A Manual for True Catholics
The source for this document is https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A19583.0001.001
Project Note
This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.
This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.
Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.
However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.
This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.
Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org
MANVALE Catholicorum.
A Manual FOR True Catholics.
LONDON, Printed for Leonard Becket, and are to be sold at his Shop in the Temple near the Church, 1611.
ENCHIRIDION PIARVM PRECVM ET Meditationum.
Ex vetustiffimis Manuscript. pergamenis descripta.
Ex Bibliotheca W. Crashavi. Theol Bacchal. & verbi Div. Mnistir. apud Temp. Lond.
A HANDFVL: OR Rather a Heartfull of holy meditations and Prayers.
Gathered out of certain ancient Manuscripts, written 300 years ago, or more.
By WILLIAM CRASHAW Bachelor of Divinity, and Preacher at the Temple.
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD: HENRY THE Noble Earl of NORTHHAMPTON, Lord privy Seal, Lord Warden of the Cinc{que} Ports, and one of his Majesty's Honorable privy Counsel.
RIGHT Honorable, our Adversaries amongst their many objections against us and our Religion, use this for one, that if we refuse their Church, and condemn their faith, we condemn to hell all our forefathers. But it followeth not: for in such fundamental points as necessarily concern salvation, as matter of merit, and means of Justification, &c. our fathers in former times were not of the Romish faith, but of our Religion: excluding, disclaiming, & renouncing all their own merits, and cleaving only to God's mercy, and the merits of Jesus Christ for their salvation. This was the faith of the ancient Church, &c. Saint Basil saith. Eternal rest remains for them which have fought a good fight in this world, yet not for the merit of their works, but through the rich mercies of God, in whom they trust.
Saint Hillary saith, our works suffice not to merit eternal life, but our hope is in the mercy of God forever and ever.
Saint Augustine saith, Sin is ours, Merit is God's: Punishments are our due, but if rewards come, God crowns his own gifts, not our merits.
Saint Gregory (a Pope) saith, If I do well, I shall have eternal life, not by my merits but God's mercy.
And long after even in the darkest times; devote Bernard saith, A man's whole merit is to put the whole affiance of his heart in him, that hath saved the whole man, and therefore in another place he concludes, My merit is the mercy of the Lord.
All these Bellarmine cannot deny, and himself produceth some of them or all, but shapes such answers to them, as it would satisfy an indifferent man even to read him in that pont.
And this was not the faith of the principal Fathers only, but by the mercy of God, it was derived even unto the inferior, and vulgar sort, not of the Clergy alone, but even of the Laity also.
If the monuments of elder ages were extant & uncorrupted, it is more thē marvelous how clearly this truth would shine: that our forefathers were not damned, though they believed, not as doth the present Romish Church: Nay further that they were saved by the same faith by which we are at this day, though they were misled by some errors, and nusled in some superstitions; for which (being sins of infirmity, or rather of ignorance) we hope the Lord was merciful unto them, knowing that even David himself cried to God to cleanse him from his secret sins.
But such hath been the craft and malice of Popish policy, that partly the oldest books are embezilled and extinguished, and those that remain are so altered corrupted and depraved from that they were, that there now remains not one of many of the testimonies, which the former ages yielded to this truth.
Notwithstanding the providence of God hath not failed his Church: for (do what they could) yet he who said the gates of hell should not prevail against the true faith, hath taken order in spite of all plots to the contrary, that so many testimonies shall be preserved, as shall sufficiently witness to the world that our faith flourished in former ages.
My purpose is (if the Lord will) to gather up such Antiquities though they be scattered and almost lost in these old worm eaten Manuscripts wherein they lie buried, which as God's providence hath delivered from the force and fury of the inquisitors fire, so it is all Christians duties to preserve them to posterity.
I have here begun with a Handfull, or rather a Hartfull of holy prayers & meditations worthy to be worn in the hand, and borne in the heart of every Christian, by which it may evidently appear that the faith and Religion of the former ages, four & five hundred years ago, was even the same by which we look to be saved at this day.
Let this have leave (right Honorable) to come abroad out of the corners of obscurity, into public view, in the light & luster of your renowned name, who are known to be a reuerencer of Antiquity, a Mecaenas of learning, a practiser of piety, an enemy to the idolatry, superstitions, ambitious practices, traitorous devices, and Machiauellian plots of Jesuits: and a detester of such especially, who under a pretence of Religion, do cloak and convey impieties against God, and against his anointed.
The God of heaven confirm that blessed work of his in your Lordship more & more, to the glory of his name, the benefit of this Realm, and to your own salvation in Christ Jesus: So prayeth
Your Lordships devoted in Christ, W. CRASHAW.
