A MANVAL OF PRAYERS NEWLY GATHERED OUT OF MANY and divers famous authors aswell ancient as of the time present. Reduced into. 13. chap. very commodious and profitable for a devout Christian. PRAYER, IS GOOD, WITH FASTING AND ALMS. TOB. 12 1. Pet. cap. 4. Be wise therefore & watch in prayers. But before all things, having mutual charity continual among yourselves. cum PRIVILEGIO. 1583. Aug. in Psal. 42. This is the justice of man in this life, Fasting, Almsdeeds, Prayer. PRAYER IS GOOD WITH FASTING AND ALMS TOB. 12 Ibidem in serm. 59 He that will have his prayer to fly to heaven, must make it two wings, Almsdeeds, & Fasting, and it shall speedily ascend and be hard. THE COLLECTOUR AND traunslatour of this present Manual, to the Catholic and Christian Reader. MOst dear Countrymen whose desires are to serve God in holiness of life, craving aid for the acccomplishment of your religious intentes at the hands of his Majesty, by the merits of Christ, and intercession of the blessed virgin Mary, and all Angels and saints: to the intent that you may proceed daily from one virtue to another, and to be helped by the labours of God his servants and saints, (who from time to time to increase the devotions of the people, have left many holy prayers and exercises, as a treasure for to comfort and strengthen the dull soul of man) I have thought good to collect and translate certain devout prayers very fit and convenient for this time, which is done the more willingly in respect of the great and zealous desire that many of our poor country hath, rather to occupy themselves devoutly by begging pardon for their sins, them curiously by searching the secret mysteries of God, to spend their time in unprofitable and insolent contradictions, tending to no other end, but only to roo●e out of the minds of christian catholics all true faith, firm hope, and perfect charity, which daily by devotion and other spiritual exercises is wonderfully increased, to the great admiration, even of the very adversaries of all piety and catholic religion, as doth well appear to the whole world sense the time that some virtuous, holy & learned men have applied some part of their time in compiling, translating and collecting particular works of devotion, which in the judgement of many are presently more necessary, than farther to treat of any controversy, secinge that heresy is grown to such ripeness, that the simplest man of all, can now decipher the poison hid under her: but devotion is so decayed that the learned themselves have need of helps for to attain thereunto: yet is it not my mind that any man should so tie himself to any devout prayer, or to any number of prayers here collected, that thereby he should omit the accustomable public prayers of our holy mother the Catholic Church, as hereafter more at large I have noted. Farther good Christian Reader I am to let thee understand, that thi● little Manual hath been collected and translated in great haste, and upon earnest request of divers godly and virtuous catholics: yet not without the judgement and opinion of some number of the learned sort in this study, who find it very convenient and necessary for this time, specially for that they are collected and translated out of divers famous and holy Authors, as well ancient as of the time present, and are to the great increase of devotion published in many countries and in divers tongues, before this my collection & translation: which if I may request to be gratefully accepted of thee good catholic and christian Reader, it shall give me the radiar occasion, to take the like pains in any such profitable action, which hereafter may be offered: and thus wishing, that increase of grace to the reader, which I desire to myself, and desiring hearty repentance to be wrought in the hearts of all my dear countrymen, I bid thee gentle reader heartily farewell. Thy hearty well-willer to command in Christ jesus. G. F. THE ARGUMENT OF THE Chapters. Having expressed the causes that moved me to the collection and translation of this manual, I am now to lay down a direction whereby thou mayest with more facility find out such particular prayers as seemeth best to thy discrete devotion: that seeing the particular prayers of this book divided into certain chapters, thou mayest as time, place and necessity requireth, use these kind of prayers, which shall be most to God's glory, thy own soul's health, and the profit of thy even-christian. The first and second chapters are such, as whereby the Christian Catholic may learn and know how to crave the aid and secure of God in all his endeavours, enterprises and actions, which that day he purposeth and meaneth to take in hand: and before he go to bed, to thank God for his benefits received that day: and to know how to examine his conscience, calling to mind his sins committed the day past: but specially in the second chapter, the catholic man may learn how to behave himself at the time of the dreadful mysteries, which christian people commonly call the Mass. Further he may there learn what to crave of God, and what kind of meditations to use in the Church, and withal how to move himself to spiritual devotion. The rest which are ten chapters, are put in a several Index, whereby the catholic shall easily find what prayers are thought most convenient for every day in the week: that so he may as leisure and devotion serveth him, read either the whole, or part, as they are set down in this Index following. Read upon. Soundaye these chap. 10. Prayers to the holy Trinity. 8. Of thanksgiving to God for his benefits. Upon. Moundaye these chap. 11. To the B. Virgin Marie and to the holy Saints. 3. For obtaining remission of sins. Upon. Tewesdaye these chap. 4. For aid and comfort in tribulations and afflictions. 5. For obtaining of God necessaries for body and soul. Upon. Wednesday these chap. 9 For the Church, our friends, and others. 13. For the departed souls. Upon. Thursday these chap. 5. For obtaining of God, necessaries for body & soul. 8. Of thanksgiving to God for his benefits. Upon. Fydaye these chap. 3. For obtaining remission of sins. 6. Prayers of the life and Passion of our Saviour jesus Christ. Upon. saturday these chap. 13. For the departed souls. 9 To the B. Virgin and to the holy Saints. THe first week shall be read the chapters which are put in the first ranks for every day: and the next week after, the chapters put in the second ranks: So shalt thou read over all the within named ten chapters in the Index twice every month, and some of the said chapters four times: As for the other three chapters they are convenient at certain times, and for certain persons, for which cause they are not meet to be put in order with the other as above named. But those that have neither time nor leisure to read every day a whole chapter, may yet read of the same chapter some of the said prayers, and such as they think convenient for the advancement of God his glory, their profit and for the profit of others: notwithstanding, in no wise may they omit their daily prayers, or those prayers which they ought to say in Mass time. Also when any holy day falleth, that you have no saint by name in your chapter of saints, then must you take one of the prayers which be common to any Apostle, Martyr, Confessor or Virgin. Further it is necessary for all devout Catholics to know, that the accustomed prayers used in the Church according to the ancient and laudable manner of our forefathers, and observed by continual practice of both the learned and unlearned, (to the great glory of God, and increase of devotion, religion and piety of life) are not to be omitted for the desire that any may have to any special prayers either in this or any other pamphlet, translated or collected by any private persons, which is done to move men to devotion, but not to withdraw men from obedience or any received Catholic custom or tradition. And therefore I counsel the Catholic Reader that of devotion hath accustomed himself to these prayers following, not to omit them in any case (for they are not devised by the wit and private devotion of man, but by the holy spirit of God, the Author and deliverer of all truth) which are the seven canonical hours in the Breviarye or in the Primer, commonly called our ladies matins: the seven penitential psalms, with the litanies: the dyrige for the souls departed: the hours of the holy Ghost: the hours of the Cross: prayers of the passion: the fiftiene gradual psalms: the beads which consisteth in a certain number of pater nosters, angelical salutations, with the Creed of the Apostles: commonly is called the Rosary of our Lady. Thus having given thee an order (gentle Reader) to understand this little Manual of prayers, with my opinion touching the use of the same: I will conclude with earnest request and humble supplication unto thee, desiring thee to remember me in thy undistracted devotions, saying this prayer following for me and others, whose helps I used in collecting this said work out of many authors, and translating many prayers out of latin and french into this our vulgar tongue. O Omnipotent almighty and everliving God, have mercy upon thy servant N. for the love of thy sweet son our saviour jesus Christ, the true light and life of all that shall be saved: O jesus the second person in Trinity, equal God with the Father and the holy Ghost, conserve and keep him in thy grace, favour and love, and suffer him not to be drawn from thee through any subtle persuasions of the enemy: O holy Ghost proceeding from the father and the son, the comforter of the elect: the inspirer of all good gifts: the only schoolmaster and teacher of all truth: grant that through thy gifts he may evermore dwell in thy truth: replenish his heart with all charitable desires and heavenly inspirations necessary to his salvation: grant this O holy Trinity for the bitter passion of our Saviour: by the merits and intercession of the glorious Virgin mary and all Angels and saints. Amen. S. Peter. 1. cap. 4. Be wise therefore: and watch in prayers. But before all things having mutual charity continual among yourselves, etc. PRAYER, IS GOOD, WITH FASTING AND ALMS. TOB. 12 Aug. in Psal. 42. This is the justice of man in this life, Fasting, Almsdeeds, Prayer. THE first CHAPTER CONTLYNINGE QVOtidiane or daily prayers, accommodated & prescribed to certain hours or times both for the day and night. A brief exhortation to pray continually extracted and taken out of Saint chrysostom. In lib. De orando Deum. IT is very meet and profitable, that we occupy all the course of our life in prayer, that thereby our hearts may receive continually the sweet dew of god's grace: of the which all persons have no less need, than trees and herbs have of the moisture of waters. For as trees can not bring forth fruit except the roots be comforted with moisture: in like manner, it is impossible for us to be replenished with beautiful fruits of piety, if our hearts be not refreshed by prayer: for which cause we ought to forsake our beds, and prevent the sonne-rising, in god's service. The like we ought to do when we go to meat, & at night when we must of necessity take our rest: yea it behoveth at all hours, to offer some one prayer to God, to the end both day and night together, might be spent in prayer: especially in time of winter, it is convenient to employ the most part of the night in prayer, and so to spend the time upon our knees in divine service. Tell me I pray thee, how canst thou behold the son, if thou dost not honour him first, that made thine eyes to see that most beautiful light? How can ye go to the table to eat, if you do not first honour him who giveth and furnisheth us daily with such great benefits? How canst thou trust to pass the dark night, and to avoid such dreams & thoughts as may come to thee, if thou defend not thyself by prayer. If thou be not countergarded by prayer, thou shalt easily yield thyself to wicked spirits, which goeth continually about us, espying if they can perceive any one unarmed, that suddenly they may devour him. But if they see him furnished with prayer, they retire presently, even as wicked thieves when they see the sword towards them. Hoolsome meditations and exerfice for the morning. 1 first presently in the morning when thou art awake, thou shalt pray to God, that he would so lighten the eyes of thine heart, with the holy light of his holy spirit, that thou be not alured or enticed to consent to sin, & so consequently seduced to death. 2 Secondly after thou art risen, bless thee with the sign of the cross, saying the prayer that followeth. 3 Thirdly when thou art apparelled, gove not thyself presently to babbling or ianglinge, or to vain thoughts or fancies: but lift up thy heart unto God in silence, and prepare thyself to say these prayers following. 4 Fourthly after prayer, thou shalt purpose firmelye and constantly in thyself, not to commit willingly that day any thing, whereby God or thy neighbour might be offended. 5 fifthly it shall be very necessary besides these aforesayed, to call to mind thine affairs, and with quickness of spirit set down with thyself how thou wilt spend the day to come. A prayer in the morning when ye awake. David in Psal. LIghten mine eyes O Lord, lest at any time I oversleep in sin, & lest my enemy do say, I have prevailed against him. When ye do arise. F. son. 5. tract. 11. Christ. Inst for. IN the name of our Lord jesus Christ crucified, I do rise: he bless me, 〈…〉 me, keep me, save me, and bring me unto everlasting life. Amen. Pater noster. Aue. Credo. & Confiteor. A morning prayer when ye are risen. Ex Viridario spirit. O Heavenly Father, omnipotent and everlasting God, unto thee I yield innumerable thanks, which haste vouchsafed to keep me this night through thy great mercy, and I beseech thy abundant, clemency, that thou grant me so to spend the day to come, in faith, hope, charity, patience, fear & carefulness of mind, that my service may please thy heavenly Majesty. A morning prayer whereby to commend thyself to God. B. Aug. cap. 40. Medit. O Holy Trinity hear me most miserable sinner, and keep me from all evil, from all occasion of evil, from all mortal sin, from all the deceptes and wiliness of the devil, and of mine enemies visible and invisible, by the prayers of the patriarchs, by the merits of the Prophets, by the suffrages of the Apostles, by the constancy of Martyrs, by the faith of the Confessors, by the chastity of Virgins, and by the intercession of all Saints, which have pleased thee from the beginning of the world. Amen. A prayer to he said going out of the house. joan Fab. in prec. Christ. O All ye holy Angels and saints of God, I beseech you, that your intercession may give me aid and power, that no enemy may hurt me in the way that I shall walk, neither sleeping nor waking, and that neither fire, nor water, nor any other noisome thing, do oppress or harm me. Amen. A prayer desiring God to order and direct us. De imit Christ. li. 3. cap. 16. LOrd God thou knowest what thing is to me most profitable to do, this or that, after thy will. give me what thou wilt, as much as thou wilt, and when thou wilt. Do with me as thou knowest best to be done, and as it shall please thee, and as shall be most to thy honour: put me where thou wilt, and freely do with me in all things after thy will. Thy creature I am, and in thy hands, lead me, and turn me where thou wilt. Lo I am thy servant ready to all things that thou commandest: for I desire not to live to myself but to thee, would to God it might be worthily & profitably to thy honour. Amen. A prayer to persevere in goodness. Imitatio Christ. li. 1. cap. 19 Help me my Lord jesus Christ, that I may persevere in good purpose, and in thy holy service unto my death, and that I may now this present day perfectly begin, for it is nothing that I have done in time paste. An exercise to be daily used in meditating the passion of our Lord & Saviour. An Exhortation. If thou wilt profit and grow in the love of God, thou must have an often and frequent memory, & as it were an Image before thine eyes, of thy Lord and Saviour crucified for thee: and it shall be very profitable for thy daily exercise, to call to thy mind (with a devout and diligent attention and consideration) one or more of these fiftiene little meditations, and in the end of the same meditation, say the prayer following for the same purpose O mild and innocent Lamb●. etc. Medita. 1. O Good & gracious JESV, thou being highest and almighty God, of the infinite charity wherewith thou lovedst me, wouldst be made man, thou diddest vouchsafe, to be borne in a stable, to be laid down in an ox stall, and after that to be circumcised, and to flee into Egipte. Thou diddest vouchsafe to be baptised, to fast, to be tempted, to watch, to teach to preach, and to heal the diseased. Thou didst vouchsafe to suffer manifold labours, painful cares and persecutions three and thirty years, and at the length to come to Jerusalem and to suffer death for me. This prayer following is to be said after one or more of these meditations, as the leisure of the devout person shall serve, according to the time and devotion that the party shall have. O Mild and innocent Lamb of God, thus heartily thou diddest love me, these things thou diddest for me, these pains most meekly, most patiently and lovingly thou suffered'st for me. What shall I render again unto thee? I adore, laud, and glorify thee, I praise thee, and give unto thee thanks as heartily and as well as I can. All hail sweet JESV, the son of the living God king of all kings, the very king of glory. All hail the precious stone of the divine nobility, that quickeneth and giveth life, the flower that never fadeth of mankind's high dignity. O merciful and kind redeemer, have mercy upon me for thy goodness sake. Put away all my sins. Destroy and mortify in me what soever displeaseth thee. Make me one according unto thy blessed heart, making me like unto thy holy humanity, Grant, my Lord, that I may to my little power, most diligently follow thy blessed life and virtues. O blessed father celestial, I offer unto thee, the most holy incarnation, conversation, & passion of thy most dear beloved son jesus, for my salvation, and for the salvation of all men, as for full amendment and purgation of all our sins and offences. Grant most merciful father by the same only begotten son of thine, unto them that are alive, mercy & grace, and unto the souls departed, rest and life everlasting. Amen. Medita. 2. O Good and gracious JESV, thou diddest eat the paschal lamb in Jerusalem with thy derebeloved disciples: and arising from supper, thou didst gi●dd● thy self about with a Towel, and pouredst water into a basin, and kneeling upon thy knees, thou meekly diddest wash the feet of thy disciples, and wypedst them with a Towel. Medita. 3. O Good and gracious JESV, thou, before thou shouldest suffer, did bequeath a most excellent good thing unto thy children, leaving for us thy most sacred body to be our meat, and thy most precious blood to be our drink. There can no wit nor understanding penetrate and thoroughly see the bottomless depth of this thy charity. Medit. 4. O Good and gracious JESV, thou coming unto the garden of Olivet, begannest to fear and to be heavy: whereupon thou saidst unto thy disciples. My soul is sorrowful until death. And then divided & sundered from them, thou settest thyself upon thy knees: and falling upon the earth flat on thy face, thou prayedst unto thy father, and fully and wholly thou resignest and yieldest thyself unto him saying: Father thy will be done. And at length through most painful agony (wherewith thou was grievously oppressed and afflicted) thou sweetest throughout all thy body a bloody sweat. Medita. 5. O Good and gracious JESV, thou kindled and burning, with the ineffable desire to redeem me, thou goest to meet thine enemies, and suffered judas the traitor to kiss thee: and suffered thyself to be taken, and to be bound with all confusion and shame: and most indignly to be led with bonds from thence, and that of most vile and wicked persons, unto Annas: where thou suffered most meekly, a very sore stroke on thy face, most injustly given thee of a most vile manciple and slave. Medita. 6. O Good and gracious JESV, thou being fast bound like a notorious malefactor, wast led unto the house of Cayphas the high Priest: where the jews most unjustly condemned thee, and most filthily and vilely all bespetted and spauled thy royal and most amiable face, and most spitefully they laid on thee many a sore buffette and blow, and scornfully in mockage they did blindfold and cover thy face, and striking thee, they with mock & scorn said: Prophecy Christ, who is he that struck thee? doing unto thee innumerable injuries all that night. Medita. 7. O Good and gracious JESV, thou in the morning was brought before Pilate: and with most sweet and pleasant countenance, casting thine eyes down, stoodst before him in the judgement hall. And when thou wast most falsely accused of the jews, and many a rebuke and reproach was given thee: thou most meekly heldest thy peace and madest no answer. Medita. 8. O Good and gracious JESV, thou was sent from pilate unto Herode: This Herode of a vain and curious mind, coveting to see some miracle at thy hand, asked and demanded many things of thee. And the jews sturdilye accused thee still. But thou among all these, most wisely heldest thy peace. For this cause Herode and all his, despised and contemmed thee, put upon thee a white garment, a dezerds cote: & like a sot he sent thee thus again unto pilate, O how unmeasurable is this humility and obedience? At the will and pleasure of thine enemies thou goest forth, & thou returnedst again without gain saying, suffering them to do to thee what soever they would. Medita. 9 O Good and gracious JESV, thou in the judgement hall stripped naked, and without all compassion being bound fast to a pillar, was most cruelly scourged. There was thy virginal & tender flesh, cut with whips & torn with stripes, all together mangled and deformed, with black and blue and many a wound, so that the streams of thy most precious blood, ran down on every side upon the earth. Medita. 10. O Good and gracious JESV, after that sore and sharp scourging of thine, to put thee to more shame and villainy, thou was clothed of Sathanas soldiers with a purple read garment vile and torn. They also making a crown of thorn, painfully pressed the same upon thy most holy head: And while the sharp thorns pricked grievously, and wounded sore thy head, thy most pure blood ran down abundantly over all thy lovely face and neck. Then they putting a reed into thy right hand, and kneeling down before thee in scorn, saluted thee saying: All hail King of jews. And then took they the reed, & with many a sore stroke they smitte thy venerable head. They also spette in thy mellifluous visage & stroke thee on the blessed face. Medita. 11. O Good and gracious JESV, thou was brought forth by pilate unto the furious jews, to be gased and looked upon, wearing thy crown of thorn and purple garment: but they cried out with more cruelness to have thee crucified. Medita. 12. O Good and gracious JESV, thou was delivered up unto the will & pleasure of the jews, which by & by led thee to be crucified, laying the heavy cross upon thy sore and bloody shoulders. Thus didst thou bear most meekly thine own cross, whose great weight pained thee full sore: and coming unto the place, all weary & breathless with pain, for my sake thou didst not refuse, to taste wine mingled with gall & myrrh, which was there given unto thee. Medita. 13. O Good and gracious JESV, when thou was stripped naked, then were thy sore wounds by the violent pulling of thy clothes, renewed. Oh what a bitter and cruel pain didst thou suffer, when thy tender hands and undefiled feet were with blounte & rough nails, fast nailed unto the cross, and when the joints of thy limbs were loosed. Oh with what love and sweetness of charity, didst thou offer thy hands and feet to be bored through. Then out of the wounds of thy hands and feet, as it had been out of wells, thy precious blood plentifully gushed out. Medita. 14. O Good and gracious JESV, thou hanging upon the cross in the mids between two thieves, was assailed with blasphemies: but thou praydst unto thy father the while, saying: Father forgive it them, they wot not what they do. Then didst thou promise paradise unto the thief. Then gavest thou thy deere-beloved mother (who pierced with the sword of sorrow, stood by the cross) unto thy disciple john, and unto us all to be our mother. And after that thou haddest suffered three long hours intolerable pains, and thirsted very vehemently, they gave thee eisell to drink, which when thou haddest tasted, bowing down thy venerable head, thou yeldest up thy spirit. Medita. 