The Mother and the Child - A Short Catechism

A Short Catechism.

Meditations upon the Lord's Prayer.

O My God, I come unto thee, as to the common Father of all the world; even unto thee do I make my supplication, who in the creation and preservation of all thy works, hast manifested thy more then fatherly love and affection. I come to thee, as to my true and gracious Father, which hast not only given me my being, life, and motion, as thou diddest to other creatures; but poured out thy spirit upon me, and lightened my soul with the heavenly rays of thy divinity. I come unto thee, my God, being regenerate and incorporated into thy family, by thy free grace and boundless bounty. I come, having appeased the anger of my Father, by the satisfaction of my Redeemer? I come, because it hath pleased thee to call me, and to spread out thy gracious arms, ready to receive me. Receive me then, not in the austerity of a just Judge, but in the tender compassion of a merciful Father. And accept this my humble prayer, which my heart hath conceived, my lips disclose, and my voice doth send up to the favorable ears of my heavenly Father. And since it is thy good pleasure, O Lord, that I thus cal upon thee, Grant, O grant I beseech thee gracious God, that it may reach even unto thee which art in heaven. I know assuredly that thy throne is in the highest heavens; that the Sun, the Moon, and the stars, are under thy feet, that the earth is but a point, to thee, and I the least part of the earth, yea, less then nothing. Who then hath made me so hardy as to dare to lift up mine eyes to thy most glorious Majesty? It is even thou my God; who hast set thyself so high, to behold all the works of thine hands, to supply all our wants, and daily to distill down thy grace into our hearts, as a most sweet morning dew. It is thou, who hast said, Ask and ye shall receive: Call upon me, and I will hear thee. But how can I call upon thee, unless I put my confidence in thee, and take fast hold of thy promises by a firm and fast faith? O then infuse it into my soul, and engraft it in my heart; (for it is a gift that cometh from the storehouse of thy grace.) And as sometimes thou didst cause the mouths of babes and sucklings to resound thy praise, so at this time govern the Infancy, and strengthen the weakness of my heart, that it may send out that prayer which is acceptable in thy sight. And that it may appear that the prayer of my lips proceedeth from the meditation of my heart: and that notwithstanding the heavy mass of my sinful flesh doth oppress my spirit; yet, under that burden, it doth breath fotth thy honor and praise. The first request which I make unto thee, is, that thy name may be sanctified; or rather that thy Name may so sanctify me, as that I may be able to bless and magnify it. But, which of thy names shall I bless. That wherewith thou hast destroyed, and confounded all the enemies of thy people; or that wherewith thou hast blessed all the Nations of the earth? Wilt thou be praised, as Lord of Hosts, the God of power; or as the Savior and Redeemer of the world? Shall I declare how thou hast made all things of nothing, how thou hast spangled the heavens with stars, adorned the earth with fruits and flowers, watered it with rivers, and filled it with living creatures; yea, and above all, hast created man, & formed him after thine own Image? Or shall I speak only of this incredible love, whereby thou hast given-over unto death thine only Son, that we might be restored to everlasting life? My spirits, O Lord, are too faint for so great an enterprise, and my breath would fail before I could recount the least part of them. Let it therefore suffice, that I sanctify thy name in an humble and chaste thought, and that my mind may ever be fast fixed in the meditation of thy goodness: forasmuch as it hath pleased thee at all times to be so good and gracious to me. So that I and all those whom thou hast placed in this world, as in the midst of a rich and glorious Temple to behold, and admire thy divine Majesty; may wholly apply all our faculties and understanding, to the apprehending of thy will. That so being all of us re-united and linked in one and the self-same desire to serve thee, thy Kingdom may come: that we having cast off the yoke of sin, which hath so long held us in thralldom, thy love alone may rule in our consciences full of happiness and true felicity. For to obey thee, is to command our disordinate affections: to command them, is to be Masters of our selves; and to be Masters of our selves, is more then sovereign principality. A sweet thing it is, to serve thee, O my God: thy yoke is easy: and all the tribute thou exactest of us, is only that we will be willing to be made happy. Confirme and strengthen in us this will; and graciously assist the zeal of thy servants, to the beating down and repressing of their insolence who blaspheme thy sacred Majesty: to the ende that thy Law and truth may reign over all the world. O thou King of Kings, who rulest in our hearts, and in our humility & obedience doest establish thine Empire; subdue our wills unto thy law: that so whilst all of us, with one accord, shall aim at the same mark, & aspire to the advancement of thy glory; our good works may testify the discipline of our heavenly King: to whom (as his devoted subjects) we render homage and fealty, for those manifold and great gifts and graces which we hold of his bounty. But what obeisance can we render thee? How can we attain to that height of perfection as is due unto thee? who is able to sound the depth of thy thoughts? or who is able to fulfill thy will? All we can do, is but to pray unto thee that thy will may be done. For seeing that thou art even goodness it self, and therefore wilt nothing but what is good, and that with thee to will and to do, is all one; we do in this Prayer wholly commit our selves to thy will, who art never wanting to will us well, and to do whatsoever thou in thy goodness knowest to be expedient for us. Whatsoever thou hast willed, O Lord, hath been done: and from this thy good will and pleasure, as from an ever-flowing fountain, are derived so many good things, as the whole Globe of the earth is filled, and the immense circle of the heavens is beautified therewith. Continue then this thy goodness unto us: and forasmuch as thy love is as fire, (which augmenteth where it meeteth with combustible matter) and that it increaseth in well-doing to us, even to us poor miserable wretches, in whose misery and infirmity, it may find matter enough to work upon) when I pray to thee, my God, that thy will may be done, the intent of my prayer is, that it may please thee to root out of mine heart all worldly will, which springing from the corruption of the flesh, is no ways compatible with the law of the spirit: That thou wilt never give me the rains to live at mine own pleasure: and seeing that thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with so high a title as to be styled thy son, thou wilt not emancipate or give me over to mine affections; but keep me under the rod of thy law, under the tutelage of thy Commandments. So shall I, together with all those that have vowed allegiance, and are thy faithful servants, readily and cheerfully betake our selves to thy service; and during our abode in this life, strive to set forth thy glory here on earth: which is sounded without ceasing by that heavenly quire of blessed Saints and Angels, in thy holy and heavenly habitation.

But such is the frailetie of our mortal bodies, daily fading and falling away, that without daily repairing and sustenance, they make us unapt to serve thee; we therefore make our daily recourse unto thee, for such things as are necessary to the maintenance of our life; beseeching thee to give us our daily bread. But give us withal, O God, grace so to use it and all other good gifts; that in nourishing our bodies, we starve not our souls, and make them unable to attain to the knowledge of thy truth. That together with thy bounty, receiving also thy benediction, we settle not our affections upon worldly, and transitory things; so passing through things temporal that we finally lose not the eternal. Let not the taste of this earthly bread make us to forget that heavenly Manna, that bread of life, which nourisheth and cherisheth our feeble souls, filleth our mouths with heavenly plenty, and maketh us the living Temples of our God, by receiving him into our bodies through a steadfast and lively faith. Grant unto us, my God, that by receiving this bread, our hearts & consciences may be fully assured that we are incorporate with our Redeemer, and become fellow-members of our head Christ Jesus: and that as he taking upon him our flesh did undergo our death; so we clad and invested with his, may be made partakers of his immortality. And since it hath pleased thee to make us the vessels and receptacles of thy divinity, purify and cleanse our hearts, and renew and rectify all our affections, that there may be nothing to cause thee retire, and leave us destitute of thy grace and our salvation. But we cannot be cleansed, unless thou forgive us our trespasses, and wipe away our iniquities. For we have been slaves unto sin and death: and whatsoever we can call ours, belongeth unto them. Neither have we so much as one mite toward the paying of our ransom or acquitting our debt. Of thee therefore must we expect forgiveness, who hast once redeemed us by thy precious blood, and made us free from Satan our arch enemy: but we daily fall again into the hands of our enemies by committing millions of sins which bring into slavery, and make us liable to grievous punishment. Yet let not this O my God, cause thee to shut up that treasure from us, whence we may take the price of our liberty. Let not, O Lord, our obstinacy in backsliding, take away thy constancy in pardoning: but let thy merciful hand be ever ready to reform us. For sin ever since the fall of our first father Adam, is as it were incorporated into our sinful flesh, and daily increaseth and groweth with us: so that the older we grow, the fowler and filthier we appear, unless it please thee to apply daily unto our maladies the merits of thy Passion: that as we by our in-bred corruption do wound and exulcerate our conscience, so thou wilt graciously refresh it, by curing our wounds, and suppling them with thine oil of mercy. Otherwise, well might we fear, O Lord, least casting down thine eyes daily upon us, it would as it were grieve thy holy spirit so oft to return unto us, by reason of our manifold sins and offenses. O then pardon our offenses, that is to say, our whole life: and so pardon us O heavenly Father, as we forgive them that have offended us. Make us evermore to set before our eyes that love wherewith thou hast loved us, in undertaking the payment of our debts, and the punishment of our sins. That we may duly consider, how unreasonable it were for us to expect that grace of thee which we cannot afford our neighbor; since there is no comparison betwixt the offenses they commit against us, and those wherewith we offend thy divine Majesty. Root out of our hearts all malice, fierceness, and bitterness: give us a calm and peaceable spirit, which may foster and maintain in us unity and brotherly love, teaching us to support with gentleness one another's infirmities. For we cannot but acknowledge, O Lord, how easily we slip, yea stumble, and tumble, in the slippery paths of this refractorie life. Too too slender is our own force and ability to hold us on foot, and uphold us against those whirl-winds which are ever ready to drive us headlong into Iniquity. And therefore most earnestly do we beseech thee, not to forsake us in our temptations; but to remove far from us all occasions of offending thee; and to arm us against all objects, with thy Spirit: without which we shall be ever vanquished; & by whō we be sure to vanquish. For the price and crown of victory is reserved for those and those alone who follow thee their Captain. Grant us then this grace, that whensoever any inordinate desire of worldly wealth shall assail us; we may oppose as a rampier, against it the desire of heavenly gifts and graces, generously scorning and contemning the pelf and transitory trash of this world, as justly suspecting their deceitfulness & fragility. That we may call to mind that they are but as a cloud, which for a while fleeteth from one country to another, and suddenly vanisheth away and appeareth no more; & that many times that gold and silver which we heap up with much sweat and travel, doth serve but to the procuring of our own damnation. And if it shall please thee to bestow upon us riches in greater abundance; grant unto us likewise the grace to use them well, and lovingly and charitably to communicate them to such as have want. For the whole earth is thine, and we are but the tillers and tenants thereof: our goods belong unto thee, and we are but thy depositaries and vassals. So that if we refuse to impart them to such as demand them in thy name, thou mayest not only put us out of possession, but make us pay the usury of our ingratitude & unfaithfulness.