The Contents.
- 1 A Holy and orthodox Confession of the Trinity, the Father the Son and the holy Ghost.
- 2 A godly confession of sins and prayer for pardon, and for eternal life.
- 3 A godly meditation of man's misery, and God's mercy, together with a devout prayer.
- 4 The manner of preparing sick persons to death in the ancient times▪ even in Popery.
De Deo Patre, pia, & orthodoxa Confessio.
De Jesus Christo Deo & homine Confessio orthodoxa.
De eodem.
De Sancto Spiritu Confessio Orthodoxa.
Conclusio cum deuotissima Precatione.
Meditatio pijssima, de hominis miseria, et Dei miserecordia, vna cum deuota precatione.
An Orthodoxall Confession of God the Father.
A holy and orthodoxal Confession of God the Son, Jesus Christ the Savior of Mankind.
Of Christ again.
A true and orthodoxal Confession of the holy Ghost.
The conclusion with a devour and holy prayer.
A holy meditation of man's mi sery, and God's mercy, together with a devout prayer.
Here followeth the means and manner how our forefathers in the time of Popery prepared themselves and others to die, consisting first of the confession of their faith, and secondly of the prayers which were made by them, & for them in their last sickness, by which it may appear that though they were misled by the crafty Romish Clergy, in diverse errors and superstions, yet in the great point of the means of salvation, they were of our religion and were saved by it.
INterrogationes quae fieri debent morituris dum adhuc vsum rationis habent, & loquendi, vt si quis minus dispositus fuerit ad moriendum, de meliori informetur at{que} in eodem confortetur. Illae autem interrogationes debent fieri, fecundum Anselmum Episcopum hoc modo,
Primos queratur sic.
Frater 1 laetaris quod in fide Christi morieris.
Ille respondet, Etiam.
Frater 2 penitet te non tam been vixisse sicut debuisses?
Respondeat etiam.
Frater, habes animum emendandi si spatium viuendi haberes?
Respon. Etiam.
Frater credis te non posse nisi per Christi mortem saluari?
Resp. Etiam.
Credis quod prote mortuus est Dominus Jesus Christus fillius Dei?
Resp. Etiam,
Agis ei gratias ex toto cord de hoc.
Respo. Etiam.
Age ergo ei (dum superest in te anima) semper gratias, & in hac sola morte, fiduciam tuam constitue: in nulla alia re fiduciam habe, huic mortite totum committee, hac sola te totum contege: totum immisce te in hac morte, totum confige, in hac morte te totum involve.
Et si dominus Deus voluerit tu iudicare, dic, Domine, mortem Domini mei Jesus Christi obijcio inter me & iudiciū tuum aliter tecum non contendam.
Et si tibi dixerit Deus, quia peccator es. dic, Domine mortem Domini mei Jesus Christi pono inter te & peccata mea: si dixerit tibi quod meruisti damnationem, dic: Domine, mortem Domini mei Jesus Christi obtendo inter te, & mala merita mea, Ipsum{que}, & dignissimae, passionis meritum offero pro merito quod ego debuissem habere, & (heu) hon habeo:
Si dixerit deus quod tibi est iratus, die, Domine mortem Domini mei Jesus Christi pono inter me & iram tuam.
Deinde dicat ter, In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum, et si id ipsum non potest loqui dicat conuentus vel astantes, In manus tuas domine commendamus spiritum eius.
Et securus moritur, nec videbit mortem in eternum.
Et in alio vetusto codice.
SEquntur signa sex quibus homo potest confidere de salute.
1 Si credit ea quae sunt Christianae fidei quantum ad omnia ab Ecclesia determinata.
2 Si gaudet & laetetur quod in fide Christi morietur.
3 Si cognoscat se grauiter Deum offendisse.
4 Si dolet se tam grauiter Deum offendisse.
5 Si proponit a peccatis abstinere si vixerit.
6 Si credit & sperat venire ad salutē aeternam non proprijs meritis, sed Jesus Christi.
Et dicit Anselmus quod hae sex questiones proponi debent homini costituto in mortis articulo, & addit.
Deinde dicatur infirmo: si Satan tibi obijciat aliquid, opponas merita Christi inter te & ipsū, & his peractis sine dubio saluabitur.
Ista consolatio & preparatio ad mortem, in vetustis codicibus ascribitur Anselmo, qui vixit ante annos 500, in ipsa adulta fere aetate Papismi. Si vero dubitaret quis, quomodo patres nostri in hisce posterioribus, multo{que} peioribus temporibus salutem aeternā possent adipisci, grassante Papismo & vigente potestate tenebrarum.