15. O Good and gracious JESV, O good shepherd, thus thou bestowedst thy life for thy sheep, and the right side of thy dead body was opened with a spear, out of the which flowed both water and blood for us. Thou wouldst that thy tender and loving heart should be wounded for my sake. afterward thy immaculate body taken down from the cross, thy most blessed mother took it in her lap, she kissed it, and wet it with tears: At the length joseph and Nicodeme wound it up in Sindon, and laid it in the sepulchre. My dear beloved, yea the dear beloved of all my desires, thou didst vouchsafe thus to die, & to be buried for my sake, which livest and reygneste blessed and glorious for ever, and ever world without end. Amen. These asperations and ghostly sighings and prayers are needful for devout Christians to have by heart: (and often times to revolve in mind some of them at the least) for attaining to a ghostly and perfect life. O Good jesus, o gracious jesus, o sweet jesus, o my hope, my refuge, and my health, have mercy, have mercy, have mercy upon me, I am poor, needy, and weak, I am nought, I have nought, I know nothing, I can do nothing of myself but sin, help me therefore sweet jesus. O Lord be merciful unto me most vile, most abominable sinner, unworthy to live on the earth, verily it is but right, that every man should despise me, persecute me, afflict me, & over tread me with their feet. I resign and surrendre me, yielding me wholly unto thee. Thy most blessed and thankful will, be ever done upon me and in me. Grant me (O good Lord) full remission of all my sins, washing me in thy precious blood. Grant me perfect mortification and denying of myself. Destroy in me mine own will and the seeking of myself. Grant me true humility, perfect patience & charity, & of my tongue & of all my senses perfect temperance. Grant unto me, the purity, simplicity, nudity, and liberty of mind, and also an exact and essential In-turning, that I may be one according to thy hearts desire. Lo, my singular beloved Lord, lo, I salute and honour thy roseruddy and sweet wounds. All hail all hail most pleasant and healthsome wounds of my Lord. All hail most bountiful heart of my dear lover, wounded for my sake: of all goodness, of all bliss the most pleasant treasure house. O My Lord jesus Christ, I most humbly thank the for thy venerable wounds. Oh Lord drown me in them, hide me in them: writ and print them deeply in my heart, that I may burn all together in thy love, and that I may take compassion upon thee from the heart. Grant that all frail creatures may be vile and of small estimation with me: and that thou only mayest please and be sweet and delectable unto me: Make me like unto thy holy humanity. O dearly-beloved, dearly-beloved, dearly-beloved: O the most dearly-beloved of all dearly-beloved: O my only beloved. O my fresh and flourishing spouse: O my mellifluous and hony-sweete spouse: O the sweetness of my heart, & the life of my soul: set me on fire, burn me, make me a new, and transform me, that nothing beside thee, live in me. Oh, wound very deeply my heart, with the dart of thy love. Then turn thy mind to the godhead of Christ, and quietly think or say thus. O My Lord God, o my delectable principle and beginning, O amiable depth bottomless, O the clear light of my entrails, and bottom of my very heart: O most sincere & delectable goodness, my very and incomparable goodness: O my God & all thing: what desire I besides thee? Thou art my high & full contentation, and only enough for me. Oh when shall I luckily find thee? when shall I ardently and most fervently love thee? when wilt thou ravish me all together into thee? when wilt thou consume me all wholly into thee? when wilt thou most fast and sure knit me unto thee. Oh remove away mercifully all impediments, and make me one spirit with thee, to the laud and praise of thy name. All hail glorious, shining, and everlasting quiet Trinity, father, son, and holy ghost, one God. Oh vouchsafe to feed my soul with thy ghostly influence. In like manner to the blessed mother of God say thus. Hail MARRY full of grace, our Lord is with the: hail sweet Virgin, the blessed mother of God: The very excellent Queen of heaven: Hail bright shining star: Rose very delectable and pleasant: The Orient white lily of the Trinity: O blessed lady, take pity upon me most poor banished man. In like manner to such a Saint of God as thou hast special devotion unto, and to thy holy Angel. ALhayle dear-beloved of God, blessed and holy saint. N. or all hail noble spouse of Christ, holy and blessed saint. N. Hail holy Angel of God, my faithful keeper. All hail all ye blessed saints of God, and all ye blessed spirits Angelical, which are fulfilled perpetually with the vehement stream of all divine voluptuousness & heavenvly pleasure: pray for me now, and at the hour of my death. O merciful JESV, I beseech the, for thy most venerable Passion and death, grant unto the quick, mercy & grace, and unto the dead rest and everlasting light. another brief exersice to be used daily according to the choice of the devout christian, as his opportunitio shall serve. O Good JESV, be merciful unto me abominable sinner, I have sinned, I have offended, I have done amiss before the: Lord pardon me. All my iniquity, my negligences, and all my immortifications, I put them all into thy most dear-beloved wounds, and I cast them into the bottomless depth of thy mercy & merits. O would to God I had never offended thee: would to God I had never letted thy grace in me: I purpose now (by thy help) to correct and amend myself. Oh Lord, put away all my sins, wash me clean with thy precious blood: Make me whole with thy precious wounds Sanctify me with thy bitter Passion and death: Cleanse me perfectly: Restore again unto me the innocency, which thou gavest me in baptism, that I may truly please thee: I worship, I laud & glorify thee, I praise & give thanks unto thee my Lord JESV CHRIST for all thy mercies and benefits. I thank thee (O son of the living God) most highest GOD: which for thy exceeding great charity, that thou didst bear toward me, hast vouchesaffed to be made man: Thou wouldst for my sake be borne in a stable, and an infant bewrapt in clothes, to be laid down in a manger, to be fed with the little milk of the maiden thy mother, to suffer nedinesse and poverty, to be sore troubled thirty three years with manifold labours and careful pains. Thou wouldst for very inward pain and agony, be all in a bloody sweat, to be apprehended and taken shamefully, to be bound unworthily, to be condemned, unjustly, to be defiled with spittle, to be stricken with buffets & blows, to be clothed & scorned as it were a mad man, in a white garment in mockage: Thou wouldst be beaten & torn most cruelly with stripes, most cruelly crowned with thorns, overloden with a painful & heavy cross, furiously and boysteously nailed unto the cross with sturdy nails, unkindly to have offered to thee in thy thirst, eisell and gall. Thou, the noble clother and garnisher of the stars, hangest all naked, despised, wounded, and with innumerable sorrows afflicted upon the cross for my sake. Thou sheddest for me thy most pure and precious blood, thou diedst for me. I embrace in the arms of my soul thy venerable cross: and for the love & honour of thee I kiss the same. Grant that I may with whole & full desire attain unto thee, and that I may pause & rest in thee, most sweetest of all. Lo my Lord lo, I repute and set myself in the lowest place under all creatures. For I am unworthy, that the earth should bear me. I cast myself down, & put myself under the state of all men: I sincerely love all men as well as I can: I forsake and leave all corruptible things for thy sake, I refuse what soever thou art not: I forsake & renounce all sensual pleasure and delight. I renounce all vanity and impurity: I forsake all the seeking of myself and all immortifications: I resign and put me wholly into thy hand & pleasure: All my whole will ' I change into thine: Thy only will (Lord) thy only will be done in me, and on me: thy blessed will be done in all times and ever lastingly. I offer me ready to suffer, (with the help of thy grace,) whatsoever it shall please thee. Oh most sweet and merciful JESV, mortify whatsoever liveth naughtillie and sensually in me, and what soever is vicious and inordinate in me, what soever displeaseth thee in me: mortify in me all property: Garnyshe and adorn me with thy merits and virtues. Oh prepare (Lord) a delectable, and a pleasant habitation for thyself in me. Renew my spirit, my soul, & my body, with thy excellent grace: Make me like unto thy holy humanity: Make me one unto thy hearts desire: Rid & make clear, my mind and soul and make it single, and lighten it: Grant me free inturning unto thee. O my Lord God, O my very & unchangeable goodness, fulfil me with thine own self. Lead me into the clear bottom of my soul, and bring me from thence into thee my original. Knit me unto thee most nearly, and change & transform me altogether into thee: that thou mayest have thy delight in me. Here me graciously, Lord hear me graciously, not at my will, but at thy blessed pleasure. Oh Lord teach, illumine, direct, and help me in all things, that I may do nothing. I may speak nothing, I may think nothing, nor desire nothing, but that, which may be acceptable before thee. Then to have in mind our blessed lady. O Blessed MARIE, O most sweet Virgin, have pity upon me most vile sinner: I salute & I honour thee. Oh blessed lady, obtain for me, of thy blessed son full remission of all my sins: obtain for me, perfect mortification and forsaking of myself, obtain for me, very and true humility, patience, charity, refraining and temperance of my tongue and of my senses: Obtain for me, purity, simplicity, & freedom of mind, and that I may be once according to the hearts desire of thy son. Take in mind all Saints. O All ye blessed saints of God, and blessed spirits Angelical, whom God with his mellifluous countenance and blessed presence, maketh joyful and everlastingly glad, pray ye for me: I salute and honour you. I give lauds & thanks unto our Lord, which hath chosen you, and hath prevented you in his benedictions: Oh obtain for me forgiveness, obtain for me grace, and to be made one with God. O Most benign, & most merciful JESV, have mercy upon thy church, have mercy upon this place and congregation: Grant that here be cotinuallie, humility, peace, charity, chastity, & purity: Grant that we all may worthily amend and correct ourselves, & that we fear thee and serve thee faithfully, that we may love thee and please the. I commend unto thy mercy all our business & our necessities. Lord have mercy upon all, for whom thou haste shed thy most holy blood. Oh Lord, convert, turn, and call again all miserable sinners: grant unto the quick, forgiveness & grace, unto the dead rest and light everlasting. Amen. A prayer for schollares before they go to school, for obtaining wisdom, learning, and knowledge. COme O holy spirit replenish the hearts of thy faithful: lighten in us the fire of thy love, which by diversity of all languages haste assembled and gathered the people in the unity of faith. O God which by the brightness of the holy Ghost, hast instructed the hearts of the faithful, grant us, that in the same spirit we may know that which is right and truth, and always to be joyful in his consolation. Amen. Wholesome Meditations which you may use at night, before you go to rest. 1 When thou wouldst go to bed, thou shalt yield thanks to God for his great mercy, that he hath so preserved thee that day, wherein divers through their sins have fallen headlong into hell. 2 Then after, revolve, and call to mind diligently all the sins whereby any way thou hast offended God, or thy neighbour that day, and ask God mercy for them. 3 Finally, thou shalt pray to God with thy heart, that he would vouchsafe to have care over thee, and that he would not suffer thee to perish in works of darkness, and by these (or other like) prayers following, thou shalt call for the aid and secure of our Lord and Saviour. An evening prayer to be said as thou goest to bed. Ex viridario spirituali. A Lmyghtye and everlasting God, I render thee most hearty thanks, for that thou haste vouchsafed of thy great mercy and goodness to preserve me this day from all evil. And I beseech thee moreover for thy bitter death and passion, most mercifully to pardon me wretched sinner all mine offences, that this day I have committed by thought, word, or deed: and hereafter to preserve and keep me from all danger, as well of body as of soul, to the end I may rise again in health, to praise the name of thy majesty, and joyfully serve thee in thanks giving with a chaste body and a clear heart Amen. Our Father. etc. Hail mary. etc. O Marry the mother of grace, And of mercy mother also, Defend me from the cruel foe, And at my death my sou'e embrace. I Believe in God the Father. etc. another prayer for the night. O Lord God and my heavenly Father, forasmuch as by thy divine ordinance the night approacheth, and darkness beginneth to overwhelm the earth, and time requireth that we give ourselves to bodily rest & quietness, I render unto thee most hearty thanks for thy loving kindness, which haste vouchsafed to preserve me this day, from the danger of mine enemies, to give me my health, to feed me, and to send me all things necessary for the comfort of this my poor and needy life, I most humbly beseech thee for jesus Christ's sake, that thou wilt mercifully forgive me all that I have this day committed against thy fatherly goodness, either in word, deed, or thought, & that thou wilt vouchsafe to shadow me this night under the comfortable wings of thy almighty power, & defend me from Satan, and from all his crafty assaults, that neither he, or any of his ministers have power over either my body or my soul. But that although my body thorough thy benefit enjoyeth sweet and pleasant sleep, yet my Soul may continually watch unto thee, think of thee, delight in the, and evermore praise thee: that when the joyful light of the day returneth according to thy godly appointment, I may rise again with a faithful soul, and undefiled body, and so afterward, behave myself all my life time according to thy blessed will and commandment, by casting away the works of darkness, and putting on the armors of light, that men seeing my good works, may thereby be provoked to glorify thee my heavenly Father, which with thy only begotten son jesus Christ our only saviour, and the holy Ghost, that most sweet comforter, livest and reignest one true and everlasting God, world without end Amen. A prayer to thy good Angel thy gardiane. Ex hortulo animae secum usum Leodiens. I Beseech thee O holy Angel, to whose protection and custody I wretched sinner am committed, continually to defend, aid, and guard me, from all invasion and assaults of the devil wheresoever I be, both waking and sleeping, drive away from me through the virtue of the holy Cross † all the temptations of Satan, & that which through the deserts of mine own merits I can not do, by thy prayers obtain at the hands of the highest and dreadful judge, that he may have no place in me. Amen. A prayer as thou interest into thy bed. F. Sonnius tract. 3 Cathe. IN the name of our Lord jesus Christ that was crucified for me, I go into my bed: let him bless me †, govern me, and defend me, and bring me into life everlasting Amen. A prayer to be said as thou seitleste thyself to sleep. L. vives in precibus general. O jesus Christ our safeguard, receive me into thy protection, and grant that when my body is a sleep, my soul may watch to thee, and that it may joyfully and gladly behold that blessed, most joyful, and heavenly life, where thou art governor together with the Father, and the holy Ghost, and where the Angels, with the blessed souls are citizens for ever and ever. Amen. An exhortation to watch taken out of holy Scripture. The day of our Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Thes. 1. v. 5. Watch ye therefore because ye know not the day, nor the hour. Math. 25. v. 13. And that which I say to you I say to all: watch. Marc. 13. v. 37. The end of the first Chapter. Most wholesome meditations, which we ought day and night to have before our eyes, and always to have in remembrance. We ought continually to remember these three things: that is to say: Time Paste. That we have unprofitably spent. That good which we have left undone. That evil which we have committed. Time Present. Of the shortness of man's life. Of the difficulty to be saved. Of the small number that shall be saved. Time To come. Of death most miserable. Of the last Judgement most horrible. Of the pains of hell intolerable. THE second CHAPTER CONTAINING GOODly & devout prayers, to be said before, at & after the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. A prayer when thou dost enter into the church. Ex hortulo animae. OH, take from me (most merciful Lord) all mine iniquities, to the end I may with a pure and contrite heart enter into the holy of holies. O Saviour of the world which livest and reignest with the father and the holy ghost. A prayer to stir up the mind to devotion before Mass. Io. Fab. ex. Aug. 33. medit. Almighty and most merciful Father, unto thee all the heavenly company of the celestial city, all the blessed orders of saved spirits, do incessantly with due reverence sing continual glory and everlasting praise. Thee O Lord, all saints and souls of holy men do laud and magnify, with most worthy and condign honour, as to whom all praise, honour and glory is most justly due. Nor there is any creature, be he never so worthy, that can sufficiently according to thy worthiness, give unto thee worthy and sufficient praise. For thou art that unspeakable uncomprehensible and everlasting goodness. Thou good Lord hast made me, thou haste through the merits of the bitter passion of thy most blessed Son, which he vouchsafed, to suffer for mankind, restored me to the state of salvation. To thee only is due all laud and honour, if any good thing be found in me. Oh good Lord, I miserable wretch, a creature of thy making, a poor worm of the earth, have good will to laud and magnify thee, with all my mind & whole intent, but without thy special grace, I find myself faint and wonderful weak, wherefore I come to thee my God, my life, & my strength, my hope, and only comfort, to crave thy mercy and grace, to give me power to praise thee. Grant of thy unspeakable mercy that I may worthily praise & honour thee, and that what I do therein, may be pleasing & acceptable to thee. Grant me the light of thy grace, that my mouth may speak, & my heart study thy glory, & my tongue may be occupied only in the song of laud & praise. But because all praise in a sinner's mouth is vile, and I must of force confess myself manifoldelie to have offended with my lips, cleanse thou o good Lord my heart from all filth and sin. Sanctify me most mighty saviour both inwardly and outwardly, and make me worthy to magnify thee: receive of thy infinite goodness the sacrifice of my lips, and make it acceptable in thy sight: let the savour thereof be pleasant & well smelling unto thee: Let thy holy sweetness possess wholly my mind, and feed my soul with the fullness of invisible things: let my soul good Lord, be quite cut from visible things, & all wholly given to the study of invisible things: clean separate from earthly things, and wholly addicted to heavenly meditations, & make my soul see the wonderful sight of thy Majesty. O almighty God, inspire thou my heart, that I may continually give thanks unto the, and honour thee for ever. Grant me the grace, that in my pilgrimage, and vale of misery, I may so praise thee, that through thy mercy & grace, I may be associate to their holy fellowship, which see the everlastingly, & sing praise to thee world without end. Amen. A devout prayer necessary to be said every Sunday. Cornel. Donters in his contemplations of the Passion. MY most loving God and Lord and my creator, I miserable sinner do present myself this day before thine eyes, beseeching thee humbly, that through thine infinite bounty, thou wouldst vouchsafe to give me grace, that I may keep holy this Sunday, according to thy commandment, and the precept of our mother the holy Church, giving me true contrition of all my sins that I have committed against thy divine Majesty, and against my neighbour, by thoughts, words and deeds, and by omission of good works which I ought to have done: And I most humbly beseech thee most sweet jesus, that thou wouldst not consider the multitude of my sins, but remember thine infinite mercy, and vouchsafe to grant me grace to spend this week following, without mortal sin: and for the honour of thy death and passion, to give to all sinner's knowledge and grace to do penance in this world, and generally to have mercy of all those that our mother the holy Church desireth (this day) to pray for, that with her we all may be partakers of thy sorrowful passion. Amen. A prayer to be used before confession, or before Mass if time serve. OH maker of heaven and earth, king of kings and Lord of Lords, which of nothing didst make to thine image and likeness, and didst redeem me with thine own precious blood, whom I a sinner am not worthy to name, neither to call upon, neither with my heart to think upon, humbly I desire thee, & meekly pray thee, that gently thou do behold me thy wicked servant, and have mercy on me, which hadst mercy of the woman of Canane, and Mary Magdalene, which didst forgive the Publican & the thief hanging on the cross: unto thee I confess (most holy Father) my sins, which (if I would) I can not hide from thee. Have mercy on me O Christ, for I (wretch) have sore offended thee, in pride, in covetousness, in gluttony, in lechery, in vainglory, in hatred, in envy, in adultery in theft, in lying, backebitinge, in sporting, in dissolute and wanton laughing, in Idle words, in hearing, in tasting, in touching, in thinking, in sleeping, in working & all ways in which I frail man and most wretched sinner might sin, my default, my most grievous default. Therefore I most humbly pray & beseech thy gentleness, which for my health descendedst from heaven, which didst hold up David, that he should not fall into sin, have mercy on us (O Christ) the which didst forgive Peter that did forsake thee. Thou art my creator & my helper, my maker, my redeemer, my governor, my Father, my Lord my GOD, & my king. Thou art my hope, my trust, my governor, my help my strength, my defence, my redemption, my lice, my health, & my resurrection. Thou art my steadfastness, my refuge or succour, my light, and my help. I most humbly and heartily desire and pray thee, help me, defend me, make me strong, & comfort me, make me steadfast, make me merry, give me light, & visit me, revive me again which am dead: For I am thy making and thy work, (oh Lord) despise me not. I am thy servant, thy bondman, although evil, although unworthy, and a sinner. But what soever I am, whether I be good or bad, I am ever thine: Therefore to whom shall I fly, except I fly unto the? If thou cast me of, who shall or will receive me? If thou despise me, and turn thy face from me, who shall look upon me, and recognise and knowledge me, although unworthy coming to thee, although I be vile and unclean? For if I be vile and unclean, thou canst make me clean: If I be sick thou canst heal me: If I be dead and buried, thou canst revive me: For thy mercy is much more than mine iniquity: Thou canst forgive me more, than I can offend. Therefore (O Lord) do not consider nor have respect to the number of my sins, but according to the greatness of thy mercy forgive me & have mercy on me most wretched sinner. say unto my soul, I am thy health, which sayedst I will not the death of a sinner, but rather that he live, and be converted, & turn to thee. O Lord be not angry with me. I pray thee most meek father, for thy great mercy. I most humbly deseech thee, that thou bring me to the bliss that never shall cease. Amen. THESE PRAYERS following are to be said at Mass. Confiteor Deo omnipotenti. etc. Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus. etc. When the Priest is at Confession. O Lord God almighty, long suffering and much merciful: I have sinned without measure, and still mine iniquities do daily increase: I have provoked thine anger by committing evil wilfully in thy sight, as it were determining naughtiness, and multiplying offences: I have sinned (O Lord) I have sinned: and I acknowledge mine iniquity: But thou (O God) of thy great goodness hast promised to the penitent remission of their sins: I therefore now bow the knees of my ●arte, beseeching mercy of thee (O Lord) and willingly detecting and detesting the sinfulness of my conscience. I say with the penitent Publicanne, say this thrice: [* Be merciful (O God) unto me a sinner: *] Do not destroy me together with my iniquities, nor reserve my punishment to be perpetual, but save me thy unworthy servant, according to the multitude of thy mercies, and I shall praise thee all the days of my life, because all the powers of heaven praise thee, and to thee belongeth honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. When the Priest goeth to the Altar after Confession. TAke from us all our iniquities (O Lord) that we may be worthy to enter into heaven: say this thrice [* Have mercy*] on thy people (o Christ) whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Lord have mercy upon us. Christ etc. Lord etc. Amen. When the Priest sayeth. Gloria in excelsis Deo Glory be to God on high, and in earth peace to men of good will: we praise the (o Lord) we worship thee, we magntfie the, we adore the, we glorify the, we thank the for thy great glory, o Lord God, heavenvly king, God the father almighty, Lord jesus Christ, the only begotten son, and the holy ghost, Lord God, Lamb of God, son of the father, which takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon us, who takest away the sins of the world hear our prayers, who sittest on the right hand of God the father have mercy upon us, because thou only art holy, thou only art Lord, thou only art most highest jesus Christ with the holy ghost, in the glory of God the father. Amen. Almighty and everlasting God I most humbly beseech thee vouchsafe to look upon this congregation, & mercifuly accept the prayers of thy church, made unto thee for us all by the ministery of this Priest, & thereby, for thy mercies, sake give us remission of all our sins, integrity of mind, health of body, necessary sustentation, peace in our days, temperate air, fruitefullnesse of the earth, unity of faith, rooting out of all heresies, destruction of all wicked counsels, increase of true religion, earnest charity, sincere devotion in prayer, patience in troubles, joy in hope, and what soever is for our soul's health needful and most belonging to thy glory, through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. At the Epistle. O God which haste fully accomplished in perfect verity that which the law did foretell, and under a wonderful Sacrament hast left us the memory of thy Passion: Grant us we beseech thee, so to worship the holy mysteries of thy blessed body and blood, that we may alway feel the fruit of thy redemption in us who livest and reignest with God the father and the holy ghost in perfect unity for ever. Amen. After the Epistle. O Glorious Trinity, o venerable unity, by the we are created, to true eternity: by the are we redeemed, to true charity, defend, save, deliver: protect & cleanse all thy people, O God almighty: we adore thee O God the father: we praise thee O God the son: we thank the o God the holy ghost to whom three persons and one God, be all honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. O Lord deal not with us according to our sins, neither reward us according to our iniqui-quities, Lord remember not our former offences: but thy mercies speedily prevent us, because we have great need thereof: help us O God our saviour, and for the glory of thy name deliver us, O lord, and be merciful to us for thy name sake. After the Gospel. Credo in Deum Patrem. etc. GOod Lord grant that we may all contine we in the true and sincere profession of the holy Catholic faith, to the end of our lives, and that we may therein fight a good battle, exercising ourselves in all holiness and godliness, to the end that after this life we may receive of thee O Lord a crown of righteousness, which thou hast laid up for all thine elect. Amen. At the offertory. O lord holy father, who through jesus Christ thy only son, haste taught a new oblation of a new testament, which the Church receiving of thy holy Apostles, offereth throughout the whole world to thee O God the creator of all things, offering under a hidden mystery, the first fruits of thy creatures and gifts, to wit, bread and wine mingled with water, straightways to be consecrated into the flesh and blood of thy well-beloved son, that by the same oblation, he may represent him, who is the lively bread descending from heaven, giving life to all the world, who by the blood and water which flowed from his side did wash us from our sins: vouchsafe almighty God mercifully to accept this oblation, which thy Catholic Church offereth to thee by the Priest for all thy people, whom thou hast purchased with the precious blood of thy dearebeloved son our lord jesus Christ. Amen. When the Priest turning desireth the people to pray for him. Our Lord send thee help from heaven and protect thee. Our Lord be mindful of this thy sacrifice, and receive it at thy hands, to the laud and glory of his name, & to the health and comfort of our souls, & the souls of all faithful living and dead. Amen. O Lord which justyfiest the wicked and givest life to the dead, quicken and raise me o Lord: give me compunction of heart and tears to my eyes, that I may ever bewail the wickedness of my heart with humility. Let my prayer come before thy presece O Lord: If thou be angry with me (o god) what helper shall I seek? or who shall have mercy upon mine iniquities? remember (O Lord) that thou didst call the woman of Cananea & the Publican to repentance, & didst receive Peter after his tears. Receive also my prayers (O God) my Saviour, who livest & reignest for ever. Amen. When the Priest saith. Sursum corda. O God father most high, lift up our hearts and minds (I beseech the) from the cogitations of earthly cares, to the meditation of heavenvly joys, that we may think, and speak of thee only, and may in all our life express thee, and after may enjoy thee for ever. Amen. Then say with the Priest. IT is meet and just, right and necessary that we always and in all places give thee thanks (O holy Lord) Father almighty, everlasting God, through jesus Christ our Lord: by whom the Angels praise thy Majesty, the dominations adore the, the powers tremble, the virtues of heaven and the heavens, and the blessed Seraphin with mutual gladness give praise unto the with whom we beseech the that thou wilt command our prayers to be received, saying with humble confession. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaothe. The heavens & earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to God on the highest, blessed is he that cometh in the name of our Lord, O sanna in the highest. Amen. At the holy Canon. O Most high Priest and true Bishop jesus Christ, who hast offered thyself to God thy father, (upon the altar of the Cross,) a pure and immaculate Host for us wretched sinners, who hast left unto us thy flesh and blood in a Sacrament which is made by thy divine omnipotency, & hast ordained this Sacrament, which thou commandest to be offered in remembrance of our salvation, by the same thy almighty power, I beseech thee, that thou wilt grant me poor sinner, worthily to remember thy blessed Passion, and to resign and consecrate myself, & all that I have, wholly to thee, who art my Lord and redeemer, & to be present at this heavenly sacrifice with fear & reverence, with purity of heart, & plenty of tears, with spiritual gladness, and heavenly joy, let my mind taste the sweetness of thy blessed presence, and perceive the troops of thy saints and Angels which are about the. Amen. Speak with me (o blessed Virgin Mary) that my prayers may take effect before thy son our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ: Entreat for me O ye Apostles: make intercession for me O ye Martyrs: pray for me all ye Confessors and all the holy company of heaven: the prayers of such O Lord thou despisest not: Inspire them therefore to pray for me O Lord which livest and reignest one God for ever and ever. Amen. Here meditate with yourself till the Elevation. ANd think yourself unworthy to be present among so many thou sand of Angels and saints, as are there (although invisibly to us) tending upon him (with all reverence) whom we (through our sins) caused to die a most bitter death, & whom (through our evil life) we from time to time (as much as in us lieth) do crucify. Think how great his love is to us, which by this daily oblation would preserve us in that estate whereunto he once brought us. These benefits & others (as time will suffer) considered: let us examine ourselves & our behaviour to so gracious a Lord, and say with the Publican, O God be merciful to me a sinner. O Most merciful Lord jesus Christ, in the remembrance of thy most blessed incarnation, death, Passion, wounds, sorrows, grieves, sighs, tears and drops of thy most precious blood, and in remembrance of thy most infinite love to mankind, and in the union of this oblation, and of that sacrifice by the which thou did offer thyself on the Altar of the Cross, I do offer myself to thy laud and glory: humbly beseeching the to give to the living grace, to the deceased peace and rest, and to us all, mercy and life everlasting. And I commend unto the O Lord my soul and body, & all that is within me, most humbly beseeching thee to have mercy upon me, and upon all those whom I am bound in respect of nature or friendship to pray for: as N. and N. etc. At the Elevation of the Host. I Adore thee, & worship the (O Christ) with all praise & benediction. For by thy bitter death & Passion, thou haste redeemed my soul from endless affliction. Have mercy upon me dear jesus, and grant that thy death be never found frustrate in me, I most humbly beseech thee. Amen. At the Elevation of the Chalice. ALL hail most precious and blessed blood, flowing out of the side of my Lord and Saviour jesus Christ, washing away the spots both of the old and new offence: cleanse, sanctify, and keep my soul I beseech thee to everlasting life. WE thank the O Lord God merciful father, that thou did vouchsafe to send thine only begotten son jesus Christ, into this wretched world to die for us all, the most shameful death of the Cross, to the end that he might offer himself to thee, through the holy ghost, a most pure, clean, holy and acceptable sacrifice for our sins: and might so purge our wicked conscience from all spots of uncleanness. By this thy exceeding great love to us, and by these most cruel torments of thy son our Saviour: we most humbly beseech the that thou wilt preserve in us continually those most noble fruits of his redemption, and make us also daily to die with him to the world, and to be crucified to the lusts & desires of the flesh, and to live to thee only all our life: So that in the end we reign eternally with him: where thou with the same thy son, and the holy ghost, livest and reignest one true and living God for ever and ever. Amen. When the Priest sayeth the Pater noster say with him. Let us pray. Being admonished by wholesome precepts, and being taught by divine institution, we dare be bold to say. Pater noster qui es in caelis. etc. ave Maria gratia plena. etc. When the Priest kisseth the pax. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God that etc. have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God that etc. give us peace and quietness. Deliver us we beseech thee (O Lord) from all our evils paste, present, & to come: and by the intercession of thy blessed and glorious mother the virgin Mary, & of thy holy Apostles Peter & Paul, & of all thy saints, mercifully grant us peace in our days, that we being aided by the help of thy mercy, may continually be free from sin, and safe from all perturbation of mind and body. Amen. When you kiss the Pax. give peace in our days (O Lord) because their is no other that fighteth for us, but only thou O Lord God. When the Priest receiveth. O Sacred feast wherein Christ is received, the memory of his passion is revived, the mind is replenished with grace, and a pledge is given us of the glory to come. O Mostmercifull Lord God father of mercy, grant I beseech thee, that this unbloody Sacrifice of the blessed body and blood of thy son our Lord jesus Christ, which here & everywhere throughout thy holy Church, is offered, to the great benefit of us all, (for a continual & daily memory & thanks giving) may entreat for us at thy hands, mercy & remission of all our sins. Amen. Then blessing yourself say. THe grace of our Lord jesus Christ, the virtue of his most glorious Passion, the sign of the holy Cross, the integrity of the most blessed Virgin Marie, the blessing of all Saints, & the prayers of all the Elect of God, be between me and all my enemies, visible & invisible, now and in the hour of my death. In nomine patris & filii & spiritus sancti. Amen. A prayer after the divine Sacrifice of the Mass. Cornelius Donters in his contemplations of the passion. O Most loving Lord and almighty God, I beseech thee most humbly vouchsafe to receive for acceptable, the divine service which I have done this day, to thy honour and glory, and to the honour of thy blessed mother, and to the honour of all saints, whose feasts we celebrate in remission of our sins, and for all our friends and benefactors, aswell those that live, as those that be departed: most earnestly requesting, that thou wouldst lovingly receive these our devotions, in this time of thy divine service, and to forgive me mercifully, that which I have done without devotion, in deeds, words, and thoughts. give us thy grace always to walk in thy holy commandments, and to serve thee loyally, to the end thou mayst be honoured & glorified in us. Amen. A prayer to recommend yourself to God. In Eucholo Ecclesiast. O Lord I recommend into the hands of thy inestimable mercy, my soul, my body, my senses, my words and my thoughts, my counsel, my works, and all the necessities of my body and soul, my entering and going forth, my faith and my conversation, the course and end of my life, the day and hour of my departing, my death, the rest and resurrection of my soul with thy saints and thine elected. Amen. A prayer to be said before a Catholic Sermon or exhortation. O Lord jesus Christ, open the eyes and ears of my heart, to the end I may hear and understand thy holy word, and to obey it, according to thy holy will. I am a pilgrim upon earth, keep not hidden thy commandments from me. Open mine eyes that I may understand the marvelous things of thy law. give me wisdom, to lighten my understanding, to purify my heart, to inflame my affection, that I may love thee and know thee, in all and above all things. Amen. The end of the second Chapter. THE third CHAPTER CONTAINING Wholesome prayers for remission of sins. An humble bewailing of sins for a sinner that hath compunction. joan. Fab. in precat. Christian. O Most heavenly king and most merciful Lord and saviour Christ jesus, here do I come to thee being very faint with the infirmity of sin, and far from the perfection which thou requirest to be in me. My conscience doth daily accuse me, and more and more I find the imperfection and fraveltie of my flesh. I do continually offend thy Majesty. All the imaginations of my heart, all my words and deeds whatsoever I do, or leave undone, whether I eat, drink, sleep, or watch, all my thoughts, all my senses are wholly bend to wickedness: whether shall I turn me O Lord? Thou requirest of me integrity of life, and justice, and that I should walk in thy holy commandments, whereto thou promisest me thy gracious help: But O Lord I feel my own will so perverse & overthwart that I can not heartily wish and desire those things which be requisite to my salvation: I have no will to bewail my sins, ne yet repent my wickedness from the bottom of my heart: I am so carried away with the vanity of this life, that I do quite forget the benefits of thy death and Passion, which thou of thy bountiouse liberality bestowed upon me most vile and abominable wretch. My offences be so many in number, and so grievous, O most gracious God, (wherewith I offend thy Divine majesty,) that were not thy most merciful pity, I had been long ago drowned in the deep dungeon of everlasting torment. Wherefore I most humbly thank thy unspeakable goodness & mercy, that I am not already sounken into the bottomless pit of hell. But what shall I do? shall I despayer? shall I say with cursed Cain the murderer of his brother, my offences are greater than can be forgiven me? No: God forbid that I should have any such thought: no but this will I say, my God is merciful and full of pity, he is my comfort, my strength & consolation, my refuge, & defence, he will not despise the work of his own h●●d, n●● will cast from afore him me poor wretched sinner: wherefore most merciful Saviour, I come to the, opening in thy sight the thoughts of my heart, for thou never fayleste me with thy gracious help. I confess most merciful Lord before thee, my weakness, acknowledging my own imperfection, and bewailing the multitude of my offences. O everlasting and endless sweetness, o unspeakable mercy and most loving Father, I have sundry times, and manies ways offended against heaven & thee, so that I am not worthy to be reputed for thy child. For I have abused thy fatherly clemency & merciful pity to mine utter undoing. Accept me o Lord for one of thy hired servants, and feed me with the comfortable bread of thy heavenly grace, that I being refreshed therewith, may humbly serve the in thy house, in cleans of life, and purity of conscience, all the days of my life. O sweet Saviour Christ I humbly beseech the for thy bitter Passion & blessed mothers sake, by that Marie Magdalene, which so fervently loved thee, whose sins all though they were many, yet thou forgavest them, and madest her partaker of thy heavenly glory, receive me under the wings of thy mercy, & take compassion upon me. Take from me the fond love of this transitory world, & quenshe in me all fillthie lusts of the flesh, and enkindle in my soul a burning desire of thy glorious bliss. Grant me almighty God true repentance for my sins: grant me thy grace to lament in me my want of sorrow for my offences: make my heart pure & net that my soul being clean, may utterly abhor and hate sin. Grant me reconciliation to thee, through the comfortable Sacrament of penance: & to be received into the blessed company of thy chosen. give me an earnest desire to amend my life, that I being holden up with thy grace, may continue in holiness of life to the end of the same, and lastlly may attain to thy heavenly tabernakle, where I may praise and honour thee, world without end. Amen. A prayer of penitent sinner acknowledging his vileness in the sight of God. Imit Christ. lib. 3. ca 9 SHall I Lord jesus dare speak to the that am but dust & ashes? verily if I think myself any better than ashes and dust, thou standest against me, and also mine own sins bear witness against me, that I may not with say it: but if I despise myself, and set myself at nought, and think myself but dust and ashes, as I am, than thy grace shallbe nigh unto me, and the light of true understanding shall enter into my heart, so that all presumption & pride in me, shallbe drowned in the vale of meekness, through perfect knowledge of my wretchedness. I have lost thee, & also myself by inordinate love that I have had to myself, and in seeking of thee again, I have found both thee and me, and therefore will I more deeply from hencefourthe set myself at naught, & more diligently seek thee, than I have done in time paste: for thou Lord jesus, thou dost to me above all my merits, and above all that I can ask or desire. But blessed be thou in all thy works, for though I be unworthy any good thing, yet thy goodness never ceaseth to do well to me, and also to many other which be unkind to thee, and that are turned right far from thee. Turn us Lord therefore to thee again, that we may henceforward be loving, thank full, meek and devout to thee: for thou art our health, our virtue, and all our strength in body and in soul, and none but thou. To thee therefore be joy and glory everlastingly in the bliss of heaven. Amen. A confession of a man's own ungratefulness towards God, whereupon the sinner being turned unto penance, prescribeth to himself a certain course of life. Margarita evangelica, ca 3. li. 4. O God I am the prodigal child, which hath sundry ways offended thee, who being created of thee, in the state of innocency, have notwithstanding that, without all shame most vilely given myself over to all devilish and lewd conversation. Thou wast crucified and did dost humble thyself for me, and I have swelled up with pride. Thou haft showed thyself naked and needy, and covetousness hath overwhelmed me: Thou suffered'st smart and pain, but I live in wanton delicateness: Thou wast served with esyll and gall, but I lie in beastly drounkennes: Thou wast always well occupied in virtuous exercise, but I always idle and never well occupied: Thou diddest pray for thine enemies, and I have been so far from the praying for mine enemies, that I care little for my friends. But alas what shall I do? shall I fall in despair? No, God forbid. Iron that is rusty may be cleansed & skowred clean from rust, and I will cleanse myself from the rust of conscience with contrition, confession, & satisfaction. And as I have through pride lift up myself, so will I pluck down my heart by humility, & become a mockingestocke and scorn to the world: And because I will avoid covetousness: I will quite abandon all desire of worldly and transitory things, & against the wantonness of the flesh, I will hamper my flesh, with continual sobbing and sighing for my sins. By the burning compassion of thy brotherly love, and fervent charity and the denying of thine own will, & for thy bitter Passion have mercy upon me. Amen. An humble confession of sins with desire of mercy and grace. O Lord creator of heaven and earth, king of kings and Lord over all dominion & power, which haste made me of nought even unto thine own likeness by memory, understanding, and will, whereby I may know, worship, and love thee, & hast also redeemed me with thy most precious blood, whom I detestable wretch and wicked creature am not worthy once to name, much less to call upon thee: the rather, for that I do acknowledge, & confess myself. I have been & am an horrible & grievous sinner: & have so heinously transgressed in the sight of thy Divine majesty, that I am not worthy to be called thy son, no not so much as to have the name of thy meanest or simplest servant, neither yet that the earth should bear my footsteps, but rather for my wickedness to open her mouth to devour and swallow me up, to be eternally tormented in the bottomless pit of hell. How much less than may I presume to offer up unto thee any sacrifice of praise or thanks giving? For if thou hast not spared the natural braunshes & creatures of so great excellency, that is to say, Lucifer & his wicked favourers, but for the offences of one rebellious & proud thought and that scarce of so long continuance as the minute of an hour, thou haste thrown them down from the high habitation of heaven & everlasting joy & felicity, (unto which they were created,) into the vale of everlasting darkness, there to be eternally tormented in the flames of unquenchable fire, Alas, what shall I then most wretched sinner say, or what just excuse may I allege, which have not offended in one sin only, but in many, and that in heaping sin upon sin from day to ●●y without any repentance? But yet most merciful father because thou art the father of mercy, and that it is thy property always to take mercy, & despisest not the sighing of such as are unfeignedly contrite in heart, and willest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may be turned again unto thee & live: therefore I chiefly having assured confidence in thy superabundaunt mercy, do humbly prostrate myself before thy mercy-seat, instantly beseeching thee to grant me pardon, and remission of my wretched wickedness, and great offences, with which I have so grievously offended thy eternal goodness, wittingly or ignorantly, as thou best knowest, from the beginning of my life until this present, and specially with such a person, in such a place, these many times, in this manner, this suggestion moving me, this long continuing without repentance, and by my evil example giving such and such occasion to sin. Here call to mind particularly in what thou haste offended God: With whom thou hast sinned: Whom thou haste injuried: How often, and how long thou haste continued Of all which, most merciful Father, it may please thee to pardon me most fillthie sinner, and abominable liver, and also all other sinners which either I have enticed unto sin, or given example of sinning, & likewise all those which have given me occasion of sinning: absolving and delivering us from the grievous heavy bands thereof, through the merciful merits of the most bitter Passion of thy only son and our redeemer jesus Christ, who suffered most cruel and vile death to save sinners. For otherwise what should become of me in that most dreadful judgement day, when the book of conscience shallbe opened, when it shallbe said of me, behold the person and his works: at which time all the iniquity that I have committed, from the first day of my life, both in heart, word, and work, shallbe made open to heaven and earth, & all those my sins shallbe there present to accuse me: moreover the devil and conscience ready to bear witness thereunto, also thou my wratthfull judge upon their just accusation, thy justice enforcing the same, ready to give the terrible sentence of eternal death against me, and finally the horrible pit of hell continually gaping and opening his unsatiable mouth, desirous to swallow me, the dreadful consideration whereof would make me, O Lord, to despair, if I did not call to mind the infiniteness of thy mercy, my most merciful redeemer: For the sins of men, be they never so many, are to be numbered: but thy mercy Lord God is infinite and without numbered, and thy mercy great above all thy works: for thy exceeding great mercy through effusion of thy most precious blood and voluntary death, hath purchased pardon, and forgiveness for us, before we were suitors for it, yea when we were thine enemies, and gone far away from thee, how much more rather shall we obtain it, when we through thy grace now being reconciled unto thee, with our unfeigned repentant hearts incessantly do sue, and with bitter tears humbly crave it? Wherefore O Lord of mercy, deal not with me after my deserts, but according to thy great mercy: remember not, sweet jesus, thy severe justice against the sinner, but be mindful of thy long suffering goodness towards thy creature. Remember not thy wrath against the offender, but be mindful of thy mercy towards the repentant sinner. Remember not my disobedience which hath provoked the, but respect him which in great sorrow and heaviness of heart, for his offences calleth upon thee. For what is jesus but a saviour: Therefore O jesus for thine own sake I beseech thee, rise up to help me, and say unto my soul, I am thy saving health. I presume much of thy goodness O merclfull Lord being there unto emboldened, forasmuch as thou thyself teachest me to ask, to seek, & to knock. Wherefore being admonished through thy teaching, I ask, I seek, and I knock, and thou Lord which commandest me to ask, grant me to obtain: and thou which counsaylest me to seek, grant me to find. And thou which teachest me to knock, open unto me at my knockings, & make me being sick in soul, to be whole: restore me again being as one forlorn, and a caste-awaye: Raise me up being dead through sin, from death, and vouchsafe to govern and direct all my senses, thoughts, words, and acts, so as they may be pleasant in thy sight, that from henceforth I may truly serve thee, live to thee, and commit myself wholly unto thee, and to delight in nothing, but in thee and for thee. For I know O Lord, that forasmuch as thou hast made me, Low unto thee myself: and because thou haste redeemed me, and waste made man for me, I own unto thee more than myself, if I had it, by so much as thou art more worthy than I, for whom, thou being the son of God and second person in Trinity, wouchsafest to suffer for my sake most grievous torments and shameful death. Yet Lo, more than myself, I have not to give, neither yet I can give that unto thee without thee, wherefore do thou receive me, & draw me through thy grace unto thee, that I may aswell be thine by love and imitation, as I am thine by calling and creation. Which livest & reignest for ever and ever: unto whom be all honour & glory world without end. Amen. A prayer for a penitent sinner after his relapse or falling to sin again. Antonius Hemert. in Speculo perfectionis. O Lord jesus Christ I unhappy sinner most vile and unthankful: Lo, now again I have offended thee, by this word N. or by this sin N. I have dishonoured thy majesty, & have rejected thee, which above all things ought to be to me most dear and agreeable. Thou knowest (O Lord) how much I am yet Carnal, how little mortified, how full of evil concupiscence, how I am flootinge in external pleasures, how often enwrapped in vain fancies, how negligent in spiritual exercises, how light in laughing and dissolution, how hard & difficult in weepings and compunction, how evil advised in speaking, how impatient in keeping silence, how much given to eating and drinking, how deaf and dull in hearing godly admonitions, how attentife to babbling, how sluggish to hear divine service, how suddenly I am troubled and letted to do good, how many things I purpose whereof I accomplish none. O my Lord my God, I am full of Sorrow & grief, for that I have sinned, & also for that I have tooto little compunction: I desire with all my heart, that thou wouldst wound my heart with the sorrow of most perfect contrition. And for as much, as perdition and offence proceedeth from me, and grace and mercy from thee, I purpose from this time forwards (being assisted by they grace) from hence forth to keep myself, from all misdeeds, and to avoid all occasions of sin. Amen. A most profitable protestation to be made whiles we are yet in health and prosperity, Cornelius Donters in his contemplations upon the passion. O Lord God almighty to whom all things are manifest and known: O eternal Sapience which preserveth all things, I poor wretched creature in despite of mine enemy make protestation, whiles I am in good health and perfect memory, wherein I stand at this present through thy grace, that although it happen or come to pass that by any temptation, illusion, deceit or variation coming of grief of sickness, or by weakness of body, or by any other occasion whatsoever, I come in danger of my soul or prejudice to my salvation, or in error of the Catholic fayty in the which I am regenerated in the fountain of Baptism, there promised to resist all temptations of the devil and all errors of faith: and at this present I do resist and renounce as I did then, and then as now, protesting most fervently with all my heart to live and die in the faith of our mother the holy Church thy spouse: and in witness of this protestation and confession I offer (the articles of our holy christian faith which thy holy Apostles hath left us) in recommending unto thee my faith, life and death. Amen. I believe in God the Father etc. The end of the third chapter. THE FOURTHE CHAPTER CONTAINING VERY goodly prayers, for comfort, strength and delivery (by God's assistance) in all sorrows, tribulations, afflictions and adversities. When thou feelest thyself tempted, say as followeth. Imitatio Christi li. 3. ca 7. O Thou Satan, the devil, enemy of mankind, I adjure thee by the name of our Lord God, and by the sign of the holy cross ✚ that thou depart and never hereafter enter into me. O thou wicked spirit avoid from me, & be thou ashamed for thou art foul and ugly, that wouldst bring such things into my mind. Go from me thou false deceiver of mankind, thou shalt have no part in me for my Saviour jesus standeth by me as a mighty warrior and a strong champion, and thou shalt fly away to thy confusion. I had lever suffer the most cruel death then to consent to thy malicious stirrings: be still therefore thou cursed fyende, and cease thy malice, for I shall never assent to thee, though thou vex me never so much, our Lord is my light & my health, whom shall I dread? and he is the defender of my life, what shall I fear? Truly though an host of men arise against me, my heart shall not dread them, for why? God is my helper and my redeemer. Amen. A prayer of any captive according to the form of David, when he was hid in the cave. Psal. 142. WIth my voice I cry to thee, afore thee I open my lamentations, in thy bosom I disclose the secret word of my heart, my dolours and griefs I show unto thee, my heart is almost like to burst, so great is my discomfiture. Thou knowest all my dealings O Lord: and thou seest well enough how the ungodly have laid their snares for me. Lo I cast mine eye on this side, and that side, aswell on my friends as kinsfolks, but all is in vain, none of them all helpeth me. And again I can not run away, I am so loaden & over charged with irons. O Lord my maker and father, now unto thee I cry, thou art mine only Shot-anker, defence & help. Thou art my portion & heritage which I possess in all countries, yea, I have none other possession but thee only: To thee therefore I stick altogether, knowing certainly that nothing can go amiss with me. Consider then my lamentable complaint, behold how I am brought low: From the cruel pursuers which be much more of power than I am, defend me: Deliver me from this prison, and horrible fear of sin and death, that I may set out thy name, all thy saints as well Angels as men, make suit for me, desiring thee for my comfort. They shall not cease until they obtain their request, I mean until thou forgive me my sins, and send me comfort in this distress with patience and long suffering. This once obtained, the godly folk shall flock about me, & shall not stint to give thee thanks, when they see that thou riddest me forth of these dangers, to the high praise of thy name, Lord be merciful unto us, take part with us, than we shall for ever lift up, and magnify thy glorious name. Amen. A prayer of job, in his most grievous adversity