The first Prayer, Vpon the Lords Prayer.

When you pray, vse no vaine repetitions, as the Heathen: for they thinke to be heard for their much babbling. Be yee not like them therefore: for your [Page]Father knoweth whereof yee haue neede before yee aske of him. After this ma­ner therefore pray yee:

The second Prayer, Vpon the Symbole or Arti­cles of Beliefe.

The third Praier. Vpon the Decalogue, or ten Commaun­dements.

O Lord GOD Almightie, the Author of all righ­teousnesse, and perfection of life; Yea euen thou that arte essentially Iustice, perfe­ction [Page]and life. I doe tru­ly know, that man crea­ted righteous & perfect, and by cleauing to thee, blessed (but free and mu­table) hath, through sin, turned from thee, plun­ging himselfe headlong into the sinke of vnrigh­teousnesse, imperfection and death. The which hath depriued him of all power to obey the Law, and consequently bee­reaued him of the re­ward of eternall blessed­nesse. And albeit of es­peciall grace thou doost [Page]call vs, by the Gospel, to the free righteousnes of Christ, to the end, that beleeuing in him, wee might confesse him, for the obtayning of saluati­on; Yet are we neuerthe­lesse so much inclined to distrust, corruption, and disorder, that hardly we are entred into the waie of his vocation, but we retyre immediatly, stray­ing out of that course which might purchase vnto vs the prize; and so through our workes, de­nie our faith, and our [Page]profession. Now as the first & principal manner of thy honour (O one­ly true GOD) consi­steth in beleeuing, & re­posing our whole confi­dence in thee alone: so the second and insepera­ble from true faith, re­steth in obedience to thy holy and good will. For we must be doers of that which thy holie worde teacheth vs, and not hea­rers only, deceiuing our selues. Thou hast cho­sen and adopted vs to be thy Children: but it is [Page]vpon this condition, that wee should be reformed to the Image of Iesus Christ, the first borne, & inheritour of all things. Thou hast chosen vs to be his Temple: now his habitation cannot be but holy: for thy spirit dwel­leth therein. Thou hast redeemed vs with the price of his blood, and that to the ende thou maist bee glorified, both in our bodies and soules. Thou hast freed vs from sinne, euen to the ende we might be seruants to [Page]righteousnes. Thou hast giuen vs the Sauiour of the World, to be our iu­stification: but to the end also that we possesse him in sanctification. Thou wouldest that he should die for all men, euen to make him liue in thy e­lect, and they in him. And this is the reason wherfore the institution of our faith, together with the spirituall conso­lations that support the same, is accompanied with the ten precepts of thy law, the certaine and [Page]assured meanes to honor and serue thee, in liuing religiously to thy glory, & vprightly to the profit of our neighbours. For albeit in the Gospel wee be free from the rigor & punishment of the Law, yet neuertheles, the rule of pietie and holie life contained in the Deca­logue, abideth with vs, as a perpetuall patterne, whereby to frame our temporall course of life. And accordingly we do also consider of it in two partes, according as it [Page]pleased thee, O Lord, to write it with thy finger, and to deliuer it vnto Moses, in two tables of stone, for thy people, whereof the first contai­neth foure Commande­ments, of our duetie to­wardes thee, and the se­cond, sixe, of that which wee owe to our neigh­bors: Also the summe & fulfilling of all these holy precepts importeth that wee loue thee, (O onely true GOD) with our whole heart, soule, and thought, and then all o­ther [Page]men, (especially the houshold of faith) as our selues. But O Lord, such is the weakenesse of all flesh, that there is no man able to attain to the per­fection of thy Law: and yet thou willest, that here in, thy children shoulde comfort themselues, that there is left vnto them, some measure to ap­proach thervnto, and so to bee acceptable vnto thee; namely when with their whole strength, preuented by thy grace, they studie to attaine the [Page]end of thy word, walk­ing & going forward by the steps thereof, & still with sighing for their in­firmities. For al the faith­full may so belieue, that with thee their Father there is mercy for them, in thy welbeloued sonne Iesus Christ. I beseech thee therfore, O my God, to cast vpon me, the eye of thy clemencie, and goodnes, therby throgh th'effects of thy spirit, to restore in my soule, the breaches of sinne, to il­luminate my vnderstan­ding, [Page]and to possesse my hart with the loue of thy truth, to the end that in all knowledge and obe­dience of faith, I may constantly walke in the paths of thy lawe; so that I may worship, scare, & loue thee, as the Lord, to whome I wholy owe my selfe: for thou hast created mee, and which is more, redeemed mee from eternall death, whence I do also learne to loue all men in thee, & for thy sake, because they beare thy image, so that [Page]perseuering thus in the duty of my vocation, I may so much the rather feele thy peace in my conscience, and thy blessing vppon all the workes of my hands; that filled with dayes, I leaue my life, to enioy rest e­ternally. Amen.

The fourth praier. To one only God in Trinitie of per­sons.

O Eternall, true, and only God in three per­sons, coequall & almightie, of one sole, and simple essence, inui­sible, and infinite. The Father, the word and the holy Ghost, who being [Page]the soueraign good, suf­ficient to thy selfe, nee­ding no newe matter, wouldest not for euer in­ioy thy glorie alone, but according to thy vnmea­surable & altogether in­comprehensible good­nesse, reueale thy selfe at thy good pleasure, in foure workes altogether diuine & singular. (The creation of the world, & of all nature: the re­demption of mankinde: the building thy church, & thy graces the same:) O Lord, who only art in [Page]trueth, permanent and stable; through whome euery thing is that is, in respect of whome, all is lesse then nothing, who giuing by thy word beeing to that that was not at all, hast, out of a confused, voyd, and dark substance, drawne light, beauty, and order, stret­ching forth the heauen as a vault or tent vnder the same, the earth, and the inhabitants thereof, who hast made al things in number, weight, and measure: & from whose [Page]prouidence doeth pro­ceede, the moderation and gouernement of all that is, whether it liueth, feeleth, or vnderstan­deth: O holy, thrice ho­ly, admirable, and amia­ble, who being righte­ous, wouldest not suffer man, made after thy i­mage, to go vnpunished when he had sinned, and who, beeing mercifull, hast not left him without grace: who, being good, hast not neglected the least of thy works, euen to the haire of a beast, the [Page]lightest fether of a fowl, and the least flower or leafe of grasse, in euery of these things, grauing certaine tokens of thy glory and maiesty by the harmonie & agreement of al these smal creatures with the greatest of the world: O Father, and moderator of all things! I beseech thee, let thy e­ternall wisedome reach to me euen through the light of thy spirit which seeth all things, which soundeth all thinges, which searcheth into all [Page]things, and which, with his presence of grace, maketh his residence, in al peaceable cogitations, to lift them vp by the ef­fects of his gifts, vnto the fanctuarie of thy super­celestiall pallace, there to make them see, heare, and worship, in spirit & truth, the diuine maruels of thy Kingdome, & the mysteries of the adopti­on of thy elect. So that being thus taught by the most sacred Oracles, I belieue in hart, and with vnderstanding meditate [Page]vpon the true & eternall existence of thee (O Fa­ther) borne of none, the first Soueraigne and Al­mighty cause of al things and especially of our sal­uation throgh thy loue: Of thee (O Sonne) e­ternally begotten by the Father, and by whom he hath made all his works, who art the principall cause, which giues vs life & happines, according to the fulnesse and per­fection of thy loue, and of thee (O Holy Ghost) from al eternitie procee­ding [Page]from the Father & the Son, and by whome all creatures doe subsist, and saluation is commu­nicated vnto vs; three persons, of properties di­stinct, yet not seperate; in vnitie of essence, and equalitie of glory: in thee one, and true God, not created, infinit, and almighty, & the God of thy people. And that through this healthfull knowledge, I doe wor­ship, serue and call vpon thee only for euer, with­out declining from thy [Page]word. Wherupon like­wise, through a stedfast faith in thy promises, depending vppon an as­sured hope, and true loue, I doe more and more draw vpon my self the sauour of thy holie blessings: to the end that as the Angels aboue doe praise thee, the powers of heauen do blesse thee, & all the spiritual armies do magnifie thee, I like­wise may heere belowe haue this felicitie, to fi­nish my course in sing­ing thy praises, and so [Page]leauing this terrestriall life, to ioyne my selfe al­together to the celestial, with those blessed spirits in the ful contemplation of thy face, to sing with them without ende this song of perfect ioy (Glo­ry be to the Father that hath created vs; Glorie bee to thee Sonne that hath redeemed vs; Glo­ry be to the Holy-Ghost that hath sanctified vs; Glorie bee to the most high Trinitie, one onely God and Lord, whose kingdome is euerlasting.

The fift Prayer, For the obtaining of the knowledge of God in Iesus Christ.

O GOD and Father of our Lord CHRIST IESVS, & of all them whom in thy loue thou hast giuen to him to be his brethren, it hath beene thy good pleasure, to settle our true and only felicitie in the knowledge of thy holy name, and the ef­fects of thy grace. But we are vnable to know thee, or to feele the efficacy of thy loue towards vs, but [Page]only in the same Christ, who is the brightnesse of thy glory, and the engra­uen character of thy per­son, God with thee, and man with vs. By this thy eternall word thou hast created all the world, gi­uing vnto vs the first te­stimony of the manife­station of thy wisedome and prouidence. But thou giuest vnto vs, a more singulare benefite in the miraculous worke of our redemption, which doeth moreouer represent vnto vs, both [Page]thy great goodnesse and loue, and thy Iustice, & infinit power. Thy loue, in that thou hast vouch­safed freely to redeeme man, who prowde and vnthankefull, withdraw­eth himselfe from thee his Father and Benefa­ctor, to surrender him­selfe vnto Sathan the en­nemy to our saluation, and of the honor of thy name. Thy Iustice, in that thou hast not spared the blood of thy inno­cent sonne, to the end in his sufferings to iustifie [Page]thy goodnesse and mer­cie. Thy power, in that for the accomplishing of this supernatural worke, thy word, which from all eternitie was resident in thy bosom, of one es­sence & glory with thee was made flesh. Neuer­thelesse I doe very well know, that the depth of these profound myste­ries cannot bee discoue­red to our sences, like­wise that the treasures of thy wisedome, of thy counsell, & of thy iudge­ments, are a very bot­tomlesse [Page]gulph, and thy wayes vnpossible to bee found out. Also, O Lord I doe not rashly enter in­to that place, which is forbidden mee, neither will I imitate my first Fa­ther Adam, who co­ueting to knowe too much stretched forth his hand vnto the forbid­den tree, & desiring one onely fruite, was depri­ued of all the rest. I doe onely with flexible heart embrace, and carefully in my cogitation, accor­ding to the measure of [Page]thy gifts, meditate vpon that secret of godlinesse, which I haue receiued by the preaching of thy gospell, and doe in part know it: attending, vntil that beeing deliuered from sinne & corrupti­on, I may see thee face to face, and in presence behold, that which now I see as it were in a very darke Glasse. I beseech thee therefore, my God, vouchsafe, by the light of thy spirit, to addresse and guide mee to the faithfull knowledge of [Page]this great Sauior, whom thou (Father) hast pro­mised from the begin­ning, and in the latter times reuealed, in signes and wonders surpassing all miracles, to the end that being instructed by his doctrine, I may, by him, and in him, know thee to be the eternall li­uing God, and the God of thy people, that ac­cording to his word I may worship and serue thee in spirit and trueth, and in his name call vp­on thee only in full con­fidence [Page]of thy mercy, ac­compting him the onely subiect thereof, and the onely mediatour of my saluation, who died for my sinnes, and rose a­gaine for my righteous­nesse: euen (O Lord) because it pleased thee in this maner to ordaine of the estate of humane na­ture, the worke of thy hand. For who was thy councellor? and what haue wee that wee haue not receiued? graunt me therfore in the study and meditation of so manie [Page]mysteries, so high and so wholesome, that I may humbly condiscend to thy diuine counsells, in worshipping them with this resolution of thy A­postle, that I will not knowe any thing but Christ, neither possesse any thing but him, sith that in him, the treasures of all wisdome doe con­sist, and that they who lodge him in their harts, haue thee, O God, veri­ly present, and doe en­ioy thee and thy bene­fites. Make mee also to [Page]feele and confesse this necessitie common to all the children of Adam, that for the cancelling of this obligation, which held vs bound to eternal death (the iust reward of sinne) wee were forced to haue this great King of heauen, holy, inno­cent, and seperate from all sinners, to be our high Priest, our sacrifice and oblation, vppon the Al­tare of the crosse, to the end, O Lord, that accor­ding to thy vnsearchable decree, grounded vpon [Page]mercy & iustice, thy wel­beloued sonne hauing to himselfe vnited our na­ture the bondslaue of sa­than, might leade it to the combate, directing it how to ouercome this great aduersarie: And this hath he done, obtai­ning for vs the victory, when he brake the sting of death, and the bonds of hell, and that hee rose out of the sepulchre, car­rying with him this hu­mane nature as the ear­nestpeny of our hope, to thy right hand into hea­uen. [Page]Of this so singular a benefit, let the remem­brance be alwaies before my face, that I may offer vnto thee (O my God) the sacrifice of thanksgi­uing all the dayes of my life: so that hauing my redeemer for a perpetu­all obiect, and sure foun­dation of my Faith, in the knowledge of thy name, I may throughly learne Christ, not onely to beleeue by his word the sacred history of his conception and birth, with his office of a soue­raigne [Page]King, great Pro­phet, and perpetuall law-giuer of his church, also his passion, death, re­surrection, and ascenti­on, but also, that in ful as­surance in his promises, I may appropriate to my selfe the gifts and graces which he purchased for vs, by fullfilling that charge that he had recei­ued from thee, O father, to th'end, through him, to make vs worthie of thy saluation: so as I may comfort and wholy re­pose my selfe vpon his o­bedience [Page]and righteous­nesse, shewing forth and sealing this my hope by good workes, to thy glo­ry, O eternall God, and the peace of my consci­ence. So be it.