Furthermore, we beg of thee, that the false luster of the honors of this world may not deceive our dazzled sight, nor draw us on to desire more then is expedient for us. Let it always be imprinted in our hearts and thoughts, that there is no true honor in this wotld, but to serve thee aright; and that in thy service, the seat of honor is lowliness, and the greatness thereof consisteth in humility.

Furthermore, that this same deceitful lure, which we so much admire (after which we run our selves out of breath, and all but to our ruin) is but like an Ignis fatuus, about the rivers, that shineth not but in the dark, and draweth them into mischief that unwarily follow it. Our worldly pomp and secular dignities appear not but in the obscurity of this world. If once we close our eyes against the heavenly light, they seem to us as bright as fire, & their luster appeareth as burnisht gold: but when we come to follow them, we fall into swift torrents and dangerous whirl-pools, where we are plunged, floating in uncertainty betwixt the willes of Princes, and the unsteadfast opinions of the wavering vulgar, until we meet with some rock of offense: and there we are crushed.

Give me therefore, O my God, constancy, to withdraw mine affections, and withhold my sight from such vanities; make me only ambitious of thy glory; let my spirit be so addressed to immortality, that she make no repose in the choking smoke of this world. Let me never envy them that enjoy all these fickle goods, and fading honors: but let all my aemulation be to come as near as possible to that only example and perfect pattern of good life which most lively appeareth in that absolute tabliture of thy most innocent life. That so all the violent passions of anger, rancor, and disdain, may be banished out of my soul, my heart enflamed with desire to do good to all, hurt to none, and both body and soul may be always watchful, and daily employed about good and laudable works, never languishing in slothful stupidity. That this base and infamous gourmondizing (which abuseth thy good gifts, being drowned in wine, and buried in dainty dishes) may ever be far from me. Extinguish also, O heavenly Father, all unchaste provocations of the flesh, which allure us to violate the chastity of our bodies, and the purity of the soul. And remove far from us all those objects which may stir up any slippery and unchaste affections.

To conclude, deliver us from all evil, even from the hands of wicked Angels, not suffering them to have any power over us. And when we of our selves shall be running headlong into mischief; prevent us with speed, draw us back, and stretch out thy fatherly hand over us, ever readier to show thy mercy then to execute thy justice. Save us, even maugre our own selves; and let not our backsliding and obstinacy alienate thee from us, or cause thee to forget, to be both our merciful GOD, and also our loving Father.

Meditationes in 7. Psal. poenitentiales.

Domine ne in furore. Psalm 6.

1 LEt not the arm of thy heavy displeasure be lifted up against me, O Lord. For that would be as a torrent and violent stream, to carry me headlong into death and eternal damnation. It would be as a fire to eat up my flesh, and turn my carcass into ashes. What eye is able to look up, and not to consume at the very fight of thy wrathful countenance? when casting thine eye upon us, thou shalt pierce the bottom of our hearts, and discover all the secrets of our impure consciences. Our abhominable sins will draw down upon our heads thy just indignation: and thine anger once kindled against us, will violently cast and plunge us into that horrid and griefly gulf of hopeless torments, and endless misery. O then let the sorrowful sobs of a trembling heart, prevent thy fury and indignanation; and before thy sin-revenging hand be stretched out for my ruin and destruction, give ear unto my feeble & fainting voice, which with woeful laments, crieth unto thee,

Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy upon me. Alas, my God, what wilt thou do? Wilt thou prove the strength of thy forces, upon mine infirmities? and will thy matchless might wrestle with my weakness? Is it to contend with thy puissance, that I present myself before thee? Oh no: it is thy clemency, O Lord, to which I fly for succor: she it is under whose wings I shroud myself, as the only shielde and Sanctuary, which can preserve me from the rigor of that just doom, which I have most justly deserved. Lord, vouchsafe me, a calm and merciful aspect. And since I have made haste to fly unto thy Mercy-seat, make no long tarrying, O my God, but send me succor and deliver me, from so many evils, which have compassed and hemm'd me in on every side: and wherewith I have been so sore assailed, that my bones are bruised and broken, and my feeble body languisheth. But well were it, if my body alone were oppressed by these cruel encounters: my very soul is even ouerlayed, with anguish and heaviness.

This soul, O Lord, which hath sometime been enflamed with the zeal of thy glory, and hath sung of thy praise, in the great Congregation, is now become desolate & dejected, destitute of comfort, and deprived of all courage: & as the fearful dove at the voice of thy thunder, hasteth to hide her self in her hole; so is she ready to fly into the most obscure darkness, from the terror of thy fearful indignation.

But how long shall thine anger continue, O Lord? Come, O come my God, and cast down thine eye of pity and compassion upon me, which is sufficient to deface and abolish not my sins alone, but even the sins of the whole world. My soul is plunged in the filth & foul puddle of iniquity, she sticketh fast in the bottom, the floods run over her: unto thee O Lord, doth she stretch out her hand; O pluck her out, and bring her again into the ways of thy saving health. Save her O Lord, even for thy boundless bounty, and thy matchless mercies sake. True it is, that merit she hath none; and how should she expect succor from him, whom she hath so shamefully forsaken, and against whose honor she hath so treacherously conspired? The price of such a forfeit, is not grace and favor, but hell and never-dying death.

But who shall praise thee O Lord in the pit, or who shall sing of thy name amongst the dead? There is the house of mourning, weeping, & howling. Who hath there any feeling save only of unsupportable torments, and hopeless miseries? whereas on the contrary, thy praise consisteth in the publishing of thy infinite loving kindness, bounty, and clemency.

6 And now behold, on the one side, true Repentance intercedeth, on the other side humble Prayer importuneth, for me; both of them having sworn never to depart from me, until they have procured a reconciliation for me. Thou hast seen my tears O Lord, and heard my sighs: every day wash I my cheeks with tears, at the remembrance of my sins, and water my couch every night with the streams of of water that gush out of mine eyes. Yea, what is it, that Repentance commandeth and I observe not?

7 Mine eyes are cast down, as trembling at the terror of thine angry countenance. I do not answer to the reproach of mine enemies, 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 and their contumelious taunts I patiently put up, as a just punishment for my faults. Even in their sight do I walk with sack-cloth and ashes upon mine head, and confession in my mouth: I lie prostrate at the foot of thine alter: I macerate and fight against the flesh, which hath betrayed my soul to sin; and all my grief is but a sport unto mine enemies: they come about me, but to laugh at me: and the drunkards make songs on me.

But, now, since it hath pleased thee to have mercy on me, I will say unto them, Away, away, from me all ye children of iniquity, and cease henceforth to rejoice at my misery: the Lord hath heard my prayer, my tears have quenched his anger; and loe, now hath he restored me joy and peace, with the full fruition of his bounty: the glorious splendor of his grace hath shined upon me; and loe, the dark clouds and threatening tempests which hanged over my head, are, in a trice, all dispearsed and gone.