and loss of goods. job. 1. NAked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return again, our Lord gave, & our Lord hath taken away, as it hath pleased our Lord, so is it done now blessed be the name of our Lord. Amen. A prayer in trouble of conscience. Psal. 134. Lord hear my prayer, receive my fupplication, hearken to my complaint for thy righteousness. Try not the law with thy servant, for truly then shall no living man be found unguilty, yea, not one of thy saints should escape quit at thy bar, unless thou grant him thy gracious pardon, in somuch, even the very stars be not pure and faultless afore thee, in the Angels thou foundest sin. Now mine enemies hunt for my soul, they beat & drive it down, they thrust it into dark dungeons, where felons convict and condemned to death, were wont to be kept, my spirit is sorrowful, my heart is heavy and sad with in my breast, to thee I hold up my hands, requiring the of mercy. For like as the dry ground longeth for a shower of reign, so my soul thinketh long till it hath thy help and succour, hear me speedily: if thou do not? I am in despair, my spirits is all weary of this bondage. I have bid my life farewell: Wherefore O God, hide not thy face, that I be not like to those that be hurled into the pit of damnation: after this night of misery overpassed, let the pleasant morning of comfort luckyly shine upon me, that by time I may hear and feel thy goodness, for in thee is all my trust: point me the way, that I shall walk in, for if thou be not my guide, I must needs wander and stray out of the way. To thee Lord I lift up my soul, and that with all mine heart I beseech the, take me forth of mine enemy's hands. Thou only art my succour and safeguard, teach me to work what soever shall be thy pleasure, for thou art my God. Let thy good spirit conduct me into the land of the living, encourage my spirit for thy name's sake: forth of all these troubles, for thy righteousness deliver me: confounded mine enemies as thou art gracious & favourable towards me. Those that will work me sorrow and grief, pluck forth of the way, for I am thy servant, and for thy sake suffer I all this hurlye-burlye. As thou art God, so help thou me. Amen. A prayer for patience. De Imit. Christ. li. 3. cap 20. O Lord, for as much as thou was found patient in thy life, fulfilling in it most specially the will of thy father, it is requisite that I most wretched sinner should behave myself patiently after thy will in all things, and as long as thou wilt, that I for mine own health bear the burden of this corruptible life: for though this life be tedious and as heavy a burden to the soul, yet nevertheless it is now through thy grace made very meritorious, and by example of thee, and of thy holy Saints it is now made to weak persons more patiented, clearer, and also much more comfortable than it was in the old Law, when the gates of heaven were shut, and the way thither ward was dark, and so few did covet to seek it. And yet they that were then righteous and were ordained to be saved, before thy blessed passion and death might never have come thither. O what thanks am I bound therefore to yield to thee, that so lovingly haste vouchsafed to show to me, and to all faithful people that will follow thee, the very true and strait way to thy kingdom. Thy holy life is our way, and by thy patience we walk to thee that art our head and governor. But that thou Lord hadst gone before and showed us the way, who would have endeavoured himself to have followed: O how many should have tarried behind if they had not seen thy blessed example going before, we be yet slow and dull, although we have seen and hard thy signs and doctrines: what should we then have been if we had seen no such light going before us? Truly we should have fixed our mind and our love wholly in worldly things. Make therefore O Lord that possible to me by grace, which is unpossible by nature. Thou knowest well O Christ, that I can suffer little, and that I am anon cast down with a little adversity: wherefore I beseech thee, that trouble and adversity may hereafter for thy name's sake, be beloved and desired of me. For truly to suffer and to be vexed for thee, is very good, and profitable, to the health of my soul. A prayer against the enemies of Christ's truth. Psal. 139. deliver me (O Lord) from the ungodly & stiff necked persons, for thou seest how in their hearts they imagine mischief, and have great pleasure to pick quarrels, their tongues be more sharper than any Adder's stingge, & under their lips lieth poison of Adders, but O merciful Lord let me not fall into their hands that they handle me not after their own lusts. Thou only art my God, thou must hear my piteous complaint, Lord that rulest all together, that art the strength and power of my defence, be thou as a helmet upon my head, whensoever the ungodly shall assault me, neither suffer thou not the wicked thus to prosper in their matters. Suffer not their canckarde and malicious stomachs to increase and spitefully to revile me. Look upon thy poor wretch's cause, and rid me out of these daily grievances, then shall I with an up right heart and pleasant countenance extol & magnify thy holy name. Amen. A prayer wherein is desired freedom of the mind and avoidance of worldly desires. Imitat o Christ. li. 3. ca 30. I Besche thee most meek and merciful Lord jesus, that thou keep me from the business and cares of the world, and that I be not taken with the voluptuous pleasure of the world, nor of the flesh, and that in likewise thou preserve me from all hindrance of the soul, that I be not broken with overmuch heaviness, sorrow, nor worldly dread. And by these petitions I ask not only to be delivered from such vanities as the world desireth, but also from such miseries as grieve the soul of me thy servant with the common malediction of mankind, that is, with corruption of the bodily feeling wherewith I am so grieved and letted, that I may not have liberty of spirit to behold thee when I would. O Lord God thou art sweetness unspeakable: turn into bitterness to me all fleshly delights, which would draw me from the love of eternal things, to the love of a short and a vile delectable pleasure: Let not flesh and blood overcome me, nor the world with his short glory deceive me, nor the fiend with his thousand-foulde crafts supplant me, but give me ghostly strength in resisting, patience in suffering, and constancy in persevering. give me also for all worldly consolations, the most sweet consolation, of the holy Ghost, and for all fleshly love send into my soul the love of thy holy name. Lo, meat, and drink, clothing, and all other necessaries for the body are painful and troublesome to a fervent spirit, which if it might, would always rest in God and in ghostly things, grant me therefore grace to use such bodily necessaries temporally, and that I be not deceived with overmuch desire to them. To forsake all things it is not lawful, for the bodily kind must be preserved, and to seek superfluous things more for pleasure than for necessity, thy holy law prohibiteth, for so the flesh would rebel against the spirit: wherefore Lord I beseech thee that thy hand of grace may so govern me, and teach me that I exceed not by any manner of superfluity. A prayer before we take in hand any journey. By Arnould Sobin. O Good God whom it pleased to direct Abraham, jacob and young Tobias in their peregrinations, and brought them in health & safety into their country: Grant I beseech thee to be my direct our in this journey, which I would in no respect undertake (much less follow and finish) if I knew it any way contrary to thy holy will: Therefore (O Lord) give me Raphael for my conductor, to whose custody I may be delivered, and thereby be brought with happy success to the accomplishing of that work whereunto I prepare and dispose myself. direct my understanding (O Lord) to the end that my feet no where stray from the observations of thy holy commandments: In the name of thy well-beloved son jesus Christ our redeemer, who with thee in unity of the holy Ghost liveth & reigneth eternally. Amen. Here followeth (for the use of those that are desirous to read latin prayers) certain verses collected by Sir Thomas Moor forth of David's psalter: in the time of his trouble and persecution for the Catholic faith: containing an invocation to God for his help against temptation, with an insultation against wicked spirits, upon hope and confidence in God. IMPLORATIO DIVINI AUXILII contra ●enta●●onem, cum insultatione eontra Daemones exspe & fiducia in Deum. DOmine quid multiplicati sunt, qui tribulant me? multi insurgunt adversum me. Multi dicunt animae meae, non est salus ipsi in deo eius. Tu autem domine susceptor meus es, gloria mea, & exaltans caput meum. Ego dormivi, & soporatus sum: & exurrexi quia dominus suscepit me. Non timebo millia populi circundantis me, exurge domine, saluum me fac deus meus. Psa. 5. Domine deduc me in justitia tua, propter inimicos meos dirige in conspectu tuo viam meam. Quoniam non est in ore eorum veritas, cor eorum vanum est. Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum, linguis suis dolose agebant judica illos deus. Decidant a cogitationibus suis: secundum multitudinem impietatum eorum expelle eos, quoniam irritaverunt te domine. Et laetentur omnes qui sperant in te, in aeternum exultabunt, & habitabis in eis. Domine ut scuto bonae voluntatis tuae coronasti nos. Psa. 7. Domine d●us meus in te speravi, saluum me fac ex omnibus pierce quentibus me, & libera me. Nequando rapiat ut leo animam meam, dum non est qui redimat, neque qui saluum faciat. Exurge domine in ira tua, & exaltare in finibus inimicorum meorum. Persequatur inimicus animam meam ut comprehendat, & conculcet in terra vitam meam, & gloriam meam in pulverem deducat. Arcum suum tetendit, & paravit illum: & in eo paravit vasa mortis, sagittas suas ardentibus effecit. Ecce parturit iniustitiam, concepit dolorem, & peperit iniquitatem. Lacum apperuit, & effodit eum, incidit in foveam quam fecit. Conuertetur dolor eius in caput eius, & in verticem ipsius iniquitas eius descendet. Confitebor domino secundum justiciam eius: & psallam nomini domini altissimi. Psa 4. In pace in idipsum dormiam & requiescam. Quoniam tu domine singulariter in spe constituisti me. Psa 9 Miserere mei domine, vide humilitatem meam de inimicis meis. Et sperent in te, qui noverunt nomen tuum domine, quoniam non dereliquisti quaerentes te domine. Et factus est dominus refugium pauperi, adiutor in oportunitatibus in tribulatione. quid domine recessisti long, despicis in oportunitatibus in tribulatione? Quo niam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis, patientia pauperum non peribit in finem. Exurge domine deus, exaltetur manus tua, ne obliviscar is pauperum. Tibi derelictus est pauper, orphano tu eris adiutor. Desiderium pauperum exaudivit dominus: praeparationem cordis eorum audivit auris tua. Dominus in templo sancto suo, dominus in cae lo sedes eius. Oculi eius in pauperem respiciunt: palpebre eius interrogant filios hominum. Propter miseriam inopum & gemitum pauperum nunc exurgam, dicit dominus. Domine deus meus in te speravi, saluum me fac ex omnibus persequentibus me & libera me. Psa. 12. Vsquequo domine oblivisceris me in finem? usquequo avertis faciem tuam a me? Quandiu ponam confilia in anima mea: dolorem in cord meo per diem? Vsquequo exaltabitur inimicus meus super me? respice, & exaudi me domine deus meus. Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte: nequando dicat inimicus meus, praevalui adversus eum. Qui tribulant me, exultabunt si motus fuero: ego aut em in misericordia tua speravi. Exultabit cor meum in salutari tuo cantabo domino qui bona tribuit mihi, & psallam nomini domini altissimi. Psa. 15. Conserua me domine, quonia● speravi in te, dixi domino, deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges. Psa. 16. Perfice gressus meos in semitis tui●: ut non mou●antur vestigia mea. Mirifica misericordias tuas, qui saluos facis sperantes in te. Psa. 15. Providebam dominum in conspectu meo seper, qui a dextris est mihi, ne commouear. Propter hoc laetatum est cor meum, & exultavit lingua mea, insuper & caro mea requiescet in spe. Psas. 17. Tu illuminas lucernam meam domine deus meus, illumina tenebras meas. Quoniam in te eripiar à temptatione, in deo meo transgrediar murum. Deus meus impolluta via eius, eloquia domine igne examinata, protector est omnium sperantium in se. Quoniam quis deus praeter dominum, aut quis deus praeter deum nostrum. Psa 21. Ego autem sum vermis & non homo, opprobrium hominum, & abiectio plebis. Omnes videntes me deriserunt me, locuti sunt labijs, & moverunt caput. Tu es qui extraxisti me de ventre, spes mea ab uberibus matris meae, in te proiectus sum ex utero. De ventre matris meae deus meus es tu, ne discesseris a me. Quoniam tribulatio proxima est, quoniam non est qui adiwet. Tu autem domine ne elongaveris auxilium tuum à me, ad defensionem meam conspice. Et si ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala, quoniā●u me●ū●es. Virga tua & baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt. Psa. 24. Ad te domine levaui animam meam, deus meus in te confido, non erubescam. Neque irrideant me inimici mei, etenim universi, qui sustinent te, non confundentur. Delicta iwentutis meae, & ignorantias meas ne memineris. Secundum misericordiam tuam memento mei tu: propter bonitatem tuam domine. Propter nomen tuum domine propitiaberis peccato meo, multum est enim. Oculi mei semper ad dominum, quoniam ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos. Tribulationes cordis mei multiplicatae sunt, de necessitatibus meis erue ine. Vide humilitatem meam & laborem meum, & dimit universa delicta mea. Psa. 26. Dominus illuminatio mea, & salus mea, quem timebo? Dominus protector vitae meae, à quo trepidabo? Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum. Si exurgat adversum me praelium, in hoc ego sperabo. unam petij a do mino hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo domini omnibus diebus vitae meae. videam voluntatem domini, & visitem templum eius. Exaudi domine vocem meam, qua clamavi ad te miserere mei, & exaudi me. Tibi dixit cor meum, exquisivit te facies mea, faciem tuam domine requiram. Ne avertas faciem tuam a me: ne declines in ira a servo tuo. Adiutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me, neque despicias me deus salutaris meus. Credo videre bona domini in terra viventium. Expecta dominum viriliter age: conforterur cor tuum, & sustine dominum. Psa 27. Ad te domine clamabo, deus meus ne sileas à me: nequando taceas a me, & assimilabor descendentibus in lacum. Psa. 29. Psallite domino sancti eius, & confitemini memoriae sanctitatis eius. Quoniam ira in indignatione eius, & vita in voluntate eius. Ad vesperam demorabitur fletus: & ad matutinum laeticia. Auertisti faciem tuam à me, factus sum conturbatus. Ad te domine clamabo, & ad deum meum deprecabor. Quae utilitas in sanguine meo, dum descendo in corruptionem. Psa. 30. In te domine speravi, non confundar in aeternum, in justicia tua libera me. Inclina ad me aurem tuam, accelera ut eruas me. Esto mihi in deum protectorem, & in domum refugij, ut saluum me facias. Quoniam fortitudo mea & refugium meumes tu, & propter nomen tuum deduces me, & enutries me. Educes me de laqueo, quem absconderunt mihi: quoniam tues protector meus. In manus tuas domine commendo-spiritum meum, redemisti me domine deus veritatis. Miserere mei domine, quoniam tribulor, conturbatus est in ira oculus meus, anima mea & venter meus. Quoniam defecit in dolore vita mea, & anni mei in gemitibus. Infirmata est in paupertate virtus mea, & ossa mea conturbata sunt. Super omnes inimicos meos factus sum opprobrium vicinis meis valde, & timor notis meis. Qui videbant me foras fugerunt à me: oblivioni datus sum tanquam mortuus a cord. Factus sum tanquam vas perditum: quoniam audivi vitu perationem multorum commorantium in circuitu. In eo dum convenirent simul adversum me, accipere animam meam consiliati sunt. Ego autem in te speravi domine, dixi, deus meus es tu, in manibus tuis sortes meae. Illustra faciem tuam super servum tuum, saluum me fac in misericordia tua domine, non confundar, quoniam invocavi te. Quoniam magna multitudo dulcedinis tuae domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te. Psa. 32. Ecce oculi domini super timentes eum, & in eis qui sperant super misericordia eius. eruat à morte animas eorum, & alat eos in fame. Anima nostra sustinet dominum, quo niam adiutor & protector noster est. Quia in eo laetabitur cor nostrum, & in nomine sancto eius speravimus. Fiat misericordia tua domine super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te. Psal. 33. Accedite ad eum, & illuminamini, & facies vestrae non confundentur. Immittet angelus domini in circuitu timentium eum, & eripiet eos. Gustate & videte, quoniam suavis est dominus, beatus vir, qui sperat in eo. Timete dominum omnes sancti eius, quoniam non est inopia timentibus eum. Divites eguerunt & esurierunt inquirentes autem dominum non minuentur omni bono. juxta est dominus his, qui tribulato sunt cord, & humiles spiritu saluabit. Psa 35. Fil j homnum in tegmine alarum tuarum sperabunt, in ebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuae. Quoniam apud te est fons vitae, & in lumine tuo videbimus lumen. Psa 37. Dominene in furore tuo arguas me neque in ira tua corripias me. Quoniam sagittae tuae infixae sunt mihi, & consirmasti super me manum tuam. Non est sanitas in carne mea: a facie irae tuae, non est pax ossibus meis a facie peccatorum meorum. Quoniam iniquitares meae supergressae sunt caput meum, & sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me. Putruerunt & corruptae sunt circatrices meae a faciae insipientiae meae Miser factus sum & curuatus sum usque in finem: tota die cótristatus ingrediebar. Quoniam lumbi mei impleti sunt Illusionibus: & non est sanitas in carne mea. Afflictus sum & humiliatus sum nimis: rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei. Domine ante te omne desiderium meum: & gemitus meus a te non est absconditus. Cor meum conturbatum est, dereliquit me virtus mea: & lumen oculorum meorum, & ipsum non est est mecum. Amici mei & proximi mei adversum me appropinquaverunt & steterunt, Et qui juxta me erant de long steterunt, love heartily without dissimulation, ye and to help all men both with counsel and good example without pride or vain glory, to be obedient without grudging, and patient without spurning at adversity. Grant sweet saviour Christ unto me a vigilant and wakeful mind, that no fond fancy may carry me away from thee: steadfastness that no wavering affection may shake: constancy that no pain, sorrow, or tribulation may daunt, that freedom of mind that no violence of servile pleasure mave pierce: a strait and true heart towards thee that no perverse or sinister thought have power to make me serve from thee. give me sweet jesus an understanding mind in the knowledge of thee: diligence to search thee: wisdom to sinned thee: conversation acceptable and pleasing unto thee: perseverance in the sweetness of thy holy faith: a sure confidence and trust in thee: to be fastened to thy holy passion by penance: to enjoy the merits of thy blessed benefits through grace. And lastly of all to be partaker of thy heavenly mansion in the everlasting bliss and felicity. Amen. A prayer most godly and devour which S. Thomas of Aquin used daily to pray. Grant me most merciful God fervently to desire such things as may be acceptable and pleasing unto thee, with wisdom to search after them, not to be deceived in the knowledge of them, and unfeignedly to accomplish the doing of them, to the praise and glory of thy holy name. direct so my life, and grant me that I may both have knowledge, will & power to do, that which thou requierest I should do, in such sort, as is behovable and most expedient for my soul. Let my way unto thee O Lord be sure, strait, and perfect, that I may neither faint, nor fall from thee: either thorough adversity or prosperity, that I be not puffed up in pride through the one, nor yet driven down into despair through the other: But that I may for the one give thanks, & be in the other armed with patience. Also that I may rejoice in nothing, but in that which may allure me unto thee: nor sorrow ought but that which doth withdraw me from thee, that I desire to please or displease none, but thee, or for thee: & that all things transitory may for thy sake Lord, be of no reputation with me, and that all things liking unto thee may be delectable unto me, and thou God more than all other things: and that I may have no rejoicing besides thee, let all labour delight me that is taken for thee, and all ease be unpleasant that is without thee. Make me to lift up my heart often unto thee, and when I fall from thee, grant me to call it sorrowfully to mind with full purpose of amendment. Grant me that I may be obedient without repining, or giving of froward language: and poor without falling from thee: patiented without murmuring or grudging, pure and clean without defiling, or corruption. Make me also lowly without counterfeiting, merry without looseness, sad without lumpishness, sober without dullenes, nimble and quick without lightness of behaviour, true without doblenes, fearing thee, but not to despair, to do good works, but not to presume, telling my neighbour his fault without flattering, instructing him both by word and example without scorning, or taunting. Grant me most loving Lord and my God, that my heart may always so wake unto thee that no vain worldly thought withdraw me from thee, give me that constancy that no evil affection or wicked suggestion do pluck me away from the, and a heart so stable, that no troubles may overcome me, so free from all vice, that sin may challenge nothing in me. Grant me O my Lord God understanding to know thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to find thee, conversation to please thee, faithfully to persevere, looking after thee, & finally through hope to embrace thee, & in respect of thy most grievous pains suffered upon the Cross for me, that I may willingly suffer penance and all tribulation for thee. Also through thy grace to enjoy the gracious benefits here in this transitory life, and in the world to come to be partaker of thy reward & heavenly joys, through the precious blood of that immaculate lamb our only Saviour jesus Christ: to whom with the father and the holy ghost three persons and one God, be all honour and glory world without end. Amen. A prayer to God that he will vouchsafe to preserve the fruits of the earth. joan Ferus in lib. prec. O Omnipotent, everlasting, and merciful God, we beseech thee consider our daily needs: show us thy mercy, and give us a sufficient harvest for our daily necessities, grant that corn, trees, and other fruits of the earth, may (by thy holy benediction) grow, increase and multiply: Turn back and withdraw from the fruits of the earth, all that may be damageable, as tempests, overflowing of waters, coldness, hail and other like things, which are any way hurtful: Through our Lord jesus Christ thy son the everlasting life. Amen. A prayer to desire that we may use all temporal things, for the health of our souls only. Thomas de Camp. in lib. de Imit. Christ. I Beseech thee most inercyfull God, vouchsafe to preserve me, from excessive cares of this life, that I be not to much encumbered with many things concerning the necessity of my body, and that I be not overtaken with any voluptuousness of these things. O my God, my ineffable sweetness, change and turn into bitterness all my carnal consolations, which withdraw me from the love of celestial things. Suffer me not (my God) to be conquered, not to be overcome of flesh and of blood. Suffer me not to be deceived of the world, and of the transitory glory thereof, nor that the devil through his subtlety overthrow me to the ground. give me strength to resist: patience to endure: and constancy to persever: for, meat drink, clothes, and all necessayrie things to uphold the body, are painful & troublesome for that person, that hath a devout spirit. Therefore grant me Lord to use these things moderately, and that my heart be not to much encumbered with the desire of them. The holy law forbiddeth us to require superfluous things, and such as are more delectable than profitable: for otherwise the flesh should be over burdenous to the spirit. And always I request that thy holy hand may govern & instruct me, that I do nothing excessively. Amen. The end of the fifth Chapter. THE sixth CHAPTER CONTAINING WHOLESOME prayers of the life and passion of our Saviour and redeemer jesus Christ. A prayer to be said before the crucifix. Cuthbertus Tunstall in lib. bell. prec. O Merciful crucifix, the redeemer of all people, whose head was filthily lacerate & torn with a crown of thorn, whose hands & feet extended upon a cross were through-bored with nails, whose whole feeble body was hanged on high and two thieves to his ignomy & shame, fastened on his right and left hand, of the which the one despised thee, the other knowledged thee to be a king, whose spirit commended unto the father, was guuen up to redeem us withal. And being dead thy side thorwe-pearced, gushed & poured outewater and blood. What tongue can worthily express, what mind can conceive those innumerable pains, the which thou an innocent haste suffered? We beseech thee, for these so exceeding great torments to illuminate our souls with the light of thy knowledge, to moderate our understanding to strengthen our hands too good works, to convert our feetesteppes and goings to thy ways, to direct our thoughts, words, and deeds, and last of all to bring us wretches unto thy kingdom: where that we with thy holy Angels, may have thy fruition the which dost live and reign God with God the father & the holy ghost through all worlds. So be it. A prayer acknowledging that man was the cause of Christ's suffering. Io. Fab. ex 7. Medit. B Augustin. WHat hast thou done sweet child, that thou shouldest have this judgement? What hast thou done, that thou shouldest be thus straightly delte-with? what is thy offence, what is thy guilt? what cause of thy death? what occasion of thy condemnation? I truly, I am cause of thy trouble, my fault hath made thee to be slain: my defert hath brought thee unto this death: vengeance is taken of thee for my heinous guilt: thou art thus tormented for me, and I the occasion of all thy smart. O marvelous sort of judgement, & order of the unspeakable divine mystery. The wicked sinneth, and the just is punished. The guilty offendeth, and the innocent is beaten. The sinner transgresseth, and the godly is condemned. That which the bad hath deserved, the good suffereth: for that wherein the servant hath done evil, the master maketh recompense: for that the man hath committed the son of God is plagued: how far forth thou son of God, how far forth hath thine humility descended? what hath fervent love enforced the to do? Howfarfurthe is thy mercy extended? how doth thy bounty increase? how far forth hath thy love reached? Unto what pass is thy compassion come? For I have done wickedly, and thou art punished: I have committed a grievous fault, and it is laid to thy charge: I am the offender, and thou art put to the torture: I was puffed up in pride, and thou imbased and made of no reputation: I was disobedient, & thou sufferest the pain of my disobedience. I have pampered myself with delicate fare, & thou therefore ready to perish thorough hunger. My affection through concupiscence had made me to do things unlawful, and perfect charity in thee hath brought thee to suffer upon the cross: I presumed to do that I was forbidden, and thou submittest thyself to receive rebukes and punishments therefore: I delight in all banqueting and pleasure, and thou art put unto miserable pains upon the Cross. I live at ease, and thy hands and feet are pierced with nails: I taste the pleasant