The sixth Prayer, For obtaining the gift of the Holy-ghost.

O Lord God al­mightie, wee doe learne in thy word (the vnchangeable trueth) how without confoun­ding any thing in the three persons of thy most simple Deitie, or separating the onelie and indiuisible substance [Page]thereof, each person re­taineth that which is proper to it selfe in the workes of thy hands, es­peciallie in that which concerneth our saluati­on. So the beginning of all and euery action, is properly attributed vnto thee, O Father of the whole world, and to Ie­sus Christ, the wisdome, the counsel, and the or­der, to dispose all things, and to the Holy-ghost, the virtue and supporter of all thy workes. Accor­ding whereunto we also [Page]doe acknowledge from thy loue, and from thy eternall decree, that which thou hast proui­ded for vs in thy sonne (very God made very man) such a mediatour and sauiour, as was ne­cessary for vs: and we do render vnto him the ho­nour of the fulnesse of thy loue towards vs, and of that perfect obedi­ence which he hath yeelded to thy ordinance, e­uen to the death of the crosse for vs in most bit­ter anguish, as also from [Page]the vertue of the Holy-ghost, wee doe confesse the efficacie, and health­full application of this great & principal worke-manship of our redemp­tion.

But thy wisdome, O Lord, resteth wholy in mysterie, that is to say, it is hidden, except vnto those to whom thy spirit giueth sight. For true it is, that Christ calleth all men vnto him by his Gospel, spreading forth to that effect, his light throughout the whole [Page]world. Whoso follow­eth him, shall not walke in darkenesse; for hee is the Sunne of righteous­nesse, and the way to go to heauen: But his sheep only do heare his voice, and follow him; as also hee knoweth them and giueth vnto them life e­uerlasting: euen by the meere efficacie of his spi­rit which quickeneth & lighteneth all thy elect, O God, to make them in thy word to behold the onely lampe of thy king­dome, the knowledge of [Page]saluation, the stedfast good of the soule, and the sure and only means to obtaine the same: all people may reade thy sa­cred writings, only they can gather the sence to the peace of their soules, whom it pleaseth thee, as a Father to illuminate from aboue. For so may they see howe in the crosse of Iesus they doe obtaine their triumph, in his shame, their glory, in his paine, their peace, in his teares, their ioy, in his sorrowe, their com­fort, [Page]in his death their life, in his resurrection, the fulnes of their hope. I beseech thee therefore, my God, to powre vpon me this thy spirit of wis­dome, and reuelation, and grace, and mercie, through the force of his beames, to scatter the darkenesse of my vnder­standing, and with the propertie of his fire, to purifie my peruerse affe­ctions, with his celesti­all lamp to kindle in my hart the true zeale of his glorie, with his holie [Page]oyntment, to enbaulme my conscience, with his sacred oyle to reioyce and refresh my bowells, and with his vertue to renew in me an vpright spirit, to the end that my soule thus cleansed from the dead workes of the flesh, may be replenished with faith working all righteousnesse, whereby to ouercome all the ene­mies of my peace, (Sa­than, the flesh, the world, and my owne lusts.) But aboue al things, O Lord, make that by the efficacy [Page]of thy holy spirit, I may obtaine the true and firme consolation of the faithful soule, the height of his ioy, of his quiet and content, and the in­fallible direction to his perfection, namely, the assurance that thou, my heauenly Father, hast a­dopted mee into the number of thy children, by that grace that thou hast giuen vs in Christ, who was made our wis­dome, righteousnesse, sanctification, and re­demption. And that [Page]being so ouershadowed with the hope of Chri­stians which neuer at all confoundeth, I may bee supported, euen to the end of my dayes, by thy holy spirite, which then especially may help my weakenesse, that I may yeeld vnto thee, O my God, my last groanes, to thee acceptable, and to me salutiferous, as being in the throne of thy glo­rie approoued capable of the contemplation thereof in the heauenly Ierusalem, through thy [Page]goodnesse and mercy in Iesus Christ our Lord: To whom with thee, O Father, and the holy spi­rit, one onely God, bee all honor, glory, and do­minion for euermore. So be it.

The seuenth Prayer, To craue of God the light of his word.

LOrd GOD eter­nall, who know­est [Page]that euerie man is but flesh, and that flesh is but corruption, so that al­though thou hast endu­ed him with a reasona­ble soule, which doth di­stinguish him, from o­ther creatures, yet his light is notwithstanding conuerted into darknes, when therby he seeketh to penetrate into the glorie of thy kingdome, and the mysteries of thy grace: who knowst that this poore blind borne, destitute of thy superna­turall light, doeth in lieu [Page]of his God, forge to him selfe an idol, and instead of truth, taketh lies, for thy worde, his owne in­uentions, for goodnesse vanitie, and for the path to life, the way to death. And albeit thou hast e­uen from the beginning made thy selfe as it were visible to man, in the ta­ble of the Vniuersall worlde, that thou hast many times reuealed thy selfe vnto him in a liuely voyce, by thy eternall worde in Heden, Horeb, in the burning bush, and [Page]elsewhere, afterward by thy prophets insinuating thy selfe by thy spirit in­to their harts & thoghts, to the end by their mini­strie to instruct thy peo­ple: and finally that thou hast also manifested thy selfe in greater light by thy owne worde made flesh for our redempti­on, and speaking vnto vs by his mouth: Yea which is more, that thou hast so farre graced vs, that this thy word of life hath beene, and stil re­maineth among vs, faith­fully [Page]collected in the sa­cred registers of the ho­ly scripture, so to be vn­to vs, the image of thy glory, the Lawe of thy Kingdome, the ladder to Heauen, the gate to paradice, the trumpet of saluation: to be briefe, the treasury of piety, ver­tue, wisdome, consolati­on, and perfection: Yet the flesh neuerthelesse ignorant, rash, and per­uerse, hath neither eyes to perceiue these spiritu­all riches, nor eares to heare the wholsome do­ctrine, [Page]but dooth rather disdaine it, as it were some deuised discourse, & vnprofitable voice: or howsoeuer it be, suffer­ing it self to be carried a­way with it owne & fee­ble imaginations, taketh in this verely, the thorne for the rose, the leafe for the fruite, and the huske for the kernell. And thus are wee all borne in this error, in this calamitie, in this waie to mortall ruine, vntill that thou, O mercifull God, makest vs to be borne againe, of [Page]the spirite, and in will to make our thoughts capa­of the light of thy word; & through true faith, to apprehend the mysteries of thy kingdome, the co­uenant of life, the gospel of thy peace, and the as­sured testimonies of thy mercies. Vnto this grace of inestimable valewe doth my timerous soule direct her vowes in sear­ching thee (O great king of Heauen) throughout the course of thy faith­full testimonies, which minister wisedome to [Page]the ignorant [the holie Scriptures] I beseech thee therfore (my God) vouchsafe to direct and guide mee in the vnder­standing of this eternall trueth, through the ope­ration of thy spirit, (the true teacher of our soules) that being by him instructed, I may ac­complish and make my selfe perfect in these foure cheefe principles of the doctrine of Salua­tion, which are fullie taught at large. (The knowledge of thee the [Page]true God, and the God of thy people: the know­ledge of faith, of pietie, and of righteousnesse.) Whereby I may obtaine the end of my being, and therein euen my Soue­raigne felicitie, which is to know thee, to glori­fie thee for my GOD, to beleeue thee, and in thee, Iesus Christ, and in Iesus Christ, to loue, feare, and serue thee, ac­cording as thou doest commaund vs, and in all things to obserue equity towardes all men. For [Page]thus are thy children bound to learne, accor­ding to the measure of the gift of thy grace, thy fatherly loue, in thy wel­beloued sonne, namelie by conioyning thereto the feare of thy name; that is to say, that reue­rence, that causeth vs in humilitie, and obedi­ence, to shunne euil, and do good, and to embrace righteousnesse, and cha­rity. Walking in this sort, O Lord, vnder thy con­duct, in the Communi­on of Saints, I shall want [Page]nothing to my comfort or perfection; & in good time, a depart (my life beeing ended) to re­ceiue peace and perfect ioy, in the eternall habi­tation of the blessed soules. So be it.

The eight Prayer, That we may not depart from the Church.

ALmighty God, righteous, and mercifull, who in thy iustice & wrath, for the iniqui­tie [Page]and disobedience of man diddest once smite the world with the ouer­flowing of waters, and in thy mercie and loue diddest extend thy sin­gular fauour vppon the Arke of thy seruant No­ah, sauing him and his family from the generall inundation, intending in that small flocke of the faithfull to preserue and keepe thy chosen people that they might for euer serue to thy glory I learn out of thy word, that thou wilt no more de­stroy [Page]the earth in that maner, and therefore thou hast left vs the rain­bow to remaine for a signe. Neuerthelesse what else is our poore life languishing in the in­fection of sinne, but a deluge of euills, and run­ning streame of miseries that falleth vpon al men, & indifferently leadeth them vnto death? In one onelie thing therefore must my soule take com­fort, that as Noah was preserued from the vni­versall shipwracke, in his [Page]wodden Mansion by the promise that he kept in his heart, so that a thou­sand falling on his right hand, and a thousand on his left hand, hee remai­ned sound and safe vn­der thy wing, euen so I hold my selfe assured a­gainst the assaults of sin, and in the middest of the woefull rockes of this world, yea euen in the straits of the graue, that thou wilt alwayes pre­serue from all calamities and miseries, those who stand fast in the Arke of [Page]thy Church, grounded vppon thy word in the gospel of reconciliation to the Lord Iesus, and depart in his faith. For as likewise, according to thy Iustice, thou diddest euen from the begin­ning pronounce the sen­tence of death against our Fathers, because of their transgressions, euen so it pleased thee, euen then also to comforte them in thy mercie, with the promise of life in this great Redee­mer to come, to the end, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page]that embracing him by faith, they and their chil­dren holding this foun­dation, should erect vnto thee a temple of liuing stones, holy, and stedfast for euer, for the sanctifi­cation of thy name, and the blessednesse of thy e­lect. And these are they (O Lord) who first in the time of the Patriarks, then vnder the law, and lastly, vnder the gospel, beleeued thy word, wor­shipping thee according to the same, in certaine mysteries of religion, [Page]in all places, whither it pleased thee to call, ga­ther and sanctifie them, by the remission of their sinnes, in the blood of thy sonne, regenerating them to euery good worke, by thy holy spi­rit, & of the same grace, giuing them from age to age diuerse visible signes for sacraments in thy Church; so indeede she is thy house, and the pal­lace of thy glory, where thy truth is lodged, which shee vpholdeth and aduaunceth by her [Page]holy ministery; preser­uing it also that it should not fall into decay, and that the remembrance thereof should not bee lost from among men. Whereof likewise pro­ceedeth the stabilitie of the Church, which the endeuours of sathan can­not shake, because the foundation of her faith & doctrine is grounded vpon the true, and im­mooueable rocke, euen the pure confession of the name of Christ. I do therefore beseech thee, [Page]my God, inasmuch as thy mercy and goodnes hath brought me in, and hetherto held me vp, in this mansion house of thy graces, that thou wilt vouchsafe more & more to illuminate my hart & minde, to make me see and meditate vpon the spirituall magnificence of this thy habitation, to the end that the sacred porches thereof may bee all my loue, and the on­ly delight of my eyes, & her canticles the sole har­mony of my eares: and [Page]that I may so affectionate my selfe to her celestiall beauty and riches, that I may hold one day in thy Church more deere, then a thousand else­where. That this so sweet company, I say, of thee (O our Father) of thy Sonne our redeemer, of the holy-ghost our com­forter, of so many thou­sands of Angels, & of e­lect, which liuedhere be­neath in the visible king­dome of thy glory, and by infinite wonders in the Communion of [Page]saints, may be my whole desire, and the sole sub­iect of my delights, that I may neuer depart ther­from, notwithstanding whatsoeuer assaults and temptations I am to en­dure according to the condition of the militant Church, and vnder this her gallant poesie (To be­leeue, to doe well, and to suf­fer affliction) sith that namely there is not any such mishap, or so much to be feared, as to be out of this holie Temple, wherein onely abideth [Page]all light, truth, saluation, and life: and in all other places, darkenesse, lying, shipwracke, and death, haue their dwelling. For so through thy grace, O my God, praying and meditating, I shall spend my dayes in ioy, expect­ing, in peace, my last hower, to participate in the triumph of the same Church aboue, and to liue eternally in thy rest, Amen.

The ninth Prayer, For the obtaining of the efficacie of holy Bap­tisme.

