the week of the Passions,
and before the receiving the blessed Sacrament.
All praise, honour, and glory be to the holy and eternal
Jesus. I adore thee, O blessed Redeemer, eternal God, the light of the
Gentiles, and the glory of Israel; for thou hast done and suffered for me more
than I could wish; more than I could thing of; even all that a lost and a
miserable perishing sinner could possibly need.
Thou wert afflicted with thirst and hunger, with heat and cold,
with labours and sorrows, with hard journeys and restless nights; and when thou
wert contriving all the mysterious and admirable ways of paying our scores,
thou didst suffer thyself to he designed to slaughter by those for whom in love
thou wert ready to die.
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him; and the Son of man,
that thou visited him?”
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus; for thou wentest about doing
good, working miracles of mercy, healing the sick, comforting the distressed,
instructing the ignorant, raising the dead, enlightening the blind,
strengthening the lame, straightening the crooked, relieving the poor, preaching
the gospel, and reconciling sinners by the mightiness of thy power, by the
wisdom of thy Spirit, by the word of God, and the merits of thy passion, thy
healthful and bitter passion.
“Lord, what is man that thou art mindful of him,” etc.
Blessed by thy name, O holy Jesus, who wert content to be
conspired against by the Jews, to be sold by thy servant for a vile price, and
to wash the feet of him that took money for thy life, and to give to him and to
all thy apostles thy most holy body and blood, to become a sacrifice for their
sins, even for their betraying and denying thee; and for all my sins, even for
my crucifying thee afresh, and for such sins, which I am ashamed to think, but
that the greatest of my sins magnify the infiniteness of thy mercies, who didst
so great things for so vile a person.
“Lord, what is man,”etc.
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus, who, being to depart the
world, didst comfort thy apostles, pouring out into their ears and hearts
treasures of admirable discourses; who didst recommend them to thy Father with
a mighty charity, and then didst enter into the garden set with nothing but
briars and sorrows, where thou didst suffer a most unspeakable agony, until the
sweat didst sigh and groan, and fall flat upon the earth, and pray, and I had
deserved, and thou sufferest.
“Lord, what is man,” etc.
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus, who hast sanctified to us all
our natural infirmities and passions, by vouchsafing to be in fear and in
trembling and sore amazement, by being bound and imprisoned, by being harassed
and dragged with cords of violence and rude hands, by being drenched in the
brook in the way, by being sought after like a thief, and used like a sinner
who wert the most holy and the most innocent, cleaner than an angel and brighter
than the morning star.
“Lord, what is man,” etc.
Blessed by thy name, O holy Jesus, and blessed by thy loving
kindness and pity, by which thou didst neglect thine own sorrows, and go to
comfort the sadness of thy disciples, quickening their dulness, encouraging
their duty, arming their weakness with excellent precepts against the day of
trial. Blessed be that humility, encouraging their duty, arming their weakness
with excellent precepts against the day of trial. Blessed be that humility and
sorrow of thine, who, being Lord of the angels, yet wouldest need and receive
comfort from thy servant, the angel; who didst offer thyself to thy
persecutors, and madest them able to seize thee; and didst receive the
traitor’s kiss, and sufferedst a veil to be thrown over thy holy face, that thy
enemies might not presently be confounded by so bright a lustre; and wouldst do
a miracle to cure a wound of one of thy spiteful enemies; and didst reprove a
zealous servant in behalf of a malicious adversary; and then didst go like a
lamb to the slaughter, without noise or violence or resistance, when thou
couldst have commanded millions of angels for thy guard and rescue.
“Lord, what is man,” etc.
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus, and blessed be that holy
sorrow thou didst suffer, when thy disciples fled, and thou wert left alone in
the hands of cruel men, who, like evening wolves, thirsted for a draught of thy
best blood, and thou wert led to the house of Annas, and there asked ensnaring
questions, and smitten on the face by him whose ear thou hadst but lately
healed; and from thence wert fragged to the house of Caiaphas; and there all
night didst endure spittings, affronts, scorn, contumelies, blows, and
intolerable insolences; and all this for man, who was thy enemy, and the cause
of all thy sorrows.
“Lord, what is man,” etc.