apple, and thou the bitter gall: Eva laugheth and rejoiceth with me, blessed mary lamenteth & sorroweth with thee. Behold, O King of glory, Loo what mine iniquity is, and how abundant thy mercy is: Loo what mine ungodliness is, and how marvelous thy righteousness is. O my King and my God, with what may I possible recompense thee for the great goodness showed towards me. Man's heart is not able to think what may be worthily given in recompense for so great benefits. For is there any such fines of wit in man, that is able to make itself equal with the mercy and compassion of God? Or can man imagine which way to do such dewtifull service, as might justly requite his ready succour & provident care continually had for man? There is truly sweet Soon of God, there is through this thy marvelous dispensation, wherein manes frailty may in some thing do that, which may be acceptable unto the, that is to say, if through compunction of heart stirred up by thy visitation, he do crucify his flesh with her concupiscences, and vices, which thorough thy grace being brought to pass, then beginneth he to be a sufferer with thee, for whose offences thou vouchsavedst a vile death to die. So by the victory of the inward man through thee, being his eaptaine, he shallbe armed unto the outward victory, that after conquest made of the spiritual enemy, he shall not fear for thee likewise to die, and for thy sake to offer his body to be hewed in pieces by the material sword. Thus the smallness and simplicity of man's condition and state, if it may so please thy godliness, shallbe able according to his little power in some part to be answerable to the greatness of the creators goodness. This sweet jesus is the heavenly medicine and a preservative of thy love. I beseech thee therefore, for thy noble mercy's sake, power that into my festered wounds, that may cleanse me from the corruption of the Serpent's venomous poison, & restore me again to my former health, that tasting the pleasant liquor of thy sweetness, it may cause me to set at naught all the wanton enticements, & pleasant allurements of the world, and for the love of thee, not to fear any adversities threatnede by it: and that having in remembrance the perpetual blessedness, I make none account of the raging storms of this transitory tyme. Let nothing like me, let nothing be precious in my sight, but that which is pleasing unto thee. Also I pray thee, let all things besides thee, seem filthy unto me and of no reputation, cause me likewise to abhor all things which is offensive unto thee, and my desire never to be satisfied in seeking to do those things which are pleasing unto thee. Let no joy delight me that is without thee, and let me rejoice in all troubles I suffer for thee. Let the remembrance of thee, be my solace, and thy blessed name my consolation, let my tears be nourishment unto me both day and night, in seeking after thy righteousness. Let the law of thy mouth be more precious unto me, than thousands of gold or silver, let it be delectable unto me to obey thee, and detestable to commit aught against thy divine pleasure: I humbly beseech thee (my only hope) for all thy mercies sake, thou wilt be merciful unto me, and pardonne all mine iniquity. From the bottom of my heart I desire thee to open mine ears to hear that thou commandest, and suffer not my heart to decline from thee, nor through words of wickedness to seek excuses for my sin. Finally I beseech thee, for thy marvelous humility, let no pride reign in me: nor the power of the sinner fear me. But that I may all way keep myself undefiled for thee, which livest and reignest for ever, and ever. Amen. A prayer wherein man doth offer (to God the Father) the passion of his son our Lord and saviour Christ. B. August. cap. 6. Medit. Behold O holy Father thy dearly beloved son so cruelly tormented for me, behold most merciful king who it is that suffereth, and remember for whom he suffereth: Is it not O Lord thy most innocent son whom thou hast given to death that he might redeem thy servant? is it not the Author of life who being led as a sheep to the slaughter, and made obedient unto thee, even unto death, spared not the most cruel kind of death? Call to mind O distributor and giver of all goodness, that this is he whom although thou haste begotten of thy divine power and virtue, yet notwithstanding hast made him partaker of my infirmity and weakness: verily this is thy deity, which being clothed with my nature, ascended the gibbet of the cross, upon the which he suffered most dolorous death. O Lord caste the eyes of thy Majesty upon the work of thy ineffable bounty, behold thy most sweet son with his whole body stretched out: behold his innocent hands besprinkled with most precious blood, and mercifully pardon those faults which with my hands I have committed: look upon his naked side, pierced with a spear, and renew me with that sacred fountain which I believe did issue from thence: Consider his undefiled footsteps, which never stood in the way of sinners, but always walked in thy law, how with sharp and long nails they are fastened to the cross, & guide my steps in thy path, and make me hate the ways of iniquity, and choose evermore the way of truth. O King of Angels and saints, I beseech thee for this holy of holies, for this my redeemer to make me run in the way of thy commandments, that I may be united and joined to him, who hath not disdained to be clad with my flesh. O blessed Father wilt thou not behold the head of thy dear son, with his neck as white as snow resolved to die, behold most meek creator the humanity of thy beloved son, and have mercy upon the frailty of thy frail creature: his white breast is naked, his bloody side is read, his stretched bowels dried up, his fair and beautiful eyes waxed dim, his royal and princely visage is pale, his marble-white legs hang down: the streams of his precious blood, do water his feet quite pierced thorough. Behold O glorious Father, the rent and torn members of thy well-beloved son, and benignly remember what my substance is: behold the pain of God and man and release the miseries of man thy creature: behold the punishment of the redeemer, and forgive the offence of the redeemed: this is he (O my Lord) whom thou hast smitten for the sins of the people, although he was thy beloved in whom thou waste well pleased, this was that innocent in whom their was found no guile, & yet was he reputed amongst the wicked. A devout prayer, with the remembrance of the passion of our saviour jesus Christ, to obtain succour and favour of him. Io. Fab. in preca. Christ. O Most sweet Lord and my redeemer which was by the heavenly Father sent down into this world, and haste willingly of thine own accord suffered most cruel bitter pains upon the cross, and haste carried the same Cross upon thy blessed shoulders, to the end that this thy patience might be unto us salvation and a mirror: and finally thou didst consent upon that tree to die and redeem us. I most poor miserable and wretched sinner, most humbly beseech thee, for the incredible patience which thou didst show in the course of thy whole life: and then especially, when the ungracious jews did so rage against thee with villainous & spiteful words: when they did mock thee, and all bespytte thy visage: when they did hoode-winke thine eyes, and with their most filthy and impure hands did smite thee upon the most blessed face: when they did most cruelly whip and scourge thee fast bound to a pillar: when they did thrust upon thy most sacred head a pricking crown of thorn: when with iron nails they did pierce thy blessed arms stretched along upon the cross: when thy blessed side was thrust through with a spear: when in thy great thirst and extreme agony they offered thee a sponge full of vinegar and gall: when with thy head inclined down thou said It is consummate, when thou didst commend thy spirit into the hands of God the Father: and all this ended for the redemption and salvation of mankind, in thy grave thou was buried. For all these pains, and passions, O most meek Lord jesus Christ, I poor and wretched sinner do humbly beseech thy infinite majesty, not to forsake, nor suffer me to be accused, and condemned in thy terrible judgement: but let thy dolorous passion so help and aid me, that I may be brought to everlasting felicity: let thy holy Angels always be in my company, and specially at the hour of death, that they may protect, defend, & keep me, so that the cruel infernal enemy may have no power or part in me. The end of the sixth Chapter. THE SEVENTH CHAPTER CONTAINING Devout and wholesome prayers to be said before and after the receiving of the B. Sacrament. Aduertismentes for more worthily receiving the holy eucharist. 1. Cor. cap. 11. Verse. 26. FOr as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of our Lord until he come. Verse. 27. Therefore who soever shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice of our Lord unworthily, he shall be guilty of the body and blood of our Lord. Verse. 28. But let a man prove himself: and so, let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. Verse 29. For he that eateth and drinckethe unworthily: eateth and drinketh judgement to himself, not descerninge the body of our Lord. This probation according to the words of the Apostle (Let a man prove himself) consisteth principally in four points. 1. faith, before all things is necessary to him that shall receive the blessed Sacrament of the Altar, that is to say he must first believe the presence of the true body and blood of our saviour jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar: for they that deny it, do as much as thy can, to deny the omnipotency of God, and do accuse God with lying: for he hath said: (This is my body: and this is my blood. Also you must of necessity believe that the body of jesus christ is delivered to death: and his blood truly shed for the remission of your sins. 2. Penance, or repentance, to the end you may acknowledge your sins with all your heart, and have true repentance for the same, and truly to confess them to the priest your ghostly father: And after you have obtained absolution, you must firmly purpose not to commit any deadly sin hereafter: and having forsaken all rancour and malice you must be reconciled to them, whom you have offended or that have offended you. 3 Honest and decente behaviour, and countenance appertaining to a christian man, whereby is required that none go to this most blessed Sacrament, and great mystery, but fasting, and with modesty, humility and fervent zeal: & not with any dishonest or uncomely behaviour. 4. Devotion and a heart not occupied in other business or affairs, that so you may employ yourself wholly by meditations and devout prayers to receive such an excellent sacrament, in considering and wondering at the incomprehensible humility of almighty God: I mean hereby: that he being a Lord of so great and infinite majesty, hath been obedient unto his heavenly father even unto death, to give us life. And with all, that by such devout meditations and prayers, you may be stirred and provoked to love almighty god above all things, and to give him most hearty thanks for his so great benefits: desiring him most humbly, that the merits of his most bitter passion and death may be applied to the comfort and profit of your soul. A prayer to be said before the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament. I Adore and worship thee, and give thanks unto thee (my most loving Lord jesus Christ) for thy innumerable benefits and gifts given unto me most unwhorthy. All those I yield and offer unto thee, into an everlasting laud and praise. I give unto thee thanks for all the goodness, that ever thou didst show, or ever wilt show unto any reasonable creature. I give thee thanks for all the mercies of thy most sweet goodness. I give thee thanks for thy holy Incarnation, Nativity, Infancy, Childhod, Manstate, labours, sorrowful cares, Passion, Death, Resurrection, & thine Ascension. I most humbly thank thee, that thou haste vouchsafed, to admit me most vile sinner to the noble and lively feast of this thy holy table. O gracious jesus I beseech thee, for that love that in manner constrained thee to be incarnated, to suffer and to die for me, that thou wilt make me fully clean from all sin, and make me to please thee in all thing. Adorn and garnish my beggarly and poor soul, with thy mercies & virtues. Grant merciful jesus, that I may with most humble reverence, with burning desire and chaste affection, receive the most venerable Sacrament of thy blessed Body, in memory of all those things, that thou haste vouchsafed to do, to speak, and to suffer for my salvation. Grant, good Lord, that I may perform this thing most purely, to the everlasting glory of thy name, to the honour of thy most sweet Mother and Virgin Marie, and to the honour of thy blessed Saint N. (Here name the Saint of that day.) to the honour of all thy blessed Saints and Angels of heaven, to the soul health of me, and N. and to the soul's health of all Christian people, quick and dead. Have mercy, good Lord, have mercy upon thy Church, have mercy, good Lord upon this place and this compagnie. Grant that here be alway humility, peace, charity, chastity, and cleanness. Grant, that we all may worthily amend and correct ourselves, and that we fear thee and serve thee faithfully: and that we may love thee, and please thee: I commend unto thy mercy all our business, and all our necessities: be merciful unto all those, for whom thou haste shed thy precious blood. Grant unto the quick forgiveness and grace, grant unto the faithful departed, rest and light everlasting. Another Prayer before the receiving of the holy Sacrament. By Sir Thomas Moor. O Benign jesus that wouldst suffer so many grievous pains, yea death itself for the love of mankind: great and marvelous is thy charity. O good God for that thy charity, and that thou vouchesafedst with thy precious blood to wash away our sins, I pray thee gracious Lord, that thou forgive me all the sins that I have done, thought, or said, in pride, in wrath, in envy, in covetousness, in gloutonie, in sloth in lechery, in uncleanness of body, and of soul, in mispendinge of my five wits, in breaking thy commandments, in wasting the time of my life in vice, in that I have not followed virtue, nor done those ghostly deeds that I might have done. O merciful jesus with that precious blood that thou didst shed on the Rood for our salvation, wash all the sins away that I have done since my birth, comfort and make me whole with the holy Sacrament, which thou hast ordained and left here on earth to be our medicine, and life, through which we should live after thee, and with thee, & thou in us. For, good Lord, thou saidst at that holy work when thou madest it & gavest it to thy Disciples: (johan. 6.) Panis quem ego dabo, caro mea est, pro mundi vita: qui manducat me, ipse vivit propter me, ipse manet in me, & ego in eo. O thou holy mightful Priest and Bishop, that by thy divine might madest the worthy Sacrament of thy precious Body in form of bread, give me grace to receive it this day with purity of heart, & cleans of soul, with love, dread & steadfast belief. O benign god, I acknowledge & confess to thy high goodness, that I am not worthy to come unto thy board to be fed with so royal meat as is thy blessed Body. But gracious Lord, I believe verily, that thou mayest make me worthy who haste made all thing of nought, and of sinful, haste made righteous and holy. O almighty God, for this thy great might I pray thee, that thou make me worthy and able to receive the precious Body devoutly with all reverence, with perfect meekness, and holiness, with full contrition, & tears of devotion, with spiritual comfort & gladness of thy presence. O blessed Body in form of bread, come and enter into my mouth and heart, that by thy divine presence my soul be fed, yea and fastened to thee with perfect charity. O Lord, fill me with grace, & strengthen me, that I may ever hereafter live after thy will, and that I may live in thee, and thou in me. jesus for thy great bounty save me from all perils, teach and comfort my soul in all doubts and dreads, cleanse me from all vices, suffer nothing to abide in my heart, but only thyself which art my soul's life & leech. O heavenly meat, O joy of Angels, O souls strength, O precious Body that giveth endless help, merciful Lord jesus, thus didst thyself say, (johan. 6.) Ego sum panis vivus qui de coelo descendi: si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in aeternum. O thou Bread of life that didst descend from heaven, who that eateth this bread, shall live everlastingly: O blessed jesus, make me now at this time worthy to receive this Sacrament, that is thy precious Body, that I may live everlastingly with thee in thy presence, & see thee face to face, ever to joy in thy goodness in bliss everlasting. Amen. A devout prayer to be said at the Elevation of the most blessed and Sacred host. Anselm. cap. 2. in specu. sermo. euangel. WE adore and worship thee O jesus Christ king of Israel, light of the Gentiles, and prince of the kings of the earth: Lord of Sabaoth, and most strong power and puissance of the omnipotent and almighty God, we worship thee O precious price of our redemption, O peaceable host, which by thy smelling sweetness only, didst incline thy Father which reigneth in heaven to behold our poor estate, and didst reconcile him to us, his children. O saviour jesus Christ we praise the multitude of thy mercies: we plentifully sound out the memory of thy sweetness, we offer unto thee O saviour Christ the sacrifice of laud and praise, for the greatness of thy bounty which thou haste showed unto us sinners, being a wicked seed and ungracious children of perdition. A prayer to be said before the blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Io. Fab. ex cap. 2. soliloq. B. August. O Mnipotent and most merciful God, thou art truly good, and in deed I am evil, thou art holy, I am wretched, thou art just, I am unjust: thou art the light, I am blind, thou art the life, I am dead: thou art a convenient medicine, I am weak and sickly: thou art joy, I am heaviness: thou art the sovereign verity, I am the universal vanity, and so is every living man. What shall I say then my creator? hear me my maker, I am thy creature and the work of thy hands, but O Lord, I am now brought to nothing, and I am dying daily, thy hands have made and framed me: even those hands I say which were nailed to the Cross for my sake. Most benign redeemer despise not the work of thy hands, but look upon the wounds of thine own hands: lo my Lord God thou hast written me in thy hands, read the writing and heal me, behold I thy creature do sigh unto thee, thou art my creator comfort me: I cry unto thee, thou art the life, quicken me, and give me life: to thee I lift up my voice help me and restore me. Spare me O God for my days are nothing, what is man that he can thus speak to God his creator? pardonne me thy servant which presumeth to speak to so great a Lord, need hath no law, grief and sorrow compel me to speak, the calamity and misery which I endure, enforce me to cry out: I am sick, therefore I call to the physician: I am blind therefore I hasten unto the light, I am dead therefore I sigh after life. To thee O jesus of Nazareth I hasten, thou art the fountain of life: O jesus son of David have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me O fountain of mercy, thou haste hard me being sick calling upon thee, reach me thy hand O most gentle Father: bring me to thee, that I may come to thee, and in thy light, may see that everlasting light: spare and pardon me O Lord, I am the unhappy man borne of a woman, living but a short time, and yet replenished with much misery: I am earth and ashes, and by and by in grief and anguish I must die, and then I shall be but worms meat. What other thing is my life O my Lord God, than a shadow which suddenly vanisheth away, like as the flower which doth flourish and is green, & by & by doth whither: even so my frail and deceitful life passeth away, and yet notwithstanding, it is on every side hedged in with the snares of death, I know assuredly that I must die, but when or how I can not tell. I therefore beseech thee O meek and merciful God to help me: hold me up and stay me in thy power and strength: appear unto me O everlasting light, and shine in my heart that I may rejoice in thee: come unto me O my life most noble, and most sweet, that through thee I may live in thee, and with thee in thy kingdom for ever: hear me O Lord God to the glory of thy name, and the felicity and bliss of my soul. Amen. A prayer to be said after the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament. By Sir Thomas Moor. I Adore and worship thee, and give my humble and hearty thanks unto thee, most merciful Lord jesus Christ, which haste vouchsafed to admit me most vile sinner, unto the noble and lively feast of thy most holy table. Alas poor wretch that I am. For I have received this most venerable Sacrament to-to unworthily. Lord, have mercy on me, Lord forgive me. I commend that which I have done, unto thy Divine heart, there to be amended, & to be made perfect. receive (I beseech thee Lord) these most holy mysteries of thy blessed Body, which I have received to the everlasting glory of thy holy name, to the honour of thy most sweet Mother the Virgin Marie, & to the honour of thy blessed Saint N. (Here name the Saint of that day.) to the honour of all thy blessed & holy Saints and Angels of heaven, for my soul health, and for the soul health of all Christian people quick and dead. receive (good Lord) this most excellent Sacrament in full amendment, purgation, and satisfaction for all my sins & negligences, and for the sins of all the world. Restore by it, and make up again all my ghostly ruins and decays, and supply my needy poverty. Mortify, by it in me, what soever doth displease thee: and make me one according to thy hearts desire. By it, make my spirit, my soul and my body, conformable to the spirit, soul and body of thy holy Humanity: and lighten me altogether with the light of thy Divinity. Grant by it, that I may be established in thee, that I perfitly with perseverance love thee, that I may be incorporate unto thee, & most nearly united unto thee: and that I may be changed all whole into thee, to the laud of thy blessed name. Amen. Convert (Lord) miserable sinners, call again heretics and schismatics. Lighten the infidels that know not thee, help all that be in any necessity and trouble, help all them that have commended themselves or desired to be commended unto my prayers. Have mercy upon my parents & benefactors. Have mercy upon all them, for whom I am bound to pray, & that thou wouldst be entreated for. Have mercy on this place and company. Grant, that here be alway humility, peace, charity, chastie, and purity. Grant, that we all may worthily amend and correct ourselves, that we may fear the, and serve thee faithfully, & that we may love thee, and please thee. I commend unto thy mercy all our businesses, and all our necessities. Lord, be merciful unto all people, for whom thou hast shed thy precious blood. Grant unto the quick forgiveness and grace, & unto the faithful departed, rest and life everlasting. Amen. Another Prayer after receiving of the Sacrament. By Sir Thomas Moor. thanks be unto thee, O holy Father, God almighty, that thou didst vouchsafe of thy greatpitie to send thy only Son from thy high Throne into this vale of woe & misery, here to take our nature and shape, & in the same to suffer most sharp pains & bitter death to bring our souls to thy kingdom, and to leave that precious Body here to be our strength, and comfort: I thank thee most merciful Lord jesus with all the might and strength that thou hast given me: I offer to thee thanks: that thou this day haste fed me with thine own precious Body, by which I hope to have health of soul, and everlasting life, with joy when I depart hence. O holy Ghost come good Lord and inflame my heart with thy brenning beams of love, and make me with virtuous sweetness continually to yolde acceptable thanks to the holy and glorious Trinity. O ye three Persons & one God, glory, laud, and honour, with all reverence be offered to you of all creatures without end. Amen. The end of the seventh Chapter. THE EIGHT CHAPTER CONTAINING LAUDES, PRAIses and thankes-gyving, for the benefits that God hath bestowed upon us. A psalm in which a sinner yieldeth thanks to God that his enemies have not prevailed against him, nor gotten the upperhand of him. I Will magnify & praise thee, O Lord God, for thou haste exalted me and set me up: & mine enemies have not gotten the over hand of me. O Lord of hosts, I have cried unto thee, and thou haste saved me. Thou haste brought my soul out of hell: thou haste holden me up from falling into thee deep lake, from whence no man returneth. Thou haste not closed me up, in the hands of mine enemies: but thou hast set my feet in a place both wide and broad. I have sought thee, and thou hast heard me, thou haste brought me into liberty out of great distress. Thou haste turned my sorrow into gladness, thou haste ceased my mourning, & compassed me round about with mirth. Thou haste declared thy great magnificence in helping thy servant. Thou haste done marvelously with me in my miseries. Thou haste regarded the pain of the poor: thou haste turned away thy face from me. I will be singing and speaking of thy mercies: and I will publish to other thy fidelity and truth, so long as I shall live. My mouth shall never cease to speak of thy rytghteousnes, & of thy benefits: which be so many, that I can not number them. But I will give thee thanks till death take me away, I will sing in the praise of thee so long as I shall continue. I will triumph and rejoice in thy mercy, for thou haste looked upon my necessities, and regarded my soul in great distress. Thou haste been my sure refuge, and the strength of my trust and hope. I thank thee Lord for thy goodness alway: and for thy exceeding mercy. Thou haste been my comfort in the time of my trouble, thou hast been merciful unto me. O Lord, and haste revenged the wrongs that mine enemies have done to me. according to the multitude of the heavy thoughts that I had in my mind, thy comforts have cheered and lightened my heart. Thou hast sent me now joys, for the days wherein I was in sorrow: and for the years in which I suffered many a painful storm. Thou haste called to remembrance the rebuke that thy servant hath been put to, and how furiously mine enemies have persecuted me. O Lord God of hosts, who may be compared unto thee? thou art great, & greatly to be praised. Thou art high upon all the earth, thou art exalted far above all gods. Glory and honour before thy face: holiness and magnificence in thy sanctuary. With justice and judgement thy royal throne is established: mercy and truth go before thy face. Blessed art thou (O Lord) which haste not holden back thy mercy from thy servant. After that I had long looked for thee O Lord, at the last thou didst attend upon me, and heardest my cry. Thou haste taken me out of the lake of misery, and set my feet upon a rock, & made my steps sure. Thou haste given me my desire, I have seen thy joyful countenance. Thou haste stricken all my adversaries, and haste abated their strength. Thou haste rebuked the rabblement of them that vexed me, and haste plucked me forth of their hands. Thou hast cast them headelong into their own pit, their feet be wrapped in the net which they laid privily for me. Mine enemies are retired back, they are fallen down and destroyed from thy sight. Thou haste been the poor man's defence, and his helper in tribulation, when most need was. Thou haste done judgement for me: thou hast desended my cause against my accusers. And although thou was very angry with me a little while, yet now I live through thy mercy and