O Eternall God, only good, & wise, thou hast vouchsafed by thy Sonne, that great prophet, to teach vs, that whosoeuer is not borne of water and the spirite, cannot enter into thy kingdome; and that flesh and blood are not capa­ble of the sight of thy glorie. Thou, O Lord, art essentially holinesse and righteousnes. How then can vncleanenesse, and iniustice approach [Page]neere vnto thee? So it is that wee are by our na­ture corrupted, and by sinne polluted, wher­by the Sentence of death, both first and se­cond, hath ouertaken all men; howbeit, of thy infinite mercy, thou hast vouchsafed to saue from a gulph of miseries, those that in thy vnsearchable counsaile are predesti­nate to life, redeeming them from hell, and ma­king them to bee borne againe in Iesus Christ, thy eternall woorde, by [Page]the which thou haddest first giuen them beeing. And these are they that are borne of water and the spirit into thy church through the efficacie of the sacred mysteries of thy grace, & specially of holie Baptisme; that be­ing clothed anew in the nature and righteousnes of Christ their Sauiour, they may become new creatures, pure and preti­ous before thee. Nowe through thy great mercy (O my God) I haue, in thy holy Temple, recei­ued [Page]this sacred pledge of thy couenant, and of our new birth in thy name, and in the name of thy Sonne, and of the Holy-ghost, according to thy ordinance, as it hath pleased thee in the re­newing of thy Church, by the preaching of the Gospel, to manifest thy selfe farre more cleerely in three persons of thy deitie, then vnder the fi­gures and shadowes of the Law. For in Christ, replenished with grace and trueth, thou hast [Page]made thy selfe visible, who hath reuealed him­selfe, and the Holy Ghost also, by plentifully sprea­ding the beames of his glory vpon vs, through the brightnesse of his works, altogether diuine and miraculous. Wee cannot so much as ap­prehend the vertue and efficacy of the sacrament of baptisme, vnlesse wee begin by the meditation of thy free mercie in thy Sonne, and so doe pro­ceede in the contempla­tion of him, performing [Page]his office, euen so farre forth, as to die for vs: and with him wee doe con­ioyne the Holy-Ghost, through whome Christ dooth wash vs in his blood, regenerateth vs, and maketh vs partakers of all his benefits. This, O Lord, I knowe by thy word, that like as the sa­crament of baptisme is vnto mee a certaine ear­nest penie of my saluati­on: so must it in my own conscience, and before men, be vnto mee a per­petuall testimonie of my [Page]faith and of my hope. So onely dooth this sacra­ment obtaine his perfe­ction and fulnes, name­ly, when that shadowed in the washing of my body with the signe of water, is effectually wrought within my soule, throughout the whole course of my life. For in like manner was the shadow of the coue­nant fulfilled, in cutting awaie the fore-skinne from the Children of Is­rael, when by the cir­cumcision of their harts, [Page]they became carefull to walke in the statutes of Gods Lawe. I beseech thee therefore, O my God, as I carrie in my forehead the holy marke of Christians, so vouch­safe, with thy finger, to graue in my hart this di­uine Character, to the ende that I may euer­more beare and bring forth such fruite and ef­fects, as may be accepta­ble in thy sight, and pro­fitable to my selfe; that as my Lord Iesus, by his spirite working in mee, [Page]washeth away my sinnes and regenerateth my soule, so I may likewise, by the efficacie of his owne vertue, and recei­uing from him, grace, perseuere in the faith of my Baptisme, readie to euery good worke. And that as I was baptised in­to his death, so likewise to be buried with him, by being dead vnto sin, so that I may bee grafted with him to the simili­tude of his resurrection in glory, liuing no lon­ger to sinne, but to righ­teousnes, [Page]whereby thy name, O eternall God, may be sanctified, and I crowned in my latter day with the crowne of immortalitie amongest the company of thy bles­sed ones. So be it.

The tenth Prayer, ¶ For the Communi­on in the holy Eucha­rist.

ALmightie & e­uerlasting god, according to thy loue and [Page]infinite goodnesse, it hath plesaed thee, that not onely to redeeme vs from sinne, from death, and from hell, and in all points to make vs bles­sed, thy onely sonne (the brightnesse and fulnesse of thy glory) should take vpon him humane flesh, and after hee had taught vs the way to heauen, should die vppon the crosse, for the accom­plishment of his office, but also that this great benefite might still bee present to our perpetuall [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page]comfort, and for the en­crease and support of our faith, that his body risen againe in glory for our righteousnesse and per­fection, ascended into heauen, and sitting at thy right hand, should also bee communicated vnto vs here beneath in thy Church, in the mystery of the Eucharist, to bee our foode and nourish­ment vnto holy and e­ternall life. Thus is there sealed in our hearts that promise that hee hath made vnto vs in the gos­pel, [Page]that hee will, at all times, make vs partakers of his flesh and of his blood, and in this Com­munion giue vnto vs the true and sound foode of our soules, that in him (who is the liuing bread, discended from heauen) wee may obtaine our peace and felicitie. O mightie prouidence of the Lord, who called vs to communicate in his body before his death, to the end to shew vs, that by death he should not be destroyed, and that he [Page]would neuer leaue his Church; O what a refre­shing is this, in this our earthly pilgrimage, and what a delicious ban­quet, in the bread and wine, consecrated by the word of Christ, to eate his glorious flesh, and to drinke his precious blood: when by faith in his promises, and by the vertue of his holy spirit, hauing our hearts cleansed and lifted vp on high, his life, together with all his graces and blessings is made ours! O [Page]infinite blessed is that flocke that hath so libe­ral a shepheard, that will norish it with his bloud, to the end it may liue in him, and of him, free from all languishing and miserie! O what a com­fort is it in this vally of teares, to finde meanes to feede vpon such food as will not perish, but re­ioyce all our sences, and make vs to liue eternally! For so and with such effi­cacie (O Lord) doe wee communicate in the bo­die of thy Sonne crucifi­ed [Page]and risen againe, and in his bloud shed for the washing of our soules, when at his holie Table the sacred signes are, by his ordinance, deliuered vnto vs, and that we doe receiue them as hee hath commanded, expecting that aboue in heauen without any exterior meanes, we may eate this bread of life, and drinke this sweete drinke in the company of the Angels, & of all the blessed, then at the ful inioying of our vnion with thee, O great [Page]God, and the ioy of our beatitude accomplished. O most desired daie, wherein we shall be fed and satisfied with this celestiall bread, that we may neuer die, nor thirst againe in this newe life, where thou, O eternall God, shalt bee wholy in vs. Oh happie are wee already, who already in Christ, in the commu­nion of the faithfull, do taste the sweetnes of this celestiall banquet, wher­in we shall see thee, and face to face contemplate [Page][Father, Word, Spirit] one only and true God, beeing filled with thy glory in endlesse peace. To the end therfore that according to thy Com­maundement, O Lord, I may worthily present my self to this holy ban­quet of sacred foode, which the Angelles doe admire, and honour, which also thou dost not communicate but to thy flesh, I beseech thee giue mee grace well to dis­cerne the bodie of my Sauiour, in trying my [Page]selfe according to his word, so as my hart may be cleansed from sinne, and vncleanenesse, and replenished with thy loue, and with euery o­ther spirituall vertue, to the end, that euen this day, harbouring therein this great King of hea­uen, I may encrease in the faith and hope of my saluation, by his holines and righteousnesse. I haue reposed al my con­fidence in thy mercy, I neither seeke nor hope for any good or grace, [Page]but from thee (my God) and in thy sonne, and for his sake, I doe desire in my place, with simpli­citie, to celebrate the remembrance of his death in the holy church to the glory of thy name, and the peace of my soule. I renounce the deadworkes of the flesh, and the lusts thereof, I doe put off all enmitie and malice, with a good intent to embrace the liuely workes of the spi­rit, and to dwell in loue and charitie with my [Page]neighbours, I do belieue in the promises that Christ (the infallible truth) hath pronounced with his owne mouth; That at his holy table, he will truely make me par­taker of his body and blood, to the end I may possesse him wholy, and in such sorte, that being made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, he may liue in mee, aad I in him for euer. Helpe O Lord the weakenesse of my faith, support mee in my infirmity, and in that [Page]desire which thou giuest me, to profit in the sound knowledge of thy my­steries, and in the pra­ctise of the pathes of thy kingdome, conioyne vn­to the same desire, the performaunce of the deede. For it is onely by the vertue of thy spirit, in sinceritie of heart, that I shall this day receiue from the same Iesus, the effect of his word, in par­ticipating truely in his new and eternall testa­ment, the couenant of grace, so to perseuer in [Page]this blessed societie of his Bodie, that from him I may incessantly gather strength and life, and vnited with him, I may also attaine to bee one with thee (my Cre­ator.) Grant mee there­fore, that in this maner I may, with thy Church, celebrate the most holy remembrance of our Lord, and of the worke of our redemption, to the end, that so receuing this great sacrament of his body, with a newe augmentation in all hea­uenlie [Page]grace, with so much the greater confi­dence I may againe call vpon thee my God, and my Father, and more & more glorifie my selfe in thy mercies. So be it.

The eleuenth Prayer, For thanksgiuing after the Communion.

O Lorde, my God, & my Father, euen from the bottome of my heart, and with all my soule, I yeelde thee praise and thankes, for that it hath pleased thee to enlarge so great a be­nefite to mee miserable sinner, as to haue drawn, [Page]and receiued mee into the sacred Communion of thy son Iesus Christ my sauiour. The heauen of heauens are not able to comprehend him, yet doth he so farre honour vs, as to vouchsafe to communicate with vs, yea euen to enter into vs (poore wormes of the earth.) For such was thy good pleasure, (O Lord) to deliuer him once to the death, for the re­demption of thy elect; and as to euery one of them, so doest thou this [Page]day giue him to mee, to be my foode and spiritu­all sustenance, that I may liue of him, and in him, blessed both in body & soule eternally. I beseech thee therefore, O merci­full Father, so to blesse in me, this holy and mysti­call action, that my vn­worthinesse make it not vnprofitable vnto me, & that the pretious bloud of thy sonne, bee not in vaine shed for mee, and offered me to drinke: but that washed in the same, and cleansed from [Page]my sinnes, I may obtain that iustification, and holines, that beseemeth thy children, who haue this most holy one to be their hoste, and head, & thy spirit for their light. Let me not be so wret­ched, as to abuse these sacred meates, which thou dost communicate to thy houshold of faith onely, the prouision whereof cost thy welbe­loued son Iesus so deere. Rather (my God) grant that in true efficacie I may participate in this [Page]sacrament of his body to encrease in faith & loue, and all other thy gifts, that I may neuer aban­don thy holy couenant. Alas! whither should I go but to thee, the foun­taine of eternall life, by Christ, who is the fulnes thereof, and by whom it runneth into vs? Cast from me all carnall cogi­tations and delights, and all these earthly baites, which turne to gall and corruption, because I haue in my bowels an in­corruptible foode, more [Page]sweeter then honny, the bread of Angels, the bread of heauen, the bread of life, which with out any sacrament wee shall feede on aboue, without ende; where Christ, according to his promise, shall, with vs, drinke the fruite of the new vine, yeelding vppe vnto thee, the kingdome, O eternal God, that thou maist be all in all. I doe therefore resigne my self into thy hands, and vn­der thy conduct, that I may runne my race in [Page]ioy, and a good consci­ence before thy face, and before men: And that I may departe in peace, when my houre is come because Christ is my life. To thy name therefore, (O almighty Creator) to thee Redeemer of the elect, to thee Comforter of the faithfull, who by thy secret vertue doest worke this vnspeakeable and miraculous coniun­ction of our soules with the body of the Lord. To thee Trinity (Father, Word, Spirit) one only [Page]and true God, be all ho­nour and glory. Amen.

The twelfth Praier, To obtaine the gift of Faith.

ALmightie and eter­nal god, it hath plea­sed thee in thy vnsearchable coun­saile, for a time, to giue vnto men, the Lawe, to the end to guide them to IESVS Christ, vnder a schoolehouse of figures and shadows, euen those whom thou of thy grace hast called into the faith [Page]of this promised Sauior, to obtaine in him their iustification and saluati­on. And when in the fulnesse of time hee ap­peared vnto vs, clothed in our nature, for the ac­complishing of thy great and precious promises, this iustification of thy e­lect was fully reuealed & made ours, by beleefe in his Gospel. But, O Lord, thou doost well know, and euery man in himselfefeeleth, the in­credulitie, and weaknes of man, who being but [Page]earth, and flesh, cannot climbe vp into heauen, and to the spirit of life, so to confesse and appre­hend these deepe myste­ries of thy loue. And in­deed it is an ancient and common complaint of thy Prophets and Apo­stles, who manie times haue said as much (O Lord who hath belieued our preaching?) Also there be so many impo­stures in the worlde, so many dreames, so many inuentions; yea which is more, so many assaults, [Page]so many snares, and so ordinary miseries that shake the best: To bee briefe, so great is the va­nitie, ignorance, and in­firmitie of our nature, that if thou (O most mercifull God) workest not that in vs, which thou commaundest vs to doe, if thou doost not teach vs that vvee may knowe, if thou doost not conuert vs, that wee may cleaue to thy worde, if thou dost not giue vs to thy Sonne, that hee may keepe vs thine, if hee [Page]bring vs not cloathed in his righteousnesse to the throne of thy grace, and if thy spirite leadeth vs not in the paths of thy Kingdome, holding vs fast in the effects of his gifts, vppon the way of thy trueth, wee cannot harken to this voyce of the shepheard of our soules, neither in our harts conceiue such and so liuely a Faith, that all vncertainty might be ba­nished, and the same sea­led with his owne effi­cacie: much lesse can [Page]we feele the peace and ioy that true faith bring­eth with it. For that cause, (O Lord,) in thy loue hast thou promised to poure vpon thy chil­dren and seruants this spirite of thy strength, light, mercy, and perfe­ction, to forme in their heartes this thy singular gift, which vnto vs, is a subsistance of the things that wee hope for, and a demonstration of those that wee see not. By this so holy and necessarie an ornament of the faith­full, [Page]wee doe in all assu­rance, crie vnto thee, [Abba, Father,] and in our consciences feele, that wee are at peace with thy maiesty, throgh Christ, beeing iustified in his blood, that wee may liue religiously and holily according to his worde. I doe therefore beseech thee, my GOD, to accomplish, in my soule, these great effects of thy loue, newe cloa­thing me with the light and vertue of thy holie spirit, that after the mea­sure [Page]of the gift thereof, I may be able, with a true and liuely faith, to pene­trate into the secret of my calling, and to that end, vouchsafe so to aug­ment in mee this faith, that by the degrees of the perfection thereof, it may appeare in all her fruites, causing mee to worship, inuocate, and serue thee according as thou commandest, that my vnderstanding may be withdrawne from the seduction of errour, and my wil from carnal con­cupiscence, [Page]also that my hart may infinitely bee comforted with the fee­ling of this, that by christ I am reconciled to thee to holinesse of life, and eternal beatitude: so that dayly encreasing in this all spiritual vertue, I may attaine to some portion of thy Soueraigne wise­dome, and perfect righ­teousnesse, to the ende, that when my soule shall forsake this fleshly habi­tation, the same faith may be as wings to trans­port it into thy bosome, [Page]to the celestial rest of the Angels and Saints, there to possesse the fulnes of her peace, and of all ioy. So be it.