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus, and blessed be thy mercy, who,
when thy servant Peter denied thee and forsook thee and forswore thee, didst
look back upon him, and by that gracious and chiding look didst call him back
to himself and thee; who wert accused before the high-priest and railed upon,
and examined to evil purposes, and with designs of blood; who wert declared
guilty of death for speaking a most necessary and most probable truth; who wert
sent to Pilate and found innocent, and sent to Herod and still found innocent,
and wert arrayed in white, both to declare thy innocence and yet to deride thy
person, and wert sent back to Pilate, and examined again, and yet nothing but
innocence found in thee, and malice round about thee to devour faith, which yet
thou wert more desirous to lay down for them than they were to take it from
thee.
“Lord, what is man,” etc.
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus, and blessed be that patience
and charity, by which for our sakes thou wert content to be smitten with canes,
and have that holy face, which angels with joy and wonder do behold, be spit
upon, and be despised, when compared with Barabbas, and scourged most rudely
with unhallowed hands, till the pavement was purpled with that holy blood, and
condemned to a sad and shameful, a public and painful death, and arrayed in
scarlet, and crowned with thorns, and stripped naked and then clothed, and
loaden with the cross, and tormented with a tablet stuck with nails at the
fringes of thy garment, and bound hard with cords, and dragged most vilely and
most piteously, till the load was too great, and did sink thy tender and
virginal body to the earth; and yet didst comfort the weeping women, and didst
more pity thy persecutors than thyself, and wert grieved for the miseries of
Jerusalem to come forty years after, more than for thy present passion.
“Lord, what is man,” etc.
Blessed be thy name, O holy Jesus, and blessed be that
incomparable sweetness and holy sorrow which thou sufferedst, when thy holy
hands and feet were nailed upon the cross, and the cross, being set in a
hollowness of the earth, did in the fall rend the wounds wider, and there,
naked and bleeding, sick and faint, wounded and despised, didst hang upon the
weight of thy wounds three long hours, praying for thy persecutors, satisfying
thy Father’s wrath, reconciling the penitent thief, providing for thy holy and
afflicted mother, tasting vinegar and gall; and when the fulness of thy
suffering was accomplished, didst give thy soul into the hands of God, and
didst descent to the regions of longing souls, who waited for the revelation of
this thy day in their prisons of hope: and then thy body was transfixed with a
spear, and issued forth two sacraments, water and blood, and thy body was
composed to burial, and dwelt in darkness three days, and three nights.
“Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of
man, that thou thus visited him?”
The Prayer.
Thus, O blessed Jesus, thou didst finish thy holy passion
with pain and anguish so great, that nothing could be greater than it, except
thyself and thine own infinite mercy: and all this for man, even for me, than
whom nothing could be more miserable, thyself only excepted, who becamest so by
undertaking our guilt and our punishment. And now, Lord, who hast done so much
for me, be pleased only to make it effectual to me, that it may not be useless
and lost as to my particular, lest I become eternally miserable, and lost to
all hopes and possibilities of comfort. All this deserves more love than I have
to give; but, Lord do thou turn me all into love, and all my love into
obedience , and let my obedience be without interruption, and there I hope thou
wilt accept such a return as I can make. Make me to be something that thou
delightest in, and thou shalt have all that I am or have from thee, even
whatsoever thou makest fit for thyself. Teach me to live wholly for my Saviour
Jesus, and to be ready to die for Jesus, and to be conformable to his life and
sufferings, and to be united to him by inseparable unions, and to own no
passions but what may be servants to Jesus and disciples of his institution. O
sweetest Saviour, clothe my soul with thy holy robe; hide my sins in thy
wounds, and bury them in thy grave; and let me rise in the life of grace, and
abide and grow in it, till I arrive at the kingdom of glory. Amen.
“Our Father,” etc.
Ad. Sect. 7,8,10.
A Form of Prayer or Intercession for all Estates of People in the Christian
church. The parts of which may be added to any other forms; and the whole
office, entirely as it lies, is proper to be said in our preparation to the
Holy Sacrament, or on the day of celebration.
1. For Ourselves.
O thou gracious Father of mercy, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
have mercy upon thy servants, who bow our heads and our knees and our hearts to
thee; pardon and forgive us all our sins; give us the grace of holy repentance,
and a strict obedience to thy holy word; strengthen us in the inner man with
the power of thy Holy Ghost for all the parts and duties of our calling and
holy living; preserve us for ever in the unity of the holy catholic 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 Catholic Church.
O holy Jesus, King of the saints, and Prince of the catholic
church, preserve thy spouse, whom thou hast purchased with thy right hand, and
redeemed and cleansed with thy blood; the whole catholic 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 schim, heresy, and sacrilege. Unite all her members with
the bands of faith, hope, and charity, and an external 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
prevail for the obtaining for every of its members grace and blessing, pardon
and salvation. Amen.