No sooner had I opened my lips to call upon him for succor; yea, no sooner had my heart resolved to cry to him for mercy, but straight I perceived his grace spread over me, to comfort and refresh my languishing soul; no less then the benumd members of a wearied pilgrim, are suppled and refreshed by a warm bath after his toilsome travel. O incredible clemency! how ready art thou O Lord to forgive? I run to offend thee, and thou flyest to bestow thy grace on me. I have employed all the days of my life, to find out by sea and by land, matter for my ambition, covetousness, lusts, and inconstancy: and when I had plunged & ruined myself in my pleasures, thou in a moment camst down, and didst deliver me. So that now behold how I triumph over my sins, which base and abject, do follow the trophees of my repentance, since it hath found favor in thy fight. And now also my hope, which before was as it were strangled with my many misdeeds, being revived, and his spirits quickened, doth promise and assure unto me more then all the Empires of the world, opening unto me the highest heavens, where after the blessed end of an hopeful life in this world, I shall enjoy the full fruition, of divine immortality.

What will then become of mine enemies, when they shall see my felicity? Their meed shall be confusion of face, and disquietness of soul; they shall fly with distraction and amazement, to see him so highly exalted, whom they had sought to lay so low. These are they that made a mock at mine ashes, that derided my fastings, that rejoiced at my tears, and (whilst I through abstinence did fight against the flesh, the bitter enemy of my soul) did even swim in the delights of this bewitching world: but lo, the arm of the Lord is stretched out to beat down their insolency. O my God give them a feeling of their offenses, and cause them to know & acknowledge the extreme danger wherein they are; that so they may call upon thee the only remedy for all their mischief. And as for me, since thou hast cleansed my soul from that filth wherewith it was stained, and enflamed my spirit with the fire of thy love; teach my lips that they may sound forth thy praise: address my voice to resound thy mercy: and so conduct and guide mine affection, that I may love thee sincerely, and account it my greatest happiness and sovereign felicity, to know thee, and thy sacred truth.

Beati quorum. Psalm 32.

O My God; how happy are they whose offenses thou hast pardoned; and whose sins thou hast buried in oblivion. For alas; what can befall unto him, upon whom thou shalt lay the just punishment of his iniquity? Whole legions of evil besiege him, poverty assaults him, maladies afflict him, famine presseth him, and death it self (which he wisheth for, as the haven of rest after all these tempestuous nauigations) proves but a gulf to swallow him down, unto eternal torments.

O then thrice happy and blessed are those, of whose actions God doth not take account, but is content that they humble themselves before him, acknowledging their infirmity, and laying open before him the very secrets of their hearts. For by true and unfeigned confession, and in sincerity of conscience, must we call upon his mercy; and before him must we humble our selves, if we will have him to hear us. [ And ] as he that goeth for water of the fountain, doth put down the mouth of his vessel to take in the water: so must he humble himself before his creator, that means to draw and taste of the water of this sacred source, from whence distill those streams which (and they only) can purify our stained consciences.

I have thought sometime O my GOD, to hide my faults from thee; and have said within myself, and how knoweth he, whether I have done it or no? and so my sin took root within my bones. And as the ulcers of a shamefast Patient, which dareth not show his malady to the Surgeon, do fester and rankle and increase even to the destruction of the whole body: so these very vices which I hid from thee, wholly infected me.

But when thy hand had been heavy upon me day and night, and when thou hadst laid such sore trouble upon my loins, and so many misfortunes upon my soul, that my spirit could take no rest, and that I was broken with the stinging of my conscience, which did pierce my very heart; then did I acknowledge my faults, and that thy hand had done: this. Look upon me, O Lord, but not in thine anger: and let those tears, whose gushing streams have dimd my sight, quench the heat of thy just indignation, since I am not only the work of thy hands; but which is more, the living image of thy Divinity. Who will be so far led with anger, as to bruise and break in pieces, that work which he hath had so great delight to polish, and bring to perfection, because he seeth it filthy and polluted? I confess (O Lord) this image of thine is full of pollution and uncleanness: yet better will it be to cleanse & scour it, then to break it & tread it under foot.

O teach me, then my God, what thou wilt require for my satisfaction: for loe, now have I disclosed and acknowledged all my faults, which before I concealed. The fear which had seised on me, when I hid myself from thee, is now since I humbled myself before thee, turned into hope of grace & pardon. And now do I cast myself into thine arms, as my most assured succor, with the humble demeanour of a poor patient, who presenting his wounds unto the surgeon, looks on him attentively, and suffers courageously, both the searcher and the knife, for the desire and hope that he hath to be cured of them. But that which putteth me in greatest hope of health, is, that those vices, wherein heretofore I took greatest pleasure, are now no less odious in my sight, then are those meats whereof a man did eat to the full, being in health, whē he is sick of their surfeit: that which had made me haughty and insolent, doth now breed in me shame and remorse, when I consider the hazard of death, whereunto my pride hath exposed my poor wretched soul. Blessed be the day, wherein I acknowledged my fault: now have I received a singular testimony of thy bounty towards me, O my God. Grant therefore that this pleasure which I have taken by being displeased with myself, may be as durable, as that which before I took, to continue in my sins. For if I may have as much contentment in my repentance, as I have taken in my sin; my happiness shall be even equal to that of the Angels; and I shall find, that through my humiliation, before thee, I have mounted to the height of thy grace.

Who can doubt O Lord, but that thou hast received me unto mercy? thou whose clemency and mercy is not only unspeakable, but also incomprehensible. No sooner had I thought to return unto thee, but thou preuentedst me: no sooner had I said, I will confess my misdeeds, but thy grace was granted me: no sooner had I known the punishment due to my sin, but thou didst pardon me: no sooner had I taken the rods in mine hands to chastise my flesh, but thou didst take them from me: in a word, I looked when thou wouldst denounce war against me, and loe thou offeredst a loving reconciliation. O how much more willing art thou O Lord, to pardon then to punish! Can a loving father more tenderly receive his child, when he crieth him mercy, then thou receivedst me, when I cast myself down at thy feet? Therefore my heart danceth for joy, and boileth with a fervent desire to praise thy Name: it rejoiceth in thy grace, and accuseth none for what is done amiss, but it self; crying, it is I that willed and consented to do it: it is I that did it: it is I that pleased myself with it: but my God hath been merciful unto me. And how could he withhold his mercy from me, when his holy one made intercession for me?

And needful it was, alas, that he should intercede for me, when the impiety of my heart had so blinded my understanding by my wicked thoughts, that my soul was not able any longer to lift her hands unto heaven. What then remained for me, but that he whom thou deniest nothing, should mediate for me? even for me, who being become my own enemy, had now no knowledge nor will to pray for myself. But now am I comforted, since it hath pleased thee to open mine eyes, that I might see the deformity of mine own conscience, and that thou hast mollified my stony heart, that I might entertain contrition in my soul. Which though I have not performed so soon as I ought to have done: yet not so late, but thou hast vouchsafed to receive me, as thy custom is, to them that do not let pass all time and occasion of repentance. For those that run unto sin, and do voluntarily neglect to repent, when they know their fault, and have time to repent, deferring to cry for mercy (or to make a deluge flow from their eyes) until the end of their lives; it is greatly to be feared, that they deceive themselves; and that true repentance will hardly after so long time, enter into their hardened hearts: that their tears and weeping, will be but the wailing of men in desperation, and that thy mercy will lend but a deaf ear to their too late repentance.

But as for me, I come unto thee, in an acceptable time as to my refuge, and the mark whereat my hope aimed, and my only comfort in my tribulation which had environed me, even as the fear seizeth upon him, who is condemned to a shameful end. O then let me taste of that joy, which he hath in his heart, who is freed from his chains, enlarged out of prison, and healed of his pain, wherein his enemy had long time held him captive. And on the contrary, let the enemy of my soul be confounded with shame, when he shall see me so devoutly calling upon my God for aide: who in the very turning of his eye, can free me from that voluntary servitude, which I had vowed unto wicked pleasure. When I was on me. He hath not only exalted me above other creatures, giving me the use of divine reason, but also amongst men hath he exalted me, into the throne of honor and magnificence; so that nothing was remaining, for the accomplishing of my felicity, but only to know my own felicity: and after I had forgotten mine own estate, he did enlighten me by his holy light, and gave me both time and will to lament my life passed, and to amend it for the time to come.

Be warned then by me, O my friends, and whilst it is time run unto him for grace; for he himself doth call you, into the way of salvation: and be not like the self-wild Mule, which hath no understanding or judgment, but kicketh against him that pricketh her, to make her go right: whose mouth must be held with bit, and bridle, & whose sides must feel the sharp remembrance of the spurr. And so if at the first summons, which the Lord shall send to cause you return into his ways, you will not be obedient to his will, he shall rain upon you such a hail of miseries, as shall make you more miserable then misery it self.