The thirteenth Prayer. To demaund the vertue of hope.

O GOD, all good and wise, it hath plea­sed thee, by certaine meanes, & pro­ceedings, to work in thy elect, regeneration ne­cessary for their saluati­on, whereby they do in [Page]themselues feele the old Adam to die with his lusts, and the newe man to encrease in the desires of righteousnesse, when the Holi-ghost euen this day plucketh out of their hearts, vice, and insteade thereof, planteth vertue, making it to bring forth fruite, furthering therby daily, the rooting out of sin, and encrease of the gifts of thy grace. I be­seech thee (O Lorde) that as it hath pleased thee, freely to iustifie me by the singular gift of [Page]faith in our Sauiour Ie­sus Christ, granting me peace with thy Maiestie through his sacrifice: so thou wouldst vouchsafe to illuminate the eyes of my soule, as to make mee knowe, to the sanctifi­cation of thy name, what the hope of those is, whome thou hast called to the incorruptible in­heritance of thy glorie. Graunt (my God) that my thoughts may be re­plenished and contented with this stedfast hope in thy loue, which thou [Page]offerest vnto vs in the gospel, with this holie desire, I say, supported with an assured expecta­tion one day, and for e­uer to obtaine the cele­stial riches, which thou hast graunted mee to be­leeue, which no eie hath seen, no eare hath heard, nor no vnderstanding hath comprehended: namely, that I may be a­ble to behold thy coun­tenance and liue, to par­ticipate without ende, thy kingdome aboue, to enioy there the societie [Page]of the angels, to be there a fellow heire, with the glorified spirits: Finaly, there to bee fully vnited vnto Christ, & by him, to thee, O Father, the fountaine of eternal life, and so to possesse the so­ueraigne good eternaly. Let this holie meditati­on, and the hope to en­ioy that full and perfect contentment, so occupy my senses, that it may be my thought, my plea­sure, my labour, my ha­bitation, and my most ordinary vacation. Also [Page]that all the cares of the world, and the affections of my flesh, which might diuert mee from so chri­stian a resolution, may giue place to this spiritu­al vertue, the anker wher of resteth in heauen, that it may lodge wholy and for euer in the secret of my heart; sith it is verie true that it will yeeld as certainely his solide and sole good, in fulnesse of time, as if already I did possesse it, vniting mee vnto thee, (O Lord) by the holy misteries of thy [Page]grace. Also thou art the beginning and the ende of our hope of eternall life, because thy loue is powred vpon vs by the Holighost, whom thou hast giuen vs, and thy Sonne Iesus is the mean and fulnesse, according as in him doth remaine all that is beautifull, de­lectable, peaceable, rich, permanent, and glori­ous aboue in Heauen, which thou hast promi­sed vs. Of which trea­sure of inestimable va­lew, thou doest thus e­uen [Page]already graunt mee the vse, by the effects of thy diuine vertues, which make mee to pierce through the hea­uens with my imaginati­on, and to establish my soule in thy peace, as if in my bosome I kept the full fruit of thy promise, and did alreadie liue there aboue in like estate as the Angells. For (O eternall God) thy mer­cy is vpon me, as I doe trust in thee. And ther­fore, albeit I creepe here vp and downe, through [Page]manie infirmities; Yet will I in patience abide the appearing of thy glo­rie in the daie of the comming of thy Sonne, to iudge the quicke and the dead, as being tho­rowly assured, through thy grace, in the end of my course, to obtain the diadem wherewith thou crownest thine; and at the last day, and euer in my flesh, to behold that great Sauiour of the e­lect, who liueth with thee and the Holyghost one god eternally Amen.

The fourteenth Prayer, To obtaine the vertue of Loue.

O Eternall, who art al loue, and who accord­ing to the in­finite [Page]vertue thereof hast loued vs before we wer, as also since the time that wee were thy enemies, vnthankefull sinners; ad­iudged to death, and to the paines of hell, thou hast, I say, freely so loued vs, that thou hast giuen thy onely sonne to the world, to redeeme vs, with the price of his blood, and for vs to pur­chase righteousnesse, and a blessed life. This being so, O Lord, the original and fountaine of loue, make it with efficacy & [Page]reflection to shine into al places, whither the knowledge of thy grace shall come; likewise, that where thou doest more neerely communicate thy selfe, by making the flames of thy loue to bee more liuely felt, graunt also, that there by the ef­fects of thy spirit, the greater loue towardes thee may appeare. I be­seech thee make mee more and more to medi­tate and comprehend this thy admirable loue, that I may accordingly [Page]frame my selfe, to that loue thou requirst of thy children, & truely faith­full, which is also the end of the whole law, and precepts of the gospell: So that in purenesse of heart, with an vpright conscience, and with a true and liuely faith, I may attaine to the knowledge of thy truth and will, to the end, in all, & through al, to obey thee with a quiet conscience, the same being the chie­fest, the highest, and the most perfect degree of [Page]loue, that we can testifie vnto thee (O our God) and that which leadeth vs to the perfection of Christian life, which of mortall men maketh vs as it were Angels, which albeit wee liue vppon earth, maketh vs Citti­zens of heauen: to bee briefe, it is that which in the secret of our hearts, giueth vs a sweet feeling of thy peace, which sur­mounteth all the reason of our vnderstanding. That also thereby I may learne, that there is none [Page]that can loue thee per­fectly, vntill he hath bin preuented by the sweet­nesse of thy vnmeasura­ble loue, and kindled with the flame. That we loue thee; because thou first louedst vs, & like as also through thy grace thou makest thy selfe & thy benefites knowne vnto vs. The more there­fore that wee finde our selues disposed to loue thee, the more shuld we beleeue that thou makest thy selfe to be felt in the inwarde partes of our [Page]soules, to bee our God and our Father, and that therefore wee haue the greater cause to con­firme and comfort our selues in the loue that thou bearest vs. O Lord make me also to vnder­stand, that as Christian charitie doth especially regard and looke vppon thy holy deitie (Father, Son, and Holy-ghost) one onely God, that we may loue thee with our whole hearts, mindes, and strengths: so hath shee a like regard to her [Page]neighbour, that in thee, and for thy sake, because he beareth thy image, we may loue him as our selues: for in these con­ioyned and reciprocall things also Christ tea­cheth vs the bond of per­fection, euen that wee shall indeede be his dis­ciples, if we loue one an­other, because he so shal fullfill his loue in our hearts. But being, O Lord, very true, that the faith which thou giuest vs doth singularly vnite thy familie together, [Page]graunt me the spirite of loue, which leading me to doe well to all men, doth teach me principal­ly to loue the houshold of thy Church, that I may with a ready will, yeelde them all helpe in their necessities. In as­much also as our redee­mer (the perfect pattern of charitie) hath loued his enemies, procuring them good for euill, and blessing for iniurie, I be­seech thee, my GOD, giue me grace, to extend my loue to those that [Page]hate mee, that without hypocrisie, or vaine glo­ry, I may, to my power, help forward their good and saluation. And so that I may beare an vp­right and lowly heart to all men, whereby all the faithfull may be edefied and comforted; and o­thers, seeing my good works, rather thine than mine, may be constraind to glorifie thee, O our fa­ther which art in heauen. &c.

The fifteenth Prayer, That we may well vse afflictions.

O Lord, my GOD and my father, I learne in thy worde that none be true Disci­ples of Iesus Christ, but they that followe his steppes, wherof he hath deliuered vs a sure marke in these two chief points (the renouncing of our selues, and the volun­tarie enduring of the crosse.) For naturallie we are inueagled, with a disorderly loue to our [Page]selues, and doe presume too much of our owne persons. It is therefore necessarie for vs to re­nounce our own nature and reason, and to aban­don our owne affecti­ons, to suffer thee & thy loue (O our God) to liue & raigne in vs. Then must we proceede to the other point, that is, cheerefully to beare out the afflictions and mise­ries of this life, wherein it pleaseth thee especial­ly to exercise thine, vpon diuerse good considera­tions, [Page]namely to make them conformeable to the image of thy Sonne, to the end, that suffering with him, they may also raigne in his glory. For it is very true, that al men by sinne, doe eate the fruites of the earth in la­bour, and bread in the sweate of their browes: that they all liue in a sea, tossed with many stormes, & crossed with many anguishes. But all haue not the gift of thy spirit, to learne by his doctrine, that the bread [Page]of affliction doeth nou­rish and strengthen the faithfull soule, that the cup of bitternesse is ther­unto a sweet and whole­some drinke, and all tri­bulation a spirituall me­decine, to purge it from the leauen of sinne, and so to forme euery true Christian to godlinesse and holinesse of life.

For indeede the sundry temptations thy Chil­dren do endure, are not properly a punishment for sinne, but profitable corrections of thy hand, [Page]to make the triall of their faith to redound to their commendation & profit that their hope may en­crease in the expectati­on of the beatitude to come, that their loue may kindle, through the Fatherly care that thou takest of them, in hold­ing them vnder the bri­dle of thy discipline, and that they may bee the more pricked forward to pray vnto thee feruently, and more and more to reuerence thy power. But principally that they [Page]comfort themselues in this lesson of the Apostle (that the easie afflictions of thine, which doe but euen passe ouer them, do bring forth an eternall weight of most excellent glorie.) True it is, that by the miseries of this world, the outward man declineth, but on the o­ther side, the inwarde man reneweth himselfe with grace in the goods of the soule, so long vn­till by degree hee be ac­complished and obtaine his perfection. So that [Page]if our bodies doe lan­guish, our soules doe quicken, if wee sustaine losse of terrestiall things, thou (O Lord) dost pre­sent vnto vs thy King­dome of heauen; and if this affliction befall, that any man put vs to death, he doth but hasten our passage to the true eter­nall and blessed being. I beseech thee therefore (O mercifull Father) to giue mee grace to ac­knowledge, and well to taste so many sweete and profitable fruits, as these [Page]thy Fatherly corrections doe bring with them: constantly meditating, that the eyes of those that looke vnto thee in a christian hope, doe ne­uer faile, that their expe­ctation hath not con­founded them, that the number of thy consola­tions haue surmounted their sorrowes: and that the end of thy visitation hath alwayes beene pro­fitable and happy vnto them. For thou delight­est in mercy, and thy compassion is vppon all [Page]those that call vpon thee in their distresse. Let therefore the inuocation of thy name be vnto me a strong tower, to defend me against all feare, and temptation, as being assured that hauing reposed my confidence in thy grace which is purcha­sed for mee in Christ, I shall, in my necessitie, find thy fauorable hand, by thy vertue to ouer­come all the enemies of my peace. But especially graunt, O Lord, that I may attaine to this rea­son [Page]of true wisedome, al­wayes to bee content with thy will, the soue­raigne and iust cause of all things; namely, in that it pleaseth thee, that the liuery of thy houshold should consist in carying their crosse after thy son, to the end, that I should neuer but be seasoned to drinke the wholesome myrrhe which purgeth the soule from the lusts of the flesh, and repleni­sheth the same with the desires of eternall life. Also that I learn in what­soeuer [Page]my estate, chere­fully to submit my selfe to the conduct of thy prouidence, as beeing wel assured, that whatso­euer I suffer, all the cros­ses of my life shalbe vnto me so many blessings & helpes from thee my Fa­ther, to make me goe the right way into thy king­dome, and increase vn­to me the price of glory in the same. For it is ve­ry true, that euery one shall freely receiue his reward according to the burthen that hee hath [Page]borne here below. A­men.

The sixteenth Prayer, For obtaining the Vertue of Pa­tience.