Respondeo eandem fere preparationem, & intterrogationes fuisse in vsu & aestimatione, In densissimis Papismi tenebris: pessimo nimirum illo tempore Concilij Constantiensis ante annos nimirum 200. sic enim reperio scriptum in alio vetusto codice, multis abhinc annis descripto.
Omnis Christianus sieve secularis, five regularis modo subsequenti de sua salute inquirendus et informandus est.
1 CRedis omnes principales articulos fidei, & insuper toti sacrae Scripturae per omnia, secundum sanctorum Catholicorum & orthodoxorum, sanctae Ecclesiae doctorum expositionem & detestatis omnes hereses & errores at{que} superstitiones, ab Ecclesia reprobatas: ac laetaris insuper quod in fide Christi, ac vnitate matris Eccelsiae, ac obedientia morieris?
2 Cognoscis te Creatorem tuum saepe & multipliciter, at{que} grauiter offendisse.
3 Doles ex toto cord de omnibus peccatis contra Dei maiestatem amorem & benignitatem, de malis commissis & bonis omissis, & gratias neglectis, non solum timore mortis conturbatus, vel paenae cuiuscū{que} sed magis ex amore Dei?
4 Petis frater omnibus istis veniam a Jesus Christo, optans per illum cor tuum illuminari ad cognitionem obliquorum, vt de illis valeas specialiter paenitere?
5 Proponis te vereaciter velle emēdare si supervixeris, et nunquā plus mortaliter peccare scienter, sed potius omnia quanticunque chara dimittere imo etiam vitam carnalem perdere antequam Deum plus velles offender.
6 Rogas insuper Deum vt det tibi gratiam hoc propositum continuandi & non recidiuandi.
7 Indulges, ex toto cord, omnibus qui vnquam aliquid nocumentum verbo, vel facto tibi intulerunt, vel aliquo modo offenderunt, ob amorem & venerationem Domini tui Jesus Christi, a quo & tu veniam speras▪ Petis etiam fideliter indulgeri & remitti tibi ab ijs quos tu offendisti quouis modo?
8 Vis ablata restitui integraliter in quantū teneris iuxta tuarum facultatum valorem etiam us{que} ad omnium bonorum tuorum c • ssionem inclusiue, vbi alias, satisfactio fieri non valeret?
9 Credis quod parte mortuus sit Christus & quod aliter saluari non potes, nisi per meritum passionis Domini nostri Jesus Christi: & agis etiam de hoc Deo gratias ex cord, quantum valeas.
Quicun{que} autem ad praedictas interrogationes ex conscientia bona, & fide non ficta, vere poterit affirmative respondere, satis euidens argumentum salutis habet, si sic decesserit, quod de numero saluandorum erit.
QVestions to be propounded to sick persons, whilst they have the use of reason, and power to speak, to the end that if any be not so well disposed to die, he may be better informed and prepared. And the questions be these, according to Anselm the reverend Bishop.
1 Let him be asked thus,
Brother dost thou rejoice that thou shalt die in the faith of Christ?
Ans. I do.
2 Brother, dost thou sorrow and grieve, for that thou hast not lived so well as thou oughtest?
The answer, I do
Brother: hast thou a hearty purpose to live better, if God give thee time to live?
Ans. I have.
Brother dost thou believe that thou cannot be saved, but by the death of Christ?
Ans. I do.
Dost thou believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for thee?
Ans. I do.
Dost thou give thanks to God therefore from thy whole heart?
Ans. I do.
Well then good brother, whilst thy soul is yet in thy body give him hearty thanks▪ and settle all thy assurance upon his death alone: have no confidence in anything else: trust thyself wholly to his passion: cover thyself wholly with it, fasten thy whole self on his cross: cast thy whole self into this sea.
And if thy Lord God say he will judge thee; answer thou, Lord I object the death of my Lord Jesus Christ betwixt me & thy judgment, otherwise I will not contend with thee.
And if God say to thee thou art a sinner, answer: Lord it is so, but I set the death of my Lord Jesus Christ betwixt thee & my sins: If he say that thou hast deserved damnation, answer. It is true Lord, but I place the death and merits of my Lord Jesus Christ betwixt thee and my ill deservings: and I offer up him & the most worthy merits of his passion, for the merits which I should have had, but (alas) have not.
If the Lord say further that he is angry with thee, answer him, Lord thou hast cause, but I set the death and sufferings of my Lord Jesus Christ, betwixt thy wrath and my soul.