goodness. Verily I supposed with myself that I was clean cast out of thy favour. But thou hast hard my prayers: and according to thy great mercy haste taken me again into thy favour. O Lord of thine own mind and will thou haste given strength unto my soul: but when thou hiddest thy face from me, O Lord, how greatly astonied was I? When I was in adversity, than I cried unto thee, and thou didst answer me: when my soul was in great anguish and trouble, then O Lord I remembered thee. I have tasted and seen how sweet thou art: truly blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. according to thy name so is thy commendation and praise, but thy counsels touching us be without example, and greater than with words can be expressed. Dominion, power, and glory be thine, for thou haste made all things, and because thy will is so, they do still continue. Thy name be blessed, praised, and magnified, both now and ever: and world withoure end. Amen. A Psalm in which the goodness of God is praised. O Lord our governor how wonderful is thy Majesty through out the whole world: which haste set thy glory above all the heavens. What is man, that thou magnifiest him so greatly? or the son of man that thou dost visit him? O Lord thou art great and much to be praised in thy holy hill. Praise be unto thee O Lord God, let our vows made to thee be always performed. Confession and magnificence are thy work: and thy righteousness continueth for evermore. Thou haste done many things (O Lord God) both marvelous & great: and there is none that can be like unto thee in thy works. Thy ways be just and true, who will not fear and dread thee, and magnify thy name. I thank thee (O Lord God) with all my heart, and I will sanctify thy name for ever. O Lord thou art my strength and my praise. Thou haste brought down mine enemies which art a judge even from the beginning. Thy right hand is exceeding strong: thy right hand worketh many great acts. Thine arm is mighty and strong: and be cause it hath pleased thee, thou hast strengthened mine infirmity. I will praise thy great and dreadful name, for it is holy. Although I have fallen, yet I am not crushed in pieces: for thou hast sustained my hand. I have opened and showed my way unto thee, and in thee I have trusted, and thou at length haste accomplished my desires. Thou haste broken the heads of mine enemies, and haste made them to stoop: which walked proudly in their sins. Thou haste dominion over their power, and when they be exalted and set aloft in their ways, thou abatest their courage, and destroyest them with thy mighty arm. In thy name I will ever rejoice, and in thy mercy is all my glory. Thou lovest righteousness and judgement, the earth is replenished with thy mercy. Thy eye looketh favourably upon them that dread thee, and trust in thy mercy. There shall no good thing be lacking to them that seek thee, and they that fear thee shall not be helpless. For thou directest their ways, and hearest them when they cry unto thee. That thou mayest deliver their souls from death, and suage their pains, when they be grieved. For thou helpest them, whose hearts be broken with sorrow, and bearest up with thy hand them that be contrite in spirit. Thou savest the souls of thy servants: and all they that trust in thee, shall not be destroyed. Wherefore my tongue shall sing thy praise: O Lord God, I will always magnify thee. I will love thee (O Lord) which art my strength, my stay, my might, my Saviour, and my refuge. My God, my defend our and, my buckler, the strength of my salvation, and my supporter. After that I had called upon thee with due laud and praise, thou hast saved me from mine enemies. When I was in trouble I called upon the, thou hast heard my voice out of thy holy temple, & my cry hath entered up into thine ears. Thou haste saved me from mine adversaries, that rose up against me, thou haste delivered me from wicked enemies. Thou haste taken me from the compagnie of evil men, and mine eye hath seen upon mine enemies the things that I desired. And therefore if it should fortune me to pass through the dark vale of misery: I will go without fear, for thou wilt be with me, thy rod and thy staff shall comfort me. Thou shalt delvuer me from tribulation, thou shalt keep me from them which seek to destroy me. Mine eyes be upon thee (O Lord,) for thou shalt bring my feet forth of the snare. Unto thee O Lord God I will perform my vows, I will give thee thanks both now & evermore, and world without end. Amen. A Psalm of the benefits of God, with thanks for the same. MY soul praiseth thee O Lord, and all that is within me, praiseth thy holy name. My soul giveth thee humble thanks, and thy benefits I will never forget. Which forgivest all my sins and healest all mine infirmities. Which haste saved my lice from destruction, & showed in me thy grace and mercy. Which haste satisfied my desire with good things: and shalt once restore my youth again. Thou haste entreated me mercifully at all times, and haste revenged me of mine enemies, Thou haste been a defence to me (O Lord) and a sure foundation of my wealth. Thou haste guided me with thy counsel, & taken me to thee, through thy mercy. Thou haste many ways declared in me thy great might and power, and after thine anger hath been paste, thou haste turned again and comforted me. Thou haste sent me many grievous troubles, but at the length thou haste brought me out of the bottomless deepness. Thou haste made me privy to thy ways, and haste not hid thy counsels from me. Thou art full of mercy and grace (O Lord) slow to wrath and ready to goodness. Thy displeasure lasteth not alway, & thou keepest not back thy mercies in thine anger for ever. Thou rewardest us not according to our sins, nor punishest us according to our deserts. Look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth, so great is thy mercy towards us. How far as the earth is distant from the west: so far (O Lord) remove our sins from us. Like as a natural father hath pity upon his children, even so (O Lord God thou hast had compassion upon us. Thou haste not forgotten thy creature, thou rememberdst that we are flesh, yea all men living. And that the age of men is like unto grass, and may be compared to the flowers in the field. Which as soon as the sharp wind hath blown upon them with his blasts, wither away and die, so that no man can tell where they did grow. But thy mercy O Lord, and loving kindness is always upon them that fear thee, and thy righteousness endureth for ever. So that we keep our promise and covenant with thee: and so remember thy commandments that we do them in deed. O Lord thou haste established thy throne in heaven: and thou governest all things by thine imperial power. I will magnify thee O Lord, and praise thy name world without end. I will give thanks alway and make thy name glorious foe ever. O Lord thou art puissant and great, and thy magnificence is unsearchable. One generation shall show to another thy works, and they shall declare thine ancient noble acts. They shall ever praise the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness, & the memory of thy great goodness. For thou art good and gracious to all men, and thy mercy exceedeth all thy works. The eyes of all men behold & wait upon thee, that thou shouldest give them their sustenance in time convenient. Thou openest thine hand, and fillest every living creature, with necessary food. O Lord thou art rightful in all thy ways, & holy in thy deeds. Thou keepest all them that love thee, and the torment of malice, shall not touch them. My mouth shall speak thy glory and praise, and all living creatures shall honour thy holy name for ever. Praise our Lord, oh ye his Angels mighty in power, which do his commandments, and obey the voice of his word. Praise ye altogether God, O all ye hosts, you his ministers that do his will and pleasure. Praise our Lord as I do, and let us magnify his name together. Praise our Lord, oh all ye his Saints, for his name is glorious and his praise goeth about heaven and earth. Praise our Lord together, O all ye his works: every thing that liveth praise our Lord. Amen. A thanksgiving to God for his innumerable benefits bestowed on man from his infancy. B. August. can. 18. Soliloq. I The son of thy handmaid in these my poor confessions do confess to thee my redeemer, with all my heart, and will call to mind all the benefits which thou haste bestowed upon me all the time of my life even from mine infancy, for I know well (O Saviour) that thou art greatly displeased with ingratitude: for it is the root of all spiritual evil: and a certain wind drying and burning all good, stopping the fountain of thy divine mercy towards man. But I O Lord will give thee thanks, lest I be ingrateful to thee my redeemer, because thou hast delivered me: how oft had that dragon swallowed me up, if thou hadst not taken me from his mouth? how oft have I sinned, and he was ready to have devoured me? but thou my Lord God haste defended me: when I wrought wickedly against thee and did break thy commandments he would have drawn me to hell, if thou hadst not letted him: I did offend thee, and thou didst defend me: I did not fear thee, and thou diddest preserve me: I departed from thee, and offered myself to mine enemy: but thou didst affray him that he durst not take me: thou didst bestow these great benefits upon me (O my God,) yet I poor wretch did not know it. Thou hast often times delivered me from the jaws of the devil, thou hast taken me out of the mouth of the lion, and haste brought me many times from hell I not knowing it: for I went down to the gates of hell, but thou haste stayed them that I entered not in: I did hasten to the ports of death, but thou didst not suffer them to enclose me in, thou haste also often delivered me from bodily death O my saviour. When I have been sore vexed with sickness, and in great danger by land, and sea, by fire and sword, thou haste stood by me, and mercifully delivered me from all: for thou didst know (O Lord,) if death had then overtaken me, hell had received my soul, and I had been damned for ever: but thy mercy and grace prevented me, and delivered me from death both of body and soul O my Lord God. These and many other benefits thou haste heaped upon me, but I being blind did not perceive it until thou didst illumynate me. Now therefore O the light of my soul, O my Lord God, O my life by whom I live, O the light of mine eyes by the which I see: lo thou haste illuminated me, and I know thee, for by thee I live. And I give thee thanks, although insufficient and nothing correspondente to thy benefits, yet such as my frailty is able to afford, I offer unto thee: I confess and acknowledge thy goodness, for thou haste brought me from the lower hell once, twice, thrice, yea a hundred and a thousand times: I was every day going down to hell, but thou didst bring me back again: and justly thou might a thousand times have condemned me, if it had been thy pleasure: but thou wouldst not because thou lovedst souls, and dissemblest the sins of men expecting their repentance. O my God, my saviour, in all thy ways their is great mercy, now I see and manifestly know through the light of thy grace, and my soul doth faint in the contemplation of thy great mercy towards me, because thou haste plucked me from the lower hell, and haste brought me back again to life. It is then by thee wholly that I live, and therefore I wholly offer my whole self to thee, my whole soul, my whole heart, my whole body, my whole life, let it live unto thee O my sweet life: for thou haste wholly delivered me, that thou might wholly possess me: thou hast wholly made me: that thou might wholly have me again: Therefore I will love thee O Lord, which art my strength, I will love thee O my ineffable joy and comfort, so that my whole life shall live no more but for thee, which life was lost in my misery, and now revived again in thy mercy: for thou art a God merciful to thousands that love thy holy name. Amen. A praise and thanks giving to God for his great benefits. Io. Roffe. psal. 13. lib preca. MY soul doth praise thee O my God, and all that is within me doth laud thy holy name: my soul doth render thee humble thanks, & I will never be unminful of thy benefits, for thou dost pardon all my sins, & hast healed all my infirmities: thou haste redeemed my life from death, and haste showed unto me mercy and grace. Thou haste multiplied in me thy magnificence, after thine anger thou hast comforted me: thou haste showed me many tribulations and adversities, but in the end thou hast brought me back again from the depth of deepness: thou haste made known to me thy ways, and from me thou haste not hid thy counsels. Thou art merciful and full of grace O Lord, slow to anger, prone and ready to goodness: thou wilt not alway be angry, and thou dost not for ever hold back thy mercy: thou rewardest us not according to our sins, neither dost thou punish us according to our iniquities. As the father doth pity his children: so thou haste compassion of us O God our Lord: thou forgettest not thy handiwork, thou remember'st that every living man is flesh, and that the days of man are as grass, and as the flowers of the field, which with a blast of cold wind vanish away, so as none can find the place where they grew. But thy mercy is everlasting to those that fear thee, and thy justice remaineth always, so that we keep thy law and fulfil thy commandments. I will extol thee my God, and praise thy name for ever and ever: I will render thee thanks at all seasons, and I will make thy name famous for ever, and longer if longer may be: for thou art good to all, and thy mercy exceedeth all thy works. The eyes of all things look up unto thee that thou wouldst give them meat in due time: thou openest thy hand & fillest with thy blessing every living thing: thou preservest all that love thee, & no torment of malice shall touch them: my mouth shall show forth thy praise, and every living thing shall celebrate thy holy name for ever and ever. Praise our Lord O ye Angels mighty in power, which do his commandments, and are obedient to the voice of his word: praise our Lord O all ye Armies which do his will: magnify our Lord and let us extol his name in itself. Praise our Lord all ye his Saints, whose only name is most high: whose only praise doth exceed heaven and earth: Praise our Lord all ye his works, through all his dominion in every place: every thing that liveth praise our Lord. The end of the eight Chapter. THE ninth CHAPTER CONTAINING Necessary prayers for the prosperity of our brethren friends and neighbours. Timoth. 2. & jacob. 5. A prayer for the Church afflicted. Franc. Tittel in para. Psal. 78. O God the gentiles, barbarous Nations, and Infidels which have no faith in thee, nor knowledge of thy name, are entered into thy heritage, they have taken thy people by force of arms, and as vanquishers they occupy our cities, they have defiled with their abominations thy temple dedicated to thy honour and service, they have polluted the vessels consecrated for the service of the temple, and used them profanely. We are become a reproach and laughingstock to our neighbours, in such sort that they scorn, despise, and make a jest of us, rejoicing at our afflictions, and in their mirth they upbraid us: but thou O Lord upon whose will we wholly depend, how long wilt thou be angry with us. And wherefore dost thou so deliver us into the hands of our enemies, as though thou hadst shaked us of, & hereafter would have no more care over us: wherefore dost thou show the fury of thy wrath towards thy people, which are the sheep of thy holy pasture, whereof thou art the ruler, sheppard, defender and protector. Be mindful O Lord of thy holy Church, and leave it not in the hands of thy enemies, but deliver it by thy strong power behold, and consider, the league and testament made with the elect. Remember thy promise made unto them, that thou wouldest not forsake them that were contrite in heart, but wouldest save them that were humble in spirit. For in truth we are kept under, afflicted and brought to nothing, we are contemptible, abject and miserable, in such sort that we are a gasing-stocke and ignominy to all nations: wherefore O Lord dost thou not turn thy face to us thy poor servants? why dost thou turn thy face from them, and suffer thy enemies so cruelly to rage's against them? why dost thou not behold the misery and affliction wherein we thy servants (destitute and desolate of all help, and having no comfort but in thee) are afflicted and tormented of our enemies; Awake O Lord God, dissemble no longet but come to secure thy people, and make haste to help thy faithful servants, and save us from the hands of our enemies (we humbly beseech thee) for thy most glorious names sake, for thine own self, and for thy infinite mercy: that we the posterity may a little taste the sweetness of thy promises, which our for fathers have so abundantly felt. But we that are thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, which worship no other God, which seek no other shepherd & governor besides thee, which put our whole trust & confidence in thee, & desire to be fed, ruled and governed, by thee only, we will render thee most humble thanks, and set forth thy glory for ever and ever. We will declare and show thy praises from generation to generation, for thou of thy mere good will, haste restored us to the liberty which we have required: we therefore (in adversity as well as in prosperity, or how so ever it shall please thee to dispose of us) will serve thee with joy and gladness: we will contine we still in thanks giving, attending patiently thy aid and help. Amen. A prayer for our parents. Io. Ferus in lib. precat. O Almighty and omnipotent God, which haste strictly commanded us, next unto thee to honour our father and mother, and to pray for their happy and good success: grant unto my parents, and the whole family, health, & peace: keep them in the piety and truth of thy faith: defend them from all dangers bodily and ghostly: give them grace (I humbly beseech thee) that they offend not thee in any thing, but that they may alway find thee, a loving, gentle, and merciful father and God. Amen. A prayer to be said for them that are fallen from the Church. Io. Fabius in preca. christ. OMnipotent benign and most merciful father, we most entirely beseech thee, that it will please thee to visit with thy fatherly affection, all those that are fallen, and departed from the pure Catholic and christian Church: or doubt in any article thereof: and are seduced or deceived through any false persuasion, to illuminate their hearts O Lord, with the beams of thy divine light: stay them and bring them back to acknowledge their error, that being in such sort converted, they may with the whole universal Church, confess with mouth, and show in works, one true, catholic and christian faith, and remaining in it, they may work their own salvation: so that they and we being of one mind and will, in one fooled may hear and follow thee our shepparde, through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A prayer that children may be instructed in virtue and in the fear of God. joan. Ferus in lib. precat. O God grant that not only we ourselves cleave to thy holy word and doctrine, but also that we may instruct and bring up our children in thine honour, in thy fear and discipline, in virtue and obedience, and that they may increase and grow in comeliness, faith and piety, that we may have perfect joy without any sorrow, and that we may laud and praise thee all the days of our life. Amen. A prayer for a friend and generally for any that is commended unto our prayers. O Most sweet saviour jesus, I most humbly beseech thee to vouchsafe to illuminate with the light of thy grace, the heart of N. thy servant and my heart also: and to comfort and replenish our hearts, with thy most loving charity, to the end that we may wholly seek thine honour and blessed will, and thee alone with all our hearts to search and love: and wholly & altogether to leave ourselves and our own wills, and to resign them wholly to thee, so that always, and at all times, we may live according to thy holy pleasure, in observing and ful thy holy wil jesus for thy holy name and for thy bitter passion, save us from sin and shame and endless damnation, and bring us to the bliss which never shall have ending. Amen. A general prayer for the living and the departed in the Catholic faith. Ex lib. veterum orat. groecorum. O Sweet saviour jesus forgive those that hate us, and handle us ountragiouslye, render good to them that do us good: grant unto our brethren those necessaries which they do ask, and life everlasting: comfort the sick: direct sailors: and keep the passengers in their right way. O Lord according to thy great mercy, have pity upon those that are recommended, unto our unworthy prayers: remember our fathers and brethren departed this life, bring them to that place where they may behold the light of thy countenance: call to mind our brethren which are in captivity, and deliver them from their affliction. assist all those that do good and labour in ruling of the Church, grant them their just requests, and give them everlasting bliss: be not unmindful O lord of us poor wretched sinners thy unworthy servants, power into our hearts the light of thy knowledge, and keep us in the path of thy commandments, by the intercession of the most holy, sacred and blessed virgin Mary, and of all the saints of heaven, for thou art blessed for over and ever. Amen. The end of the ninth Chapter. THE TENTH CHAPTER CONTAINING WHOLESOME prayers to the holy Trinity. A prayer or thanks giving unto the holy Trinity. O Blessed Lord Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons and one God, my Lord, my God, my maker, my redeemer, my nourisher, my defender, my sweetness, my mercy, my refuge, my strength, my victory, my joy, & my glory eternal, I laud thee, I glorify thee. I honour and worship thee, O blessed Trinity for that thou art in thyself, for thou art the highest good, from whom floweth all goodness, thou art gracious eternity, thou art eternal felicity, thou art only God, and there is none without thee. I laud and honour thee o blessed Trinity that mightfully haste made of nought heaven and earth, son and moon, and althings that be in them and for that it pleased thee to make the holy Angels to laud, & to praise thee eternally, and that they might assist us faithfully in this exile and banishment, with there good counsels and helpings, and to declare thy in effable goodness, thou madest all things for man, and moreover thou madest man, with thy proper hands to thine own image and similitude, only for thee: and thou formedst in him understanding, & adornedst him with free wil I laud & glorify thee for that great gift. Thou diddest set him in paradise flowing with delights, that he might have the things that are above to enjoy, and govern the things inferior, & to possess all things, and to worship thee for evermore. And thou made not these noble creatures Angels & men for any necessity thou haddest of them, for truly all thing was sufficient in thee to thine eternal joy & glory: but of the fervour of thy charities thou wast moved to create them, that such creatures should be partakers of thy ineffable joy and glory. I laud and honour thee good Lord for that it pleased thee among all thy blessed works to make me a reasonable man, and hast given me wisdom, reason, understanding, and free liberty, & haste formed me with all right limbs, and features of body, and haste given me many blessed gifts spiritual and temporal, and also meat, drink, cloth, and all things necessary, which many a good creature that hath served the better than I have done hath wanted, and for that thou hast visited my heart many times with many graces, and spiritual motions, delivering me oft from many perils both of body and soul, and from slanders, shames, and rebuks of this world, into the which for my sins I might have fallen: and for that also thou hast suffered me in all mine iniquity, and all mine horrible and abominable sins, patiently alway abiding for my conversion, and amendment, whereas at innumerable times thou mightest have slain me, and of right have put me to eternal pains and damnation. I laud and glorify thee O Lord God for all thy mercy, which always thou haste showed to sinners, patiently abiding for them, mercifully calling them, beninglye receiving them, abundantly giving grace to them, & to such familiarity admitting them, as though they had never sinned. O merciful Lord and patient God, what shall I say to thee for all these benefits? What laudes and thanks shall I yield to thee? What and all my sins were clean taken a way from me, truly yet were not I worthy for the least of thy benefits and mercies to give thee condign land. But as a wretched sinner can, with all my heart I laud thee, I praise thee. I thank thee, I honour and worship thee, yea all honour, laud, & praise be given to thee, now and evermore. Amen. A prayer to God the father S. Cyprianus author esse scribitur O God father of our Lord jesus Christ thy son, God of Patryarckes, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of Martyrs, God of Virgins, God of all believers: I beseech thee O father of majesty, which without limitation of time haste taken pity upon us, sending unto us jesus Christ thy son our Lord and saviour, borne of the virgin mary by the operation of the holy ghost, by the annunciation of the Angel Cabriel: by whom thou haste delivered us from iminente and present death. I beseech thee O Lord to secure and help me, and judge me not according to my works, for I have not been obedient to thy commandments, but thou which lovest repentance have mercy upon me, which before thy face make confession of all my sins: and as David prayed: O Lord for the love of thy holy name wipe away my sins: so I beseech thy divine Majesty to blot out all my offences. Make me to abide in thy holy Catholic Church, with an undefiled faith, a pure heart, firm devotion, continual love, and to persever in good works: deliver me from the eternal fire & everlasting pain, & from all torment which thou hast prepared for the wicked: grant this, for our good and blessed saviours sake, by whom to thee all laud, honour, power and glory be for ever and ever. Amen. A prayer to God the Son called, O bone jesus. O Bountiful jesus, O sweet jesus, O jesus the son of the pure Virgin Marry full of mercy and truth, O sweet jesus, after thy great mercy have pity on me. O benign jesus I pray thee, by the same precious blood, which for us miserable finners, thou wast content to shed on the altar of the cross, that thou wouldst vouchsafe to avoid clean all my wickedness and not to despise me, humbly ask pardon, & calling upon thy most holy name jesus. This name jesus is the name of health: what is jesus but a Saviour? O good jesus that hast created me & with thy precious blood redeemed me, suffer me not to be damned whom of nought thou hast created. O good jesus let not my wickedness destroy that which thy almighty goodness hath made and form in me. O good jesus, reknowledge that which is thine in me, & wipe clean away that which is not thine in me: O good jesus, while time of mercy is, have mercy on me, and confounded me not in time of thy terrible judgement. O good jesus if I wretched sinner, for my most grievous offences have by thy very justice deserved eternal pain, yet I appeal from thy very righteousness, and steadfastly trust in thine ineffable mercy: so as a mild father & merciful Lord ought, take pity on me. O good jesus, what profit is in my blood since I must descend into eternal corruption? they that be dead shall not magnify thee, nor likewise all they that descend to hell. O most merciful jesus have mercy on me, O most sweet jesus deliver me, O most meek jesus be unto me comfortable, O jesus accept me a wretched sinner into the number of them, that