O GOD of pacience, and of all consolati­on, the iust dispencer both of cala­mities and benefits, and that all to one end, euer­more happie to those whom thou louest in thy eternall sonne, our Lord Iesus Christ, as there is nothing in thy worde, but serueth to our lear­ning, and to the guiding of our temporall life, as a meanes to obtaine the possession of heauenly [Page]ioyes: so doeth it prin­cipally insist in this, to lift vp our heartes to an earnest meditation, and firme expectation of e­ternall life, standing vs in steede, in regard of the same, among the thorns of this worlde, to the at­taining of a constant pa­tience, and therein con­firming vs by holie con­solations, to the ende, that hauing doone thy will, O Lorde, we may reape thy promise. This vertue therefore is the firme piller of our hope, [Page]and which teacheth vs, not to loue the things of the earth, as any felicity, but constantlie to looke vp into heauen, where our peace and ioy dooth remaine. But because the effect of so holy a resolu­tion doeth far surmount our owne forces. I be­seech thee, (my God) to graunt me this true pati­ence of the faithfull, which is so necessary for me, namely with a meek and moderate heart, to beare all aduersitie, also that I may learn to hum­ble [Page]the pride of my na­ture, which otherwise is excessiue, and not to be tamed, that so I may ac­knowledge and knowe howe to contemne the vanitie of the flesh his reasoning, which toge­ther with the lusts therof is with sweete and deli­cate thinges nourished vnto death: and that contrariwise I may affe­ctionate, and strengthen my selfe with goodlie meditations of the spirit, which sustaine them­selues with hard and [Page]sharpe things, to a holie and heauenly life. That going forwarde, I may reioyce and take com­fort in these sacred ora­cles: That affliction in the house of the righte­ous, is a secret mercie which thou giuest him, as prosperitie with the wicked is a hidden in­dignation of thy counte­nance: That the present sorrow of thy Children, is vnto them the watch of some future ioy at hand, and that at all ad­uentures, the last of their [Page]most painefull dayes, is the first of their eternall rest, in the second life. If therfore I beare any sick­nesse, or other miserie in my flesh, let it bee borne with patience, as know­ing very wel, that the re­ward of sinne is death, and the sorrows and di­stemperatures of the bo­die are the heraults, and necessary fore-runners, euen acceptable to all true faithfull people, be­cause they call and dis­pose them to departe from labour to rest, from [Page]a mortall estate, to im­mortalitie of life. If I haue but fewe of these goods and vaine honors of the world, that doe so vex worldly men, I doe liue in the greater con­tent, not subiect to their enuie, but taking com­fort in the true and only goods of the soule, wher­of, O Lord, thou art the liberall giuer, as also of grace, to those that are thine, because thou art their Father. O Lorde our Redeemer, if I loose some of my friends, euen [Page]of those that are very neere me; yet can I take it peaceably, because their felicitie is hastened, in that they departe in Christ, and that I can loose, neither thee, nor the consolation of thy spirit, for that I shal soon after follow them into heauen, whereby I shall therefore bee the rather mooued to giue thee thankes for the time that thy goodnesse hath gi­uen mee to enioy their presence to the comfort of my life, and not as it [Page]were by a certaine kinde of ingratitude towards, both thee and them, mourne for their ioy and felicitie. In all other for­rowes and griefes that should lesse trouble vs, giue me grace, my Lord, that I be not mooued to bitternesse or anger, but that with a quiet minde, I may beare al, and tread vnder feete the thornes of my life, as being assu­red in the end, to finde both the costs, and re­ward. To the same end also touch my heart ear­nestly [Page]with the feeling of thy benefits; namely, of those which thou hast li­berally granted vs, for the necessities of this life, lest, as an ingrateful wretch I should forget them, after the maner of carnall men that are ne­uer content with thy be­nefites, but doe enioy them without any ac­knowledgement, and which is more, are ready to complain if they haue not all their vanities at a wish: yea which is worst of all, when they haue [Page]often eaten at the table of thy Sonne, doe lift vp their heele against him, wherein they are worse then beasts, that doe ac­knowledge those that feede and dresse them, and doe humble them­selues in their presence. O most mightie GOD, deliuer mee from the counsell of these wicked ones and hypocrites, and let mee not sit vpon the seate of these scorners, with whom godlinesse is folly, and the equitie of thy law but a sporte. [Page]But whether I walke, or stand stil, whether I do, or suffer, grant, O Lord, that I may alwaies walke as in thy presence, to the glory of thy holy name, and that my soule may take counsaile, and be sa­tisfied in thy righteous­nesse, whilst in all pati­ence I waite for my de­liuerance from all paine, and the perfection of my felicity, at my departure from this carnall habita­tion, when according to thy promise I shall be receiued into thy king­dome, [Page]in the company of the Angels & Saints, there to behold thy glo­ry eternally. So be it.

The seuenteenth Praier, For the good v­sage of mans life.

O Lord, great & wonder­full in thy works, thou in thy wise­dome hast made and or­dained them all; where­vpon the heauens, with­out speaking do declare thy glory, and the earth is full of thy riches. But [Page]especially vppon man hast thou powred forth thy most aboundaunt treasures, in that thou hast created him to thy likenesse, excellent in all good things, and esta­blished him the possesser of the world, Lord of all other creatures, the mir­ror of thy wisedome, the beames of thy light, the pattern of thy goodnes, and the most noble in­strument of the sanctifi­cation of thy name: ther­fore hast thou endued man with an immortal [Page]spirit, capable of reason, to the end, I say, that in beholding here beneath the exquisite workes of thy handes, and vsing them without interrup­tion, hee might knowe, loue, feare, and honour thee as his father and be­nefactor; Yea cleaue vn­to thee for euer, vsing his lif according to the prin­cipall end thereof. True it is, that by originall sinne wee are all fallen from the most singular qualities, necessarie for the holding of our right [Page]course to so great felici­tie: Yet haue we not so put them off as to rest altogether naked, for all that is re-established in vs, and in a farre better condition, by thy grace in our Lord Iesus Christ who cloatheth vs anewe with the newe man in a quickening spirite, and furnisheth vs with his light, to the end, that in the serious meditation of thy visible workes, & in the right vse of the be­nefites which wee taste therin, we might appre­hend [Page]the celestial inuisi­ble things, and acknow­ledge thee the authour and persection of all that is. That is, how the hea­uens appearing to our eyes, and the greatnesse and the beautie, and the motions therof in so ma­ny sorts, so wel ordered, & so profitable, do make vs, with our inteligence, to penetrate euen vnto thee, the admirable cre­ator of all things; and in the excellencie of the same, to meditate vpon the height and depth of [Page]thy excellency, to the end, to sing vnto thee, Psalms of thanksgiuing, and in the selfe same, to finde rest and comforte for our souls. Also wher­as the sunne lighteth and warmeth vs, the day re­ioyceth vs, the aire quik­neth vs, the earth fee­deth vs, the water moy­steth vs, and the night ministers to vs rest from our labours: and which is more (O Father of all the world) whereas thou maintainest orders and gouernments, that thou [Page]pullest down the prowd, and exaltest the humble, that thou extendest thy punishments vppon the earth, and the inhabi­tants thereof, that thou visitest them with mercy exercising thy iudge­ments vpon small fami­lies, as well as vpon great Monarchies, (according as there is nothing in na­ture that taketh place, more or lesse, in respect of thy infinite glory:) surely in all these things, O inuisible GOD, thou makest thy selfe to bee [Page]seene, and giuest vs cause to sing to thy name, with a most excellent induce­ment to passe ouer our life soberly. But if wee turne vnto our selues to consider our owne na­ture, especially the facul­ties of the soule, and the reason thereof, which di­recteth the body, and gi­ueth diuerse vertues to all the senses, and that we represent to our selues the admirable coniun­ction of the immortall essence with the mortall: Indeed ruminating these [Page]workes of thy hands, and vnable to comprehend the causes and secrets of the same, wee yeeld our selues ouercome, that we may preach forth the victory of thy soue­raigne wisedome, and say with the Prophet (Thy knowledge is too maruelous for vs, and so high, that we cannot ap­proch thereto.) But if proceeding beyond this Booke of Nature, wee come to reade in the Booke of the Lambe slaine for our ransome, [Page]and to see and meditate vpon the husbandrie of thy sheepefold, and the aboundance of celestiall blessings in the same, O Lord what height and depth of wisedome, of charitie, of mercy of iu­stice, is in the same? O the greatnesse of ioy and peace to the illuminate hearts, that can penetrate into all these diuine my­steries, when we come to thy church to learne thy law, to heare the gospel, to worship and call vpon thee, and to sound forth [Page]thy praise, wee are as it were in the sanctuary of thy kingdome, and be­fore thy face among the Angels to contemplate and celebrate thy glory.

Also when wee doe communicate in the sa­cred signes of thy coue­nant, we see, wee touch, we taste with our eyes, with our hands, & with the pallat of our soules the water of washing & regeneration, and the bread of life (the foode of the sanctified spirits) whereof wee liue, and [Page]shal liue for euer blessed. Besides (O heauenly Fa­ther) it pleaseth thee to giue vs heere belowe in the following of our course, a conuenient lei­sure, to meditate vppon the most wonderfull ef­fects of thy spirite in vs, the singular woorke of our new birth, the pro­gresse of our faith, the fruites of our loue, the feeling of our peace in the hope of our saluation to come, when wee shal, by Christ, be wholly v­nited vnto thee alone. I [Page]beseech thee therefore, my GOD, to giue mee grace in these godly and spirituall considerations, to acknowlege thy great benignitie in the gift and vse of this humane life, and to know how I am to cherish and nourish the same, because it is vnto vs as a treasure, a­bounding in al excellen­cies, riches, and prero­gatiues, which it hath pleased thee to impart to our nature, the Image of thy glory. So that re­maining constant in my [Page]vocation, in the pathes of thy Kingdome, and free from the cares of the world, and all the vani­ties therof, I may so loue this life, that it may bee wholy deare vnto me, onely to know, worship, and serue thee, and my neighbours, according to the place whereto thou dost call mee; and carefully to meditate to the same end, how thou doest alwayes minister iustice, iudgement, and mercy, whereby I may learne to liue content in [Page]thee onely, and of thy goods, vsing the same with acknowledgement and alwayes reioycing in well doing, alwayes assured that thus fighting a good fight, and kee­ping the faith, I shal ob­taine the crowne of eter­nall righteousnesse in the kingdome of glory. So be it.

The eighteenth Prayer, Vpon temporall death.

O eternal god, with whom a thousand yeares are as one day, & one day as a thousand [Page]yeres, and whose iudge­ments so diuerse, are ho­ly, iust, and incompre­hensible. Where is the man so gallant or prowd, who thinking vpon the vanitie and shortnesse of his life, doeth not easily asswage his pride and presumption, euen to the end that hee extend not his temporall cogi­tations too farre, but keepe them bounded within the limits of thy law, and referre the e­uent to the good plea­sure of thy will?

The vertue of our fai­rest daies is but affliction of minde, and miserie of our flesh, we fall as by a gushing of waters, wee passe away as a dreame, or a smoake, our eares doe consume like grasse, that withereth from night vnto morning, and the longest time of our course, (whereof sleepe nibleth awaie a good part) is but three­score and tenne yeares, or foure-score for the strongest bodies, whilest in euerie moment of [Page]life, the nearest and sinallest daunger that threatneth vs, seemeth to be death, which as our shadow, followeth vs at the heeles, and laugh­eth at our goodly deui­ses, vntill she hath scatte­red them in the winde, & brought vs into ash­es. But which is worse, where is the man, so ho­ly and perfect, that doth not tremble and quake, if there bee represented vnto him, (O Lord) the tribunall seate of thy so­ueraigne iustice, where [Page]we all, after death, must appeare? Thy indigna­tion against sinners is manifest (and there is none righteous) thy ven­geance is readie against rebellion (whereof wee bee all guiltie) which doth also cause, that death is vnto vs, not on­ly as a temporall ending as concerning the flesh, (whereat nature is moo­ued and abashed,) but also an interior feeling of the curse fallen vppon sinne, yea euen an entry into eternall death, vn­lesse [Page]there be for vs with thee our Father, Re­demption in our Lorde Iesus Christ. I beseech thee therfore, my God, to giue mee grace to knowe, how to meditate euerie day of my life vp­on this sentence of the holy ghost. (That it is decreed that al men shal die once, and after that shall the iudgement fol­lowe,) to the ende that while I creepe vppe and downe in this earthlie myre, I suffer not my selfe to be deceiued with [Page]the deceiptfull baites of the pleasures of this worlde, neyther with the allurements of the diuell, who still seeketh by his suttleties to race out of our hearts the re­membrance of death, so for to detaine vs in the thoughts of vanitie, and to entangle vs in the snares of our Iusts. Grant me rather (O Lord) to knowe the vilenesse and bitternesse of this mise­rable life, to the end that withdrawing my affecti­on from mortall things, [Page]I may bee able to di­rect and stay my selfe in things stedfast and eter­nall. And also that ther­by the remembrance of death, may daily be vn­to mee, as a trumpet to waken and call mee, to the pursuite of my life, in the path of thy truth, & to kindle in mee a holie desire, soone to departe out of the world, wher­in, the longer a man so­iournes, the more is hee loaden with infernall Marchandize (which is the filthines of sinne) [Page]and the more he cutteth him selfe off from that portion of soueraign fe­licitie which is in the life to come. Truely he that hath most yeares hath most iniquitie, and hee that croucheth most in the mire of the world, rotteth most. And ther­fore to the Children of darkenesse, the vnclean­nes of the flesh is a plea­sant habitation: But to the children of light, to the immortall spirites, to the regenerate heartes, heauen is much more [Page]desiderable. Grant ther­fore, my God, that as I dayly grow towards my end, so I may liue the more cheerefully, lear­ning in thy schoole, to preferre thy eternal life, before the light of the Sunne, the glory of hea­uen, before the vanitie of the earth, the glorious habitation in paradice, before the painefull tu­mults of the worlde, the societie of Angells, be­fore the fellowshippe of mortall men, the onelie blessed and permanent [Page]life, before the passing shaddowe of this life, which is fruitfull in an­guishes, ryotes, and la­bours, the triumph be­fore the combat, the pre­sent possession of soue­raigne good, before the hope of enioying: and that attending this hauen of health, I may know how to prepare my selfe by continuall meditation in these ex­cellent Christian conso­lations, that happy are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their [Page]labors: That death is to them no death, but a sleepe, in regard of their bodies, then freed from the miseries of life: and that, as for the soule, which findeth it selfe de­liuered from the tyran­nie of sinne, it is to her a change to a better life: That this death is to all faithfull, the time of re­ceiuing the garlands for their race, & the crowns of their labours. That to them shee is an accep­table issue of a laborious trauell, their deliuerie [Page]from all terror and feare, and the stedfast accom­plishment of their voca­tion to felicitie: which made the Apostle to say, (Alas! wretched man that I am, who shall de­liuer me from this bodie of death? I desire to bee dissolued, and to be with Christ) howbeit if not­withstanding in the in­firmitie of my flesh, the fearefull Image of death trouble me in the straites of my departure, If the world that doth alwayes too much bewitch vs, [Page]maketh my thoughts then bowe to his will: If Sathan pitcheth his as­saults, and snares, and vpon the remembrance of my sinnes, setteth hell before my face: moreo­uer, if my owne pertur­bations keepe me from apprehending thy eter­nall consolations, in such most necessarie extremi­ties, vouchsafe (my good God and father) in these anguishes, to approach vnto me, to saue me from the running and swift streame of such brookes, [Page]that they may not carrie meaway to perdition, il­luminate my thoughts with thy spirite, waken my soule out of the sleep of death, renew my hart by the vertue of thy spi­rit, and put into my hands, the staffe of thy assured conduct, to bring mee out from the laborinth of this sorrow­ful passage, causing me, with the eyes of my faith, to behold my righ­teousnes vpon the crosse of my Sauiour, the dis­charge of my debts in [Page]his sacrifice, my victorie in his combats, my life in his death, my glorie and ioy in his resurrecti­on; that so replenished with peace, I may cheer­fully resigne my bodie to the earth, as assured that it shall rise againe, and my soule to heauen, with these last words of Christ, [Into thy hands, O Father, I commit my spirit.] So be it.