Then let him say thrice: Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit. And if he be so weak he cannot, then let the company who stand by say, Lord into thy hands we commend his soul.
He that doth thus is safe and secure, for, he shall never taste of eternal death.
Also in another old book I find this written.
THese be the six signs upon which a man may rest confident of his salvation.
1 If he believe the Articles of Christian faith, as many as are determined by the Church.
2 If he rejoice to die in the faith of Christ.
3 If he know that he hath grievously offended God.
4 If he be heartily sorry for it.
5 If he resolve to forsake his sins, if God give him life.
6 If he hope and believe to come to eternal salvation, not by his own merits, but by the merits of Jesus Christ.
And Anselm saith that these six questions are to be asked of everyone at the time of his death, and saith further thus.
Then say to the sick person: if Satan object anything against thee, oppose thou the merits of Christ betwixt thee and him: and thus without all doubt he shall be saved.
This consolation of the sick and preparation to their death is in ancient Copies ascribed to Anselm, who lived more then 500 years ago, even when Popery was almost grown to perfect age: Now if any man make question how our fathers were saved in these later and worse times, when Popery prevailed in a greater measure; I answer that even almost the same preparation, and same questions, were used long after Anselm, even in the deepest darkness of Popery: For in the most evil time about the Council of Constance, some two hundred years ago, Thus I find it written in ancient Book, and it is ascribed to Gerson.
Every Christian whether secular or regular is thus to be examined and informed in his sickness touching his salvation.
1 DOest thou believe all the principal articles of faith, and all that is contained in the whole body of holy Scripture, according to the exposition of the Catholic and orthodoxal Doctors of the holy Church: and dost thou detest all heresies and errors and superstitions, condemned or reproved by the Church: and art thou glad that thou diest in the faith of Christ, and unity and obedience of thy Mother the Church.
2 Doest thou know and confess that thou hast many ways and grievously offended thy God and Creator.
3 Dost thou sorrow from thy whole heart for all thy sins committed against God's Majesty his love and mercy, art thou truly sorrowful for the evils that thou hast committed, and the good that thou hast omitted, and the grace thou hast neglected, and art thou agreiued, not so much for fear of death, or any punishment, as for that love which thou oughtest to bear towards God?
4 Doest thou beg pardon for all these thy sins of Jesus Christ, desiring that by him thy heart may be enlightened, truly to see and know thy sins, that so thou mayest particularly and more seriously repent of them?
5 Doest thou propound and resolve truly to amend thy life (if so be thou live) and never hereafter to sin so again, but rather to loose anything how deer soever unto thee, yea even life it self, then to offend thy God again?
6 Doest thou also desire of God, grace to continue in this purpose, that thou mayest not fall again?
7 Doest thou forgive from thy whole heart all that have done thee any wrong in word or deed, for the love of Christ Jesus thy Lord and Savior, and as thou hopest for pardon from him: and doest thou heartily desire to be forgiven of all men, whom thou hast any way offended?
8 Wilt thou that there be full restitution made according to thy power, yea though it should extend to thy whole estate, if otherwise there cannot be satisfaction made?
9 Doest thou believe that Christ died for thee, and that thou canst be saved no otherwise but by the merits of Jesus Christ: and doest thou give God thanks for this from thy whole heart as much as thou art able.
And whosoever can give true answer to these questions affirmatively, out of a good conscience and faith not feigned; It is an evident and sufficient testimony of salvation, and let him not doubt but if he so depart, he is one of them that shall be saved.
Behold here good Reader our Religion practiced in the most misty times of Popery: behold here the true, holy, Catholic and ancient way to heaven: Namely, By Christ and his merits alone. Here is no trusting on man's merits, either our own or others: Here is no mention of Agnus deis, or Wodden Crucifixes, He is not bid to trust in the prayers, suffrages, requiems, dirges, Masses, Trentals, or other obsequies that shall be said for him after his departure. He is sent to no Angel, no nor to the Virgin Mary, for matter of Salvation: Nay all are excluded, & Christ's death alone, even it alone, is made the means of his Salvation, And the makers hereof were so resolute, and zealous in this point, that they use such variety of words, as though they could not sufficiently express the excellency and the nececessity of cleaving to Christ alone in the matter of salvation.
And if any man suspect that this is but devised by us, and falsely fathered upon Antiquity, let him know that not only we have the ancient Copies, whose age will speak for themselves, but even the better sort of Papists, that be learned, do know this well enough.