3. For all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors.
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 nor
counsel, 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 to the fatherless, judges and avengers of the
cause of widows; 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 Lord’s 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, public honesty, and holy
religion; so administering things present that they may not fail of the
ever-lasting glories of the world to come, where all thy faithful people shall
reign kings for ever. Amen.
4. For all the Orders of them that minister about Holy
Things.
O thou great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, holy and eternal
Jesus, give unto thy servants the ministers of the mysteries of Christian
religion, the spirit of prudence and sanctity, faith and charity, confidence
and zeal, diligence and watchfulness, that they may declare thy will unto the
people faithfully, and dispense thy sacraments rightly, and intercede with thee
graciously and 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 glorify thee, the great lover of souls, and, after a
plentiful conversion of sinners from the errors of their ways, 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
ministries 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 nearest Relatives, as Husband, Wife,
Children, Family, etc.
O God of infinite mercy, let thy loving mercy and compassion
descent 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 evil and sad accidents, defend them in all
assaults of their enemies, direct their persons and their actions, sanctify
their hearts and words and purposes; that we all may, by the bands of obedience
and charity, be united to our Lord Jesus, and, always feeling thee our merciful
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, and 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 lie under toe Rof of War, Famine,
Pestilence; to be said in the Time of Plague, or War, etc.
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; let not thy whole displeasure arise, lest we be consumed and
brought to nothing. Let health and peace lie within our dwellings; let
righteousness and holiness dwell for ever in our hearts, and be expressed in
all our actions, and the light of thy countenance be upon us in all our
sufferings, that we may delight in the service and in the mercies of God for
ever. Amen.
O gracious Father and merciful God, if it be thy will, say unto
the destroying angel, “It is enough;” and though we are not better than 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 timorous and
sinful, 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 and 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 through the valley of the shadow of death, we may fear no
evil, 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.
8. For all Women with Child, and for unborn Children.
O Lord God, who art the Father of them that trust in thee, and
showest mercy to a thousand generations of them that fear thee; have mercy upon
all women great with child; be pleased to give them a joyful and a safe
deliverance; and let thy grace preserve the fruit of their wombs, and conduct
them to the holy sacrament of baptism; 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 the Christian commonwealth, and the salvation of their own
souls, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
9. For all Estates of Men and Women in the Christian
Church.
O holy God, King eternal, out of the infinite storehouses of thy
grace and mercy, give unto all virgins chastity and a religious spirit; to all
persons dedicated to thee and to religion, continence and meekness and active
zeal and an unwearied spirit; to all married pairs, faith and holiness; to
widows and fatherless, and all that are oppressed, thy patronage, comfort, and
defence; to all Christian women, simplicity and modesty, humility and chastity,
patience and charity; give unto the poor, to all that are robbed and spoiled of
their goods, a competent support, and a contented spirit, and a treasure in
heaven hereafter; give unto prisoners and captives, to them that toil in the
mines, and row in the gullies, strength of body and of spirit, liberty and
redemption, comfort and restitution; to all that travel by land, thy angel for
their guide, and a holy and prosperous return: to all that travel by sea,
freedom from pirates and shipwreck, and bring them to the haven where they
would be; to distressed and scrupulous consciences, to melancholy and
disconsolate persons, to all that are afflicted with evil and unclean spirits,
give a light from heaven, great grace, and proportionable comforts and timely deliverance;
give them patience and resignation; let their sorrows be changed into grace and
comfort, and let the storm waft them certainly to the regions of rest and
glory.
Lord God of mercy, give to thy martyrs, confessors, and all thy
persecuted, constancy and prudence, boldness and hope, a full faith and a
never-failing charity. To all who are condemned to death, do thou minister
comfort, a strong, a quiet, and a resigned spirit; take from them the fear of
death, and all remaining affections to sin, and all imperfections of duty, and
cause them to die full of grace, full of hope. And give to all faithful, and
particularly to them who have recommended themselves to the prayers of thy
unworthy servant, a supply of all their needs temporal and spiritual, and, according
to their several states and necessities, rest and peace, pardon and
refreshment, and show us all a mercy in the day of judgment. Amen.
Give, O Lord, to the magistrates equity, sincerity, courage, and
prudence, that they may protect the good, defend religion, and punish the
wrong-doers. Give to the nobility wisdom, valour, and loyalty; to merchants,
justice and faithfulness, to all artificers and labours, truth and honesty; to
our enemies, forgiveness and brotherly kindness.