shallbe saved. O jesus the health of all them that trust in thee, have mercy upon me. O jesus the sweet forgiveness of all my sins, O jesus the son of the pure Virgin Marie, endue me with thy grace, wisdom, charity, chastity, and humility: yea & in all mine adversities with steadfast patience, so that I may perfectly love thee, and in thee to be glorified, and have mine only delight in thee, world without end. Amen. A prayer to the holy ghost. Io. Fab. cap. 9 mechta. COme O holy spirit the most sweet comforter of the sorrowful and desolate, the love of the divine puissance, the holy communication of the almighty and omnipotent father, and of his most blessed son, descend with thy mighty power into the entrails of my heart: lighten and beautify the dark closetts of my desolate heart with thy clear brightness, and that which with continual filth of my unfruitful life is dried up, vifit thou and make fruitful with the abundant dew of thy grace. touch and wound my heart with the dart of thy love, inflame my dull and slothful heart: lighten the inner parts of my soul with the heat of thy holy fire: make me to drink of the river of thy sweetness, that hereafter I may feel no taste in any worldly delight which is venomous. O holy spirit, O excellent workman, whomsoever thou dost inhabit, thou buildest a lodging for the father and the son: come therefore O most sweet comforter of my sorrowful soul, defend me in all tribulation: come O purifier of our sins, and saluer of our deadly sores: come O strength and fortitude of the weak, and guide of the humble: come meek father of the fatherless, and sweet judge of the widows: Come O sovereign hope of the poor, and comforter of the weak: come O bright star of faylers, and sure port of the ship wracte: come O singular beauty and ornament of the living, and only salvation of the dead: come most holy spirit, come and have mercy upon me, make fit and accommodate me to thee: condescend benignly to me according to the multitude of thy mercy, that my littleness may be agreeable to thy greatness, and my imbecility and weakness to thy divine puissance: through jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. The end of the tenth Chapter. THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER CONTAINING CHRIstian Catholic prayers to Saintoes & citizens of the glory of heaven. A prayer unto the holy virgin Mary. Cuth. Tunstall in lib. prec. Luke. 1. ALl hail vndesiled Virgin mary mother of the son of God, elected and chosen above all other Virgins, the which even from the womb of thy mother Anna (a woman most holy) hast been of the holy Ghost so fanctified, illuminated, and so, greatly defended with the grace of God almighty, that unto the conception of our Lord jesus Christ thy son, and whilst thou diddest conceive him, and unto the time of his birth, & whilst thou diddest bear him, and continually after his birth, thou continuedst, and remaynedst a Virgin of all other that be borne most chaste, most uncorrupt, and of body and soul all thy life most immaculate and unspotted. For truly thou haste far passed all other Virgins, how many soever have been hitherto sins the beginning of the world, or ever shallbe to the later end thereof, in a sincere conscience of an impolluted mind. By these thy most excellent gifts of heavenly grace, infused into thee, by God very singularly, O Virgin and mother Marie, above all other women and Virgins, we pray thee which art unto us (miferable mortal men) a merciful patroness, that thou wilt voutchesafe to make intercession to God the Father omnipotent, and to his son jesus Christ, (begotten certainly as concerning his Divinity of the Father before all worlds, & borne of thee, concerning his humanity, & to the holy Ghost proceeding from the father and the son) that our sins may be forgiven us, and that we, through thy intercession may merit continually to rejoice with thee O holy Virgin, and to praise thee in the kingdom of heaven, without end. Amen. A prayer to our Lady the blessed virgin Mary and S. john Evangelist. S. Edmundus Arch. Cantuarienfis author scribitur O intemerata. O Undefiled & for ever blessed, singular and incomparable Virgin Marry mother of God, his most pleasant Temple, the noble Shrine of the holy Ghost, the Entry and Gate of the kingdom of heaven: by whom next after God all the world liveth. Bow down thine ears (O mother of pity and mercy) unto my poor prayers, and be to me (wretched sinner) a pitiouse helper in all thing. O most Blessed John Evangelist the farnyliar friend of Christ, which of the same jesus Christ our Lord was a chosen Virgin, among all others much beloved, and above all others instructed and learned in heavenly Secrettes and mysteries: thou was made his Apostle and Evangelist most excellent: therefore I call upon the and Marie the mother of the same Lord jesus Christ our saviour; that thou and she would vouchsafe to help me. O ye two heavenvly Gems Marie and Ihon. O two divine Lamps, ever shining before God, drive away with your blessed barns the dark clouds of my sins: for ye are the two in whom the only begotten son of God, for the merit of pure virginity, confirmed the privilege of his singular love, while he was hanging on the cross, saying thus to the one of you: Woman behold thy son: and after to the other: Behold thy mother: Therefore (in this sweetness of such sacred love, wherein ye were then conjoined (by the mouth of our Lord) as Mother and Son) to you two I most wretched sinner commend this day my body and soul, that in every hour and moment, inwardly and outwardly, ye would vouchsafe to be my sure keepers and pitiful intercessors to God for me. Ask I beseech you health of body and soul for me: Help I pray you, help with your glorious prayers, that the holy Ghost the noble giver of graces, would wouchsafe to visit, adorn and inhabit my heart, to purge me from all filth of sin: to bewtifye me with all holy virtues, and make me stand perfectly and persever in the love of God and my neighbour: And after the course of this life, I may be led to the joys of the elect by the same holy Ghost, who with the father and the son, eternally liveth and reigneth one God almighty world without end. Amen. A prayer to all the holy Angels. Victor. Vticensis. libr. de persecutione Vandalica. Hear us O holy Angels of our God, whose aid never faileth, for you are constituted (in your service) for them that shall be heirs of everlasting salvation: watch and take heed, and behold how Zion the City of our God is become of little estimation, and as it were polluted with infection amongst her enemies: the enemy hath abused and wastefully occupied all her pleasant & beautiful ornaments, for he hath seen infidels and unworthy persons assail & enter within the gates who our Lord had commanded should not enter into his Church. say unto God our protector, (even as those which have a sure trust to obtain that which you require) that his Church is afflicted & traveled, & her womb sore troubled with her outcries, for she is set amongst infidels & doth find no rest, & not any to comfort her. She hath sought who would mourn with her, but could find none; she hath sought who would give her comfort but no person was to be found, even when she did eat Gaul in her meat, and in her thirst took vynager for her drink following the Passion of her spouse and Lord who suffered for her, to the end, that she might follow his steps. A prayer to S. john Baptist. Ludo. carthusianus li. de vita Christi. O Most blessed john the forerunner of Christ, the crier of the judge, friend of the spouse, voice of the divine word which haste deserved to declare & foretell the joy and comfort of our redemption: obtain for me poor and miserable sinner of the same Lord jesus, by thy most holy prayers, that my heart, being cleansed from vice and adorned with virtues, I may according to thy hoolsome admonitions prepare the way of our Lord, and make straight his paths in such sort, as in the last and final judgement, when he shall cleanse the floor of his Church, & shall separate the good corn from the chaff, I may deserve to be found amongst the wheat, & his elect, & with them may be laid up in the barn of his heavenly mansion. Amen. A prayer to any of the Apostles. O Lord God which amongst all and above all thy other saints, haste most marvelously chosen thy most blessed Apostles, to be the first pillars and foundation of thy Church, and before all other haste first sent them to preach thy Ghospel through the whole world, confirming and establishing their doctrine, by marvelous works, wounders and miracles: and thou moreover by the same Apostles haste sought, alured and invited us gentiles, to the knowledge and praise of thy holy name. We humbly beseech thee O Lord, mercifully to grant, that we being by thee founded upon the rock of the Apostolic confession, and in the union of the same faith, are chosen and called to obey & praise thee perpetually, be never separated from thee, through any error or temptation: make us partakers of the intercession of S. N. and of the twelve Apostles in the strength and fortification of a true faith, amendment of our life, and avoiding and eschueing of all evil, through jesus Christ our Lord Amen. A prayer to any of the holy Martyrs. Hora B. virgi. secund. us. ord. Bene. O God which haste so strenghthned in thy faith and love thy blessed Martyr S. N. as no fleshly delights, no threatenings of tyrants, no sword or torture of tormentors could withdraw him from the worshipping of thee: grant unto us miserable sinners, by his worthy merits and intercessions, help in tribulation, comfort in persecution, that we may manfully fight against all the deceits of the devil, despise the world and all that is in it, that we may fear no adversity, but may obtain that, which by thy holy inspiration we do desire, through Christ our Lord. Amen. A prayer to any Confessor. Petrus Canisius li catho. prec. Almighty and everlasting God which art the wonderful light of thy beloved saints, and principally thou haste appointed for us blessed bishops, pastors, doctors and confessors as burning lights in thy house: and by their doctrine, exhortations, writings and testimonies, recallest and reducest sinners from evil to good. We humbly beseech thee, that thou wilt undo & lose the bonds of our sins, and although we be unworthy, yet make us partakers of that intercession of blessed S.N. & all thy holy confessors, that we forsaking our sins, and walking in true faith and charity, following them in good works, may at last enjoy their company in the eternal beatitude, through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A prayer to any holy Virgin. Idem in eodem lib. O God which amongst the other miracles of thy power and might, dost give and grant in a frail sex to all virgins, widows & matrons, the victory of martyrdom, and immaculate chastitiye: mercifully grant that we which amongst thy other holy virgins and widows, do celebrate the memory of thy blessed saint N. may by her example and intercession, despise the allurements of the flesh, the pleasures of the world, and in true faith to pass all perils of soul and body, and exercise ourselves daily more and more in thy service in such sort, that with them afterwards we may have the fruition of joy and solace eternal. Amen. A prayer to any of the holy Saints. Ex tabella quadam Coloniae in templo S. Vrsul. O Holy and blessed S. N. I humbly beseech thee that thou wilt have me (poor and wretched sinner in remembrance, before the face of my God and saviour, that by thy merits and intercessions I may be preserved from all dangers bodily and ghostly, that I may daily more and more increase in virtue and good works: and at the hour of my death and departure out of this world, vouchsafe to secure and defend me, against the assaults and deceits of mine enemies, and bring my soul delivered and made free from all tribulation, to the joys of the heavenly paradise. Amen. Pray for us O holy S. N. that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. We humbly beseech thee O Lord God father omnipotent to receive the prayers of thy servants, that we worshipping the memory of thy blessed S. N. by his merits and intercessions may be delivered from all bodily adversities: and that our hearts may be cleansed from all evil and idle thoughts, through jesus Christ our saviour. Amen. A prayer to all the blessed Saints in heaven. Ex herae B. M. ad usum Sarum. O All ye holy & elect of God, unto whom almighty God hath prepared his eternal kingdom from the beginning: I beseech you through the charity, by the which God did love you, that you do sucker me most miserable sinner, before death do take me away out of this wretched world: and reconcile me unto my creator before that hell devour me. O blessed Marie mother of God, the mediatrix for sinners unto Christ, hear me, keep me, save me: O thou sweet Lady obtain to me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true humility, chastity, and sobriety, & after the course of this life the fellow ship of the everlasting blessedness. Thou also holy Michael, with all the thousands of Angels pray for me, that thou mayest take & keep me from the power of my adversaries, help me, obtain for me the love of God, pureness of heart, strength of faith, and the pleasure of heavenly glory. Also ye holy patriarchs and Prophets, procure for me of God pardon, penance, continency, and godly perseverance, and also life everlasting. O ye blessed Apost'es of God unlose me from my sins, defend me from the pains of hell, and take me from the power of darkness, & bring me unto the everlasting kingdom. I beseech you also ye holy Martyrs of God, that perfect charity, sincere love, a pure mind, a chaste life, and remission of my sins be given of almighty God unto me. O ye glorious Confessors of God, pray for me, that through you the desire of heavenly things, and reverence of manners & washing away of my misdeeds be of God granted unto me. Likewise I pray you all holy Virgins of God, that you do aid me, to th'intent I may have a good mind, and health of body and soul, humility, chastity, & after the course of this my miserable life fellowship of the perpetual blessedness. O all ye Saints of God I do pray, and also do make humble supplication, that you will woutchsafe to help me, and have compassion upon me most pytyfully, and pray for me instantly, that through your intercession, a pure conscience be engrafted within me, with compunction of heart for my sins, and laudable ending of my life, so that through your merits I may be able to come unto the country of eternal blessedness, almighty God grant it. Amen. The end of the eleventh Chapter. THE twelve CHAPTER CONTAINING advertisements & consolations with prayers and suffrages for the sick. An advertisement for the sick, diligently to prepare himself to die well. Lud. Blosius cap. 1. posterioris li. Ench. paruulorum. who soever doth love God dutifully, being at any time overtaken with sickness, whereby death is feared to be at hand: let good heed be taken that with diligence thou prepare thyself to end well: discharge thy heart of the cares & troubles of this world: receive devoutly the Sacraments of the Church, to the end thou mayest purchase succour & strength to pass through thy journey: and wholly recommend thy soul to God. Remember the passion of our sweet Saviour and redeemer: embrace in thy heart his wholesome cross kiss his ruddy wounds, and thrust thyself with all thy power into them, that being hidden in them thou mayest be safe, and happily escape from all the snares and entysmentes of the devil: humbly beseech our Saviour jesus Christ, that he would wouchsafe to wash thee with his precious blood, and that he would wholly abandonne all thy sins. And for want of meritorious good works, offer to God the father the merits of jesus Christ: offer him his most holy and sacred conversation, death and passion: offer him the merits of his most sweet mother the wirgin Mary, & of all Saints: for so it shall come to pass that thou which art poor, naked and miserable of thyself, shalt appear marvelously adorned with spiritual ornaments: recommend thyself also to our blessed Lady the glorious virgin and mother of God, and to the other Citizens of heaven, and principally to that saint which thou haste accustomed most to pray unto, hoping and believing certainly that they hear thy prayers, and that if thou call upon the bless virgin with all thy heart, and turn most humbly and assuredly thyself to her, she will without doubt make thy entrance into the kingdom of heaven, where otherwise it may be (through the divine justice of God) that thou canst not enter, because of thine iniquity, for she is the mother of mercy, and the port of of heaven. Then followeth this protestation or such like, very profitable to be made by the sick. Lud. Blofius cap. 3. lib. sup. I wicked sinner most unworthy, (redeemed with the precious blood of our Lord jesus Christ) do confess openly, that with an entire and pure heart I forgive all those that have at any time ever offended me, or done me injury, in what manner soever: desiring most humbly all and every one that I have offended, injuried, grieved, or any way angered (whither they be present or absent) that they would vouchsafe also to forgive me. Here let the sick call to mind his sins in particular, and ask God forgynenes, purposing firmly by God his grace never to commit sin again: and though his sins be never so many, and the manner of his offences never so horrible and grievous, yet he is to trust in the omnipotency of God whose mercies are innumerable, and to take hope and comfort in the passion of Christ our redeemer: Saying. I believe in God the father almighty. etc. A prayer for the sick person to say after his belief. O Holy Trinity I beseech thee. keep and preserve this pure religion of my faith, and grant that it may ever be sounding in my conscience until my spirit depart. O almighty and merciful jesus, I protest before thee and before all the court of heaven, that I have a will and desire to finish my life in this faith, wherein of necessity every child (obedient to our Mother the holy Church) ought to die. Further my sweet Saviour I protest to believe wholly and universally all that which is contained in the Catholic faith, and that which a true faithful christian ought to believe: that if it happen by the assaults of the devil, or by violence of sickness, I come to think, say, or do any thing contrary to this purpose, I do revoke it at this present, & protest that I give no consent to any such thought, word, or work. I rejoice and render thanks to my loving creator and redeemer, through the marvelous goodness of his bounty, by the which I hope undoubtedly to die in the holy Catholic faith: and so I recommend my soul and body into his most holy hands now and at the hour of my death. Amen. Prayers in sickness. Dionys. Cart. in dial. de part. judicio animarum. O Sweat jesus, I desire neither life, nor death, but thy most holy will. Thee O Lord I look for, be it unto me according to thy pleasure. If thou will sweet jesus, that I die, receive my soul. And albeit I come to thee even at the very evening, as one of the last, yet grant that with thee, and in thee, I may receive everlasting rest. If thou wilt sweet jesus that I live longer on earth, I purpose to amend the rest of my life, and offer all into a sacrifice unto thee, for thy honour and glory, according to thy blessed will: and for the perfoorminge of this I desire the assistance of thy holy grace. Another prayer. Nieron. in Ago mortis, auctore Eusebio. O Merciful jesus, my virtue and power, my comfort and ease, my receiver, and my redeemer, in whom I have hoped, in whom I have belyeved, and whom I have loved, my sweet delight. my tower of strength, my hope from my youth, the guide of my life, call me, and I will answer thee. O creator of heaven and earth, stretch forth the power of thy mercy, unto the work of thy hands, which thou createdst of the slime of the earth, and tiedst together with bones and sinews. Command O Lord, stay not, for it is time, that dust may return into dust, and my soul may return to thee his Saviour, who didst send it down into this world. Open unto me the gates of life: for thou didst hang upon the Cross for my sake, and madest me promise to receive me. Come my sweet Lord, let me embrace thee, let me not lose thee. Bring me into thy heavenly palace. Thou art my receiver, my glory, mine advancer, my habitation, and my benediction. receive me most merciful Lord, according to thee multitude of thy mercies. For thou dying on the Cross rceivedst the thief, returning unto thee. Another prayer. Ibid. I Am sick: my life is weak in this poor state, and therefore to thee O Lord I run, as to my only physician. heal me O Lord, and I shallbe healed. And for that I have mine affiance reposed in thee, let me not be confounded. But what am I, O most merciful God, that speak so boldly to thee? I am a sinner, begotten, borne, & brought up in sin: I am a rotten carcase, a stinking vessel, and meat for worms. What victory O Lord shall it be, if in conflict thou overthrow me, who am less than a little straw before the face of the wind? forgive O Lord forgive all my sins, and life up a poor man from this dirty dunghill of earth. Certes good Lord, this will I say, if it please thee, thou mayest not refuse him that hath his recourse to thee. For thou art my Lord God, flesh of my flesh, bones of my bones. For to this intent, thou not leaving the right hand of thy father, didst assumpt my humane nature, and becamst God & man, remaining in one person the self same, which thou wast from thee beginning. And why didst thou work this so hard & wonderful mystery, but that I should boldly have recourse to thee, as unto my brother, & thou wouldst mercifully so cover thy divinity, that I should not be afraid of thy heavenly power. Wherefore arise, O Lord, and help me, arise, and put me not back for ever. Another prayer. Ibid. Let my request entre into thy sight, O Lord, and let thy hand be made to make me whole. Behold I am the man that coming down from Hiericho, was taken and wounded of thieves, and left half dead. Do thou receive me O merciful Samaritan. I have sinned excessively in my life, and wrought much iniquity in thy sight. From the sole of my foot, even to the top of my head, there is no sound health in me. Verily unless thou dying on the Cross hadst assisted me, my soul had been worthy to dwell in hell. I am, (sweet jesus,) a part of that dear price: for me, thou didst shed thy precious blood, cast me not away. I am the sheep that went a stray, seek that sheep, O good shepherd, & put him in thy fold, that thou mayst be justified in thy word. For thou didst make me promise, that at what soever hour a sinner did repent him of his sins & return to thee, he should be saved. I lament O Lord and mourn for my sins, I acknowledge mine iniquities, my wickedness is in my sight, I am not worthy to be called thy son. For I have sinned against heaven & before thee, thou shalt make me hear that, which halbe great joy & gladness unto my ●eart. Turn away thy face O Lord from my sins: blot out mine iniquities, according to thy great mercy. Cast me not away out from thy sight. Deal not with me according to my sins, nor reward me after the desert of mine iniquities. But help me O Lord, my God and my Saviour, and for the glory of thy holy name deliver me. Deal mercifully, as it femeth best to thy holy will, that I may dwell in thy house all the days of my life, that I may praise thee for ever more, as they do that dwell there, world without end. Amen. Prayers and suffrages to be said for one lying in death bed. Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. Holy Marie pray for him. All holy Angels, and Archangels pray for him. Holy Abel pray for him. All the company of the just pray for him. Holy Abraham pray for him. Holy john baptist pray for him. All ye holy patriarchs and prophets pray for him. Saint Peter pray for him. Saint Paul pray for him. Saint Andrew pray for him. Saint john pray for him. All ye holy apostles and Evangelists pray for him. All ye holy Disciples of our Lord pray for him. All ye holy Innocentes pray for him. Saint Stephen pray for him. Saint Laurence pray for him. All ye holy Martyrs pray for him. Saint Silvester pray for him. Saint Augustine pray for him. All ye holy Bishops and Confessors pray for him. Saint Benet pray for him. Saint Francis pray for him. All ye holy Monks and Eremites pray for him. Saint Mary Magdalen pray for him. Saint Lucy pray for him. All ye holy virgins and widows pray for him. All ye holy Saints of God make intercession for him. Have mercy, & spare him O Lord. Have mercy: & hear him O Lord. Have mercy: and deliver him O Lord. From thy anger, deliver him O Lord. From an evil death deliver him O Lord. From the danger of death, deliver him O Lord. From the pains of hell, deliver him O Lord. From all evil, deliver him O Lord. From the power of the devil, deliver him O Lord. By thy Nativity, deliver him O Lord. By thy Cross and Passion, deliver him O Lord. By thy death and burial, deliver him O Lord. By thy glorious resurrection deliver him O Lord. By thy wonderful ascension deliver him O Lord. By the grace of the holy ghost the comforter, deliver him O Lord. In the day of judgement; deliver him O Lord. We sinners do beseech thee to hear us. That thou wouldst spare him, we beseech thee to here us. Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. O thou Christian soul, depart thou out of this world in the name of God the father almighty, who hath created thee; In the name of Christ jesus the son of the living God, who hath suffered for thee, In the name of the holy ghost, who was powered into thee, In the name of the holy Angels and archangels, In the name of the Thrones and dominations, In the name of the Powers and Potestates, In the name of Cherubin and Seraphin, In the name of the patriarchs and Prophets, In the name of the holy apostles and Evangelists, In the name of the holy Martyrs & Confessors, In the name of the holy Monks and Eremites, In the name of the holy Virgins, and of all the Saints of God. Let thy place be this day in peace, and thy habitation in holy Zion, through Christ our Lord. Amen. A prayer. O Merciful God, O benign God, O God who according to the multitude of thy mercies dost blot out the sins of such as are penitent, and with thy remission and pardon dost clean purge the blame of offences passed, mercifully look upon this thy servant. N. and for our prayers grant him his request, who with all his heart confessing thy name, doth most earnestly crave for pardon of all his sins. Renew in him, O most merciful father, what soever is corrupt through the failty of the flesh, or that which hath been defiled by the craft of the devil: and join again unto the unity of thy body the church, the member which thou haste redeemed. Have mercy O Lord upon his sighs: have mercy upon his tears, and admit again unto the Sacrament of thy reconciliation him, who hath no hope but in thy mercy, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Another prayer. dearly beloved brother I commend thee unto almighty God, and to his protection I commit thee, whose creature thou art, to the end, thou having paid by the means of thy death, the debt of all mankind, mayest return again unto thy maker, who hath framed thee of a piece of clay. Let therefore the noble company of Angels meet thy soul departing out of thy body. Let the whole Senate of the Apostles, judges of the world, come unto thee. Let the triumphant army of the gloriousse Martyrs come against thee. Let the flourishing company of the shining. Confessors compass thee about. Let the whole choir of the singing Virgins receive thee, & with embracing, settle thee fast in the bosom of the patriarchs, which is the place of blessed rest and quietness. Let Christ jesus appear unto thee with a mild and cheerful, countenance, and adjudge thee to be among those, who always attend upon him. Be thou ignorant of all that quaketh in darkness, that crashed in fire, and houleth in torments. Let the most cruel fiend Satan, with all his soldiers give place unto thee: let him tremble at thy coming, thou being accompaigned with the holy Angels, and let him fly into the huge pit of everlasting darkness. Let God arise, and let his enemies be dispersed, and let all that hate him, fly away from his face. Let them vanish away as the smoke vadeth: as the wax melteth before the face of the fire, so let all sinners perish from the face of God: and let the just make merry and rejoice in the sight of God. Therefore let all the legions of hell be confounded and ashamed, and let not the ministers of Satan, be so bold as to stop thy journey. Christ deliver thee from all torments, who was crucified for thee. Christ deliver thee from death, who hath vouchsafed to die for thee. Christ the son of the living God, place thee in the garden of his paradise, which always is pleasant & flourishing: & he that is the true shepherd, agnize thee among his sheep. Let him absolve thee from all thy sins, and place thee at his right hand, in the inheritance of his elect. God grant thou mayest see thy redeemer, face to face, and that thou mayst be always present at hand, and with thy blessed eyes behold the most manifest truth. God grant therefore, that thou being placed among the compagnie of the blessed souls, mayest enjoy the sweetness of the countenance of the divine majesty, for ever and ever. Amen. receive O Lord thy servant into the place of Salvation, which he must hope to have of thy mercy. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant from all dangers of hell, and from all snares that may entrap him to pain, and from all tribulation. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou haste delivered Enoch and Elias from the common death of the world. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Noah, from drowning in the general flood. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Abraham out from Vr of the Chaldees. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst job from his passions and pains. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Isaac from being offered in Sacrifice, and out from the hands of his father. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Loath from Sodom, and from the flame of fire. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Moses out from the hands of Pharaoh, King of the Egyptians. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Daniel out from the den of the Lions. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst the three Children out from the fiery furnace, and from the hands of the cruel & unmerciful King. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst Susanna from the crime with which she was falsely charged. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst David, from the hands of king Saul, and Golias. R. Amen. Deliver O Lord the soul of thy servant, as thou deliveredst S. Peter and Paul out of prison. R. Amen. And as thou deliveredst that blessed Virgin, and Martyr Tecla, from her most cruel torments, so vouchsafe to deliver the soul of this thy servant, and make him partaker of the everlasting joys in heaven with thee. R. Amen. Let us pray. WE commend unto thee O Lord the soul of thy servant, & beseech thee sweet Lord lefu Christ, Saviour of the world, that thou do not refuse to place him in the bosom of thy patriarchs, for whom thou descendedst mercifully into the earth. Acknowledge O Lord thy creature, created not of any strange gods but of thee alone, the true and living God, for there is no other God, but thou O Lord, and there is none according to thy works. O Lord make his soul rejoice in thy sight: and remember not his old iniquity, and drunckenesse, which inordinate concupiscence and raging lusts did raise in him. Albeit he sinned, yet he denied not the father, the son, and the holy Ghost, but belyeved steadfastly in them: and he had the zeal of God in his heart, and adored the God, that created all of nought. R. Amen. Let us pray. Remember not, we beseech the O Lord, the sins and ignorances of his wilful youth, but according to thy great mercy be mindful of him in the glory of thy eternal deity. Let the heavens be opened unto him. Let thy Angels rejoice of him. O Lord receive thy servant into thy kingdom. Let holy Michael the high messenger of God, that hath deserved to be the chief all the holy company of Angels, receive him. Let all the holy Angels of God, come forth and meet him, & conduct him into the heavenly City Jerusalem. Let blessed Peter the Apostle, who had the keys of the kyndom of God delivered unto him, receive him. Let the holy Apostle S. Paul, who was worthy to be a chosen vessel, receive him. Let S. john the elect Apostle of God, to whom the heavenly secret mysteries were revealed, receive him. Let all the holy Apostles who received of Christ power to lose and bind, pray for him. Let all holy Saints who have sustained torments for the name of Christ, pray for him, that after he is loosed out of the prison of this mortal flesh, he may be found worthy to come to the glory of the heavenly kingdom, by the assistance of our Lord jesus Christ, who with the father and the holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen. Into thy hands O Lord we comen his soul. O Lord God of truth, thou haste redeemed him Let that sweet voice of thine O Lord jesus, sound in his ears. This day thou shalt be, with me in Paradise. Amen. The end of the twelfth Chapter. THE THYRTIENTH CHAPTER CONTAINING DEVOUT prayers, healthful for the departed souls. An exhortation by the which we are showed and admonished to pray for souls, departed in the Catholicque Church. Clemens I. Ponti. Max. Ca 47. lib. 8. constit. Apostol. MY brethren, let us pray for our brother that resteth in jesus Christ, to the end that our good God which hath received his soul, may forgive him all his sins willingly or unwillingly committed, and that he obtaining forgiveness may be received into the kingdom of the blessed: in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and jacobe, with all those that from the beginning have pleased God, and have done his will: from whom all sorrow, grief and pain is secluded. Commendations of the soul that is lately departed. Albertus Castilia. Sacer. Rom. part. 1. O Lord we commend the soul of thy servant that being lately departed this life, he may live in thee, and according to thy mercy, pardon him his sins which he hath committed through human failty. We commend O Lord the soul of this thy servant, into the hands of the holy and most glorious virgin Mary, the mother of mercy and clemency, Also into the hands of all the holy Archangels, Angels, and celestial court of heaven, into the hands of the holy patriarchs and prophets: into the hands of the blessed Apostles, Evangelists and disciples: into the hands of the martyrs and confessors: into the hands of the virgins, widows and all votaries whosoever. And finally we commend the soul of this thy servant into the hands of all such thy blessed saints and servants, as have pleased thee from the first creation of the world, that by their intercession and succour, he may be delivered from the prince of darkness, and from all dreadful torments: grant this O God almighty, omnipotent and full of mercy, through the bitter passion of thy sweet son our saviour jesus, to whom with thee and the holy Ghost, be all honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. A prayer for the faithful soul departed. Precat. Ecclesi. in Missa. O Eternal and almighty God, to whom we never pray without hope of mercy: Have mercy of the soul of thy servant N. and make him to be united to that company of saints, which is deceased from this life, in the confession of thy name: through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Another prayer. Pontifical. Rom. part 3. O God by whom all things liveth, and through whom our bodies diminisheth not in dying, but are changed into better: we most humbly beseech thee, to command the soul of thy servant to be received by the hands of thy holy Angels, to bring him unto the bosom of thy friend the Patriarch Abraham, to rise again at the last great judgement day, pardonning him mercifully all his sins which he hath committed, through the false deceipts and suggestion of the devil: through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Another prayer. Clemens Aposto. discip. lib. 8. cap. 47. constit. Apostol. O God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of jacob, which art God of the living and not of the dead, for as much as all souls of the righteous liveth with thee, and are in thy hands: they shall not be touched with any pain or torment. Look bountifully upon this thy servant, which thou hast received into another life, pardon him that, which he hath committed through the frayeltye of his will: Appoint him thy loving Angels, to carry him into the bosoms of patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles, and of all those that hath pleased thee from the beginning of the world, where is neither sorrow, grief, nor horror, but an assembly of Saints which are rejoicing in the country of the happy and just, seeing the glory of thy Christ: through whom be to thee glory, honour, service and adoration in the holy Ghost eternally. Amen. A prayer for the soul of thy father. Io. Damase in historia barl. & josa. O Lord God of insearcheable, and ineffable bounty, bring my father to the place of rest and refreshing: where the light of thy countenance doth gloriously shine: do not remember his former offences, but according to thy great mercy, blot out & cancel the obligations of his sins, tear and rend them asunder, for thou art worthy of all glory, for ever and ever. Amen. A prayer for the soul of thy mother. B. Agustinus ca ulti. li. 9 confessionum. O The God of my heart, my life and my praise, I humbly desire thee to pardon the sins of my mother: graciously hear me for his sake, which is the medicine of our wounds, which did hang upon the tree, & now sitting on thy right hand maketh intercession for us sinners: I know that she hath dealt charitably, & from her heart hath forgiven all her debtors: release also unto her all those sins what soever, since her baptism, she hath fallen into. Release them O Lord, release them I beseech thee, and enter not into judgement with her: let thy mercy exceed thy judgement, for thy words are true, and thou haste promised mercy to the merciful. For my mother (when the day of her death approached) did request and desire this, that we would remember her soul, at thy holy Altar where she had served thee: whereby she did know and believe, that the holy oblation of the body and precious blood of our saviour jesus Christ, was made: whereby the obligation made against us, was canceled: whereby the enemy was vanquished, counting our sins, & searching what he might object against us, and finding nothing in us by the means of jesus Christ in whom we have victory: who shall render to jesus Christ his innocent blood? who shall requite the price wherewith he hath bought us, that he might pull and draw us, from our enemy. To the mystery of the which price, thy servant hath united and bound her soul by the bond of faith: let no man withdraw her forth of thy protection: let not the dragon nor lion intrude himself neither by force nor deceit: neither as yet, will thy handmaid answer that she is not in debt, lest she be convinced and possessed of that crafty accuser: but she will answer, that her debts are released by him, whom none can repay that, which he owing nothing hath paid for us: let her therefore rest in peace with her husband, before whom and after whom, she was never married to any other, whom she hath served, and brought forth fruit to thee with great patience, to the end she might gain him to thee. Inspire O my Lord God, inspire thy servants my brethren, thy children my superiors, whom with voice, heart & pen I do serve: that, who soever shall read these, they may remember at thy Altar thy servant Monica, with Patricius her late husband: by whose flesh thou haste brought me into this world, by what means I know not how: let them remember with devout zeal my parents in this transitory life, and my brethren under thee their Father, in the lap of their Catholic Mother, and my countrye-men in the eternal jerusalem, which thy people in their pilgrimage, from their departure until their return, desire to attain unto, that she may attain by the prayers of many, those things which she required at my hands when she departed. Amen. A prayer for the soul of thy parents. O God which haste commanded us, to honour and reverence our father and mother, have mercy I beseech the on the souls of my father and mother: and of all my other parents, forgive them their offences, and grant that I may see them in the joy of thy everlasting bliss. Amen. A prayer for thy friend departed. O God the giver of pardon and lover of man's salvation, we beseech thy clemency, through the intercession of the glorious Virgin Marie, and of all the holy Saints of heaven: that thou wilt grant, that the brethren sisters & friends departed (in the unity of the Catholic Church) with all our benefactors, may come to the bliss of thy everlasting kingdom, through jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A prayer for the living & the dead. ALmighty and everlasting God, Lord of the living and the dead thou showest mercy to all those, whom by faith and good worcks, thou knowest to be thine: we humbly beseech the, that those for whom we have determined to pray, whom either this present world yet retaineth in flesh: or the world to come hath already received, may through the clemency of thy bounty, & intercession of all thy blessed Saints, obtain full remission of their sins. Amen. A prayer for the departed to be said at mass. B. Ambr. praecatio. 1. praepa. WE humbly beseech thee O holy father for the souls of the faithful departed this life, that the holy Sacrifice of the mass may be to them eternal salvation: perpetual health, joy & rest everlasting. O my Lord God, let this wonderful and excellent mystery of piety, and bounty, be unto them this day, full & perfect joy: grant that they may be replenished with thee, the living & true bread, which descendest from heaven, and givest life to the world: and with that holy and blessed flesh of thee, the immaculate Lamb, which takest away the sins of the world: and make them to drink of that fontaine of thy piety, which by force of the soldiers launce issued from the side of our Lord jesus Christ crucified, that so being comforted they may rejoice in thy holy laud and glory. Amen. The end of the thyrtienth Chapter. FINIS. Aug. in Psal. 42. This is the justice of man in this life, Fasting, Almsdeeds, Prayer. PRAYER IS GOOD WITH FASTING AND ALMS TOB. 12 Ibidem in serm. 59 He that will have his prayer to fly to heaven, must make it two wings, Almsdeeds, & Fasting, and it shall speedily ascend and be hard. A TABLE OF PRAYERS MEDITATIONS, EXHORTAtions and advertisments, contained in this present Manual of prayers. The first chapter containing quotidian or daily prayers, accommodated and prescribed to certain hours & times both for the day and night. A Brief exhortation to prayer continually, extracted and taken out of S. chrysostom. folio 1. A prayer in the morning when ye awake. folio 3. When ye do arise. folio 3. A morning prayer when you are risen. folio. 3. A morning prayer whereby to commend thyself unto God. folio 3. A prayer to be said going out of the house. folio 4. A prayer desiring God to order and direct us. folio 4. A prayer to persever in goodness. folio 5. An exercise to be daily used in meditating the passion of our Lord and Saviour, (with an exhortation) containing fiftiene meditationes with a prayer belonging to them, or to every one of them. folio 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10. 11. Certain asperations, ghostly sighings and prayers, to be daily used. folio 12. 13. 14. another brief exercise to be daily used, more shorter than the other before, as thy leisure shall serve. folio 15. 16. 17. 18. A prayer for scholars before they go to school, for obtaining wisdom, learning and knowledge. folio. 19 Wholesome meditations to use at night before you go to rest. folio 19 An evening prayer to be said as thou goest to bed. folio 20. another prayer for the night. fol. 20. A prayer to thy good Angel thy guardian. folio 22. A prayer as thou interest into thy bed. folio 22. A prayer to be said as thou settlest thyself to sleep. folio 22. An exhortation to watch taken out of holy scripture. folio 23. Most wholesome meditations which we ought day and night to have before our eyes, and always to have in remembrance. folio 23. The second chapter containing goodly and devout prayers to be said at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass as also both before and after. A Prayer when thou dost enter into the Church. folio 24. A prayer to stir up the mind to devotion before Mass. folio 24. A devout prayer to be said every Sounday. folio 26. A prayer to be used before confession, or before Mass if time serve. fol. 27. These prayers following are to be said at Mass. When the priest is at confession. fol. 29. When the priest goeth to the Altar after confession. folio 30. When the priest sayeth Gloria in excelsis Deo. folio 30. At the Epistle. folio 31. After the Epistle. folio 31. After the Gospel. folio 32. At the offertory. folio 32. When the priest turning desireth the people to pray for him. folio 32. When the priest sayeth Sursum corda. folio 33. At the holy Canon. folio 34. How to meditate before the elevation. folio 35. At the elevation of the Host. fol. 36. At the elevation of the Chalice. fol. 36. When the priest sayeth the Pater noster. folio 37. When the priest kisseth the Pax. folio 37. When you kiss the Pax. fol. 37. When the priest receiveth. folio 37. A prayer in blessing yourself. fo. 38 A prayer after the divine Sacrifice o● the Mass. folio 38 A prayer to recommend yourself to God. folio 39 A prayer to be said before a Catholic sermon or exhortation. fo. 39 The third Chapter containing wholesome prayers for remission of sins. AN humble bewailing of sins for a sinner that hath compunction. f. 40. A prayer of a penitent sinner acknowledging his vileness in the sight of God. folio 42. A confession of a man's own ungratefulness towards God, whereupon the sinner being turned unto penance, prescrybethe to himself a certain course of life. folio 44. An humble confession of sins, with desire of mercy and grace. folio 45. A prayer for a penitent sinner, after his relapse or falling to sin again. folio 49. A most profitable protestation to be made whiles we are yet in health and prosperity. folio 50. The fourth Chapter containing very goodly prayers for comfort, strength, and delivery (by God his assistance) in all sorrows, tribulations, afflictions and adversities. A Prayer when thou feelest thyself tempted. folio 51. A prayer of any captive, according to the form of David when he was hid in the cave. folio 52. A prayer of job in his most grievous adversity and loss of his goods. folio 53. A prayer in trouble of conscience. folio 53. A prayer for patience. folio 55. A prayer against the enemies of christ his truth. folio 56. A prayer wherein is desired freedom of the mind, and avoidance of worldly desires. folio 57 A prayer before we take in hand any journey. folio 58. A collection of the psalms in latin, to call on God for help against temptation, with an insultation against wicked spirits upon hope and confidence in God. folio 59 The fifth Chapter containing divers prayers, very commodious for obtaining that which is profitable both for body and soul. A Prayer to obtain faith, hope and charity. folio 69. A devout prayer to obtain of God fervent love towards God, our neighbours and our enemies. folio 70. A prayer for obtaining of heavenly wisdom. folio 71. A prayer most godly and devout which S. Thomas of Aquine used daily to pray. folio 73. A prayer to God that he will vouchsafe to preserve the fruits of the earth. folio 76. A prayer to God that we may use all temporal things for the health of our souls only. folio 76. The sixth Chapter containing wholesome prayers of the life and passion of out Saviour and redeemer jesus Christ. A Prayer to be said before the crucifix. folio 77. A prayer acknowledging that man was the cause of Christ his suffering. fol. 78. A prayer wherein man doth offer (to God the Father) the passion of his Son our Lord and saviour jesu-christ. folio 82. A devout prayer with the remembrance of the passion of our saviour jesus Christ, to obtain succour and favour of him. folio 84. The seventh Chapter containing devout and wholesome prayers to be said, before and after the receiving of the B. Sacrament. ADuertismentes for more worthily receiving the holy eucharist. folio. 86. A prayer to be said before the receiving of the B. Sacrament. folio 88 another prayer before the receiving of the B. Sacrament. folio 89. A devout prayer to be said at the elevation of the most blessed and Sacred host. folio 91. A devout prayer to be said before the B. Sacrament of the Altar. folio 92. A prayer to be said after the receiving of the B. Sacrament. folio 94 An other prayer after the receiving of the Sacrament. folio 96. The eight chapter containing laudes, prayeses, & thanksgiving, for the benefits that God hath bestowed upon us. A Psalm in which a sinner yieldeth thanks to God that his enemies have not prevailed against him nor gotten the upper hand of him. folio. 97. A psalm in which the goodness, of God is praised. folio. 100 A psalm of the benefits of God with thanks for the same. folio. 103. A thanksgiving to God for his innumerable benefits bestowed on man from his infancy. folio. 106. A prayer and thanksgiving to God for his great benefits. folio. 108. The ninth chapter containing necessary prayers for the prosperity of our brethren friends and neighbours. A Prayer for the Church afflicted. folio. 110. A prayer for our parents. folio. 113. A prayer for them that are fallen from the Church. folio. 113. A prayer that children may be instructed in virtue and in the fear of God. folio. 114. A prayer for a friend and generally for any that is commended unto our prayers. folio. 114. A general prayer for the living & the departed in the Catholic faith. folio. 114. The tenth chapter containing wholesome prayers to the holy Trinity. A Prayer or thanksgiving to the holy Trinity. folio. 116. A prayer to God the father, folio. 118. A prayer to God the son called, O bone jesus. folio. 119. A prayer to the holy Ghost. folio. 120. The eleventh Chapter containing Christian Catholicque prayers to Saints and citizens of the glory of heaven. A Prayer unto the holy Virgin Mary. folio. 122. another prayer to our B. Lady and to S. john Evangelist called. O intemerata. folio. 123. A prayer to all the holy Angels. folio. 124. A prayer to S. john baptist. folio. 125. A prayer to any of the Apostles. folio. 126. A prayer to any of the holy Martyrs. folio. 126. A prayer to any Confessor. folio. 127. A prayer to any holy Virgin. fol. 127. A prayer to any one of the holy Saints. folio. 128. A prayer to all the blessed Saints in heaven. folio. 129. The twelfth chapter containing advertisments and consolations with prayers and suffrages for the sick. AN advertisement for the sick, diligently to prepare himself to die well. folio. 131. A protestation very profitable to be made by the sick. folio. 133. Prayers in sickness. folio. 133. Another prayer. folio. 134. Another prayer. folio. 135. Another prayer. folio. 136. Prayers and suffrages to be said for one lying in death bed. folio. 137. A prayer for the same. folio. 139. Another prayer. folio. 140. Another prayer. folio. 143. Another prayer. folio. 143. The thyrtienth chapter containing devout prayers, healthful for the departed souls. AN exhortation by the which we are showed and admonished to pray for the souls departed in the Catholicque Church. folio. 145. Commendation of the soul that is lately departed. folio. 145. A prayer for the faithful soul departed. folio. 146. Another prayer folio 146. Another prayer. folio 147. A prayer for the soul of thy father. folio 147. A prayer for the soul of thy mother. folio 148. A prayer for thy parents departed. folio 150. A prayer for thy friend departed. folio. 150. A prayer for the living and the dead. folio. 150. A prayer for the departed to be said at Mass. folio 150. The end of the Table. Certain differences between love towards God and love towards creatures, and what love he hath and will have, to those that will perfectly love and serve him. 1. IF I love a creature, it can not know how much nor in what manner my love is: but if I love God, he knoweth better the love of my heart then myself. 2. If I love a creature, oftentimes I receive no reward or recompense: but if I love God, he rewardeth a hundredth fold. 3. If I love a creature, I find it not at all times, nor so often as I would, and I can not speak to it so often as I desire, and as need requireth, neither doth it hearken to my words as I wish: but if I love God, I have him at all times with me: I may speak with him as often as I please, and at all times he hearkeneth to my words, yea and to the desires of my heart. 4. If I love a creature, often times it putteth me to trouble, & is hindrance to me in my prayers, for that I think of it: but if I love God, he bringeth peace into my heart and conscience, & if I think on him as I ought in my prayers, he giveth to me himself which is sovereign sanctity. 5. If I love a creature, oftentimes I have care of it: but if I love God, he hath a care over me. 6. If I love creatures I know not their secrets: but if I love God, he openeth often to me the truth of all hidden and secret things. 7. If I love a creature, it yieldeth not my hearts desire: but if I love God, he will give me wholly all my desires. 8. If I love a creature, it is out of me: but if I love God, he dwelleth in me and I in him. 9 If I love a creature, it knoweth not all my affairs nor the things to me appartaining: but if I love God, he knoweth them better than I do myself. 10. If I love a creature, sometimes it deceiveth me: but if I love God, he will truly assure me. 11. If I love a creature oftentimes it moveth me to heaviness & grief: but if I love God, he giveth me joy and consolation. 12. If I love a creature, it seeketh at my hand a profit and gain to itself: but if I love God, he wisheth my profit and commo●ytie. 13. If I love a creature often it departeth from me, and for that cause I have short joy and pleasure of it: but if I love God, he remaineth with me (so long as I am without deadly sin) from whom I have all joy and pleasure. 14. If I love a creature, I know not if I be loved of it: but if I love God, I am assured of his love. 15. If I love a creature, it perisheth or decayeth: but if I love God, he dwelleth with me everlastingly. 16. If I love a creature, I find it often a liar, variable and inconstant: but if I love God, I find him most true, and his will firm and constant. 17. If I love a creature, I see often in it that displeaseth me: but if I love God, nothing that I see in him can displease me. 18. Therefore I take and choose for my Lover & Spouse our Lord jesus Christ, who through his own pleasure is mine, and so am I his, & none is to me so good, so fair, so sweet, so rich, so noble, so mighty, so wise, so piteous, so benign, nor so amiable, as is my hearty lover jesus. Who liveth and reigneth with the father and the holy ghost world without end. Amen. CERTAIN DEVOUT AND GODLY Petitions, commonly called. JESUS PSALTER. Nomen datum Non est aliud hominibus. Act. 4. IHS There is none other name under heaven given unto men, in which we must be saved. Act. 4. cum PRIVILEGIO. Anno. 1583.