You see the stars that glitter in the heavens, and the sand stretched upon the shore: but neither hath the heavens so many stars, nor the sea so much sand, as are the plagues and punishments, which remain for the obstinate sinners. Their own wickedness hangeth over their heads, mischief attends at their heels, until they fall headlong into that gulf, the very remembrance whereof is full of horror; the sweetest retraites whereof, are but plaints, cries, shreekes, and sorrowful sobbes: where is pain without end, grief without remedy, repentance without mercy: where they are always dying, and never dead; where the body liveth only to die, and the soul only to suffer torments: where the soul feeleth nothing but sin, and the body nothing but pain. On the contrary, they who fly unto the Lord, and the covert of his grace, who shielde themselves under his mercy, and put their trust in his bounty, who follow his commandment, and are zealous to do his will; unto what height of happiness do they aspire? What thing is there so precious in heaven that shall be hid from them? they shall sit by their God, and all environed with glory, shall be invested with greater happiness, then the spirit of man is able to conceive the least part thereof, much less my faultring tongue able to express.

I will be glad therefore and rejoice, O my God, to think how great good thou hast laid up in the heavens, wherewith to crown the just. And I invite you all to rejoice with me, who have sworn unto the words of our Savior, and love the straight path of his justice. Here must you attend the recompense of your travel: here shall you be placed in honor and glory: here shall you change your rude thorns of the world, for the beautiful flower-delice of heaven. O how gracious and sweet repose, shall you then find after the sweat of your afflictions. The gold is not more pure and glorious, after it hath been refined in the furnace, and made ready to receive the stamp and image of a great Prince or serve for an ornament to some rich cabinet, then the heart of him who loveth his God, when it cometh pure out of the furnace of the worlds miseries, to be decked with splendor and glory. What is there that can content me in this world? What shall stay or hinder me from entering into the house of the Lord, to live for his service. How shall I forget to deplore, all the days of my life, my sins which had put his grace so far from me? Reconcile then in me, O my God, these two Passions; of repentance, and consolation: that as the wandering Pilgrim having lost his way in the wilderderness, rejoiceth when he seeth the day to dawn, and yet forgetteth not the obscure darkness, whence he is yet scarce freed, and cannot as yet wholly cast off the fear, which he had of so tedious a night: so I may ever retain some horror of my faults passed, and yet have a certain and joyful hope of eternal happiness, which thou hast purchased for me, with the precious price of the blood of thy most dear son. Oh how great is this love, when the M ^r . spareth not the life of his only Son, to redeem his slave? And now since I have been formed and fashioned by thy hands, purchased and redeemed with thy blood, and purified and cleansed by thy mercy; I will offer up myself before thee, as a sacrifice of obedience: cast me not away, O my God.

Domine ne in furore. Psalm 38.

IT is high time for me, O Lord, to turn again unto thee; and again as an humble suppliant to implore thy mercy. For I feel thine anger to wax hot, against me. Alas my God wilt thou chastise me in thine anger, and make me to feel the violence of thy just indignation, which my sins have provoked against me? The flame hath even consumed me, and the fire of thy fury, hath eaten me up, and I am ready to vanish away into smoke.

For I feel O my God, the arrows of thy vengeance stick fast in me, and and I am pressed down under thy heavy hand. The remorse & terrors of my conscience, do astonish me, and bruise me like flashes of lightning and thunderbolts: evil cometh upon me as a snare, and one mischief over-taketh another. No sooner is war ended, but Pestilence assaults me: and in the ende Death hath taken from me my dearest pledge, which I have in this world. Wherein then shall I receive comfort, O my God? In myself?

Alas, there is no health in any part of my body, the marrowe is consumed in my bones; there is no rest in my body: every part reproacheth me with my sin, and suffereth the pain thereof. I pine away with grief and heaviness, and no man comforteth me; my eyes serve me only to see my misery: and my soul hath no understanding or knowledge, but only of my wretchedness.

I cast mine eyes on every side, and I see my sins begirt me round about, and I am ready to faint and sink down under the burden of mine iniquities: they are mounted aloft upon my head, and are heavier then I can bear.

How shall I resist them? What strength have I to defend myself? seeing all my bones are out of joint. The filth of my sores runneth, the stench and corruption of my wounds, and ulcers is grievous: and if my body be ill, is my soul any better? Is not she also full of confusion, fearfulnes and trembling? Maladie hath worn away my body, and brought it to the door of death, and heaviness hath oppressed my soul: and disrobed her of her Virtue: And as the young and tender bud of the Vine is congealed into sheer-wool, by the sharp cold, and fadeth away: so the finger of the Lord which hath touched my soul, maketh her to languish, faint, and lose her courage.

But alas (O my God) what courage can I expect to have, when I see myself so full of sores, and no part of my body is exempt from pain? and which is far beyond this misery, the memory of my deceitful Pleasures, representeth it self unto me, and casteth me in the teeth with my vices, and mocketh me for my vanity. I say unto myself, did I therefore prolong my days in the honny of so many delights, that I might after wash away all with the gall of bitter anguish? Where art thou now O deceitful pleasure, which hast made my soul drunk with the sweet liquor of thy delights? how hast thou now forsaken me?

Have I not yet suffered enough O Lord, hath not my humility yet sufficiently chastened mine arrogance? I have sinned through sottish corruption; alas, since that I have cast myself down upon the earth, I have covered my head with ashes; I have cloven my heart with cries; I have dimmd my eyes with tears, and yet thine anger ceaseth not. Is it possible, O Lord, that thou hast not seen my tears? Thou who with the very turn of thine eye doest traverse heaven and earth; Thou whose sight pierceth the very bottom of our hearts;

Thou Lord knowest my thoughts, and understandest my cogitations. What is it that I desire, but thy mercy? In what do I hope, but in thy bounty? Wherefore, have I mourned, and made open profession of my repentance, but to condemn myself? And if my tongue hath not sufficiently expressed my mind, and is not able to utter what I desire; Thou O Lord, knowest what we would before we can think it. It is enough that we lift up our heart unto thee, and thou wilt presently grant what we desire.

But wherefore delayest thou O Lord, to give thy blessed consolation, which thou hast promised me? Alas, I am not able to hold out any longer: my heart faileth me, my senses are troubled, my sight is waxed dim, my flitting soul is even ready to leave my body.

All my friends about me do bewail my death: they have given over all hope of my health, all their care is for my exequies, and say amongst themselves, where is the help that he expected from his God; where is that favor whereof he made himself so sure? They that privily have laid wait for my life, are come about me: they have thought of parting my spoil among them, so hateful am I become to the world, since thou hast dejected me.

They whispered among themselves, and have imagined a thousand ways to do me mischief: they have daily laid snares to entrappe me. He is (said they upon his death-bed, he shall never rise up again; wherefore should we fear him, who is now but as the shadow of a man?

As for me I was as deaf as a man that heareth not, and as one that is dumb I answered them not: my patience was my buckler, and constancy my bulwark. Everyone that saw my patience in adversity, said that I was dumb; because when they reproached, I answered not: he hath (said they) put up all indignities: if there remained in him any sense of honor, how could he show such little courage? we may well judge him to be guilty: for innocence is always hardy and resolute in her own defense: but notwithstanding all this I held my peace.

For why? my hope is in God: and I am verily persuaded, that he will assist me. Though all the world band themselves against me, though heaven and earth conspire my ruin, yet through the help of my God, I shall still be the vanquisher. With the breath of his mouth hath he created all things: and with the same breath he can destroy whatsoever it pleaseth him. I will fight under his banner, and so I shall be certain of victory.

I have oft said unto them, Rejoice not at my harm, and insult not over me, when I am afflicted & tormented; for the hand of the Lord is not so short, but it may stretch unto you also, and presume not too much upon his long suffering; for as his feet are of wool, so his arm is of iron: if he once stretch it over your heads, O ye impenitent souls, he will break you in pieces like a potters vessel, and the very remembrance of you shall be rooted out.

As for me, I have taken the rod in mine hand, and have made the print of my condemnation for my sin on my shoulders: I have appeared in thy presence O Lord, with tears, in mine eyes, repentance in my mouth, and war in my heart. I have beaten down myself, for fear least mine enemy should triumph over me.

I have openly confessed my fault, I have acknowledged my sin in an acceptable time: I have been careful to run unto thee for mercy, whilst thou wast to be found.

But the more I humble myself before thee, to taste of the living water of this fountain of grace, which distilleth from thy bounty, the more mine enemies increase: and they that would devour me guiltless, are mighty. They gather themselves on every side, little foreseeing the tempest that will scatter and disperse them. They kindle through their pride, the coals of thine ire: they despite thy power, which they shall too too soon prove to their utter ruin and destruction. In a word, caring for nothing in heaven or earth, they wallow in their filthy pleasures, and as much as in them lieth, deface that stamp of divinity, which thou hast imprinted printed in their soul; & shut their eyes against the hope of salvation, which shineth unto them out of thy word.