A learned Papist of this age writeth, that in a Church in Colaine this very book is extant (Manuscript) and that he hath seen it, and that this manner of comforting the sick was used in former ages, and confesseth that it contains the very treasure & kernel of Christian Religion, and saith further that this manner was used not in Germany only, but over all the Christian world: Indeed to the Jesuits I confess, this is held a ridiculous manner of comforting the sick, (such a spirit possesseth them: ) Thus doth Gretzer their Champion, flout us Lutherans ( as he calls us) for thus doing.
The Lutherans (saith he) do thus comfort their sick. Relicks, Crucifixes, Agnus deis, and such matters are but dead things, and nothing worth, the Scripture hath not a word of them: it is therefore very ungodly to trust in them; but God is our hope, and God is our strength trust in him, &c. On this wise fashion do these godly comforters comfort their sick persons.
Thus in the Jesuits judgment it is but a seely course to trust in God's mercy, and Christ's merits, in points of salvation: Hereby it may be discerned of what spirit they are. But let them mock us, as long as with us they mock the Scriptures, Antiquity, and the better sort of their own side, for we appeal to this that hath been said, whether this manner of comforting the sick were not in use long before Luther was borne:
Now if any object that in the same books there is mention of the Crucifix, and that it is appointed to be in the presence of the sick person: I answer it is true, but not that he should worship it, (as now the Jesuits teach, and all the approved Romish writers) but that it may put him in mind of Christ, which though it be a needless superstition, yet is it not that impiety and idolatry, which now at this day is practiced & maintained in the Romish Church, and my purpose is not to discharge those times, nor our forefathers in those times of errors, and superstitions, but of the idolatry, impiety, and blasphemy of the present Church of Rome. And the same answer is also to be given to another objection. That in the same book there are prayers to the Saints and Angels: It is so, and from that error those ages cannot be cleared: but with all let us still observe that those prayers are not to help them in matters of salvation, (as are many blasphemous prayers now usual in Popery:) and that sin in those misty times (being a sin of ignorance) no doubt was pardoned unto them in the mercy of God, seeing that for their reconciliation with God, and eternal salvation, they believed to attain it only by the merits and passion of Jesus Christ. But let not us feed on their infirmities, but lovingly pass by them, and let this content and comfort us, that their means of salvation which they used and trusted unto, is the same with ours at this day: for better testimony whereof, let us set down some of their prayers, being such as the best Christian may use at this day with much comfort.
Certain Prayers used by our Fore-fathers in the darkest times of Popery, in the time of a man's sickness: some to be made for the sick, and some by the sick person: gathered out of the same ancient books. When the sick person feels his strength to fail, then let him commend his soul to God in this Prayer.
O summa Deitas, immensa, clementissima, at{que} gloriosissima Trinitas, summa dilectio, amor & charitas, miserere mei miserrimi peccatoris: tibi enim commendo spiritum meum. Deus meus pijssimus, pater miserecordiarum, miserecordiam fac huic pauperculae Creaturae, & in vltima necessitate mea succurreiam Domine indigenti animae, & desolatae, vt non a canibus infernalibus deuoretur.
O dulcissime, & amantissime Domine Jesus Christi, fili Dei viui, ob honorem, & virtutem beatissimae passionis, iube me recepi inter numerum electorum tuorum:
Saluator & Redemptor meus, reddo me totū tibi: vt me non renuas â venia, nec repellas à gloria tua. At ô Domine Jesus Christ, paradisum tuum postulo, non ob valorem meritorum meorū, cum sum puluis & cinis, & peccator miserrimus sed in virtute & efficacia, tuae sanctissimae passionis, per quam me miserimū redimere voluisti, & mihi paradisum tuo pretioso sanguine emere dignatus es. Igitur per illam amaritudinem quam pro me sustinere voluisti in Cruce, maxim in illa hora quando sanctissima anima tua egressa est de corpore tuo, miserere animae meae in egressu suo.
Deinde dicat pluries diripuisti Domine vincula mea, tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis.
Deinde cum ipse visum loquelae amiserit, orationes sequentes dicantur super infirmum laborantem ab aliquo presentium, si adhuc superuiuit.
QVaesumus, miserecors pater, secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, respice propitius super hunc famulū tuum, fratrem nostrum, remissionem omnium peccatorum suorum tota cordis confession poscentem: Exaudi deprecantes, & renoua in eo, pijssime pater, quicquid in eo terrena fragilitate corruptum est, vel quicquid Diabolica fraud violatum est, & vnitati corporis Ecclesiae membrum redemptionis congrega. Miserere Domine gemituū suorum, miserere lachrimarum eius, & in habentem fiduciam nisi in miserecordia tua ad tuae reconciliations sacrameutum admit. In manus igitur in extinguibilis miserecordiae tuae, pater sanctissime, cōmendemus spiritum famuli tui fratris nostri, secundū magnitudinem amoris quo se anima filij tui sanctissima in cruce tibi cōmendabit supplicater deprecantes quatenus per illā inestimabilē diuinitatē quam tua diuina bonitas in se totā traxit illam sanctissiman animam, vt in hora vltima famuli tui, fratris nostri, suscipias in eodem amore spiritum eius.