Preserve to us the heavens and the air in healthful influence and
disposition, the earth in plenty, the kingdom in peace and good governments,
our marriages in peace, and sweetness, and innocence of society, thy people
from famine and pestilence, our houses from burning and robbery, our persons
from being burnt alive, from banishment and prison, from widowhood and
destitution, from violence of pains and passions, from tempests and
earthquakes, from inundation of waters, from rebellion or invasion, from
impatience and inordinate cares, from tediousness of spirit and despair, from
murder, and all violent, accursed, and unusual deaths, from the surprise of
sudden and violent accidents, from passionate and unreasonable fears, from all
thy wrath, and from all our sins, good Lord, deliver and preserve thy servants
for ever. Amen.
Repress the violence of all implacable, warring, and tyrant
nations; bring home unto thy fold all that are gone astray; call into the
church all strangers; increase the number and holiness of thine own people; bring
infants to ripeness of age and reason; confirm all baptized people with thy
grace and with thy Spirit; instruct the novices and new Christians; let a great
grace and merciful providence bring youthful persons safely and holily through
the indiscretions, and passions, and temptations of their younger years; and to
those whom thou hast or shalt permit to live to the age of a man, give
competent strength and wisdom, take from them covetousness and churlishness,
pride and impatience; fill them full of devotion and charity, repentance and
sobriety, holy thoughts and longing desires after heaven and heavenly things;
give them a holy and a blessed death, and to us all a joyful resurrection,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Ad. Sect. 10.
The Manner of using these Devotions by way of Preparation to the receiving
of the blessed Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
The just preparation to this holy feast consisting principally in
a holy life, and consequently in the repetition of the acts or all virtues, and
especially of faith, repentance, charity, and thanksgiving; to the exercise of
these four graces, let the person that intends to communicate, in the times set
apart for his preparation and devotion, for the exercise of his faith recite
the prayer or litany of the passion; for the exercise of repentance, the form
of confession of sins with the prayer annexed; and for the graces of
thanksgiving and charity, let him use the special forms of prayer above
described. Or if a less time can be allotted for preparatory devotion, the two
first will be the more proper, as containing in them all the personal duty of
the communicant. To which, upon the morning of that holy solemnity, let him add
A Prayer of Preparation or Address to the Holy Sacrament.
An Act of Love.
O most gracious and eternal God, the helper of the helpless, the
comforter of the comfortless, the hope of the afflicted, the bread of the
hungry, the drink of the thirsty, and the Saviour of all them that wait upon
thee; I bless and glorify thy name, and adore thy goodness, and delight in thy
love, that thou hast once more given me the opportunity of receiving the
greatest favour which I can receive in this world, even the body and blood of
my dearest Saviour. O take from me all affection to sin or vanity; let not my
affections dwell below, but soar upwards to the element of love, to the seat of
God, to the regions of glory, and the inheritance of Jesus; that I may hunger
and thirst for the bread of life, and the wine of elect souls, and may know no
loves but the love of God, and the most merciful Jesus. Amen.
An Act of Desire.
O blessed Jesus, thou hast used many arts to save me, thou hast
given thy life to redeem me, thy Holy Spirit to sanctify me, thyself for my
example, thy word for my rule, thy grace for my guide, the fruit of thy body
hanging on the tree of the cross for the sin of my soul; and, after all this,
thou hast sent thy apostles and ministers of salvation to call me, to importune
me, to constrain me to holiness, and peace, and felicity. O now come, Lord
Jesus, come quickly: my heart is desirous of thy presence and thirsty of thy
grace, and would entertain thee, not as a guest, but as an inhabitant, as the
Lord of all my faculties. Enter in and take possession, and dwell with me for
ever; 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 find my heart full of cares and worldly desires,
cheated with love of riches, and neglect of holy things, proud and unmortified,
false and crafty to deceive itself, intricated and entangled 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, evil principles and evil habits, peevish and
disobedient, lustful and intemperate, and full of sad remembrances, that I have
often provoked to jealousy and to anger thee my God, my dearest Saviour, him
that died 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 sorrowful for it, and do deeply
hate all my sins, and am full of indignation against myself 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 Father’s wrath; and I
was delivered from this wrath, that I might serve thee in holiness and
righteousness all my days. Lord, I am as sure thou didst the great work of
redemption for me and all mankind, 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, 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 Jesus, 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 itself, 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 unreprovable faith, of an unfeigned 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 temporal death, and for the
assurance of a holy resurrection; for the ejection of all evil from within me,
and the fulfilling all thy righteous commandments; and to procure for me a
mercy and a fair reception at the day of judgment, through thy mercies, O holy
and ever-blessed Saviour Jesus.