I cease not my God to warn them: but they render me evil for good, and make a mock of whatsoever I do to please thee, and be an example to them: they traduce and slander me in the open streets, and impose upon me a thousand wrongful imputations.

I confess O Lord, I now begin to lose patitience. But O my God repair mine infirmity, and forsake me not: for else I shall stumble as a little child at the first precipice that shall lie in my way. Increase in me O Lord, strength & courage to overcome my affliction, and keep me under the shadow of thy wings, giving me evermore constancy and perseverance: and be unto me as a tender-hearted mother, which cannot but tender him her dugges, as oft as her babe cries for it.

Nourish me then, O Lord, with the milk of thy sacred love: that so increasing from strength, to strength I may be able to walk night and day in thy paths which lead unto that salvation, the hope whereof shineth in thy promises; that if my sin present it self to stop me in my way, I may open the floudgates of mine eyes, and never shut them until I have drowned and sunk it with my tears.

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Psalm 51. Miserere mei Deus.

HAue mercy upon me my God, according to thy great clemency, and for thy boundless mercies sake forgive me the punishment which I have justly deserved. For if thou expect until my fastings, watchings and prayers shall satisfy for my sin; alas Lord, when can this be? My trespass reacheth frō earth unto heaven, and surpasseth in immensity of greatness. Who then is able to compass it, or bring it down, save only thy sacred mercy? which as far surpasseth the measure of our sins, as the greatness of thy justice is beyond ours. It is thy mercy O Lord, which compasseth this universe, which holdeth together the whole frame of this world, which otherwise is ready to dissolve and fall upon our heads, to bury through his ruin the memory of our sins: to destroy, from before thy face, our ingrate, disloyal, and felonious race; which disclaimeth her birth, creation and preservation, all which it holdeth of thy bounty. O then let this merciful bounty, which shineth in thy Divinity, now extend it self unto me, not sparingly, or niggardly, but fully and plentifully. As thou didst once cause the waters to pass their bounds, and cover the tops of the highest mountains, to extirpate and sweep away the wicked inhabitants of the earth: so now cast out the torrent of thy mercy upon me, O Lord, not to swallow me up, but to bathe me and cleanse me from my wickedness.

But let it not content thee O Lord, once to have made me clean, and to say how thou hast regenerated and washed me in the blood of thy chaste and innocent lamb: for thou diddest not make me so white, and pure, but thou mayest now find me as foul and unclean. I have plunged myself into the depth of filth: I am so besmeared, and so disfigured, that thou wilt not acknowledge me for thine. Yea, it maketh me demand sometimes of myself, whether I be he whom thy hands have created: and my heart is so full of shame and confusion, that it dareth not resolve me. O my God, thou hast created me of dirt & clay: and behold, I am become such as I was before thou spreddest thine hand over me. I have despoyled me of my strength and my beauty, to reuest myself in mire and filth. But wherefore O Lord, dost thou not form and fashion me anew? Is thy hand shortened? is thy willingness, to show mercy to thy creature, fallen away? Oh thou that art Almighty! Oh, thou that art even goodness it self, wherefor art thou so slack? O Lord, thine own work is become obstinate against thee, and taketh pleasure in disfiguring, and disforming it self: be thou as obstinate against thy work, to make it fair and perfect in despite of it.

But O my God, I will no longer stand out in mine own conceit against thee: hold and take me to thee: turn me as thou wilt, put a new print upon this clay, renew it, put a new stamp upon it, for loe it is pressed to follow thy will. But when thou hast fashioned me anew, do not then leave me to myself, O Lord: Put thy bridle within my mouth, that it may through abstinence, allay that gourmandizing, which fouleth it: through chastity it may cool the shameless heats of lusts, which enflame it: through humility, it may beat down that pride and arrogance, which biting envy hath bred in it, that cōpassionate charity, may drive from it hateful and greedy couetize: that a care to serve and worship thee, my be as a spurr always in the sides of lazy and fetarde negligence. For otherwise O my God, too much have I proved, how I shall be handled by these troops of vices which enuiron me. They will deface, and throw down in such sort thy handy work, that when thou shalt come, thou shalt find only the shells and shiuers all broken and bruised. I have known them too well: these are they that have brought me to that state, wherein I now stand: and loe they stand in array round about me, reproaching me, and upbraiding me with these blots, wherewith they themselves have defiled me, and making me guilty of those injuries which they have done me.

I have sinned, I confess O my God, I have sinned: loe I offer unto thee the bottom of my heart, take a view of my whole life. I have sinned in the fight of heaven and earth, and all the world is witness of my fault. But if I had not sinned, how could thy mercy be shown? how wouldest thou acquit thee of thy promises of grace, which thou hast so long before proclaimed, by the mouth of thy holy Prophets? When thou shalt come to sit upon thy eternal throne of justice, who would fear thee, if we were all just? But that men may know and acknowledge thy greatness, it is meet that when we shall appear before thee, we cast down our selves humbly upon our face, and cry, O sweet Lord, we will not stand in our own defense before thee, our fault is too manifest, but behold our pardon is in our hand: thou thyself hast given it us, loe it is signed with thy blood, sealed with thy image, which for our redemption hath been printed in the infirmity of our flesh.

Thinkest thou my GOD that when I shall appear before thee, I will put any confidence in mine own innocence, or dare to justify myself in thy presence? Alas, I know Lord I was no sooner borne, but I sinned: my mother looked to be delivered of a child; and loe a lump of sin? How much better had it been, if such fruit had proved abortive, which shameth the tree that bare it, the earth that nourished it, and the air that breathed upon it. I did nourish myself with sin, when I was yet in my mothers womb, I sucked it in with her milk, and lo it is so grown up with me, that it over-shadoweth my head, and casteth a miste before mine eyes.

But when I see the eyes of my body, so seeled with sin, which compasseth me: I opē the eyes of my soul, and begin to discern a far off the rays of thine infallible truth, and acknowledge the marvelous secrets of wisdom, which thou hast manifested to me. Then my soul, abandoning the impurity of my body, lifteth it self to heaven, & vieweth the circuit thereof; and casting her eye upon the book of life, there doth she peruse the treaty of the new Couenaunt, which thou hast made with men: and after, returning into her miserable body, doth fill it with hope of joy, promising it assured victory over sin.

For she hath learned in heaven, that thou wilt take a branch of odoriferous hyssop in thine hand, & wilt sprinkle upon me the water of purification: thou wilt wash me, and I shall be whiter then snow: there shall no more sportes of sins appear in me. What pure lee shall this be O Lord, which made of the cinders of my sins, consumed by the fire of thy love, with the water of those tears which my repentance hath distilled from my heart, and in the sun of thy grace, shall wash away our weeping, and shall breed in us spiritual joy: and in the end shall whiten in the purity and candor of justice, to make us hereafter shine as the stars in the firmament.

Then shall no sound enter into our ears, but of that joyful trumpet of salvation, which shall proclaim grace and mercy to all that will receive them. Then shall we see our carcasses which were consumed with rottenness, rise up out of their beds, to be partakers of this universal joy, whereunto thou hast invited the whole world.

But that I may appear before thee, in such honorable attire, as is befitting such honorable magnificence; tread down, O my God, all my faults under foot, bury them in the center of the earth, that no eye may be able to see them, make an everlasting separation betwixt me, and mine iniquity, which at this present I forsake, and from whom I vow an irrevocable divorce.

Receive my soul which I offer unto thee: make it pure and clean: renew in my heart such a spirit, as shall conceive nothing but truth and holiness. Make it, O Lord God, a temple for thy holy spirit to dwell in; that henceforth all my thoughts may breath out nothing, but the praises of my God: that thy will be always imprinted in my breast, and thy glory written in my lips.

When thou hast so reuested and adorned me, with piety, and integrity, then shall I be assured that nothing can separate me from thy presence: and then as the true eagle looketh right upon the sun, so will I fixe my eyes upon the face of thine eternity, and shall behold in thy marvelous and glorious countenance, all the perfections which I am not able now to conceive. O let thy sacred spirit never more dislodge from my heart: for he it is which upon the wings of zealous love, shall carry me into thy bosom, there to make me partaker of thine heavenly joys.

Make me then evermore to taste the sweetness of this immortal life: save me speedily, from the rocks of this world, which on every side threaten shippewracke. And as the Mariner now comne unto the haven, crowneth the maste of his ship with garlands in sign of safety: so crown me my God with the precious gifts of thine holy spirit, for pledges of everlasting blessedness, which thou hast promised me. I say, of thy spirit which reigneth among thy faithful, which giveth faith to thine elect, love to thy beloved, and hope to them, whom thou hast predestinated.

And so whilst my soul shall abide in this exile, waiting when thou shalt call him home, I will teach thy ways unto the wicked, by following which, they may please thee; and will direct them how to pass through the darkness of this world, without stumbling at such offenses, as daily offer themselves: they shall believe me, and so be converted unto thee, O father of light: they shall receive thy faith into their hearts, and shall walk in thine obedience.