Et tu dulcissime redemptor, pijssime Jesus, per illam lacrimabilem vocem quam moriturus emisisti, cum pro nobis doloribus & laboribus passionis adeo consumptus es, vt te derelictum à patre clamabas. Ne longe facias à famule tuo, fratre nostro, auxilium tuae miserationis in hora & in momento afflictionis animae suae prae defectione & consumptione spirit us te inuocare in extrema hora mortis scire non valente: sed per triumphum sanctae crucis & per salutem salutiferae passionis & amorosae mortis tuae, cogitade eo cogitations pacis, & nō afflictonis sed miserecordissimae miserationis & cōsolationis: & libera eam de omnibus angustijs, erue eam a a tormentis sibi deputatis & perduc eam in requiē aeternum: O Domine Jesus Christ, qui redemisti nos precioso sanguine tuo, scribe in anima huius famuli tui vulnera tua pretioso sanguine tuo, vt discat in eis legere tuum dolorem & tuum amorem: dolorem contra omnes dolores & paenas quas pro peccatis suis se timet meruisse: Amorem vt vniatur tibi amore inuisibili, quo a te & omnibus electis tuis, nunquam possit in aeternum seperari:
Et fac cum Domine Jesus Christ's participem sacratissimae incarnationis passionis, resurrectionis & ascentionis tuae: fac eum participem sacratissimorū mysteriorum & sacramentorum tuorum: Fac eam participem omnium orationum ac benefactorum quae fuerunt in Ecclesia sancta tua. Fac eam participem omnium benedictionum, gratiarum, & gaudiorum ominum electorum tuorum, ab initio mundi, & concede vt cum his omnibus in tuo conspectu gaudeat in aeternum: Domine qui orasti pro nobis in monte Oliueti, obsecramus te vt multitudinē sanguinis et sudoris quem prae angustia tua copiosissime pro nobis effudisti, ostendere digneris & offerre deo patri omnipotenti contra multitudinem omnium peccatorum huius famuli tui fratris nostri, & libera cum in hac hora mortis suae ab omnibus paenis & angustijs quas pro peccatis fuis timet se meruisse; salua animam eius in hac hora exitus sui, et aperi ei Ianuam vitae, & fact eam gaudere cum sanctis in gloria aeterna, per tua merita Domine Jesus Christ, qui cum Deo patre, & spiritu Sancto viuis & reg-Deus in secula.
Cum autem eius vires deficient & animam emissurum videatur, commendetur anima per aliquem astantium, hoc modo.
Commendatio animae morientis.
COmmendo te omnipotenti Deo (charissime frater) et ei, cuius es creatura committo: proficiscere anima Christiana de hoc misero mundo. In nomine Patris omnipotentis qui te creauit. In nomine Jesus Christi filij eius qui pro te passus est. In nomine Spiritus Sancti, qul in te fusus est. Egrediente aute animatua de corpore, splendidus Angelorum caetus tibi occurrat, & omnium sanctorum caetus te accipiat: appareat tibi mitis, & clemens, Jesus Christus, qui inter assistentes sibi te iugiter interesse decernat, vt locus tuus in pace sit, & habitatio tua in Jerusalem coelesti: Ignores omnino quid horret in tenebris, quid stridet in flammis, quid cruciat in tormentis. Cedat tibi nequissimus Satan cum satellitibus suis: nec in aduentu suo te vincat, sedcoram angelis dei contremiscat as in aterna noctis chaos immane diffugiat: at exurget Deus & dissipentur omnes inimici eius, sicut deficit fumus ita deficiant. Iusti autem exultentur, & exultent in conspectu Dei: Confundantur igitur & erubescant ante te tar tareae legiones & ministri satanae iter tuum impedire non audeāt: Liberet te à cruciatu Christus qui pro te mori dignatus est, & constituet te Christus filius Dei inter paradisi sui amena & semper virentia, & i am inter oues suos verus te ill pastor agnoscat. Ille ab omnibus peccatis tuis absoluat, at{que} ad dextram in electorum suorum sort te constituat, vt redemptorem tuum facie ad faciam videas & cōstitutum agmina beatorum contemplationis diuinae gaudio potiaris in secula saeculonum.