The nineteenth Prayer, For heauenly life.

O Soueraign Father of al thinges, & by a sin­gular pri­uiledge, Father of the children whome it hath pleased thee to adopt in our Lord Iesus Christ, to be coheires with him in the celestiall life, I learne in thy word, that this inheritance & bles­sed estate is acontempla­tion of the glory of this great Sauiour of the e­lect, in an vnspeakeable [Page]beatitude, onely worthy to be loued, and to bee sought incessantly night and day, with the lamp of thy trueth. Which is to see him as he is (true God, and true Man) and perfectlie to enioie his presence with commu­nicating of all his good­nesse, to be in the ioy of his Lord, as a loyall seruant, and to beholde him face to face in his diuine essence, one with the father, and with the holy ghost, one onelie God in soueraigne Ma­iestie [Page]which is to be vni­ted and conioyned with him, and by him; vnto thee, O eternall GOD, who art all light and life, of the soule at her depar­ture out of her earthly habitation, afterward re­uested with it flesh in that great day of the glo­rious comming of the same Christ, when hee shall wholy render vppe vnto thee the kingdome of thy grace, that thou maist be all in all: To be briefe, (which is both in body and soule) to be [Page]in him, and to liue of his glory. And this also is the eternall life, a life ac­complished in know­ledge, in loue, in righte­ousnesse, in rest, in ho­nour, in beautie, in con­stancie, in ioy, felicitie, and peace, a life wherin the Angels and Saintes incessantly do sound out and celebrate, O Lord, thy great name, in per­fect and rauishing melo­die, replenished both with a desire, and a ful­nesse of the celestiall bread (Iesus Christ God [Page]& man) without this de­sire breeding any griefe, or this fulnesse any mo­lestation. In summe, a life, which by the full view that wee shall haue of thy eternall deitie (O almightie GOD) shall make vs knowe thee, as thou hast knowne vs, and as thou art in Trinitie of persons (Father, Word, Spirit,) and in vnitie of essence: likewise to loue thee according to the excellency of thy nature with our whole heartes and thoughts, and our [Page]whole strength, and might, and in this loue to obtaine our perfect & full contentment. To this heauenlie life, O Lord, my soule directeth her flight, this is the marke that shee aymeth at, the end whereto shee tendeth, and the reward that she, by thy grace, promiseth her selfe, for seeking after thy welbe­loued Sonne, in whome it pleaseth thee to be my God and my Father. Oh! I shall indeede goe and liue in this holy and [Page]sacred place of the ha­bitation of thy glorie, and there shall contem­plate that which neuer eye sawe vnder the hea­uen, neyther eare hath heard, nor heart com­prehended, of the solide Riches whiche thou doost keepe from all eternitie for thy chil­dren.

I shall see, I say, these diuine wonders in thy sanctuary, in thy light in­accessible for all flesh, knowing in the bright­nesse of thy countenance [Page]thy infinite power [O Father] thy incompre­hensible wisedome (O Sonne) and thy incom­parable vertue (O Holy­ghost) one onely true God. A knowledge so singular and pretious, that therein resteth all the felicitie of the An­gels and saints, their on­ly plentiful reward, their scepter, the diademe of their glory, and the full and perpetuall ioy that couereth their heads as with a crowne of victo­ry, in a peace durable for [Page]euer. I beseech thee ther­fore, O Lord, to giue mee grace, that with­drawing my affection more and more from the darke cloysters of the earth, sprinckled with teares, I may lift vp my desires to the lightsome habitation of thy deitie, where the treasures and incomparable ioyes of thy paradise do remaine in an eternall life. So that I may finishe my course in an earnest and perpetuall meditation of this angelical and diuine [Page]being, and comforting my self incessantly night and day, in that the pro­mise is made vnto mee through my sauiour Ie­sus Christ, to the end, that in my last hower (come out of my misery and entered into my fe­licitie) I may with a hap­py flight goe take my rest aboue in thy peace, O my God, which sur­mounteth all vnderstan­ding, and for to sing Psalmes of thanksgiuing vnto thee without end. So be it.

The twentieth Praier, Vpon eternall death.

ALmighty god, for whose glo­rie all nations are created. Thou which art the mightie and the faithfull God, keeping thy coue­nant, and free mercy with a thousand genera­tions of those that loue thee, and obey thy com­mandements, & which giuest againe the very same vnto those that hate thee, and rebell against thee with euery of them euen to their face, whose [Page]will is the iust and soue­raigne cause of all that is done in heauen, and in earth, whose counsailes are vnsearchable, and iudgements most pro­found and admirable. O Father and gouernor of all things, thou hast e­uen from the beginning of thy vnspeakable good nesse framed man, and reclothed him with such an excellency, as did suf­ficiently preach forth the infinite power of thy hand, which had crea­ted him such a one. I wil [Page]not, neither can I ascend higher then thy word teacheth me, to enquire wherefore thou woul­dest not so establish the blessed being of this the greatest and chiefest of thy visible workes, that he might not fall, I haue matter enough to occu­py the strength of my soule, to meditate vpon, to haue in detestation, yea euen before thy Ma­iestie to accuse the pride of our nature, which thought not it selfe in honor sufficient, vnlesse [Page]it were equall with thy deitie, freeing it selfe from all feare, and obe­dience vnto thee, and by that rash ingratitude cast himselfe headlong from innocency into sinne, from life into temporall and eternall death. To thee, O Lord, belongeth righteousnesse, and to man confusion & shame, and thou, after thy good pleasure, shewest mercy to whom thou wilt shew mercy. The vaine Philosophie, and foolish curiositie, which is not [Page]content with the simpli­citie of Christian faith, retained within the li­mits of thy sacred Ora­cles, shal make much en­quiry about this fall of Adam, to the end (if she could) to penetrate into thy secret counsaile, a­bout the creation and end of thy workes; yea euen in that which tou­cheth the election and reprobation of mankind shee dareth in this bot­tomlesse pit to dicourse of thy infinite iustice, & the argument of thy in­comprehensible [Page]glory, measuring both the one and the other, with her terrestiall conceits, for to declare in her imaginati­ons, thy grace to the e­lect, and thy iudgement against the reprobate, daring to pleade their cause, as also she will re­solue of their estate after this life, and of the qua­litie of their punish­ments. But thy children, O heauenly Father, in­structed by thy doctrine through the light of thy spirit, will in their hearts [Page]humblie reuerence thy decrees, which are al­wayes iust, euen in the first condemnation of al mankinde, and will be content to magnifie thy goodnesse, for the grace that it hath pleased thee to bestow vpon them in Iesus Christ, adopting them by him of thy free mercy into thy family. For they haue learned in thy schoole that the in­accessible brightnesse of thy iudgements, dazleth the best sighted mindes and spirits: yea wasteth [Page]and consumeth them when they presume to approach to enquire the secret causes. This doe I know, (neither will I know any more) that all things doe worke for the best in thy elect, because that hauing known them before all ages, thou hast also predestinated them to be made conformable to the image of thy Son, called and iustified them to be glorified. The ves­sels of wrath prepared to perdition, do feele none of these free mercies and [Page]celestiall riches, whereof it comes, that when they thinke vpon death, they see nothing but feareful, horrible, damnable, all intollerable paine, with­out diminution or end: an infernall diuelish, and endlesse torment, a gna­shing of teeth, with blas­phemy and dispaire, a perpetuall disquiet both in body and soule, an e­ternity to their woe and damnation; and which is worse, a most merciful God, whom they shall know to be in heauen, [Page]and yet not to bee their God, but their aduersa­ry, & soueraigne Iudge, to be as seuere and rigo­rous to them, as he shall be gentle and fauorable to his children. This is in summe, all that the re­probate may expect or hope for in death. This also maketh, that when they find they are vtterly destitute of the pledge of their fredome, which thy elect (O Lord) doe carry with them, in this sinne of nature (namely faith in Christ) dead for [Page]their sinnes, and risen a­gaine for their righteous­nesse; these miserable men departe this their earthly habitation, with great griefe and trem­bling, vsually at the how­er of death casting forth many woeful sobbes, in­fallible fore-runners of their misery at hand: As in truth they want no more thereof but the proofe that they are go­ing to make, of the eter­nall torments with the diuells in the burning lake of fire and brim­stone, [Page]which is neuer quenched, giuen to the soule presently vpon the temporall death, and to both body and soule in the day of the resurrecti­on of all flesh, I say in the second & eternall death, a death which continu­eth without dying, and without consuming, or destroying, that which it makes to languish for, euer in a furnace, always burning, deuouring and consuming: amongest which vnspeakeable tor­ments (yea such as mans [Page]thought is not able to conceiue) this paine is not the least to the dam­ned (but rather an other cruell death) that they neuer haue any motion of the spirit to repent or conuert vnto thee the onely and true God. I beseech thee therefore, O Lord, that as thou hast giuen me grace to belieue that by thy grace I am made a vessell of mercy, I may liue in the life of the righteous, sanctified by the spirit of Christ, to depart happi­ly [Page]in him, and so to as­cend vnto thee into thy new Sion, and there to receiue the price of the victorious crown, which this great Sauior of the elect hath purchased for the perfection of their glory. So be it.

The one and twentieth Prayer. For the Morning,

O Lord my God eternal and al­mightie, to whom I owe [Page]all glory and obedience, I doe humbly prostrate my selfe before thy face, and lift vp my heart and voice to thee my Father which art in heauen, to sanctifie thy name, to craue thy mercy, and to giue thee thankes for thy benefits. I acknowledge of thy prouidence and benignitie, that hauing passed this night vnder thy gard and protection, I may yet see the light of the day, & in the workes of thy hands, contem­plate the greatnesse of [Page]thy power, and here be­low enioy those tempo­rall benefites that thou powrest plentifully or largely vppon thy crea­tures.

But because of thy vnmeasurable bountie, thou makest earthlie things common to all men, and that the effects of the Sonne doe stand vs no steede but for the life of the bodie, I bee­seech thee (merciful Fa­ther) more and more to raise vpon my heart thy eternall light (our Lord [Page]Iesus Christ) and by the vertue of thy spirit, so to scatter the darkenesse of my vnderstanding, and to breake the hardnesse of my heart, that so farre as it may suffize for my saluation, I may appre­hend the glorie of thy Kingdome, and the my­steries of christian faith, together with the dutie of my calling, that I may constantly walke in the same, in a good consci­ence and as before thee, the searcher of our harts with all my thoughtes [Page]worshipping and louing thee in spirit and trueth according to thy word: louing also, in thee, my neighboures as my selfe, to pleasure them so farre forth as I may, by thy grace: but because my ignorance and imperfe­ctions, doe carrie mee far from such wisdome, and fulfilling of righte­ousnesse, beeing a poore sinner, weake in faith, slowe in hope, colde in charitie, and polluted with many offences that make mee worthie of [Page]death and of hell. I be­seech thee, my God, in thy fatherly loue to bear with these my defects, and to forgiue mee my trespasses, in the name of thy Sonne our Mediator and Sauiour, accepting his sacrifice as a full sa­tisfaction for my sinnes, and imputing vnto mee his righteousnesse, to life euerlasting.

Yea and to the same end also, vouchsafe to encrease in my soule the giftes of thy Spirite, so as I may from better to [Page]better, prosecute my life in the path of thine elect, being through thy pow­er freed from the temp­tations of the Diuell, the worlde, and my owne flesh, and by thy blessing preserued from the dan­gers and miseries of this poore life, alwayes not­withstanding content with whatsoeuer it shall please thee to bestow on me.