I know O Lord, that some will against my voice stop their ears, and obstinately persist in their vices; they will conspire my death, and seek to drench their barbarous cruelty, with my blood. Deliver me from their hands O God, and preserve me, that I may declare thy justice, and pronounce their condemnation. I will foretell their wretchedness, and they shall feel it: yea, as soon as I have made an ende of speaking it, thy hand shall smite them: and no sooner shall thy hands have smitten them, but they shall be broken like a Potters vessel, and come to sudden destruction.

Then shalt thou open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise, & declare thy victory: the air shall be calm, the wind shall cease, the rivers shall stay their course to hearken to my voice, whilst it shall chaunt & resound the marvelous acts of the eternal God. For thy praise shall ever be the sacrifice which I will offer unto thee, and which shall be ever acceptable in thy sight.

I would ere this have filled thine aultars with the blood of beasts: I would have slain a thousand oxen & a thousand sheep to thine honor: but blood doth stink in thy nostrils, thou art not pleased with flesh: the smoke of such offerings doth but vanish in the air, and cannot ascend up unto thee: it is the voice alone of a righteous man, which findeth passage into heaven, and therein is presented unto thee.

Oh how acceptable, a sacrifice before thee is a heart piercit with repentance! an heart humbled and dejected in the knowledge of its sins! never shall such a one be rejected. For the way to ascend unto thee, is to descēd in our selves: to touch the heavens, we must fall down grouelling upon the earth: to be heard of thee, we must be silent: and to be crowned in thy kingdom, we must suffer pain and affliction in this world. These are the sacrifices by which we must make an atonement to thee, and enter into that covenant which thou hast appointed.

And if thou wilt O Lord, that we offer oxen and bulls, that we make thine alter fat with the blood of beasts; if thou wilt that by the death of the innocent holocaust, we shall represent the death and innocence of him whom thou hast destinied for the redemption of our souls; if the figuring of that which is to come, in the person of that immaculate lamb, be acceptable, in killing of Sheep and Rammes: O then look down with thy eye of pity upon thy poor people, comfort thy distressed Zion, give courage to her poor inhabitants, that they may repair the decayed walls of thy holy city, and build up thy temple, though not with that glory which thou deseruest, yet with as great as the riches of this world will retch unto.

Thither then shall all thy faithful flock come from all parts to sacrifice unto thee: and there shalt thou accept the propitiation for their sins. But O my God, it is neither the blood nor death of beasts, which can wash away their offenses: the expiation of their disobedience and stubbornness is prepared from all eternity.

This is that inestimable sacrifice, that immaculate holocaust, which shall take away the veil, dispel the darkness, break the partition wall; to make us see face to face, the truth of our salvation; to make the bright beams of mercy shine upon us, and to resume us unto the communion of that eternal happiness, from which we of our selves had fallen. O most merciful God, which hast opened the eyes of mine understanding, to see the mystery of my salvation; make me O Lord, by a lively faith, to taste of that fruit, which flourished upon the tree of the Cross, and shall quicken with his juice mortified souls: preserve and heal us forever from that misery and calamity, which hath so miserably fallen upon the race of man, & hath been derived from the first to the last through their disobedience.

Psalm 102. Domine exaudi.

O Lord, I have long cried unto thee for mercy, and am still to attend on thee for succor. The air is filled with my cries: the winds have carried the voice of my complaint to the ende of the earth; and thine ear which heareth me from the depth of hell, doth not hearken unto my prayer, which pierceth unto the very heavens. Wilt thou then O Lord, be only deaf to me? and shall all the world hear my moan before thee? No, no my God thou hast been absent from me too long to reject me, now when I come unto thee for succor.

Turn not away thy face from me▪ O Lord, now when so many thousands of griefs lay hold on me, and so many mischiefs assault me. Alas, I have placed all my hope of rising, in the mild look of thy countenance. I have forsaken the world, to draw near unto thee. I have abandoned the children of the earth, to ioin myself to the Master of heaven: and wilt thou now forsake me? O do not so good Lord: but assist and strengthen my weakness all the days of my life; that as soon as I shall lift my voice unto thee, so soon I may feel the comfort of thy presence: and let thy grace speedily descend upon me, as an Eagle hasteth to succor her young. For unless thou assist me, how shall I be able to fight against the enemies of my soul?

My strength faileth me, and my life daily consumeth as a smoke that vanisheth away into naught: the same eye that seeth it rise out of the fire, seeth it also dispersed, & in the same moment seeth both its beginning and its ende: man may look after it; and loe, not so much as the trace thereof it self. He that hath noted the small branches cut off the trees, and laid in the sun, how soon they lose both sap and verdeur; may suppose he seeth my bones which are dried up, and fallen away, and fit for nothing but a Tomb. A Tomb no doubt might make me happy, if a small grave could stay the course of my most extreme misery.

He that hath seen the grass cut down in the meadows, how it fadeth, changeth his lively hewe, & withereth, let him look upon my face, so wan and pale, that I look like death it self. My heart is scorched in the midst of my entralls, and my blood is dried up within my veins, because I remember not to put bread within my mouth, and forget to take my daily repast.

My mouth serveth me but to lament and cry: and the voice of my daily complaints is so strong that it spendeth all the rest of my vigor, so that my body, consuming with heaviness, falleth away by little and little, & now my bones appear most woefully through my skin. Why then do I care to remain any longer in this body, the subject of my misery? Why do I watch to preserve this life, which wrestleth against so many miseries? which is clean spent with so many afflictions? Were it not much better for me, with the ende of my life, to ende my miseries?

The Pellicane that in the solitary deserts of Egypt, tormenteth her self with grief, to have slain her young ones, besprinkles them with her own blood, to restore them that life which she had taken frō them; is not more sorrowful thē I, nor maketh more grievous moan then I. Hath not my sin procured the death of my dearest child, which I loved more then myself? And now that I have already spent all my tears, the blood is ready to spring forth of my eyes, least my plaints should fail in so woeful a case. But the Pelican redeemeth her young, by the price of her blood: and I miserable wretch shall be utterly deprived of the child, which I so tenderly affect. I forsake the day and the light, and confine myself in the obscure darkness, as a doleful Owl, which goeth not out of her hole, until the night with his sable mantle have covered the earth.

I watch continually and take no rest, I seek to hide me from mischief, which cometh upon me as an armed man. I am quite discomfited, my courage faileth me: I do nothing but search for a corner to hide me in: even as a solitary sparrow, which beaten with wind and rain, doth seek some couerture, where she may shroud her self from the rain, and also receive some heat from the sun.

Mine enemies seeing me thus dejected, revile me, and make a mock of my misery: they that were wont to make much of me, instead of condoling with me in mine affliction, have conspired against me. What shall we then account of the goods of this world, when the greatest riches, a man can attain unto, is to have many friends; and yet friends are so double, that they make small reckoning of violating their faith.

Behold, my glory is decayed, the flour of my beauty is fallen away, and withered; for I have cast ashes upon my bread, and mingled my drink with tears. But shall I for this, be still a laughing stock to this wicked race of infidels?

I am come indeed before thy face, in the day of thy displeasure: thou hast laid upon me the arm of vengeance, and it hath beaten me down, and laid me in the dust. I had magnified myself among men, and loe now am I brought low. O vain presumption! to what height hast thou made me mount, to give me the greater fall? Alas, what could I find in myself, which could breed in my heart so high a self-conceit?

As the shadow of a body decreaseth by little and little, according as the sun riseth higher and higher over it, until it appear but as a point: so as soon as thine anger was risen over me, O Lord, my life, my goods, and my greatness did by little vanish & turn to naught: so that now, behold I am but as the haye spread upon the ground, without grace, and without color: they bind it up in bottles to feed their sheep: and all those glorious flowers which before were so sweet & fragrant, are now bound up together with the thistle and hemlocke.

But what? shall I therefore give over all hope? Not so my God: for thy might is immense, and shall never decay: Thy mercy is infinite, & shall extend over all those that trust in thee. One age succeedeth another: but the memorial of thy loving kindness, shall endure forever. One generation goeth, and another generation succeedeth, and all shall recount thy praise, and magnify thy goodness.

Thou shalt at length arise O Lord, and be merciful unto Zion, for the time approacheth. Behold, I see it at hand. The Rivers do not send so much water into the wide bosom of the Ocean, as thy bounty will shower bounty and graces upon the face of this land. Open your hearts, O ye people, open your hearts wide: for the liberal hand of my God will fill you, with a holy zeal, which shall purify you, and make you as fair beaten gold.

For the edifice of Zion, O Lord, is the refuge for thy servants: this is it they love so well, this is it they desire so ardently: this is it where they wait for thy mercy: this is the temple O Lord, which thou wilt destroy in three days, and in three days build again, to be the mansion of life eternal, the seat of salvation, the storehouse of grace, the temple of eternity.