Certain Prayers used by our Fore-fathers in the darkest times of Popery, in the time of a man's sickness: some to be made for the sick, and some by the sick person: gathered out of the same ancient books. When the sick person feels his strength to fail, then let him commend his soul to God in this Prayer.
O Most high and sovereign God whose goodness and mercy is infinite: ô most glorious Trinity, which art love, and mercy, and goodness it self, have mercy on me most miserable sinner, for unto thee, and unto thy hands I commend my spirit: ô Lord, my most loving God, & father of mercies, show thy mercy on me thy poor creature, and forsake me not in my last need, but stand with me Lord, and help my succorless soul, save my poor and desolate soul, that it be not devoured of the infernal dogs.
O most loving Lord, & sweet Savior Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, I beseech thee for the honor, and by the virtue of thy most blessed passion command that I may be received into the number of thy Saints, and servants.
O my Savior & my Redeemer I here yield up myself wholly to thee, O grant me thy grace and thy glory, vochsafe me pardon of my sin, and give me a portion of thy glory. But ô my deer Lord, I challenge not a place in heaven for any worthiness of my own merits, for I am but dust & ashes, & a most wretched finner: but for the virtue of thy most blessed passiō, by which thou diddest vouchsafe to redeem me miserable man, and to purchase heavē for me, even with the price of thy precious blood. I beseech thee therefore by thy most blessed, & bitter passion, which thou sustainedst on the Cross for me, especially in that hour whē thy blessed soul did leave the body, that thou wouldest have mercy on my poor soul at the time of my departure.
Then let him lift up his heart with joy and thanksgiving, and say, Lord thou hast broken my bonds, therefore I will offer to thee the sacrifice of praise.
After, if his weakness grow so that he loose the use of his speech, let some of the by-standers say these prayers following over him, or more if he live so long.
MErcifull God and Father we beseech thee for the multitudes of thy mercies, look favorably upon this thy servant (our deer brother) who with true and hearty confession seeks pardon of all his sins at the hand of thy mercies, O Lord hear us for him, and we beseech thee for him, most holy father, to renew in his heart what ever is corrupted by the frailty of his flesh, and restore that grace which the wily and malicious enemy the devil hath stolen out of his soul: O Lord recall him to the unity of thy Church; ingraft him into the body of thy soul. O Lord take pity of the sighs and sobbes of his soul, and groans of his heart, o Lord look upon his tears, gather them in thy bottle, and be good to him, who hath no hope, comfort nor confidence, but in thy mercy, and seal up the assurance of his reconciliation with thee. O most holy Father we humbly commend the soul of this thy servant, and our brother into the hands of thy vnmeasureable mercies, humbly beseeching thee, according to the greatness of that love in which the blessed soul of thy son did commend it self into thy holy hands, that for the worthiness of that infinite love of thine, in which thou didst receive that holy soul unto thyself, thou wouldst vouchsafe in this our brothers last hour, to receive his poor soul also and make it partaker of the same love.
And thou most sweet Savior and most merciful Lord Jesus, thou that dying on the cross was so pressed with anguish and torments for us, as made thee sound out that pitiful voice unto thy Father: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, we beseech thee estrange not thyself, and turn not away thy face frō thy servant our brother, now in the hour of his souls affliction, when his strength faileth, and his spirits are so spent that he cannot cal upon thee: hear us O Lord: hear us for him, and for that thy glorious victory in which thou didst triumph on the cross, & for thy precious passion and bitter death think of him the thoughts of mercy and not of justice: shed thy mercies in his soul & speak comfortably to his conscience, deliver his soul out of all spiritual distress, save him frō the torments due unto his deservings, & bring him, for thy own merits sake, to eternal rest. O Lod Jesus Christ which didst redeem us with thy precious blood, write with thine own blood, in the soul, and ingraue thy wounds in the heart of this thy servant, that in thē he may see & read thy doleful sufferings & thy sweet love: thy sufferings that they may be effectual to rasome him frō those sorrows & torments which he hath merited by his sins: thy love that it may unite his heart to thee, in invisible & inseparable bonds, so as he may never be separated frō, thee nor thy Saints, forever and ever.