(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 athirst for God, yea, even for the living God; when
shall I come before the presence of God? Psalm xiii.1,2.
O Lord my God, great are thy wondrous 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. Psalm xi. 6.
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. Psalm xliii.3,4.
I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord, and so will I go to
thine altar: that I may show the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy
wondrous works. Psalm xxvi. 6,7.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me, try thou my reins and my heart.
For thy loving-kindness is now and ever before my eyes; and I will walk in thy
truth. Verse 2,3.
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-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalm xxiii. 5,6.
This is the bread that cometh down from heaven, that a man may
eat thereof and not die. John vi. 50.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and
I in him, and hath eternal life abiding in him; and I will raise him up at the
last day. Verse 54, 56.
Lord, whither shall we go but to thee? thou hast the words of
eternal life. John, vi. 68.
If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. John, vii. 37.
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? 1 Cor. x.16.
What are those wounds in thy hands? They are those with which I
was wounded in the house of my friends. Zech. xiii. 6.
Immediately before the receiving, say,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
But do thou speak the word only, and thy servant shall be healed. Matt. viii.
8.
Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show thy praise. O
God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
After receiving the consecrated and blessed Bread, say,
O taste 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 and wonderfully gracious, and
lovest to bless every one of us, in turning us from the evil of our ways. 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, etc.
After receiving the Cup of Blessing.
It is finished. Blessed be the mercies of God revealed to us in
Jesus Christ. O blessed and eternal High-priest, at the sacrifice of the cross,
which thou didst once offer for the sins of the whole world, and which thou
dost now and always represent in heaven to thy Father by thy never-ceasing
intercession, and which this day hath been exhibited on thy holy table
sacramentally, obtain mercy and peace, faith and charity, safety and
establishment to thy holy church, which thou hast founded upon a rock, the rock
of a holy faith; and let not the gates of hell prevail against her, nor the
enemy of mankind take any soul out of thy hand, whom thou hast purchased with
thy blood, and sanctified by thy spirit. Preserve all thy people from heresy
and division of spirit, from scandal and the spirit of delusion, from sacrilege
and hurtful persecutions. Thou, O blessed Jesus, didst die for us; keep me for
ever in holy living, from sin and sinful shame, in the communion of thy church,
and thy church is safety and grace, in truth and peace, unto thy second coming.
Amen.
Dearest Jesus, since thou art pleased to enter into me, O be
jealous of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth: suffer no
unclean spirit or unholy thought to come near thy dwelling, lest it defile the
ground where thy holy feet have trod. O teach me so to walk, that I may never
disrepute the honour of my religion, nor stain the holy robe which thou hast
now put upon my soul, nor break my holy vows which I have made, and thou hast
sealed, nor lose my right of inheritance, my privilege of being co-heir with
Jesus, into the hope of which I have no further entered: but be thou pleased to
love me with the love of a father, and of a brother, and a husband, and a lord;
and make me to serve thee in the communion of saints, in receiving the
sacrament, in the practice of all holy virtues, in the imitation of thy life,
and conformity to thy sufferings: that I, having now put on the Lord Jesus may
marry his loves and his enmities, may desire his glory, and may obey his laws,
and be united to his Spirit, and in the day of the Lord I may be found having
on the wedding-garment, and bearing in my body and soul the marks of the Lord
Jesus, that I may enter into the joy of my Lord, and partake of his glories for
ever and ever. Amen.
Ejaculations to be used any time that Day, after the Solemnity
is ended.
Lord, if I had lived innocently, I could not have deserved to
receive the crumbs that fall from thy table. How great is thy mercy, who hast
feasted me with the bread of virgins, with the wine of angels, with manna from
heaven!
O when shall I pass from this dark glass, from this veil of
sacraments, to the vision of thy eternal clarity? from eating thy body, to
beholding thy face in thy eternal kingdom?
Let not my sins crucify the Lord of life again: let it never he
said concerning me, ‘The hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on this
table.’
O that I might love thee as well as ever any creature loved thee!
Let me drink nothing but thee, desire nothing but thee, enjoy nothing but thee.
O Jesus, be a Jesus unto me. Thou art all things unto me. Let
nothing ever please me but what savours of thee and thy miraculous sweetness.
Blessed be the mercies of our Lord, who of God is made unto me
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
‘He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.’ Amen.
THE END