Then my God, shall the nations stand amazed: and the kings of the earth shall tremble at the brightness of thy glory. What corner of the earth shall be so secret, but that thither also shall spread the fruit of thy blessed coming? What people shall there be so remote from the sun, so confined in darkness, which shall not open their eyes to behold the glorious luster of salvation, which shall shine unto them? The heaven shall increase the number of his lamps, to give light at thy glorious entrance into the world: and kings shall come from far, to do homage to the King of Kings, and Lord of heaven and earth.

For he hath exalted his throne in Zion, with great and magnificent preparation: there shall men see him environed with glory, and obscuring the Sun & Moon with the brightness of his countenance. But wherefor hast thou O Lord, so highly exalted the throne of thy glory?

Is it to this end that thou mightest contemn the humble prayers of thy faith full servants, and to neglect all the world, which is nothing in comparison to thy greatness? Ah, nay, my Lord. Thou hast therefore set thyself in a place so eminent, to the end that all the inhabitants of the earth might see & acknowledge thee to be their God: and to run to thee for grace and mercy: for thou art ever ready pressed, to incline to the humble call of thy servants, and never disdainest their pitiful request. Look now upon them all arraignd like poor prisoners condemned to the chain, who attend the view of some King, to be by him delivered at the day of his coronation. Even so deliver these O Lord, who are sold under the slavery of sin: and at the turn of thine eye, all their irons shall fall from them.

Then shall they be heard to chaunt out the song of glory, to the victorious king: their voice shall be heard throughout all the parts of the earth: and the memorial of thy singular bounty, and infinite mercy shall be engraven in men's harts, to remain from generation to generation to all posterity. The Earth shall melt away, the waters shall be dried up, the air shall vanish, the heavens shall pass away, and be no more: but the memorial of thine abundant kindness, O eternal God, shall endure forever.

Thou art the everlasting God, who hast daind to cast down thine eyes from heaven, to behold the neathermost parts of the Earth, to take notice of their torments, who lie fast bound in the depth, who hast heard their groanings, and immediately run to their succor, to vnbinde and set at liberty these poor prisoners, and their whole posterity. Death hath vanquished them by the strength of sin▪ and had shut them up in dark dungeons: but the Lord of life, hath conquered death, and hath given full deliverance.

That so they might declare thy praise O Lord in Zion, and proclaim thy clemency in Jerusalem. But though everyone of them had an hundred tongues, & though their voice were as strong as thunder, yet would they not be able to reach unto the greatness of thy glory: though all the parts of the world conspire in one, to represent in their motions some part of thy might and infinite bounty, yet can they reach no further: for these are depths, and the depths of depths, which have no bottom nor bound, and which we are not able to see, but a far off.

Let it then suffice, O my God, that thy people assembled & revnited both in body and mind, do with humble devotion offer up unto thee, the will they have to honor thee: for the effect is not able to approach to that, which to thee is due. Let it be acceptable in thy sight O Lord, that the kings of the earth do prostrate themselves at thy feet; and do tender that homage and service, which is due to thee, as to their sovereign Lord. They shall lay down their scepters on the earth, and their crowns at their feet, and shall present an innocent conscience, as a sacrifice of an humble devotion. I will be the first, O my God, that will prostrate myself before thee, to worship and serve thee with my whole heart: On thee only will I fixe my thoughts: to thee will I consecrate my spirit. Quicken it O Lord; that being purified with the sacred ardour of thy love, it may (as a most pure mirror) receive in it the image of thy incomprehensible beauty and perfection, and may feel in it self the reflection of thy sincere amity, until thy infinite beauty shall associate it unto the number of thine elect, to be with them coheir of everlasting life.

Now my God, do I feel that thou hast enlightened my soul with thy grace, and have first felt the favor which thou wilt bestow upon the sons of men. My spirit hath already seen a far off how thou wilt come to redeem the world; but it feareth it shall die before thy coming; and this is the cause, why it hath cried unto thee, saying; Tell me O Lord, what shall be thee course of mine age, & when thou wilt ende my days?

Cut not off the thread of my life O Lord, at the first or second turn of the spindle, and take me not away in the middle of my course. Let me live O my God until the time come, wherein thou shalt open the treasures of thy graces, to bestow among men the largesse of salvation: or at least if thou hast so determined of mine ende, that my life may not continue till then; remember my posterity, and let him spring of my race, that by his coming shall redeem and sanctify the earth.

I know O Lord, that thou hast from the beginning fashioned the heaven and the earth, and whatsoever is good, and excellent in the world, is the work of thine hands.

But all the universal shall wax old as doth a garment: they vanish away, and shall be no more to be found: it hath been created, and it shall be dissolved: it hath had a beginning, and must have an ende.

But thou O Lord, art from everlasting, and thou shalt continue the same forever. Time and continuance, which consume all things, do only serve to confirm thy being, and to publish thy divinity: and men do live upon the earth that they may contemplate on the one side, thine incomprehensible greatness, and on the other side, their own infirmity. Man goeth from place to place, & the same land doth change her inhabitants: one driveth out another, and all is renewed in a moment: but thou my GOD art yesterday, and today, and the same forever. Every province of the earth can reckon up great numbers of Kings, which have reigned one after another: but the the heaven and the earth do continually sing, that thou hast ever been God alone, always admirable alone: and that thy goings out and thy comings in, have ever been without change.

Now O Lord, when I shall depart hence, I do verily believe, that I shall taste of that sweet fruit, which shall heal us of this contagious malady (which hath been derived from our first Parents, for eating the forbidden fruit) of death, and sin. For our children shall come after us, and thou O Lord, shalt continue our posterity, until we shall come to appear together before thy face: not to receive a rigorous doom; but by the merit and intercession of thy beloved Son, to enter into that inheritance of everlasting blessedness, which shall be given to all thy faithful, by the adoption of the sons, in the family of thy servant David.

Psalm 130. De profundis.

OVt of the deep bottom of the depth, I cried unto thee my God: lost & covered in the fearful caverns of the earth, I called upon thy name. Hearken unto my voice, give ear unto my prayer. For all hope of succor was gone; I looked about me, and behold nothing but horror and fearfulness: yet have I not lost courage, but waited for that which thou hast promised to all those who live in fear of thy name, and are obedient to thy commandments.

Bow down then O Lord, a favorable ear to my complaint. If sin have interposed it self between thee and me, to exasperate thee against mine offenses, and to move thee against my prayer, which I make unto thee; drive it out of the sight of thine eye of mercy: or rather O Lord, close for a while thine eye of justice, until the ear of thy clemency have received my confession, & the humble request which I make unto thee. For I come not to stand upon mine own justification; but upon thy gentleness and bounty.

If thou shouldst keep a register of our faults, and cal us to a strict account for them, who could endure O Lord the rigor of thy judgment? What day is there of my whole life, that deserveth not a whole age of torments? Thou mightest bring upon me all the punishments of hell, and yet the greater part of my sins remain unpunished.

But thou art ready to receive to mercy the sinner that cometh to thee with confession in the mouth, and contrition in the heart. No sooner hath he looked toward thy mercy; but he feeleth it work in him, breaking and dissolving sin, which had frozen his heart with fear and amazement. The punishment which hangeth over his head, departeth far from him; carrying away with it, this miserable carefulness, which is a hell to the consciences contaminated with iniquity. For this cause O Lord, would I never utterly forsake thy law: but have always attended, when it would please thee to be gracious unto me. For he that is ill advised, and desperate in his sin, and abandoneth his soul, as past recovery, doth like to the abhominable usurer, who because he hath suffered some loss of goods, goes and hangs himself.

My soul hath not done so: for even then when she felt thine hand heavy upon me▪ exacting part of the punishment, which my faults had merited; yet did she still hold fast the hope in thy promises.

When the stripes were multiplied upon my back, I cried unto thee, O Lord, Thy will be done: only give me as much strength as affliction. Measure my pain according to my vigor: and if thou increase my • orment, augment my cou • age: and so hast thou dealt with me O Lord.

Let all true Israelites therefore both day & night, but their confidence in God, • ook upon him, and to him • lone for all their succor: • or his succor is ready, • nd never faileth those that with integrity of conscience, and purity of will call upon him. Though their trouble be great & terrible, as soon as the Lord doth incline his ear to their cry, so soon shall they find themselves delivered. For he aboundeth with mercy, and never faileth to succor those who make their recourse to him. Insomuch, that his bounty taketh away all the sorrow, that we had for being sinners; and makes us as it were rejoice that we had fallen; as at the cause, for which we have had such trial of his mercy: for if our faults surmount measure, his grace exceedeth all imagination. We have deserved a long and hard captivity; but loe, he hath delivered us, and set us at most sweet liberty: we have blinded the eyes of our understanding; and lo, • ee cometh to illighten • s. O Israel, ye have sinned against the Lord: ye have made a mock at his law, and sported yourselves in • he breach of his commandments, and forgotten his • ounty so plentifully pow • ed upon you.