And Lord Jesus Christ we beseech thee make his soul partaker of all the merits of thy most sacred incarnation, passion, resurrection, and ascension. Make him partaker of the virtue of thy most blessed sacraments, and all thy holy mysteries. Make him partaker of all the prayers & good deeds done in thy whole Church. Make him partaker of all the blessings, graces, and comforts of all thy elect, and grant that with them all he may live in thy presence for evermore. O Lord which poured out thy prayer for us on the mount Olivet, and sweat water and blood, we beseech thee, let that precious blood of thine, which thou didst so abundantly pour out for our salvation, let it be presented and offered to thy father to stand against the multitude of of the sins of this thy servant, our brother: Lord be with him at his last hour, and then deliver him from the anguish and torments which for his sins he may justly fear: Graciously receive his soul in the hour of his departure: open the gate of heaven unto him, and give him a portion with thy Saints in glory, for thy own most glorious merit, O Lord Jesus Christ, who with God the Father, and the holy Ghost, livest and raignest one God for evermore, Amen.
And when the sick man's strength begins to fail, and the soul is ready to depart: then let the soul be commended to God by one of the by-standers on this manner.
The Commendation of the soul to be said at a man's death.
I Here commend thee to Almighty God most deer brother, and I commit thee to him whose creature thou art. Go forth therefore O Christian soul, get thee gone out of this filthy world, go forth in the name of the Almighty Father who created thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, who died for thee, in the name of the holy Ghost who hath been poured out upon thee: And when thou (happy soul) art delivered out of the prison of the body, the glorious quire of heavenly Angels meet thee, and the company of all holy Saints entertain thee: the loving countenance and cheereful face of Jesus Christ shine upon thee, a merciful Judge be he unto thee, that thou mayest have sentence to sit forever amongst his Saints, on his right hand: thy dwellings be in peace, and thy salvation in the heavenly Jerusalem for evermore, far be it from thee ever to feel or know how horrible the darkness, how terrible the flames, and how intolerable the torments of hell are, Satan and all his hellish guard be they confounded at thy presence, and if he dare set upon thee, victory and triumph be on thy side, shame and trembling fall upon him from the presence of God's Angels, and be he banished into the black mists, and confused chaos of eternal darkness. But let the Lord arise and let his enemies be scattered, and as the smoke vanisheth, so let them fly away. But let the just be exalted and rejoice in the presence of the Lord: let the infernal legions not dare to touch thee, nor all Satan's helhounds presume to hinder thee, and he who disdained not to die for thee, be he thy Savior and deliverer from all spiritual vexation. Be the gates of paradise open unto thee, & thy Christ give thee thy place and mansion in the same. And he that is the true Pastor, and great Sheepeheard of the Sheep acknowledge thee for one of his true Sheep, and receive thee into his fold, Jesus Christ absolve thee from all thy sins, and place thee on his right hand among his elect, that there thou mayest see thy Redeemer face to face, & in the society of blessed sed souls mayest enjoy the comforts of heavenly cōtemplation, and the blessed vision of God, forever and ever.
To the Reader.
SEe, Christian brother, how in the worst times they were prepared to die, and commended to God: if the ancient books did not proclaim this truth, some would not believe but that they had been made in this latter time. But seeing the truth cannot be denied, I desire thee with me to observe these few collections arising out of due consideration of the premisses.
1. Here is answer to that great question, how our forefathers were saved, even by the same faith as we are at this day.
2. How truly Christ performed his promise, namely, that the gates of hell should not prevail against the true faith, for so we see that in the vilest times this Faith hath been preserved.
3. Observe how here is no touch, nor once mention of Purgatory, nor of anything to be done for their good after this life.
4. Here is no relation to any pardons or indulgences from the Pope.
5. Here is no necessity laid down of sending for a Priest to bring his Hoste, and his Pix, and his holy water, and his Taper: These matters, it seems, are rather commanded & pressed upon the people by the Romish Clergy▪ then much regarded by the wiser, and godlier sort of our forefathers: neither are they commanded to stay till the Priest come, but (saith the book) let these prayers be said, and the Commendation of his soul, by one of the bystanders.
Lastly, let it be observed, that in all these prayers and commendations, and questions (and these saith the book are all that be of necessity to be said) here is not one smack of Popish idolarry, or superstition.
In these respects I have thought it no needless labor to communicate these to thee (deer brother,) I know there be store of godly prayers and meditations already extant. But these are of a special use more then others and are venerable for their antiquity. And are to be the more welcome, because God preserved thē in the hands of our very enemies. And though they were mingled with other things not so good, yet let us know as S. Jerome tells us, that it is no small point of wisdom, to seek out gold out of mire and clay.
Make use of these, and help me with thy prayers, and thou shalt shortly (if God permit) be partaker of more.
TAM ROBVR. TAM ROBOR. NI-COLIS ARBOR IOVIS. 1610. [printer's device of Nicholas Okes]
LONDON, Printed for Leonard Becket, and are to be sold at his Shop in the Temple near the Church, 1611.