Sith thou art my Fa­ther, I cannot but expect a happy end of all my e­states hauing alredy receued [Page]of thy mercy, the as­sured pledge of saluation (forgiuenesse of sinnes) But Lord, graunt especi­ally that this thy grace in Iesus Christ, may be vn­to mee a comforte, and light all the dayes of my life, especiallie in the darkenesse of my death, to retaine and holde me fast in the hope of my saluation, that with a liuelie faith at my last gaspe I may speake these words of my Sauior vp­on the crosse, (Into thy handes, (O Father) I [Page]commend my spirite,) whereby my soule also inwardly may heare the same Christ saying vnto mee, as vnto the poore penitent theefe (Sonne, reioyce, this day thou shalt be with me in Pa­radice) so that full of peace, by the effects of thy spirit, I may cheer­fully leaue my body to the earth, assured of the resurrection, and that my soule may, by the angels, be guided to the rest of the blessed, and vouchsafe, O Lord, to do [Page]the like fauor to all men, euen as I craue these thinges, in the prayer which thy Sonne hath taught me. [Our fa­ther, which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdome come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heauen. Giue vs this daie our dayly bread, and for­giue vs our trespasses, as wee forgiue them that tres­passe against vs. And leade vs not into temptation, but deliuer vs from euill. For thine is the Kingdome, the power and the glory, world [Page]without end. Amen. Like­wise (my God) encrease in me, faith working e­uerie good worke, and giue me grace constant­ly to perseuere, and ther­of to make confession e­uen to my last gaspe, say­ing. [I beleeue in God the father almightie, ma­ker of heauen and earth. And in Iesus Christ his only Sonne our Lord, who was conceiued by the holie Ghost, borne of the Virgin Marie, suffered vnder Ponce Pilate, was crucifi­ed, dead and buried, hee [Page]descended into hell, the third day hee rose againe, from the dead: he ascended into heauen, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almightie. From thence hee shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead. I beleeue in the Ho­ly-Ghost, the holy Catho­like Church. The commu­nion of Saints, the forgiue­nesse of sinnes. The resur­rection of the flesh, and the life euerlasting.] This is my faith O Lord, wher­in I will liue and die, as also in the obseruation [Page]of thy holy commande­ments, comprized in these two (That wee loue thee with all our hart, with all our soule, with all our strength, and with all our thoughtes, and our neigh­bours as our selues. Thus thy grace, O my God and Father, be with me, and thy blessing vpon all the workes of my hands. So be it.

The two and twentieth Prayer. Among the Family.
Our help and beginning be in the name of God.

O LORD our GOD, and our Father, onelie great in glorie, & of infinit power. It hath pleased thee so far forth to honour men (poore Wormes of the Earth) that they may in ful confidence, in thy loue and bountie, present them­selues before thy face, to magnifie thy name: to [Page]talke of thy beneficence, and to craue thy mercy. Wee humblie beseech thee therfore by thy spi­rit to dispose of our souls, our hearts, and our lips to glorifie thee, and so to call vppon thee, that our vowes may be accepta­ble vnto thee, and our prayers heard, wee con­fesse our selues, in thy presence, to bee so great sinners, that our vnwor­thinesse will not suffer vs to look vp vnto heauen, without feare that thou shouldest, in thy iust [Page]wrath thunder vpon vs: neither can wee cast our eyes vpon the earth, but we shall see as it were hel open for the reward of our wickednesse: for we are, not only as the chil­dren of Adam, concei­ued and borne in sinne, worthy of thy curse, but also, by our owne faults, lusts, vncleanenesse, bad thoughtes, and wicked works, whereinto throgh our corruption and frail­tie, wee doe daily fall, which also in our consci­ences are so many wit­nesses [Page]to condemne vs, and as it were heraultes that doe denounce vnto vs death and hel: But (O Lord) thy mercies do in­finitely exceede our ma­lice, and thy eternall compassions, are vppon sinners that conuert and turne vnto thee. Thou art that pittifull Father, that gladly receiued his prodigall and vnthriftie Son. That louing shep­heard that carefully see­keth the lost sheepe; that charitable phisition, that freely commeth to the [Page]sicke to cure them. Wee therefore the children of thy loue, the sheepe of thy folde, and the poore in spirit, doe most hum­bly beseech thee in the name of thy welbeloued Sonne our mediator Ie­sus Christ, to vouchsafe to take away all our cala­mities in pardoning our sinnes, because thou hast giuen vs this great Saui­our in the worlde, to the end, that whosoeuer be­leeueth in him, should not perish, but haue life euerlasting. We are bap­tized [Page]in his name, wee haue receiued his gos­pell: and he giueth vs his body in thy church for spirituall foode, that we may liue in him, and of him for euer blessed. Giue vs grace therefore, O our God, with a true and liuely faith, vphelde by hope, and doing eue­ry good worke, to ap­prehend, to the glorie of thy name, and the peace of our soules, these great benefits that are purcha­sed for vs, in the death and passion of the same [Page]our redeemer, that wee may incessantly yeelde praysings vnto thee, and liue in holinesse, accor­ding to thy worde. For the performance hereof vouchsafe to encrease the giftes of thy spirit in our hearts, whereby the desires of the flesh, and vanities of the worlde, may bee mortified, and the pure fire of thy loue so kindled, that we may loue, honour and serue thee, with all our soules, with all our strengths, and with al our mindes, [Page]and louing our neigh­bours as our selues, to pleasure them in all due­ties of loue to our pow­er. Strengthen vs like­wise with thy vertue, O almightie God, against the temptations and as­saults of Sathan, deliue­ring vs victoriously, pre­seruing vs also from such dangers and miseries, as euery where follow vs at the heeles in this life: and aboue all, giuing vs grace, in whatsoeuer e­state wee be, still to be content with thy will, [Page]which can neuer be o­ther than good and iust, and to vs profitable, be­cause wee are of the number of thy children. So let thy peace be in vs, and vpon all the workes of our handes, that wee may happily passe the rest of our dayes, walke­ing euery of vs in his fa­milie, in the duty of our vocation, in a good con­science, as before thy face, to whom nothing is hid: and meditating di­ligently, vpon the short­nesse and afflictions of [Page]this our life, that so wee may aduance thee, and finally end in the wise­dome of true christians: whereby wee may prin­cipally learne to desire heauen, and patiently to take all humane crosses, and whatsoeuer may seeme to vs most gree­uous to the flesh, know­ing that all things shall turne to our good; al­alwayes prouided, that constantly we perseuere in thy seruice, for so shal wee liue and die with Christ, that we may en­ter [Page]into his ioyes in hea­uen, there to behold his glory. Furthermore, howsoeuer vnworthie sinners wee are, yet O Lord, in as much as thou hast commanded vs to pray one for another, to the aduancement of thy Kingdome, wee pray to thee for all men, that it may please thee so to worke, that they who as yet haue not the know­ledge of thy holy gos­pel, may, by the preach­ing thereof, and the illu­mination of thy holy [Page]spirite, be brought to know thee the only and true GOD, and him whome thou hast sent, Iesus Christ, to saue the Worlde. Also that they whom thou hast already visited with this grace, as our selues, may dayly en­crease in thy spirituall blessings: So that alto­gether we may worship thee with hart & mouth in one spirite, one faith, and one baptisme. And sith thou hast also ordai­ned gouernements and callings, that all people [Page]may be gouerned in the feare of thy name, and to common commoditie. We beseech thee to in­spire, guide and blesse our Queen, and all Prin­ces, Magistrates and Su­periours, that haue the gouernement of thy sword vpon earth, that euery of them raigning in godlinesse and righte­ousnesse, may employ their power which they hold from thee, to cause thee to be serued & ho­nored, and to the tran­quillitie, peace and re­liefe [Page]of their subiects, wholy submitting them­selues and their people, to thy holy word. Like­wise for the publishing of thy word in al places, vouchsafe more & more with thy giftes to enrich the Pastors and Doctors of thy Church, and dai­ly to raise vp more to ex­ecute in a good consci­ence their charge, to the edification and perfecti­on of thy holy Temple, whereof, in generall (O Lorde) and of euerie faithfull, vouchsafe to [Page]shewe thy selfe the Al­mighty protector, to the confusion of all the ad­uersaries of the name of Christ, and of his holie Church.

We also pray thee for all those whom thou vi­sitest with tribulation, whether it be sickenesse of body, or anguish of soule, that thou, O mer­cifull Father, vouchsafe to giue them comfort & patience, to the bearing of their calamities, and deliueraunce from their afflictions. Asking all [Page]these things of thee in the name of thy Sonne our Mediatour, and as he hath taught vs to pray Our Father which art in heauen, &c. We also be­sech thee O Lord to en­crease, and confirme vs in the Catholike Faith of thy Church, to the end it may take liuely roote in our soules to fructifie, to all righteons­nesse and good workes: and that euen to our last gaspe, we may make like confession thereof, as we doe now both with hart [Page]and mouth. (I beleeue in God the Father Almighty, &c.) And because the faith of thy children, O Lord, is inseperable from the obedience due to thy word, especially in the tenne commaunde­ments of the law, and that thou doest ordaine, that wee should haue them perpetually in our hearts and mouthes, to keepe them, and to teach them to our families, giue vs grace, to our powers, to conforme our selues to the same, euen [Page]as wee vnderstand that they were deliuered from thy mouth, saying.

[ Heare Israel] I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Aegypt, out of the house of bondage.

1 Thou shalt haue no o­ther Gods before mee.

2 Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen I­mage, or the likenesse of a­ny thing that is in heauen aboue, or in the earth be­neath, or in the water vn­der the earth. Thou shalt not bow downe to them, nor [Page]worship them, for I am the Lord thy God, a iealous God, that visiteth the sins of the fathers vppon the children, to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, & shew mer­cy vnto thousands, of them that loue me and keepe my commandements.

3 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine, for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine.

4 Remember that thou keepe holy the Sabaoth day, sixe dayes shalt thou labor, [Page]and doe all that thou hast to doe, but the seauenth day is the Sabaoth of the Lord: In it thou shalt do no man­ner of thing, thou and thy sonne, and thy daughter, and thy man-seruant, and thy maide-seruant, and the stranger that is within thy gates: for in sixe dayes the Lord made heauen and earth, and the sea, and all that therein is, and rested the seauenth day, wherefore the Lord blessed the seuenth day, and hallowed it.

5 Honour thy father & mother, that thy dayes may [Page]be long in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee.

6 Thou shalt do no mur­ther.

7 Thou shalt not com­mit adulterie.

8 Thou shalt not steale.

9 Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour.

10 Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house, thou shalt not couet thy neigh­bours wife, nor his man­seruant, nor his maide-ser­uant, nor his oxe, nor his asse, nor any thing that is his.

And the summe of all these commandements is this: That wee loue thee O Lord, with al our hearts, and with all our mindes, and our neigh­bours as our selues. Thy blessing therefore, O our GOD and Father, with the peace of our Lord Iesus, and the comforte of the Holy-ghost, be thus giuen vnto vs by thy grace, and remaine with vs for euer. Amen.

The three and twentieth Prayer, Before meate, among the Family.

O euerlasting GOD and Father, we beseeche thee to ex­tend thy blessing vppon vs thy poore children & seruants, and vppon the foode, which it pleaseth thee, of thy goodnes, to giue vnto vs for the su­stenance of our life, that we may vse the same so­berly and with thanksgi­uing, as thou hast com­manded. But aboue all things, giue vs grace to [Page]desire, and especially to seeke the spirituall bread of thy word, wherewith our soules may be fed e­ternally in the name, & to the glory of the Fa­ther, Sonne, and Holy­ghost, one only and true God, who liueth and raigneth world without end. Amen.

The foure and twenieth Prayer. [Page]After meales among the Family.

O Eternall God, our Father, we yeeld thee thanks, for that it hath pleased thee to nourish and feede vs, ministring vnto vs all that is needefull for this [Page]life, and making vs to en­ioy so many temporall benefites as thou doest largely poure vppon vs thy creatures: wee be­seech thee of thy good­nesse, vouchsafe to con­tinue them the rest of our dayes. But aboue al, wee praise thee for the spiritual foode, that by thy word thou giuest to our soules, to the ende they may for euer liue in blisse, through Iesus Christ our redeemer: to whome with the Father, and the Holi-ghost one [Page]onely and true God, be all honour and glory for euer. Amen.

The fiue and twentieth Prayer. Euening Prayer for the Houshold.

O Lord our god and Father, as thy people of Israel offered vnto thee their euening sacrifice, so doe we offer vnto thee, the oblation of our humble and con­trite heartes, that wee may glorifie thy name, and obtaine remission of our sinnes. We praise thee therefore and yeeld [Page]thee thanks for thy be­nefites, namely for that it hath pleased thee to let vs passe this day, vnder thy protection and safe­gard, without the which wee might haue incur­red manie miseries and dangers. But, because by our corruption and frailetie we haue diuers­ly offended thee, in thought, worde, and deed, and that thy mer­cie is vppon all those to whom thou vouchsafest to be a Father, in our Lord Iesus Christ, and [Page]that call vpon thy name, wee beseech thee to for­giue vs our sinnes, and to accept of his righteous­nesse, in the merit of his death, in discharge of our debts: so that as e­uery thing is nowe hid­den from our eies by the night which thou giuest vs for the rest of our bo­dies, so our offences may be buried out of thy sight, in the sepulchre of the same Christ, where­by our soules may haue in him their spirituall rest. Alas, we know that [Page]Sathan the Prince of darkenesse, lieth alwaies in waite to hurt vs, seek­ing principally to make a breach into our hearts when we stand least vp­on our guarde: but (O Almightie God) in thy presence also are the thousands of Angels, to watch on those whome thou hast called to the inheritance of thy salua­tion, of which number wee doe beleeue our selues to be, through the mercie which it hath pleased thee to shewe vs. [Page]Giue vs grace therefore to be deliuered from the temptations of the diuel, from vncleanenesse, and troublesome dreames, whereinto our infirmity doth leade vs, and also from all other dangers, to the ende our bodies receiuing, through thy blessing, a peaceable and quiet sleep for their ease, our mindes may watch more freely vnto thee, (who art their rest and their life) and in the me­ditation of thy loue, that to morrowe wee may a­rise [Page]so much the readier, to glorifie & serue thee, euery one in his vocati­on. Thus running our race, in the path of thy elect, we may with ioy expect the desired how­er for our flesh to rest in the earth, that our soules may be lodged in hea­uen, and at the last day be raised againe in glo­ry, with al the Saints, to enioy the accomplish­ment of our felicitie. Howbeit in the meane time, whilst we comfort our selues in this hope, [Page](O heauenlie Father) we doe recommend vn­to thee the peace & pre­seruation of thy church, the estate of this King­dome, and all such as be afflicted with sicknes or anie other tribulation: beseeching thee to giue to thy children and ser­uants, whereof to take comfort, and alwayes to reioyce in thy goodnes. This is it that we doe be­leeue in thy worde: Yea this is it, that wee doe craue of thee, in the name of our mediator [Page]Iesus Christ, by that Prayer which hee hath taught vs. [Our father which art in heauen, &c.] Thy blessing therefore O our God and Father, the peace of our Lorde Iesus, with the comfort of the holy Ghost be gi­uen to vs by thy grace, and remaine with vs for euer. Amen.