He hath freed thee from miserable bondage: he hath • ed thee with bread from • eauen: he hath made •• reames to gush out of the • ard rock, to give thee drink: he hath given thee the most delicious garden of the earth for thine habitation: he hath made a covenant with thee, & made thee know his will. But ye have conspired against his honor, gone a whoring after strange God's, and trodden his law under your feet: in a word, ye have merited all the punishments of hell: and yet still doth he offer himself most graciously unto thee: he will redeem thee with the price of his blood, from the slavery of sin, to which thou hadst of thine own accord bound thyself. Behold him, who himself payeth the ransom, for those that have betrayed him; who taketh upon himself the punishment of our backsliding, and the payment of our forfeit. With what words shall we render him thanks? Open my lips, my God, my Creator, my Redeemer, that my voice may be lifted up in that measure, as mine heart is enflamed with a boiling affection to give thee praise and thanks, and to abase myself in the knowledge of myself; that I may rouse up my spirits in the knowledge of that sacred mystery, whereby we are reincorporated with thee, and admitted again to thy covenant, to enter into this blessed participation of glory; wherein all those shall triumph, who shall be partakers of the merit of the passion of thy well-beloved Son, the true and only Savior of the world.

Psalm 143. Domine exaudi.

O Lord, man is weary in the ende of all things: the continuance of his course putteth him out of breath: too much seeing, dimmeth and dazzleth his eyes: the clatering sound deafeth his ears: but the more I cry unto thee, the stronger is my voice, my courage increaseth, and my prayer is the more pleasing to me: and all because I begin my daily petitions, with Lord hear my prayer, and give ear to my supplication: for in praying to thee my God, consisteth all my comfort. This is my prayer, O Lord, which doth conjure thy clemency, to expiate my sins; not by the rigor of thy punishment, but by the effect of thy grace, whereby thou hast abolished & cast away from thy sovereign and powerful might and majesty, the memory of mine offenses.

Deale not then in justice, with thy servant, neither give him over to the rigor of thy law: for of all men •• uing, that shall appear before the seat of thy judgment, no man shall be justified, no man shall escape this fearful condemnation; the punishment whereof is horrible, and the horror immortal. Alas, O Lord, who can justify himself before thee? It is thou that art offended; it is thou that shalt accuse us; it is thou that hast seen our faults, and wilt bear witness; it is thou that wilt judge us. When the accuser shall be witness, and the witness judge, what shall then become of the guilty? what cause shall serve to clear him? But I will not stand out O Lord, to come to this issue. I will arm me with thy grace, and oppose that as a buckler to thy justice. Thy grace is procured by the acknowledgement of our faults, & humbling of our spirit. Loe, I lie prostrate before thy feet, confessing my sin; O Lord have mercy upon me.

My sin O my God, the capital enemy of my soul, hath so discomfited and beaten me down, that I go groveling upon the earth, not daring to lift up mine eyes unto heaven. For as soon as I lift up mine eyes; loe, the light shineth upon me, to bring unto light, all my manifold offenses, which accuse my conscience. And I feel withal shame to cover my face; a face unworthy to look up unto heaven; the king whereof it hath so grievously offended; a face too cowardly to cast up his eyes to those places, where are so many thunders and lightning prepared, for the destruction of guilty sinners.

My spirit then hath led me into the darkness, and hath buried me in the grave, as one that is dead. My soul within me is heavy, & my heart is troubled: even like him, who walking lofty with hye bent looks, falleth unawares into the bottom of some pit, presently his soul is troubled; he loseth his understanding; he vexeth and tormenteth himself; he knoweth, neither what to will, or what to do; until his spirits returning unto him, he beginneth to consider his estate, and the place wherein he is, and the manner of his fall: then he beginneth by little and little to regain the top, and with great pain and labor to wind himself out of the place, into which he so easily fell: so I having called to mind, as much as is possible, things past, and having entered into a profound meditation of the works of thine hands; and having exactly considered the perfection of all things, which thou hast created; then calling to mind the estate wherein thou hast created me; and then proposing to myself, that wherein now I find myself, as it were overwhelmed under the ruin of sin; I curse to myself the hour wherein my mother conceived me, and the day that first opened my eyeliddes to make me see heaven and earth, the witnesses of mine infirmity: and in the ende finding nothing in this world that could comfort me, in this distress, I address myself yet further unto thee.

I fall down on my knees before thee, and stretch out my hands and arms to thee: and my soul thirsting after thy grace, doth attend with as great desire, as the thirsty and scorched earth, doth expect a gracious rain in the heat of summer.

Help me then, and that soon, O my GOD: for I am already clean out of breath; my heart faileth: loe, how I fall into a swoun. Wilt thou, Lord delay, till death hath seised on me? I am even already at Deaths door, if thou make not hast: for my senses decay by little and little; my soul is as it were in a trance, and my body without motion. If thou O Lord, be far from me, if thou hide thy face from me, I shall be like unto those that go down into the depth of Hell: Pale death will sit upon my face, and seize on my senses: and which is worst, spiritual death will slay my soul, fill it with fright and horror, and utterly deprive it of the knowledge of thy singular bounty, and the hope of grace, which shineth in thy miracles, as a glittering star, in the obscure darkness of the night.

Cause me then to understand and feel the effects of thy mercy betimes: and in the morning when the sun beginneth to rise upon the earth, let thy mercy also rise upon me to enlighten mine ignorance, and conduct me in the ways of thy commandments. Yet let it not, O Lord, be wholly like the sun, which at the ende of his course goes to plunge himself in the sea, hiding for a time his light from silly men: but let it assist me perpetually, & be as indiuidual a guide unto my soul, as is my soul unto my body: for the life of my soul, doth more strictly depend upon thy mercy, then the life of my body doth upon my soul. O then let her never forsake me: but let her light always direct my goings in thy ways, that I never wander out of that path through which alone I must come unto thee. For otherwise my spirit which is entangled amongst the briers and brambles of this world, and wandereth in the thickets, were never able to find out the right way; but posting along at adventure, might lose both labor and travel, never near that place where she desireth to arrive. But my hope is always in thine aide, and I look for succor from above.

I am held captive of those that cruelly thirst after my life: hasten thee O Lord, to my deliverance: to thee I fly for succor: O receive me into thy protection; teach me what I shall do: for to thee alone my God, do I tender my service.

Away, away from me, thou deceitful▪ pleasure, which heretofore hast bewitched my soul, and poisoned my spirit: thou hast fed me with thy too too pleasing delicates, to make me with a little honey swallow down a deadly poison of hemlocke; which distilling into all my members, hath made them half dead and void of sense: so that now I am little better then a dead man. But which is worse; not my body alone, but even my soul also, the fountain of my life present and to come is benumm'd.

It is time thē that thy spirit come to rouse up my dying soul, to take her by the hand, and lead her into a place of safety, to quicken her and imprint in her the image of thy justice; that, that may be her shield against all temptations, which besiege her on every side, and threaten her final ruin. Thou shalt come then, and by thy coming draw my soul out of tribulation, receive me unto to mercy, and destroy all those that have conspired against me.

Then shall my war be at an ende, and theirs begin: yea, with such a beginning as shall continue in endless grief: and as the rivers running from their fountain still enlarge themselves until they come into the sea; so shall their misery increase from day today, and in the ende plunge them into extreme languor and hopeless distress. And this shall be the ende of all those that vex my soul: for I am thy faithful servant O Lord, and thou wilt not cast me out of thy remembrance; but wilt call those to account, who in reproach of my GOD, have so shamefully handled me. They laughed at my harm; but loe, the time is at hand, when they shall bewail their own. Thy vengeance beginneth to flame against them, and men shall see them fall away, as leaves from the trees at the approaching of winter. How shall I glorify thy name O GOD? And where shall I begin to set forth thy praise? Shall I declare thy bounty in the creation of so many admirable works as are under the Sun? and thy wisdom in preserving them?

Shall I proclaim thy justice in condemning and taking vengeance of the pride of Angels, and disobedience of men?

Shall I sing of thy mercy in redeeming of those, who by forsaking of thy law fell headlong into the slavery of eternal death?

To what part of thy praises is the base tune of my voice able to stretch? or were my voice sufficient, what ears were able to receive it?

All things fail me O Lord, in this enterprise, save only courage, and will: which, filled with a vehement and fervent affection, cry out unto thee as loud as they can.

Assist their weak essays with thy grace: and since the tears of my repentance have washed away the foulness of my sins, wherewith my spirit was overcharged, dejected and pressed down; give me henceforth the wings of faith and hope, whose swift flight may carry me into thy bosom, to be revnited to his first original: that I may never hereafter entertain any other thought, then what may tend to the furtherance of thy service, and the advancement of thy glory.