The sixe and twentieth Prayer, [Page]Of him which suf­fered much by sicknesse.

O Lord, my GOD and father, now it is, that in these griefs and paines that oppresse me, I doe better then heretofore I haue, ac­knowledge the corrup­tion and frailtie of my nature, and the iustice and goodnesse of thy hand that visiteth mee. The originall of all flesh is in infection, his tem­porall habitation is in dust, continually tossed [Page]to and fro with stormes: her end is a prey to the wormes, and all hir glo­ry is buried with her in the earth. Yet is man so blinde, and depraued, that for a shorte time, wherein he enioyeth a­ny prosperity & health, hee looseth the know­ledge of his fraile condi­tion: he swells and stray­eth from the principall end of his being, and sli­deth away into the fol­lies and vanities of the world. Thus might I ma­ny times haue made ship [Page]wracke among these la­mentable rockes, had­dest not thou my GOD, stretched forth thy rod of tribulation vpon mee in my most happy pros­perities to preuent my ruine. It is, as euen to this day thou doest ad­monish me of thy disci­pline, which maketh me to humble my selfe in thy sight, and to feele my misery, that with heart and voyce, I may con­fesse that thou art iust (O soueraigne iudge) and good (O gentle Father) [Page]who wilt thus with one medecine, castize and cure the vlcer of my sins: Come therefore thou vapor of the earth, thou shadow of life, thou cor­ruptible flesh, sith God for thy instruction and amendment giueth thee trauaile, put off thy selfe, and submitte thee to his spirite, and thy spirite to the Father of spirits, and thy affections to his will. Thus with all thy strength and minde, lift vppe thy selfe towards this Fatherly hand from [Page]whence the stripe com­meth that grieueth thee, towards this arme of the almightie that hath cast the stone that bruseth thee: towards this great God, who being pitti­full, doeth see and heare thee in thy sufferings, who vnder his hand hol­deth both the disease & the cure, the paine and the rest, life and death, to make the one as pro­fitable and heathfull vn­to thee as the other. Then will I say with a contrite heart, yet full of [Page]confidence: I haue sin­ned against thee, O my God, I haue grieuously offended thee, I deserue to be throughly chasti­zed, and the diuells that I doe endure, are farre lesse then my offences, which onely death and hell are able to counter­prise. But thy grace and compassion greater then my sinnes, are eternall vpon all those whom thou hast washed, fructi­fied and iustified in thy welbeloued Sonne Iesus Christ, of which num­ber [Page]I doe belieue I am, and that in him, and for his sake thou wilt make me blessed: forgiue mee my debts in his name, and ease me of my an­guish wherein I remaine without strength. I be­seech thee, from the bo­tome of my thoughts, in the bitternes of my hart, and with the words of Dauid, (O eternall God heare my prayer & peti­tion, & let nothing hin­der my crie for com­ming vnto thee, hide not thy face from me, bend [Page]downe thine eare vnto me in the day of my trouble, make haste and deliuer me in the day that I call vpon thee, for my dayes are vanished like smoake, and my bones are dried like chaf: my heart hath bin smit­ten, and withered like the grasse, that I haue forgotten to eate my bread. O Lord, all my desire is before thee, comfort the soule of thy seruant: shall any man tell of thy mercies in the sepulchre, or thy faith­fulnesse [Page]in the graue. Thus then, O mercifull God, bearing my self in thy chastisements, I will in all patience waite for the seasonable succour of thy hand, as being well assured, that while it is in comming, thou wilt not suffer thy spirit of conso­lation to forsake mee in the middest of my tribu­lation, that my present heauinesse shall be vnto mee the watch of some ioy at hand: and that at all aduentures, the last of my sorrowefull dayes, [Page]shall be the first of my rest in eternall life. And therefore I will againe say with the Apostle. Be­hold I am here, deale with me at thy pleasure, and with thy seruant Iob, (Albeit God should slay me, yet will I trust in him, and reprooue my wayes in his presence) & with Saint Agustine (O Lord smite here, cutte here, burne here, so that thou doost pardon mee for euer,) Amen. Our Father which art in hea­uen, &c.

The seauen and twenti­eth Prayer. At the visitation of the sicke.

O LORD our GOD, who art all righ­teousnes & goodnesse, we knowe, that among thy corrections where­with thou wakenest vs to our duties, it pleaseth thee many times to tame our flesh with sundry di­seases: for thou dost, by the pains that we suffer, aduertize vs of the cause of our euills, which is sinne, and of the punish­ment due to the same, [Page]namely death, whereof the infirmities of the body are the ordinary meanes: And also thou doest withall put vs in minde of the great day of thy Iudgement, which after death doeth ensue to life euerlasting, full of glory and beati­tude to the elect, and of reproach and torments to the rebrobate.

But of these things, the flesh, so long as it fee­leth it selfe at ease, hath least care to heare: Sith therefore it hath pleased [Page]thee, (O iust and merci­full Father) with thy rod to visite this poore sicke person here present, af­flicting him for his of­fences, as himselfe doth with vs confesse, we be­seech thee that in pardo­ning him for the loue of thy welbeloued Sonne Iesus Christ, thou wilt make this chastizement to profit him to his cor­rection: so that he may with quiet obedience beare thy visitation, sub­mitting himselfe volun­rarie with all his heart to [Page]thy holy will, who stri­kest him, not as a seuere iudge, but as a most mer­ciful Father, whereby he may learne to repose his whole trust & assurance in thy loue, & as in him that art the author of his lif, & canst preserue him, whither it be to abide below here in thy church, or that thou wilt gather him into thy kingdome of heauen. Thus Lord, on th'one side awakning in his soule by his sicke­nes, on th'other, the feel­ing of humane miseries, [Page]make him, with the eies of his faith, to behold the eternall blessings thou reseruest for him in thy Paradice, to liue happy for euer: so that he may with patience, easly di­gest the bitternesse of that potion that thou hast powred foorth vnto him, bending his prin­cipall desire to enioy thy presence in heauen. But thou knowest, O merci­full Father, that the spi­rit of thy children is wil­ling, but their flesh is al­wayes frayle, and full of [Page]great mistrust, especially in the bitternesse of affli­ctions.

Assist, therefore this sicke person with the plentie and strength of the giftes of thy spirite, that he may ouercome all the enemies of his peace: and be thou his shield, against the as­saults & terrors of death, especially if his consci­ence do trouble and ac­cuse him for his inward and hidden sins, which are open in thy sight. Then let the holy Ghost [Page](the perpetuall comfor­ter of all faithfull soules) vouchsafe to represent vnto him for his de­fence the passion and sa­crifice of our Lorde Ie­sus, who hath himselfe borne vpon the crosse al our iniquities, that so he might absolue and dis­charge vs, before thy iu­dicial throne (according to the infinite merite of his righteousnesse) and open the gate of thy Kingdome to all that shall beleeue and be bap­tized in his name. Thus [Page]this poore patient being comforted in feeling, through a liuely & sted­fast faith, the fruite and vertue of that earnest pe­nie of saluation that Christ hath left vs in his Church, namely remissi­on of sinnes for his sake: also that this hope which is neuer confounded, doth keepe his spirit qui­et, that he may call vpon thee, O Lord, and sancti­fie thy name, euen to his last gaspe, neuer fearing the temptations of Sa­than, of death, or of hel, [Page]as beeing assured, that Christ hath ouercome them, & ledde them in triumph, breaking their bonds, so that he may, in all Christian confi­dence, cry out with thy Apostle, O death, where is thy sting? O hel, where is thy victory? In this manner, (O mercifull God) let this sicke per­son be, by our prayers, commended vnto thee: and vouchsafe, if it be thy pleasure, to restore him to health, with en­crease of thy graces, that [Page]he may yet amongest vs serue to thy glory. If not, but that thou hast other­wise appointed to bring him into thy rest, thy will bee done, and ac­cepted both by him and vs in al quiet obedience. Receiue him into thy heauenly Hierusalem, for hee hath his whole re­course vnto thee by one onelie mediatour Iesus Christ, and all his confi­dence is in thy mercy. In steade of bodilie death graunt him the life of his soule amongest thy An­gels, [Page]vntil that by the re­surrection of all flesh, in the great day of the LORD he may liue a whole man in the con­templation of thy glory. And to vs all heere pre­sent likewise graunt thy grace, that we may as we ought, beholde in this myrror, the shortnesse and vncertainetie of our dayes, that hereafter we may not desire anie thing so much as to em­ploy them carefully to thy honour and seruice. For all these thinges doe [Page]we pray vnto thee in the name of thy Sonne, in that Prayer which him­selfe hath taught vs; Our father, which art in hea­uen. &c.

The eight and twentieth Prayer, For him that feeleth his death at hand.

O GOD my God and FATHER, iustly was man, thy creature, when by sinne he had turned from thee (who art the life) cast headlong into the curse [Page]both of temporall and e­ternall death: for thy Maiestie being infinitely offended, ought also in iustice to require a pu­nishment without end, which beginneth euen in this life in many mise­ries, and is perpetuated hell, whereto death is as it were the gate. O Lord! The cause of so lamenta­ble a mishap is in our na­ture: But in thee is pit­tie and compassion, O mercifull Father, who after thy vnspeakeable goodnesse, makest the [Page]temporall death, which to all men is ineuitable, and to the reprobate an entry into hel, to change his qualitie concerning the Elect, beeing vnto them a ioyfull passage to that happinesse which is in heauen: For Iesus Christ thy eternall Son, to purchase vs this bene­fit, did put on our flesh, and therein healed the wound of sinne by his righteousnesse: and by his oblation satisfied for our debt, triumphing by his resurrection, ouer [Page]Death, Sathan, and Hel, for the saluation of those to whome thou giuest grace to belieue in his name. Now then, my God, sith it hath pleased thee of thy great loue, thus to accomplish the high mysterie of our re­demption, I beseeche thee, grant mee to feele the fruite and efficacy thereof, through the ver­tue of thy spirit, euen to the last gaspe of my life, that then I may render to thee my soule in peace. For I am bapti­zed [Page]in the name of Christ, I belieue his holy gospel, and am fed with his body and blood in the holy Church. True it is O Lord, that the re­membrance of my sins, whereof my conscience doeth accuse mee doeth greatly trouble me; for the darkenesse of my vn­derstanding hath kept me from knowing thee aright, and the corrupti­on of my heart from worshipping thee in spi­rit, and truth, according to thy word; I haue neg­lected [Page]this pretious trea­sure, euen the voice of my Redeemer, and by my slackenesse, made the seede therof vnfruit­full in my soule, many times preferring the loue of my selfe and the vani­ties of the world, before the loue that I owe vnto thee (my Creator) and my neighbour for thy sake. I haue not affected the crosse of thy Sonne, that I might cheerefully carry mine after him, in renouncing all my con­cupiscences: neyther [Page]haue I applied thy cha­stizement to an vpright amendment of life: I haue beene weake in faith, slow in hope, cold in charitie, vnpatient in tribulation, and more stiffe in retaining other mens offences against mee, then ready to par­don them, what more shal I say, my God? Also many other sins which I cannot expresse, which being euen at this day hidden from mee in my infirmities doe ouer­whelme my soule, were [Page]it not for the repentance that thou grauntest mee, and the trust that I haue in thy mercy, through the righteousnesse of my Sauiour Iesus Christ, which it pleaseth thee in thy Fatherly loue to make mine; I see nothing but matter of dispaire. His sacrifice giueth mee peace with thee: his blod cleanseth me: his obedi­ence absolueth me: his woundes doe cure mee: In his torments my soule findeth her rest: for of all these benefites doe I [Page]feele thy promise sealed in my heart by thy spi­rit, which maketh me to crie vnto thee (Abba Fa­ther) and assureth me, that thou wilt of thy free mercy, in the name of thy Sonne, and for his sake, giue mee remission of my sinnes, and eternal life, being illuminated; therefore, by this celesti­all light, I doe with the eies of my mind behold the ship that shall carry me ouer from earth to heauen, no farther off from the presence of my [Page]Redeemer, then was that of his Disciples, when they rowed a­gainst the tempest, to whom he said (feare not, for it is I.) For in like maner commeth hee to meete mee, to say vnto me; Feare not, assure thy selfe, be constant; It is I, not the death which thou maist peraduenture feare, but hee that hath broken the sting thereof, that hath led it in tri­umph, that hath broken the barres and bonds e­uen in hell; and who [Page]therefore doeth make thee to ascend from the graue into the Pal­lace of my glorie.

Thus, my God, streng­thened by thy grace with Christian hope, which is not confoun­ded, and couered vnder the buckler of Faith, which the darts of the diuell cannot wound, I am able with a strong motion to pa [...]e in peace from this prison of na­ture, with these last words of Iesus Christ vpon the crosse (Into [Page]thy hands, O LORD, I commend my spirit) and the same Christ saying vnto me, as to the poore theefe that was dying; Sonne reioyce, this day thou shalt be with me in Para­dice.